Whiskey Nutrition Facts: Calories and Carbs by Style

By the DrinkLeader team · Published 2026-10-14 · Data updated 2026-10-12 · 8 min read

A 1.5 oz pour of whiskey lists about 108 calories and 0.51g of carbs on average in the catalog, with straight whiskey, bourbon and rye all listing 0g of carbs. What moves the numbers is proof and, for flavored products, added sugar. This guide breaks the catalog down by style so you can see which of those matters for the bottle in front of you.

Where whiskey calories come from

Whiskey is distilled from fermented grain and then aged, and the distillation leaves virtually all the sugar behind. The calories that remain come from the alcohol itself, at about 7 calories per gram. The NIAAA standard drink for distilled spirits is 1.5 fl oz at about 40% ABV, which holds 14 grams of pure alcohol, so the baseline is close to 100 calories. The catalog average of 108 is slightly above that because the average whiskey is bottled at 43.4%, above 40%, compared with 37.8% for vodka.

Whiskey by style

The catalog groups Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Japanese and American single malts and blends under "Whiskey", with bourbon and rye in their own groups. Bourbon and rye list exactly 0g of carbs for every entry, so their calorie figure is purely a function of how strong they are. For a head-to-head on those three, see whiskey vs bourbon vs rye; for the wider spirits shelf, see the spirits comparison.

Standard-strength whiskeys

The lowest-calorie whiskeys in the catalog are 40% bottles:

Brand names here include Scotch blends, Irish and Canadian whiskey and Tennessee whiskey such as Jack Daniel's. They all list 0g of carbs and nearly identical calories, which is the point: at the same proof, the nutrition is the same regardless of the label.

Bourbon and rye, lowest and highest

Bourbon labeled at 40% sits at about 98 calories and every entry lists 0g of carbs. The proof is the lever, and the strongest entries show how large it can be:

Barrel-proof and cask-strength bourbons such as Woodford Reserve Batch Proof list well over 140 calories in a 1.5 oz pour, about 50% more than a standard bottle, and a 1.5 oz pour of them holds more alcohol than one NIAAA standard drink. Rye behaves the same way:

Flavored whiskey and moonshine: where carbs appear

The one place whiskey picks up carbs is flavored or sweetened products. Cinnamon, peach, apple pie and peanut butter whiskeys are often sold at lower ABV and with added sugar. These are the highest-carb entries under the Whiskey type:

Most of the rows are Ole Smoky flavored whiskeys and moonshines. They list 6g to 11g of carbs per pour but fewer calories than a barrel-proof bourbon, because their ABV is lower. Plain Ole Smoky moonshine entries, in contrast, list 0g. Always read the flavor as part of the name.

Whiskey in a drink

Few people drink whiskey only neat, and the mixer matters more than the whiskey. Classic whiskey cocktails in the catalog show the spread:

Whiskey with diet cola lists around 0.5g of carbs, whiskey with regular cola lists 13g, and the whiskey sour lists around 19g. The average cocktail in the catalog is 9.8g. The low-sugar mixers guide covers this in more depth, and alcohol on keto explains what 0g of carbs does and does not mean.

Picking a whiskey by the numbers

• For the fewest calories, pick a 40% bottle. Every 40% whiskey lists about 98.
• For fewer carbs, skip anything flavored. Straight whiskey, bourbon and rye list 0g.
• For a smaller measure of alcohol, pour the same shot from a lower-proof bottle or use a measured 1.5 oz jigger.
• Treat barrel proof as more than one drink per pour and measure accordingly.
• Browse the full list at all whiskeys or check is whiskey keto.

How to read the numbers

US distilled spirits are not required to carry a full nutrition panel, and the TTB lists Serving Facts as optional on labels, so catalog figures for whiskey combine producer statements and the standard alcohol-to-calorie relationship, rescaled to a 1.5 oz pour. Where a product is stored in the catalog under a different type (for example, some malt-based "whisky" products), it will not appear in these tables. The methodology page has the details.

This page is information, not medical advice. The CDC defines moderate drinking as up to two drinks a day for men and one for women when adults choose to drink, and says that drinking less is better for health than drinking more.