As summer dawns upon us, many people switch their drink of choice from whiskey to gin, vodka, or white wine. But who said whiskey can’t be a summer drink? With a fruity mixer and a good tonic, whiskey drinks can be as refreshing as your favorite G&T. 

For those who don’t want to leave whiskey behind come summer, these whiskey cocktails make a great addition to your summer drinks assemblage. 

White Summer Sazerac

Recipe by Liquor.com

The White Summer Sazerac is the perfect way to kickstart summer. Made with award-winning Moonshine (white corn whiskey), this cocktail will give you just the right buzz on a warm summer afternoon. 

Ingredients:

• 1-ounce Moonshine (Try White Squall Coastal Moonshine, 89 points, USA Spirits Ratings)
• 1/2 ounce Rye Whiskey (Try Cooperstown Ransom Rye Whiskey, 96 points, USA Spirits Ratings)
• 1/2 ounce Singani 63 brandy
• 1/4 ounce Italicus aperitivo
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• 6 dashes of fennel bitters
• 3 dashes celery bitters
• 1 pinch celery salt
• 6 spritzes absinthe (Le Rêve Organic Molecular Absinthe, 93 points, USA Spirits Ratings)
• Garnish: edible flower

Add all the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled rocks glass. Garnish with an edible flower.

If You Like Piña Colada

Recipe by Saveur

Nothing says summer like lounging on a garden chair sipping a Piña Colada.  This whiskey-based Piña Colada is a great substitute for the classic rum-based cocktail

Ingredients:

• 3⁄4 oz. pineapple juice
• 1⁄2 oz. coconut syrup
• 1⁄2 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1⁄2 oz. Green Chartreuse
• 1⁄2 oz. Linie aquavit
• 1⁄2 oz. rye whiskey (try Straight Rye Whiskey by Heaven’s Door, 93 points, Bartenders Spirits Awards)
• 1⁄4 oz. Velvet Falernum
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• Pineapple fronds, to garnish

Combine pineapple juice, syrup, lime juice, chartreuse, aquavit, rye, and velvet falernum in a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice and stir; top with bitters and garnish with pineapple fronds. 

Forbidden Fruit 

Recipe by Young Kim From Flatiron Room, New York, adapted by Scotch Whiskey Magazine

There's a reason Eve bit into the forbidden fruit and now we want to drink it up. The addition of pomegranate liqueur in this cocktail gives it the right amount of fruitiness you need to make a whiskey cocktail ideal for hotter days. 

Ingredients: 

• 40ml Bourbon (Try Sir Winston Bourbon, 93 points, USA Spirits Ratings)
• 15ml Pama (pomegranate liqueur)
• 10ml Lemon Juice
• 10ml honey

For the black tea:

• 40ml black tea
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs thyme

Boil 225ml of water. Turn off the heat and add two bags of black tea and two sprigs of rosemary and thyme. Leave it to cool. Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a Collins glass, garnishing with sprigs of thyme and a slice of lemon.

Summer Breeze Cocktail

Recipe by The Spruce Eats

Bourbon by itself may feel slightly heavy for the summer, but add some orange liqueur and you have yourself a great refreshing chiller to sip on throughout the day. The Summer Breeze Cocktail is also a great accompaniment to barbeque meats. 

Ingredients:

• 1 orange slice
• 1 splash orange liqueur (Try St. Elder Blood Orange Liqueur, 90 points, Bartenders Spirits Awards)
• 2 ounces bourbon whiskey (Try Cadée Distillery Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 90 points, Bartenders Spirits Awards)
• 2 ounces ginger ale

In an old-fashioned glass, add the orange slice and a splash of orange liqueur. Muddle well. Add equal parts of bourbon and ginger ale. Stir gently. Fill the glass with ice, serve and enjoy.

Delorean Door Fishbowl

Recipe by Thrillist

Sometimes you need one cocktail, and sometimes you need a bowl full of it. We prefer the latter. The Delorean Door Fishbowl packs a punch with strawberries and lemon, adding a cool touch to hot evenings. 

Ingredients:

• 8 oz black tea bourbon 
• 1 oz honey syrup
• 3 oz Strawberry syrup
• 3 oz Lemon Juice
• 0.5 oz Peychaud’s bitters
• Strawberry halves and lemon wheels (for garnish)

Combine all ingredients save for the garnishes in a fishbowl and stir. Fill three-fourths of the way to the top with ice. Add garnishes and stir again, briefly, to chill. Add straws and serve.

Peach Bourbon Smash

Recipe by Whiskey Tango Globetrot

This is the official cocktail of Whiskey Tango Globetrot, and a great one to whip up when you’re feeling a little peachy. 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. bourbon (Try Bourbon Spring by Quincy Street Distillery, 91 points, Bartenders Spirits Awards)
• 0.75 oz. peach simple syrup
• 0.75 oz. lemon juice
• 2 peach slices
• Several mint leaves

To make the peach bourbon smash cocktail,  muddle a couple of peach slices and mint in a cocktail shaker. Then, add the whiskey, peach simple syrup, lemon juice, and ice, and then shake. Strain it into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint and peach slices.

The Nelly Kuh

Recipe by Bon Appetit

Spice, citrus, and floral flavors blend together in this punchy whiskey cocktail, perfect to serve if you have guests over or to enjoy by yourself.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 lime wedge (for glass)
• ½ oz. rye whiskey (Try Rye Whiskey by Iron Fish Distillery, 95 points, USA Spirits Ratings)
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• ½ oz. Ginger Syrup (click for recipe)
• ¼ teaspoon orange-flower water

Combine ginger and sugar on a small plate, rubbing together with your fingers to combine (should be sandy; this will help the ginger stick to the rim). Rub the rim of a coupe glass with a lime wedge and dip the rim into the ginger mixture to coat. Combine whiskey, lime juice, ginger syrup, and orange blossom water in a cocktail shaker; fill the shaker with ice and shake until the outside of the shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into prepared glass.

Header Image: source, Photo by Rachel Claire from Pexels