Affinity
An Affinity is 30ml each of Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth and dry vermouth with two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, with a lemon twist expressed and dropped in. About 2.3 UK units. The equal thirds are the point. A Rob Roy runs 60ml of Scotch to 30ml of sweet vermouth, so the whisky leads. Here two thirds of the glass is wine, and the Scotch gives the drink its backbone rather than its main flavour. It is lighter and wetter than a Rob Roy, and suits the hour before dinner. Difford’s Guide quotes a drink called the Affinity from the New York Sun of 28 October 1907, but as Scotch, Italian vermouth, sugar and orange bitters. Difford’s says the version that lasted, equal parts of Scotch and both vermouths with two dashes of aromatic bitters, is first in Jacob A. Didier’s bartenders’ pocket guide The Reminder of 1909.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist
Ingredients
30ml
Unpeated, at 40% ABV. A blend is dependable; a Highland or Speyside malt adds fruit. A third of the glass, so it shapes the drink without leading it.
30ml
A rich Italian style at about 16% ABV. It brings body, spice and sweetness. We keep it in the fridge once open and replace it within about a month.
30ml
Pale French-style dry vermouth, about 18% ABV, herbal and dry. It lifts the drink and stops it turning sweet. Like all vermouth it is wine, and in our experience it fades quickly once open.
2 dashes
Two dashes, as Didier gave them in 1909, in Difford’s Guide’s reproduction. They tie the whisky to the two wines; without them the drink tastes like three ingredients side by side.
Instructions
Chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Add the Scotch, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth and Angostura to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Our version
Didier’s 1909 recipe, as Difford’s Guide reproduces it, a third each of Scotch, French vermouth and Italian vermouth with two dashes of aromatic bitters, poured at 30ml each, stirred and served up with a lemon twist.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Two thirds of this drink is vermouth, so open bottles go in the fridge and get used within about a month. Dry vermouth fades fastest. If a month is optimistic, buy half bottles. Choose an unpeated Scotch. A good blend works, and a Highland or Speyside malt adds fruit and honey. Heavy Islay smoke drowns the vermouths. Stir it, never shake it. With no juice in the glass there is nothing to aerate, and shaking clouds the drink and thins it. Stop at 20 to 30 seconds; wine-led drinks dilute quickly.
Behind the Affinity
Flavour Profile
A Newspaper Recipe, Then a Pocket Guide
Difford’s Guide quotes the New York Sun of 28 October 1907: a teaspoon of powdered sugar, a dash of orange bitters, a jigger of Scotch and half a jigger of Italian vermouth. In our view that is close to a sweetened Rob Roy, and it is not the drink that survived.
Two years later, Difford’s Guide says, Jacob A. Didier’s The Reminder, a bartenders’ vest-pocket guide, gave two dashes of aromatic bitters with a third each of French vermouth, Italian vermouth and Scotch, and Hugo Ensslin repeated it in 1917. That is the Affinity poured now.
Two Thirds Wine
Most stirred whisky drinks keep the spirit in the majority. A Manhattan is five parts whiskey to two of vermouth; our Rob Roy is two to one. The Affinity turns that over. At 30ml of each, wine outnumbers whisky two to one.
The result is a drink led by the vermouths, with the Scotch giving grain, a little smoke and length underneath. It is lower in strength than a Rob Roy and lighter in the mouth, and the bitters, at two dashes, carry more of the spice than they would in a whisky-led drink.
Sweet and Dry Together
Sweet and dry vermouth do different jobs. The sweet, red Italian style brings body, vanilla, spice and a bitter root note. The pale French style is drier and more herbal, with a citrus and slightly saline edge.
Splitting the wine between them gives the drink depth without weight. Sweet vermouth alone at 60ml would make it heavy and sweet; dry alone would make it thin. Together they also make freshness matter twice over, since in our experience both bottles fade once open.
