This drink works equally well in the winter or the summer, served in a fancy glass like the photo above, or in a regular glass with a large ice cube for slow sipping.
You will need a cocktail shaker to make this, but if you have a large mason jar with a lid, that would be an acceptable substitute, if you don't mind a little lemon pulp in your cocktail. An important note on maple syrup, grade B or dark amber maple syrup is the best to use for this drink as it is much more flavourful than the other grades.
Feel free to play around with the ratio of alcohol to maple syrup to lemon juice. a 2:1:1 ration makes a sweeter drink, for example. Also, I have tried making it with lime juice, but that doesn't go as well with the bourbon, another citrus juice that can be used is grapefruit and that is a nice combination. Often when I substitute grapefruit juice, i use a little more than 3/4 of an oz and also top the drink with sparkling water. First, try the recipe below, and then feel free to experiment.
2 oz Bourbon
3/4 oz Maple Syrup
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
Measure out all ingredients into a cup and then pour into a cocktail shaker filled with large ice cubes.
Put the lid on the cocktail shaker. (and I'd recommend holding the bottom of the shaker with one hand under a dish towel and one hand firmly on the top. This helps prevent catastrophic accidents, such as the lid of the shaker flying off or slipping around as does often happen with sticky liquids in the mix).
Count to 30 while you shake the cocktail shaker. Then pour out the drink into waiting glasses.
This recipe makes a stronger drink, so it can be split between 2 martini glasses, which is what I did in the pictures shown. I also like to serve it for one over one or two large ice cubes in a more standard drinking glass, the ice cubes dilute the drink a bit.