Summer is here, and we are officially in peak highball season. Why? Because the highball is the perfect way to enjoy whiskey during the warm weather months. A simple combination of one’s spirit of choice and a carbonated drink — think sodas, seltzers, and the like — and voila! You’re in highball heaven.
If you’re not familiar with the highball, chances are you’ve already had one at some point in your life. The highball is an extremely broad category of cocktail. For example, a rum and coke qualifies as a highball, so does the ubiquitous Tom Collins, and so does a Paloma — you know, that refreshing grapefruit-driven concoction with tequila or mezcal.
Essentially, highballs have been around forever. Interestingly enough, the highball has a fascinating history that dates back centuries, and it’s quite possible that the first highball involved none other than whisky as its base spirit. If you want to read about the history of the highball and the best whiskey for highball cocktails, read on.
The History of the Highball
People were drinking scotch with soda for quite some time before the word “highball” ever even appeared in written texts, and it is quite possible that the scotch and soda was the highball’s ancestral cocktail, according to Provi.
Written recipes featuring the scotch and soda highball began to appear in books like the 1895 edition of C.F. Lawlor’s “The Mixologist,” according to Provi’s website. The drink was called the “Splificator.” Five years later, the cocktail made an appearance in Harry Johnson’s iconic tome, the “Bartender’s Manual.”
Others tried to take credit for inventing the drink, throwing a further wrench in its murky origin story. Patrick Duffy wrote to the New York Times in 1927 and claimed that the Adams House in Boston served the first Highball.
Over in Japan, the highball rose to meteoric heights in the 1960s and 1970s. Though it fell out of favor in the 1980s and 1990s, it became popular again and has since become an iconic staple of Japanese mixology. We’ve gone ahead and recommended three of our favorite whiskies for perfect highballs we guaranteed will keep you cool and refreshed as the temperatures rise.
The 3 Best Whiskeys for Highball Cocktails This Summer
The Classic Laddie by Bruichladdich
Islay’s Bruichladdich is known for its peated whiskies, yet the brand’s flagship Laddie is a bit of a paradox. This unpeated whisky is a love letter to barley, and this bright and lifted whisky makes the perfect base spirit for a highball.
Bruichladdich shares this light and clean whisky possesses aromas of barley sugar and cool mint, before heading into a distinctively floral vibe. The palate offers up green fruit and brown sugar, interlaced with sweet malt which lingers throughout the conclusion. There’s just a bit of ocean spray on the end, making this the quintessential beachy summer scotch.
Bruichladdich’s Classic Laddie has an average price of a relatively affordable $62 and clocks in at 50% ABV.
Glen Scotia Double Cask Single Malt
Campbeltown is one of those sleeper scotch whisky regions that is on the up and up, and just a handful of distilleries exist within this region.
Glen Scotia has a history that dates back to 1832 and specializes in both peated and unpeated whisky expressions, and the brand’s Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky hosts an ABV of 46%. With a price of $64.99, this whisky’s claim to fame stems from its distinctive maturation process
Glen Scotia shares that this whisky spent time maturing in first-fill bourbon barrels, then spent 12 months finishing in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The final whisky has a distinctive blend of spice and fruit flavors, coupled with toffee and fudge.
Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey
We’d be completely remiss if we did not include a Japanese whisky on our list, considering that Japanese bartenders have perfected the highball, after all. This widely beloved grain whisky first dropped from the Japanese brand Nikka in 2012, right around the time the country was picking up steam as a whisky producing powerhouse.
Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky is distilled exclusively from grain, and the predominate grain in the grain mixture is corn. It was distilled in a Coffey still and spent time maturing in re-filled and re-charred oak casks. It has a modest ABV of 45%.
Whisky Advocate describes the Coffey still as an invention made by Aenas Coffey in 1830. The design was considered “more efficient” than a traditional pot still, and it offers the opportunity for continuous distillation. With two columns, each compartment for the distillation process is separated by a heated plate, and the vapor travels up the still. For this particular whisky, Nikka implements this still in the production process.
This grain whisky is described as “sweet and mellow,” making it one of the best whiskeys for highball cocktails. Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky has an average price of $41 according to Wine-Searcher.
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