Whiskey Cocktails to Know

Four drinks will teach you most of what whiskey mixing involves: a spirit-forward build, a vermouth build, a sour, and a julep. Everything else is a variation on one of them.

The list

• Manhattan — Rye, sweet vermouth and bitters. Two ingredients and a dash, and the vermouth is the one that decides whether it works.
• Mint Julep — Bourbon, sugar and mint over a mountain of crushed ice. The cup should frost before you drink it.
• Old Fashioned — Whiskey, sugar and bitters — the drink that defined the word cocktail, and still the best argument for it.
• Whiskey Sour — The sour template in its most familiar form — and the easiest place to learn what egg white actually does.

How we chose these

Built on bourbon, rye, Scotch or Irish whiskey, chosen for teaching a reusable template.

Membership is generated from that rule, not hand-picked, so it stays honest as the library grows.