Blended Scotch whisky brand Label 5 has partnered with five bartenders to create new cocktails inspired by UK cities.

The Label 5 City Cocktails campaign celebrates UK cities

The City Cocktail campaign tasked five UK bartenders with creating a cocktail containing Label 5 that champions the local produce, ingredients or heritage synonymous with the city they’re based in.

Bartenders who took part included Tommy Matthews –The Edgbaston, Birmingham; Alex Godfrey – Milk Thistle, Bristol; Mark Holmes – The Dead Canary, Cardiff; Matthew Lyle – Hard Rock Café, Glasgow; and Thomas Higham – The Maven, Leeds.

Julia Pinoncély, international brand manager at Label 5, said: “The ethos of our brand is about celebrating diversity, and our proposition ‘The Power of 5’ was a perfect way to engage with five mixologists across the UK to create bold cocktails inspired by the local area.

“Label 5 is rooted in bringing people together, and this campaign brings to life our culture of friendships, combined with highlighting the many ways to enjoy Scotch whisky.”

Click through the following pages to see the city-inspired cocktails.

Lassi 5 by Tommy Matthews, Birmingham

Ingredients: 60ml Label 5 Classic Black Scotch Whisky, 25ml mango purée, 25ml lemon juice, 20ml cream, 15ml Earl Grey cordial, 1/2 egg white.

Method: Shake all ingredients without ice, then with ice, and strain into a glass. Garnish with two drops of rose water.

Bristol 5 O’Clock Tea by Alex Godfrey, Bristol

Ingredients: 30ml Label 5 Gold Heritage Scotch Whisky, 20ml Butcombe beer cordial, 15ml amaro, 15ml Harvey’s Bristol Crème, 10ml crème de pêche. Orange twist as garnish.

Method: Add all ingredients into a mixing vessel with cubed ice and stir until ingredients are perfectly diluted. Pour diluted mix over a hand cut block of ice in a double Old Fashioned tumbler glass. Peel a strip of fresh orange rind and zest over the top of the glass.

Cymru Old Fashioned by Mark Holmes, Cardiff

Ingredients: 50ml Label 5 Premium Black Scotch Whisky, one shot of burnt leek cordial, three dashes dandelion and burdock bitters.

Method: For the cocktail – add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into an old fashioned glass with ice and a leaf of leek.

For the cordial – char the outer leaves of a leek until it’s burnt and black. Blitz in a food processor. Add the ash to equal parts water and sugar, and heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Glasgow Night Shade by Matthew Lyle, Glasgow

Ingredients: 50ml Label 5 Classic Black Scotch Whisky, four or five Scottish blackberries, three bar spoons of honey, 1/4 bar spoon of cinnamon, one long lemon zest.

Method: Start by chilling a rocks glass, then take a mixing tin/glass and add blackberries, honey and the cinnamon and muddle. Then using a fine strainer, strain out 25ml of now homemade blackberry, honey and cinnamon (BHC) syrup. Then add 50ml of Label 5 to the homemade BHC syrup and stir over ice for just a brief chill, then fine strain once more over fresh ice in the chilled glass and garnish with a lemon zest.

Label Yorkshire by Thomas Higham, Leeds

Ingredients: 40ml Label 5 Classic Black Scotch Whisky, 15ml Porto Cruz Tawny and three dashes of fresh rhubarb bitters.

Method: Fill a large cocktail shaker with the ingredients and then add ice that fills up ¾ of the shaker. Using a Hawthorne strainer, strain the liquid from one shaker to the other, creating a thin run of liquid allowing for oxidisation.

Throw the drink and serve over a large block of hand carved ice. Garnish with an orange twist.