16 Canned Whiskey Cocktails, Ranked Worst To Best

For any gathering with friends, there's nothing easier than pre-mixed, canned drinks. They're particularly handy in the summer months for those venues where glass bottles are forbidden — such as beach days and lakeside camping — but they are a convenient option any time. They combine the portability and convenience of a six pack of beer with the refinement of a cocktail party.

Canned cocktails have been around since the 1890s, but in recent years, this category of boozy beverages has grown exponentially. Today, it shows no signs of slowing down; imbibers can select from an impressive volume of vodka tonics, gin brambles, margaritas, and dozens of whiskey cocktail choices using bourbon, whiskey, whisky, and rye. The sheer range of selection is almost overwhelming, and it can be difficult sometimes to make an educated guess. With that in mind, here are 16 noteworthy canned whiskey cocktails, ranked as a group from worst to best.

Hailing from Ireland, Jameson has been distilling whiskey since 1780. Unsurprisingly, they make Irish whiskey, rather than the Tennessee, Canadian, or Bourbon varieties. Irish whiskey is aged for a minimum of 3 years in used bourbon barrels, and uses less corn than stateside bourbon whiskies.

At a relatively low 6.0% ABV, Jameson Ginger & Lime is lighter on the alcohol, making it a nice option for summer afternoons. If you love Jameson you're likely to be disappointed, however, as this drink is very sweet. It has a strong, creamy vanilla taste and resembles cream soda more than a whiskey drink. That sweetness, however, might make it more palatable for non-whiskey drinkers.

Jameson Ginger & Lime is straightforward; there's nothing to complain about, but it just doesn't wow. It's too strong for non-whiskey drinkers, too sweet for whiskey lovers. It's a mellow, easy-drinking cocktail that ultimately seems unlikely to please either crowd.

San Diego distiller Cutwater Spirits was a pioneer in canned cocktails and a driving forces behind today's RTD beverage craze. After its founding in 2016, it was so wildly successful that it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch in February 2019. Today, Cutwater produces 18 varieties of canned cocktails using Cutwater liquors, and is one of the most recognizable brands in its category.

The Cutwater Whiskey Mule features Cutwater's Black Skimmer Bourbon, lime, ginger and bitters in a 7.0% ABV. The ginger is more sharply pronounced than Jameson's Ginger and Lime, and as a result the drink is lighter, brighter, crisper, and more aromatic. It's a fairly standard Moscow mule with whiskey subbed in for vodka. It's a solid, basic whiskey mule but nothing extraordinary. It tastes like something you'd be able to create yourself at home pretty easily.

Established in 2020, the youthful, enthusiastic Spirited Hive calls Nashville home. While it has only been around for a few short years, Spirited Hive has already made a splash with its specialty beverages: Canned cocktails, sweetened with honey. The name references a hive of friends and shared community, as well as the literal hive that produces the honey for their crafted cocktails.

Spirited Hive Bourbon Rosemary features bourbon whiskey infused with rosemary, lemon, honey, and other natural flavors. At 7% ABV, it has an alcohol content in the vicinity of a typical beer. The most striking quality is its initial scent of rosemary, which evokes an earthy, resinous quality before you even begin drinking. 

With rosemary, lemon, honey, and bourbon, one might expect this to be a cold-weather drink akin to a hot toddy, but it's actually refreshing and summery. It does have a distinct herbal flavor and an almost wheat finish, but it's quite light. In fact, it might be a little too light, almost to the point of feeling watered down. The honey does a lot of the work in this mixture, adding unmistakable richness to the character of the beverage. Spirited Hive has a fantastic concept and clearly puts a lot of passion into what they are doing, making them one to watch.

The James B. Beam distillery has been making Kentucky Bourbon for more than 200 years, since 1795. Their flagship spirit, Jim Beam, is one of the world's top-selling bourbons and they have stuck by their original recipe for centuries. They currently offer only a few ready-to-drink cocktails: a Ginger Ale Highball, Kentucky Cooler, and a Seltzer Highball. 

The Jim Beam Classic Highball has no right to be as delicious as it is. It's extremely simple: just Jim Beam bourbon, seltzer, and a hint of citrus. At a very light 5.0% ABV, it packs a modest 105 calories. Yet, it's astonishingly wonderful. 

