Sarah Sullivan and the New Old Fashioneds

You cannot get more classic than a classic Old Fashioned. This apprehensive concoction of four ingredients—whiskey, carbohydrate, bitters, and h2o—is quite literally the cocktail that started it all. It was that detail (and rather unremarkable) recipe that appeared alongside the first-ever printed apply of the word "cocktail" way dorsum in 1806. And 80 years later on, the proper noun "One-time Fashioned" started getting tossed around in bars to describe said cocktail recipe. Yes, fifty-fifty the old-timers of the 1880s considered information technology to be an old-school potable. Since those sepia-toned days, the Erstwhile Fashioned has enjoyed illustrious comebacks as new generations of boozers have fallen for its simple amuse. Our guess is human beings will exist drinking Quondam Fashioneds until end times, because the damned drink volition never not be cool.

All of which is to say, the Onetime Fashioned is a cocktail that'southward been around for a while, and for good reason. The sweetness makes it smoother than a lot of other whiskey-based drinks, though it remains a strong-jawed, spirit-forward option. Fortunately, with few ingredients, it'due south as well an easy cocktail to master. We prefer ours with rye over bourbon.

A Little Background

There are two cultural touchpoints that bear witness where we stand with Sometime Fashioneds these days. The offset is Mad Men. Don Draper, '60s era marketing bad guy with killer style and ruthless charm, sipped Old Fashioneds made with rye, order soda, and cherry (we'll let it). He embodied the archetype aura of Old Fashioned drinkers: stylish, successful, male. We loved him, and the show, for it. Ryan Gosling's grapheme in Crazy, Stupid, Honey fit that bill, as well, with a 21st-Century twist. He made his Old Fashioned the traditional way, at his home bar late at night, and then did the Dirty Dancing lift with a love interest—a devastating combo.

And perhaps that's why men, especially younger men, accept always flocked to the cocktail: Information technology's alcoholic comfort food that never lost its cool. But seeing the Old Fashioned as but a traditionally men'due south drink is a stiff way to await at it.

"We get a lot more women ordering traditional Old Fashioneds, and so I definitely see a lot more diversity," says Annie Beebe-Tron, bar manager at the Ladies' Room in Chicago. "Yous don't desire to presume the Old Fashioned is his and the shaken cocktail is hers, which information technology often isn't."

Cocktail culture evolves, and classic whiskey drinks similar the Old Fashioned don't exude exclusionary male-ness the mode they used to. Give thanks goodness.

If You Like This, Try These

The Former Fashioned is i of six root cocktails upon which all mixology is built, according to the Cocktail Codex, a book from the legendary Death & Co bar team. That doesn't mean you can't get funky with it. "The beauty of the Former-Fashioned is that nearly whatever spirit can exist used as the core as long as the other ingredients back up and accent that spirit," the team says. Swap your bourbon or rye for rum or mezcal—or both, similar this recipe calls for. Gin is some other option. For those less inclined to live on the edge, an Irish whiskey One-time Fashioned could exercise the trick.