Tipperary
The Tipperary is Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and green Chartreuse, and it is the boldest thing Irish whiskey does anywhere in the classic canon. Everything else the spirit appears in trades on its gentleness. This one puts it in front of a hundred and thirty herbs at 55 per cent and asks it to hold its ground. Hugo Ensslin printed it in Recipes for Mixed Drinks in 1916, by which point It's a Long Way to Tipperary had been the marching song of the war for two years and was playing on both sides of the Atlantic. The name needed no explaining to anyone reading the book. Ensslin's version is equal thirds, which is a genuinely fierce drink. Most modern specs pull the Chartreuse back to fifteen millilitres so that it seasons rather than leads, and that is the version worth learning first. The original is worth one respectful visit afterwards.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon Twist
Ingredients
50ml
Single pot still if you have it. The extra weight and pepper give the Chartreuse something to push against; a light blend gets flattened by it and the drink stops having two ingredients.
25ml
The middle of the drink, sitting between a soft whiskey and a very loud liqueur. A rich Italian style works better here than a light one, because the vermouth has to hold its own space.
15ml
Fifteen millilitres seasons; Ensslin's original equal third leads. Green rather than yellow: yellow is softer and sweeter and makes a pleasant drink that is not this one.
2 dashes
Two dashes, and the official specification is right to list them. Chartreuse and sweet vermouth are both sweet and both herbal, and without a bitter edge underneath they agree with each other rather than argue, which is what turns this from a stirred drink into a syrupy one.
Instructions
Add the Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and green Chartreuse to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 25 seconds.
Strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 13 August 2026.
Expert Tip
Fifteen millilitres of Chartreuse is a dial rather than a fixed measure. At fifteen the alpine herbs thread through the whiskey and you meet them on the finish. At Ensslin's equal third the Chartreuse leads and the drink becomes a herbal liqueur cocktail with whiskey in it. Both are legitimate; know which one you are making before you pour. Single pot still Irish is the best choice if you have it. The extra weight and the slight pepper give the Chartreuse something to work against, where a light blend simply gets flattened. Stir it long. Chartreuse is high proof and viscous, and it needs both dilution and time to stop sitting on the tongue as a separate layer.
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Hugo Ensslin was the head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, and Recipes for Mixed Drinks, published in 1916, is the last significant American cocktail book printed before Prohibition. It is where the Aviation first appears in print, among a good many other things, and it is where the Tipperary is recorded.
The name required no explanation in 1916. It's a Long Way to Tipperary had been sung by British troops from the first months of the war and was popular in America well before the country entered it. Naming an Irish whiskey drink after it was the obvious joke of the moment, and it has outlasted the joke.
Chartreuse as a Modifier
Green Chartreuse is 55 per cent alcohol and made from a hundred and thirty botanicals to a recipe only a couple of Carthusian monks are said to hold. It is not a subtle ingredient, and most drinks that use it either give it the lead or use it in dashes.
Fifteen millilitres is the interesting middle. At that measure it does not lead, but it is unmistakably present: the alpine, faintly medicinal herbs run through the whiskey and the vermouth and come out on the finish, and the drink tastes of something you cannot immediately name. That is the useful lesson of the Tipperary. Chartreuse works as a modifier and almost nobody uses it that way.
Ensslin's Equal Thirds
The 1916 spec is one part each, and it is a considerably more aggressive drink than the one most bars now pour. The Chartreuse takes the front and the Irish whiskey becomes texture rather than flavour.
It is not wrong, and it is worth making once so that you know what the recipe originally was. But the modern trim is not modern squeamishness: it makes the Irish whiskey audible again, and a drink where you cannot taste the base spirit has arguably stopped being a whiskey cocktail.
Why Irish Whiskey
The contrast is the point. Irish whiskey is the gentle member of the family, generally lighter and softer than Scotch or rye, and it is usually cast accordingly: in coffee, in highballs, in drinks where it is not asked to do very much.
Here it is fronting the loudest liqueur on the back bar, and it works precisely because it is soft. A peated Scotch or a high-rye American whiskey would fight the Chartreuse and the result would be a mess of competing herbs and smoke. Irish gives the herbs a clear stage.
How to Serve It
Stirred for twenty-five seconds over cubed ice, strained into a chilled Nick and Nora, lemon twist expressed over the surface and dropped in.
The twist is worth doing. Lemon oil lifts the top of a drink that is otherwise all mid-palate, and it makes the first sip considerably more inviting than the colour suggests.
The Spirit
Whiskey (Irish)Whiskey distilled and matured on the island of Ireland, for at least three years in wooden casks. Triple distillation and an absence of peat are strong conventions rather than rules, and the exceptions are worth knowing before treating either as a definition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Tipperary cocktail?
Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and green Chartreuse, stirred and served up. Hugo Ensslin printed it in 1916 at equal thirds; most modern versions lead with the whiskey and pull the Chartreuse back to a seasoning measure.
How much Chartreuse should I use?
Fifteen millilitres against fifty of whiskey makes it a modifier, which is the version to learn on. Ensslin's original equal third makes the Chartreuse the lead instead. Both are legitimate, and the difference between them is large.
Why Irish whiskey rather than Scotch?
Because it is soft. Green Chartreuse is loud, and a peated Scotch or a high-rye whiskey would compete with it rather than support it. Irish whiskey gives the herbs a clear stage, which is exactly what the drink needs.
Can I use yellow Chartreuse?
It makes a good drink and a different one. Yellow is lower in proof, sweeter and honeyed rather than herbal, so the contrast that gives the Tipperary its point largely disappears. Treat it as a variation rather than a substitution.
Master the Techniques
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits
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