From 9 to 18 October 2026, Old Fashioned Week brings one of the great cocktail classics back to centre stage. In Brussels, information supplied to the newsroom by Up for It lists five participating venues with Elijah Craig: Chemistry & Botanic’s, Le Stoefer, Life Is Beautiful, Fox Den and Maison Poesy. Ten days, five distinct worlds and a fine opportunity to remember that Brussels knows how to handle a shaker.
Some cocktails need twelve ingredients, foam, an unlikely infusion and a three-minute explanation. Then there is the Old Fashioned.
A spirit. Sugar. Bitters. Water — just enough, through controlled dilution. Almost nothing on paper. In the glass, every detail matters. The drink puts the spirit first: it should remain clean, clear and balanced. Sugar must not turn it into dessert, while dilution should soften the whiskey without erasing its character.
In short, it is simple. And behind a bar, simple rarely means easy.
🥃 An international Old Fashioned Week
Elijah Craig launched the initiative in 2020; it has since grown into an international ten-day celebration. For 2026, the company officially announced dates from 9 to 18 October. The idea remains the same: celebrate the classic cocktail and the interpretations created by participating venues.
This year, Brussels is taking part. Information supplied to the newsroom by Up for It names five venues in the capital, each with its own personality.
🇺🇸 Elijah Craig, from Kentucky to Brussels
Elijah Craig belongs to Heaven Hill Brands, an American family-owned company founded in 1935. Launched in 1986, the range includes Small Batch and Straight Rye, which feature behind some Brussels bars during the week.
The brand links its story to the Reverend Elijah Craig, traditionally associated with the use of charred oak barrels to age whiskey. The historical claim that he was the “father of bourbon” remains debated. What matters here is the lasting connection between the brand, bourbon and the Old Fashioned.
🍸 Five Brussels bars, five ways to tell the story
That is probably what I like most about this initiative. The point is not to turn five venues into identical copies. Instead, the Old Fashioned becomes a reason to see what Brussels does so well: giving bartenders, teams and places with very different identities room to interpret the same classic.
🌿 Chemistry & Botanic’s: the classic and carrot cake
On Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés, minutes from the Grand-Place, Chemistry & Botanic’s works from a simple idea: technique should serve flavour. The venue appears in Gault&Millau’s cocktail-bar selection.
I should be transparent here: I know the place rather well from the inside. I am a co-owner.
For Old Fashioned Week, the team announced two drinks to the newsroom:
- Elijah Craig Old Fashioned, intentionally classic, with Elijah Craig Small Batch, Angostura Bitters and sugar;
- Allegra Allegria, combining Elijah Craig Small Batch and Elijah Craig Straight Rye, Angostura Bitters and a house-made carrot-cake syrup.
For me, Elijah Craig tastes a little like a holiday. It is the whiskey I readily choose when travelling with my partner and we find ourselves on a terrace or rooftop. My favourite balance? Half rye, half bourbon. Add my favourite cake and Allegra Allegria starts to make sense.
The team also has documented competition results. Larry Godefroid was named Belgium’s Best Bartender 2024 by the Union of Belgium’s Bartenders before representing Belgium at the IBA world championship. In 2025, Rabath Saliba received the best technique award at the national championship, while Daniel Papageorgiou reached the podium. Papageorgiou also won the Distillerie de Biercée’s 2025 Shaker d’Or.
🍂 Le Stoefer: Brussels in the glass
In Ixelles, on rue de l’Aqueduc, Le Stoefer links mixology to travel, seasons and produce. Its autumn 2026 menu is particularly Brussels-focused: gueuze, genever, chicory, buckwheat, kriek and orchard fruit tell stories about the city’s neighbourhoods and contrasts.
For the week, the venue announced its Old Fashioned Stoefer: bourbon fat-washed with salted brown butter, an apple-cider and speculoos cordial, and orange bitters. Brown butter, apple and spice — on paper, you are already somewhere between the bar and those first evenings when you start looking for a jumper before going out.
✨ Life Is Beautiful: cocktail culture in Dansaert
It is hard to talk about cocktails in Brussels without eventually reaching rue Antoine Dansaert. Life Is Beautiful has built more than a bar: its project combines a bar, shop, workshops and events around one idea — sharing cocktail culture without making it inaccessible.
Signatures and classics receive equal attention, with the precision and ease that form part of the venue’s identity. It is a natural setting for Old Fashioned Week.
🦊 Fox Den: the neighbourhood-bar spirit
In Schaerbeek, near Josaphat Park, Fox Den embraces the feeling of a true neighbourhood bar, where people come for the drink and for those gathered around the counter. A large central bar structures the room. The menu blends creations, classics and a spirits selection in a welcoming atmosphere.
A place that can talk technique and spirits, then immediately make you want to stay for another drink. Usually a good sign.
🌶️ Maison Poesy: an Old Fashioned at the house of friends
Back to Place du Châtelain. Maison Poesy moves from morning to evening: coffee, lunch and tea time, followed by cocktails, wine and small plates as the light fades.
For the week, the venue announced its Old Fashioned Poesy, made with bourbon, Moreish Asian Fire, Angostura Bitters and citrus peel. It keeps the classic’s direct structure while adding a spiced and personal touch.
🌃 What this week really says about Brussels
Old Fashioned Week could be reduced to a brand activation. That would miss what makes it interesting here. Behind Elijah Craig are five Brussels teams, five neighbourhoods and several ways of thinking about hospitality.
The city centre, Dansaert, Châtelain and Schaerbeek. Specialist bars, a hybrid venue, a house serving food, competition bartenders and professionals who simply want the counter to feel welcoming.
From 9 to 18 October, you have an excellent reason to open five doors. Responsibly, of course. But always with curiosity.
📍 Practical information
- Chemistry & Botanic’s — 49 Place de la Vieille Halle aux Blés, 1000 Brussels.
- Life Is Beautiful — 161 rue Antoine Dansaert, 1000 Brussels.
- Fox Den Cocktail Bar — 2 rue Josse Impens, 1030 Schaerbeek.
- Le Stoefer — 103 rue de l’Aqueduc, 1050 Ixelles.
- Maison Poesy — 19 Place du Châtelain, 1050 Ixelles.
Drinks, opening hours and booking arrangements may vary between venues. Check the chosen bar’s information before visiting. Alcohol misuse is harmful to health. Please drink responsibly.
🔗 Sources & liens vérifiables
- Heaven Hill Brands — Old Fashioned Week 2026 dates and history
- Elijah Craig — official Old Fashioned recipe
- Chemistry & Botanic’s — official website
- Le Stoefer — official website
- Life Is Beautiful — official website
- Fox Den — official website
- Maison Poesy — official website
- Gault&Millau Belgium — Chemistry & Botanic’s
- Horeca Magazine — 2024 UBB championship
- Horeca Brussels — 2025 Belgian championship
- Distillerie de Biercée — 2025 Shaker d’Or
- 2026 editorial dossier and recipes supplied to BXLPositive by Up for It.
— Marie Struglia, for BXLpositive.news
