Best-of list · Cocktail Guides
The best whiskey cocktails to order, from the Old Fashioned to the Penicillin. Our guide ranks eight whiskey drinks and how to spot a bar that nails them.
The short answer
8 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
The best whiskey cocktails to order depend on two things: what kind of whiskey the bar stocks and what the bartender knows how to do with it. A bar with 40 bourbons and a bartender who only makes Old Fashioneds is a bar that has not thought hard enough about its programme. A bar with 8 carefully chosen whiskeys and a bartender who knows every drink that works with each one is a bar worth spending the evening at. Here is what to order, and how to tell the difference.
Bourbon's sweetness and corn character make it one of the most versatile whiskey cocktail bases. These are the drinks that showcase what a good bourbon can do in the right hands.
Two ounces of bourbon, one sugar cube, two dashes of Angostura, a wide orange twist. Nothing hides in this build, so it grades a bar in one sip. Order it first at any new place. Barcelona's Old Fashioned in Gracia pours 15 variations, but the standard one tells you the most.
Full listing & hours →Bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Campari in near-equal parts, stirred, finished with an orange peel. It is a Negroni that traded gin for whiskey and gained weight. The vermouth sets the balance; too little and the Campari flattens the bourbon. Order it after dinner on a cold night, not before.
Full listing & hours →Bourbon, lemon, sugar, and an optional egg white. The egg white is the tell. A bar that shakes it once dry and once with ice builds the foam that should cap the glass. Skip any version poured from a sour-mix gun. Order it early, while your palate still reads acid clearly.
Two parts rye, one part sweet vermouth, two dashes of Angostura, stirred, with a cherry. The rye spice is the point, so bourbon only makes it sweeter and duller. Stale vermouth ruins it, so a fresh pour marks a serious bar. Singapore's Manhattan, long ranked among Asia's best, built its name on this drink.
Full listing & hours →Blended Scotch, lemon, honey-ginger syrup, and a float of smoky Islay on top. Sam Ross invented it in New York in 2005, and it now runs as a global standard. The Islay float is the signature; without it the drink is only a honey-ginger sour. Hong Kong's Penicillin bar took both the name and the idea.
Full listing & hours →A Manhattan built with Scotch instead of rye: sweet vermouth, two dashes of bitters, stirred, with a lemon twist. The Scotch decides everything, so a blended pour stays smooth while an Islay turns it darker. Order it to test whether a bar respects Scotch in cocktails or only sells it neat. Seattle's Rob Roy named itself after the drink.
Full listing & hours →Irish whiskey, hot coffee, sugar, and a collar of lightly whipped cream poured over the back of a spoon. The cream should float, not sink. A bar that uses canned cream or skips the sugar has missed the build. Order it late on a cold night. The Buena Vista in San Francisco set the American template in 1952.
Japanese whisky and soda, heavy on the soda, over hard ice, served tall and very cold. Its simplicity is the test. The ice should be one large clear block, the soda fresh and sharp, the glass chilled. A flat, warm highball means a careless bar. Order it first with food, since it resets the palate.