Ever wonder which Old Fashioned is best? How different can they be? Is there a non-alcoholic or pre-mix version that can blend in with the crowd? Is it better with bourbon or rye or something else? Is it better with a muddled sugar cube or a simple syrup? To answer these questions, we decided to test 8 recipes, blind, all at the same time, to rank them in order from best to least. And here’s what we found…
Recounting the Tale
While the origin of the old fashioned remains unknown, it is believed to have originated in the early 19th century and as newer more complex cocktails were crafted into the mid 19th century, traditionalists began asking for cocktails the “old fashioned” way, with a spirit, water, bitters, and sugar. So, though the spirit most often used in this drink is whiskey (bourbon or rye), it can and has been made with many different spirits.
Interestingly, as the quality of spirits diminished during the prohibition, bartenders began adding / muddling fruit, often cherry 🍒 and/or orange 🍊 to help smooth the roughness of the drink.
Methodology
Cocktails are commonly judged in competitions based on name, appearance, balance, simplicity, taste, aroma, and originality. Though I am a firm believer in the expression “we taste with our eyes,” I wanted to strip these tastings down to answering one question… “Which base cocktail tastes the best, to the most people, without knowing anything about it?”
- 12 tasters
- 8 old fashioned recipes
- All cocktails were made within minutes of each other to allow for side by side tastings, since cocktails can change dramatically over time (as things like temperature and dilution change)
- All cocktails were stirred with ice and poured neat (with the option to add ice as the cocktail sat)
- All cocktails were served in identical glassware and without garnish
- Each taster ranked each cocktail in order from worst to best for overall flavor, with additional tasting notes on each
- All cocktails were measured strictly according to the recipe instructions but omitted any garnish or ice serving instructions as to keep each cocktail as identical in appearance as possible
- For any recipe that did not call for a specific bourbon or rye, we used Larceny due to inspiration from the homebar bourbon blind tasting
Ingredients
- bourbon (larceny, jack daniel’s single barrel, angels envy)
- rye (wild turkey 101, angels envy)
- calvados
- laird’s apple brandy
- white sugar cube
- simple syrup
- rich demara syrup
- rich turbinado syrup
- barrel-aged maple syrup
- angostura bitters
- orange bitters
- pimento bitters
- jerry thomas decanter bitters
- withco ellis old fashioned mix
- saline solution
- bacon fat
Selection
This is admittedly the most difficult part of the entire process. After investigating many different recipes and variations, I used the following logic (or perhaps to some, lack thereof) to guide my selection.
- 1 Toasty Bird Original, selfishly, to force continued experimentation, using a combination of bourbon and rye and is admittedly a much more expensive than necessary variation (Toasty Bird)
- 1 published winning recipe from another blind taste off among highly accredited bartenders (Punch / Tom Macy’s)
- 1 pre-mix recipe that won a comparison among many, for a fast and cheap-er variation (Liquor / WithCo)
- 1 that you would find in almost any dive bar and still uses the sugar cube, which is omitted by many these days (IBA)
- 1 top TikTok result that had the audacity to claim it as the “best old-fashioned in the world”… so I had to try it (Thirsty Whale)
- 1 top fat washed recipe that aims to a bit more savory and silky in texture (High Proof Preacher)
- 1 with a non whiskey base that still tastes familiar and in line with the rest of the line up (Imbibe)
- 1 from a couple that tested 15 different bourbons blind (at a variety of price points) and landed on this is the top recipe (Homebar)
Some that didn’t make the cut that are worth trying out:
- The oaxaca old fashioned from Death & Co. is a personal favorite and should be considered if you are a Tequila / Mezcal fan
- The trapline old fashioned with notes of smoke and tobacco
- The optimist old fashioned with notes of chocolate and honey
- The almond old fashioned with notes of almond, cherry, and orange
- The call me old fashioned with notes of italian herbs and spice
- The Minimalist Baker tested many iterations and though this is good, I find splitting the base with Angels Envy Bourbon with Angel’s Envy Rye to be far superior
The Toast
“On our old fashioned cocktail night, I thought we should toast to old fashioned friendships. The kind made from good drink, good times, and especially good people.” – Brandon Brunner
Results
And finally, what you came for… the old fashioned tasting insights and rankings! Be sure to read the full tasting notes as well to find the right cocktail for you (i.e. your favorite may not always align with the “best” group vote if you tend to prefer your cocktails boozier, sweeter, more acidic, without a specific ingredient, etc.).
