With a history stretching back to 1698, there is no more traditional spirit in America than the Laird company’s fine apple brandies. Likewise, it would be difficult to find two contemporary mixologists more devoted to the traditional way of making drinks than Paul Gustings and David Wondrich—or rather, one contemporary mixologist and one contemporary bartender (Gustings hates to be called a “mixologist,” but then again he hates a lot of things). Heading the bar at the iconic Broussard’s, Gustings has expanded the collective palate of New Orleans one drink at a time, while Wondrich, a man renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of spirits as well as his impressive beard, literally wrote the book on the pre-Prohibition cocktail.
