Review:

Dilution is key to this cocktail so either shake with crushed ice (as per the original recipe) or do as I do and add chilled water. Even then, to quote Victor Bergeron, "This'll tuck you away neatly - and pick you up and throw you right to the floor".

History:

Named for Francisco Villaruel Guilledo (1901-1925), a Filipino professional boxer known as Pancho Villa. He was only 154cm (5 feet and 1 inch) tall and weighed 51kg (114 pounds) at his heaviest, and was the first Asian to win the World Flyweight Championship in 1923. Never knocked out in his entire career, he is regarded as one of the greatest Flyweight boxers of all time. He died suddenly, aged 23, from complications following a tooth extraction.

The Pancho Villa cocktail first appears in Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s 1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II – An Exotic Drinking Book. Our recipe adapted from Victor Bergeron's 1947 Bartender's Guide by Trader Vic, a recipe repeated in his 1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide.

PANCHO VILLA COCKTAIL, another CLASSIC from the PHILIPPINES that we absorbed in 1926, for the FIRST TIME
The late Filipino gentleman of this name was probably the greatest man for his inches that ever drew on a pair of fighting gloves. In Manila he is still a national hero, his monument is impressive, and when Monk Antrim's Chino Number One whipped this one up in his honour, it proved more than good enough for us to insert here.
Carta de Oro Bacardi, 1 pony
Dry apricot brandy, 1 pony
Pineapple juice, r tsp
Dry gin, 1 pony
Cherry brandy, 1 tsp
Stuffed olive
This is a sweet one and must be very cold. Fill shaker with fine ice and pour into a big champagne glass. It is one of the very few cocktails calling for several conflicting ingredients that is worth its own weight in bicarbonate of soda.

Charles H. Baker, Jr., The Gentleman's Companion volume II, 1939

PANCHO VILLA COCKTAIL
1 oz. Bacardi
1 oz. apricot brandy
1 oz. dry gin
1 tsp. pineapple juice
1 tsp. cherry brandy
Shake with shaved ice: serve in champagne glass.

Victor Bergeron, Bartender's Guide, 1947

PANCHO VILLA COCKTAIL
1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
1 ounce apricot brandy
1 ounce gin
1 teaspoon pineapple juice
1 teaspoon cherry brandy
Shake with ½ scoop shaved ice. Strain into a large saucer champagne glass.

Victor Bergeron, Bartender's Guide, 1972

Nutrition:

One serving of Pancho Villa contains 195 calories