Name: Artist's Special Cocktail
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Irish whiskey; 45 ml Oloroso sherry; 15 ml Lemon juice; 15 ml Groseille syrup

Artist's Special Cocktail
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Irish whiskey
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Lustau Oloroso Don Nuño Sherry
¹⁄₂ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₂ oz	Groseille (redcurrant) syrup

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of redcurrants.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with redcurrants bunch laid across rim.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Oloroso sherry - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

7th November 2025 is Museum of Modern Art's birthday

Review:

Irish whiskey is often matured in oloroso sherry seasoned casks so it's no surprise that whiskey and sherry blend harmoniously in this cocktail, with lemon tartness balanced by rich red currant syrup, the key ingredient that makes this cocktail "Special".

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History:

A voraciously pink Parisian special from the 1920s, this cocktail first appears in print in Harry MacElhone's 1927 Barflies and Cocktails.

Artist's Special.
1/3 Scotch Whisky,
1/3 Sherry,
1/6 Lemon juice,
1/6 Groseille syrup,
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
(Recipe from the Artists' Club, Rue Pigalle, Paris.)
Harry McElhone, 1927

Exactly the same recipe appears three years later in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

ARTIST'S (SPECIAL) COCKTAIL.
1/3 Whisky.
1/3 Sherry.
1/6 Lemon Juice.
1/6 Groseille Syrup.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
This is the genuine 'Ink of Inspiration' imbibed at the Bal Bullier, Paris. The recipe is from the Artists' Club, Rue Pigalle, Paris.
Harry Craddock, 1930

The "Bal Bullier, Paris" Craddock refers to was a famous ballroom opened by François Bullier in the mid-nineteenth century at 39 Avenue Georges Bernanos, Paris. It closed in 1940.

Nutrition:

One serving of Artist's Special Cocktail contains 189 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
16.54% alc./vol. (16.54° proof)
19.9 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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Chris Brislawn

8th November 2024 at 04:54

No groseille syrup so used creme de cassis. No Lustau Don Nuno; used our open bottle of Osborne Oloroso "Special Sherry" from the depths of Osborne's cellars, which is richer than Don Nuno so I cut it back to 1 oz but it still totally overwhelmed the drink. MacElhone and Craddock just call for "sherry": fino? amontillado? PX? It matters. An equal amount of oloroso is overkill but might be ok for fino. Also think the lemon juice should be cut back even more to 1/4--1/3 oz.

Neil Wilkins

17th March 2022 at 19:42

I can confirm for any curious/desperate cocktail enthusiasts in the UK that this works with 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly if you stir it in with the lemon juice to dissolve. Probably a touch drier due to the lower sugar content than a syrup would have, but a perfectly tasty drink!

Lucien Warner

22nd March 2021 at 16:14

A tasty classic. I used Gifford's Grenadine. Might have been my sherry but it was a little sweet - so I marginally upped the whiskey and reduced the sherry and syrup. A punchier drink, which went down well. And more of an "Artisht's Shpeshul" after a couple...