I have not always been a fan of bourbon until I started making my own Old Fashioned. My husband loves bourbon, and I was really trying to like it so I could occasionally sip on a bourbon with him. In fact, for Christmas one year, I bought him 8 or 9 bottles of different bourbons to try, probably his favorite Christmas ever!
The first time I dared to try an Old Fashioned my husband and I were visiting friends in Amelia Island, and I decided I was going to give bourbon another try. The recipe sounded good, it was your typical recipe of Luxardo cherries, oranges, bitters, simple syrup and bourbon. It sounded perfect, the cherries and oranges would sweeten up the bourbon and I just knew I was going to love it. Well, that didn’t turn out at all like I expected. The bourbon taste was way too much, I couldn’t even tell that there were cherries and oranges in the drink. The cherry flavor was not as sweet as I would have liked, in fact it wasn’t sweet at all! So, I turned my nose up at it and didn’t drink it. Carl on the other hand loved it and finished it off with no problem!
Now I should let you know that I typically lean towards sweeter drinks so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this was not the drink for me. Fast forward a couple of years and our good friend Darryl was loving a “good” Old Fashioned. He and his wife came over for a pool party and brought all the “fixins” for a “good” Old Fashioned. And with a few tweaks to his recipe to suit my tastebuds I have found the “perfect” Old Fashioned for me and many of my customers at Valenty’s Lounge!
This may not be the perfect drink for you because there is a lot of sweetness added to the bourbon. I double up on almost all the ingredients and my friend Larry gave me the twist that really bumps up the drink, a couple of shakes of Chinese Five Spice. My favorite cherries are Filthy Cherries, they are sweet and decadent and with a spoonful of the juice added to the glass…perfection!
I know that you should not muddle the cherries and orange but in my drink I don’t follow the rules. I muddle the cherries, oranges, bitters and simple syrup before pouring the bourbon and adding ice cubes. I tell people that it is a sangria with bourbon! You can use any bourbon that you enjoy, I lean towards Woodford Reserve or Four Roses but you can use whatever bourbon you like.
Ingredients
- 3 Filthy Cherries plus a spoonful of the cherry juice
- 2 Orange slices
- 1 teaspoon of simple syrup
- 4 good shakes of orange bitters
- 3 shakes of Chinese Five Spice
- 2 ounces of Woodford Reserve or bourbon of your choice
Instructions
- Muddle all ingredients in rocks glass except the bourbon.
- Add the bourbon and ice (I use an ice sphere mold) and stir.
