Is Bolt Cutter a Cocktail? The Truth About This Name

No, Bolt Cutter is not a cocktail. If you landed here after wrestling with the November 21st NYT Connections puzzle, you’re not alone. Thousands of people searched this exact question, convinced they’d stumbled onto an obscure drink name. The truth? Bolt Cutter is actually a highly regarded barley wine beer from Founders Brewing and a bold red wine blend from Herman Story Winery, but it has never been a cocktail.

Why People Think Bolt Cutter Might Be a Cocktail

The confusion stems entirely from that devilish NYT Connections game. On November 21, 2025, puzzle solvers saw BOLT CUTTER listed alongside genuine cocktail names like Cosmopolitan, Greyhound, Screwdriver, and Sea Breeze. The natural assumption? It must be another drink.

The puzzle’s creators were having fun with you. BOLT CUTTER wasn’t in the cocktail category at all. It belonged to the purple group (the hardest one): “Starting with synonyms for eat.” The word BOLT can mean to consume food quickly, just like CHOW, SCARF, and WOLF in the other answers (Chow Mein, Scarf Ring, Wolf Eel).

Even seasoned puzzle solvers admitted they tried grouping BOLT CUTTER with the cocktails before realizing the trick. One player joked they imagined it as “a brutal combination of vodka and ouzo,” which honestly sounds like it could exist in some dive bar somewhere.

What Bolt Cutter Actually Is

Founders Bolt Cutter (Beer)

Founders Bolt Cutter is a barrel-aged barley wine ale that clocks in at a formidable 15% ABV. Released in 2011 as Founders Brewing’s 15th anniversary beer, it quickly became a cult favorite among craft beer enthusiasts.

The name has a great backstory. During Founders’ early struggling years, the bank threatened to chain up the brewery’s doors for non-payment. One of the co-founders went out and bought bolt cutters, ready to cut through any chains if it came to that. Thankfully, the business turned around, and those cutters were never used. They’re still kept at the brewery as a reminder of how far they’ve come.

The beer itself is complex and intense. Expect flavors of caramel sauce, brown sugar, vanilla bean, and overripe tropical fruit, balanced by serious hop bitterness from aggressive dry-hopping with Cascade hops. Some of the batch was aged in bourbon barrels, some in maple syrup bourbon barrels, and some not barrel-aged at all, creating layers of spicy complexity. The finish is long, with notes of sweet smoke, cinnamon, pepper, and maple syrup.

It pours a deep copper to vibrant orange color, and despite its high alcohol content, it drinks surprisingly smooth. Many reviewers noted it was far more approachable than expected for a 15% barley wine.

Herman Story Bolt Cutter (Wine)

The other Bolt Cutter is a red wine blend from Herman Story, a California winery known for Rhône-style wines. This one’s a departure from their usual focus: a Bordeaux-heavy blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Petit Verdot, 20% Syrah, and 3% Malbec.

The name is a playful nod to another winemaker’s iconic bottle called “Nuts & Bolts.” Herman Story describes their Bolt Cutter as the wine “for the ‘I only drink Napa Cab’ crowd,” a muscular, bold red that leans into power and structure rather than their typical elegant Rhône style.

First released in 2012, it’s built to age but drinks well young if you’re into big, concentrated reds.

Cocktails with Similar Names

While Bolt Cutter isn’t a cocktail, the name fits right into the world of tool and hardware-inspired drinks. Here are some actual cocktails that sound similar.

Fog Cutter

The Fog Cutter is a legendary tiki cocktail created by Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron in the 1940s. It’s one of the most historically popular drinks from his original Polynesian restaurant empire.

This thing is a multi-spirit monster: light rum, brandy, and gin as the base, plus fresh lemon juice, orange juice, orgeat syrup (almond), and a float of cream sherry on top. Trader Vic himself warned about it in his 1972 bartender’s guide: “Fog Cutter, hell. After two of these, you won’t even see the stuff.”

It’s essentially the Long Island Iced Tea of tiki drinks, dangerously smooth despite packing multiple liquors. The sherry float adds an oxidative, nutty finish that balances the bright citrus and sweet orgeat. Modern bartenders have refined the original recipe, often using aged rhum agricole instead of basic light rum and incorporating the sherry into the drink rather than floating it.

The Fog Cutter has inspired over 50 different ceramic tiki mug designs, making it one of the most collectible drinks in tiki culture.

Bog Cutter

A modern riff from the renowned Death & Co bar in New York City. Their Bog Cutter plays on the Fog Cutter template but tilts more toward a Mai Tai profile.

The recipe uses Denizen Vatted dark rum, Four Pillars Navy Strength gin, Wray & Nephew overproof rum, Avera amaro, banana liqueur, cinnamon syrup, orgeat, and fresh lemon juice. It’s whip-shaken with crushed ice and served in a tulip glass or tiki mug with a mint bouquet and grated cinnamon.

Bartender JP (the creator) admits it’s “really more of a Mai Tai than a Fog Cutter riff,” but the combination of rum, gin, and an orange element (the Averna) felt close enough to justify the punny name. The banana, Averna, and funky rum create a rich, layered tiki experience.

Cutter

There’s also a straightforward Cutter cocktail, created in 2020 by Alec Bales at the Ticonderoga Club in Atlanta. It’s a Paper Plane riff built on bourbon whiskey, red bitter liqueur (like Campari), amaro (CioCiaro), and fresh lemon juice.

It’s a modern, spirit-forward sipper with bittersweet complexity and bright citrus. Unlike its tiki cousins, this one lives in the contemporary craft cocktail world, clean and balanced without the tropical theatrics.

Could You Make a Bolt Cutter Cocktail?

Technically, anyone could create a Bolt Cutter cocktail tomorrow and claim it as an original. No established recipe exists, so the field is wide open.

If you were building one from scratch, the name suggests something strong, sharp, and industrial. Think along the lines of a high-proof base (navy strength gin, overproof rum, or barrel-proof bourbon), something metallic or mineral (like dry vermouth or quinquina), and a cutting citrus element (grapefruit or lime). You’d want it to feel like a tool: functional, no-nonsense, built to do a job.

Hardware and tool-inspired cocktails aren’t uncommon. Bartenders love names that evoke strength, precision, or a bit of danger. The Rusty Nail (Scotch and Drambuie), Screwdriver (vodka and orange juice), and Harvey Wallbanger (vodka, Galliano, orange juice) all follow this naming tradition.

If you’re feeling creative, you could experiment with your own Bolt Cutter recipe. Just know that if someone at a bar orders one, they’re probably expecting a very different kind of beverage experience.

For now, if you want to try something called Bolt Cutter, head to a craft beer shop or wine store. If you’re looking for a cocktail with a similar vibe, order a Fog Cutter at your nearest tiki bar and prepare to not see the stuff afterward.