Looks pretty recent to me

The Old Fashioned

Overview:
The Old Fashioned is possibly the first ever "cocktail" to be referred to as such, and I invite the truly interested reader to go over to Wikipedia and check out their entry on the topic.  Wikipedia is also where we get most of the recipes as well. 

Lincoln decided to try making an OF by the simple expedient of looking around the casa and seeing what we had in the cupboard, the fridge, and loaded up on the liquor cart.  As some Old Overholt Rye had recently been acquired (thank you the use of the passive voice in modern writing), and we were also in possession of some sugar and Angostura, he went for it.  I made myself one just now, to enjoy while waiting for some red beans and rice to cook up.

Booze Requirements:
You need some rye whiskey.  I like Old Overholt.  You can also use a Canadian if you haven't any rye; I'm a big fan of MacNaughton's.  If you don't have any Canadian whiskey, you can use a nice bourbon, such as Wild Turkey or Jack Daniel's. 

Readers who spend their lives without a ready supply of any of the above spirits to hand are, frankly, outside the scope of this document.  It's like running out of ice.  Who runs out of ice?  Honestly.

Mixers:
You need a few extras, but nothing that a well-stocked bar would be without, namely, Angostura bitters, club soda if you're making the modern-style version of the drink, and sugar.  And, no, before you ask, you may not substitute mashed-up Cap'n Crunch cereal for the sugar.  You're an adult, for crissakes.  Learn to keep some things in the house.  You can also get some sugar syrup; we have a bottle of that around from time to time.

Oh, some people get fancy with the garnish, but I think a maraschino cherry is the best.  If you have a small pair of tongs or an extra olive fork, you can use it to get the cherries out of the jar without spilling that sticky red cherry syrup all over yourself, or you can use a toothpick.  NO, don't drink the syrup out of the jar, not even if you think no-one is watching. 

Accoutrements:
Again, you just need an old-fashioned glass, and the stuff.

Preparation:
There are a couple of versions, which for the sake of argument I will call the "traditional" version and the "modern" version.  As usual, people will insist on squeaking and beeping about which is the One True Right And Proper Way to make Insert Name Of Drink, to which I reply, "Step over here a minute.  Smack upside the head.  Now go home and tell your Mom what a twit you are."  Make whichever one you like.

Take either a spoonful of sugar, or a sugar cube, or a spoonful of syrup, and place it at the bottom of the glass.
Zap it a couple of times with the Angostura.  Soak it up pretty good, but don't over-saturate it.  It's easy to overdo bitters.
Add either a bit of club soda (modern-style) or just a bit of water (traditional).  NOT TOO MUCH.  Just enough to get the sugar and bitters to melt down.  The idea here is that you're trying to make just a little shot of syrup.  Some people actually do use the sugar syrup; I say, mox nix.  Whichever is easiest for you.
Swirl the syrup mix around until the sugar is completely melted.  Be patient, it might take a minute or two.  I suppose you could use warm tap water if you want.
Add ice, a healthy shot of rye, and swirl it around a bit more.
Garnish and serve.

Assessment:
Tastiness.  It actually, to me at least, evokes the flavor of the heavily-sugared iced tea that is popular in the Southern US, with the added benefit that three or four of them will make you fall down on the kitchen floor and start singing old Smithereens songs at the top of your lungs.  Goes well with Cajun food.  The sweetness means that it's not something I would drink every day, and the little alchemy deal with the sugar and bitters at the beginning of preparation evokes unpleasant memories of high school chem lab, but I can certainly see why this has remained popular for over a hundred years.