Wild Turkey's Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail

By
Colleen Graham
Photo of Colleen Graham
Colleen Graham
Freelance writer and cocktail book author Colleen Graham is a seasoned mixologist who loves sharing her knowledge of spirits and passion for preparing drinks.
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Updated on 04/27/21
Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail With Wild Turkey Bourbon

The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

Prep: 3 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 3 mins
Serving: 1 serving
Yield: 1 cocktail
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
463 Calories
0g Fat
45g Carbs
1g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 463
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 1%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 11mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 45g 16%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 41g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 26mg 132%
Calcium 33mg 3%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 124mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The old-fashioned is a fantastic cocktail and—because it's so simple—it offers a number of opportunities to play with the ingredients. In the old-fashioned 101 recipe, Wild Turkey Bourbon adds a wonderful blend of flavors to tantalize your taste buds.

For this twist on the old-fashioned, the bourbon is accented with apple cider, fresh sage, and brown sugar. The saffron and orange peels give the drink a spicy tang, which is perfect against the robust notes of Wild Turkey 101. All of this results in an old-fashioned as you have never known it.

Ingredients

  • 1 fresh cherry, for garnish

  • 3 ounces amaretto, for garnish

  • 1/2 ounce apple cider

  • 3 sage leaves

  • 2 orange twists

  • 1 teaspoon orange zest

  • 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar

  • 1 pinch saffron

  • 1 1/2 ounces bourbon whiskey

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail
    S&C Design Studios

  2. Slice the cherry from top to bottom 5 times around the pit. Soak in a few ounces of amaretto for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

    Soaking a Cherry in Amaretto
    S&C Design Studios

  3. Muddle the apple cider, sage, orange twists and zest, brown sugar, and saffron in a mixing glass.

    Muddling the Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail
    S&C Design Studios

  4. Add the bourbon, fill the glass with ice, and stir well.

    Stirring the Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail
    S&C Design Studios

  5. Strain and serve over fresh ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with the amaretto-soaked cherry. Serve and enjoy.

    Old-Fashioned 101 Cocktail With Wild Turkey Bourbon
    S&C Design Studios

Tips

  • You'll want to muddle this cocktail very well to incorporate all the herb, spice, and citrus flavors into the sugar and cider mix. Press and turn the ingredients for a good 30 seconds. Don't worry about appearances because you'll strain everything out of the drink anyway.
  • Saffron will stain a wood muddler a yellowish color. For that reason, you might want to use a stainless steel or rubber-tipped muddler for this drink.
  • Be sure to stir this drink for a full 30 seconds. The agitation of the ice will add a perfect amount of dilution to marry all the flavors together.
  • It's also very easy to make an entire batch of amaretto-infused cherries. This is a good way to preserve fresh cherries when they're in season during the spring. Simply follow the steps for homemade maraschino cherries and switch the liqueur to amaretto.

Recipe Variations

  • True saffron is a very expensive spice and it's not a staple in most pantries. You can either skip the red spice—sold whole as strings or powdered—or use a small pinch of turmeric instead. Turmeric is a saffron substitute used for the similar yellow color it produces. It doesn't have a big effect on this drink because of the bourbon and cider, but it does help.
  • Wild Turkey 101 is the recommended bourbon and it stands up to the myriad of flavors in this cocktail. Of course, you can use any bourbon you like, though lighter whiskies may get lost in the mix. You'll likely find it best to stick with a full-flavor, robust substitute that's also higher than 80 proof.

How Strong Is the Old-Fashioned?

Old-fashioneds are served as short drinks that are typically less than 3 ounces because they are on the stronger side. After all, you're essentially adding flavor to a shot of whiskey.


This recipe adds a little apple cider, but it also uses a 101-proof bourbon, so the two elements even out the final alcohol content. On average, this drink weighs in around 27 percent ABV (54 proof), which is right in line with other old-fashioned variations.