We Asked 14 Bartenders: What’s the Most Overrated Bourbon Cocktail? (2026)

The bourbon cocktail canon runs deep with roots in one of the earliest known cocktails — the Old Fashioned — followed by classics like the Mint Julep and Boulevardier and modern entries including the Gold Rush and the Paper Plane. While these are all exemplary when made with a practiced hand, they are easy to overdo since their simplicity invites creative iteration and leads to countless riffs. And even when crafted by the best of the best, some bourbon cocktails have become so ubiquitous as to be passé.

If you’re a bourbon drinker, you likely have your favorite bottles to sip neat and others you use for mixing. You also probably have a go-to bourbon cocktail you order to judge a bar’s capabilities. Bartenders and bourbon industry pros are the same: They have soft spots for niche, underrated recipes and could do without other, tired specs ever again. So we polled 14 of these experts to get their opinions on what they’d like to see ordered less.

There is some surprising consensus with multiple bartenders calling out the same few drinks, but don’t take this to mean you should never order your beloved Old Fashioned again. Rather, use this as an opportunity to branch out and ask a bartender for a new-to-you bourbon cocktail. You might even find a new favorite.

The most overrated bourbon cocktails according to experts:

Old Fashioned
Kentucky Mule
Whiskey Sour
Mint Julep
Boulevardier
Brown Derby
Anything unbalanced
Smoked Old Fashioned

“I’d say the most overrated whiskey cocktail is an Old Fashioned. Reason being, there are way too many people trying to reinvent the wheel with it — it’s a classic, it needs bourbon, sugar, and bitters, that’s it.” —Travis Krothe, managing partner, Cherries, Nashville

“So this was actually a tough one for me because some of my favorite classic cocktails are bourbon-based. If I had to pick the most overrated, though, I’d probably say the Kentucky Mule. That’s not to say I dislike it — I love the flavor combination of ginger, lime, and bourbon. It’s refreshing, approachable, and easy to drink, which is obviously why it’s become so popular.

For me, though, I think mule-style cocktails in general are a little overhyped. They can sometimes feel more driven by the ginger beer than the spirit itself, and bourbon has so much character that I usually want a cocktail that lets it shine a bit more. If I’m reaching for a refreshing bourbon drink, I’d personally go for something like a Mint Julep or a Whiskey Smash any day. Those cocktails still feel bright and refreshing, but they also showcase the depth and complexity of the bourbon in a way that a Kentucky Mule doesn’t always do.” —Sean Marino, bar manager, Bangkok Supper Club, New York City

“For me this was an easy one, a Whiskey Sour. Sours had a moment in the industry when egg whites and froth were new and exciting for people not familiar with cocktail culture, but in reality, you are taking away from an amazing and already slightly sweet spirit by diluting it. It’s the equivalent of grabbing a beautiful tequila and using it for a Long Island Iced Tea.” —Adolfo Garcia, general manager, Mother Wolf and Bar Avoja, Los Angeles

“Maybe it’s been on my mind since the Derby, but the Mint Julep comes to mind. It’s emblematic of the day itself, a seemingly simple drink with fussy accoutrement.” —Jay Cullen, bar manager, Longman & Eagle, Chicago

­“I’m still convinced the most overrated bourbon cocktail on Earth is the Old Fashioned — especially all the bizarre riffs people insist on doing. I had one recently that was smoked with cigar wrappers and served with room‑temperature, candied, gelatinous bacon. We can all move on now.” —Alexis Pendleton, lead bartender, Latuli, Houston

“The Boulevardier. It became the ‘I’ve evolved past a Negroni’ drink for a while, but half the time it just drinks like a heavy, muddy Negroni with less brightness. Ironically, the cocktails most cocktail nerds brag about are often not the ones bartenders most enjoy when making or drinking at the end of a shift.” —Martin Terporten, owner, The Amsterdamian, Nashville

“I’d go with the Whiskey Sour. No two recipes are ever quite the same. Sometimes it’s served up, sometimes over crushed ice, and sometimes, like ours at McClellan’s Retreat, over a 2×2 cube.” —Brian Nixon, general manager, McClellan’s Retreat, Washington, D.C.

