Top 5 Whiskey Drinks for Winter

It’s cold, you’re thirsty and you want to do something about it. Here are five great ways to shake off the winter bite with something that will warm the heart and soul. Our current 2019 Top 5 Whiskey Drinks for Winter.

Amaretto Sour

• 1.5 oz Amaretto
• 0.75 oz Bourbon Whiskey
• 1.0 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1.0 bar spoon Simple Syrup
• 0.5 oz Egg White
• 1 Maraschino Cherry

Add all ingredients into your cocktail shaker. Because we’re using egg white, dry shake (with no ice) the cocktail aggressively for 20 seconds. Add ice cubes and shake for an additional 15 seconds and strain over ice. Garnish and serve! 

Jeffrey Morgenthaler suggests cask strength bourbon (higher proof stuff), it’s definitely a great way to cut through all the flavor and give you bourbon intensity.

Bourbon Alexander

• 1.0 oz Bourbon Whiskey
• 1.0 oz Creme de Cacao
• 1.0 oz Half & Half
• 1 dash Simple Syrup
• 1 dash Salt

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker without ice and dry shake aggressively for 20 seconds. Add ice into your shaker and shake until chilled for about 15 seconds. Strain contents into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with nutmeg.

This is a nice little beverage for those cream lovers that want something silky smooth with a hint of chocolate flavor. It’s not a hot beverage, but will warm your heart.

Hot Toddy

• 3.0 oz Honey Bourbon
• .75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 6.0 Boiling Water

To prepare a studded lemon peel, cut your peel and poke 3 whole cloves through the peel and add it to your drink. Add a cinnamon stick and serve. 

Prepare your mug by adding additional boiling water to your mug to warm it up quickly. Once warm/hot empty your mug and add lemon juice, honey bourbon (or regular bourbon) and top with hot water. 

If you do not have honey bourbon we suggest your favorite bourbon and, if you desire honey, add a bar spoon of honey to your finished drink and stir (helps to remove it from the spoon as well).

Whiskey Sour

• 2.0 oz Bourbon Whiskey
• 0.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 0.75 oz Simple Syrup
• 0.5 Egg White
• 1 pinch of Salt

Add ingredients to a shaker tin with ice and shake for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled lowball glass and serve. Egg White is optional (technically that makes it a Boston Sour, but it’s a fantastic edition). 

If using egg whites, use the dry shake method (shake all ingredients without ice aggressively for 20-seconds then add ice and shake for 15 seconds).

This is by far one of our favorite drinks and, quite honestly, we’d recommend it every season of the year. However, winter time is often a great time to pair lemon juice and bourbon together (or rye) and we find ourselves desiring them more in winter months than warmer months when lime becomes our go-to citrus.

Gold Rush

• 2.0 oz Bourbon Whiskey
• 0.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 0.75 oz Honey Syrup / Mix

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice for 15 seconds. Strain over fresh ice into an old fashioned glass.

This bourbon cocktail (or rye) is much like a whiskey sour but easier to make and you can apply the honey liberally if you’ve got a scratchy throat or cold. While honey is a great all-season sweetener it might have more beneficial value during those colder winter months.

All these drinks make our top five for the season, most of which we’ve discovered in 2018 or before, but it’s 2019 and it’s time to rediscover the love.