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 for 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, grown-up, elegant, and unmistakably festive.
