Name: Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Bourbon whiskey; 30 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 10 ml Brown sugar syrup; 8 drop Abbott's bitters; 3 drop Saline solution 4:1

Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
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Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe) image

Photographed in an UB Koto Old Fashioned 30cl

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Bourbon whiskey
1 oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
¹⁄₃ oz	Demerara/Muscovado/brown sugar syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)
8 drop	Bob's Abbotts bitters
3 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)

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

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe) lifestyle image

Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe) lifestyle thumbnail

Cocktail of the day:

13th May 2025 is World Cocktail Day

Review:

Achieving balance, ideal dilution and a good chill are essential to the enjoyment of this spirituous sublime classic.

Pre-batched bottled version serves 7 people:
315ml (10.5oz) Bourbon
210ml (7oz) Rye
75ml (2½oz) Brown sugar syrup
135ml (4.5oz) Water
48 drops Abbots bitters
18 drops Saline solution
Measure ingredients into a 75cl bottle, seal, label, turn bottle a few times to mix and place in refrigerator. Ideally, move into a freezer for 30 minutes prior to serving.

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AKA: Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail

Variant:

Old Fashioned (Classic bourbon-based recipe)
Old Fashioned (muddled fruit version)

History:

Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail history.

Nutrition:

One serving of Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe) contains 213 calories

Alcohol content:

2 standard drinks
32.65% alc./vol. (32.65° proof)
27.8 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 28 comments for Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford's recipe).
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Morten Carlsbaek

2nd June at 15:33

Nikka whisky from the barrel works really well and may substitute all whisk(e)y in this recipe. And we are many boycotting american produce for a few years...

Jim G

21st January at 01:21

I love the old fashioned cocktail. This is a good recipe but think I like the all bourbon recipe better. Im always a little surprised when I read a negative review about a whiskey followed by "I'll just use it for old fashioneds". Given that this cocktail is mostly whiskey I often use high end bottles and of course it makes a difference. If I'm going to drink I want to really like what I make.

Annechien

30th September 2024 at 13:38

Finally decided to buy a bottle of rye. It’s not easily available around here and quite expensive. Don’t have abbott’s bitters so used angostura like in the classic recipe but kept everything else the same. Wow, this is a delicious version of the OF. There’s no going back now. I used Elijah Craig small batch and Rittenhouse rye. What a delightful explosion of flavours.

Anthony Lynch

8th August 2024 at 20:25

An exceptional recipe! Sometimes I like to add a touch more salt and substitute the bitters for 4-5 dashes of black walnut bitters for an earthy balance to the sweetness which I think plays well with the brown sugar syrup. Delicious.

Andrew Wenz

6th August 2024 at 11:42

Have been a big fan of this recipe for a while. It was my number one go to tonight after making my first batch of gomme syrup (using the Diffords recipe) . Oh my word! Even using white sugar in the syrup, what an absolute delight. A richer smoother mouthfeel, more depth and any sharp edges knocked off the spirit forward nature of the Old Fashioned. There’s no turning back!! Except to make another batch of gomme with a brown sugar… tomorrow!

Dave Smith

20th May 2024 at 00:44

I was short on bourbon so added rye like this recipe. Nice mixture. Also added orange bitters but no saline solution as I am watching salt intake. With all the Old Fashioned variations this is definitely a classic.

John CARR

12th April 2024 at 13:03

Sublime is the word for it. Even for someone who’s not a huge bourbon drinker, this is very special indeed.

John CARR

11th April 2024 at 01:01

I noticed some variation in the saline dilution being used on the website. Some 4:1 and some 10:1. Is there are an accepted standard or is it preferable to have both available?

Simon Difford

11th April 2024 at 05:37

Hi John. All Difford's Guide recipes should call for 4:1 Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water). I only added the 10:1 saline at the request of a Discerning Drinker for their own recipe, and I inadvertently selected it for this cocktail. I've now corrected to use my own saline solution.

1 reply

Michael Marsden

14th February 2024 at 23:10

Absolutely stunning drink. Paired a Makers Mark 46 Bourbon with a Sazerac Rye and followed steps above. Bobs Abbott’s bitters are genius, adding real depth and flavour. Rave reviews at recent poker evening.

Ian Fenton

28th November 2023 at 12:02

In this recipe, you make it in a mixing glass then strain, but on the Old Fashioned page you make it in the glass, gradually adding more ice. Which method have you settled on? (On a side note, is there an easy way to view replies to comments? I can’t find it and I always end up finding the emails in junk, regardless of how often I whitelist them)

Simon Difford

28th November 2023 at 12:12

I learned the build-in-the-glass method of gradually adding more cubes of ice from Dick Bradsell in the 1990s, but I now tend to stir in a mixing glass and strain over fresh ice. The trend towards using large cubes/chunks of block ice makes Dick's method somewhat obsolete. We hope to launch an upgraded comments system very shortly. Please bear with us.