Name: Wiffin
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 20 ml Cognac (brandy); 20 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 1 dash Absinthe

Wiffin
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
²⁄₃ oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
²⁄₃ oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A little dilution from a good stir helps tame this spirit-forward aperitivo or late-night sipper, which mellows and becomes more pleasurable as you sip.

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History:

The Wiffin was kindly brought to our attention by Jason E. Clapham and is David Wondrich's interpretation of the un-named cocktail P. G. Wodehouse had in mind when he wrote a short story called The Passing of Ambrose. Wiffin is the surname of Ambrose, the protagonist).

Many fellows in his position-practically, you might say, saved at last from worse than death-would make a stiff whisky-and-soda. Ambrose, though he had no prejudice against whisky-and-soda, felt otherwise. It must be a cocktail. The cocktail of a lifetime. A cocktail that would ring down the ages, in which gin blended smoothly with Italian Vermouth and the spot of old brandy nestled like a trusting child against the dash of absinthe ...
P. G. Wodehouse, The Passing of Ambrose, 1928

More cocktails by David Wondrich

Nutrition:

One serving of Wiffin contains 176 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
27.65% alc./vol. (27.65° proof)
23.6 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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Showing 6 comments for Wiffin.
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Robert Spain

30th November 2024 at 19:01

Strong and delicious. I decided to spray my glass with absinthe before pouring the cocktail so I can taste it's there, but not too much. 5 stars.

Melissa Demian

31st December 2023 at 00:28

Dilution and keeping the proportion of absinthe to a bare minimum do seem to be key here. So much so that I thought maybe just an absinthe rinse would be enough, and then thought why stop there, and substituted rye for the cognac. The result is quite good, but obviously not the same cocktail - one could call this variation the “Martinezerac.”

Matt Tench

10th December 2023 at 18:23

Per the comment from Simon about dilution, I tried serving with a single large ice cube in a rocks glass and sipping it, there is definitely an optimum dilution and it's more than you think. I'd also suggest using a dropper for the absinthe and tasting, it can quickly overwhelm the drink.

Melvyn Sexton

9th December 2023 at 18:30

Definitely a ‘drinkers’ cocktail which leaves a freshness on the pallet. The perfect aperitivo.

George Ireland

8th December 2023 at 20:20

A refined sweet martini. Excellent. Sampled this with Cocchi Dopo Teatro - I think it probably needs a rich vermouth - and Ableforth's Bathtub gin. This recipe is a keeper.

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

8th December 2023 at 18:47

Sophisticated yet understated. Like this drink.

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