Cocktail Queries is a Paste series that examines and answers basic, common questions that drinkers may have about mixed drinks, cocktails and spirits. Check out every entry in the series to date.
It’s funny how there are so many ways to approach such a simple question as “How do I make ___ classic cocktail?” You can go general, as I did when I wrote this guide in 2022 to every aspect and variable you might consider in making a great old fashioned at home. But there’s also value in drilling in on a specific aspect of the challenge, especially if it’s the most important aspect: What whiskey should you really use, anyway? It’s the same logic I applied to this recent piece on the best possible variety of rums to use in a daiquiri. Answer that question, and you determine what kind of drink you’re really making.
And as for “What whiskey to use in an old fashioned,” you really do have a great degree of freedom here. The old fashioned can be a fairly light and even refreshing drink if you want it to be, when made with less assertive 80 proof whiskeys. But I think most of us likely prefer a certain degree of backbone in the drink, which really benefits from a stronger spirit that doesn’t lose too much of its own heart and soul when combined with sugar and bitters.
Can you make your old fashioned with bourbon? Certainly, even though it was originally conceived as more of a rye-based cocktail–the modern old fashioned has increasingly come to be associated with bourbon enthusiasm, where something like the Manhattan has maintained more of its rye-based history. The old fashioned invites you to go either way. In fact, you can even base the cocktail entirely around brandy or cognac, as they’re fond of doing in the upper midwest. The possibilities abound.
One thing you probably don’t want to do? That would be using extremely expensive spirits to make an old fashioned. At the end of the day, those $100 bottles are really better off for neat drinking, and using them in a cocktail like the old fashioned simply comes off as ostentatious. This is an everyday cocktail that celebrates the whiskey bottom shelf and mid shelf in particular, so don’t get too hung up on MSRPs. Instead, consider these rock-solid options, in order from dirt cheap to a bit more expensive.
1. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond Bourbon
ABV: 50% (100 proof)
MSRP: $20
It’s fair to call something like Evan Williams Bottled in Bond the king of the budget old fashioned. It has everything you want: Sturdy proof, modest age statement, and no shortage of punchy flavor. Could you make a serviceable version of the cocktail with the standard black label Evan Williams? Yeah, you could, but you’d be risking the drink coming off as weak, diluted or insipid, especially after chilling. Instead, turn to Heaven Hill’s classic value play in the white label, 100 proof variant, which is sure to stand up to a big ice cube in a drink you don’t have to worry about getting too diluted.
An old fashioned made with Evan Williams White Label will display a lot of the Heaven Hill bourbon house style, with plenty of caramel and honeyed sweetness, combined with vanilla and especially roasted nuttiness. If you like peanut brittle, this could be the old fashioned for you.
Alternative: Very Old Barton 100 Proof
2. Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
ABV: 50% (100 proof)
MSRP: $25
We might as well stick with Heaven Hill and their dominance of the dependable, cocktail-friendly bottom shelf sector, as we turn our attention to rye whiskey for a moment. Suffice to say, if you’re going to mess around with a variety of old fashioneds, you really should try making at least one of them with rye rather than bourbon. Enter, Heaven Hill’s 100 proof rye stalwart, a bottle that has held up extremely well even as the market pivoted toward 95% and 100% ryes. Rittenhouse keeps the flag flying for those 51% Kentucky style ryes, offering great bang for your buck as it always has. Lest we forget, this is the bottle that once won our blind tasting of bottom shelf rye whiskeys.
An old fashioned made with Rittenhouse Rye will of course deliver on the “rye spice” side of the equation, with more peppery and herbal tones than something like the previous Evan Williams. It may well read as a somewhat leaner, less rich drink, with greater drinkability, while delivering flourishes of citrus and vanilla. It’s absolutely something you should consider a classic of the genre, one of those bottles that it never hurts to have around.
Alternative: Old Forester Rye Whiskey 100 Proof
3. Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon
ABV: 50% (100 proof)
MSRP: $35
Ever since the flagship Knob Creek Small Batch regained its 9 year age statement back in 2020, I’ve felt a new swell of appreciation for this venerable brand, which stands as a bastion of value in a landscape where MSRPs have ludicrously barreled forward into the stratosphere. If you were told by a random distillery that they were releasing a new 9-year-old, 100 proof brand, you’d be forgiven for assuming that it’s now a product they’d be charging $100 for. But not so, for Knob Creek. This bourbon represents a great encapsulation of the Beam house style, at a budget price, which makes it the ideal combination for a classic cocktail like the old fashioned.
Knob Creek makes quite a rich, characterful old fashioned, bringing significantly more mature character to play than the likes of the Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. In addition to the caramel, vanilla and glazed/roasted nuttiness that is a Beam signature, more savory herbal tones and flashes of tobacco creep into the profile here, making for a pleasantly rich and nuanced old fashioned. All in all, this is around the level of quality that I suspect most of us expect when we deign to pay $15 for a house old fashioned in a restaurant–that drink had better be able to at least match this one.
Alternative: Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon
4. Old Forester 1897 Bottled in Bond Bourbon
ABV: 50% (100 proof)
MSRP: $50
The Whiskey Row Series from Old Forester is a beloved range of bourbons, but not all the bottles in that range get an equal degree of attention. The bolder 1920 Prohibition Style (which is 115 proof) is definitely a favorite, and the double barreled 1910 Old Fine Whiskey has its own fandom, but the perennially underrated bottle of the range is the 1897 Bottled in Bond, and it’s also my favorite for making an old fashioned. This one just falls right in the perfect sweet spot of the range, in terms of price and assertiveness for making this particular drink. You certainly wouldn’t regret making a 1920 old fashioned either, but the 1897 old fashioned has a particular elegance to it.
Like the Knob Creek, this version of the old fashioned benefits from greater maturity, courtesy of Brown-Forman’s heat cycled warehouses in particular. This bourbon brings fantastic richness and velvety smooth character to an old fashioned, with a signature note that I’ve always compared to chocolate-covered cherry cordials. It makes for an unctuous, decadent old fashioned–maybe my favorite version of the cocktail on this list? It’s a shame that this bottle still tends to be overlooked by some bourbon geeks who race past it to the more expensive expressions, but those who know its charms realize how perfectly suited it is for craft cocktailing.
Alternative: George Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey
5. Wild Turkey Rare Breed Bourbon
ABV: 58.4% (116.8 proof)
MSRP: $55
Sometimes, you just want to make the boldest and most over-the-top, overproof old fashioned possible, while still staying on a reasonable budget. And in those times, Wild Turkey Rare Breed is more than happy to oblige. The whole core Turkey lineup has always been known for the value it offers–we easily could have included the classic Wild Turkey 101 earlier–but that value shines especially in their ever-accessible cask strength option Rare Breed, which combines 6, 8 and 12-year-old bourbons at a sturdy 116.8 proof. Suffice to say, there are plenty of old fashioned drinkers out there who will find this level of heat in the cocktail to be unpalatable, but just as many will likely declare that this is the best old fashioned they’ve ever tasted. Try for yourself, and figure out which side of that line you fall onto.
An old fashioned made with Rare Breed is an intensely flavorful and rich cocktail, contributing big barrel char notes with vanilla buttercream, citrus, roasted nuts and especially spice. That will come through as peppery rye spice and also as trailing baking spice, giving each sip a potency that lasts for minutes afterward. If you’ve explored the world of standard old fashioneds, give this flavor bomb a try.
Alternative: Maker’s Mark Cask Strength
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.