We're going to go out on a limb here and suggest that most home barrel owners are not drawing from their barrel as often as they could be. Life gets busy. The barrel sits quietly in the shed doing its work. You crack it occasionally, have a glass, put the bung back in, and move on.
Which is fine. That's more or less how barrel ownership is supposed to go. But if you have a 20L or a 50L, that's a lot of fortified wine quietly ageing in the dark and winter is arguably the best season to actually use it. The rich sweetness of a good Muscat, the fine elegance of a Topaque, the nutty depth of a Tawny: these are exactly the flavours a cold evening calls for.
So here are nine ways to put your barrel to work this winter. Three cocktails, three hot drinks, and three recipes — one for each style. All of them are built around Classic Muscat, Classic Topaque and Tawny, so if you don't have a home barrel yet, the Stanton & Killeen Fortified range has you covered. And if you do have a barrel going, pull a sample. Your fortified wine in your own glass is what this is all about.
Muscat
Rutherglen Muscat is the most generous of the three styles. Concentrated dried fruit, orange blossom, raisins, dark toffee — it doesn't hold back. In cocktails and cooking it works as a flavour bomb rather than a background note. Use it where you want something that makes an impression. If you're still getting to know the style, our guide to Rutherglen Muscat is worth a read first.
If your barrel is a Muscat blend, now is the time to draw off a small amount and see what it does to an Old Fashioned. You might not go back.
1. Muscat Old Fashioned
A classic Old Fashioned swaps the sugar syrup for Muscat, which brings a fruit sweetness that whisky alone can't match and a depth that simple syrup will never have.
You'll need:
• 60ml bourbon or rye whisky
• 20ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Muscat (or your barrel blend)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Orange peel and a large ice cube to serve
Method:
Add the whisky, Muscat and bitters to a mixing glass with plenty of ice. Stir for around 30 seconds until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Express an orange peel over the glass, run it around the rim, and drop it in. Drink slowly.
2. Muscat Negroni
The Negroni is already one of the great winter cocktails. Swap the sweet vermouth for Muscat and it becomes richer, darker, and more interesting than the original.
You'll need:
• 30ml gin
• 30ml Campari
• 30ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Muscat (or your barrel blend)
• Orange slice and ice to serve
Method:
Combine all three in a mixing glass with ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a coupe or over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with a slice of orange. The Campari bitterness and the Muscat sweetness find each other perfectly here.
3. Spiced Muscat Hot Toddy
When it's genuinely cold, sometimes you want something warm. This one takes five minutes and tastes like winter done properly.
You'll need:
• 40ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Muscat (or your barrel blend)
• 150ml hot water, just off the boil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 strip of orange peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
Method:
Add the cinnamon, cloves and orange peel to a mug. Pour over the hot water and leave for two minutes to steep. Add the Muscat and honey, stir gently, and drink while hot. Adjust the honey depending on how sweet your Muscat is — barrel blends vary, and some will need less.
4. Muscat roasted figs with blue cheese and walnuts
Figs roasted in Muscat is one of those combinations that sounds fancier than it is. Fifteen minutes, a hot oven, and something considerably better than the sum of its parts. Works as a starter, a cheese course, or a dessert.
Serves 4
You'll need:
• 8 fresh figs, halved
• 60ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Muscat (or your barrel blend)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 100g blue cheese — Gorgonzola or a good Australian blue
• A handful of walnuts, roughly broken
• Fresh thyme to finish
Method:
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Place the figs cut-side up in a baking dish. Mix the Muscat and honey together and spoon generously over the figs. Roast for 12 to 15 minutes until soft and slightly caramelised at the edges. Transfer to a serving plate, crumble the blue cheese over the top, scatter the walnuts, finish with a few thyme leaves. Serve warm with crusty bread or alongside a cheese board. Pour a small glass of Muscat alongside — the pairing is not subtle and is not meant to be.
Topaque
Topaque is the style that surprises people most on first taste. Where Muscat leans rich and heavy, Topaque is finer — lighter in colour, more delicate in texture, with a cold tea character and citrus brightness that makes it feel almost refreshing alongside its sweetness. In winter recipes it works beautifully where you want complexity without weight.
A Topaque barrel blend tends to show its best in drinks where the delicacy of the style can actually be tasted. Don't bury it under too many competing flavours.
1. Topaque Whisky Sour
The classic whisky sour gets a fortified twist here. Topaque's natural citrus and cold tea notes play into the sour format beautifully — adding depth without fighting the lemon.
You'll need:
• 45ml blended Scotch whisky
• 25ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Topaque (or your barrel blend)
• 20ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 egg white — optional but recommended for the foam
• Ice and a lemon wheel to serve
Method:
If using egg white, dry shake all ingredients without ice first for 10 seconds. Add ice and shake hard for another 10 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. The Topaque adds a honeyed, slightly tea-like quality that makes this noticeably more interesting than the standard recipe.
2. Topaque and Tonic
This one requires almost no effort and is quietly excellent. Topaque over tonic with a slice of lemon is the fortified wine equivalent of a gin and tonic — low effort, very drinkable, and genuinely surprising to people who've never tried it.
You'll need:
• 45ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Topaque (or your barrel blend)
• 100ml good quality tonic water
• Ice and a thin slice of lemon
Method:
Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour the Topaque over, top with tonic, add the lemon. Stir once. Done. Serve this to someone who thinks fortified wine is only for winter evenings by the fire and watch them change their mind.
Sticky date pudding is one of the great Australian winter desserts, and Topaque turns out to be a beautiful match for it. The cold tea and citrus brightness that makes Topaque so distinctive cuts through the richness of the dates and butterscotch, keeping the whole thing from feeling heavy.
2. Topaque stick date pudding with Topaque butterscotch sauce.
Serves 6
For the pudding:
- 200g pitted dates, roughly chopped
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 60g unsalted butter, softened
- 140g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 175g self-raising flour
- 60ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Topaque (or your barrel blend)
For the Topaque butterscotch sauce:
- 100g brown sugar
- 80g butter
- 80ml Stanton & Killeen Classic Topaque (or your barrel blend)
- 150ml pouring cream
Method: Pour the boiling water over the dates and bicarb and leave for 10 minutes to soften. Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, then the Topaque, then fold in the flour and the date mixture. Pour into a greased 20cm square tin and bake at 180°C for 25 to 30 minutes until just set. For the sauce, melt the sugar and butter together over medium heat, add the Topaque, then the cream, and simmer for three to four minutes until thickened. Pour generously over warm pudding and serve with vanilla bean ice cream.
Tawny
Tawny is the most savoury of the three and arguably the most versatile in the kitchen. Long oak ageing gives it walnut and dried fig notes, leather and spice, and a dryness relative to Muscat and Topaque that makes it work in both sweet and savoury contexts. It's also the style that most naturally bridges the gap between fortified wine and whisky — which makes it exceptional in longer winter cocktails.
If your barrel runs Tawny, it's one of the most interesting styles to cook with. Don't be precious about it — the cooking concentrates the flavour and the alcohol burns off, leaving behind exactly the complexity you've spent months developing.
1. Tawny Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is built for winter, and Tawny is built for the Old Fashioned. The nutty, dried fruit and oak spice characters that define a good Rutherglen Tawny do exactly what aged whisky does in the glass — this just does it with an Australian accent.
You'll need:
• 45ml bourbon or rye whisky
• 25ml Stanton & Killeen Tawny (or your barrel blend)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Large ice cube and orange peel to serve
Method:
Combine the whisky, Tawny and both bitters in a mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds until well chilled and properly diluted. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Express an orange peel over the surface, run it around the rim, and drop it in. The Tawny replaces the sugar syrup entirely, bringing sweetness, oak, and complexity that syrup can't touch.
2. Tawny Mulled Wine
Technically this is a mulled fortified, but the principle is identical to mulled wine. Tawny handles the spice better than Muscat or Topaque because its savoury, nutty base doesn't compete with the cinnamon and star anise — it leans into them.
Serves 4
You'll need:
• 200ml Stanton & Killeen Tawny (or your barrel blend)
• 400ml good quality apple juice — not from concentrate
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 4 cloves
• 1 orange, sliced
• 1 tablespoon honey
Method:
Combine everything in a medium saucepan over low heat. Do not let it boil — you want it steaming and hot but not bubbling. After 15 minutes the spices will have infused properly. Taste and adjust the honey if needed. Ladle into mugs through a small strainer. Keep it warm over the lowest possible heat if you're serving across the evening.
3. Tawny braised beed ragu
This is the one recipe in the lineup that isn't a dessert, and it might be the best argument yet for cooking with your barrel wine. Tawny's nutty, dried fig and leather characters do exactly what a long-aged red wine does in a ragu — except with more depth and a faint sweetness that balances the richness of the beef beautifully.
Serves 4–6
You'll need:
- 1kg beef chuck or shin, cut into large chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 150ml Stanton & Killeen Tawny (or your barrel blend)
- 400g tin crushed tomatoes
- 250ml beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pappardelle or polenta, to serve
Method: Season the beef generously and brown it in batches in a heavy-based pot with the olive oil, then set aside. In the same pot, soften the onion, carrot and celery for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for a further minute. Pour in the Tawny and let it bubble for a minute or two, scraping up anything stuck to the base of the pot — this is where most of the flavour lives. Return the beef to the pot, add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook on low for 3 to 3.5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is falling apart. Shred the meat through the sauce, season to taste, and serve over pappardelle or soft polenta. A glass of the same Tawny alongside is, frankly, the only correct way to finish the meal.
A note on using your barrel
All nine recipes work with the Classic tier of each style — no need to reach for a Grand or Rare when you're cooking or mixing. Classic Muscat, Classic Topaque and Tawny are exactly what these recipes are designed around, and their price point makes it easy to be generous with the pour.
But if you have a barrel at home and your blend is coming along well, pulling a small amount for the Muscat Old Fashioned, the Tawny mulled wine, or the Topaque caramel sauce is genuinely worthwhile. The whole point of a home barrel is drinking the wine you've made. Winter gives you nine new reasons to do exactly that.
And if the barrel needs topping up after you've drawn a bit off, we can help with that too. Our winter barrel care guide covers everything else worth checking this season.
