All But Drams is continually on the hunt for the best ‘low & no’ whisky alternative and Crossip’s Dandy Smoke is the next stop on our journey. Whereas gin alternatives are now a vast category the whisky space is only just starting to stack up. It goes without saying, we’re not a dry site, so all reviews of non-alcoholic alternatives cover not just as direct replacements for spirits but also as complementary products to reduce (but not remove) ABV in cocktails.

A bottle of Dandy Smoke set me back £22 which is on par with the category brands like Seedlip or Everleaf. It comes in a svelte black bottle with copper lettering that would blend in on a bar and is very reminiscent of Arran’s Machrie Moor or a Smokehead bottling. It’s a screw top masquerading as a cork too, to help sell the similarities further.

Cracking it open gives a nose of overwhelming ginger and clove with a lot of sweetness too. There is smoke breaking through from the lapsang tea and peat essence but it is not consistently there with each nosing.

Crossip’s Dandy Smoke is not designed to be drunk neat but we tried it in a Glencairn anyway. As it’s intentionally concentrated and thickened with vegetable glycerin the mouthfeel is thick like a liqueur. The ginger burn is substantial, backed up by the cayenne and the smoke does not cut through as a result.

The first test is with soda and it goes well. The smoke comes through behind the ginger so long as you don’t over-dilute. There really is nothing to complain about here if you wanted a very low calorie and low alcohol alternative to a Dark & Stormy. There is almost no sugar in the product so you may want to add some sweetness to balance out the heat but it works just fine without. Crossip themselves recommend a smoky cokey. This famous and simple whisky cocktail by Dave Broom usually requires Lagavulin but Dandy Smoke does an okay job of standing out even though the ginger, cayenne and pepper are coming through too. I will likely be finishing the whole bottle with coke over time.

Next came an Old Fashioned. We used 25ml of Crossip alongside 50ml of whisky, only a splash of simple syrup and a dash of Angostura orange bitters alongside. I picked two very different unpeated whiskies to try. First was Henstone English single malt. This young and citrusy whisky is a favourite of mine for Old Fashioneds, however it was completely dominated by the spice notes of pepper, cinnamon and clove and uninteresting as a result. At the other end of the spectrum we had Four Roses Small Batch Select which has within it many of the notes Crossip is providing. This absolutely worked. The spice notes come together with the vanilla and the wood and for the first time the smoke swings in!

I would absolutely use this in a bourbon cocktail or as a way to lower the ABV in a Penicillin too. If you are someone trying to make smoky cocktails with zero alcohol then you may be better off just purchasing a cocktail smoking kit and adding the smoke this way yourself. This means you’re guaranteed to get that hit.

Dandy Smoke is a solid overall product and if you are looking for something to bring those rich winter spices to your cocktails or mixed drinks I can absolutely recommend it. However, for any whisky fans who like smoke be warned, whilst this contains peat essence and lapsang it is a timid showing and won’t replace your Islays any time soon.