Name: Smoky Cokey
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Peated malt whisky; 4 drop Abbott's bitters; 105 ml Cola

Ingredients

1 ¹⁄₂ fl oz

Peated single malt whisky

4 drop

Bob's Abbotts bitters

3 ¹⁄₂ fl oz

Cola

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a HIGHBALL (MAX 10OZ/300ML) GLASS.

Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

POUR ingredients into ice-filled glass.

Briefly STIR.

Garnish

EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Smoky Cokey contains 144 calories

Alcohol content:

1.1 standard drinks
10.17% alc./vol. (20.34° proof)
15.3 grams of pure alcohol

History

Jack & Coke is a famous combo but until the Smoky Cokey, Scotch whisky was restricted to soda water or perhaps ginger ale. So for his 2014 book, Whisky: The Manual, Dave Broom set out to discover the best mixer for various Scotch whiskies, trying everything from soda water to green tea. His discovery that Lagavulin is delicious with cola is the origin of the Smoky Cokey.

Dave's discovery was picked up by Colin Dunn, Diageo's whisky ambassador who served 35ml of Lagavulin 16 Year Old in a Martini glasses topped with almost flat cola at the 2000 Feis Ile (Islay whisky festival). Collin presented them on a silver tray to his guests on Lagavulin pier.

I remember Collin talking about what he'd by then christened the "Smoky Cokey" at a Diageo World Class event, circa 2016. Dave Broom discovered this delicious combination of whisky and cola but it is Colin Dunn who made the Smoky Cokey a contemporary classic.

Comments & Discussion

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Stephen Curtin 30w

I used Peychaud's bitters instead of Abbott's. An ok drink that I'd happily sip on if someone handed it to me, but I probably wouldn't make one again. If I'm drinking something peaty I prefer to just taste that, but maybe for someone who isn't sure if they like peat yet.

Stephen Curtin 29w

Even though I said I probably wouldn't make another one of these, I decided to try it again with another Islay Scotch. First time I used Port Charlotte 10 and this time I used Ardbeg 10. The Ardbeg goes much better with the coke IMO.

Graeme McPherson 1y

This drink came up in a podcast I was listening to a few weeks ago with an unexpectedly high recommendation from a high brow bartender and tonight it was time to give it a go. I used Laphroaig 10 and it is definitely a smoky upgrade on what would could otherwise be merely a “scotch and coke”.