Whether you already consider yourself a cocktail enthusiast or you are just getting started, there’s no denying the appeal of the Old Fashioned cocktail. Its simplicity and historical significance often make it an early gateway into what is possible with just a little effort. Indeed, many self-described whiskey collectors easily become enamored with possibilities that even a modestly stocked liquor cabinet can lend, and once you start experimenting with different bitters and sweetening options—let alone expanding into other spirit categories—an active interest quickly blossoms into a full-blown craft cocktail hobby! This drink certainly had that effect on us back in early 2009.

True to its name, the Old Fashioned is one of the earliest ways to make what we have come to define as a cocktail. Described in print for the first time in 1806 as a “bittered sling”, a cocktail contains spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters. Not much has changed in the intervening two centuries except that a multitude of additional ingredients have given rise to infinite combinations and name-worthy variations. Today, if you order an Old Fashioned it is assumed you mean whiskey, though you could be more specific and use anything. Tradition includes a lump of sugar dashed with Angostura and muddled with a little water, but is easier and quicker to just use rich simple syrup, and if we swap out the bitters for a bitter liqueur, well, now we really have something interesting.

Black Walnut Old Fashioned
2 oz bourbon
.25 oz rich simple syrup (2:1)
Rinse of nocino walnut liqueur
Dash of orange bitters

Prepare an old fashioned (rocks) glass by rinsing with a splash of nocino, rotating the glass to completely coat the inner surface. Drop in a large chunk or sphere of ice. In a separate mixing glass, stir the other ingredients with ice until chilled, then strain into the prepared glass over the large ice. Garnish with a heavy twist of orange peel, expressing the oils into drink before tucking the peel into the glass.

We continue to enjoy this enhanced variation of the classic ever since we first sipped it at the Bradstreet Crafthouse in Minneapolis. We wrote about it many years ago in the context of making syrups, but it has always deserved its own post. Black walnuts (or English walnuts) make a great liqueur for a handful of other drinks besides being a nice sipper or ice cream topper. These days, you can usually find some brand of walnut liqueur such as Nux Alpina in stores, but nothing compares to your own homemade nocino. You can use other liqueurs too, or an amaro if you are feeling more adventurous. This is the classic preparation method for any Old Fashioned. No muddled orange slices or maraschino cherries in sight!