The Maple & Walnut is an Old Fashioned dressed for autumn. Rye whiskey is sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of sugar, and black walnut bitters join the Angostura — a deep, earthy, nutty drink built for cold weather.
The Old Fashioned, gone to the woods in October.
Maple for Sugar
Maple syrup does what a sugar cube does — it sweetens — but it brings flavour with it: a woody, caramelised, faintly mineral depth that plain sugar cannot. Use a real, dark, robust maple syrup; the imitation stuff is mostly corn syrup and adds nothing.
Black Walnut Bitters
A few dashes of black walnut bitters alongside the Angostura push the drink toward the nutty, autumnal register the maple sets up. Together they make the rye taste rounder and warmer — an Old Fashioned that tastes of the season.
Stir It Like an Old Fashioned
Nothing about the method changes. Stir the rye, maple, and bitters with ice until cold and properly diluted, then strain over one large cube. The maple needs a moment's stirring to dissolve fully — give it that, and the drink comes together.
The Old Fashioned Family
The original cocktail — spirit, sugar, and bitters over ice, with an orange peel.
- 2 ozBourbon or rye
- 1 cubeSugar
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Phil Ward's craft landmark — a split of tequila and mezcal for the whiskey.
- 1 1/2 ozReposado tequila
- 1/2 ozMezcal
- 1 tspAgave syrup
The Midwest's Old Fashioned — brandy, muddled fruit, and a splash of soda.
- 2 ozBrandy
- 1 tspSugar
- MuddleOrange & cherry
Aged Demerara rum and demerara syrup — a unified, dark, deeply warming Old Fashioned.
- 2 ozDemerara rum
- 1 tspDemerara syrup
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters