Photographed in an UB 1910 Old Fashioned 10.5oz
2 oz | Bourbon whiskey |
0.42 oz | Luxardo Maraschino liqueur |
3 dash | Angostura Aromatic Bitters |
2 dash | Orange Bitters by Angostura |
3rd July 2025 is International Plastic Bag-Free Day
Aromatised, tamed bourbon with complex maraschino notes. Basically, a Whiskey Old Fashioned with maraschino in place of sugar syrup. Surprisingly dry, helped by generous dashes of orange and aromatic bitters.
Served straight-up in a sugar-rimmed coupe or Nick & Nora glass.
Improved Whiskey Cocktail
The first known reference to the Fancy Free appears in Crosby Gaige's 1940 Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion.
Fancy Free
Crosby Gaige, 1940
1 jigger Fine Arts Whiskey
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Dash of Orange Bitters
2 dashes Maraschino
Frost the rim of a cocktail glass with lemon juice and fine sugar. Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into prepared glass.
As you can see from the extract above, the Fancy Free was originally a shaken drink served in a sugar-rimmed stemmed cocktail glass; and that's how I first encountered this cocktail back in the 1990s. However, modern bartenders have reworked this cocktail to be an 'improved' Old Fashioned with "improved" referring to the use of maraschino liqueur in place of sugar syrup. Hence, the stemmed glass and sugared rim have gone, giving way to a stirred, on-the-rocks, old-fashioned style cocktail.
One serving of Fancy Free contains 179 calories
Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.
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Cannot give it a rating, but I will definitely add some bitters the next time I want a nip of bourbon.
Anonymous
5 out of 5 for me!