My Three Favourite Whisky Cocktails

By Graham at The Whisky Shop

If you mention whisky to someone, invariably images of Scottish Highlands, isolated distilleries and gentlemen sipping whisky on the rocks flash into their mind. However, in recent years whisky has enjoyed a rise in popularity among people of all ages throughout the world. This renaissance is largely down to the rise in popularity of mixology and whisky cocktails.

In this blog post I would like to explore my three favourite whisky cocktails and detail the ingredients and the steps required to make them.

1)The Old Fashioned Cocktail

No whisky cocktail list would be complete without the Old Fashioned Cocktail. A favourite of Mad Men’s Don Draper, this classic from the 1960’s is unbelievably refreshing and easy to make. Below I have listed the ingredients and described how it should be made.

Ingredients

• 50 ml of bourbon (I recommend using Wild Turkey)
• 1 orange peel slice (thick)
• 1 maraschino cherry with stem
• 2 drops of whisky bitters
• 1 tsp sugar syrup
• Ice cubes
• Twist of lemon peel for garnish

Method

This cocktail recipe is quite simple to make. Firstly, squeeze your orange peel and rub the orange peel around the inside of the tumbler then drop it into your glass. Then add three ice cubes to the glass plus the maraschino cherry, sugar syrup and bitters. Once you have done this, add half the Wild Turkey bourbon and give it a good stir for around ten seconds, then add more ice and the remaining bourbon and stir again for 10 seconds. Garnish with lemon peel and serve.

2)The Rob Roy

This fantastic cocktail was invented at the Waldorf Hotel and takes its name, not from Scottish fold hero, but from the opera that opened in 1984 in New York. The great thing about this cocktail is how easy it is to make.

Ingredients

• 50 ml of blended whisky (I recommend using Famous Grouse)
• 25 ml of sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
• 1/8 shot of Maraschino syrup

Method

To make this fabulous cocktail simply stir all the ingredients with some ice cubes and then strain into a chilled Martini glass and serve.

3)Rising Sun Cocktail

The Rising Sun Cocktail was develop by top bartender, Kiernan Walsh, who works at San Francisco cocktail bar Solstice. The amalgamation of Japanese malt whisky, vermouth and orange bitters is a sure fire winner.

Ingredients

• 30 ml of Japanese single malt whisky  (I recommend Suntory Yamazaki)
• 30 ml of Vya extra dry vermouth
• 1 part pinoit noir juice
• Orange bitters

Method

To make the Rising Sun Cocktail first add all three ingredients to a mixing glass then add the orange bitters. Add ice and shake for around 30 seconds before straining into a chilled martini glass and serving.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post and hopefully you have been inspired to try one of these whisky cocktails next time you are out!

Graham Urquhart is whisky and cocktail enthusiast and writes for The Whisky Shop, the UK’s largest whisky only specialist. You can visit The Whisky Shop.