The countdown to Old Fashioned Week has begun with a launch this week to highlight that it will be even bigger this year, with new partners including Cognac Pierre Ferrand.
Now in its fourth year, the annual global celebration from November 1 to 10 is on target to have more than 1,000 bars in the UK and the rest of the world taking part.
Brands involved include American whiskey Woodford Reserve and Monkey Shoulder scotch malt whisky as well as two rums: the aged Havana Club 7 Años from Cuba and agricole Rhum JM from the Caribbean island of Martinique.
But new for this year is a cognac from Maison Ferrand, showcasing how the French spirit can be used for a further twist on a classic Old Fashioned – traditionally made with American whiskey or rum.
Having the right garnishes and bitters are just as important, so the other partners this year are Angostura Aromatic Bitters and Toschi Amarena red cherries. The latter come in jars preserved in syrup with part of their stalk intact, produced by fruit and liqueur maker Toschi which is headed by Giorgio Montorsi and Massimo Toschi and located in Vignola, near Modena, in Italy.
Old Fashioned Week’s website has gone live at www.old-fashioned-week.com while its 13 ambassadors, including Peter Holland of The Floating Rum Shack in the UK, build the list of participating bars. This embassy of top spirits experts and writers is helping to inspire bars to serve up classic, innovative, original, premium or daringly different Old Fashioned cocktails.
Participating bars need to create drinks using at least two of the sponsoring spirit brands but, beyond that, they are free to use their other regular listed spirits. Any venue interested in taking part can register on the website by October 20.
Bars, pubs and restaurants already signed up span the UK, from Rye & Soda, Orchid and The Tippling House in Aberdeen to Pennyroyal, Ten Mill Lane, The Dead Canary, Lab 22 and Peppermint in Cardiff to nearly 50 in London including Demon Wise & Partners, Milk & Honey, Caravan, Rev JW Simpson, Ronnie Scott’s, London Cocktail Club Shoreditch, Victory Mansion, High Water and Original Sin. The launch was held this week at Merchant House of Bow Lane in the City of London which has a huge selection of rums as well as gins.
The celebration was created by Michael Landart of popular Paris neighbourhood bar Maria Loca and rum enthusiast Cyrille Hugon who founded Paris Rum Fest and Rumporter Magazine.
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