How to pour the perfect whisky highball

Once a staple of clubs and bars, the whisky and soda spent the latter-half of the 20^th century on the wrong side of fashion. The popularity of clear spirits coupled with a curious belief that mixing whisky is a near-criminal act saw the serve relegated to the back bench. At least that was the case in Britain – in Japan, the humble highball became a religion. The bracing combination of fruity, flavoursome whisky combined with lots of ice and freezing cold soda water is served up and down the country. It’s meticulously assembled by bartenders in high-end cocktail bars, it’s served on draught in rowdy Izakaya, and sold in vending machines in train stations. The highball is so popular that it caused global shortage of Japanese whisky from which the industry is still recovering. So, despite what the never-mix-whisky brigade might claim – there is clearly something to the whisky soda.