Name: Leap Year Cocktail
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Gin; 15 ml Old Tom gin; 15 ml Grand Marnier; 15 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 7.5 ml Lemon juice

Leap Year Cocktail
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's Old Tom Gin
¹⁄₂ oz	Grand Marnier or other cognac orange liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
¹⁄₄ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

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

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - 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:

1st March 2025 is Leap Year Day!

Review:

To follow this cocktail's original proportions use 60ml (2oz) dry gin and omit the Old Tom, but you'll be missing out. Either way, despite the rich liqueur, this cocktail is on the bone dry/sour side.

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History:

Created 29th February 1928 by Harry Craddock for the Leap Year celebrations at The American Bar in London's Savoy Hotel. The cocktail features in his 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book with the notation, "It is said to have been responsible for more proposals than any other cocktail that has ever been mixed."

LEAP YEAR COCKTAIL.
1 Dash Lemon Juice.
2/3 Gin. 1/6 Grand Marnier.
1/6 Italian Vermouth.
Shake well and serve in cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon on top.
Harry Craddock, 1930

More cocktails by Harry Craddock

Nutrition:

One serving of Leap Year Cocktail contains 158 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
24.04% alc./vol. (24.04° proof)
19.8 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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Frederic D.

17th June 2022 at 21:53

I had no Old Tom so I made this with 2 oz Bombay Sapphire. I also added 1/4 oz of simple to dial the dryness down just a bit, and ended up quite liking it. The lemon comes through nicely, and it benefits from using Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau/triple sec.

Geoff B.

27th April 2021 at 03:53

Using Plymouth Gin and Cocchi di Torino was a clean and dry concoction. The lemon is very present and as suggested is nice served very cold.

Simon Difford

28th April 2021 at 20:25

Thanks for the feedback Geoff B and David M. I've revisited and amended while seeking to respect The Savoy recipe.

David M.

27th April 2021 at 03:52

Not a favorite. Doesn’t much taste like a Martini, but it certainly is dry despite the Cointreau and sweet vermouth. Also used Ransom Old Tom (which is not sweet, despite the name).
Could use a little more roundness. Contrary to Simon’s tip, I actually liked it a bit more as it warmed up a tad.