Irish Onyx is the HDF Whiskey Edition Cocktail of the Year 2026: top 3 recipes

Bushmills' Irish Onyx is the HDF Whiskey Edition Cocktail of the Year 2026. This black take on the Penicillin scored 19.5 out of 20 from the jury and also won the importers and distilleries category. Below you'll find the recipes for the top three drinks, the results of the Helsinki bars category and the jury's favourite whisky.

How the jury judged

The HDF Whiskey Edition cocktail jury, picked through an Instagram giveaway, visited all 16 competition stands at the Old Student House in central Helsinki on Friday 9 October. Jury members moved in pairs along three different routes and scored every drink on their phones right at the bar, before heading to the next stand.

Cocktails were rated on four questions on a scale of 1 to 5: appearance, innovation, taste, and whether you would buy the cocktail at a bar. A drink made it into the results if it received at least four ratings. Ties were settled by taste.

1. Irish Onyx, Bushmills

Made by Markus Sillanpää and Tuomas Hämäläinen. Importer: Anora. Also won the importers and distilleries category.

Irish Onyx scored 19.5 out of 20, and taste got full marks in every single jury rating. The base is the Penicillin, a modern whisky classic. Next to Bushmills Black Bush goes a honey and ginger cordial, flavoured with meadowsweet and tonka bean and turned black with activated charcoal. The meadowsweet adds almond and vanilla.

A classic Penicillin gets a float of smoky Islay whisky on top. In Irish Onyx, a flaming spray of meadowsweet and Bushmills takes its place, so the character of the Irish whiskey stays clear.

"A top-class cocktail. Put this on the bar for everyone!" (from a jury member's scoresheet)

Recipe

• 4 cl Bushmills Black Bush
• 4 cl Onyx cordial (recipe below)
• 3 drops Foamee foaming agent
• meadowsweet and Black Bush spray (recipe below)
• a red flower to garnish

1. Add the ingredients and a little ice or crushed ice to a spindle mixer (a machine shaker). Spin for a few seconds for a dense foam. Without a spindle mixer, you need to hand-shake really hard.
2. Pour into a glass filled with ice and garnish.
3. Finish with the spray: spray it through the flame of a gas torch so it flares up. Be careful with the flame.

Onyx cordial (makes about 1 litre)

• 425.5 g ginger acid extract
• 345.5 g meadowsweet and tonka syrup
• 218.5 g honey

Meadowsweet and tonka syrup: 215 g water, 3.2 g meadowsweet, 0.2 g tonka bean, 266 g sugar, 1.9 g salt and 2 g activated charcoal. Steep the meadowsweet and tonka bean in the water for 3 minutes at 70 °C.

Ginger acid extract: 500 g water, 20 g citric acid, 7.75 g malic acid and 50 g ginger. Dissolve the acids in the water and blend with the ginger for 5 seconds. Strain carefully, for example through cheesecloth.

Meadowsweet and whisky spray: 10 cl Bushmills Black Bush and 3 g dried meadowsweet. Infuse at room temperature for 2 hours and strain through a filter bag.

2. Orange Ice Latte, Stockfors Coffee

Made by Joonatan Woodward. Also second place in the importers and distilleries category.

Coffee roastery Stockfors Coffee held its own against the whisky houses with a drink that has no whisky in it at all. Stockfors espresso, Cointreau, oat milk and vanilla syrup are shaken with ice, and orange peel oils finish the glass.

"Seriously tasty." (from a jury member's scoresheet)

Recipe

• 2 cl Cointreau
• 4 cl Stockfors espresso
• 2 cl oat milk
• 1 cl vanilla syrup
• orange peel to garnish

1. Fill an on the rocks glass with ice to chill it.
2. Measure the ingredients into a shaker and shake with ice.
3. Empty the ice from the glass, add fresh ice and strain the drink over it.
4. Garnish with the orange peel and squeeze the peel's oils over the surface of the drink.

3. Un-peel-ievable Sour, Bar Mate

Made by Mika Ammunét. Won the bars category.

Bar Mate's autumn sour is made with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple, chai syrup and lemon. There is Angostura in it too, and a crisp oat tuile sits on the rim of the glass.

"Made me think of apple pie and Christmas. Such a warm feeling." (from a jury member's scoresheet)

Recipe

• 4 cl Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple
• 2 cl chai tea syrup (recipe below)
• 2 cl lemon juice
• 1–2 cl egg white or 3–4 drops vegan foaming agent (e.g. Foamee or Fee Foam)
• 2–3 dashes Angostura bitters
• a crisp oat tuile to garnish

Measure the ingredients into a shaker and shake for about 12–15 seconds. Strain over ice into a short lowball glass and garnish with the oat tuile.

Chai tea syrup: Brew a cup of ThéHuone Indian Spice tea or another chai tea at double strength, so the flavour comes out strong. Strain out the tea leaves and weigh the liquid. Add the same weight of sugar and stir until it dissolves. The syrup keeps in the fridge for 2–3 weeks. Ready-made chai syrup works too, but it is sweeter, so add a little more lemon or use less syrup.

Want easier whisky drinks for your home bar? Try three whisky cocktails to make at home.

Top three by category

Overall competition

1. Irish Onyx, Bushmills (Anora)
2. Orange Ice Latte, Stockfors Coffee
3. Un-peel-ievable Sour, Bar Mate

Bars: Four Helsinki cocktail bars from Bar Town competed in their own category, and the gaps in the top three were small.

1. Bar Mate, Un-peel-ievable Sour
2. The Firm
3. American Bar

Importers and distilleries

1. Bushmills (Anora), Irish Onyx
2. Stockfors Coffee, Orange Ice Latte
3. Teerenpeli, Honey Whisky Liqueur

The jury's favourite whisky: Blanton's

Besides the cocktails, the same jury scored the whiskies entered at the stands. Whiskies had their own four criteria: nose, taste, finish and overall impression. Blanton's (importer Galatea), a single barrel bourbon from Kentucky, scored highest. Every bottle of Blanton's is filled from a single barrel.

"A whisky with real character!" (from a jury member's scoresheet)

1. Blanton's (Galatea)
2. Nc'nean Organic Single Malt (Brukett)
3. Mars Komagatake 2022 (Distillium)

Scotland's Nc'nean and Japan's Komagatake scored the same, and taste decided the order. The top three has one bourbon and two single malts. If you want to know what single malt means and how it differs from a blend, read Single malt vs blend.

What the results tell us

Presentation counts. Jury members often commented on how the stand presented its drink. One wrote that Irish Onyx tasted even better once the story behind it had been told.

Coffee holds its own with the whisky houses. Stockfors Coffee came second both in the importers and distilleries category and in the overall competition.

Thank you to the jury and to all the stands that brought their competition drinks to be judged. The next Helsinki Drink Festival takes place on 12–13 March 2027 at the Old Student House, with cocktails back in the lead role. Tickets are already on sale at Tiketti.

Fact box

• Competition: HDF Whiskey Edition Cocktail of the Year 2026
• Place and date: the Old Student House (Vanha ylioppilastalo), central Helsinki, Fri 9 October 2026
• Competition stands: 16
• Categories: overall competition, importers and distilleries, bars, the jury's favourite whisky
• Judging: on site, scale of 1 to 5
• Winner: Irish Onyx, Bushmills (Anora), 19.5 / 20
• Second and third: Orange Ice Latte (Stockfors Coffee), Un-peel-ievable Sour (Bar Mate)
• The jury's favourite whisky: Blanton's (Galatea)
• Photos: Esko Laitinen