Skull Cocktail Smoker Kit Review: The Budget Smoker That Lives on My Bar
| November 8, 2026
Quick Verdict
The skull cocktail smoker kit is the one that lives on my bar, and after years of smoked old fashioneds on camera it's still my pick for anyone's first smoker. The ceramic chamber chars the chips instead of the kit, it wipes clean in seconds, the torch now comes in the box, and it costs about what two cocktails do at a good bar. The one thing it doesn't do is hold smoke: there's no lid on the skull, so the smoke rolls out faster than it does under the Aged & Charred oak lid, which is the upgrade if you drink whiskey every night. Buy a can of butane on the way home, because the torch ships empty.
Watch It in Action
That's the skull doing its thing in Smoked Old Fashioned With a Skull Twist. For the full method, the drink and the smoke together, watch Is This the Best Smoked Old Fashioned Recipe?
What Is the Skull Cocktail Smoker Kit?
The skull cocktail smoker is a ceramic skull with a chimney in the top. You set it on a rocks glass, drop a pinch of wood chips into the chamber, hit them with the torch, and the smoke rolls down into the glass and sits on the drink until you lift the skull off. It's made by OAGA, and it's been the smoker on my own bar for years.
I've been smoking cocktails on camera for four years, from smoked old fashioneds to mezcal drinks topped with smoke-filled bubbles, and I've tried the oak lid kits, the smoke guns and the bubble gun. The skull is the one I reach for when I just want a smoked old fashioned on a Tuesday. It's also the one I point friends at first, because it costs about what two cocktails do at a good bar and the flavor difference is not subtle.
What's in the Box
My exact skull sold out a while ago. OAGA replaced it with the ceramic version on the listing now, and the kit has grown since I bought mine. The current box has the black skull smoker, a single-flame torch, six glass tubes of wood chips, two glasses, two sphere ice molds, six whiskey stones, two screens and a spoon. The torch is the part that matters: my old caveat was that you had to buy one separately, and now you don't.
One heads-up that applies to every smoker kit on Amazon: the torch ships empty. Butane can't go through the mail, so grab a can locally. Smoke shops always have it, and most grocery stores do too, usually locked up near the registers, so ask an employee. If you already own a kitchen torch, it works fine with the skull.
How It Works, and How Long to Smoke
Build the drink first, smoke second. Set the skull on the glass with the drink already in it, drop a pinch of chips in the chamber (half a pinch for mesquite), and torch them until they catch and start to smolder. Thirty seconds to a minute under the smoke is plenty. Longer than that and the drink starts tasting like an ashtray instead of a campfire.
The chamber is ceramic and sealed, so the flame chars the wood chips and not the smoker itself. When you're done, tip the ash out and wipe it. Mine has been through hundreds of drinks and a couple of Halloweens and still looks like the day it arrived.
The Wood Chips Matter More Than the Kit
Every smoker kit smokes whiskey beautifully. What changes the result is the wood. The six tubes in the box are enough to find your favorite; after that, a bag of maple chips or oak goes a long way.
- Oak and hickory stand up to bourbon's sweetness
- Cherry and apple play nice with rye spice
- Pecan is my dark-horse pick for an old fashioned
- Maple is the one I keep coming back to in the fall
- Mesquite is strong; use half a pinch or it takes over
What I'd Change
I wish the skull had some kind of lid or hat. The chimney is open, so once the chips stop smoldering the smoke starts leaving, and it leaves faster than it does under a solid oak lid. In practice that means you lift the skull after a minute and drink, which is what you'd do anyway. If you want smoke that sits on the drink while you take photos, the Aged & Charred Smoke Lid holds it best, at about five times the price.
Who Should Buy It
Buy the skull if you drink old fashioneds, manhattans or anything mezcal, you've never smoked a cocktail, and you'd rather spend the money on good bourbon than on the gadget. It's also the obvious pick for a Halloween bar or anyone who collects skull glassware.
Buy something else if you want the smoke to hold for photos (the Aged & Charred lid), you want to smoke a whole punch bowl or a plate of cheese (a smoke gun with a hose), or your parties run on reactions and you want a smoke-filled bubble sitting on the drink (the Flavour Blaster Mini 2, which is a different budget entirely).
How to Smoke an Old Fashioned With It
Build the old fashioned first: sugar, bitters, bourbon or rye, a big cube. Set the skull on the glass, a pinch of oak or pecan in the chamber, torch until it smolders, wait a minute, lift and garnish. For a mezcal riff, my Oaxaca Old Fashioned video covers the split-base version, and for the no-alcohol version there's the THC smoked old fashioned.
For how the skull compares with every other kit I've tested, the full roundup is Best Cocktail and Whiskey Smoker Kits, Tested.
Pros
- ✓ The cheapest real cocktail smoker I've used, and the one on my own bar
- ✓ Ceramic chamber: the flame chars the wood chips, not the smoker, and it wipes clean
- ✓ The torch and six tubes of wood chips now ship in the box
- ✓ Sits on any rocks glass, no special glassware needed
- ✓ The skull is the best-looking smoker on the bar, Halloween or not
Cons
- ✗ No lid, so the smoke escapes faster than it does under an oak lid kit
- ✗ The torch ships empty; butane has to come from a local smoke shop or grocery store
- ✗ The chamber is small, so it's a pinch of chips at a time
- ✗ A skull isn't everyone's bar style
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