Godfather
A Godfather is 45ml of Scotch and 22.5ml of amaretto, two to one, stirred over one large ice cube in a rocks glass for 15 to 20 seconds and served without garnish. About 2.4 UK units. Amaretto can be made from almonds or apricot kernels, so check the bottle for anyone with a nut allergy. It comes from the 1970s fashion for two-bottle drinks served after dinner, with the French Connection, which pours cognac and amaretto in equal measures. No inventor is recorded, and the name is generally linked to the 1972 film The Godfather. Many recipes pour Scotch and amaretto equally too. We lean on the Scotch: its dry grain and any smoke give the almond something to push against, and at two to one it is still a whisky drink rather than a liqueur one.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: None
Ingredients
45ml
Blended Scotch or a malt, around 40% ABV. Its dry grain gives the almond an argument. A lightly peated malt sharpens the drink; a heavily peated Islay overwhelms it.
22.5ml
Around 28% ABV, with real kernel bitterness under the sugar. Made from apricot kernels, almonds or both depending on the brand, so check the label for anyone with a nut or egg allergy.
Instructions
Put one large ice cube in a rocks glass.
Add the Scotch and amaretto.
Stir for 15 to 20 seconds.
Serve without garnish.
Our version
Many recipes pour Scotch and amaretto equally. Ours runs two to one, 45ml of Scotch to 22.5ml of amaretto, so the Scotch leads and the drink stays dry.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Keep it at two to one. Equal parts hands the drink to the amaretto: sweet, almondy and no longer about the whisky. At 45ml to 22.5ml the Scotch leads; if that is too dry, choose a rounder Scotch rather than adding amaretto. A lightly peated malt sharpens it. Smoke against marzipan gives the almond resistance; a heavily peated Islay buries it. Buy an amaretto with some bitterness under the sugar. At a third of the glass, a confectionery bottle makes the drink taste of almond sweets.
Behind the Godfather
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The 1970s produced a run of two-bottle drinks served over ice after dinner, and this family arrived together: the Godfather on Scotch, the French Connection on cognac and the Godmother on vodka, each with amaretto. No bartender is credited with any of them.
The name is usually linked to the 1972 film. A drink of two bottles over ice is less invented than named, and the naming followed the cinema.
The story that Marlon Brando drank it attached early and has never been substantiated.
Why Scotch Changes It
The French Connection is the nearest comparison: cognac and amaretto in equal measures. Set the two side by side and you taste what a base spirit decides.
Cognac is fruity and round, and against amaretto it settles. Scotch is dry and grainy and often smoky, and it argues with the almond, so the sweetness meets resistance. The Godfather comes out more angular.
The Ratio
Two to one matters more than a two-ingredient drink suggests.
Equal parts, the way many recipes still pour it, gives the amaretto the lead: at the same volume it is sweeter and more assertive than the Scotch, and the drink becomes a liqueur on ice. At 45ml to 22.5ml the malt leads and the amaretto seasons.
Peat and Marzipan
Smoke against almond sounds like a mistake, and it is one of the better things you can do to this drink.
A lightly peated malt gives the amaretto resistance, so the marzipan reads less like dessert. A heavily peated Islay goes too far and leaves smoke with a sweet aftertaste.
The Godfather Beside Its Relations
The Godfather against its cognac twin and another Scotch and liqueur drink
Godfather (ours)
- Spirit
- 45ml Scotch
- Liqueur
- 22.5ml amaretto
- Ratio
- Two to one
- UK units
- About 2.4
French Connection (IBA)
- Spirit
- 35ml cognac
- Liqueur
- 35ml amaretto
- Ratio
- Equal parts
- UK units
- About 2.4
Rusty Nail
- Spirit
- 45ml Scotch
- Liqueur
- 25ml Drambuie
- Ratio
- Nearly two to one
- UK units
- About 2.8
| Drink | Spirit | Liqueur | Ratio | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godfather (ours) | 45ml Scotch | 22.5ml amaretto | Two to one | About 2.4 |
| French Connection (IBA) | 35ml cognac | 35ml amaretto | Equal parts | About 2.4 |
| Rusty Nail | 45ml Scotch | 25ml Drambuie | Nearly two to one | About 2.8 |
The French Connection is the cognac version at equal parts; the Rusty Nail pairs Scotch with a honeyed whisky liqueur.
How to Serve It
Over one large cube in a rocks glass, stirred for 15 to 20 seconds, with no garnish.
After dinner, as a nightcap. Two bottles and one cube take under a minute, which is most of the appeal at the end of an evening.
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.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Godfather?
How does it differ from a French Connection?
Does amaretto contain nuts?
Should I use a peated Scotch?
Is the Godfather named after the film?
How strong is a Godfather?
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French Connection
The spirit with amaretto in a French Connection is cognac. The drink is 35ml of each, poured over ice in a rocks glass and stirred, with no garnish. That is the International Bartenders Association specification, and the only change here is the ice: one large cube rather than a glass of small ones. It belongs to the run of two-bottle after-dinner drinks usually placed in the 1970s, alongside the Godfather, which pours Scotch where this pours cognac. No inventor is recorded, and the name is generally linked to the 1971 film The French Connection. Equal parts puts the almond beside the brandy rather than behind it. The cognac brings dried fruit and oak, the amaretto sweetness and a bitter edge, and one glass carries about 2.4 UK units. Choose an amaretto with some bitterness under the sugar; a confectionery one turns the drink to marzipan.
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.
Whisky Mac
A Whisky Mac is 50ml of blended Scotch and 25ml of green ginger wine, poured into a rocks glass and stirred once, with no ice or a single cube and no garnish. About 2.3 UK units, taking the ginger wine at 13.5% ABV. Green ginger wine is made from a raisin base with ginger, not a mixer or a cordial, so the drink stays short and still, closer to a stirred spirit than to a highball. The ginger brings heat and the raisin a dark sweetness, and both suit a blended Scotch. Published recipes range from equal parts to three of whisky to two of wine. Two to one, as here, keeps the whisky in front and the sugar down. The name is attributed to Colonel Hector MacDonald in the days of the British Raj; nothing from the time confirms it.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026