Name: Fancy Free
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Bourbon whiskey; 12.5 ml Maraschino liqueur; 3 dash Aromatic bitters; 2 dash Orange bitters

Fancy Free
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Photographed in an UB 1910 Old Fashioned 10.5oz

Ingredients:
2 oz	Bourbon whiskey
0.42 oz	Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
3 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
2 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

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Cocktail of the day:

3rd July 2025 is International Plastic Bag-Free Day

Review:

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.

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Variant:

Served straight-up in a sugar-rimmed coupe or Nick & Nora glass.
Improved Whiskey Cocktail

History:

The first known reference to the Fancy Free appears in Crosby Gaige's 1940 Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion.

Fancy Free
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.
Crosby Gaige, 1940

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.

More cocktails by Crosby Gaige

Nutrition:

One serving of Fancy Free contains 179 calories

Alcohol content:

1.8 standard drinks
33.59% alc./vol. (33.59° proof)
24.9 grams of pure alcohol

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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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Showing 10 of 17 comments for Fancy Free.
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Tuna Cubed

2nd December 2024 at 04:05

A good reminder to the Americans among us (specifically me) that it can be good to switch the measurements to metric, especially when you find something like 5/12s of an ounce, which I confidently poured as 5/6s.

Cannot give it a rating, but I will definitely add some bitters the next time I want a nip of bourbon.

Amarette Speights

7th May 2024 at 04:20

I don’t know if the cocktail is somewhere else on the site, but I like a version of an improved old fashioned cocktail that has bitters, luxardo, and grand marnier. Fruity but not a muddled.

william dennehy

9th January 2024 at 20:26

This has such a pleasing finish. I just smile when I drink it!

Miguel Perales

23rd October 2022 at 23:10

This is a tricky one to judge. It is very dependent on the Bourbon you use . I used Woodford Reserve Double Oaked and it was very prominent, with the Luxardo mainly just providing the sweetness. A Bourbon forward drink ( as it should be) that is fairly enjoyable.

G. M. Genovese

24th September 2024 at 02:56

I agree it depends on the bourbon. I tried this first with Four Roses and it was great. Then I noticed the comments here. I happened to have both the Double Oaked and Maker's Mark 46 French Oak on hand. The result of each of the three were different for sure, but all good. Not sure I had a fave, but the Four Roses version was maybe the most crowd pleasing.

Matt Tench

10th February 2024 at 22:20

Agreed. After quite some experimentation, Maker's Mark FTW...

Cameron Carter

23rd October 2022 at 18:33

I made this cocktail & it was not one of my favorites - until I finished it. But having done so, I don't necessarily trust my judgment - nor myself behind the wheel of a large automobile. I think the right proportions & dilution are key to this cocktail. Will try the sugared rim at some point, as it is very dry & the Luxardo was quite forward, especially on the nose.

Mi Nicho

8th June 2022 at 23:59

I found this to be a bit too sweet in the given proportions. I'll try it again with a little less luxardo.

Anonymous

29th November 2021 at 20:03

Such a joy. Easy to drink. Not too sweet. Well balanced.

Alexander Carlswärd

1st September 2021 at 20:11

Astonishing cocktail, really surprised how well balanced it is. My initial thought was too much bitters, but I was wrong.

5 out of 5 for me!

Julie Budge

30th July 2021 at 11:59

I hadn’t tried this before, until tonight. I really like it. Well balanced flavours. I was worried the Luxardo would overpower and maybe be too dominant. I was pleasantly surprised.

John Hinojos

21st March 2021 at 00:40

Great variation on the Old Fashioned. Good balance between flavours.

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