The 5 Best Ways To Drink Chocolate Whiskey (Besides Sipping It Straight)

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If you're in a treat-yourself kind of mood and looking for a sophisticated approach, whiskey plus chocolate make for an irresistibly indulgent pairing. There are both shared and contrasting flavor notes between them, from cocoa to caramel, nuttiness to vanilla, and all kinds of fruits and spices. It's a winning combo, and eating chocolate while drinking whiskey isn't the only way to enjoy it thanks to chocolate-flavored whiskey. There are absolutely some brands whose offerings in this department skew cloyingly sweet and obviously artificially flavored, and all around miss that aforementioned sophisticated mark. But if you look at some of the best flavored whiskeys, you'll find versions from distilleries like Ballotin, Kings County Distillery, Southern Tier Distilling Company, and Bird Dog intentionally made with high-quality ingredients for a full whiskey experience highlighted by a touch of desserty magic. 

It might seem like the only way to sip something this unique and intensely flavorful is straight, but we're here with a whole selection of fun cocktail ideas that really make chocolate whiskey shine even brighter. This flavored spirit quickly reveals itself to be a rounded, warming, sweet addition to cocktails both classic and new, an instant layer of complexity or way to build a new flavor profile with some of your favorite ingredients. Sweeten your home-bartending repertoire with chocolate whiskey renditions of an old fashioned, a black Manhattan, a Godfather, and different spins on coffee tipples and minty drinks.

The old fashioned is a classic for a reason. It's simple but perfect, with a touch of sugar adding sweetness and bitters adding spice and herbaceousness to whiskey in the starring role. The old fashioned has existed in some form since the early 19th century, so it's primed for experimentation with new flavors without completely losing sight of the intended profile. Chocolate whiskey keeps the whiskey inclusion intact while bringing in that novel chocolate character. 

To make a chocolate old fashioned, you can keep things simple and stick to the script: two ounces of whiskey (but make it a chocolate-flavored one), plus two dashes of Angostura bitters, one teaspoon of Demerara syrup, a big rock of ice, and a lemon peel and orange peel for a garnish. This delivers the drink you know and love with a dessert-skewed kick. There's plenty of room for other twists too. Bitters offers big opportunity: Just looking at some of the best bitters for whiskey cocktails, chocolate would find a delicious partner in orange, black walnut, cherry vanilla, or coffee bitters.

You could also upgrade your simple syrup with ingredients like cherries, strawberries, cinnamon, or chili powder to play with the chocolate right within the old fashioned recipe — reflect flavor directions with garnishes like brandied cherries or cinnamon-sugar glass rims. Finally, get decadent s'mores vibes with a chocolate whiskey smoked old fashioned, which you can easily achieve with a Smlpuame cocktail smoker kit.

The next mixed drink that undoubtedly springs to mind for whiskey is the legendary Manhattan cocktail. Just a bit younger, with origins in the mid- to late-19th century, the Manhattan differs from the old fashioned in that its whiskey-balancing sweetness comes from sweet vermouth rather than sugar or simple syrup — and both enjoy spice and herbaceousness from Angostura bitters. Chocolate whiskey would fit right in here, but for a truly next-level cocktail, use it in the riff known as the black Manhattan.

The black Manhattan uses Averna amaro instead of vermouth. Averna is a bittersweet Italian liqueur that balances a mouth-coating consistency and caramel sweetness with bitterness, brightness, and spice from notes like citrus, juniper, allspice, rosemary, anise, and sage. While chocolate whiskey would match the sweetness of the vermouth in the original Manhattan, it creates more of an artful, complex balance with the black Manhattan's Averna, playing with the caramel character and rounding out the botanicals. If you like chocolate-covered oranges or cherries, this is the cocktail for you. In fact, upgrade the Manhattan's signature brandied cherry garnish with a chocolate-dipped one. 

For further experimenting, or if you don't have Averna, in particular, on hand, consider other picks among some of the best amaros for what would pair well with chocolate flavor and still work with the whiskey-forward profile of a black Manhattan. Nonino Amaro would also bring in caramel and orange zest, while Amaro Montenegro contributes orange, cherry, coriander, black pepper, and rose.

