Whiskey Smoker Kits

These cocktail smokers add a smoky flavor to your favorite spirits enhancing their taste and aroma. The process involves exposing the bourbon or whiskey to smoke for a variable amount of time, similar to the aging process in traditional wooden barrels, but on a smaller and faster scale. This is accomplished via a whiskey smoke topper or enclosed smoke box. Our whiskey smoker kits have a number of uses including being used as old-fashioned smoker kits and cocktail smoker kits alike.

How To Choose A Whiskey Smoker

Types Of Whiskey Smoker Kits

Whiskey smokers generally fall into two categories we recommend, and one we do not recommend.

1. Enclosed whiskey smoker boxes such as our Fortessa whiskey smoke box are the same ones you see in many restaurants. Commercial grade, they last for years and allow you to 1-4 smoke cocktails at a time. They use a smoke gun in which you put the chips and then the smoke travels into the glass smoke box or cloche for an impressive presentation. When you open the glass door the smoke comes out and the cocktails are immediately ready to be enjoyed. Best for smoking multiple cocktails at one.
2. Smoke top smoker kits such as our Halo and Black Diamond cocktail smokers are by far the most popular type of whiskey smoker. Easily portable, they are much more cost effective than the larger smoke boxes and faster to use for individual cocktails. Simply put the whiskey smoke top on the whiskey glass, old fashioned glass, or cocktail glass of your choice. Then, add some wood chips and use the torch to light the chips. The smoke will flow out of the holes in the base of the smoke topper and infuse your favorite whiskey, bourbon, scotch, or cocktail with amazing smoky flavors. Different woods impart different flavors (e.g., oak, hickory, cherry), so choose one that complements your whiskey preferences.
3. DIY or basic smoker kits with an oak board. These involve lighting an actual piece of oak on fire with a torch, or some wood chips sitting on a board and then trying to quickly flip the glass upside down over the smoking oak chips. Not recommended. Smoke tends to go everywhere and your liquid doesn’t get smoked with those types of whiskey smokers since the glass is empty when you smoke it. However, if you’re on a budget…it’s an alternative that can be used. 

Which Whiskey Smoker Is Best?

Choosing the best whiskey smoker really comes down to three factors

1. Number of people it will be used for. If you’re serving a crowd on the regular or using it in a commercial setting then our smoke box kit is the way to go. It can smoke more than one glass at a time, so you’ll be saving time when you smoke multiple cocktails at once. Over time that will help it offset the cost difference between it and our Halo smoke top whiskey smoker.
2. Counter space. The halo whiskey and bourbon smoker can be put away easily when not in use. Smoke box type whiskey smokers are more bulky. They will take up considerably more space, but also look great and add visual interest when displayed on a bar or countertop.
3. Cost. Clear edge here to the Halo topper style whiskey smokers. They are much more cost effective than the box style smokers. 

How To Use A Whiskey Smoker 

• Fill your whiskey glass with your favorite whiskey or cocktail.
• Load the smoking chamber with your whiskey chips of choice. Oak chips are by far the favorite here. All of our Halo smoke top whiskey smoker kits come with a generous portion of oak smoking chips to start. Why use oak wood smoker chips? Oak is the most common because that’s used to age all bourbon, scotch and whiskey in the barrel and pairs nicely with most all smoked drinks. Cherry and hickory are also fun flavors to experiment with, we sell those in a three pack as well when you are ready to try different flavors. These wood chips, once lit, create the smoky flavor in which your cocktail or whiskey will be infused. Using different woods will impact different flavors to the whiskey.
• When filling your foghat, aged and charred, or smokeshow topper you’ll want to follow their directions. However, if you’re using our more premium Halo whiskey smoker you only need to fill it with chips to the top of the holes. Any further, and you’re wasting wood and the smoke won’t work as well as you will be burning the top wood instead of the wood near the holes. We designed our Halo and Black Diamond whiskey smoker kits this way to maximize the ability of these old fashioned smoker kits to smoke cocktails and whiskey drinks perfectly with little waste.
• Smoker torches. These are used to light the wood chips. Adjust your butane torch to the longest length flame. If you’re using one of our drink smoker kits, the torch is easily adjustable via the twist on the bottom, or on the side depending on the model. Hold the smoker gun at a 45 degree angle to the bourbon smoke topper until it builds a nice smoke in your whiskey or old fashioned glass of choice, and then close the lid.
• The whiskey smoker process. Following the smoker instructions above you should now have a great smoke going in your whiskey, old fashioned or other cocktail drink. We advise leaving the whiskey smoker on top of your glass for 2-3 minutes. More if you want a more smoky whiskey or less if you want a less smoky drink. You can also try different wood chips to impart different flavors. Experiment to find what you like best, that’s part of the fun!