Name: Chancellor
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Scotch whisky; 30 ml Tawny port; 7.5 ml Dry vermouth; 7.5 ml Bianco/blanco vermouth; 1 dash Creole bitters

Chancellor
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Blended Scotch whisky
1 oz	Cockburn's Tawny Eyes Port
¹⁄₄ oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₄ oz	Strucchi Bianco Vermouth
1 dash	Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Tawny port, Dry vermouth, Bianco/blanc/blanco vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Complex and sophisticated, scotch whisky-based with rich and dry vinous notes.

Classically, the Chancelor is made with dry vermouth, but even with a rich ruby port, this tends to produce a cocktail that's too dry. I favour a more complex tawny port, and previously, I added 2.5ml of sugar to balance it. Now, instead of sugar, I split the vermouth between dry and bianco vermouths. I also like the above recipe but with the vermouth split three ways: 5ml (1 barspoon) each of dry vermouth, bianco vermouth and rosso vermouth.

Others use only rosso vermouth instead of dry vermouth, which adds much-needed sweetness as well as body and colour. Some also use aromatic bitters, but I like to honour the style of bitters specified by Stanley M. Jones in his 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Rob Roy

History:

The Chancellor cocktail most likely originated in London and is named in the "Supplementary List" of cocktails that "space forbids giving the recipes" in William James "Billy" Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Bar Book.

The Chancellor also appears in Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide.

CHANCELLOR COCKTAIL
Cocktail Glass Stir
1-3/4 oz Scotch
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz port
1 dash Peychaud's bitters
Stanley M. Jones, 1977

Nutrition:

One serving of Chancellor contains 167 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
22.98% alc./vol. (22.98° proof)
20.8 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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Showing 8 comments for Chancellor.
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John CARR

14th June at 15:19

Revisiting with all sweet vermouth which, unsurprisingly, made it very reminiscent of a Rob Roy, and very easy drinking. But still sufficiently different with the port to be a worthy consideration itself. A genuine crowd pleaser, and rightly so!

John CARR

14th June at 15:49

Also tried Simon’s triple-split vermouth variation, which was very enjoyable - still decidedly dry, but well balanced. Used angostura bitters in both versions this evening, which suited me.

Tom Tom

26th November 2024 at 18:51

Tried it with single barrel four roses,
white colheita 2003 and willem’s wermoed vermouth, muddled bloodorange peel in the mixing glass. Really enjoyed it :)

John Hinojos

24th November 2024 at 01:19

Tried again on another cool November evening. Used all dry vermouth and did add the chocolate bitters. Very nice a dry.

John CARR

19th September 2024 at 13:58

Definitely on the dry side, though well balanced. I’ll be interested to try sweet vermouth only. Was great w monkey shoulder and a 12 year old tawny port, grant burge Galway pipe, which is wonderfully rich. Vermouth as spec and bitter truth Creole bitters. Recommended, especially for drier palates.

Tom Tom

9th January 2024 at 20:11

Endulged a bit and made this with Glendronach 15 revival, Kopke Colheita 1979 and a dutch Vermouth called willem’s Wermoed that has notes of citrus, sage, and tarragon.

It was amazing.

Leslie

16th December 2023 at 01:15

We found it a bit flat and tried a dash of chocolate bitters…it was great!

Gary Walther

31st March 2024 at 02:29

What a difference a dash makes! I added a dash of chocolate bitters about 1/4 in to the drink and it added a much richer/fuller flavor. If I come back to this one, I will definitely include a dash of Peychaud's and a dash of chocolate bitters. A nice after dinner drink.

John Hinojos

28th November 2022 at 01:43

Perfect aperitif for a cold (San Diego, CA standards) late November evening. Complex flavours and not too sweet or smoky. Exactly what was needed after decorating the house of Christmas. Would be a great aperitif any time of year.

Chris English

30th March 2022 at 18:10

I like to drink with the seasons. In an early Spring cold snap, this was dry and complex and filled an aperitif 'need' without the common tools of citrus or (red) bitterness.