The Wisconsin Old Fashioned uses Korbel brandy instead of whiskey, muddled with a sugar cube, orange slice, maraschino cherry and Angostura bitters.

The Old Fashioned cocktail originated in Louisville in the 1880s with whiskey. Wisconsin's variant emerged in the 1880s when the state's German and Polish immigrant population preferred brandy, which had been imported in volume from Germany. Korbel Brandy from California, distributed cheaply across the Midwest, became the canonical pour; by the 1950s the Wisconsin Old Fashioned was a defining state cocktail. Bryant's Cocktail Lounge in Lincoln Village has poured no-menu Old Fashioneds since 1938.

5 editor picks for Wisconsin Old Fashioned in Milwaukee, ranked by editorial score. All Milwaukee signature dishes · Wisconsin Old Fashioned across every city.