Name: Purgatorio
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 15 ml Bourbon whiskey; 5 ml Mezcal; 15 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.; 15 ml Chartreuse Green; 5 ml Chilled water; 2 drop Saline solution 4:1

Purgatorio
Jump to

Keep screen awake

Glass:

Photographed in an Urban Bar 1910 Retro Coupette 15cl

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Bourbon whiskey
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Del Maguey Vida Clásico Mezcal
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Green Chartreuse (or alternative herbal liqueur)
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Chilled water/mineral water
2 drop	Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water) or merest pinch of s

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.
STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

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

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A mezcal-influenced riff on a Ted Kilgore's punchy Purgatory, named "as a nod to the divine Dante."

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in February 2026 by Simon Sedgley, a fellow Discerning Drinker, who advises to "Adjust the bourbon and mezcal ratio to your preference."

More cocktails by Simon Sedgley

Nutrition:

One serving of Purgatorio contains 216 calories

Alcohol content:

2.1 standard drinks
35.31% alc./vol. (70.62° proof)
30.1 grams of pure alcohol

More Nightcap/sipping cocktails
More Spirit-forward cocktails

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.

Join the discussion

Showing 7 comments for Purgatorio.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

CJ Grant

21st June at 21:35

I had to try this after reading the comments on the cocktail that inspired it. I went with standard strengths for this one - Rittenhouse, Still Autsin, and a blanco Mezcal and this is a more balanced, a bit sweeter, and ever so slightly smoky version of the Purgatory cocktail.

I think it is more approachable, and has very tame spice and a bit of herbal that leans into the Mezcal. I sorta miss the spice but like the Mezcal addition. Maybe the cask-strength rye I used for the original or split rye and Mezcal, skipping the bourbon would be something I could explore for my own preferences.

Jeremy Harrold

15th April at 16:14

It’s a Chartreuse and Benedictine forward drink. I personally needed to tame them by adding a bit more whiskey and mezcal.
An appealing colour, nicely alcoholic but a tad disappointing

William Francis Walsh

10th April at 01:25

To spec, it’s fairly sweet and borders on cloying. I’d boost the mezcal up to .33 oz to make it a touch smokier and reduce the Benedictine to .33 oz to make it less treacly.

Chris Brislawn

2nd April at 07:03

Adding just a hint of fire & brimstone in the form of 1 tsp mezcal is a nice riff on Kilgore's Purgatory. Thematically, it seems most appropriate to use the smoky Del Maguey Vida de Muertos.

william dennehy

2nd April at 02:38

I am sipping as I type.... It's a tad sweet for me but, having said that it tastes very "hot" and boozy. I do like it. I'm really getting into these "up" cocktails. Thanks for the recipe. I'm going mess with it a bit. The mezcal can overpower everything, though that may be the mezcal I used. Cheers!