Yuletide Old Fashioned (Woodford Reserve Edition)

A classic Old Fashioned dressed for Christmas, with gentle spice, citrus warmth and a whisper of winter fruit, never overpowering the bourbon.

Ingredients

60 ml Woodford Reserve Straight Bourbon

1 tsp spiced demerara syrup (see below)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 dash orange bitters

A small strip of orange peel

1 cinnamon stick

3–4 frozen cranberries (for garnish and gentle chilling)

Large ice cube or sphere

Spiced Demerara Syrup (make once, use all season)

200 g demerara sugar

200 ml water

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 small piece of orange peel

Gently heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, strain, and refrigerate. Keeps for 2–3 weeks.

Method

Chill a rocks glass.

Add the spiced demerara syrup and bitters to the glass.

Pour in the Woodford Reserve and stir gently.

Add a large ice cube and stir again until properly chilled.

Express the orange peel over the drink, rim the glass, then drop it in.

Garnish with the cinnamon stick and frozen cranberries.

Why it works

Woodford Reserve’s vanilla, caramel and toasted oak notes marry beautifully with warming Christmas spices.

Demerara sugar enhances depth without masking the bourbon.

Cranberries add festive flair without turning the drink sweet or sharp.

Optional Festive Variations

Smoky Christmas Eve: briefly smoke the glass with cinnamon bark or orange peel.

Nutty Noël: add ¼ tsp hazelnut liqueur for a subtle praline note.

Orange Grove: swap orange bitters for chocolate bitters for a Terry’s-inspired twist.

This is a proper Christmas Old Fashioned. It's grown-up, elegant, and unmistakably festive.