The Best Whisky Cocktails

Sugary and sweet – not words you’d usually associate with whiskey. The Mint Julep – famously associated with long, summer nights in the American South – is the perfect pouring of summer in a cup and one of the most popular whiskey cocktails you'll come across.

You’ll need:

• 50ml whiskey (this classic American cocktail calls for bourbon)

• 15ml demerara syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water)

• Mint leaves and sprig

To make: 

• Muddle a handful of mint leaves in a julep cup (or a rocks glass if you prefer)

• Pour in the whisky and syrup

• Add crushed ice and churn with a spoon

• Garnish with a mint sprig

Whiskey… with pineapple juice? Some enthusiasts might consider this a sin, but this classic cosmopolitan cocktail – named after a famous New York hotspot frequented by writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Dorothy Parker – is just like the city itself, a melting pot of flavours. 

You’ll need:

• 45ml rye whiskey 

• 15ml dry vermouth 

• 15ml pineapple juice

• Pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry to garnish

To make: 

• Pour the whiskey, vermouth and juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice

• Shake hard until the surface of the shaker is cold

• Strain into a coupe

• Skewer a pineapple wedge and cherry and place into the glass to garnish

This whisky twist on a popular cocktail is sweet without veering into sickly. And there’s no getting caught in the rain required. 

You’ll need:

• 50ml whisky 

• 30ml coconut cream

• 110ml pineapple juice

• 15ml sea buckthorn juice 

• Pineapple slice

To make: 

• Pour the whisky, cream and juices into a cocktail shaker filled with ice

• Shake hard until the surface of the shaker feels cold

• Pour into a highball glass filled with ice

• Garnish with a pineapple slice

The addition of the egg white in the whisky sour not only adds the frothy texture, it tames the tartness of the lemon and the sugar, meaning the whisky cuts right through.

You’ll need:

• 50ml whisky

• 25ml lemon juice 

• 20ml sugar syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water)

• An egg white

• Aromatic bitters

• Lemon peel and maraschino cherry

To make: 

• Pour your whisky, juice, syrup, egg white and bitters into a shaker without ice

• Shake to froth up the mixture

• Open the shaker and add ice, shaking until the surface feels cold

• Strain into a coupe glass (or in a rocks glass over ice, if you prefer)

• Garnish with a skewered lemon peel and maraschino cherry

It’s raining outside. You duck into a low-lit bar. Jazz is playing. You order a drink… This is the atmosphere that's conjured up when enjoying an iconic Manhattan. Sophisticated doesn’t even begin to describe it.

You’ll need:

• 50ml whisky 

• 25ml sweet vermouth

• One dash of aromatic bitters

• Maraschino cherry

To make: 

• In a mixing glass of ice, pour in your whisky and sweet vermouth, and add a dash of bitters

• Stir and strain into a coupe glass

• Garnish with an orange peel and cherry

The Sazerac became the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008, so why not enjoy a slice of this vibrant city from home.

You’ll need:

• 40ml whisky

• 20ml cognac 

• 10ml sugar syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water) 

• Two dashes of Angostura bitters

• A rinse of absinthe

• Lemon peel

To make: 

• Add your whisky, cognac, syrup and bitters to a mixing glass filled with ice

• Stir for roughly 30 seconds

• Strain your drink into a rocks glass which has been rinsed with absinthe (this means pouring about a shot in, swirling it around and then pouring it away)

• Add a twisted lemon peel for garnish

If there’s one cocktail to have in your arsenal, it’s the Old Fashioned. Impress guests in an instant with this debonair and delicious whiskey cocktail.

You’ll need:

• 60ml bourbon

• 10ml sugar syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water)

• Two dashes of aromatic bitters

• Orange peel and a maraschino cherry

To make:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice

• Add the whisky, syrup and bitters

• Stir and finish with an orange peel and cherry garnish

A fiery twist on another classic cocktail – the Moscow Mule.

You’ll need:

• 60ml whisky (we love the smoke of Talisker in this)

• 15ml lime juice

• 10ml sugar syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water)

• Ginger beer

• Mint sprig

To make: 

• Fill a glass (a copper mule mug, if you have it!) with ice and add your whisky

• Follow up with the lime juice and syrup 

• Top with ginger beer and stir lightly

• Garnish with a sprig of mint

Fruity without being overpoweringly sweet, this is a great introductory cocktail for those undecided on whisky. 

You'll need

• 35ml whisky (we think Johnnie Walker Red Label is great for this)

• 15ml blackberry syrup

• 15ml lemon juice

• Tonic water

• Blackberries

To make:

• Muddle blackberries into a rocks glass and add ice

• Combine the whisky, syrup and juice into a shaker and shake over ice

• Pour into your rocks glass

• Top with tonic water

Cousins with the classic gin cocktail, a Tom Collins, this is a refreshing tasting, simple cocktail to whip up in an instant. 

You’ll need:

• 50ml whisky

• 20ml lemon juice

• 20ml sugar syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved over heat into 1 part water)

• Soda water

• Orange slice and maraschino cherry

To make:

• Pour your whisky, lemon juice and sugar syrup into a highball glass filled with ice

• Stir and top with soda

• Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry

A perfect nightcap – flavourful, with very subtle touches of sweet. 

You’ll need:

• 25ml whisky 

• 25ml orange liqueur 

• 200ml stout (like Guinness)

• Chocolate shavings

To make: 

• Add ice cubes to a rocks glass

• Pour in your whisky and orange liqueur 

• Top up with stout

• Add chocolate shavings as a garnish