Those with a penchant for whiskey know that the best medicine on a cold night is a splash of bourbon in your glass. The sweet taste of dark chocolate, vanilla bean, and leather spices greet your palate and warm your senses right up.
With so many whiskey-inspired cocktails to choose from, it’s always a challenge to pick your poison for the night. Should you keep it classy with a Manhattan, get tangy with a whiskey sour, or dust off your derby hat with a mint julep?
To help navigate through the land of bourbon and rye, we caught up with our resident mixologist, Courtney Knoop of the Willows Lodge in Woodinville, who gave us the perfect recipe for her favorite whiskey drink: The Woodinville Old Fashioned.
A traditional drink, the Old Fashioned was created to highlight the complex flavors of your chosen whiskey. For Knoop, that whiskey is the one, and only Woodinville Whiskey made locally at the Woodinville Whiskey Company in Washington. Named 2016 Craft Whiskey of the Year, it comes directly from the Omlin Family farm where they believe in making their spirits “homegrown and handmade.” This local philosophy has made it the preferred whiskey at the Willows Lodge.
The other secret ingredient that makes the Woodinville Old Fashioned unique is the infusion of Demerara syrup. We like to refer to Demerara as the king of cocktail sugars. Originally from the West Indies, this sugar is minimally processed, which means it has a raw, crystallized texture that transforms into a natural molasses that harmonizes perfectly with whiskey.
If your mouth is watering so far, then you’ll want to tuck the following recipe in your pocket for your next cocktail night:
The Willows Lodge Woodinville Old Fashioned
Ingredients
2 oz Woodinville Whiskey
1/2 oz Demerara syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes old fashioned bitters
Preparation
Take an old fashioned glass, also known as a “rock glass,” and drizzle 1/2 oz of Demerara syrup. Add two dashes of orange bitters for some citrus flavor and two dashes of old fashioned bitters for some cinnamon notes. Then pour in 2 oz of Woodinville Whiskey, known for its aroma of crème brûlée and spices. Whirl all those amazing ingredients together in your glass, and voila, you’ve made yourself our flavorful Woodinville Old Fashioned!
Want to Try the Real Thing?
While experimenting with at home mixology can be fun, nothing beats getting a curated Old Fashioned made for you, like the ones they serve at the Willows Lodge in Woodinville. Perfect for sipping on a late summer night or for keeping toasty this fall you can enjoy this signature drink at the cozy Fireside Lounge. Don’t forget to tell them Courtney sent you!
