12 WHISKY HOLIDAY DRINKS TO SIP THIS CHRISTMAS

Look no further than the name of this one to start feeling festive and enjoy some Christmas cheer. For some, Christmas is all about bringing people together, and this is a wonderful whisky cocktail to enjoy as the nights draw in. Bubbles for celebration, apple cider for fruitiness, cinnamon for a taste of Christmas, and The Glenlivet 12 Year Old makes this a delightfully wintery whisky apple cocktail.

Gather all your winter clothing, light up the fire and enjoy a classic Bonfire Ginger Hot Toddy with kicks of ginger and clove, perfectly matched with citrusy, sweet tones. We’re imagining Christmas singalongs, thick socks and gloves and gossip aplenty whilst sipping on this truly warming drink. It’s a fiery whisky cocktail, certain to be enjoyed on those crisp, clear December evenings.

Chocolate. Coffee. Whisky. Three Christmas staples all brought together into a beautiful whisky cocktail… with added unsweetened cream for good measure! You’ve got the sweet yet rich tones from the dark chocolate; and from the coffee, warmth and the feeling of being cosy in your front room. The Glenlivet 12 Year Old adds smooth, fruity notes bringing all the flavours in this recipe together. A scotch with The Glenlivet’s own spin on coffee cocktails, usually associated with Irish whisky.

Side Kick by name, main character by nature. The Side Kick is rightfully the one for those daring enough to play with flavours. Effortlessly suited to the winter months and Christmas parties, the Side Kick is a mix between a Sidecar and Cameron’s Kick. It’s short, it’s funky and it’s bold – and it looks the part, whether you’re hosting or dining on a table of many. The aged bitters that make up this whisky cocktail add tones of cinnamon and clove to an otherwise fruity flavour.

Strong, simple and ideal for those seeking great flavours. The Auld Alliance combines the sweetness of French wine with the boldness and intricacy of The Glenlivet 18 Year Old. It’s the sort of whisky we’d leave out for Santa so that once he returns home, he can celebrate his success with something strong, reflecting on the joy he’s brought around the world. Excuse the metaphor, but it’s that kind of celebratory whisky cocktail.

We know what you might be thinking. The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve surely lends itself to the summer months, to be enjoyed as the sun sets. But we’d argue strongly that the Celebracion is fit for any celebration, including Christmas and the holidays. Rompope is much like egg-nog, traditionally enjoyed around the festive period in the UK, and adds a certain creaminess that mixes beautifully with our Caribbean Reserve.

New to The Glenlivet’s whisky cocktail collection, the Whisky Hot Chocolate simply has to be one for whisky drinkers to sip on during the holidays. Much like the Ginger Hot Toddy, an authentic outdoor whisky-drinking experience feels like the right setting, but you might have other ideas. Perhaps a late evening Christmas Day treat, just as you start to doze off and relax into your arm chair.

Scotland meets Japan to form the Claymore, another of our suggestions to experiment with this Christmas. Umeshu, a Japanese liqueur made from infusing rice wine with Ume, makes for a sweet and sour experience when sipping on a Claymore. It’s the secrecy of the Umeshu flavour that makes it a perfect accompaniment to The Glenlivet 12 Year Old, adding our tones of honey and sweetness to give a well-rounded, fruity winter cocktail for sipping as you wrap up the year.

If there is a new whisky drink you want to try out for Christmas Eve, this is it. There’s something quite blockbuster about The Glenlivet Royale, making it the perfect whisky cocktail to sip around the dinner table for your annual Christmas celebrations. Suited to big parties and celebrations, this simple but epic ‘royale’ combines our single malt with Champagne, and that’s when you know the party has started. Elegance embodied in a cocktail.

The zing and punch of ginger itself is quite a warming, festive feeling and flavour. Match that with The Glenlivet’s Founder’s Reserve and you have a Golden Storm, best appreciated on those colder nights in winter. It’s simple, it’s fiery and it’s a whisky drinkers’ heaven – which might account for the name. Or more likely, it’s the gleaming colour of the cocktail, so elegant to look at.

When time is of the essence, as it often is over the holidays, the Elderflower and Peach New Fashioned presents the unique opportunity to whip up an unforgettable whisky cocktail in very little time. Spending all your holidays wrapping presents, catching up with old friends or cooking – no problem. The New Fashioned is a new take on an old classic, and one that you should definitely make a part of your Christmas tradition.

What is Christmas without the taste of caramel, seriously? Often found in your Christmas chocolate or biscuit selection, caramel or more recently salted caramel, plays a big role in the Christmas menu. Enjoy this drink with a slice of lemon to cut through its sugary sweetness. Christmas is often made up of rich food, and it feels like the Salted Caramel Single Malt was made to provide a bit of balance to that often overwhelming diet.

If you are looking for more ways to incorporate The Glenlivet into your special occasions, take a look at our New Year’s Eve cocktail recipes and Burns Night menu ideas, complete with drinks suggestions for each course.