1. Fill shaker with ice and add cocktail
2. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds
3. Strain into a martini glass
4. Garnish with a slice of dried orange

The story behind the drink

It’s likely that whisky provided the spirit component of the very first cocktail, after London apothecary Richard Stoughton invented aromatic bitters, which were soon added to spirits, together with sugar and water, to create highly palatable concoctions. In an 1806 issue of the US periodical, ‘The Balance and Columbian Repository’, the paper's editor wrote of a drink called a ‘bittered sling’ – a recipe that blended spirit (whisky) with bitters, water and sugar and was arguably the first recorded definition of a cocktail which would later be known more widely as an Old Fashioned. Although others, including the famous gentleman’s club – The Pendennis in Louisville – claim the Old Fashioned as their own invention, this simple, yet enduringly popular, drink was already in general circulation by the 1880s.

The ingredients

The Old Fashioned is created with Adnams Single Malt Whisky, made from East Anglian malted barley. Small-batch and copper pot stilled; the whisky is matured in new French oak barrels for at least five years before being bottled. This smooth, rich whisky has bold flavours of runny honey, vanilla and apricots. There’s a moreish, caramel finish with lush, lingering fruit. Alongside this Edmunds use Angostura Aromatic Bitters, a concentrated bitters made of herbs and spices by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago with extracts of grasses, roots, leaves and fruits dissolved in alcohol. They infuse this with fresh oranges to complete the drink.