Put A Fruity Fall Twist On An Old Fashioned Cocktail By Making It Normandy-Style

A crisp evening calls for a cozy cocktail that can warm you up from the inside out like the Old Fashioned. The classic drink is heavy on the bourbon, which brings notes of vanilla and caramel, with a hint of sugary sweetness and some bitters for balance. But if you're looking for a richer, deeper, and more fruit-forward twist on the cocktail, it's worth giving the Normandy Old Fashioned a try.

A traditional Old Fashioned already comes garnished with an orange peel and some maraschino cherries for a touch of fruity brightness, but this French-inspired version takes things up a notch by adding apple brandy to the mix. More specifically, the Calvados variety, which originates from the Normandy region of France. Indeed, this is one of Europe's apple capitals, home to lush orchards that grow hundreds of varieties of the fruit that are used to produce cider, tarts, and yes, that signature boozy brandy.

While a few versions of a Normandy Old Fashioned exist, the primary differentiator is the inclusion of the apple brandy, either as an accompaniment to or replacement of the bourbon base. This changes the cocktail's profile. It's rich, complex, and of course, more apple-y, but also rather spicy and woody — a whisper of the spirit's time spent aging in oak barrels. Although you can really use any sort of apple brandy to pay homage to its name, Calvados is worth getting your hands on for a truly authentic nod to Normandy.

While you may associate "apple" with a brighter, crisper flavor profile, Calvados (which Mashed has hailed as one of the best types of brandy out there) tends to have a warmer, richer footprint that's more comparable to a baked apple pie. This allows it to pair well with bourbon whiskey if you do choose to mix them in your Normandy Old Fashioned, but also stand on its own as a suitable and equally warming replacement. In either case, you'll be getting a sip that tastes like autumn in a glass.

As mentioned above, there are different variations of this apple-forward cocktail. One version, the Normandie Old Fashioned, hails from the Normandie Club in Los Angeles and was created by mixologists Alex Day and Devon Tarby. Their riff on the drink involves marrying apple brandy with coconut-infused bourbon for a bold concoction that nods to the tropics. However, it doesn't quite veer into Tiki territory. Thanks to the inclusion of spiced almond demerara syrup (made with fall spices like cinnamon and cloves), the sip also delivers autumnal aromatics aplenty, with a bit of a nutty twist that works to complement the coconut. 

One can also mix and match different whiskies to make the ultimate Old Fashioned. Whether you pair the spirit with apple brandy or leave it out, a dedicated cocktail connoisseur can whip this sip up all fall and winter long and might never end up with the same drink twice. It may be called an Old Fashioned, but it certainly lends itself to plenty of experimentation.