Hey guys, welcome to Drinks Tube, my name is Rich and today i'm going to show you how
to make a Whisky Old Fashioned. This drink is the very essence of a classic cocktail.
It has something of a resurgence in recent years thanks to Don Draper from Mad Men. But
it's origins go back much much further than that, all the way back to the late 18th century
in fact. It's a big bold flavoured drink which is ideally suited to after dinner and late
night sipping and it's just the perfect way to put a new spin on your favourite spirit.
So what you're going to need is some caster sugar, some aromatic bitters, a bottle of
your favourite spirit, because we're making this for burns night i'm going to be using
a 12 year old blended scotch whisky, which we're going to stir down over ice into this
old fashioned glass. You can use a rocks or a tumbler if you choose, and then we're going
to garnish it with a little piece of aromatic orange peel. We're going to start by adding
a teaspoon of caster sugar to the bottom of our glass. This is obviously going to provide
the sweetness to the drink but it's also going to help carry along the flavours of the whisky
through the dilution a little bit later. Four dashes or aromatic bitters. This helps to
balance the sweetness of the sugar but it also bring these lovely aromatic spicy qualities
to the drink. I'm going to be using 50ml of scotch whisky which we're going to add in
small measures so little by little. We'll start by adding just a tiny splash to the
bottom of the glass, just to help us dissolve the sugar and then we're going to add our
ice very slowly. Piece by piece, one or two lumps at a time. The reason we do this is
because it helps to slow the speed that we're diluting and chilling the drink which is going
to help us maintain all the wonderful flavours you get from long ageing out of a bottle of
whisky such as this, and then add piece by piece, dash of whisky, couple of cubes of
ice dash of whisky, couple of cubes of ice. Making an old fashioned really is something
of a ritual so it is important to take your time over it. While i've got some time. Don't
forget to subscribe to Drinks Tube, it's a wonderful free channel right here on youtube,
where you get to learn all about cocktails, beers, wines, soft drinks. A little bit more
scotch whisky and a little bit more ice. So we're just going to add the last little drop
of whisky and the last piece of ice. Now the key to the perfect old fashioned is to make
sure you get the balance of chill and dilution against the strength of flavour of your whisky
exactly right. Now you can tell if your drink's cold enough by literally just putting your
hand up against the side of the glass like that and you should feel this lovely sort
of frosty chill on your fingers. But it's important that you make sure you don't over
dilute your drink at the same time and that you still carry the strength of flavour of
the whisky throughout this. So, just give it a little taste with the spoon, just to
check, Absolutely perfect. Now, all that's left is to add the zest of an orange. We're
using orange because this is going to enhance a lot of the spicy characteristics that you
get from the aromatic bitters which are also found, these cinamony notes that you get in
a scotch whisky, a long with these kind of ripe dried fruity sort of flavours. And just
by giving a gentle squeeze around the side and the top of the glass which is going to
bring the aroma of this drink to life. Fold up your twist, drop it in, and there you have
it, a whisky old fashioned, lets have a taste. Perfect balance, this lovely kind of cinnamony,
spiceyness that you get from the aromatic bitters which balances out perfectly with
the kind of fruitcakey notes from the whisky and of course that underlying maltyness that
you only get by using a scotch. So you can use other kinds of whisky in this drink, rye
whisky gives you a lovely peppery sort of flavour to it, a bourbon would be a little
bit sweeter with a kind of corny sort of note to it. But for Burns Night, a scotch whisky
is the only way forward. Make sure you try this drink at home, it does take a little
bit of time but it's absolutely delicious that's why it's been around for over two hundred
years. For more whisky cocktails click here or check out the link in the description box
below, i'm a particular fan of the whisky and elderflower cobbler and don't forget to
subscribe to Drinks Tube just down here. Cheers everybody.