The Evolution of the Old Fashioned -- And How Oliver Royale Gave It Its Own Twist

Like a night after too many Old Fashioneds, the history of one of the most classic cocktails is a little blurry. But it remains one of our favorites -- both to drink and to experiment with. 

Cocktail recipes, like that for the Old Fashioned, were often shared via word-of-mouth before official recipes were recorded in bar books or other publications. Bartenders used to be pretty secretive about their concoctions, so we may never know who actually created what we now know as an Old Fashioned. 

Many credit a bartender named James E. Pepper with creating the cocktail in 1880. He mixed up one of the first Old Fashioneds at a private social club called Pendennis in -- where else? -- Kentucky. After that, Pepper traveled to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel bar in New York with the recipe. And the rest was history.

The name “Old Fashioned” doesn’t necessarily come from the bartenders involved in the mixology, though. It comes from the patrons. 

Before recipes were “official” and cocktails were mostly mixed according to word-of-mouth instruction, the classic whiskey drink tended to vary quite a bit. People got tired of never getting a uniform result, and started ordering the cocktail the “old fashioned way.” That method involved whiskey, a sugar cube saturated with bitters, and ice stirred together. 

Since then, the Old Fashioned has gone through several iterations. During Prohibition, people often could only get their hands on bootleg, low-quality whiskey. This is when bartenders started to muddle oranges or cherries to add to the drink, or even added a splash of soda water.

Here at Royale, we take pride in our own evolution of the drink. The historic Kern Building has a reputation for producing the city’s finest Old Fashioneds, and we like to think we live up to that. Like with everything we do here, though, we like to put our own spin on the classics.

We have the Old Fashioned #7 on our menu now, which is a Tennessee-style variation of an Old Fashioned. We mix up Tennessee’s Favorite Sour Mash, Jack Daniels #7, a banana simple syrup that we create in-house, and The Bitter Truth nut bitters. Garnishment, instead of the typical orange peel or cherry, is a bruleed banana slice. This is a sweeter version of the Old Fashioned you know and love, and brings out the inherent banana notes you taste in Jack Daniel’s.

If you visit us and ask for a classic Old Fashioned, though, we can deliver. Typically, the more classic version of the cocktail will include a rye whiskey. A rye’s tasting notes will usually shine through your cocktail a little better than other whiskeys. (For a bit of a kick, try a rye with notes of pepper, fruit, and oak). 

Some popular whiskey requests in our classic Old Fashioned are Pikesville Rye, Maker’s Mark, and Blanton’s (we even have our own barrel selection of Blanton’s, so we always have that on deck). One of our bartenders, Ari’s, go-to’s is our own hand-selected barrel of Corsair’s Ryemaggedon Rye. 

However you choose to drink your classic Old Fashioned, don’t forget our top pro tip -- don’t leave that cherry in the bottom of the glass when you’re finished.