The Ten Whiskies That Belong in Your Cocktail Cabinet
Ten bottles that shape the perfect cocktail shelf — versatile, characterful, and alive in the glass.
By Rafi Mercer
Not every whisky wants to be in a cocktail. Some are meant to be drunk neat, patient and undisturbed. Others — bold, bright, versatile — come alive when stirred, shaken, or lengthened. The art of stocking a cocktail cabinet is not about prestige but about personality: finding whiskies that play well with others, that hold their character in the company of citrus, vermouth, sugar, or spice.
Here are ten whiskies I return to when cocktails are on the cards, each chosen not for rarity but for resonance — bottles that carry presence in a glass and invite you to mix without hesitation.
1. Bulleit Bourbon — The Backbone
A high-rye bourbon with snap and spice, Bulleit was born for cocktails. In an Old Fashioned, its cinnamon and clove cut through sugar; in a Manhattan, its edge keeps vermouth in check. It’s the backbone bottle, the one you reach for when the evening begins. I once poured it at home while Horace Silver’s Song for My Father played — the same balance of swing and structure in music and drink.
2. Buffalo Trace — The Everyman
Soft, rounded, with caramel and vanilla at its core, Buffalo Trace is a bourbon that comforts as much as it impresses. A Whisky Sour with this at the centre is like a good Blue Note session: familiar, accessible, but never dull. It’s the whisky I hand to friends new to cocktails, the kind that says, you’re welcome here.
3. Rittenhouse Rye — The Sharp Edge
Rye whisky was the original Manhattan base, and Rittenhouse still defines the form. Bold, peppery, slightly austere, it brings backbone to any stirred drink. Pour it into a coupe with sweet vermouth and bitters, and you feel the city hum beneath the glass. Rittenhouse is Dexter Gordon’s tenor sax — rich, insistent, leaning forward.
4. Wild Turkey 101 — The Workhorse
There’s a rugged honesty to Wild Turkey. At 101 proof it stands up in any cocktail, big enough to cut through ice, syrup, or citrus. I’ve had it in juleps on hot afternoons, Old Fashioneds in winter, and every time it carries its weight. It’s the workhorse of the cabinet, the steady bassline under any tune.
5. Jameson Irish Whiskey — The Bridge
Approachable, light, with a grain sweetness that takes well to lengthening. In a highball with soda, Jameson is unbeatable — crisp, bright, effortless. It’s also beautiful in a sour, where its softness plays like brushed drums in the background. Irish whiskey often gets left out of the cocktail conversation, but Jameson reminds you why it belongs.
6. Monkey Shoulder — The Modern Blend
Blended malt, built for mixing. Monkey Shoulder was practically designed for bartenders, and it shows. In a Rob Roy it gives a Speyside smoothness; in a whisky ginger it sparkles with warmth. Playful, versatile, a whisky that knows its role and enjoys it. It reminds me of Donald Byrd’s Places and Spaces — groove, craft, style.
7. Glenmorangie Original — The Highland Light
Single malts are not always cocktail-friendly, but Glenmorangie’s 10 Year Old has a brightness that sings with citrus. A Whisky Sour made with this malt feels elegant, lifted, subtle. It’s not about overpowering the drink but giving it clarity. On evenings when Bill Evans is on the turntable, this is the malt I want in the glass.
8. Laphroaig 10 — The Wild Card
Peated whisky is not a common cocktail base, but in the right hands, Laphroaig can transform a drink. A few millilitres floated on top of a Sour, or stirred into a smoky Old Fashioned, and you have a glass that feels like a night by the fire. It’s polarising, yes, but sometimes a cocktail needs a wild card — a note of smoke to remind you the world is bigger than sweetness alone.
9. Hibiki Japanese Harmony — The Elegant Blend
Japanese whisky is often too refined for heavy mixing, but Hibiki Harmony has a balance that makes it shine in delicate cocktails. A highball with Harmony and chilled soda is one of life’s simplest pleasures. Crisp, clear, luminous — like Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Music for Nine Postcards, it is detail without weight, presence without force.
10. Old Forester 100 — The Classicist
One of America’s oldest bourbon brands, Old Forester carries history in every pour. At 100 proof it has the strength to shine in Manhattans, Boulevardiers, and Old Fashioneds. It is whisky as tradition, a reminder that cocktails are not a departure but an extension of whisky’s own story. If you keep only one bourbon for mixing, make it this.
Together, these ten bottles form a kind of orchestra: rye and bourbon carrying rhythm, malt and blend adding melody, peated Islay providing surprise, Japanese whisky bringing light. Stock them and you have a cabinet not of trophies but of instruments, each ready to play its part.
And perhaps that is the heart of the cocktail: not the subjugation of whisky, but its collaboration. To stir a Manhattan, to shake a Sour, to build an Old Fashioned is not to hide the spirit but to let it converse with others. A cocktail is dialogue, just as jazz is dialogue — between sugar and bitters, between saxophone and drums, between glass and hand.
So keep these ten close. Pour them, stir them, listen as you drink. Let the room shape itself around the weight of the glass, the scent of citrus, the hum of a record. For the best cocktails are never distractions. They are moments in time, lifted and balanced, old fashioned and ever new.
Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe here, or click here to read more.
