30 Dazzling Days of Bourbon to Celebrate Old Fashioned Week

30 Dazzling Days of Bourbon to Celebrate Old Fashioned Week

Woodford Reserve, in partnership with Angostura bitters, is introducing thirty dazzling days to celebrate the world’s number one cocktail – the Old Fashioned, loved by bartenders and whisky enthusiasts worldwide.

Old Fashioned Week is an annual global celebration while closer to home, mixologists from over one hundred local bars will shelve their shakers for mixing spoons to perfect the classic cocktail with a twist.

“Whiskey on the rocks might be time-honoured by many however an Old Fashioned is the true classic,” according to Rowan Gibb, South Africa’s Super Premium Ambassador for Woodford Reserve. “This annual event is a cocktail celebration for discerning whiskey drinkers who have an appreciation for the world’s top selling classic cocktail.”

“The Old Fashioned has great history that can be made in three simple steps,” he says. “What’s more, South Africans can experience this classic cocktail at over a hundred of South Africa’s top bars during the month of November.”

What is an Old-Fashioned?

A sophisticated blend of bourbon, bitters, water and sugar, the Old-Fashioned cocktail has roots that date back to the 1800s.

Largely still made according to the oldest known cocktail recipe, it is believed that it was founded at The Pendennis Club, a gentlemen’s club founded in 1881 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The recipe is said to have been invented by a local bartender, in honour of a prominent bourbon distiller who brought the recipe to the internationally acclaimed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.

The name originates from the way it is made, with people heading to cocktail bars and requesting for their drink to be created the ‘old fashioned way’.

Traditionally ‘the old-fashioned way’ was to take a whisk(e)y glass and add a lump of sugar, dissolving it with a small amount of water. The bartender would then add two dashes of bitters, a lump of ice and a miniature bar spoon. They would then hand it to the customer, along with a bottle of bourbon, and allow them to pour their own drink.

For many years bartenders around the global have placed their own twist on the classic cocktail.

Tips from the Pro Before you Get Started:

Gibb, recommends the following:

1)  Always use a nice, clear whiskey tumbler glass;

2) Use good quality ice that will keep the drink at the best temperature and last longer in the cocktail. The larger the ice cube the better.

3)  Choose the best quality spirit such as Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select – traditionally an Old Fashioned is made with Whisk(e)y but bourbon offers a slightly sweeter flavour profile complimenting the drink and bringing out over 200 flavour notes.

4)  Chill the mixing glass and if you’re making the drink for someone else, stir the drink in front of them for a bit of a show.

5) Importantly, don’t shake the cocktail – an Old Fashioned should be stirred and not shaken.

A Spectacle for the Senses at home – create your own Old Fashioned:

About ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters

The proud history of the House of ANGOSTURA® began almost two hundred years ago in 1824, when founder Dr. Johann Siegert first produced aromatic bitters in the city of Angostura in Venezuela.

Recognised over the centuries by the granting of Royal Warrants of Appointment to the royal households of Great Britain, Prussia, Spain and Sweden, ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters is the world’s market leader, an essential ingredient in premium cocktails, and a mainstay of cocktail culture.

The House of ANGOSTURA® also produce an international range of rums with five distinctive blends: Angostura 1824®, Angostura 1919®, Angostura® 7-Year-Old, Angostura® 5-Year-Old and Angostura® Reserva.

The newest product in the portfolio is the multi award-winning Amaro di ANGOSTURA® – a blend of their finest bitters and rums, leveraging their unsurpassed heritage.