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.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
45ml
A blended Scotch or an unpeated malt at our working 40% ABV, with some fruit and honey for the liqueur to work with. Heavy peat fights it.
45ml
At our working 16% ABV and half the drink, so its condition matters. We keep it in the fridge once opened and treat a month as its limit.
7.5ml
A herbal liqueur that Bénédictine’s own page gives at 40% ABV, made from 27 herbs and spices, with light honey and citrus notes on the palate. Measure the full 7.5ml: any more and it takes over.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Add the Scotch, sweet vermouth and Bénédictine to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Our version
Printed recipes vary in their proportions, and the Savoy shakes where we stir. Ours stirs equal measures of Scotch and sweet vermouth, 45ml each, with 7.5ml of Bénédictine, and finishes with an expressed lemon twist.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the Bénédictine. At 7.5ml it rounds the drink; at 15ml it runs it, and the honey and herbs push the whisky aside. Keep the vermouth fresh. It is half the drink, so a bottle left open on a warm shelf for a month makes the whole glass taste flat. We keep the bottle in the fridge once opened and use it up inside a month. Pick an unpeated or lightly peated Scotch. Bénédictine flatters fruit and honey and argues with heavy smoke.
Behind the Bobby Burns
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Difford’s Guide gives the earliest known Bobby Burns Cocktail as one in the National Police Gazette of 9 September 1899, credited to W. J. Burke of Litchfield, Connecticut: Scotch whiskey with gum, orange bitters and ginger cordial, strained, with lemon rind squeezed over. It has no vermouth or Bénédictine. The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 prints the Scotch, Italian vermouth and Bénédictine version, shaken, and calls it one of the very best whisky cocktails and a very fast mover on Saint Andrew’s Day.
The name is less settled than it looks. Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf Bar Days, from 1931, prints a Robert Burns Cocktail, a different recipe of Scotch, Italian vermouth, orange bitters and absinthe, and says it may have been named after the celebrated Scotsman but more likely for a cigar salesman who “bought” in the bar. Difford’s Guide notes that the Bobby Burns may not originally have been named after the poet at all.
The Bénédictine
Bénédictine is a herbal liqueur whose own page describes light honey and citrus notes, and here it does the job bitters do in a Rob Roy, from the opposite direction. Bitters sharpen the vermouth; Bénédictine joins it and rounds the drink.
The Hanky Panky runs the same idea on gin with Fernet-Branca, which is bitter and minty where Bénédictine is soft and sweet.
Against the Rob Roy
Our Rob Roy and Bobby Burns
Scotch
- Rob Roy
- 60ml
- Bobby Burns
- 45ml
Sweet vermouth
- Rob Roy
- 30ml
- Bobby Burns
- 45ml
Seasoning
- Rob Roy
- Two dashes of Angostura
- Bobby Burns
- 7.5ml Bénédictine
Method
- Rob Roy
- Stirred 20 to 30 seconds
- Bobby Burns
- Stirred 20 to 30 seconds
Garnish
- Rob Roy
- Cherry or lemon peel
- Bobby Burns
- Lemon twist
UK units
- Rob Roy
- About 2.9
- Bobby Burns
- About 2.8
| Element | Rob Roy | Bobby Burns |
|---|---|---|
| Scotch | 60ml | 45ml |
| Sweet vermouth | 30ml | 45ml |
| Seasoning | Two dashes of Angostura | 7.5ml Bénédictine |
| Method | Stirred 20 to 30 seconds | Stirred 20 to 30 seconds |
| Garnish | Cherry or lemon peel | Lemon twist |
| UK units | About 2.9 | About 2.8 |
In our recipes, equal Scotch and vermouth makes the Bobby Burns softer than the Rob Roy’s two to one, and the liqueur adds honey where the bitters add spice. The lemon twist is the only sharp thing in the glass, so express it properly.
How to Serve It
Up, in a chilled coupe, after dinner. At a Burns supper it follows the haggis and the speeches, and the neat Scotch stays for the toasts themselves.
For Scotch, vermouth and bitters, the Rob Roy; for Scotch with Drambuie over ice, the Rusty Nail.
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 a Bobby Burns?
What is the difference between a Bobby Burns and a Rob Roy?
Is it named after Robert Burns?
How old is the Bobby Burns?
What Scotch works best?
How much Bénédictine is too much?
How strong is a Bobby Burns?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Bobby Burns cocktail history” (secondary source: perhaps not originally named after Robert Burns; drunk on Burns Night; earliest known Bobby Burns Cocktail in the National Police Gazette of 9 September 1899, credited to W. J. Burke, Litchfield, Conn (Scotch, gum, orange bitters, ginger cordial); first known printed recipe of the vermouth version in Craddock 1930; Crockett 1931 prints a Robert Burns with a different recipe).
- Harry Craddock (1930), Internet Archive, “The Savoy Cocktail Book” (primary source: Bobby Burns Cocktail, Italian vermouth, Scotch whisky and Bénédictine (the OCR garbles the amounts); shake well, strain, squeeze lemon peel on top; “One of the very best Whisky Cocktails. A very fast mover on Saint Andrew’s Day”).
- Albert Stevens Crockett (1931), Internet Archive, “Old Waldorf Bar Days” (primary source: Robert Burns: “It may have been named after the celebrated Scotsman. Chances are, however, that it was christened in honor of a cigar salesman, who ‘bought’ in the Bar”; dash of orange bitters, one dash of absinthe, one-quarter Italian vermouth, three-quarters Scotch whiskey, stir, strain).
- Bénédictine, “Bénédictine DOM” (maker’s own page: 40% alc/vol; a secret recipe of 27 herbs and spices; light honey and citrus notes with soft almonds on the palate).
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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.
Hanky Panky
A Hanky Panky is 45ml of London Dry gin, 45ml of sweet vermouth and 7.5ml of Fernet-Branca, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with an orange twist expressed over the top and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s. Ada Coleman made it at the American Bar of the Savoy, where, the Oxford Companion says, she rose to head bartender before Harry Craddock displaced her in January 1926. The Companion quotes her telling The People in 1925 that she spent hours experimenting until she invented a new cocktail for the actor Charles Hawtrey, who had come in complaining of overwork. He either called it “the real hanky panky” on the spot or came in the next day asking for “that hanky panky stuff”, and the name stuck. Craddock put it in The Savoy Cocktail Book, in the Internet Archive’s scan. Equal gin and sweet vermouth make a sweet Martini. The Fernet-Branca, a bitter Italian amaro, adds menthol and dark herbs, cools the finish and keeps the vermouth from tasting syrupy.
Rusty Nail
A Rusty Nail is 45ml Scotch whisky and 25ml Drambuie, stirred for 15 to 20 seconds over one large ice cube in a rocks glass and finished with a lemon twist, expressed and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. The IBA gives the same measures, a little under two parts whisky to one of liqueur. Drambuie’s own site calls it a whisky liqueur, a blend of aged Scotch whisky, spices, herbs and heather honey, so the drink pairs a spirit with a sweeter version of itself. Difford’s Guide says David Wondrich has traced the pairing to 1937 and a drink called B.I.F., and the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says the name Rusty Nail, first recorded in 1961, appears to have originated in New York City. The ratio is the whole recipe. In our view more Drambuie makes a honeyed after-dinner drink; more whisky makes it drier and leaves the honey as an accent.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026