Jack’s Godfather Highball
Jack’s Godfather Highball is 30ml of Tennessee whiskey and 20ml of amaretto in an ice-filled highball glass, topped with 75ml of cola, stirred once and finished with a squeezed orange wedge. About 1.8 UK units. Amaretto is flavoured with almonds or apricot kernels, depending on the brand, so read the label for anyone with a nut allergy. It is the Godfather made long. The Godfather is Scotch and amaretto, two to one, served short after dinner. Here Tennessee whiskey replaces the Scotch, the ratio closes to three to two, and cola turns it into an early-evening drink. No creator is recorded, and the name points at Jack Daniel’s. Cola is three fifths of the liquid, so it sets the flavour. Pick one with some bitterness and spice. A plain sweet cola piles sugar on the amaretto, and by halfway down the almond turns cloying.
Glassware: Highball Glass
Garnish: Orange wedge
Ingredients
30ml
Filtered through maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel, which leaves it a little softer than most bourbon. At 40% ABV it suits a long, sweet drink; bourbon works and is sharper.
20ml
About 28% ABV. Twenty millilitres is a bigger share than the Godfather’s two to one, because cola dulls almond. It is made from almonds or apricot kernels, so check the label for anyone with a nut or egg allergy.
75ml
Three fifths of the liquid, so the bottle you choose is most of what you taste. Look for bitterness and spice rather than sugar alone, and keep it cold so it holds its bubbles.
Instructions
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
Add the Tennessee whiskey and the amaretto.
Top with the cola, poured down the side of the glass.
Stir once, gently.
Squeeze an orange wedge over the drink and drop it in.
Source: Difford's Guide (Difford’s Guide specification; stirred once and the orange wedge squeezed, method ours). Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Choose the cola first. It is three fifths of the liquid, and a cola that tastes only of caramel makes a drink that tastes of caramel and almond. One with citrus peel, spice and a bitter edge gives the amaretto something to push against. Build it in the glass: ice, whiskey, amaretto, then the cola poured down the side, which does the mixing. One turn of the spoon is enough. The bubbles carry the almond smell up out of the glass, and hard stirring knocks them flat. Squeeze the orange wedge before you drop it in. Orange and almond are an old pairing, and the juice and oil sharpen a drink that has no other citrus. A lemon wedge works too and makes it drier.
Behind the Jack’s Godfather Highball
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
No bartender or year is attached to it. The recipe circulates under this name with the same measures: 30ml of Tennessee whiskey, 20ml of amaretto and 75ml of cola. The name explains itself, Jack Daniel’s plus the Godfather.
The Godfather is Scotch and amaretto. VinePair says it is inspired by the 1972 film of the same name and was made popular in that decade, that no one knows when it was created or who first made it, and that nobody knows whether Marlon Brando drank it, as the spirits brand Disaronno would suggest. This is what that drink becomes when it is poured long for the early evening.
The Godfather, Lengthened
Our Godfather is 45ml of Scotch and 22.5ml of amaretto over one large cube. It is short and rich, and one is usually enough.
Add 75ml of cola and the risk changes. The drink is no longer heavy, so the danger is that it turns bland. That is why the amaretto rises to 20ml against 30ml of whiskey: cola mutes almond, and at the Godfather’s ratio it would fade into the mixer.
The French Connection runs the same pairing on cognac, in equal parts and served short.
The Cola Decides It
In most whiskey and cola drinks the cola carries the spirit. Here it is three fifths of the liquid and the only thing in the glass that is not sweet and round. A cola with citrus peel, spice and a bitter edge gives the drink a shape; one that tastes only of caramel leaves whiskey, almond and sugar agreeing with each other.
Three Ways With Amaretto
The Godfather, its long version and the French Connection
Spirit
- Godfather
- 45ml Scotch
- Jack’s Godfather Highball
- 30ml Tennessee whiskey
- French Connection
- 35ml cognac
Amaretto
- Godfather
- 22.5ml
- Jack’s Godfather Highball
- 20ml
- French Connection
- 35ml
Mixer
- Godfather
- None
- Jack’s Godfather Highball
- 75ml cola
- French Connection
- None
Glass
- Godfather
- Rocks, one large cube
- Jack’s Godfather Highball
- Highball, cubed ice
- French Connection
- Rocks, one large cube
UK units
- Godfather
- About 2.4
- Jack’s Godfather Highball
- About 1.8
- French Connection
- About 2.4
| Element | Godfather | Jack’s Godfather Highball | French Connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | 45ml Scotch | 30ml Tennessee whiskey | 35ml cognac |
| Amaretto | 22.5ml | 20ml | 35ml |
| Mixer | None | 75ml cola | None |
| Glass | Rocks, one large cube | Highball, cubed ice | Rocks, one large cube |
| UK units | About 2.4 | About 1.8 | About 2.4 |
How to Serve It
Cold, in a highball full of ice, with the orange wedge squeezed and dropped in. Build it to order: the bubbles are part of the drink and start to fade the moment the cola goes in.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Jack Daniel's Tennessee WhiskeyOld No. 7 from Jack Daniel’s is a Tennessee whiskey from Lynchburg, Tennessee, made, by Jack Daniel’s own account, from 80% corn, 12% barley and 8% rye, and listed at 40% ABV by the retailer Booths. It meets the bourbon rules but trickles through a ten-foot bed of sugar maple charcoal on its way to the barrel, the Lincoln County Process, which a Tennessee law of 2013 requires of Tennessee whiskey, by the Oxford Companion’s account. Three of our recipes use it, led by the Lynchburg Lemonade.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in Jack’s Godfather Highball?
Who created it?
How is it different from a Godfather?
Which cola should I use?
Can I use bourbon or Scotch instead?
Is it safe with a nut allergy?
How strong is Jack’s Godfather Highball?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- VinePair, “The Story Behind The The Godfather” (secondary source: inspired by the 1972 film and made popular in that decade; no one knows when it was created or by whom, or whether Marlon Brando drank it; 2 oz blended Scotch, 1/2 oz amaretto).
You Might Also Like
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. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, calls it one of the enduring classics of the 1970s and finds it in Brian F. Rea’s 1976 Brian’s Booze Guide with the French Connection, which pours cognac and amaretto in equal measures, naming the drink after Mario Puzo’s novel and the 1972 film. No inventor is recorded. Recipes differ on the ratio: Difford’s Guide prints one part amaretto to one and a half of Scotch. 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.
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. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, finds it with the Godfather, which pours Scotch where this pours cognac, and the Godmother in Brian F. Rea’s 1976 Brian’s Booze Guide, and says it is named after the 1971 film The French Connection. No inventor is recorded. 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.
Lynchburg Lemonade
A Lynchburg Lemonade is 40ml Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey, 20ml triple sec and 20ml fresh lemon juice, stirred over ice in a tall collins and lengthened with 90ml sparkling lemonade, then finished with lemon and a cherry. It carries about 2.4 UK units, and the lemonade hides most of it. VinePair says Tony Mason, an Alabama restaurateur, created it in 1980, and Garden & Gun gives a typical recipe of Jack Daniel’s, sweet and sour mix, triple sec and lemon-lime soda. The name points to Lynchburg, Tennessee, where Jack Daniel’s says its distillery sits. This version swaps the sour mix for fresh lemon and the soda for a sharp lemonade. The structure is the same: whiskey, orange liqueur, acid and length.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026