Bobby Burns (Difford's own)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (268 ratings)
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    Bobby Burns (Difford's own)

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Bobby Burns (Difford's own) image

Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
1 1⁄4 oz Blended Scotch whisky
1 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1⁄3 oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
2 dash Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
1 dash La Fée Parisienne absinthe
× 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 lemon zest and a slice of shortbread..
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Express lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  6. Garnish with a slice of shortbread rested across the rim.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile
Cocktail of the day:

25th January 2025 is Burns Night

Review:

This recipe combines elements from the world's most respected writers of vintage recipes – the base formula comes from Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book [although I've snuck in touch more whisky] with Peychaud's Bitters introduced by David Embury in his 1953 Fine Art of Mixing Drinks while the addition of absinthe is inspired by Albert Stevens Crockett's 1931 Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Days.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Bobby Burns (Craddock's 1930 recipe)
Bobby Burns (Crockett's 1931 recipe)
Bobby Burns (Embury's 1948 recipe)

History:

Created by yours truly in January 2017 at the Cabinet Room, London, England.
Bobby Burns cocktail history

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Bobby Burns (Difford's own) contains 163 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 24.32% alc./vol. (24.32° proof)
  • 19.1 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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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
9th May at 14:46
Accidentally swapped the Benedictine for grand marnier (those bottles are irresponsibly similar), presumably making a Grand Bobby. Not sure what the bard would make o’ that. Less herbal of course, and richer. Obviously I will now have to make a regular one to remind myself what it’s ‘supposed’ to taste like 😉😂
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
9th May at 15:32
Further, in the absence of a richer vermouth, added half Punt e Mes to half Dolin rouge for a Black Bobby. Intense VERY late night sipping.
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Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
30th March at 23:24
Made again, using GlenDronach 12, and PX sherry in lieu of vermouth to match the Scotch's character. I also followed the suggestions of other posters below, and split the Benedictine with Drambuie. It still read as a Bobby Burns, but with enough to distinguish it and keep things interesting. I have to say I'm particularly happy with the PX switch.
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Annechien’s Avatar Annechien
28th March at 18:49
Choice of ingredients is important here. Made this previously with glenfiddich 12 yrs + martini rosso. Thought it was really good, smooth and easy drinking. Tonight I have Glenlivet founder’s reserve + carpano antica formula. Blows my mind. Complex and delicious. And a completely different drink. This can be so much fun pairing different scotch and vermouth. Endless opportunities!
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Scott McIsaac’s Avatar Scott McIsaac
11th February at 00:03
This is one of my favorites, and the shortbread garnish is genius! But tonight I didn't have any shortbread, so I decided to experiment with an orange peel twist, and compare recipes where Cointreau or Drambuie were substituted for the Benedictine. Winner: Drambuie. Cointreau was a little too sweet.
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
27th February at 12:12
I like Bruce Wilson’s suggestion below of half/half Drambuie and Benedictine, which I’m just trying, otherwise I think I agree with giving the prize to Drambuie.
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Bruce Wilson’s Avatar Bruce Wilson
24th January at 21:18
My version of this tonight is a bit of a mashup of what was available…

Aberlour 14yo
Talisker Skye (a dash for some smokiness)
Carpano Antica Formula
Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino
(about 1:1 of the vermouths)
Drambuie
Benedictine
(also about 1:1 of the liqueurs)
Peychauds — dash

I love a good Manhattan but there’s a complexity of flavours to this that makes it just a little bit different — and very enjoyable!
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
28th March at 14:21
Did a side by side comparison of Cocchi vermouth di Torino and carpano, preferred the latter, tho matching to the scotch will also be a consideration. I used Glenmorangie. Delicious!
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Dave Smith’s Avatar Dave Smith
12th January at 01:50
Well it’s almost Burns night so why not? Used Glennfiddich, noilly prat red, subd drabuie for Benedictine, with dashes of absinthe and peychauds bitters. A very complex concoction! I like it. Go light on absinthe. It’s actually hard to locate Benedictine in No California, the search continues…..
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
21st January at 14:27
Yes, loved glenfiddich here! The intense sweetness and caramelised/bitter flavours with the peychauds and fresh citrus aromatics play off each other so nicely!
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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
4th January at 14:40
A wonderful, rich and flavoursome sipper for the 11th day of Christmas, and somewhat in anticipation of Burns Nicht. Plenty of options available with this one, blended scotch to taste, or single malt. I tried moderately Smokey bowmore with carpano for vermouth, and speyside plus Cocchi vermouth di Torino. Preferred the latter but probably more to do with current mood. Some leftover Danish butter cookies from Christmas provided a happy garnishment.
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mregisterfl’s Avatar mregisterfl
3rd January at 18:44
Made per spec, with Monkey Shoulder, Cocchi di Torino and La Clandestine.

This is an excellent drink, coming quite close to being a Scotch-based version of a La Louisiane. If you enjoy a La Louisiane (I do) and you also like scotch (I do), you will certainly enjoy this drink.
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Mathew Gleaves’ Avatar Mathew Gleaves
31st December 2024 at 19:54
I put in an extra dash of orange bitters, just because at Christmas. Delicious!
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tom munger’s Avatar tom munger
3rd December 2024 at 15:22
This recipe is very similar to the one for the “Tale of Two Roberts” cocktail credited to Frank Caiafa of the Waldof-Astoria by Philip Greene in his excellent 2016 book *The Manhattan (The Story of the First Modern Cocktail)* [Sterling Publishing, 2016]:
2 oz Scotch
1 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz Bénédictine
2 dashes absinthe
Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, lemon peel garnish.
It’s one of my very favorite libations (although I substitute 1 tsp Pernod for the absinth)
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