Can a Bottled Old Fashioned Rival the Homemade Version?

What we’re drinking: The Old Fashioned from the New York Cocktail Company

Where it’s from: Founded in 2024 by Linden Pride (owner of perennial world’s best bar Dante), Rodrigo Leme and Malte Barnekow, NYCC crafts ready-to-serve cocktails in collaboration with mixologists from New York’s finest speakeasies. The Old Fashioned is a collab with Jeff Bell from PDT.

Why we’re drinking this: TBH, I’m not a huge fan of bottled cocktails, particularly drinks that are easy enough to make at home. But I was intrigued by NYCC’s drinks pedigree and their collaborations, which started last year with a line of Negronis (Classic, Mezcalito, Chocolate and Espresso) crafted by Dante’s Renato Tonelli, the American Bartender of the Year for 2023 (per the Bartender Spirits Awards).

“During COVID, the city’s world-class bars wanted customers to be able to recreate that iconic New York bar experience wherever they were,” Leme says “Bars like Dante, PDT, Attaboy and The Dead Rabbit created special cocktail packs that consumers enjoyed throughout the year. However, once these bars returned to their regular operations, those packs were no longer available.”

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The idea here is that NYCC is utilizing premium ingredients, sourced from the likes of Mancino Vermouth, Su Casa Mezcal, Forthave Spirits, Faccia Brutto Spirits, Brooklyn Gin and, for the Old Fashioned, Texas’s Milam & Greene whiskey distillery. They’re also playing around with the ingredients — this isn’t just the classic 2 ounces of whiskey, simple syrup and bitters recipe you could whip at home in about 30 seconds (with the Old Fashioned, you’ll find hints of sherry, honey and apricot liqueur, for example).

Still, given the wealth of excellent cocktail bars in New York, how is the NYCC going to play outside the city? “I think we’re the cocktail capital of the world,” Leme says. “The city is home to bars that revolutionized the cocktail scene, such as Rainbow Room, Pegu Club, Flatiron Lounge and Milk & Honey. This is also where world-class cocktails like the Cosmopolitan, Martini, Penicillin and Manhattan were born. And New York is the only city to have had four different bars named World’s Best Bar throughout history: PDT, Employees Only, The Dead Rabbit and Dante. New York provides the credibility we need to name our bottled cocktail company after the city.”

Fair enough. Let’s dive in.

How it tastes: Pleasantly sweet on the palate, I’m getting a lot of honey graham cracker, marshmallow, raspberry, apricot and vanilla here. It’s a more elevated take on an Old Fashioned that I’d make at home and rounded enough to entice non-whiskey fans. And though this has nothing to do with the taste, the bottle itself — shaped like a small decanter — is cool and worth reusing.

Fun fact: NYCC is developing a Martini with Takuma Watanabe, named World Bartender of the Year 2024 by the Spirits Business Awards. Watanabe was the head bartender at the iconic Angel’s Share for eight years and now owns three bars in the city: L’Americana, Midnight Blue and Martiny’s.

Where to buy: You can grab NYCC’s bottled cocktails (375ml) for $27 to $30 online or at various liquor stores around New York (and you’ll even see them used in a few cocktail bars, restaurants and hotels, including Dante, The Irish Exit, Corner Bistro, The Carlyle Hotel and Surrey Hotel).