Name: Celebration
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Cognac (brandy); 30 ml Rubino/Rosso/Rojo vermouth; 30 ml Red bitter liqueur; 1 dash Orange bitters

Celebration
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Glass:

Photographed in a Waterford Mixology Coupe Clear

Ingredients:
1 oz	Cognac (brandy)
1 oz	Rubino/Rosso/Rojo (sweet, fruity) vermouth
1 oz	Italian red bitter liqueur
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rubino/Rosso/Rojo (sweet, fruity) vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

One of our most popular cocktails from Thanksgiving through to the end of the December holiday period. Reminiscent of a brandy-based Negroni served straight-up, this is an appropriate cocktail for any celebration. (Your choice of vermouth will make or break this cocktail, which was originally made with a rich, expressive rubino vermouth.)

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History:

Created in 2015 by Devis D'Ercole at Imperial Beach in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche, Italy. Originally with Martini Rubino vermouth.

Nutrition:

One serving of Celebration contains 180 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
21.79% alc./vol. (43.57° proof)
19.7 grams of pure alcohol

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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 10 of 19 comments for Celebration.
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Justin Aniello

23rd December 2025 at 01:51

Nice warmer and subtler version of a Negroni, get more of that Campari citrus flavor without the gin competing.

Chris Dimal

20th December 2025 at 15:59

More like a Brandy based Boulevardier. Still nice and festive. I remember this being 4.5*, so I wonder why did it become downgraded to 4!

Chris Dimal

20th December 2025 at 16:01

I almost forgot, I bartended a Christmas party once and I used this cocktail. People really enjoyed it. So huge props and credit to Devis d'Ercole for this libation.

Robert Spain

23rd September 2025 at 20:34

Very good. First time I used sherry brandy and it was overly sweet. I preferred it with Cognac, or another drier brandy.

Martin Schwartz

5th January 2025 at 01:05

I wouldn't compare this to a Negroni (one of my favorites) but I think it's a more genteel version of a Boulevardier. The cognac doesn't pack the punch of the bonded and cask strength Bourbons I usually use. I did enjoy this cocktail, though.

Juan Hatton

24th December 2024 at 19:18

Bitter, sweet, loveeeeely.

John CARR

20th December 2024 at 13:45

Tried both spec and CB’s Valentino style. Reading the description for Martini rubino vermouth, I split the Campari with Select, actual vermouth was carpano. Two dashes of my favourite Bitter Truth orange bitters. Wonderful orange notes balancing the richness and bittersweetness of the other ingredients. I combined remy Martin and Camus cognacs to happy effect. A fitting celebratory libation for the end of my working year!

Chris Brislawn

29th December 2024 at 04:16

My Holiday Special Edition Celebration, which was as dark as a Manhattan, consisted of Camus VSOP "Elegance," Tempus Fugit Gran Classico Bitter, and Tempus Fugit Alessio Rosso Vermouth in 3:2:2 proportions, with Angostura Orange Bitters. As Kristi remarked, "This is NOT for amateurs!"

1 reply

John CARR

20th December 2024 at 13:45

Cocchi vermouth do Torino I found too bitter here.

1 reply

Caspian Berggren

2nd December 2024 at 21:38

If you like a Negroni, you'll like it. If you don't, you won't. Personally I think Negroni's are too bitter so I doubled the cognac and added a skosh of Licor 43 to "simulate" the flavours of Carpano Antica. Still a bit too bitter but a lot more to my style.

Simon Sedgley

19th November 2024 at 12:56

This is lovely but a bit sweet for us. So we added 20ml Antica Torino dry vermouth. Still fitted snugly in our Nick and Nora glasses.

Chris Brislawn

30th January 2024 at 05:49

Very good as written but also works great Valentino-style with (2:1:1) proportions (1.5 oz cognac, 3/4 oz each vermouth and red bitter). Used Antica Formula and Martini & Rossi Riserva Speciale Bitter. Served it in DOF glasses with both orange and lemon twists. Excellent!

Marie-Therese Straus

4th December 2024 at 04:00

I just made this using your proportions and it was delicious and very balanced. We'll be using this recipe often throughout the winter holidays, I think.