Old Fashioned

I would like to reintroduce an old favorite, the Old Fashioned. Although touted to be the original cocktail, through time and many different versions it has morphed into a drink that is watered down, muted, and simply put, similar in taste to swamp water, which explains the decline of a cocktail once so popular that a glass was named after it. Here at Jackson’s we like to do things the old-fashioned way, so let me guide you through the process of mastering the oldest of concoctions. First, a little history. The drink was originally called a “whiskey cocktail, old fashioned,” meaning a drink made with whiskey using the old-fashioned method of mixing it with sugar, bitters, lemon, and water. The name was eventually shortened to Old Fashioned. First introduced in the late 1800s, it is debated exactly when, where, and who created it. Some say a bartender at the Pendennis Club, a gentleman’s club in Louisville, Kentucky, was the inventor, but historical research finds evidence that the term “Old Fashioned” was used for a bourbon whiskey cocktail a year before the Pendennis Club opened, although the original recipe was never recorded. During prohibition, different ingredients were added to the drink to mask the flavor of poor quality whiskey, such as lime, orange, maraschino cherries, and soda water. In today’s market there are so many high quality spirits that there is no need to smother their flavors. Enough history, let’s get drinkin’. Click here for our Old Fashioned recipe. Be sure to try one out next time you are in!