The Herbaceous Liquor That Makes A Unique Old Fashioned

When you think of an Old Fashioned your mind likely first goes to bourbon. The drink was allegedly made for the first time at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of the 19th century in honor of James E. Pepper, a bourbon distiller in the area. Supposedly, Pepper requested the drink in New York City during his stays at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where it took off.

Of course, with every origin story, there's a bit of controversy as to whether or not the tale is actually true. "Old Fashioned Cocktails" are mentioned in cocktail books before the 1880s, and very similar whiskey-based drinks existed long before. No matter its conception, the original spirit used to make the drink remains mostly consistent: whiskey, more specifically, bourbon or rye (which some people prefer since bourbon's popularity largely expanded after Prohibition).

While the drink has historically been made with brown liquor and has even been named the official cocktail of Louisville, you can mix one up using any spirit you'd like — including a liquor you might not immediately think to grab: gin.

The Old Fashioned's popularity is perhaps due in part to its simplicity. Published in 1895, the book "Modern American Drinks" published a recipe for the drink that tells readers to dissolve a lump of sugar in water and then add a piece of ice, two dashes of bitters, and one jigger of whiskey. The cocktail is then garnished with a lemon peel.

Today what you'll get at your local bar is likely something similar. That "lump of sugar" is sometimes a sugar cube and other times simple syrup, and you're more likely to see an orange peel and maybe a cherry on the side of your glass rather than a lemon. That said, the idea of a simple spirit-forward cocktail is the same.

What you may not realize; however, is that recipe can be used with a whole lot more than whiskey. If you order an Old Fashioned in Wisconsin; for instance, you'll get brandy instead of bourbon as well as orange slices, brandied cherries, and some club soda. Zacapa Rum has a recipe on its site replacing that bourbon with rum and using an orange twist for garnish. And as a writer for Food & Wine discovered, many establishments including Philadelphia Distilling make Old Fashioneds out of gin,particularly  barrel-aged gin, which has some of those same vanilla and oak notes you might find in bourbon.

In addition to Philadelphia Distilling's barrel-finished gin, Food & Wine notes that Bar Hill Tom Cat Gin is another great barrel-aged option for the drink. The idea behind using a barrel-aged or finished gin is that the spirit is taking on flavors and aromas from the barrel, ultimately making it more whiskey-like in character. Australia's Four Pillars Gin suggests a recipe of one sugar cube, 1 teaspoon of water, 2 dashes of bitters and 60 milliliters of its Chardonnay Barrel Gin garnished with an orange peel for an Old Fashioned.

While using a barrel-aged will make your drink taste a bit closer to its bourbon counterpart, you don't necessarily have to have a barrel-aged gin to make a gin Old Fashioned. Hendrick's Gin, for instance, suggests making a hot Old Fashioned with its gin, using sugar, orange bitters, an orange twist, and a bit of hot water rather than ice. Purple-gin-maker Empress also offers a recipe on its site for the drink, with the only variation from that original 1800s recipe being the gin and simple syrup rather than a lump of sugar.

Bottom line: while that barrel-aged gin might be the best choice for bourbon lovers, any gin you like can potentially be used to make a unique Old Fashioned you'll love.