Charles Joly Unveils First 'In The Rocks' Cocktail Since The Aviary's Opening

Here's The Aviary's original "In The Rocks" cocktail, which paid homage to the Old Fashioned. (Photo via endlesssimmer.com)

It's been well over a year since Grant Achatz's The Aviary first introduced In The Rocks, the innovative sipper that set the standard for molecular gastronomic cocktails.

But it's time for a change, now that new head mixologist Charles Joly is in charge of the beverage program. The original paid homage to the classic Old Fashioned, and the guest shattered a spherical-shaped ice cube to release the liquid contents into a rocks glass. According to Esquire's David Wondrich, The Old Fashioned was conceived in 1806, so it made sense to launch the beverage program with such a classic offering.

Joly's rendition takes on a more modern elixir, the Vieux Carre, which was born in the 1930s in a New Orleans hotel.

Says Joly:

"This is one of my favorite spirit-forward cocktails and great as the temperature cools down. It has a little more umph than its predecessor. We've developed a Peychaud's ice egg (the sphere in which the cocktail is held is made with Peychaud's bitters, a key ingredient in the cocktail). It gives the ice a pale red hue."

I don't have a photo yet of the new In The Rocks cocktail because it quietly launched late Tuesday night, but here are the ingredients:

Rittenhouse 100
Punt e Mes sweet vermouth
Pierre Ferrand 1840, 90 proof Cognac
Benedictine
Peychaud's and Angostura bitters with lemon oil

I cannot wait to try it!