About 15 years ago, I was sitting in a Portland Bar that specializes in rare bottles and hard-to-get rum. While those selections were impressive, what a captured me most was a sherry cocktail called the Fino Countdown. The balanced drink perfectly took advantage of the age-old fortified wine and I think about it to this day.
The drink still exists and is a fixture at Rum Club. The mix of rums, sherry, lemon, vanilla-allspice and bitters is perfection in a glass. You get that lovely yeasty element from the lighter sherry, which works in beautifully with all of those comfort flavors from the other ingredients. Ah, what a cocktail.
Fast forward to 2026. Sherry is being played around with more, sure, but it’s still considered somewhat geriatric. A lot of people associate the drink with their grandparents. Well, for shame. We’re not asking you to play checkers or watch Matlock with it. We just want you to mix with sherry and see the life it can inject in various cocktails.
Sherry is wildly interesting stuff, able to take even the most classic of cocktails in bold new directions. Need some proof? Perhaps a few insider insights? Consider it done.
Pro tips
Start by getting a handle on the basic sherry styles and trying them each neat. See what you like and imagine how the liquid could play into some classic cocktails. Experiment with the different styles and, as award-winning bartender LP O’Brien says, start small.
O’Brien perhaps most famously won Drink Masters on Netflix. The deft drinks industry specialist is also the founder of LP Drinks and the global director of drinks at F1 Arcade. She happens to be a sherry fan.
“I love adding sherry to beverages in small amounts to incorporate additional complexity,” O’Brien says. “There are some amazing classic cocktails that use sherry. One way I integrate it is with 1/2 and 1/4-ounce measurements in beverages such as a Daiquiri (manzanilla and fino), Old Fashioned, or Hot Buttered Rum (PX sherry), or an unconventional Coquito milkshake with amontillado sherry. I think the goal is to continue building flavor in a way that’s symbiotic, intriguing, and different. A little goes a long way.”
Alex Jump is the director of operations at The Peach Crease Club in Denver. She says a major misconception around sherry is that it’s all sweet. Sure, some is, but a lot is bone dry. And there are many styles that can fit into many cocktails, or be enjoyed on their own.
Think of sherry like you might, say, tequila. It can progress from light to dark, or fino and Manzanilla to cream and PX styles, often aged longer and affording richer notes (like tequila might when you compare a blanco versus an extra anejo). And mix accordingly, taking advantage of that weight, or lackthereof, depending on the intensity of the cocktail you’re working with.
“Don’t get tricked into thinking you can just sub sherry for another fortified wine, like vermouth, in a drink,” Jump says. “Sherry can be much drier than the average vermouth, so usually just swapping one in for the other doesn’t exactly get the job done. You may need to think about other ways to add sugar to your drink to keep things balanced. Keep in mind that every sherry style is very different, and understanding how each is made will help you select the right one for your cocktail.”
There’s good new for your wallet too. “Finally, more expensive does not necessarily mean better for your cocktail,” Jump says. “When deciding on the right manzanilla sherry to use in a cocktail on the menu at the Peach Crease Club, we blind-tasted a more expensive sherry and a more affordable, everyday-use sherry in the drink, and we ended up liking the affordable one far better.”
What’s cool about sherry is the flavor tends to be very much its own. Thanks to aging on the yeast and oxidation, a lot of sherry styles offer a leather-like note that falls somewhere in between chewing on your childhood catcher’s mitt and eating a handful of golden raisins and mixed nuts. And I mean that in a truly complimentary, glowing way. What other drink can offer such a profile?
Read on for some great recipes to wet your toes in the sherry cocktail game.
Fino Negroni
Swapping out the gin for fino sherry, the riff on the classic is a bit lower-proof and affords a nice dried fruit and nutty element.
Ingredients:
- 1 part Campari
- 1 part fino sherry
- 1 part sweet vermouth
- Orange for garnish
Method:
- Combine all ingredients in a glass with ice and stir.
- Garnish with orange wedge.
Sherry Cobbler
This delightful little number made the addition of a straw famous. If you like a touch of sweetness, consider adding a 1/4-ounce of simple syrup.
Ingredients:
- 3 ounces Amontillado sherry
- Crushed ice
- Orange wheel for garnish
Method:
- Muddle citrus in shaker and add sherry with ice cubes and shake.
- Strain into a Collins glass filled with crushed ice.
- Top with more crushed ice an serve with a straw.
Paper Plane
The Paper Plane is a bonafide classic and enjoying a bit of a resurgence now. If you don’t want to make your own, try the canned version from Straightaway Cocktails. You can play around with this template a bit, both in terms of the sherry type and with additions of things like Yellow Chartreuse.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 ounce bourbon
- 3/4 ounce Aperol (or similar)
- 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce Amontillado sherry
- Citrus for garnish
Method:
- Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
- Strain into a Nick & Nora glass and garnish.
Sherry Colada
As the name suggests, this drink borrows from the iconic Pina Colada. Consider swapping the lemon for lime if that’s your thing or even playing around with flavored bitters.
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces Amontillado sherry
- 1 ounce pineapple juice
- 1 ounce cream of coconut
- 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
- Angostura bitters
- Crushed ice
- Pineapple wedge for garnish
Method:
- Combine all ingredients but the bitters and pineapple in shaker tin with ice.
- Strain into an ice-filled glass and add bitters and garnish.
If you want to check out some like-minded pieces, The Manual has your back. Check out recent features on Marsala wine cocktails and a pro’s sherry wine guide. Cheers.
