So, I was looking at my bar cart the other day, trying to figure out something different to mix up. My eyes landed on the bottle of Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur. Usually, I just use a splash here and there for specific cocktails, you know? But I thought, what about putting it in an Old Fashioned? Seemed kinda weird, but hey, worth a shot.
Getting the Stuff Together
First things first, I grabbed the essentials. Decided to go with rye whiskey for this one, felt like it would stand up better to the liqueur than bourbon. Pulled down the Luxardo, obviously. Then the usual suspects:
- Angostura bitters
- My trusty mixing glass and long stirring spoon
- A jigger for measuring (don’t want to mess this up too badly first try)
- A nice heavy rocks glass
- Ice – got some big cubes ready for serving and regular cubes for stirring
- An orange for the peel
I thought about sugar or simple syrup, but figured the Luxardo is pretty sweet already. Decided to skip it for the first attempt. Can always add it later if needed, right?
Mixing it Up
Okay, here’s how I put it together. I put one big ice cube into the rocks glass to let it chill down while I mixed. Then, into the mixing glass went about 2 ounces of the rye whiskey. Next up, the Luxardo liqueur – I went with about half an ounce. Didn’t want it to completely take over. Added two dashes of the Angostura bitters.
Filled the mixing glass up with regular ice cubes. Then I started stirring. Just kept going, nice and steady, for maybe 30, 40 seconds? You gotta get it properly cold and just slightly diluted. Watched it swirl around.
Once it felt right, I grabbed the chilled rocks glass, tossed out any meltwater from the big cube (if there was any), and strained the mixture from the mixing glass right over that big cube. Looked pretty good already.
For the finish, I cut a nice strip of orange peel. Gave it a good twist over the drink to get those oils out – smells amazing when you do that. Rubbed the peel around the rim of the glass too, then just dropped it in. Simple.
So, How Was It?
Took a sip. And yeah, it’s definitely an Old Fashioned, but with a twist. That Luxardo cherry flavor is right there, but it’s not like a sugary cough drop cherry, it’s more complex. It mixes surprisingly well with the spiciness of the rye and the bitters.
It was maybe a tiny bit sweeter than my standard Old Fashioned, but not overly so. Glad I skipped the extra sugar. The orange peel brightness really helped cut through everything too.
Overall? A pretty successful experiment! It’s a nice change of pace if you like Old Fashioneds but want something a little different. Definitely a good way to use that Luxardo liqueur if you have some sitting around. I’ll probably make it again when the mood strikes. Not an every-night drink for me, maybe, but solid.
