Delmarva Cocktail No.2

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (59 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Bourbon whiskey
12 oz Strucchi Bianco Vermouth
12 oz White crème de cacao liqueur
13 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare mint leaf for garnish.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with mint leaf.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

Bourbon's distinctive character shines through but is softened and flavoured by cacao and a hint of citrus.

View readers' comments

History:

Gary Regan adapted Ted Haigh's original Delmarva Cocktail and published both versions in his 2003 Joy of Mixology. Garry's recipe calls for 2oz straight rye whiskey, ½oz dry vermouth, ½oz white crème de cacao and ½oz lemon juice but, depending on your crème de cacao, this can be on the sour side so I've opted for bourbon, bianco vermouth and reduced the lemon a tad.

Nutrition:

One serving of Delmarva Cocktail No.2 contains 214 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 24.38% alc./vol. (24.38° proof)
  • 24.4 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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Showing 8 comments for Delmarva Cocktail No.2.
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10th May at 06:40
This really needs sugar syrup. It's very dry and unbalanced. I would add at least a bar spoon of demarara sugar syrup to this.
Guy Daniels’ Avatar Guy Daniels
30th November 2024 at 18:30
Had less Bourbon than I thought.l, so split the base with Rittenhouse Rye. Used my never-ending bottle of Briottet. Wow. For me, this just clicked and worked wonderfully. It’s on my winter repeat list!
William Little’s Avatar William Little
19th November 2022 at 03:09
Reduce the bourbon to 1.5 oz and add 1-2 dashes of simple syrup. You’re gonna love it!!!
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
23rd September 2022 at 00:14
Use 90 proof California Whiskey and it was perfectly balanced. The Whiskey is the dominate flavour, but the others act to soften the cocktail. There is a delicate hint of the white cocoa at the end. Wonderful.
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
2nd January 2022 at 05:32
Have tried and enjoyed this previously with Woodinville 90 proof Bourbon which has a high rye bill. This time I used 45ml Old Forester 100 proof and 15ml Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof and 12ml lemon juice. Excellent cocktail got even better as it warmed a bit.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
2nd October 2021 at 20:12
Tried this first with 80 proof Evan Williams, and I could understand Andrew's comment. That mix didn't make much of an impression though, upon then reading the history and seeing rye mentioned, I could immediately sense a need for rye in this... Shook another one with Wild Turkey 101 Rye and, voila!, magic... Great specs overall. I'll come back to this.
8th September 2021 at 05:18
The vermouth has no reason to be in this recipe in my opinion. It adds a funky flavor and doesn't contribute anything of value. Montenegro or maybe another amaro would better serve this cocktail. Maybe even a sweet vermouth, but not bianco. But thats just my taste.
Bob Cook’s Avatar Bob Cook
18th January 2021 at 00:43
I made this cocktail according to the recipe here, except that I used 50-50 lemon juice and lime juice and I added 3/4 ounce of sugar syrup. I thought it was a very enjoyable whiskey cocktail. And my wife, who's not always fond of whiskey, also enjoyed it. I think the addition of creme de cacao and bianco vermouth make this drink more of a crowd pleaser than the standard whiskey sour