Editing Old fashioned (cocktail) (section)

==History==
The recipe for the old fashioned dates to the early 1800s, though not by that name. The term "old-fashioned cocktails" dates to 1880,<ref name="tribune1880"/> and recipes by that name appear in cocktail books of the late 1880s and 1890s, with {{Harvtxt|Proulx|1888}} of Chicago the earliest known.<ref name="Wondrich2007"/>{{sfn|Proulx|1888|page=25}}

An old fashioned was one of the simpler and earlier versions of cocktails, before the development of advanced bartending techniques and recipes in the later part of the 19th century.<ref name="Wondrich2007">{{Harvnb|Wondrich|2007|pages=196–199}}</ref> The first documented definition of the word "cocktail" was in response to a reader's letter asking to define the word in the 6 May 1806, issue of ''The Balance and Columbian Repository'' in [[Hudson, New York]]. In the 13 May 1806, issue, the paper's editor wrote that it was a potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar; it was also referred to at the time as a bittered sling.<ref>{{Cite news |title=A Beginners Guide to Bourbon |publisher=Bourbon Culture |url=http://thebourbonculture.com/whiskey-info/are-you-a-fan-of-bourbon-check-out-these-tips |url-status=dead |access-date=7 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327085726/http://thebourbonculture.com/whiskey-info/are-you-a-fan-of-bourbon-check-out-these-tips/ |archive-date=27 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{OED|Cocktail}}</ref>
J.E. Alexander describes the cocktail similarly in 1833, as he encountered it in New York City, as being rum, gin, or brandy, significant water, bitters, and sugar, though he includes a nutmeg garnish as well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=J.E. |title=Transatlantic Sketches, Comprising Visits to the Most Interesting Scenes in North and South America, and the West Indies, Volume II |year=1833}}</ref>

By the 1860s, it was common for [[orange curaçao]], [[absinthe]], and other [[liqueur]]s to be added to the cocktail. As cocktails became more complex, drinkers accustomed to simpler cocktails began to ask bartenders for something akin to the pre-1850s drinks. The original concoction, albeit in different proportions, came back into vogue, and was referred to as "old-fashioned".<ref name="Wondrich2007" /><ref name="tribune1880">{{Cite news |date=15 February 1880 |title=The Democracy in Trouble |pages=4 |work=[[The Chicago Daily Tribune]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/172179593 |access-date=9 January 2014 |archive-date=14 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314105513/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/doc/172179593.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+15%2C+1880&author=&pub=Chicago+Daily+Tribune+%281872-1922%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=THE+DEMOCRACY+IN+TROUBLE. |id={{ProQuest|172179593}} |url-status=live }}</ref> The most popular of the in-vogue "old-fashioned" cocktails were made with whiskey, according to a Chicago barman, quoted in the ''[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]'' in 1882, with rye being more popular than Bourbon. The recipe he describes is a similar combination of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar of seventy-six years earlier.<ref name="Wondrich2007" />

===Myths===
The invention of the old fashioned is sometimes credited to the [[Pendennis Club]], a gentlemen's club founded in 1881 in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], and its introduction to New York to [[James E. Pepper]], a prominent bourbon distiller and member of the club. This attribution is due to Albert Stevens Crockett of the [[Waldorf-Astoria (1893–1929)|Waldorf-Astoria]], writing in the 1930s:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crockett |first=Albert Stevens |title=Old Waldorf Bar Days |year=1931|page=153}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Crockett |first=Albert Stevens |title=The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book |year=1935}}</ref><ref name="Hochscheid" />
{{bquote|multiline=yes
|text=''Cocktails''
'''Old-Fashioned Whiskey'''
This was brought to the old Waldorf in the days of its “sit-down” Bar, and introduced by, or in honor of, Col. James E. Pepper, of Kentucky, proprietor of a celebrated whiskey of the period. The Old-fashioned Whiskey cocktail was said to have been the invention of a bartender at the famous Pendennis Club in Louisville, of which Col. Pepper was a member.}}

This is flatly contradicted by the historical record – multiple recipes by the name "Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail" were published over 30 years before Crockett's claim, and the cocktail itself had existed for decades earlier. Cocktail historians also reject this claim – Robert Simonson rejects it,{{sfn|Simonson|2014|p=40–41}} and David Wondrich rejects this origin story as a "myth", writing:<ref name="Wondrich2007" /><ref name="Hochscheid">{{Cite web |date=20 July 2010 |title=In The Beginning |url=https://cincinnaticocktails.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/in-the-beginning/ |first=Craig |last=Hochscheid}}</ref>
{{bquote|Since the ''Chicago Daily Tribune'' was already discussing ‘old fashioned cocktails’ in February of 1880 and the Pendennis Club wasn’t founded until 1881, I think it’s safe to pronounce this myth busted.}}

The popular story of how making an old-fashioned cocktail with brandy instead of whiskey began attributes it to the [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]] in 1893, when the recently opened [[Korbel Champagne Cellars|Korbel]] winery offered samples of their wine and brandy. Central European immigrants from [[Milwaukee]] took a liking to the Bohemian-born Korbel brothers' brandy, and brought it back to their home state and began using it in cocktails. This story is most likely false, however, and the practice more likely began after the [[World War II|Second World War]] due to supply shortages in spirits other than brandy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maxwell |first=Amiee |date=2021-01-28 |title=How Wisconsin Became the Center of the 'Brandy Belt' |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-is-brandy-so-popular-in-wisconsin |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref>

===Popularity===
In January 2020, drinks journal ''Drinks International'' reported the old fashioned to be the top selling classic cocktail internationally, for the 6th straight year, based on its annual, global poll of 100 bars.<ref>{{cite web|date=6 January 2020|url=https://drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8648/The_World_92s_Best-Selling_Classic_Cocktails_2020.html|title=The World's Best-Selling Classic Cocktails 2020|author=Hamish Smith}}</ref>

With its purported conception rooted in the city's history, in 2015 the city of Louisville named the old fashioned as its official cocktail. Each year, during the first two weeks of June, Louisville celebrates "Old Fashioned Fortnight", which encompasses bourbon events, cocktail specials, and National Bourbon Day which is always celebrated on 14 June.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gotolouisville.com/old-fashioned-fortnight/|title=Old Fashioned Fortnight|website=Louisville Tourism}}</ref>

Due to the popularity of the cocktail (when made with brandy) in the state of [[Wisconsin]], the brandy old fashioned was named Wisconsin's [[state beverage|state cocktail]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Ari |date=2023-11-14 |title=Wisconsin crowns the brandy old fashioned as the official state cocktail |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/1213008601/wisconsin-crowns-the-brandy-old-fashioned-as-the-official-state-cocktail |access-date=2024-01-23 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref>