Tipperary
The Tipperary is 50ml of Irish whiskey, 25ml of sweet vermouth, 15ml of green Chartreuse and two dashes of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, with a lemon twist. About 3.3 UK units. Those are the IBA’s measures. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, dates the Tipperary to Hugo Ensslin’s Recipes for Mixed Drinks of 1916, with equal parts whiskey, Chartreuse and vermouth. That is a far louder drink. The modern measures, which Difford’s traces to Harry MacElhone’s 1922 recipe, pull the Chartreuse back so it seasons the whiskey rather than leading it. Irish whiskey is usually cast as the gentle spirit. Here it stands up to a liqueur bottled at 55% ABV on Chartreuse’s product page, and a single pot still whiskey, with more weight and pepper, holds its own best.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist
Ingredients
50ml
Irish whiskey at 40% ABV, single pot still if you have it. Its weight and pepper give the Chartreuse something to push against, where a light blend is lost under it.
25ml
A rich Italian style at about 16% ABV, our working figure. It sits between a soft whiskey and a loud liqueur, so it needs some body of its own. We keep it in the fridge once opened.
15ml
Green, at 55% ABV on Chartreuse’s product page. At 15ml it seasons; at Ensslin’s equal measure it leads. Chartreuse’s own page gives Yellow Chartreuse at 43%, sweeter and softer, so it makes another drink entirely.
2 dashes
Two dashes, as the IBA lists them. With two sweet, herbal partners in the glass, the bitters supply the dry edge that stops it turning syrupy.
Instructions
Chill a Nick and Nora glass.
Add the Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth, green Chartreuse 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.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; a lemon twist and a Nick and Nora glass where the IBA uses an orange slice and a cocktail glass; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Treat the Chartreuse as a dial. At 15ml the herbs come through on the finish; push towards an equal measure and they take the lead. Know which drink you want before you pour. Use single pot still Irish whiskey if you have it. The extra weight and spice give the Chartreuse something to work against, where a light blend is flattened. Give the mixing glass 20 to 30 seconds. Chartreuse is strong and sweet, and it needs the dilution and the cold to stop sitting on the tongue as a separate layer.
Behind the Tipperary
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Difford’s Guide finds the Tipperary in Recipes for Mixed Drinks, the 1916 book by Hugo Ensslin, whom Punch calls head bartender at New York’s Hotel Wallick; the Oxford Companion adds that the book had an expanded second edition in 1917. It came out a few years before Prohibition closed American bars.
Cigar Aficionado gives the usual story: a patron came in humming It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, a song that debuted in 1912, and asked for something Irish. Difford’s Guide quotes a 1931 book arguing that a sloe gin Tipperary was named for the county, long before the song.
Chartreuse as a Seasoning
Chartreuse’s product page gives Green Chartreuse at 55% ABV, made with 130 plants, bark, roots, spices and flowers, ground by the monks. Most drinks either give it the lead or use it by the dash.
Fifteen millilitres sits between the two. The herbs run through the whiskey and vermouth and come out on the finish, present without taking over. It shows how far a strong liqueur goes.
Ensslin’s Equal Parts
Made with equal parts, as Difford’s Guide gives Ensslin’s 1916 recipe, the drink puts the Chartreuse in front and turns the whiskey into texture.
Make it once to know where the drink started. The modern trim, which Difford’s Guide traces to Harry MacElhone’s 1922 recipe of two ounces of whiskey, one of vermouth and half an ounce of Chartreuse, keeps the whiskey audible, which is the reason to call it a whiskey drink.
Ours Against the IBA
The Tipperary at the IBA and in our glass
Irish whiskey
- IBA
- 50ml
- Ours
- 50ml, single pot still if you have it
Sweet vermouth
- IBA
- 25ml
- Ours
- 25ml
Green Chartreuse
- IBA
- 15ml
- Ours
- 15ml
Angostura
- IBA
- Two dashes
- Ours
- Two dashes
Method
- IBA
- Stirred
- Ours
- Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds
Glass
- IBA
- Chilled martini cocktail glass
- Ours
- Chilled Nick and Nora
Garnish
- IBA
- A slice of orange
- Ours
- A lemon twist
| Element | IBA | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Irish whiskey | 50ml | 50ml, single pot still if you have it |
| Sweet vermouth | 25ml | 25ml |
| Green Chartreuse | 15ml | 15ml |
| Angostura | Two dashes | Two dashes |
| Method | Stirred | Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds |
| Glass | Chilled martini cocktail glass | Chilled Nick and Nora |
| Garnish | A slice of orange | A lemon twist |
Why Irish Whiskey
Irish whiskey is the soft member of the family, generally lighter than Scotch or rye, and usually cast in coffee and highballs.
Here it fronts a liqueur bottled at 55%, and it works because it is soft. Smoke or rye spice would fight the herbs; Irish gives them room.
How to Serve It
Stirred over cubed ice for 20 to 30 seconds, strained into a chilled Nick and Nora, with a lemon twist squeezed over the surface and left in the glass.
For a Scotch drink in the same mould, sweetened with Bénédictine, try the Bobby Burns.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Irish)Irish whiskey is whiskey distilled on the island of Ireland and aged there in wood for three years or longer, and bottled at no less than 40% ABV. The Irish Whiskey technical file names four types, pot still, malt, grain and blended, and the soft blends are what our nine Irish recipes mostly use. The Irish Whiskey technical file calls triple distillation the traditional practice, not a rule, and specifies unpeated malt only for pot still whiskey.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Tipperary cocktail?
How much Chartreuse should I use?
Why Irish whiskey rather than Scotch?
Can I use yellow Chartreuse?
How strong is a Tipperary?
Why is it called the Tipperary?
What glass and garnish does a Tipperary take?
Sources.
Correct as of 18 October 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “Tipperary No.1” (secondary source: Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, equal parts, shaken; MacElhone 1922 (2 oz whiskey, 1 oz vermouth, ½ oz Chartreuse); Craddock 1930 equal parts; 1931 sloe gin Tipperary “a direct namesake of an Irish county”).
- IBA, “Tipperary” (IBA New Era: 50 ml Irish whiskey, 25 ml sweet red vermouth, 15 ml Green Chartreuse, 2 dashes Angostura).
- Punch, “Up-to-Date Cocktail” (secondary source: Ensslin head bartender at the Hotel Wallick, Times Square; Recipes for Mixed Drinks, 1916).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, “Ensslin, Hugo Richard” (secondary source: Recipes for Mixed Drinks, 1916, expanded second edition 1917).
- Cigar Aficionado, “The Tipperary Cocktail for St. Patrick’s Day” (secondary source: song debuted 1912; origin story of a patron humming the tune in 1916).
- Chartreuse Diffusion, “Green Chartreuse” (producer’s product page: 55% vol.; 130 plants).
- Chartreuse Diffusion, “Yellow Chartreuse” (producer’s product page: 43% vol.; sweetness; a soft structure).
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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.
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A Last Word is 22.5ml each of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora or coupe. About 2.9 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s; the cherry or lime twist is ours. The Oxford Companion says the drink first appears in print in the Detroit Athletic Club News in 1916, on a menu at 35 cents, a high price then. Ted Saucier’s Bottoms Up of 1951 prints the recipe, quoting a club source who says Frank Fogarty, a vaudeville monologist, introduced it there about thirty years earlier. In 2003 Murray Stenson put it on the menu at the Zig Zag Café in Seattle, from where it spread, the Companion says. Four strong flavours at equal volume, and none takes over. Chartreuse brings herbs and heat, maraschino cherry and a bitter almond edge, lime the acid, and gin holds them together.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 18 October 2026