An Easy Honeyed Scotch Old Fashioned

Inexpensive scotch whisky, honey, bitters, an orange peel. That's it.

Recently, we looked at an Old Fashioned built on a combination of two types of Scotch, a hint of rum, and honey syrup.

It’s a layered, complex drink that balances basic blended Scotch whisky with an aggressive Islay expression, plus a hint of over-the-top, hogo-heavy rum, all bound together with the floral, mellow sweetness of honey syrup. 

It’s a great drink. But with three fairly specific bottles of booze on the ingredient list, it does take a somewhat well-stocked bar to make. 

Fortunately, you can make a delicious Scotch Old Fashioned with just a single, inexpensive bottle. 

For this Old Fashioned, you’ll need a basic blended Scotch.

My go-to whisky here is The Famous Grouse, which runs about $20 a bottle, sometimes less. And you’ll need to make honey syrup — but since that’s just a matter of whisking together honey and water, it’s not much effort. For the bitters, I like a combination of Angostura Aromatic bitters and orange bitters, like Regan’s or Fee Brothers West Indian. But you can make a perfectly good version with just Angostura if that’s all you have on hand. 

This is a pretty simple cocktail, but it’s incredibly satisfying, balancing the smooth, grain-forward sensibility of competent blended Scotch with the sweetness of honey and the spice rack notes of aromatic bitters. 

It’s about as easy to make as you can get in the cocktail world, and thus makes for a great mid-week cocktail.

It is not quite as rich as an Old Fashioned made with bourbon or rye, so it’s ideally suited for the sort of fall evening where the temperature hasn’t quite dropped down into the chilly depths. If you use Famous Grouse for the whisky it’s also fairly inexpensive. 

Cocktails like this are a reminder of just how delicious simple, affordable cocktails can be, especially when made at home. 

Honey Scotch Old Fashioned 

• 1 dash orange bitters, such as Regan’s (or a second dash of Angostura if you don’t have orange bitters)

• 1 dash Angostura Aromatic bitters

• 1 fat tsp (so a slightly overflowing teaspoon measure) 3:1 honey syrup*

• 2 ounces blended Scotch whisky, preferably The Famous Grouse 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass

2. Add ice, then stir until chilled.

3. Strain into a rocks glass over ice, ideally a single large cube.

4. Garnish with a strip of orange peel twisted gently over the top of the drink, then dropped into the glass. 

3:1 honey syrup: Combine 3 parts honey with 1 part water, by volume, so for example 12 ounces honey and 4 ounces water. Whisk to combine, until fully integrated—about 30 seconds to a minute. Bottle and store in the fridge. Keeps for a month or more. 

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