Name: Old Fashioned
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Bourbon whiskey; 12.5 ml Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1); 3 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

2 fl oz

Bourbon whiskey

⁵⁄₁₂ fl oz

Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water) 65.0°Brix

3 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Old Fashioned contains 192 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
29.4% alc./vol. (58.8° proof)
21.6 grams of pure alcohol

History

As with the Martini, the glass this cocktail is served in has taken the name of the drink. Its origin stems from the adaptation and renaming of a similar drink known as the Whisky Cocktail, which was shaken and served up. Who did the adapting and renaming is unknown. For the full story, see Old-Fashioned cocktail history.

Comments & Discussion

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Simon Sedgley Premium Member 2w

We sometimes do this as what we call a 'Russian Old Fashioned'. 45ml rye whisky; 15ml vodka; 5ml sugar syrup; 5ml Creme de Cassis; and 3 dashes orange bitters. Every dacha has its black currant bushes.

Gareth Hives Premium Member 8w

Had an old fashioned evening yesterday, tried a lot of variations with rye, bourbon, whiskey and rum (it ended up being a long night) and the general consensus among the group who all love their whiskeys was that 12.5ml is too sweet. 10 worked well with rye but for most others 7.5ml sugar syrup was the sweet spot. Literally.

Gareth Hives Premium Member 8w

And meant to say that orange bitters were fave over Angostura. Luxardo cherries are also worth their weight in gold by the way, give anything that little extra lusciousness.

Simon Sedgley Premium Member 8w

But you don't tell us about the whiskeys Gareth. What did you use? Makes a difference with an Old Fashioned. For example, while Maker's Mark is our workhorse Bourbon for most cocktails, we use Elijah Craig Small Batch for our Bourbon Old Fashioneds. Would have been a fun evening. No cigars?

Gareth Hives Premium Member 6w

Sorry Simon missed this. Nothing crazy on the whiskeys , we went with fairly good but still entry level (for a ‘cocktail’). So Red Breast 12 YO and Jamesons triple triple distilled. Cigars are a must have and there were various sizes of Olivas, Zinos, Davidoff Churchill late hours and even a Ghurka at one point 👍🏼

Loïc Pierre 40w

Made with Rye whisky (drier), one bar spoon of sugar sirup, and 4 dashes of angostura. Delicious.

Chris Dimal 1y

Decent, but way too much sweetener. Honestly 7.5ml is more than enough. I guess maybe with a Rye, bump it up to 10? I also still prefer it with Demerara sugar, even if it highlights the Bourbon just a little less.

Alexandros Bousoulegkas 2y

I suggest you to try 50:50 peated whiskey:bourbon. My preferred recipe:
40ml Port Charlotte 10
40ml Elijah Craig Small Batch
15ml sugar syrup
3 dash Angostura bitters
Enjoy!

Grey Goose 2y

Ahhhh....the ever elusive perfect old fashioned has come pretty close to perfection with this recipe. 5 stars!

Borderline too sweet for my taste with cane sugar so will try with demerrara sugar next time or reduce the cane sugar. Also thinking of maybe 'cutting' it with a dash of Rittenberg for some bite.

Olga María Gómez Henderson 2y

Is okay to use rye instead of bourbon for this old fashioned recipe?

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 2y

Sure. A rye Old Fashioned is tasty.

Olga María Gómez Henderson 2y

Okay, thank you.

Annechien Premium Member 2y

I love this! Strong, sweet and extremely aromatic. Was sold on this cocktail after my first trial version and then went and bought a tray for making big ice cubes for the full old fashioned experience. It’s a drink I keep coming back to.