Don Lockwood Recipe
An Old Fashioned split between bourbon and peated Islay Scotch, sweetened with maple and seasoned with chocolate bitters.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 29%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Bourbon30 ml (1 oz)
- Islay Scotch whisky30 ml (1 oz)
- Maple syrup10 ml (0.3 oz)
- Chocolate bitters2 dash
- Angostura bitters1 dash
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir until well chilled and diluted.
- Strain into an old fashioned glass over one large ice cube.
Garnish
None
What it tastes like
Smoke dominates the nose and the spirit is right out front.
The technique
Stirring. All-spirit drinks are stirred — shaking whips air into them and ruins both the clarity and the texture. Thirty to forty seconds in a mixing glass, the spoon tracing the wall. You are after the same ~20% dilution, just slower and under control.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Bourbon
- American whiskey made from at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak. The corn gives sweetness, the barrel vanilla; swap in rye and the drink turns noticeably spicier.
- Islay Scotch whisky
- Whisky from Islay, made with barley dried over peat smoke — it smells of the sea and of soot. A few drops change a whole drink, which is why most recipes use it as a rinse or a dash.
- Chocolate bitters
- Cacao-nib bitters. Not sweet, and not to be confused with chocolate liqueur; it adds a dry cocoa depth to whiskey and rum drinks.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
The Story
A modern Old Fashioned variation; it shares its name with Gene Kelly's character in "Singin' in the Rain".
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Don Lockwood mixed?
- It is stirred and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Don Lockwood?
- Roughly 29% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Don Lockwood be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Don Lockwood hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
The main ingredient here is also a dream symbol: Chocolate in a dream
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.