The Old Fashioned might just be the perfect cocktail. It’s deceptively simple, with only five straight forward ingredients: spirit, sugar, bitters, citrus peel, ice cubes. But the Old Fashioned’s thin line of success or failure rests on two factors: the choice of those ingredients and technique. If you ever want to test the chops of a unfamiliar bartender, order an Old Fashioned as your first drink.
The classic base spirit in the Old Fashioned is, of course, whiskey — most often bourbon. At the contemporary bar, however, the definition of an Old Fashioned has grown to include other brown spirits, such as brandy, añejo tequila, — and, best of all, aged rum.
Which is why we’re excited to take part in Old Fashioned Week 2018, from November 1st through 10th. The timing couldn’t be better — a shift from light to darker rum as the warm weather gives way to cooler autumn nights.
Over 1,200 bars around the world will celebrate the cocktail for 10 days. Launched in 2015 by Michael Landart of the Maria Loca bar in Paris, and Cyrille Hugon of and Rhum Fest Paris & Marseille/Rumporter, Old Fashioned Week became a global event in 2017. Old Fashioned Week is an open festival which gives prominence to spirit connoisseurs’ favorite cocktail and bartenders’ creativity.
Rhum J.M is the perfect rum for an Old Fashioned. Our basic Agric’Old Fashioned recipe is below, and you can check out our video on how we make it. But we’d like to encourage bartenders to innovate even further with rhum agricole Old Fashioneds. Send us photos and recipes of your experimentations. Happy Old Fashioned Week!
Agric’Old Fashioned
Ingredients
2 oz. Rhum J.M VO or VSOP
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dashes bitters
Orange peel
Method
Muddle sugar and bitters into a paste. Add rhum and ice. Stir. Garnish with expressed orange peel.