The Affinity Beside Its Neighbours
Our Affinity, Rob Roy and Bobby Burns compared
Scotch
- Affinity
- 30ml
- Rob Roy
- 60ml
- Bobby Burns
- 45ml
Sweet vermouth
- Affinity
- 30ml
- Rob Roy
- 30ml
- Bobby Burns
- 45ml
Dry vermouth
- Affinity
- 30ml
- Rob Roy
- None
- Bobby Burns
- None
Modifier
- Affinity
- Two dashes Angostura
- Rob Roy
- Two dashes Angostura
- Bobby Burns
- 7.5ml Bénédictine
Glass
- Affinity
- Nick & Nora
- Rob Roy
- Coupe
- Bobby Burns
- Coupe
UK units
- Affinity
- About 2.3
- Rob Roy
- About 2.9
- Bobby Burns
- About 2.8
| Element | Affinity | Rob Roy | Bobby Burns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotch | 30ml | 60ml | 45ml |
| Sweet vermouth | 30ml | 30ml | 45ml |
| Dry vermouth | 30ml | None | None |
| Modifier | Two dashes Angostura | Two dashes Angostura | 7.5ml Bénédictine |
| Glass | Nick & Nora | Coupe | Coupe |
| UK units | About 2.3 | About 2.9 | About 2.8 |
How to Serve It
Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds and strained without ice into a Nick & Nora from the freezer, which suits a small drink better than a wide coupe. Lemon twist, expressed and dropped in. It belongs before dinner, where a Rob Roy can feel heavy.
For Scotch in the majority, make a Rob Roy; for Bénédictine in place of the bitters, a Bobby Burns.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whisky (Scotch)Scotch is whisky distilled and matured in Scotland, kept in oak for three years at the least, and bottled no weaker than 40% ABV. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 allow only three ingredients, water, malted barley and whole grains of other cereals, and only water and plain caramel colouring may be added later. Fifteen recipes in our library call for it, from the Penicillin and Hot Toddy to the Rob Roy.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Affinity cocktail?
How is it different from a Rob Roy?
Where does the Affinity come from?
Which Scotch should I use?
Why does the vermouth matter so much?
Lemon twist or orange twist?
How strong is an Affinity?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Affinity” (secondary source, quoting the New York Sun of Monday 28 October 1907 (a teaspoon of powdered sugar, a dash of orange bitters, a jigger of Scotch, half a jigger of Italian vermouth; Difford’s footer misprints the year as 1909), Jacob A. Didier, The Reminder (1909: 2 dashes aromatic bitters, a third each French vermouth, Italian vermouth, Scotch; stir, lemon peel, cherry) and Hugo R. Ensslin, Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1917)).
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Rob Roy
A Rob Roy is 60ml of Scotch whisky, 30ml of sweet vermouth and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cherry or a strip of lemon peel. About 2.9 UK units. It is the Manhattan’s Scotch relation. The Oxford Companion says there are several claims to its creation, the most creditable a letter of 1941 describing how the bartender Henry August Orphal made it at Duke’s House in Hoboken, New Jersey, for a salesman of the newly introduced Usher’s blended Scotch, and that it was in circulation by the end of 1895 and most likely named after the popular Broadway show of the time. The choice of Scotch decides the drink. A good blend gives a steady, rounded Rob Roy; a Highland or Speyside malt adds fruit and honey; a heavily peated Islay takes over the glass. If the vermouth and the whisky fight, split the vermouth into 15ml sweet and 15ml dry for a Perfect Rob Roy.
Bobby Burns
A Bobby Burns is 45ml of Scotch, 45ml of sweet vermouth and 7.5ml of Bénédictine, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a lemon twist expressed and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. In our view it is a Rob Roy with Bénédictine in place of the bitters, which makes it rounder and more honeyed; Difford’s Guide calls it a Scotch-based riff on the Manhattan with a splash of liqueur, usually Bénédictine. Difford’s Guide gives the earliest known Bobby Burns Cocktail as one in the National Police Gazette of September 1899, made with Scotch, gum, orange bitters and ginger cordial. The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 prints the Scotch, Italian vermouth and Bénédictine version and calls it one of the very best whisky cocktails. The name may honour the poet, though Difford’s Guide notes it was perhaps not originally named after him. Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf Bar Days of 1931 prints a Robert Burns Cocktail, a different recipe, and says it was more likely christened for a cigar salesman who drank in the bar. Difford’s Guide says the Bobby Burns is drunk on Burns Night, 25 January.
Manhattan
The IBA specifies 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, strained into a chilled glass with a cocktail cherry; we stir it over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and serve it in a coupe. That is five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The Oxford Companion says the most commonly told story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club on 29 December 1874, at a testimonial dinner for Samuel J. Tilden, later retold with Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, as host or inspiration, and calls that story simply not true: she had given birth to Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire less than a month earlier. The Companion names O. H. Byron’s Modern Bartenders’ Guide among the bar books that printed the drink in 1884, and we read Byron’s and Charlie Paul’s books of that year in the Internet Archive scans. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. We keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026