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
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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
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."

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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

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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 6 comments for Purgatorio.
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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!