Distilled: Maple Hot Toddy

'Tis the Season for cozy and festive cocktails!  

 Traditions are meant to be shared. Something else that is better when shared? Food and drinks! Fortunately, the holiday season just so happens to have more reasons to celebrate traditions and enjoy festive food and drink together! Chances are if you ask someone what their favorite holiday traditions are- food and drinks will be pretty high on their list. They certainly are for us.

While we look forward to the annual opportunity to enjoy the Van Winkle Family Christmas Eggnog, as well as a sampling of some of our seasonal and festive favorites, Christmas and the holiday season in general also ushers in another opportunity for some of our favorite craft cocktail categories.

More specifically, those that can be enjoyed around a cozy fireplace.  The lingering memory and promise of a White Christmas also has us dreaming of gathering together in front of the fireplace. Warm and cozy craft cocktails, ideal for sharing, are essential for the holiday season. Whether as a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle or simply a precursor to the joyful celebrations, we rely on a few simple recipes that are as easy to whip up as a batch of hot chocolate.  

The warm flavors of bourbon and our Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pure Maple Syrup are practically designed for a Hot Toddy. A simple list of somewhat interchangeable ingredients, all of which are always on hand, are combined in a cozy cocktail that could warm even the Grinch’s coldest spirits.  

While the origins are as murky as the color of the Hot Toddy, it somehow feels delightfully Southern as well as old fashioned enough to have deeply traditional roots in the frigid winters of the British Isles, where warming yourself with a hot drink spiked with whiskey was a winter certainty.   

Typically made with whiskey, lemon and hot water and sweetened with honey, we of course make a Maple Hot Toddy that is given a flavor and warming boost from our Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pure Maple Syrup.  With the natural sweetness of pure maple syrup, infused with the warming and complementary signature flavors of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, you can distinguish the notes of caramel, brown sugar, and charred oak in each sip. 

With additional add-on options from fresh lemon wedges to cinnamon sticks and even licorice-like star anise, you can improvise the warming flavors to meet your particular tastes!

Warm up your winter gatherings with a few of our other favorite Pappy Van Winkle infused and inspired cozy cocktails:

Pappy Van Winkle Barrel-Aged Maple Leaf Manhattan
Julian Van Winkle's Vanhattan
Rum Daiquiri