Ingredients
- 2 ozbourbon
- ½ ozamaretto
- 2 dashesangostura bitters
- 1 dashorange bitters
- 🍋Orange peel twist and an optional cocktail cherry.(garnish)
Instructions
- Combine bourbon, amaretto, Angostura bitters, and orange bitters in a mixing glass.
- Add a generous handful of ice and stir steadily for 25 to 30 seconds until the drink is well chilled and slightly diluted.
- Place one large ice cube in a chilled rocks glass.
- Strain the cocktail over the ice.
- Express an orange peel over the surface to release its oils, then add it as a garnish. Add a cocktail cherry if desired. Serve immediately.
📜 History
The Almond Old Fashioned is a bourbon-forward riff on the Old Fashioned cocktail — a drink whose roots trace to the early 19th century United States — in which amaretto takes the place of the traditional sugar-and-bitters sweetener. The substitution works because bourbon and amaretto share complementary flavor compounds: the vanilla and caramel notes derived from bourbon's time in new charred oak barrels have a natural affinity with the almond, stone-fruit, and vanilla character of amaretto. The addition of Angostura bitters bridges the two, providing the aromatic complexity that defines the Old Fashioned format. The combination gained attention in craft cocktail circles during the 2010s and by 2024 and 2025 was appearing with regularity on bar menus as part of amaretto's broader resurgence in serious cocktail programs. Difford's Guide lists this style among its recommended amaretto cocktails.