Why Sunday's Finest Gold Fashioned Cocktail Costs $150 A Bottle

One of the most interesting developing markets in the alcoholic drink category is the ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail. Well-known distilleries like Bulleit Frontier Whiskey have jumped into the market with bottled Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Gear Patrol adds that they're common enough to even jump on board fast-moving social media trends like the Negroni Sbagliato...with prosecco in it. At the beginning of the summer, Forbes even called the bottled RTD cocktail market the next big thing.

The idea is simple enough, just think of your favorite canned cocktail, but in a bottle big enough to share or save for later. These drinks are easier to keep around the house than the several bottles of obscure spirits it might take to build your favorite drink. They're also easy to make thanks to their RTD nature, and they don't lose any of their sophistication just because they came pre-mixed. This market is so popular that Insight Ace Analytic expects it to grow to an $85.5 billion value by 2030. 

As it launches its 'Gold Fashioned' RTD old-fashioned cocktail, Sunday's Finest hopes to define its own place in this market. However, the cost of this particular beverage may catch shoppers' eyes. Here's the reason for this eye-popping number.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Sunday's Finest launched their original blend of Gold Fashioned in 2021 to massive triumph. The product sold out completely in its inaugural year, and now the company is hoping for a repeat of that success.

Gold Fashioned is being branded as the first RTD cocktail on the market, and it comes at a luxury price of $150 per bottle. The typical recipe for an old-fashioned is fairly simple, and might not warrant a seal of "luxury," but Sunday's Finest is hoping that its use of high-quality ingredients from across the globe will inspire consumers to have a taste. Luckily, those already familiar with this type of drink shouldn't expect many great surprises. This old-fashioned variation doesn't stray from the original template. 

Apologue Liqueur's Robert Haynes was in charge of creating this luxury blend using a 15-year Kentucky straight bourbon, nine-year Kentucky straight bourbon, and six-year Indiana straight rye as the whiskey that serves as its foundation. It is then spiced with bitters flavored by ingredients from six of the seven continents including Afghan saffron and Tahitian vanilla, and sweetened with simple syrup crafted with demerara sugar from Malawi. The bottle also includes an orange zest atomizer to replace the drink's classic orange peel garnish. 

The Gold Fashioned 2022 blend is currently available to order from Sunday's Finest.