pancho and lefty

2 oz Dickel Whiskey (Old Overholt Rye)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Fidencio)
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 dash Peach Bitters (Fee's)
3 leaf Sage

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass (cocktail coupe), and garnish with a sage leaf.
Two Wednesdays ago, I was rooting through my cocktail book library and rediscovered Daniel Yaffe's 2013 Drink More Whiskey. There, I honed in on the Pancho and Lefty that I must have skipped over due to lacking Tennessee whiskey, but I figured that with my sage plant doing rather well this year, I ought to give it a go with another American whiskey. Once prepared, this tribute to the Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson song crafted by bartender Samir Osman presented a malt, smoke, and sage bouquet to the nose. Next, lemon and maple on the sip transitioned into whiskey, smoke, sage, and peach flavors on the swallow.