Vieux Carré

Happy Mardi Gras! To celebrate, tonight I am drinking the most New Orleans-y drink I know of: the Vieux Carré. Complex and delicious, this cocktail is made with equal parts rye whiskey, Cognac (or brandy), and sweet vermouth. Add a teaspoon of Benedictine, and two dashes each of Angostura and Peychaud's bitters. Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with one giant ice square. Sip, and be transported to the "Old Square" in the French Quarter.