Warm Scotch Cider

Colder days scream for warm, spiced cocktails to heat you up from the inside out so here is a gorgeous one to get you started!

Ingredients
1 gal. (16 cups) fresh apple cider
5 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
750ml whisky (we recommend Deanston 12)

Method
In a stockpot, gently heat the apple cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. When the mixture is hot but not boiling, remove from the heat and add the whisky. Stir to distribute the spices and divide it between 20 mugs.

Like the idea of a cocktail but not this one? Then have a look at The Best Negroni Recipes or One Drink, Three Ways: X by Glenmorangie.

Sencha Tea Sour

As made by Aidy in The Bring a Bottle Podcast Episode 46 this fancy cocktail has some slightly more unusual ingredients but it’s a doddle to make and tastes divine! Cheers!

Ingredients

45ml Glenturret 10YO Peated
45ml Sencha summer fruit tea (fancy kind of sencha tea)
25ml Red Verjus (pressed juice of unripened grapes)
15ml Lime syrup
20ml Egg white

Method

Add all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and give it a dry shake (a shake with no ice) before then carefully adding ice to give it a wet shake. Strain into a champagne flute and enjoy!

Liked this? Then you may also like The Crabbie’s Colada or The Jura Sunset!

The Fettercairn Tropical Highball

Long, light and refreshing, this is a super simple, perfect highball serve that showcases the light vibrancy of Fettercairn 12 Year Old and accentuates the tropical distillery character derived from Fettercairn’s unique, copper cooling ring distillation process.

Ingredients
25ml Fettercairn 12 Year Old whisky
25ml Coconut Water
4 Dashes of Pineapple and Star Anise Bitters
Top with Soda Water
Garnish: Dried pineapple and flamed star anise
Glass: Highball Glass

Method
For the perfect highball and for any occasion, simply build all Ingredients in the highball glass, then garnish with dried pineapple and flamed star anise.

Fettercairn Distillery, founded in 1824, was one of the very first licensed distilleries in Scotland. Located in a small village in Aberdeenshire under the Grampian foothills in the Howe of Mearns, this distillery got a new lease of life in the 1950s and is now creating exciting new expressions using their stocks of well-aged whiskies.

Want more whisky cocktail recipes? See the Fettercairn 1824 Martini, the Craighouse Rocks, the Jura Sunset, The Dalmore Old Fashioned and The Dalmore Mackenzie Highball.

Jura Craighouse Rocks

The Isle of Jura lies sixty miles away from the mainland of Scotland’s western coast. It has a harsh, cool climate, but an exceptionally warm community, all focused around the Island’s one whisky distillery in Craighouse. Founded originally in 1810, the distillery fell into ruin at the end of the 19th century but was entirely rebuilt and reopened in 1963 in order to boost the local economy and rebuild the community. It makes whiskies that are characteristically smooth, bright and lively.

This Craighouse rocks cocktail is ideal for post dinner drinks. A twist on an Old Fashioned recipe, the chocolate and the crème de poire really highlight the nutty and green fruit flavours of the Jura 12 Year Old whisky.  

 Ingredients

40ml Jura 12 Year Old Whisky.
10ml Oloroso Sherry
5ml Crème de poire
5ml Sugar syrup (1;1)
Dash of chocolate bitters
Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Lemon twist

Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir for one minute to get a slight dilution and chill. Strain into a rocks glass over a large, clear ice block and garnish with a fresh lemon twist.

Want more whisky cocktail recipes? See the Fettercairn 1824 Martini, the Fettercairn Tropical Highball, the Jura Sunset, The Dalmore Old Fashioned and The Dalmore Mackenzie Highball.

The Jura Sunset

One of Jura Whisky’s signature serves, this is a simple, beautifully balanced drink that works brilliantly as an arrival drink or an apéritif. Bittersweet and citrussy, the Jura Sunset is ideal for new whisky drinkers.

Ingredients
25ml Jura 10 Year Old Whisky
25ml Apérol
Top with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic (or premium tonic water)
Glass: Copa glass or red wine glass
Garnish: Orange wedge 

Method
You can make this drink in the glass itself. Simply add the Jura whisky, Apérol and tonic into a glass that already has crushed ice in and stir. Garnish with a fresh orange wheel or wedge.

 The Isle of Jura lies sixty miles away from the mainland of Scotland’s western coast. It has a harsh, cool climate, but an exceptionally warm community, all focused around the Island’s one distillery in Craighouse: Jura Distillery. Founded originally in 1810, the distillery fell into ruin at the end of the 19th century but was entirely rebuilt and reopened in 1963 in order to boost the local economy and rebuild the community. It makes whiskies that are characteristically smooth, bright and lively. 