Though it’s impossible to claim any sort of statistically significant insights from a sample size of 12, here’s what we found:
- With 5 of 12 people placing the Homebar recipe in the top spot, that was the hands down favorite and most classic, balanced profile of the bunch
- The Toasty Bird made for a strong top contender with 9 of 12 people placing it in their top 1 or 2 spot, for a more dried fruit, spice forward take
- Generally, as drinks got more expensive, they performed worse, with the exception of the Toasty Bird Old Fashioned which uses a split base of Angel’s envy rye and bourbon
- Two of our tasters were 🤯 shocked to see that their number one was made using the old fashioned pre-mix from WithCo, which was the top of the list of those tested by Liquor.com, and perhaps surprisingly landed in the middle of the pack
- The IBA variation (made with Larceny since a whiskey was not specified) was the most affordable variation and a true crowd pleaser with no one putting it in their bottom 3
- Last and certainly least… favored, was the bacon fat washed variation which was too savory for most and had an unpleasant lingering aftertaste
| Rank | Recipe Source | Taster Notes |
| 1 | Homebar – Best Classic | – pretty balanced, spice, vanilla, not too sweet or bitter, classic – lacking flavor? not sure – classic – good – sweet, smooth – classic, cinnamon – I like them – orange, cinnamon – cinnamony, bad once watered down – classic, IBA? – covered, over spice, whiskey?, darker, what is it? – a little spicy / peppery – old fashioned |
| 2 | Toasty Bird – Best Spice and Sweet | – rye, sweet, spicy, raisin, delicious – Demerara? syrup is different, really good – maple nose, thick – smells sweet, caramel flavor – sweet – brown sugar – honey? sweet – warm, smooth – full, sweet, strong nose, standard issue – pretty sweet, spicy, cinnamon, maple on the nose – thick syrup – syrupy – chocolate bitters? maple syrup |
| 3 | IBA – Best for Simple and Standard | – flat, bitter, numbing aftertaste – no punch – licorice – strong, what I expect an old fashioned tastes like – boozy, tastes similar to number 6 – Booze forward – lots sweeter – smooth, N/A? probably not, smooth on ice, – check, rye on the nose? – like – less sweet, leather – floral? |
| 4 | Punch Drink / Tom Macy’s – Best for Strong and Spice | – more spice forward with a bitter finish, grew on me with time – boozy, cinnamon – simple – strong but more standard flavor – not sweet enough, scotch-y? – just boozy – spices? fall flavored – smooth, got watered down – spicy, cinnamon on the nose – sweet cinnamon – less sweet – floral nose that doesn’t come through in taste |
| 5 | Liquor / WithCo Ellis – Best for Sweet and Easy | – lighter, no punch, sweet, but weirdly starts to grow on you with time – too sweet, no punch, might be mocktail – sugary, sweet – sweet – sweet, too sweet – too sweet – sweeter – sweet, cherry, nice with ice – check – whiskey? doubtful – sweet – sweet |
| 6 | Thirsty Whale – Best for Boozy and Bitter | – boozy, more spice, bitter finish – bourbon nose, nutty, boozy – ??? – too spirit forward, too dry – peet-y? – non alcoholic? – spicy aftertaste, not spices though, bitter – N/A – N/A? harsh, sharp, bananas/walnuts/sugar on the nose – good – bitter, spicy – mocktail? finishes watery |
| 7 | Imbibe / Normandy – Best for Fruity and Bitter | – sweeter at the start, unblanced, ends more bitter – cherry nose, too sweet – lower, cleaner – olive flavor / smell, reminds me of martini – scent is buttery – nose is bad, vanilla close – vanilla, sweeter, bitter? – grapey / wine?, salty – sweet, too sweet, strong bourbon on the nose?, off balance – too many bitters, too much sugar – a little sour smelling – skunky! – Smokey? used scotch? finishes sweet |
| 8 | High Proof Preacher – Best Savory & Silky | – maple and bacon smell, but not a good taste, bacon is way too forward – fat washed, weird flavor, bacon – lower, ends very sweet – not a favorite, smells like cigarettes / bad – soup, umami, chicken noodle soup – bacon, weird – bacon hints – bacon – breakfast, bacon / animal fat, hickory / oak on the nose – way too much sugar, bacon something savory – bacon – smooth, almost too sweet, maple sausage |