Hello and Happy Father’s Day 2016. My dad is a Wine Guy but on a recent trip to visit me in NYC, we discovered that he’s an Old Fashioned Guy too! This post was written during my send off to the show Mad Men and contains a few Old Fashioned recipes that every dad can enjoy. Cheers!

To celebrate “The End of An Era”, welcome to a series of drinks from the television show Mad Men. Each week I’ll be featuring a different cocktail from the show, so we can all drink along with our favourite Madison Avenue Ad-men and women.

As I write this post, I’m drinking an Old Fashioned and re-watching the very first episode of Mad Men. I can’t really put into words how much this show means to me. This is actually the first time in my life that I’ve followed a show to the very end while it was on air. Mad Men is my Sopranos and I really hope Matthew Weiner writes a knockout of an ending.

In the first scene of S1E1, Don establishes his iconic drink of choice with the phrase, “Yeah, we’ll do this again. Old Fashioned please.” Then he drinks them over and over and over again throughout the show. I would even say that along with many of other Classic Cocktails back in vogue, Don Draper put the Old Fashioned on our minds.

Both images via AMC.

The thing about the Old Fashioned it that is the original cocktail and to me, that says a lot about Don Draper. It says he likes to keep things simple. He wants to be respected. He is a whiskey man like many other people from farm country. He likes to present a persona of being classic and is attached to a certain time period.

According to historical records, the first written mention of the word cocktail included a definition that it “should be a potent concoction of spirit, bitters, water and sugar.” Well, we have our recipe, let’s start with the most classic version of an Old Fashioned.

Ingredients: Water, Bitters, Sugar, Barspoon, double Rocks glass. 

Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Rye
• 2 dashes Angostura or Aromatic Bitters
• barspoon Sugar or 1 Sugar Cube
• 1/4 oz Water
• Garnish: Maraschino Cherry and Orange peel

Build in double Rocks glass:

1. Add Sugar, Water and Bitters to glass and stir until sugar is nearly dissolved.
2. Add Rye and stir until everything has mixed properly
3. Add ice and stir until proper dilution has been achieved (around 10 seconds)
4. Add Cherry, express Orange peel and garnish

Image via AMC

In the photo above, Don is muddling a Cherry into his Old Fashioned and even adds Soda Water to the drink before he stirs it. This scene actually caused quite a stir amongst the Cocktail community because “it was a gross Old Fashioned! Never muddle the fruit! No Soda Water ever!” Y’all, come on, let the people do what they want to do with their fruit. Besides, there is actually a Modern Old Fashioned with muddled fruit in it.

Simple Syrup, Bitters, two Cherries, one Orange wedge, muddler and double Rocks glass.

Modern Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Rye
• 1 dash Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• ~1/4 oz Simple Syrup (less if your Orange is really sweet)
• 2 small Orange slices
• 2 Maraschino Cherries

Build in double Rocks Glass:

1. Add Simple Syrup, Orange Slices, Cherries and muddle.
2. Add Rye, Bitters, and ice and stir until proper dilution has been achieved.

Now let’s talk about other Old Fashioned options including one of my favourites, the Cocktail Crate Spiced Old Fashioned. I’ve written about these mixers before and I will write about them until the end of time because they are INCREDIBLE. The Spiced Old Fashioned mixer is truly delicious, it tastes just as delicious as a classic Old Fashioned and is very simple to make.

HINT: BUY THIS MIXER.

Cocktail Crate Spiced Old Fashioned

• 4 parts Whiskey
• 1 part Mixer
• Garnishes: Orange peel and Maraschino Cherry

Build in glass:

1. Combine ingredients over ice and stir.
2. Add Cherry, express orange peel and garnish.

Recommended types of bitters for your Whiskey Old Fashioneds.

Back in Nov 2014, I wrote a post about how Old Fashioneds are the best kind of drink to make when hosting a big party because you can use so many types of Spirits, Sweeteners, Bitters and Garnishes. Check it out if you’d like to make a few with Aged Rum, Añejo Tequila or Apple Brandy.

Well, like pensive Don having an Old Fashioned in Hawaii, I shall be be awaiting the end of this magnificent show. Bye Bye Mad Men!

If you’d like to peruse the other Mad Men cocktails I’ve written during this last season, check them out here.