Death & Taxes

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (68 ratings)

Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Blended Scotch whisky
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
34 oz Punt E Mes vermouth amaro
14 oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created 2011 by Michael Madrusan while at Milk & Honey in New York City but made famous at his The Everleigh in Melbourne, Australia.

Nutrition:

One serving of Death & Taxes contains 189 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 27.05% alc./vol. (27.05° proof)
  • 24.5 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
16th April at 13:07
This is a deep cocktail. More often than not, however, we substitute Reposado Tequila or Mezcal for the Scotch. Either way, when offering it to guests, we call it a 'Death in Texas'.
mregisterfl’s Avatar mregisterfl
8th March at 02:18
Excellent! Monkey Shoulder and Beefeater 47 are well balanced against the Punt e Mes, while the Benedictine brings a touch of honeyed sweetness. Very nice.
23rd May 2023 at 22:29
I don't know what the positive reviewers are hard at work tasting. I was hoping for some surprising alchemy here. Death & Taxes did not surprise or deliver. Next time, I'll try it with more gin and less scotch.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
6th April 2023 at 00:29
This was excellent. Perfect for an aperitif. Used Dewar's 12 and St. George (California) dry rye gin (90 proof). Everything works perfectly together to produce a flvourful and spirited cocktail.
Joe Cornwall’s Avatar Joe Cornwall
11th March 2023 at 17:30
I made this yesterday. I wanted a bit more "pop" so I used cask strength Aberlour single malt and London Dry Beefeater as the split base. Absolutely fabulous cocktail! Right up there with my another scotch favorite, the Drunk Uncle.

I'll certainly try this again using the Dewar's 12 (the new expression is marvelous) and Monkey 47 as suggested. I think this cocktail has a real promise to be "dialed in" by the use of different whisky and gin profiles.

Bravo!
Richard Christmas’ Avatar Richard Christmas
14th February 2023 at 19:17
When I looked at the ingredients, I had some misgivings, but this is absolutely delicious - so much more than the sum of its parts. Now I can view both death and taxes in a much more positive light!
Nathalie O'Flynn’s Avatar Nathalie O'Flynn
28th January 2022 at 21:03
The two things you can be sure in life