Almond Old Fashioned
An Almond Old Fashioned is 60ml of bourbon, 15ml of amaretto and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, with an orange twist. About 2.8 UK units. Some amaretto is made with almonds, so read the label before pouring one for anyone with a nut allergy. The Oxford Companion says amaretto is generally made from apricot kernels macerated in brandy and then sweetened, not from almonds. In our view its mild bitterness is why the swap works: the liqueur sweetens and seasons at once, and the drink comes out drier than the word almond suggests. The measure is the whole discipline. A Godfather pours amaretto at half the spirit and drinks like a dessert. Fifteen millilitres against sixty of bourbon keeps it doing a sugar’s job. No inventor is recorded; the drink grew out of treating the Old Fashioned’s sweetener as a variable.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Orange twist
Ingredients
60ml
Around 40% ABV, with enough body to stand up to a sweet liqueur. A soft wheated bourbon sinks into the marzipan; one with more rye in the mash holds its shape.
15ml
Around 28% ABV, as Drinkfinder lists Disaronno. Choose one that tastes of kernel, with some bitterness, rather than of almond essence. Brands differ in what they use, so read the label for anyone with a nut or egg allergy.
2 dashes
Two dashes. The amaretto already seasons as well as sweetens, so the bitters are there to hold the shape rather than add another layer of spice.
Instructions
Add the bourbon, amaretto and bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Put one large cube in a rocks glass and strain the drink over it.
Express an orange twist over the surface and drop it in.
Our version
No recognised specification exists. Ours is 60ml of bourbon, 15ml of amaretto and two dashes of Angostura, with the amaretto measured to do the sugar’s job rather than lead.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the amaretto. It is thick and clings to the jigger, and a heavy pour takes the drink from seasoned to sticky in about 5ml. If you have only had this drink too sweet, that is why. Buy amaretto that tastes of kernel rather than almond essence. The cheapest bottles are sugar and flavouring with nothing bitter behind them, and the drink loses the edge that makes the swap work. Stir for 20 to 30 seconds, and not less. The liqueur’s sugar needs the dilution, and a short stir leaves sweet bourbon rather than an Old Fashioned.
Behind the Almond Old Fashioned
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
No inventor is on record. The drink belongs to the period when bartenders stopped treating the Old Fashioned as a fixed recipe and read it as a frame instead: spirit, sweetener, bitters and ice, with the sweetener free to change.
Amaretto was an obvious candidate, because it already shared a glass with whisky in the Godfather. Versions appeared in enough bars that no first one can be named.
Why Amaretto Instead of Sugar
The Oxford Companion says amaretto is generally made from apricot kernels macerated in brandy and then sweetened, and that Disaronno steeps herbs and fruits in crushed apricot kernel oil. In our view its bitterness is mild, and it is what lets the liqueur season as well as sweeten.
Sugar in an Old Fashioned is silent: it softens the spirit and adds nothing of its own. Amaretto does that job and adds marzipan on the way in and a faint bitter finish on the way out, so the two dashes of Angostura have something to work against.
The Fifteen Millilitres
A Godfather is Scotch and amaretto at two to one, 45ml to 22.5ml, and drinks like a dessert. This drink keeps the same two flavours at four to one, 60ml of bourbon to 15ml of amaretto.
At 20ml the marzipan starts to lead. At 30ml you have the Godfather’s ratio with bourbon in place of Scotch. The measure decides whether this is a spirit-forward drink with an almond edge or a sweet one with bourbon in it, so use a jigger.
Three Ways to Sweeten Whisky
The Almond Old Fashioned beside the Old Fashioned and the Godfather; all three are our own recipes
Old Fashioned (ours)
- Spirit
- 45ml bourbon or rye
- Sweetener
- One sugar cube
- Bitters
- Two dashes Angostura
- UK units
- About 1.8
Almond Old Fashioned
- Spirit
- 60ml bourbon
- Sweetener
- 15ml amaretto
- Bitters
- Two dashes Angostura
- UK units
- About 2.8
Godfather
- Spirit
- 45ml Scotch
- Sweetener
- 22.5ml amaretto
- Bitters
- None
- UK units
- About 2.4
| Drink | Spirit | Sweetener | Bitters | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Fashioned (ours) | 45ml bourbon or rye | One sugar cube | Two dashes Angostura | About 1.8 |
| Almond Old Fashioned | 60ml bourbon | 15ml amaretto | Two dashes Angostura | About 2.8 |
| Godfather | 45ml Scotch | 22.5ml amaretto | None | About 2.4 |
Make the Old Fashioned beside it to taste what the sugar was doing; for amaretto with Scotch, the Godfather.