Want more whisky cocktail recipes? See the Fettercairn 1824 Martini, the Fettercairn Tropical Highball, the Craighouse Rocks, The Dalmore Old Fashioned and The Dalmore Mackenzie Highball.

The Dalmore Old Fashioned

Not far from Inverness overlooking the famous ‘Black Isle’, sits The Dalmore distillery. At The Dalmore, the whisky house style is dark, rich and chocolatey with notes of dried fruit, spice, vanilla and tropical fruit thanks to the team’s long term relationship with sherry house González Byass who offer The Dalmore exclusive access to rare casks. These special casks have  previously held exceptional, old sherries such as Matusalem Oloroso sherry and it is these casks that add to the quintessential Dalmore style.

The Old Fashioned needs no introduction as a cocktail and the beauty of this classic drink really  is its simplicity! Think of fruit cake with shaving of dark chocolate and orange peel on top. One for those cosy nights by the fire, for sure.

Ingredients
50ml The Dalmore 12 Year Old Whisky
25ml Sugar syrup
Dash Orange bitters
Glass: Rocks glass
Garnish: Fresh orange twist

Method
Find a rocks glass or a tumbler, add ice and then pour all the ingredients in. Stir well until chilled and slightly diluted. Garnish with an orange wheel.  

Want more whisky cocktail recipes? See the Fettercairn 1824 Martini, the Fettercairn Tropical Highball, the Craighouse Rocks, the Jura Sunset and the Dalmore Mackenzie Highball.

The Dalmore Mackenzie Highball

If you’re after a long, fruity tipple with a little more depth than usual, you can’t go wrong with the Dalmore Mackenzie Highball. Named after the Mackenzie Clan who became owners of the distillery in 1867, this drink has tangy, refreshing high notes from the raspberry and orange balanced beautifully with the rich, woody, nutty notes from the whisky and port.

Ingredients
50ml The Dalmore Port Wood Reserve Whisky
25ml Tawny port
25ml  Raspberry syrup (or strawberry, fig, plum if easier)
Top up with soda water
Glass: Highball
Garnish: Orange wedge/seasonal fruit
*Feel free to use seasonal substitutes eg.. Plum, fig, strawberry,

Method
Fill a rocks highball glass with ice and add all the wet ingredients. Top up with soda and stir if you prefer. Garnish with the orange wedge or your fruit of choice.

Not far from Inverness overlooking the famous ‘black isle’, sits The Dalmore distillery. At The Dalmore, the whisky has a house style that is famous for being dark and coppery, rich and chocolatey with notes of dried fruit, spice, vanilla and tropical fruit thanks to the team’s long term relationship with sherry house González Byass who offer The Dalmore exclusive access to rare casks. These special casks have previously held exceptional, old sherries such as Matusalem Oloroso sherry and it is these casks that add to the quintessential Dalmore style.

Want more whisky cocktail recipes? See the Fettercairn 1824 Martini, the Fettercairn Tropical Highball, the Craighouse Rocks, The Jura Sunset and The Dalmore Old Fashioned.

Around the World in 6 Whiskies

Words by Katie Groves

Katie Groves, the new bar manager at whisky lover’s heaven ‘Milroy's’ in London Soho, is lamenting the lack of travel but consoling herself with a whisky tasting tour from around the world. Here are her suggestions for creating your very own world whisky flight. All aboard!

Think back to very early 2020, when some of us may have had a tiny sulk about something like a cancelled holiday. There was an inkling that something bigger was about to happen, but we were still in a dream-like stage of mourning cheap wine on sunny terraces, gorging on tagine under the stars or sinking cold pints in a random European bar. Surely this would all blow over soon?

Mere weeks later, and the whole world was changing fast. In collective lockdown madness, we were mostly doing 3 things: baking bad banana bread, freaking out over Zoom and panic-buying British apocalypse essentials: pasta, toilet roll and alcohol, apparently.  Our home alcohol shelves, bars, or cabinets had never looked so desperately empty, but you couldn’t order off Majestic, Tesco’s queue was too big and that old bottle of Bell’s had never looked quite so appealing.

