For a whiskey lover, it’s a wonderful feeling to take a chance on a new bottle that ultimately ends up really resonating with your tastebuds. Discovering that next great whiskey that pushes all the right buttons is a big factor that propels us deeper and deeper into this wonderful hobby.

Alternatively, it’s safe to say that you also won’t love every bottle of whiskey that you buy. In fact, some whiskeys might even seem downright off-putting and undrinkable when consumed neat, with a pinch of water, or even with ice.

So what do you do when you end up with a bottle that misses the mark? Before writing it off as a total drain pour, consider trying it out as the spirit base for your next cocktail.

Sometimes underwhelming sipping whiskey can make for a great concoction.

The following piece takes a look at how a less-than-stellar sipping whiskey can sometimes turn out to be a clutch cocktail ingredient.

Tips To Prevent Buying Bad Whiskey

Before discussing how to turn a bad whiskey into a great cocktail, let’s briefly discuss how to minimize buying bad or even mediocre whiskey in the first place.

The obvious solution is to try before you buy.

Some liquor stores will devote a quantity of bottles that can be used to sample out to customers. This is among the easiest ways to hold an “interview” for your potential purchase at the very location that you can complete the transaction – if it is warranted.

Also, sometimes knowledgeable spirit brand ambassadors or promotions staff (typically less knowledgeable than the ambassador though) will appear at store locations to offer a selection of samples as well.

How convenient.

Another simple solution is to pay a visit a to bar or establishment that offers a wide selection of whiskey.

Though a pour at a bar costs more than at home, remember that you’re typically paying for the service, the atmosphere and the experience.

So enjoy it, and you may just end up ordering a pour of your next great bottle – while supporting a local business at the same time.

A third solution to minimize buying an unsatisfactory whiskey is to sample swap with other whiskey lovers.

Purchasing 1 and 2 oz clear glass bottles, a measuring beaker, and a Dymo label maker to label them will do the job. This way you can sample a wider selection of whiskeys and determine in advance which expressions would be the next great addition to your bar.

Of course, spending some time browsing some whiskey reviews are also a great way to get a consensus on whiskeys that seem to be lauded by others.

2oz sample bottles for swapping with others

Turning Mediocre Whisky Into Great Cocktails

So, despite best efforts, you’ve somehow acquired a bottle whiskey that you don’t enjoy neat at all.

You try adding a bit of water in hopes of ‘opening it up’ to unlock some hidden flavor notes, but – nope. Then you try another pour with a large sphere (or cube) of ice and you still find that it’s unenjoyable.

At this juncture, you have the opportunity to test this whiskey out in a cocktail.

Two Great Bad Whiskey Cocktails

Glenn Correa of Toronto, Canada takes pride in his ability to salvage a whiskey through making cocktails; whiskey that hasn’t resonated with him while neat or with ice.

Whiskey lover and cocktail enthusiast Glenn Correa

Though his palate tends to lean toward bourbon, recently he decided to re-dip his toe into rye whiskey – a style that had yet to truly strike a chord with him.

Glenn decided to take a chance on a sale bottle of rye that was distilled in Iowa called Cody Road.

Shortly after pouring it into his Glencairn glass and letting it breathe for a bit, he realized that it wasn’t producing any enjoyable flavor notes.

He tested it out with an ice sphere and it still flopped.

A week later he revisited it once more, but still no luck: “Sometimes the neck pour isn’t great. I thought that maybe after some oxidization had occurred in the bottle things might change, but it was still not speaking to me.”

That’s when he decided it was time to put it to the test in a few cocktails. “My wife was putting the kids down still, so I mixed together an Old Fashioned for just myself and it worked.” Shortly after he tried it out in another cocktail – and it worked again.

“Though my wife doesn’t enjoy whiskey neat, she is a big fan of cocktails because they’re tasty and she’s kind of a foodie at heart. As the Old Fashioned would have been too booze-forward for her, I grabbed some coupe glasses and made us each a Rye Punch. She said she really liked it. Another home run. The notes that I found off putting while drinking it neat lended a very nice element of spice zest to the Old Fashioned. It also fused well with the maple syrup in the Rye Punch. Mission accomplished.”

Though ultimately ruled out purchasing the bottle again, Correa was happy to know that it would be useful in cocktails and would eventually be used up to free up some shelf space for something new.

The following are Glenn’s cocktail creations that successfully forged something wonderful from something potentially tragic:

Conclusions

If you follow our tips to minimize buying bad whiskey, you’re certainly less likely to fall upon a bad bottle [NOTE: though the Cody Road Rye wasn’t a hit with Glenn, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad whiskey for everyone].

If you happen to come across a bottle during your whiskey journey that kinda sips like a dud – don’t toss it just yet. Instead, get creative and try your hand at some cocktails, as some bottles that don’t resonate while neat, with water or with ice can finally hit their stride as a key cocktail ingredient.

Sometimes it’s worthwhile idea to step back from the Glencairn glass for awhile and re-familiarize your palate with some great cocktails.

In the case of Glenn Correa, it was also a great way to get his better half (his wife) involved too.

Win win.