Orgeat, and the Other Almond
A version made with orgeat is a different drink. Orgeat is almond syrup with orange flower water and no bitterness, so it softens the bourbon and pushes the glass towards tiki.
It loses the seasoning amaretto brings, so it needs a third dash of bitters. Orgeat is made from almonds, which matters for anyone with a nut allergy.
How to Serve It
Over one large cube in a rocks glass, with an orange twist expressed over the surface before it goes in. The citrus oil is the one bright note in a glass of oak, sugar and kernel.
After dinner suits it, as it suits the Godfather.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Bourbon)Under the US standard 27 CFR 5.143, bourbon is an American whiskey whose mash is at least 51% corn, matured in fresh charred oak barrels and bottled at 40% ABV or higher, the figure our recipes use. The fresh charred wood gives it its vanilla, caramel and colour, and the corn gives a rounder, sweeter spirit than rye. It is the base of 26 of our recipes, more than any other whiskey.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Almond Old Fashioned?
Does amaretto contain nuts?
Is amaretto made with almonds?
How is it different from a Godfather?
Can I use orgeat instead of amaretto?
Should it be stirred in a mixing glass or built?
How strong is an Almond Old Fashioned?
Sources.
Checked between 18 October and 19 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Alia Akkam), “almond liqueurs” (secondary source: amaretto generally made from apricot kernels macerated in brandy and sweetened; Disaronno steeps herbs and fruits in crushed apricot kernel oil; Lazzaroni infuses Amaretti di Saronno cookies).
- Disaronno, “Disaronno Originale” (producer’s product page: “Nut-allergy free”).
- Drinkfinder, “Disaronno 50cl” (UK retailer listing: Disaronno 28% ABV).
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Godfather
A Godfather is 45ml of Scotch and 22.5ml of amaretto, two to one, stirred over one large ice cube in a rocks glass for 15 to 20 seconds and served without garnish. About 2.4 UK units. Amaretto can be made from almonds or apricot kernels, so check the bottle for anyone with a nut allergy. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, calls it one of the enduring classics of the 1970s and finds it in Brian F. Rea’s 1976 Brian’s Booze Guide with the French Connection, which pours cognac and amaretto in equal measures, naming the drink after Mario Puzo’s novel and the 1972 film. No inventor is recorded. Recipes differ on the ratio: Difford’s Guide prints one part amaretto to one and a half of Scotch. We lean on the Scotch: its dry grain and any smoke give the almond something to push against, and at two to one it is still a whisky drink rather than a liqueur one.
Fancy Free
A Fancy Free is 60ml of rye whiskey, 15ml of maraschino liqueur and two dashes each of Angostura and orange bitters, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, with an expressed orange twist. About 3.0 UK units. It is an Old Fashioned sweetened with maraschino in place of sugar. Punch traces it to Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies’ Companion of 1941, where it was shaken, served in a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass and given only two dashes of maraschino. The drink came back through New York’s revival bars. Punch says the bartender Jeremy Oertel met it at Dram in Brooklyn around 2010, where it had arrived on a Milk & Honey spec sheet, and his version, stirred over a big cube with 15ml of maraschino, is the one we follow, with rye where he uses bourbon.
Old Fashioned
The IBA’s Old Fashioned is 45ml of bourbon or rye whiskey, one sugar cube, a few dashes of Angostura bitters and a few dashes of water; we use bourbon and two dashes. The sugar and bitters are muddled in a rocks glass until the cube dissolves, then ice goes in, the bourbon goes over it and the drink is stirred for 15 to 20 seconds. Orange peel is expressed over the top. About 1.9 UK units. Only the sugar and bitters are muddled: no orange flesh, no cherry. The recipe predates the name. The Oxford Companion says that when a newspaper in Hudson, New York, defined the cocktail in 1806, it described “spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters”. The name came later in the century: the Companion has people ordering Old-Fashioneds in Chicago in 1880, as bartenders added liqueurs to the format and drinkers who wanted it plain asked for one made the old-fashioned way.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026