In case you didn’t know, National Bourbon Day was celebrated on June 14. In Kentucky, the day sees celebrations cheering the most American of spirits, though most gatherings are small, subdued and at bars where one visits regularly on Friday. 

Distilleries mark the day with clever cocktails at their visitor experiences, as do the state’s growing number of solid cocktail bars. Elsewhere, however, and especially outside of larger cities Kentucky cities, bourbon cocktails are lacking.

I know, clutch the pearls! Many Kentucky barkeeps haven’t mastered even the basics of bourbon cocktails. Order an old fashioned at many bars, office parties or wedding receptions here and you’ll get a hapless rendition of the easy-peasy, three ingredient standard. It’ll be 90-proof (or less) bourbon, some cane simple syrup, and a muddled fruit mass of an orange slice and a shockingly fake red maraschino cherry (stem still attached). 

On National Bourbon Day I visited Churchill Downs with friends. The old fashioned our server brought me copied what I described above, only it was worsened with a jolt of dilutive soda water. At arguably the world’s most famous horse racing venue and in a pricey suite—in Louisville, Ky., of all places—that’s what I got.

Last year at a high-level Kentucky whiskey industry event I requested a Manhattan. When the genial “bartender” merely poured me bourbon on the rocks, I asked about the vermouth and bitters. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “Can you tell me what to put in?” I settled for whiskey on the rocks. 

Unacceptable.

Want to make a Kentucky bartender laugh? Ask for a mint julep. Some will say, “Where do you think you are? Churchill Downs?” And for the record, never buy a mint julep at Churchill Downs. It’s the most horrid iteration of that classic and simple drink.

Again, unacceptable in Kentucky and especially amid the bourbon boom.

Arguably, none of this is surprising. Though we’re celebrating our national spirit on National Bourbon Day, why isn’t more of it consumed here? Each year in the U.S., 77 million cases of vodka are sold. Compare that to roughly 30 million cases of American whiskey—a number likely to be surpassed by tequila’s current 26 million cases.

When I travel the country, I regularly see many bars featuring walls of white spirits only speckled by bottles of American brown goods. Airport bars and decent chain hotel bars are especially guilty of this. No wonder so many us travel with bottles of whiskey.

I get it. Regular bourbon and rye drinkers see liquor store shelves sagging beneath the weight of so many bottles and brands that we assume American whiskey is more popular than it actually is. And yet vodka aisles, with far fewer selections, create vastly more sales than whiskey brands.

I hear you, Bourbon & Banter fans, “But bourbon’s much better than vodka.” I heartily agree. And it’s that truth which excites me for the future of National Bourbon Day. Someday, I hope it’ll be worth celebrating when more people have caught on to the good stuff, the flavorful brown spirits that people crave, collect and talk about with their friends. (Anyone ever go to a friend’s house and see a host excited about that new vodka he discovered, waited in line to get or paid a steep secondary market price for? Nope.) People will realize that three-ingredient cocktails like the old fashioned and the Manhattan are easy to make, worth the extra effort and interesting when you try them with different whiskeys. And even some might take a little pride in knowing that their whiskey was made in America. When that happens, I’ll drink to that with a proper old fashioned based on the recipe below.

THE OLD FASHIONED

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces bourbon or American rye, at least 100 proof
• 2 teaspoons of Demerara syrup, 2:1
• 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan’s or Scrappy’s preferred, though Angostura will do)
• A tiny pinch of salt
• Orange peel

PREPARATION
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice and stir until chilled.

Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice, express orange peel skin side facing the drink and drop into glass. Let the drink chill for an additional minute and serve.