Get Exclusive Single Malt Scotch and Snack Combos at Seven Top Venues Around Australia

We love a good single malt Scotch, especially in the colder months. But keeping your home bar stocked with top drams isn’t for the faint of wallet. So, when the temperature drops, we head out to our favourite bars and restaurants, where the selection is better and the atmosphere is livelier. Plus, if you’re feeling more like a whisky cocktail than Scotch on the rocks, there’s a bartender on hand to make one for you.

For a limited time, storied Scotch distillery Laphroaig has partnered with top venues in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to offer exclusive cocktail and snack pairings featuring the brand’s signature Laphroaig 10-Year-Old single malt Scotch.

Laphroaig is distilled on the island of Islay, just off the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. Islay distilleries burn peat to dry the malted barley used in their drams – if you’ve ever had a really smoky whisky, it was most likely from here.

There’s no whisky that encapsulates the salt, peat and fire of Islay quite like Laphroaig, making it an unforgettable whisky no matter how you choose to drink it. These elements also make it a reliable spirit for modern classic cocktails with smoky flavours, like the Penicillin.

Some whisky purists will tell you mixing single malt into a cocktail is practically heresy, but one sip of the creative concoctions below will confirm: heresy never tasted this good.

Sydney

Head to Mat Lindsay’s Surry Hills wine bar Poly for a drink with a decidedly different terroir. The Smoke & Skins combines Laphroaig 10-Year-Old with shiso-infused Suntory Toki, smoked grape and a citrus twist to make a heady whisky highball. It’s paired with a serve of crispy fried potato (a fancy hash brown) with salted egg yolk.

Euro-style steakhouse Alfie’s in the city is offering a sweet treat that riffs on the Penicillin. Laphroaig meets a tart, Australian-made rhubarb aperitif, the Rhubi Mistelle, along with ginger, citrus and rhubarb for a punchy winter cocktail called the Butcher of Peat Street. Leaning into the fire and smoke of Laphroaig, Alfie’s has also created a bitter chocolate tart topped with torched orange meringue.

Melbourne

Fitzroy’s Flint – known for its love of fire and charcoal – is turning out a Whisky Sour with a Bugs Bunny-approved addition: fermented carrot juice. The aptly named Carrot Sour joins another drink looking to the garden for inspiration: the Scotch Blossom pairs the rich peatiness of Laphroaig with elderflower.

The team at Freyja on Collins Street is touting a globetrotting, “unphorgettable” cocktail and snack pairing: a special Laphroaig Penicillin (whisky, honey and ginger syrup, lemon juice, jalapeno oil and kelp salt) with a plate of abalone cooked in koji butter, served with mushroom XO and ponzu sauce. If you’d rather keep things more traditional, there’s also the Manhattan-esque Memory Hall, with Laphroaig, tawny port, sweet vermouth and amaro – served in a Nick & Nora glass.

Or, pretend you’re on the shores of Islay and head down to Pipis Kiosk, right by the beach at Albert Park. The seafood restaurant is also offering its take on a Penicillin, this time with Laphroaig, ginger, lemon and honey. The team aims to bring out Laphroaig’s signature seaweed saltiness by serving it with fresh oysters and rhubarb mignonette.

Perth

Produce-driven restaurant Nextdoor in Perth gets technical, using the smoky flavour of Laphroaig 10-Year-Old to make a cocktail based on a campfire treat. The S’mores drink combines the whisky with a biscuit distillate, burnt marshmallow liqueur, blackcurrant and wood water, topped with smoked milk foam. The snack pairing is equally offbeat, featuring smoked yoghurt gelato, Laphroaig caramel and artichoke crisp.

Fallow, a fire-focused restaurant in Northbridge, is sticking with the classics, offering a Penicillin and a Whisky Sour both built on Laphroaig. Plus, for the whisky purist, a tasting flight of three different Laphroaig bottlings. There’s Laphroaig Oak Select, a mellow and approachable blend of five single malts; Laphroaig Quarter Cask, a richer, sweeter expression; and the signature Laphroaig 10-Year-Old. Pair any of those drinks with an appropriately fiery smoked beef croquette with burnt red pepper and whisky jam.

All these special pairings are available from July 1 to August 12, so don’t miss out. Plus, keep an eye out for Arkhe chef Jake Kellie’s Laphroaig collaboration dinners – also based on salt, peat and fire. The city-hopping events were a smash-hit last year, and Kellie’s bringing them back to Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne soon.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Laphroaig.