Whiskey cocktails

Whiskey or whisky

Both spellings describe the same thing: a spirit distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks. Ireland and the United States mostly use whiskey, Scotland, Canada and Japan usually write whisky. On this site you find bourbon, rye and Scotch on their own pages; here you see the full range, including Irish, Japanese and Canadian whisky.

The main styles at a glance

• Irish whiskey: often triple distilled, smooth and light, with fruity and malty notes. The base of the Irish Coffee.
• American whiskey: bourbon and rye lead, with vanilla, caramel and spice from new charred oak.
• Scotch whisky: from malty and fruity to heavily peated and smoky.
• Japanese whisky: often elegant and balanced, popular in highballs with soda.
• Canadian whisky: typically light and smooth, frequently blended.

Choosing a bottle for mixing

For sours and highballs a mid-priced, well-made blend or bourbon works well. For stirred drinks such as the Manhattan choose a whiskey with enough strength (around 43 to 50 percent) and character to hold its own against vermouth and bitters. Save rare single malts for drinking neat.

Typical ratios

A Whiskey Sour uses about 60 ml whiskey, 30 ml lemon juice and 20 ml simple syrup, with or without egg white. The Old Fashioned is 60 ml whiskey, 5 to 10 ml syrup and two dashes of bitters, stirred over ice. A whisky highball typically combines 40 to 50 ml whisky with 120 ml cold soda water.