From Fruity To Coffee: 12 Unexpected Whisky Cocktails From Johnnie Walker Whisky Experiments

Johnnie Walker Whisky Experiments started as an exploration of what more you could do with a glass of whisky. The World Whisky Day, celebrated on May 16, 2026, was the perfect occasion for the next leg of the Whisky Experiments, one where exploration transforms into innovation. And thus came One Big Experiment, where four bars took on the challenge of recreating whisky cocktails. The challenge wasn’t just creating a new drink, or three; it was creating whisky cocktails that aligned with different flavour themes. Each bar was in charge of one of the four flavours, namely fruity, coffee, spicy, and fresh. Dive in to understand how the four bars introduced a whole new world of flavour with 12 drinks. 

The following cocktails use Johnnie Walker Black Label. You can use any other whisky of your choice. Depending on the other ingredients on the list, a single serving uses 30 to 60 ml of whisky.  

Whisky Coffee Cocktails By Lair

Lair, a speakeasy, was responsible for integrating coffee into whisky cocktails. The drinks were designed by the bar’s beverage director, Navjot Singh. The coffee was specially sourced by Araku, a speciality coffee brand that focuses on terroir. Here are the three drinks served at the

Drawing inspiration from India’s coffee plantations, Coorg pairs Alphonso mango with Araku dark roast coffee for a tropical yet roasted profile with a crema top, slightly similar to a typical espresso martini cocktail. Singh is quick to point out that the crema lasts till the end, not just due to the ingredients (where the block of ice also plays a role), but also due to the measured, precise pour. What’s also noteworthy is how mango’s introduced into the drink. The fruit is frozen, and the dripping ice is collected to form the liquid mixed into the cocktail. 

Ingredients: 

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Alphonso mango

• Araku dark roast

• Agave Syrup 

Here, the focus is on a coffee liqueur that, along with whisky, forms the base of the drink. The flavour of whisky is sharper here, but the masala chai milk rounds off the rough edges. It’s innovation at its best, because rarely have three ingredients as diversely flavoured as masala chai, coffee, and whisky come together as smoothly as they do here. The presentation is essentially minimal, with a biscotti for garnish. 

Ingredients: 

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Enhanced coffee liqueur

• Robusta aperitif

• Masala chai milk

The only highball on this menu of whisky coffee cocktails is the Tiramisu, inspired by the coffee-based Italian dessert of the same name. The soda is infused with dark roast coffee beans for 48 hours, because as Singh puts it, “patience is key” to a good drink. Garnished with an orange coin (coin-sized piece of orange peel), the carbonated mix does right by both coffee and whisky, balancing the two rather than letting one overpower the other. 

Ingredients: 

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Enhanced coffee liqueur

• Robusta aperitif

• Masala chai milk

Fruity Whisky Cocktails By Nutcase

Nutcase, a cocktail parlour from Kolkata, India, combined fruity flavours of mango, apple, and berries into the whisky. The menu was designed by co-founder and head bartender Swanan Sarkar. 

Inspired by the aam makha, a salad-style mango-based street food served in Kolkata, Mango Season is served in a coupe glass. Garnished with mango candy, the drink was the bar’s pick as the signature serve because it matched the whisky’s all-time smoky sweetness with the seasonal flavours of mango. What especially stood out was the miso-mango liqueur, which lent an umami depth to the drink, preventing it from being too sweet, while masking the sharp taste of whisky in the first sip, to allow the deeper, more subtle notes to emerge gradually. 

Ingredients: 

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Mango Liqueur

• Orange Bitter

• Saline Solution

• Malic Acid Solution

This one was a gentle reminder that many more classic whisky cocktails could do with a revisit than just the sours! In this case, the team picked the 1920s straight serve, the Boulevardier cocktail. Originally a three-ingredient cocktail (bitter, whisky, and vermouth) served without ice, the drink was reinvented with mixed berries, saline solution, and a clear block of ice that managed the dilution and flavour. 

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Orange bitters

• Sweet Vermouth

• Mixed berries

• Saline Solution

A comparatively simple highball, the apple cooler kept things on the crisp side of fruity, much like a crunchy apple that inspired its name and ingredients. A touch of soy added a quiet savoury layer, bringing complexity without overpowering the drink. Finished with carbonation and a slide of green apple garnish, the cocktail is well-suited to evolving preferences for bright, fruit-forward whisky cocktails.

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Soda (pre-mixed)

Fresh Whisky Cocktails By Nutcase

Bar Spirit Forward (BSF), from Bengaluru, challenged the perception that fresh and whisky don’t go together. The focus was on ingredients that can lift the whisky, with its diverse flavour notes, rather than mask the spirit’s original taste. 

Whisky highballs are common across professional and home bars, but not like the one that BSF served. It matches the jammy sweetness of honey with smoky whisky, light peach, and clear coconut water, along with a garnish of Thai tea dust and caramelised peach. This one’s perfect for those who like drinks with layers that slowly unfold. 

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Peach Syrup

• Butterscotch Syrup

• Thai Tea Decoction

• Malic Acid Solution

• Honey

• Coconut Water

In a tech product, a glitch is cause for concern. But in this drink, it was an indication of a well-balanced drink. With cherry liqueur and almond syrup, the drink leaned towards sweetness, with whisky acting as the base and the balancing act, with dry vermouth and lime juice. It was topped with crushed ice (drizzled with hibiscus) and garnished with a candy cane

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Cherry liqueur 

• Dry Vermouth

• Clarified Pear Juice

• Celery & Almond orgeat

• Lime Juice

BSF definitely served a variety; if honeytrap was a highball, cookies and crime took after an Old-Fashioned cocktail – served in a rocks glass over an ice block, paired with sweet vermouth and red apple juice, and garnished with a single choco-vanilla cookie. 

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Sweet Vermouth

• Falernum 

• Red Apple juice

• Malic Acid Solution

• Oreo Cookies

• Milk

• Lagavulin

Spice-Inspired Whisky Cocktails by Americano

Americano, a cafe and bar from the city that never sleeps, Mumbai, has a history of being sustainable and creative with its produce. The same ideology shone through the drinks where spice did more than just give heat to a cocktail – it added structure and personality, while bringing out the more intense flavours of whisky. 

The signature serve used whisky as the base and spice as a soft flavour note. The latter brought an unexpected twist because guests sipped expecting a sharpness but were treated, instead, to a smooth medley of flavours and textures — this was dry, light, and crisp at the same time, with a touch of spicy sweetness. 

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Bitter aperitif 

• Rhubarb Falernum

• Ruby Port

• Lime

The cocktail used whisky as its base, with spice and citrus working as layered flavour notes. Orgeat, an almond syrup, could have made the drink denser, but it gets balanced with lime. The berries and peppercorns added a gentle sweetness. This was fresh, structured, and frothy.

Ingredients:

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Orgeat

• Pink Peppercorn

• Timur-Berry

• Lime

With just three ingredients and a dash of bitters, the midnight smoke cocktail turned balance into an art form. This looked deceptively simple, but perfectly highlighted the complex flavour notes of whisky. 

Ingredients: 

• Johnnie Walker Black Label

• Ancho Chili Liqueur

• Sweet Vermouth

• Orange bitters

The drinks covered a wide range – from cocktails specially developed for the event to serves from the regular menu, adapted to suit the theme. Just like co-authors bring together different skills and expertise to write a book that caters to a wider audience, the different bars gave an in-depth view into what versatility looks like for whisky. And that’s what Whisky Experiments are all about!

*Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.