Woodford Reserve Recipe

Prepare the glass

Place an old-fashioned glass on your workspace. Add the sugar cube to the bottom of the glass and saturate it with the cold water so it begins to dissolve.

Add bitters and muddle

Add 2 dashes of Angostura bitters directly onto the sugar cube. Using a muddler or the back of a bar spoon, gently crush and muddle the sugar cube until it is mostly dissolved and forms a syrup with the water and bitters (about 10–15 seconds).

Add bourbon

Pour 2 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon into the glass over the bitters-sugar mixture.

Add ice and stir

Add one large ice cube (or several large cubes) to the glass. Stir gently with a bar spoon for 20–30 seconds to chill and dilute the drink slightly, integrating the bourbon with the sugar-bitter syrup.

Express orange peel and garnish

Hold an orange peel over the glass, skin side down, and give it a firm twist to express the oils over the surface of the cocktail. Rub the peel around the rim of the glass, then drop it into the drink as a garnish.

Serve immediately. Optionally, for a slightly sweeter, more stirred Old Fashioned style, add a second small sugar cube or 1/4 tsp simple syrup during the muddling step; for a stronger citrus aroma, flame the expressed peel briefly and discard before dropping the peel in.