Rye Old Fashioned, Light Maple

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OriginAmerican, whiskey classic

Active5 min

Total5 min

EquipmentRocks glass, bar spoon, jigger, peeler

Method

STIRRED

Built in the serving glass

Ice

1 LARGE CUBE

2 in / 5 cm, slow-melt

Dilution

~20-25%

30-45 sec stir

Glass

ROCKS

Over the cube

	1 · COMBINE	2 · DISSOLVE	3 · ADD ICE & STIR	4 · GARNISH
2 oz ≈ 59 mL rye whiskey	Into the rocks glass, at room temperature.	Stir rye, maple, and bitters together until the maple fully dissolves1	Stir 30-45 sec, until the glass frosts.
1/4 oz ≈ 7.5 mL maple syrup	In with the rye.
2 dashes Angostura bitters	In with the rye.
1 cube ice, one large cube (2 in / 5 cm)			Drop the cube in, then stir.
1 strip orange peel	Cut a wide strip, set aside.			Express over the top, run it around the rim, drop it in.

1 · COMBINE

2 · DISSOLVE

3 · ADD ICE & STIR

4 · GARNISH

2 oz ≈ 59 mL rye whiskey

Into the rocks glass, at room temperature.

Stir rye, maple, and bitters together until the maple fully dissolves1

Stir 30-45 sec, until the glass frosts.

1/4 oz ≈ 7.5 mL maple syrup

In with the rye.

2 dashes Angostura bitters

In with the rye.

1 cube ice, one large cube (2 in / 5 cm)

Drop the cube in, then stir.

1 strip orange peel

Cut a wide strip, set aside.

Express over the top, run it around the rim, drop it in.

rye whiskey · DISSOLVE Before any ice goes in.

Protein

Produce

Dairy & Egg

Pantry & Grain

Spice & Seasoning

Liquid & Fat

Notes

Cut the cube before you pour. Small cubes over-dilute this fast, and there is no recovering a watered Old Fashioned. Have the 2 in cube ready first.

"Light" maple means 1/4 oz, not 1/2 oz. Standard Old Fashioned sweetener runs 1/4 to 1/2 oz of simple syrup. Maple is more assertive and less neutral, so the low end keeps the rye in front instead of tasting like dessert.

Dissolve the maple before the ice goes in. Maple is thicker and less soluble cold than simple syrup. Stirring it into room-temperature rye first prevents a syrupy pool at the bottom of the glass.

One large cube beats several small ones. Surface-area-to-volume is the whole game: a single 2 in cube dilutes slowly and evenly, while a handful of small ones waters the drink out in the first two minutes.

Rye vs. bourbon is a real choice, not a substitution. Rye's spice holds up against maple's sweetness better than bourbon's caramel does. If bourbon is all you have, drop the maple to a scant 1/8 oz.

Adapted Adapted from the classic Old Fashioned (whiskey, sugar, bitters, water -- one of the oldest named cocktail formats, first codified in print in the 1880s), substituting maple syrup for the sugar cube. Maple ratio worked out in this project, 2026.