Devil's Soul

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (245 ratings)

Photographed in an Urban Bar Nick & Nora

Ingredients:
1 oz Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
13 oz Del Maguey Vida Clásico Mezcal
13 oz Amaro (e.g. Averna)
16 oz Bittersweet orange-red aperitivo
16 oz Elderflower liqueur
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

Spirituous, smoky, earthy, bittersweet, floral, herbal and complex. I've reduced the original serve by one-third to produce a complex, serious and most satisfying but bite-sized libation. Described by its creator as being "short and evil." Some will love, but many will hate!

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2012 by Ted Kilgore at Taste in St. Louis, Missouri.

Nutrition:

One serving of Devil's Soul contains 145 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 31.09% alc./vol. (31.09° proof)
  • 18.6 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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hans de blooy’s Avatar hans de blooy
30th November 2024 at 22:45
Somehow the balance in this is such that you can kill it by overdoing it on the garnish. In my first attempt the smell of orange from my fingers knocked out all the subtleties and skewed the whole drink towards straight orange. A smaller patch of orange zest on take two allowed for a far better drink.
Lynette Clayton’s Avatar Lynette Clayton
21st September 2024 at 22:47
This is a really balanced drink. I describe it as none of the ingredients are in charge but all do their job in adding the subtle notes as intended. Together they make a new flavor.
Landon Brown’s Avatar Landon Brown
18th August 2024 at 07:33
Quite sippable, not really so intense as some have indicated. Rye and Mezcal fight for dominance, with Averna somehow bridging the gap. Aperol lends bitter orange notes that tie together the garnish (originally flamed orange oil, as I understand) and the Amaro, with a bit of sweetness on the back end that ushers in the Elderflower ever so subtly. The ingredients are all keeping one another in check miraculously, but the cocktail somehow lacks a cohesive flavour.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
17th August 2024 at 13:27
Glad of the reduced serve: the flavours here are OTT intense!! It is balanced and can taste all the components… but SO strong! Maybe Halloween is the best time for this. Title well earned. One to come back to I think.
Ian Fenton’s Avatar Ian Fenton
2nd June 2024 at 10:54
I used Montenegro because I was out of Averna. 5 stars from me… maybe even 5+.
Florian Ruf’s Avatar Florian Ruf
15th April 2024 at 20:05
Just perfect!
16th June 2023 at 23:26
Love it! The mezcal is present but so are the other ingredients! Small portion though. May need to do 1.5x
Steve Trax’s Avatar Steve Trax
3rd May 2023 at 02:19
Had high hopes so made everything at 1.5x for a larger amount. Unfortunately, no part stood out and it was mostly just tasted like sweetened booze.
Giulio Motta’s Avatar Giulio Motta
16th March 2023 at 08:44
I made the full size version and I must say this is just great. And amazingly it came out awesome on first try: I really thought I would need to go back and try many different combination of mezcal/amaro/rye but that was not the case. BTW I used St. Germain, Aperol, Averna, Ezra Brooks straight rye 45%, and Derrumbes Durango.
4th March 2023 at 00:49
Absolutely fabulous!! Love the blend. Used Montelobos that I found after a trip to Mexico this year…