Spiced Rum Old Fashioned

An old-fashioned is one of the greatest “classic” bourbon-based cocktails around. Even through the years, this old-time favorite has rained king. Invented in Louisville, Kentucky, this simple drink contains just a few basic ingredients: whisky, sugar, bitters, and an orange twist. Sweetened traditionally with a single sugar cube, an old-fashioned falls in the “serious drink” category if you ask me. It’s also a drink my husband loves.

History traces a version of the old-fashioned as far back as the early 1800s, which described a similar drink as a ”potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar”.

Around the 1860s, this forgotten favorite cocktail made a surprising comeback and was officially coined the “old-fashioned.” The first true mention in print of “old-fashioned cocktails” was in the Chicago Daily Tribune in the early 1880s.  However, the Pendennis Club, a gentlemen’s club founded in 1881 in Louisville, Kentucky, claims the Old Fashioned cocktail was invented there.

The story has it that the recipe was invented by a bartender at that club in honor of Colonel James E. Pepper, a prominent bourbon distiller, who later brought it to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar in New York City. But despite the disagreement, since its inception, the old-fashioned cocktail has become and remains iconic in nature.

My recipe for a spiced rum old-fashioned is a modern twist of an old classic. I replace the traditional whisky with a more mellow (and seasonal) spiced rum, which brings big, bold spices and a lovely orange caramel finish that’s great for the holiday season. But the real takeaway is that this cocktail is a winter delight, warming and smooth for sipping on the coldest of nights.