Clandestine

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (50 ratings)

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
1 12 oz Blended Scotch whisky
12 oz Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
13 oz Italicus liqueur
16 oz Honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 water by weight)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 9/10

Review:

Honey balances bitter notes of gentian with citrusy bergamot and Scotch spirit. An apéritif of digestif.

View readers' comments

History:

Created in December 2017 by yours truly at the Cabinet Room, London, England.

Nutrition:

One serving of Clandestine contains 158 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 24.15% alc./vol. (24.15° proof)
  • 18.1 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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Morten Carlsbaek’s Avatar Morten Carlsbaek
12th September 2024 at 17:51
A good cocktail, indeed. Why not make a lighter version - like the Americano being the light version of a Negroni.
Try this, which could be name 'Innocent Clandestine':
30 ml Italicus, 10 ml Suze, 30 ml club soda, a dash of lemon juice, in an Old Fashion glass over a block of ice, stirred and cheers.
Paul Holdsworth’s Avatar Paul Holdsworth
7th January 2023 at 18:13
Just made this with Fierfield Birch Spirit (a botanical Irish whiskey) - it developed a distinct coffee note - remarkable how this sort of thing happens! Great drink, wonderfully complex, and worth using great quality honey (we did!)
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
12th January 2022 at 03:22
Great cocktail. The Italicus pairs so well with Salers Gentian and provides a wonderfully subtle pepper/ginger bite. This was good with Glen Grant 12yr old Speyside.