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. It is a Rob Roy with Bénédictine in place of the bitters, which makes it rounder and more honeyed. The earliest printed recipe on record is in the National Police Gazette of September 1899. The Savoy Cocktail Book printed it in 1930 and called it one of the very best whisky cocktails. The name may honour the poet. Albert Stevens Crockett, writing about the old Waldorf-Astoria bar in 1931, thought a cigar salesman who drank there the likelier namesake. Either way, Burns Night on 25 January is when most people pour one.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
45ml
A blended Scotch or an unpeated malt at 40% ABV, with some fruit and honey for the Bénédictine to work with. Heavy peat fights it.
45ml
At around 16% ABV and half the drink, so its condition matters. Refrigerate once opened; a month is about its limit.
7.5ml
A herbal liqueur sweetened with honey, at 40% ABV. 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. 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. 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
The earliest printed recipe on record appeared in the National Police Gazette in September 1899, credited to W. J. Burke of Litchfield, Connecticut. The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 printed it with Bénédictine and called it one of the very best whisky cocktails.
The name is less settled than it looks. Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Days, from 1931, allows that it may have been named after the celebrated Scotsman, then suggests a cigar salesman who drank at the bar is the likelier source.
The Bénédictine
Bénédictine is a herbal liqueur sweetened with honey, 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 |
Equal Scotch and vermouth makes the Bobby Burns softer than the Rob Roy’s two to one, and the Bénédictine 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 law allows 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?
You Might Also Like
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 most commonly credited account places it at the Waldorf Hotel in New York in 1894, named for Reginald De Koven’s operetta Rob Roy, about the Scottish outlaw Robert Roy MacGregor, which opened on Broadway that year. 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 she was head bartender until she retired in 1926. She told The People in 1925 that she spent hours experimenting for the actor Charles Hawtrey, who had asked for something with a bit of punch in it. He drained the glass and called it the real hanky-panky, and the name stuck. Harry Craddock, who followed her, put it in The Savoy Cocktail Book. 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 is itself Scotch whisky, sweetened with heather honey and flavoured with herbs and spices, so the drink pairs a spirit with a sweeter version of itself. The pairing first appears in 1937 as the B.I.F., named after the British Industries Fair, and went through several names before Rusty Nail stuck in early-1960s New York. The ratio is the whole recipe. 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 12 October 2026