I Used to Hate Ready-to-Drink Cocktails. This Pre-Made Old Fashioned Changed My Mind

RTDs, or ready-to-drink cocktails, are incredibly popular. While other spirits categories are stagnant or even decreasing in terms of sales, pre-bottled or canned cocktails are gaining traction. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the category grew by almost 27 percent in 2023 and is set to continue that upward trajectory, helped in part by new products from Jack Daniel’s and celebrity-backed brands from Miles Teller and Jay-Z (The Finnish Long Drink) and Kylie Jenner (Sprinter).

The thing is, many RTDs are just not that good. Taste is entirely subjective, of course, and the category’s popularity shows that consumers are buying and drinking these pre-made drinks, so this might sound like a snobby take. 

Still, there are so many examples that are just overly sweet facsimiles of something that isn’t actually that hard to make for yourself using just a few ingredients. Not everyone has the time or interest to make a drink at home, even something as easy as a negroni or an old fashioned, and that’s why RTDs have been such a huge success.

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There are some exceptions to this rule, however, like Gold Fashioned from Hoste Cocktails. This RTD, co-created by bartender Robert Haynes, originally launched in 2021 and was an outlier in the category for two reasons: its high quality and its high price. A 750ml bottle, the size of a regular bottle of whiskey, sells for $150, way beyond what you’d expect to pay for an RTD. The reason for this is the quality of the ingredients.

The first Gold Fashioned release was a blend of eight-year-old straight Kentucky bourbon and five-year-old straight rye from Indiana (presumably MGP, a mass whiskey producer). Sunday’s Finest, as the company was known back then, also created its own bitters using Herat saffron, grade-A Tahitian vanilla beans, single-origin cacao from Ecuador, Seville orange peel, and gentian root from the French Alps. Demerara sugar from Malawi was also added to the drink, and in a unique touch, an orange zest atomizer was included to spritz over the cocktail before drinking.

The newest Gold Fashioned release keeps some of those elements, but amplifies the whiskey part of the equation. This year's blend is made up of nine-year-old Kentucky bourbon that was finished in oloroso sherry casks for six months, and ten- and six-year-old rye whiskey from MGP. The bourbon stands out because it comes from extremely high-proof “hazmat” barrels, a term that refers to whiskey over 140 proof that the FAA banned from bringing onboard aircraft. Of course, that whiskey has been diluted and the final ABV of Gold Fashioned is 42.2 percent, but according to Haynes this bourbon brought its own particular flavors to the mix because of how strong it was.

"With each Gold Fashioned release, we aim to surpass all expectations in terms of flavor profile and general deliciousness,” said Haynes in a statement. “The addition of oloroso sherry cask finished hazmat whiskey took this year's cocktail to new heights, introducing overtones of stone fruit and plum to compliment the assertive and spice forward rye, making this release truly special.” 

Once again, this is a fantastic RTD and one that is truly better than anything else you can find on the market. And yes, you’re gonna have to shell out $150 bucks for a bottle, but if you’re willing to splurge, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. The 2024 Gold Fashioned is available now, along with a few other Hoste Cocktails including a martini, mezcal negroni, and the Perfect Manhattan.

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