Smokiness, woodiness, and warmth countering sweetness and nuttiness, all in a simple two-ingredient drink? That's an offer we can't refuse. The Godfather is a straightforward, classic cocktail traditionally made with scotch, but it would be quite the dessert-centric delight with chocolate whiskey. This is because the Godfather is one of the best drinks to mix with amaretto.

Amaretto is a sweet liqueur that is sometimes made from almonds, other times made from apricot pits, but always delivers an almond sweetness. Most imbibers prefer it with something to temper it, getting that sweet nuttiness cut by acid like in an amaretto sour, or by woody heat, spice, and smoke from whiskey. It can still withstand a touch more sweetness from chocolate with the whiskey to back the combo up. Together, amaretto and chocolate whiskey create a godfather update that's like chocolate-covered almonds, chocolate-covered macaroons, or marzipan dipped in chocolate.

The basic format of this drink, with two ounces of whiskey and ¼ ounce of amaretto, makes it a snap to add on to and experiment with. The sky's the limit, just think about what you like and what works with amaretto and chocolate while maintaining that whiskey balance. In the form of simple syrup or liqueur, try a splash of orange, cherry, or raspberry. For a more decadent approach, add a creamy element like Bailey's Irish Cream, a coffee liqueur like Kahlúa, or one of Mozart's chocolate liqueurs in milk, dark, white, coconut, or strawberry.

Calling all chocolate mint fans: There are a couple of ways to get an ice cream-like fix with a cocktail that doesn't clash with whiskey and, in fact, keeps it centered for complex and grown-up results. The secret is Fernet-Branca, a bitter Italian liqueur made with 27 herbs, spices, and roots. Its resulting flavor profile is refreshingly minty — but it's deeper and more well-rounded than something like peppermint schnapps. It's got a silky mouthfeel, bitterness from all those botanicals, a touch of spice, and a pleasant amount of astringency like you'd find in black tea. Looking at that profile, it has notes in common with both chocolate and whiskey, and would pair well with the flavored spirit to bring Andes-like sweetness to a drink without even venturing near cloying territory.

The two must-try ways to work this flavor fusion are through the Toronto, yet another Manhattan riff that uses Fernet instead of vermouth or Averna, and the #4 with a smile, a combo of whiskey, Fernet, and cola syrup. For the first, simply stir two ounces of your chocolate whiskey with ¼ ounce of Fernet and ¼ ounce of simple syrup plus two dashes of Angostura bitters. For the second cocktail, mix the same two ounces of chocolate whiskey with the same ¼ ounce of Fernet, along with ⅛ ounce cola syrup. You can easily find Portland Syrups True Cola syrup online, or take a bubbly approach and splash in actual cola.

It's hard to think of a tastier duo than chocolate and coffee — ah yes, there's also whiskey and coffee. All three sing with like and unlike but complementary notes that can include cocoa, spices, dark dried fruits, brown sugar, caramel, and roastiness. There's plenty of history to back different pairings up too. Mocha coffee's origins reach all the way back to 17th-century Yemen with popular, chocolate moka coffee beans. And the Irish coffee combining whiskey and coffee with sugar and whipped cream has been an official cocktail since 1943 — though who knows how long people were spiking their cuppa' joe before that. To really make the perfect Irish coffee, put all three of these elements together with java and chocolate whiskey.

For the same reasons, chocolate whiskey is the ideal chocolatey upgrade for any other coffee-centric cocktail. For a classic black Russian reinvented, swap out the one ounce of vodka for one ounce of chocolate whiskey and add the other ounce of Kahlua. For a carajillo, Licor 43 is traditionally used alongside coffee, but you can instead use chocolate whiskey with a splash of orange liqueur and perhaps an herbaceous amaro. And whiskey is one of the many game-changing upgrades for the espresso martini, so chocolate whiskey will only boost its sweet, roasty character. As with other chocolate whiskey cocktail ideas, have fun with garnishes like chocolate-dipped espresso beans, chocolate-covered berries, or rims dipped in chocolate sprinkles or cinnamon.