“I’ve always found the Brown Derby a bit underwhelming at face value; like an unfinished classic that never quite got its final adjustment. There’s a bolt that was never fully tightened. Grapefruit is one of my favorite citrus fruits, yet I’ve never felt it delivers the balance I want alongside bourbon and honey in this 1930s gem. Over the years I’ve had countless renditions with lemon or lime juice added, or even citrus peels incorporated ‘regal’-style in the shaker to give the cocktail more dimension. Those tweaks usually improve it. Part of me wonders if the original California grapefruits of that era were simply more acidic and vibrant than what we commonly get today.

I imagine the original version having a brighter, more balanced grapefruit profile that rounded the drink out properly. As it stands today, though, the Brown Derby often feels a bit flat to me, especially when compared to other enduring bourbon classics.” —Javelle Taft, beverage director, Daniel Humm Hospitality, NYC

“I think the most overrated bourbon cocktail is the Old Fashioned. I was once a big fan, but it seems that now it just comes across flat. You will have the occasional badass bartender that can breathe a little spark into the Old Fashioned, but I think it gets too much play for what it is.” —Jake Norris, curator, The Curated Barrel Project, Colorado

“There isn’t one specific cocktail I consider overrated. To me, the most overrated cocktails are the ones that are made in excess… too boozy, too sweet, too bitter, or too sour. A great bourbon cocktail, no matter how simple, is all about balance. You want to reach for a bourbon that is layered and complex in flavor and can be enjoyed neat, tall, shaken, or stirred, like Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year-Old. It has notes of Graham cracker, citrus, and summer fruit on the nose, followed by baking spices, brown sugar sweetness, and oak on the palate. Those flavors work beautifully in spirit-forward cocktails like an Old Fashioned or Black Manhattan, but also pair well with brighter ingredients like ginger, citrus, and vanilla in a spritz.” —Lynn House, portfolio mixologist, Old Fitzgerald, Bardstown, Ky.

“For me, it’s the Mint Julep. Sure, it’s fun for the Derby and all, but I never order one otherwise or make one for myself. They’re generally too sweet, and the ice is never crushed enough. I like my whiskey cocktails boozy. If I wanted a snow cone, I wouldn’t add whiskey to it.” —Matthew Weiss, owner, Barrel, Washington, D.C.

“Whiskey Sour. Sure, it’s a classic and can be delicious with a little effort, but on its face it does a poor job of highlighting the unique aromas, flavors, and textures of the particular bourbon that you’re using. For me, what makes a superior whiskey cocktail is its ability to allow the complexity of the bourbon to shine while also supporting the distinct taste profile of the cocktail itself. Whiskey sours tend to be one-note and a little flat.” —Nick Dole, bartender, The Haberdasher, Mobile, Ala.

“The most overrated bourbon cocktail would be the Smoked Old Fashioned. Somewhere along the line we decided a perfectly balanced, elegant, 140-year-old cocktail needed to arrive looking like a magic trick at a suburban steakhouse. You’re taking one of the great minimalist drinks ever created — whiskey, bitters, sugar, orange oils — and covering it in enough smoke to make it taste like you stored your glassware inside a chimney. And for what? So the table next to you can say ‘whoa.’ A good Old Fashioned already has depth, already has aroma, already has theater if the bartender knows what they’re doing. The smoked version too often just turns the whole thing into one long, ashy tasting note. A one-note dud wearing a fog machine. Not saying they’re all bad, but most of them feel less like cocktails and more like an ’80s hair metal show gone bad.” —Wyatt Langer, bartender, Speak of the Devil, Lorain, Ohio

“As a Midwesterner, it pains me to say this, but the most overrated whiskey cocktail is the Whiskey Sour. Let’s start with the fact that a large majority of people have never actually had a proper sour with egg white; they’ve only had some version of a Wisconsin-style sour with sour mix off the gun. Now, I love a good sour as a cocktail itself, but without the right base spirit it just turns into sweet on sweet, and without egg white it completely loses its balance. To me, a cocktail should accent the base spirit, and most Whiskey Sours just overpower it. I dig a proper sour with a heavy rye base or a higher-proof bourbon that can actually stand up to the mouthfeel and citrus notes instead of fading into the background.” —Tyler Mendoza, partner, Toasted Hospitality, Chicago

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