Whisky Mac
A Whisky Mac is 50ml of blended Scotch and 25ml of green ginger wine, poured into a rocks glass and stirred once, with no ice or a single cube and no garnish. About 2.3 UK units, taking the ginger wine at 13.5% ABV. Waitrose Cellar says Stone’s Ginger Wine is made from a secret recipe including raisins and ground ginger; it is not a mixer or a cordial, so the drink stays short and still, closer to a stirred spirit than to a highball. The ginger brings heat and the raisin a dark sweetness, and both suit a blended Scotch. Published recipes range from equal parts to three of whisky to two of wine. Two to one, as here, keeps the whisky in front and the sugar down. Difford’s Guide says legend names Major General Sir Hector MacDonald, known as Fighting Mac, as the first to make it, in India in 1899.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: None
Ingredients
50ml
Blended Scotch at 40% ABV, the traditional choice. A fruity Speyside malt suits the raisin in the wine; a heavily peated one clashes with the ginger.
25ml
Stone’s is 13.5% ABV on Waitrose Cellar’s listing, which says its roots go back to 1740 and that it is made from a secret recipe including raisins and ground ginger. The listing says it contains sulphites; check the bottle.
Instructions
Pour the Scotch and the green ginger wine into a rocks glass.
Stir once with a bar spoon.
Serve without ice, or add a single large cube on a mild evening.
Expert Tip
We use a recently opened bottle of ginger wine. In our experience once open it fades, losing ginger heat before it loses sugar, so an old bottle makes a sweet, flat drink with nothing obviously wrong. Pour it at room temperature and skip the ice if you can. The drink is there to warm you, and chilling mutes the ginger. On a mild evening, one large cube is fine. If it tastes harsh rather than warming, look at the whisky before the ratio. Peat argues with ginger; a plain blend or a fruity Speyside sits with it.
Behind the Whisky Mac
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Difford’s Guide says legend names Major General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, known as Fighting Mac, as the man who first made the drink, in 1899 while serving in India. It also says two MacDonalds have been confused in various tellings, so the attribution is legend, not record.
Ginger wine predates the Whisky Mac. Difford’s Guide says the recipe for Stone’s is said to date from 1740, while the brand name dates from the mid-nineteenth century, when Joseph Stone, a London grocer, asked the Finsbury Distilling Company to make a ginger wine under his name.
Ginger Wine Is Wine
Waitrose Cellar’s listing gives Stone’s at 13.5% ABV, made from a secret recipe including raisins and ground ginger. Difford’s Guide says Stone’s is made from a combination of gingered and ungingered raisin bases.
Because both bottles are still and neither needs lengthening, the drink sits closer to a stirred spirit than to a highball. That is why it is served short and at room temperature: chilling mutes the heat it is meant to bring.
The Ratio
Published recipes go from equal parts to three of whisky to two of wine. Two to one keeps the Scotch in front; equal parts is sweeter and hotter, a drink for the coldest night.
Whisky Mac ratios, with green ginger wine at 13.5% ABV on Waitrose Cellar’s listing for Stone’s and Scotch at our working 40%
Two to one
- Scotch
- 50ml
- Ginger wine
- 25ml
- UK units
- About 2.3
- Character
- Whisky in front, least sweet
Three to two
- Scotch
- 45ml
- Ginger wine
- 30ml
- UK units
- About 2.2
- Character
- Even
Equal parts
- Scotch
- 45ml
- Ginger wine
- 45ml
- UK units
- About 2.4
- Character
- Sweetest, most ginger
| Ratio | Scotch | Ginger wine | UK units | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two to one | 50ml | 25ml | About 2.3 | Whisky in front, least sweet |
| Three to two | 45ml | 30ml | About 2.2 | Even |
| Equal parts | 45ml | 45ml | About 2.4 | Sweetest, most ginger |
The Whisky
Blended Scotch suits it and loses nothing here: the ginger is loud enough to cover the detail of a fine malt.
A fruity Speyside is the step up, because its dried fruit and honey meet the raisin in the wine. Heavy peat is the one to avoid, since smoke and ginger fight each other.
For a long, sparkling drink of Scotch and ginger, make a whisky and ginger ale instead.
How to Serve It
In a rocks glass, unchilled, stirred once and handed to someone just in from the cold. It takes no garnish.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whisky (Scotch)Scotch is whisky distilled and matured in Scotland, kept in oak for three years at the least, and bottled no weaker than 40% ABV. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 allow only three ingredients, water, malted barley and whole grains of other cereals, and only water and plain caramel colouring may be added later. Fifteen recipes in our library call for it, from the Penicillin and Hot Toddy to the Rob Roy.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Whisky Mac?
Ice or no ice?
What whisky suits it?
What ratio should I pour?
How strong is a Whisky Mac?
Who was the Whisky Mac named after?
Is a Whisky Mac the same as whisky and ginger ale?
Does green ginger wine contain allergens?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Waitrose Cellar, “Stone’s Original Green Ginger Wine” (retailer listing: made from a secret recipe including raisins and Australian ground ginger; roots go back to 1740 when the Finsbury Distilling Company was founded; Alcohol Vol. 13.5 %; contains sulphites).
- Difford’s Guide, “Whisky Mac” (secondary source: full name Whisky MacDonald; legend names Major General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald, Fighting Mac, first making it in 1899 in India; the two MacDonalds confused in the telling; 45ml blended Scotch to 30ml ginger wine).
- Difford’s Guide, “Stone’s Original Green Ginger Wine” (secondary source: recipe said to date from 1740, brand name from the mid-nineteenth century and Joseph Stone, a London grocer, who asked the Finsbury Distilling Company to make it; made from gingered and ungingered raisin bases).
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