Month: March 2021

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The Quick Pour: On The Rocks Premium Old Fashioned Cocktail

On the Rock cocktail bottle and Old Fashioned in glass over ice

Welcome to the first Bourbon & Bitters Quick Pour, where we skip the pretenses and dive right into a product review. Today, we’re trying out The Old Fashioned (of course) from the On the Rocks Premium Cocktails collection. This premixed cocktail combines Knob Creek bourbon whiskey (one of our favorites) with bitters, cane sugar, orange, cherry, and lemon flavors.

On the Rocks bills this cocktail as “A stunning blend of classic bourbon, with the perfect touch of cherry and orange and a beautiful vanilla finish.” It’s earned a Gold medal from the Beverage Tasting Institute and a Silver medal in the World Spirits Competition.

Let’s see how this ready-to-drink Old Fashioned lives up to the hype. For our tasting, we did a simple pour over ice in a rocks glass, accompanied by an orange peel.

First impression: It’s stronger than you’d expect for a pre-mix. The cherry notes hit your nose right off the top, though the orange is more subtle, even with the fresh orange peel. It’s drinkable, but not as smooth as you might experience from a freshly mixed Old Fashioned with a classic muddled sugar cube. Still, for an at-home cocktail with no work required, it’s pretty solid. We’d recommend maybe dressing it up with a cherry or a bit more of an orange zest.

Rating: 3/5 tumblers

Three rocks glasses rating

On the Rocks Premium Cocktails | The Old Fashioned
Available in 375ml, 200ml, and 100ml bottles
35% ABV / 70 proof

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Scotchdale partners with West Coast Beverages to expand Nevada distribution

A whisky cocktail and a bottle of whisky

Scottsdale, Arizona probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think of fine Scottish whisky. But the rookie Scotchdale brand defies expectations. Created by Scottsdale residents Travis Ranville and John McDonnell several years ago and brought to market in early 2019, Scotchdale’s 80-proof blended malt Scotch whisky comes from Angus Dundee Distillers’ two pure malt distilleries in the Highland and Speyside regions of Scotland, aged for a minimum of eight years in charred American oak bourbon barrels.

Whisky Advocate gave Scotchdale a solid 90-point rating in fall 2020, describing it as “medium-bodied” and noting that it “eschews sweetness and fruitiness to inhabit a world of dark toffee, Brazil nut, dry oak, malt, plain chocolate, hot peppery spice, and licorice.” The folks at Scotchdale simply tout it as “the most livable whisky.”

Previously only available in the Phoenix metropolitan area and surrounding Arizona communities, thanks to a partnership with Las Vegas-based West Coast Beverages, Scotchdale can now be found in a number of Southern Nevada bars and restaurants, including The Charleston Tavern, 18bin, and 595 Craft + Kitchen, as well as local retailers such as Crystal Liquors and Hacienda Liquor.

Scotchdale’s website features a number of delicious cocktail recipes for its flexible blended Scotch whisky—many inspired by the state of Arizona—but because McDonnell and Ranville are obviously men of good taste, the whisky brand’s signature cocktail is its eponymous “The Scotchdale,” a refined take on an Old Fashioned that subs chocolate and orange bitters for the traditional Angostura version, which naturally complements the spirit’s robust flavor profile.

The Scotchdale

  • 2 oz. Scotchdale whisky
  • 2 dashes chocolate bitters
  • 1 dash orange bitters
  • 1/2 oz. simple syrup
  • Top with soda water
  • Garnish with orange peel

Of course, if you want to get your sip of Scotchdale right now, you’d need to make your way to Arizona or Nevada. But now you know next time you find yourself in Vegas, Scottsdale, or even the New Age haven of Sedona, you can probably ask your bartender for a taste of this imported blend designed to “tame the Arizona heat.”

Main image by TAVITS Photography, courtesy of Scotchdale.