Jim Beam has to have done some kind of witchcraft to elevate this one beyond its unremarkable ingredient list. Chalk it up to well-earned confidence in their whiskey, or the low alcohol content, or the exact right amount of lemon and orange flavor, but this one perfectly balances the warm spices from Jim Beam bourbon with light refreshing seltzer. It doesn't have any of the sickly sweetness of the soda pop-flavored beverages. Instead, the bourbon takes the spotlight and gets a chance to shine in this libation.

Sagamore Spirit Grapefruit Paloma is the definitive winner amongst their Maryland-style rye canned cocktails. It pairs Sagamore Spirit's Rye Whiskey with red grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave and natural honey flavor. Grapefruit's natural bitterness and distinctive brightness effortlessly complements the spicy cinnamon and clove notes of the rye. The citrus and honey in the mixer are a natural coupling for the honey and citrus peel in the spirit. 

Don't come at this one expecting it to be a tequila Paloma — it isn't — but if you approach it with an open mind, you might appreciate its unique qualities. The rich honey flavor and smooth whiskey aroma are nicely showcased against the brightness of the grapefruit and lime. It's a real winner; Sagamore Honey Paloma has racked up a number of medals at the Canned Adult Beverages Competition, including a 2nd place Best of Show in 2021.

Further north in Spokane, Dry Fly distillers pursues a farm-to-bottle approach in all their products. Their award-winning Washington Whiskey is made with 100% wheat, sourced from family farms within 30 miles of their distillery. Since it uses only wheat in its mash bill, and a very specific wheat at that, Dry Fly Washington Whiskey has a completely different flavor profile than Tennessee Bourbon or Maryland Rye.

Dry Fly mixes that one-of-a-kind whiskey with mint, lemon, and strawberry to bring the Dry Fly Whiskey Smash. With a mild 5.8% ABV, it's almost a session cocktail. 

Since low-alcohol beverages are rising in popularity, this may ultimately prove a shrewd move from Dry Fly. One thing is certain: they've created a delightful, citrusy and bright cocktail here. It's sour but sweet. You notice the citrus and the berries, but not much of a noticeable whiskey flavor. The mint cools things down and provides herbaceous freshness. It has a bit of a puckery mouthfeel from the tart lemon, a welcome element against the sweet berry flavors. It's very packable and perfect for enjoying outdoors.

Tip Top Proper Cocktails is an outlier among the canned cocktail community. They are not a distiller that branched out into ready-to-drink beverages, but were instead built from the start with the intention of perfecting canned classic cocktails. Their focus is — and always has been — mixing and canning a proper cocktail.

It makes sense, then, that their products most closely resemble an actual cocktail from a bartender, rather than cocktail-inspired fizzy drinks. They boast that their cocktails are "Always balanced, never too sweet" and they're nailing it. The Tip Top Old Fashioned, for example, feels sophisticated and refined. There's nothing extremely creative or inventive about one of the oldest classic cocktails in the book, but Tip Top does it sublimely well.

At 37% ABV, it packs such a wallop that a small 100mL can is considered one serving. It's also among the pricier options out there, averaging more than double a cost per serving than most competitors. It may be less suited to a barbecue or lounging by the pool, but that's not what it's for. This portable potable feels like taking a swanky bartender with you on your adventures. It feels posh and elegant.

Social Hour Cocktails founders Julie Reiner and Tom Macy have decades of experience at some of New York City's most illustrious cocktail bars, including the renowned Clover Club, which Julie founded and Tom joined in 2009. Together, they conceived Social Hour canned cocktails, determined to use their shared knowledge to create canned beverages that would bring people together.

Since its launch in the summer of 2020, Social Hour has gained legions of adoring fans and racked up numerous accolades. Their newest launch, the George Dickel Bourbon Smash, is described as "a mint julep meets a whiskey sour." It starts with George Dickel 8-year aged Bourbon and adds notes of tart Meyer lemon and fresh muddled mint for a luxurious summer sipper. It's pleasantly sour, with top notes of sweet mint, while the quality of that aged George Dickel Bourbon comes through with rich complexity and smooth oakiness. This one is so sublime it's hard to share, but you ought to try; it's quite potent at 20% ABV, so a 250 mL can is meant to serve three. Hey, it is social hour after all.