Name: Seelbach
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Bourbon whiskey; 15 ml Triple sec; 2 dash Creole bitters; 2 dash Aromatic bitters; Top up with Brut sparkling wine

Seelbach
Jump to

Serve in a Flute glass

Ingredients:
1 oz	Bourbon whiskey
¹⁄₂ oz	Cointreau triple sec liqueur
2 dash	Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
2 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
Top up with	Brut champagne/sparkling wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Orange zest twist

How to make:

POUR first four ingredients into chilled glass. TOP with champagne.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Brut champagne/sparkling wine - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Review:

A champagne cocktail fortified with bourbon and triple sec liqueur.

View readers' comments

History:

Mark Twain is purported to have once said, "Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, unless you can't think of anything better." Sadly, there is more veracity to this quote than there is the previously accepted story behind the creation of the Seelbach Cocktail.

It transpires that the Seelbach Cocktail was created by Adam Segar in 1995, then an unknown bartender in his late 20s who'd recently taken charge of the beverage operations at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. To give his new creation gravitas, Segar invented the story that he had re-discovered what he claimed was the hotel's pre-Prohibition signature cocktail created circa 1917 whilst searching through old hotel menus.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reported on what its editor believed was a rediscovered local classic so giving Segar's lie legitimacy. This was picked up and the story repeated by Gary "gaz" Regan and Mardee Haiden Regan in their 1997 book New Classic Cocktails and then by Ted Haigh in his influential 2009 book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. So Segar's lie became the accepted truth until guilt drove him to confess all to gaz Regan and the myth was debunked by Robert Simonson in his The New York Times drinks column in October 2016.

Segar left the Selback Hotel in 2001 and a cynic may conclude Segar only fessed up to both gaz and a New York Times journalist to drive publicity for his own venture, a bar in Manhattan.

Incidentally, if you find yourself in Louisville, The Old Seelbach Bar has been restored to its authentic, early 1900s decor and continues to serve its "signature" drink. Gaz Regan once described the expansive bourbon selection stocked on the back bar there as "one of the finest stretches of mahogany in the country." If visiting the Seelbach be sure to check out the beautiful tiled function room with its vaulted ceiling in the basement.

Nutrition:

One serving of Seelbach contains 109 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
39.31% alc./vol. (39.31° proof)
18.2 grams of pure alcohol

More Champagne cocktails
More Classic/vintage cocktails

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.

Join the discussion

Showing 2 comments for Seelbach.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

Sean Baron

25th August 2023 at 18:16

Quite a potent drink isn’t it? I went for Orange Curaçao instead of Triple Sec, and Cava and this puts it more on the dry side.

A very tasty cocktail!

Andrew Sloan

17th February 2023 at 16:21

Discovered this by chance over the Christmas holidays and one of my favourite champagne cocktails - has an extra dimension to the classic with cognac in my opinion. Enjoyed them so much had to revert to good quality Cava so not to break the bank- but to no repercussions taste wise.

See discussion in the Forum