History of the Old Fashioned Cocktail Class - September 10th
September 10th, 2025 @ 6:00pm NDT
History at Wigle is one of our favorite topics. There is such a wealth of information available if you know the right places to look. For this month’s workshop, we thought it would be fun to let history inspire us, and take a trip through the past to understand what is likely the most easily recognized cocktail in the modern world. The Old Fashioned.
The Old Fashioned cocktail can trace its roots as far back as the early 1700s. There are more than a few key people and key moments involved, and we are going to talk about the areas and people that had the most impact.
Our journey will have us tasting a few different versions of the classic drink, so that we can see how differently the drink has evolved over time, and how easy it can be to craft your own take on the classic.
Cocktail 1 - Modern Whiskey Cock Tail
We will start with the Whiskey Cocktail. At it’s most basic level, this drink is nothing more than room temperature spirit, and bitters. Designed to be shot in one gulp, this was the drink that started everything, and in order to truly understand where we went from here, we need to understand the original concept.
Cocktail 2 - The Old Fashioned
Next, we move on to the classic. History has a tendency to move in circles when left unchecked. The Old Fashioned is currently going through a similar renaissance to the one it enjoyed in the late 1800s. And we can’t talk about where it’s going, without seeing where it ended up after nearly 100 years in service.
Cocktail 3 - Black Old Fashioned
As we arrive at our final destination, the beauty of the Old Fashioned should be the fact that it creates such a lovely canvas for us to work with. There are infinite possibilities that can be taken advantage of to create some truly unique sips. With our last cocktail, we will learn how the addition of a few simple at home ingredients can significantly change the drink, and talk about how easy it can be to adapt this truly classic beverage to pretty much any taste imaginable.
