A new version of eggnog at Rio Grill emphasizes nuanced flavors over heft.

Patrick Fischer and his crew at Rio Grill have fixed eggnog.

Didn’t know the classic cocktail needed mending? Try out a traditional recipe. With heavy cream measured by the quart, a wealth of sugar, up to a dozen eggs, it’s a caloric anvil with an alcoholic blow to the head.

But that was then. “We like it when people want to order a second,” says Fischer, Rio Grill’s bar manager.

Their “Drunken Nog” doesn’t skimp. Instead it replaces syrupy heft with layers of flavor – vanilla, toasted oak, a mellow nuttiness, cinnamon and nutmeg – in a delicate dance. Yet the sip is rich enough for it all to linger.

Fischer employs a few little tricks. It’s made to order so the ingredients don’t wallow. A few hard jolts in a cocktail shaker give the cream and eggs a lift. And he subs in gomme for bar syrup, so the nog is not so cloying. The spirits contribute more than alcohol. There’s Sailor Jerry, a spiced rum, Courvoisier and Vanilla de Madagascar.

“It definitely has booze,” Fischer observes. “But with everything, it balances well. That’s what we want.”

Fischer says the bar team at Rio drew inspiration from many different nog recipes. From its origins – which no one knows for sure, but one of the earliest American references to eggnog was in a 1774 poem by a Maryland minister – the cocktail evolved as tastes and spirit preferences changed.

“It’s just a matter of the right ingredient levels,” he explains. “Practice makes perfect.”

RIO GRILL is at 101 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel. Open Sunday-Thursday 11:30am-8pm, Friday-Saturday 11:30am-9pm. 625-5436, riogrill.com