Drinks Nostalgia

Several months, drinks and meltdowns later and we’ve nearly made it through 2020. Holidays (or lack of) may have lower priority now, but we are all still dreaming of our favourite escapes. Keeping calm and carrying on can take up a fair bit of effort, and I don’t know about you, but I’m still reminiscing about slurping on gelato, guzzling cold beer like there’s no tomorrow and lapping up the sunshine like a lazy cat.

What can we do instead? The pleasures of meeting people from another culture and tasting their food and drink can never quite be replicated from home, but here’s the next best thing. (It’s known as the water of life, so that’s got to be something good!) So, kick your feet up and enjoy a flight around the world with these delicious and diverse whiskies. We all know that our sense of smell and taste, just like music, can be one of our most powerful tools for nostalgia and imagination, so pour that dram, get some records on and enjoy some downtime like it’s 2019…

All aboard! Around the world in 6 whiskies

Nikka Days - Japan

Like the food, whisky and just about everything else, Japan is famed for its beautiful label designs. This striking sunny box says lazy days at the beach and this easy-going whisky delivers just that. This is Nikka’s most recent release for the happy price-point, casual whisky drinker market and consists of grain and malt whiskies from their two contrasting distilleries: Miyagikyo and Yoichi.

Miyagikyo’s Coffey still grain whisky is creamy and vanilla-sweet; their malt is floral and honeyed, while Yoichi distillery produces a single malt that is coastal and lightly peated.

Blending these creates glowing notes of apricots, yellow plums and peach, subtle buttery malt and just a whisker of peat to tie all those lighter flavours together. A well balanced, shelf-staple blend that will convince all your friends to like whisky (try a highball)

Find Nikka Days at Master of Malt here for £38.83

Starward Solera- Australia

This whisky from Victoria-based Starward distillery lives up to its dreamy packaging. This is a colourful and complex single malt with an autumnal spectrum of spiced, fruity and earthy notes. Just breathing in those intense deep aromas hits you with a happy stick! This was aged in ex Apera wine casks (Australia’s answer to sherry), and bottled at a mellow 43%. A perfect whisky for wine and sherry fans who want to feel like they’ve jumped on a plane to languish in Australia’s wine-indulgent climate. Onward, ho!

Find Starward Solera at Master of Malt here for £47.25

Paul John Classic - Goa

With its vibrant array of cultures, sublime beaches and intense humidity punctuated with monsoons, Goa is a place like no other. This whisky will take you there: think ginger and cardamom, cacao powder and lime zest, sea salt caramel and a wave of heat from its no-messin’ high strength (55.2%!) Made from Indian 6-row barley and aged in ex-bourbon casks, this sure is a unique dram, putting India firmly on the map for great single malts. 

Find it at Master of Malt here for £55.96

Mackmyra Grönt Te - Sweden

This elegant single malt is the years-in-the-making brainchild of master blender Angela D’Orazio, who teamed up with Japanese tea specialists Yoko Ono Sthlm to create this expression. The whisky was aged in casks seasoned with a blend of three teas that had been infused into a neutral liqueur, creating fragrant herbs, spices and delicate green notes. A beautiful result, which enmeshes Swedish and Japanese culture – and doubles up on those antioxidants from this sustainability-conscious distillery.

Find it at Master of Malt here for £52.95

Kavalan Concertmaster Port Finish - Taiwan

Since opening in 2005, Taiwan’s first single malt distillery has gone from strength to strength, picking up multiple top awards along the way. Aged under Taiwan’s intense seasonal climate, this whisky had an initial snooze in ex-bourbon casks before final aging in port pipes. The angels’ share here is a greedy 10 – 12%, which means fast maturation and bottling young. But its complexity belies its age. Enjoy the notes of strawberry, black pepper, spiced chocolate and dried mango. A unique and juicy whisky so mellow that you could pretty much pour it on your breakfast cereal.

Find it at Milroy’s here for £64.94

Banana bread Manhattan - England

Since we mentioned Banana Bread, we couldn’t resist telling you about a bottled cocktail version; the Banana Bread Manhattan! Made by Liquid Intellect, it combines rye whiskey and vermouth, infusing them with natural banana bread flavours (what is this strange magic?). Pour it over ice cream or just stick it on ice. It’ll take you straight back to Grandma’s kitchen. Where else would you rather be?

Find the Banana Bread Manhattan at Master of Malt here for £25.50

If you liked this, try The Best of Whyte and Mackay, Which Rye Whisky should I try? or find our more about this shipwreck whisky auction. Also, don’t forget to visit Milroy’s in person for a huge selection of drams from all around the world or check out their website for details of virtual and live whisky tastings!