The Whisky Club's Guide to the best Scotch whisky cocktails and mixers

Scotch whisky cocktails and mixers: what to mix with Scotch

Whisky cocktails are nothing new, but adding good single malt to a cocktail recipe is not often something we whisky drinkers think about nearly enough. Here at The Whisky Club, we love a good cocktail whether ordered in a bar or crafted at home. This guide will cover the tools you need to make cocktails at home, the stories and recipes behind the classics and advice on how to find the perfect whisky for the perfect results. We might also address a few out-dated misconceptions...

This is The Whisky Club's guide to whisky cocktails. 

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Should Scotch be mixed?

For many people, this is the ultimate question.

We've all heard the apocryphal story of walking into a bar in Scotland and ordering a Scotch on the rocks when a local pipes up and says a good malt should never be mixed with anything. You hear the accent and assume this loud expert knows best. What you don't see is that he (it's almost always a guy) is drinking cheap lager and has never ordered a whisky that costs more than $5 a nip in his life. Maybe we should pay less attention to this advice.

Don't get me wrong, Scotch is great on it's own. Whisky Club bottles are released at the strength we find them most palatable neat; a drop of water releases even more flavour in most cases; and ice can allow a whisky to develop slowly over time as it warms up.  But adding things other than water to a Scotch can unlock an even bigger world of flavour. We're not saying you should mix every Scotch we're just saying leave the door open to the possibility of exploration. You might be pleasantly surprised.

The real answer to whether Scotch should be mixed or not is simply "if it's your Scotch, you can do what you like with it." Master blenders and whisky makers the world over make a product for people to enjoy. They craft flavour profiles that stand up on their own, but also look on with pride when a bartender finds a way to elevate certain parts of those flavour profiles whether mixing in a drink or partnering with a beer in a boiler maker or matching to food. 

You wouldn't limit the ingredients a Michelin star chef has for crafting the ultimate course, so why would we limit bartenders when crafting the ultimate cocktail.

What works best as a mixer for Scotch whisky

The simple combination of a spirit with a mixer and a garnish is known as a Highball. They've been around for decades in the form of gin & tonics, rum & cokes and whisky & sodas. These days they are having a bit of a revival in the whisky world as Japanese bartenders have taken the very simple concept of a whisky & soda and played with both the base whisky and the garnish to complement or contrast the flavours in the drink. The other avenue we have to play with is the mixer itself with ginger beer, soda water and cola all part of winning combinations. Let's look at a few recipes: 

The Highball - best combinations with soda

1. Ardbeg 10 with soda and cucumber - feels like an odd combination, but the grassy freshness of the garnish really accentuates the smoke and sweetness in the Ardbeg. A summer sipper.
2. Glen Scotia 12 with soda and samphire - the saltiness of this little coastal plant compliments Glen Scotia's seaside roots and also highlights the tropical pineapple notes. One for the beach.
3. Famous Grouse with soda and fresh grapefruit - this just works. Rich sherried blended whisky and the citrus punch of grapefruit is a winner every day of the week.

Other Whisky & Mixer combos

1. Peated whisky and Coke garnished with an orange slice - this works with any peated whisky. The smoke punches through the Coca Cola and the citrus ramps up the sweetness. Playfully known as a Smoky Cokey.
2. Sherried whisky and ginger beer garnished with lime - a fiery ginger beer and Sherry casked whisky is a match made in heaven. Rich and spicy meets spicy and rich.
3. Whisky and grapefruit soda - this is a bit of a riff on a paloma, but easier to put together and with much less (no) tequila. Garnish with fresh grapefruit or rosemary. 

Single malt vs blended Scotch: which to use in cocktails

For the vast majority of whisky cocktails a blended whisky will work well. Blends tend to have the same viscosity as Bourbons and other spirits used in cocktails and their balanced flavour profiles mean that most recipes can be crafted with a blend without too much recipe adjustment. Cocktails are also a very cool way to explore the nuances in a blend. The smokiness in a Johnnie Walker Black Label is rarely as apparent as when it's used in a whisky sour for example. 

But let's not leave single malts out entirely. They take more work but the results can be magnificent. 

The 3 main things to consider with single malts 

• ABV - a cask strength will throw everything out of balance so consider watering it down to roughly 40% ABV. 
• Intense Sherry - it may be worth blending these with Bourbon cask malts to soften their impact and introduce more sweetness. Or dialling back on any bitter ingredients.
• Intense peat smoke - think about your other ingredients and if they can stand the peat. Using maple syrup instead of sugar syrup is a good example of a substitute example.

Remember, the best cocktails (like the best whiskies) require balance, so some recipes may need tweaked slightly to achieve the best results.

What to mix with peated Scotch

There's no denying that peat smoke is a challenging and divisive flavour profile for many people. That's not to say it can't shine in a cocktail, but as many blenders will tell you, a little goes a long way. So where does it work best?

When it comes to highballs, I find it works well in Coca Cola. The sweetness can more than match the intense smoke.

