Name: Archibald's Last Memory
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 15 ml Fernet liqueur; 15 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.; 5 ml Maraschino liqueur

Archibald's Last Memory
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Photographed in an UB Koto Old Fashioned 30cl

Ingredients:
2 oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
¹⁄₂ oz	Fernet Branca liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
¹⁄₆ oz	Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into chilled glass (no ice in glass).
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:

This drink is so spirituous that it may have finished Archibald off, but at least his last drink was a proper sharpener. Then again, the perceived health-giving herbal benefits of Fernet and Bénédictine combined in such a dosage would have perhaps got him back on his feet.

We prefer this cocktail served on-the-rocks as the dilution takes the edge off the spirituous attack and opens the cocktail, releasing more of its delicate herbal complexity.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe which originated at the Flatiron Lounge in New York City circa 2010.

Alcohol content:

2.4 standard drinks
36.07% alc./vol. (36.07° proof)
34.3 grams of pure alcohol

More Autumn/fall 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.

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Showing 10 of 21 comments for Archibald's Last Memory.
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Peter McCarthy

9th May at 22:33

Fernet is fairly dominant (at least with Wild Turkey 101 Rye), so you must like Fernet and be in the mood for that... I'm curious to try it with less Fernet to see if I can get a better balance of all of the ingredients.

Leslie

12th April at 01:37

Such an interesting experience, this drink. I grew to love it as I drank it. Daryn’s comment below about Autumn resonates.

Simon Difford

12th April at 05:44

Agreed! I've tagged Archibalds Last Memory as an autumnal cocktail.

Robert Holen

25th October 2024 at 16:29

Fascinating how strongly this drink makes the flavours come in waves.

daryn edwards

15th September 2024 at 21:30

Used my smoker and let it sit for 3 minutes, quite a nice late summer/ early autumn evening drink.

Michelle Bell

21st May 2024 at 23:15

Accidentally poured ¼ oz Luxardo, really loved it!

Alberto Cea

13th April 2024 at 02:14

I use Alberta Premium 100% Rye Cask Strength 63.5ABB. The rest is the same. Very boozy I know, still put a big cube of ice, I love the kick and complexity of flavours.

G. M. Genovese

11th January 2024 at 20:33

Branca Menta will take this over, but not to its detriment... Excellent blend of brands but, aside from the menthol-rye bulge, it's indistinct... Too much of this is spectacular though, and the drink is damn near beyond retooling, if I may say so.

Jordan O

21st January 2024 at 05:49

What?

Brian Wirths

23rd December 2023 at 11:26

This is one of my new favorites. Came across the recipe on Diffords looking for drinks to use my Fernet. It is potent though, sip & enjoy

John Berges

13th December 2023 at 00:44

Didn't have Marachino, so I substituted Amaretto to try to mimic the splash of sweet/nutty flavor. Served over a large ice cube, it be my new favorite drink.

Ian Fenton

1st April 2023 at 10:04

I took the risk and made it to the recipe, but to be honest I prefer my half-rye half-brandy variation. But it might only be me.

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