King's Jubilee

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (151 ratings)

Photographed in an Urban Bar Nick & Nora

Ingredients:
1 13 oz Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
12 oz Luxardo Maraschino 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 Nick & Nora glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist (discarded) & skewered maraschino cherry.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

If there is such a thing as a 'Rum Aviation', then this is surely it.

The proportions of the original 1935 recipe stipulate equal amounts of maraschino and lemon juice but even my recipe with a third less lemon is on the tart side. Don't be tempted to drop the cherry garnish into the drink or both appearance and balance will be muddied. Skewer the cherry and reserve for a sweet treat at the end.

My original take on this classic (up until July 2020) was 60ml light rum, 22.5ml maraschino liqueur and 15ml lemon juice but this packs a whopping 80ml of alcohol. The above recipe scales this back by a third to still pack a double shot punch, but in a drink that hopefully won't be a killer blow to the night.

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History:

Created in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V by Harry Craddock, then head bartender of The American Bar at London's The Savoy Hotel. Craddock was also President of the United Kingdom Bartenders' Guild and this cocktail appears in the U.K.B.G. Approved Cocktails book published in 1937, as well as William James "Billy" Tarling's Cafe Royal Cocktail Book – Coronation Edition, published the same year.

Tarling was also in the top echelon of the Guild and the royalties of his book were equally divided between the U.K.B.G. Sickness Benefit Fund and The Café Royal Sports Club Fund.

KING'S JUBILEE.
Invented by Harry Craddock.
25% Lemon Juice.
25% Luxardo's Maraschino (Dry).
50% Bacardi Rum.
Shake and strain into cocktail glass.

Approved Cocktails by The United Kingdom Bartender's Guild, 1937

KING'S JUBILEE
Invented by Harry Craddock
¼ Lemon Juice.
¼ Luxardo's Maraschino (Dry).
½ Daiquiri Rum.
Shake and strain into cocktail glass.

W. J. Tarling, 1937

Nutrition:

One serving of King's Jubilee contains 120 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.1 standard drinks
  • 23.53% alc./vol. (23.53° proof)
  • 15.3 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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Annabelle Egginton ’s Avatar Annabelle Egginton
2nd November 2024 at 18:00
Nice with a 49 proof agricole French white rhum.
Matheus Martins’ Avatar Matheus Martins
20th October 2024 at 19:39
Swap the rum for cachaça and you'll have an amazing drink too
Peter McCarthy’s Avatar Peter McCarthy
19th March 2024 at 02:48
Like Jose Cruz said, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur seems to bury the rum (Plantation 3 Stars in my case). Might try this again with more rum or less liqueur... (An extra 5 ml of rum helped, but need to play around with it more...) @Simon, I wonder if there's a particular rum that you'd recommend for this cocktail?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
19th March 2024 at 06:31
I use my own 50:50 blend of Bacardi Limited Edition Heritage (44.5% alc./vol.) and Bacardi Carta Blanca (37.5% alc./vol.).
Jose Cruz’s Avatar Jose Cruz
13th February 2024 at 05:57
Luxardo dominates, not much complexity, subtle rum.
Andrew Scurr’s Avatar Andrew Scurr
5th January 2023 at 17:31
I am never sure why searching for “King’s” or even the full name doesn’t find this (not even as an option) only if you search for “Jubilee” does it come up?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
6th January 2023 at 08:23
Not all apostrophes are created equal and so can cause an issue with our site search. However, I've added an alias so cocktail should now display when you search for "Kings Jubilee" - hopefully with or without an apostrophe.
Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
16th September 2022 at 23:55
Really liked this cocktail. Easy to drink and great balance. Glad you adjusted the lemon juice because the level of sourness was perfect.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
17th July 2021 at 00:26
Outstanding. Subtle taste of the rum and perfectly balanced. Would do again. Here, simple works great. Classic.
Tom W’s Avatar Tom W
16th February 2021 at 22:56
I quite liked this simple, Old School cocktail, just not sure I will revisit it soon.
David M.’s Avatar David M.
26th January 2021 at 02:37
The King’s Jubilee was an early cocktail exploration after I got my first bottle of Maraschino. This may be the drink that linked me to Difford’s for a recipe for the first time. Still tasty. And saving the cherry for the end was indeed a sweet treat!
Avatar

Anonymous

22nd January 2021 at 00:36
Wanting to finish off a few bottles, I just mixed up 4 parts Don Q Cristal, 2 parts Ramazzotti Aperitivo Rosato and 1 part Maraska Maraschino liqueur, served in a coupe glass with an orange peel garnish. The Aperitivo's hibiscus—orange blossom and Maraska's cherry-almond play well with Don Q's smooth neutral base. Looking on diffordsguide, the closest cocktail I see is the King's Jubilee. Aperitivo (15% ABV) might mix well with this cocktail as well.