If a martini is your thing, then it's worth trying rinsing your glass with a peated Scotch. My favourite combo is Highland Park mixed with 2 drops of orange bitters. Drop it in the cocktail glass and allow it to coat the inside before discarding. Then strain in your stirred martini and garnish with an orange twist. Delightful.

When it comes to classic cocktails, I love a Penicillin. This is a take on a whisky sour with honey ginger syrup used as a sweetener and peated malt used as the base spirit. 

But perhaps my favourite peated cocktail is a whisky sour. Sub in your favourite peated dram and add 3 drops of pernod on top of the foam. The medicinal flavour of the pernod and the smoke dance on the tongue elevating both perfectly. 

Recipes for the a Penicillin and a Whisky Sour are listed below.

The bar kit and ingredients you actually need

Making cocktails at home doesn't require too much kit. in fact for making an old fashioned or a boulivardier, you don't need any special kit at all. You can make it in a tumbler with a teaspoon. For the other cocktails below, it might be worth investing in a simple cocktail starter kit.

My own kit includes the following:

• Cocktail shaker tins (you can use other cocktail shakers, but I find they often offer more style than substance and can be difficult to open after shaking when full of ice.)
• Bar spoon - this is a long handled spoon for stirring in tall glasses or cocktail shakers
• Muddler - a wooden handle for muddling (mashing) fruit in a tin or glass
• Hawthorn strainer - the piece of kit that sits over the shaker tin when pouring to keep all the ice and other solids out of your drink
• A small seive for a secondary strain
• Juicer or Mexican elbow for squeezing citrus fruit

Glassware

• Good tumblers for cocktails served on ice
• Cocktail glasses (classic martini shape)

In terms of ingredients, again for an old fashioned you just need the following:

• Whisky
• Sugar - this can be granulated but it'll take ages to dissolve. For ease of use you can dissolve sugar in a simple syrup of 2 parts sugar to 1 part boiling water. (You can also substitute in honey, agave, maple or golden syrup but these will change the flavour.)
• Ice
• Bitters (Angostura works almost universally, but playing with different types can lead to surprising results.)

For the other recipes below it's worth having the following in your arsenal:

• Campari
• Sweet Vermouth
• Drambuie or other whisky liqueur
• Lemons and oranges
• Lots of ice
• Maraschino Cherries
• Honey
• Egg white or aquafaba for foamy drinks

The best classic Scotch cocktails worth making at home

If you only buy one bottle for cocktails, make it this

For mixing remember it is important to think about balance. Heavily peated or overly sherried whiskies can throw a cocktail out of kilter. To play it safe, it's well worth having a good premium blend in your arsenal for mixing. Johnnie Walker Black Label or Chivas 12 are two great examples. If you do want a bit more intensity, then a great Bourbon like Bardstown or blended malt like Scallywag PX finish work in these recipes.

In writing this article, we were sure to test a number of styles and recipes and the one that universally stood up to everything we threw at it was the 20 Year Old Blend created exclusively for The Whisky Club.

Frequently asked questions about Scotch cocktails

Is it a sin to mix good Scotch in a cocktail?

It's not a sin to mix good Scotch in a cocktail. In the same way that a chef should be given access to the best ingredients, a bartender should be able to craft drinks with the best spirits behind their bar. Whilst a good single malt is made to be tasted neat, many of them reveal even more complexity and nuance in the right cocktail. It's also worth noting that many cocktails would not exist without Scotch. Rob Roys, Burnt Martinis, Blood and Sands and Rusty Nails were all invented with Scotch in mind.

Can you use single malt in a Rob Roy?

Absolutely and for such a spirit forward cocktail, we'd suggest a nice Sherried single malt like Glendronach or The Macallan for this recipe.

What's the difference between a Rob Roy and a Manhattan?

The difference between a Rob Roy and a Manhattan is simply the type of whisky used. A Manhattan is traditionally made with American whiskey (often rye) whereas a Rob Roy is made with Scotch.

Does Scotch go with ginger ale?

Yes. This twist on a Moscow Mule works very well together as the spice of the ginger ale complements the oak flavours from maturation. Garnish with a squeeze of lime juice and you have a classic in your glass.

What's the easiest Scotch cocktail for beginners?

For beginners, if you like a Negroni then try a Boulevardier (equal parts Scotch, sweet vermouth and Campari stirred over ice) or if a Manhattan is more your style you can try making a Rob Roy (2 parts Scotch to 1 part sweet vermouth stirred on ice). An old fashioned on paper is very easy to pull together, but getting the balance right can be take a little practice.

If stirring and shaking isn't your thing then trust us when we say Scotch with grapefruit soda is a winning combination.

Can you substitute Bourbon for Scotch in cocktails?

Yes and many classic cocktails were first invented with Bourbon in mind. It's worth noting Bourbon tends to be more oaky and intensely sweet than Scotch, so you may need to tweak the ratios of sugar, citrus or bitter ingredients to balance the drink.

Why does my Scotch cocktail taste too sweet?

There is a good chance you've added too much sugar. Good cocktails are all about balance, so if it has drifted too far in one direction, you either need less sweet or more sour/bitter influence.

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