What’s the Best Non-Alcoholic Whiskey for an Old Fashioned?

Unique problems require unique solutions.

Devon and I had decided we would take a quick trip down to Louisville – one of our favorite places in the world. I know what you’re thinking: Louisville? You need to travel more often. But being huge fans of bourbon, it’s always a really fun time for us. This time around was a little tougher though. And that was because Devon was 8 months pregnant.

Oof. In the heart of bourbon country, and she wasn’t going to have a drop. But unique problems require unique solutions, and so we set about finding a place where we could both have a drink and a good time: The bar at Michter’s Distillery. There are a lot of great places to get a cocktail or neat pour in Louisville, but Michter’s had something extra we were looking for: a great cocktail menu and a surprisingly plentiful mocktail menu. We both win.

When we checked in for our reservation and took the elevator to the second floor, we were met with a beautiful bar where we moseyed up and grabbed a stool. It took us a good amount of deliberation on a first drink because they all sounded so incredible (and yes, they were). Devon gets her mocktail, coming in with really no expectations. She took a sip and her eyebrows practically went into her hairline.

“Wow, this is incredible!” she said, barely getting the words out before taking her next sip.

“Really?” I said, as I sucked down my obviously delicious spirited cocktail.

“Yeah, here, try this” she said, practically sticking the straw in my face. I took a sip. Yeah, it was incredible.

I quickly scanned the menu to see if I could find the ingredients. Yup, pretty basic stuff. But how did they make it so good without any alcohol? Being the nerd that I am, I had to know. So of course I asked the bartender all about it. Eventually I get to my big question: What non-alcoholic spirit did you use?

“We usually use Lyre’s for our mocktails” he said.

I quickly asked him to repeat himself because I thought I had heard him incorrectly. Like, the musical instrument? I looked it up on my phone. Indeed it was. I kept the tab up on my phone so I could do a bit more research.

That experience at Michter’s was the genesis of our idea to do this test. In a way, it made me feel a bit bad that Devon, who absolutely loves cocktails, was unable to have any during her pregnancy when I had the ability to make something non-alcoholic and delicious, for her, right at home. So we began thinking: what is the best non-alcoholic spirit to make a classic cocktail? Certainly, we had to choose one of our favorites: an Old Fashioned.

We knew if we were going to do this experiment, we were going to share it with the world. And that makes sense – mocktails are growing in popularity. At a blistering pace, no less. So we decided to go to the section of the liquor store that we don’t typically visit: the no ABV spirit section. Spoiler alert, if you’re interested: This section of your liquor store is going to be a paltry amount of the shelving aisle. So if our experience is anything like yours, your options might be limited. But no fear, we tried eight different options here.

A word about the method.

For our test, we decided we weren’t going to blind taste these. After all, why would we? We had no preconceived notions about which were good and which were bad. We hadn’t had a single one, and nobody said one was any better than the other (even if the bartender at Michter’s said they used Lyre’s. Who’s to say they never branched out?).

Alright, now that we are all set up, let’s dive into the best non-alcoholic whiskey for an Old Fashioned.

The Ranking

#8 Spiritless Kentucky 74

Unfortunately the powerful aftertaste of Halls Cough Drops was too much for us and ultimately pushed this one back to the last spot.

#7 Cut Above Zero Proof Whiskey

We love the idea of capturing that corn essence which is the basis of all bourbon, but it was too much corn and not much else, making it a bit sickly sweet and not our cup of tea.

#6 Free Spirits Bourbon Alternative

This one had a bit too much bitterness upfront which we found off putting. Each individual flavor spiked throughout, as opposed to the flavors blending together into a nice progression.

#5 Clean Co.’s Clean W – Whiskey Alternative

Clean Co.’s Clean W was nicely balanced throughout. The most prominent note of bubblegum wasn’t our favorite of the bunch, but the flavors segued nicely and had a nice pepper bite at the finish.

#4 Monday Zero Alcohol Whiskey

This was somewhat of a surprise for us, seeing as the individual flavors stood out on their own as opposed to layering uniformly, but those notes of chocolate and spicy pepper were very enjoyable and were certainly reminiscent of the things we do like in a nicely barrel aged bourbon nestled into a tasty old fashioned.

#3 Ritual Whiskey Alternative

We liked Ritual’s version of an Old Fashioned, owing mostly to the fact that it had unique notes but also had that nice balance and the smokiness at the end was a very nice touch.

#2 Lyre’s Traditional Reserve

The fact that both of these smelled like a spirited old fashioned and tasted pretty darn close sent Lyre’s to the front of the pack. Traditional Reserve had the best attributes of what we love in an old fashioned: it was sweet, spicy and citrusy.

#1 Lyre’s American Malt

Our #1 choice is Lyre’s American Malt. This would have completely tied with Traditional Reserve, because it is similarly delicious, but the smoky note that we detected at the end pushed this one just past its cousin to take the top spot.

Conclusion

So there you have it, folks! The results of our 8 non-alcoholic whiskeys in an Old Fashioned. Hopefully this little experiment has helped you decide which bottle to go for next time you’re at the store. Go ahead and give one of these a shot, and be sure to let us know how it fared. Cheers!