The Old Fashioned is a classic bourbon cocktail.  Many modern versions turn it into a fruit salad by muddling oranges and cherries, but the following is the simple recipe I prefer.

Ingredients:

Bourbon or rye whiskey
Angostura bitters
A sugar cube or simple syrup
Orange peel
A rocks glass

The traditional recipe calls for placing a sugar cube in a glass, adding three dashes of bitters and then muddling the sugar to start dissolving it.  I use three dashes of bitters and a small squirt of simple syrup.  Sugar doesn’t dissolve that well, so I stick with syrup.  Go sparingly; you don’t want a sweet cocktail.

Next we need two ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey.  Woodford Reserve is a sipping bourbon, but it also makes great cocktails.

Using a vegetable peeler, get a nice slice of orange peel.  Trimming the edges is optional, but it looks nice if you’re making it for a guest.

Give the orange peel a good squeeze/bend lengthwise into the glass to get some of the oils into the cocktail.  Swirl it around a bit and leave it in the glass as a garnish.

Add a few ice cubes and serve.  This is a man’s cocktail – strong with just a hint of the orange and bitters for a nice flavor.