I had something unique last night - a smoked Old Fashioned. The bartender used a torch to heat up some cherry wood, then captured the smoke in a damp glass, then made a traditional old fashioned in the glass. There were some light hints of smoke but it wasn't overwhelming. You could probably get the same taste notes with a drop or two of liquid smoke.
I saw that last year for the first time at the Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville. She used a smoldering apple chip and captured some smoke in a glass, then served us their latest single malt which had been finished in apple brandy barrels. Copper Fox smokes the barley (before fermentation) with apple and cherry wood chips, they have a wood stove in a room and crank it up. Then, they put tea bags with apple and cherry chips into the barrels while aging to impart flavor and enable shortened aging cycles. I really enjoyed the smokey glass and have kept a stock of chips for serving guests since.
