Bénédictine (Rolls Royce)

This is going to be the spot where I’m going to make a very personal choice. We’re building up bar, concentrating on the basics. Sure, we’re only using gin as a base for now, but it’s not very necessary to branch out in the bases just yet. And because I like classic cocktails, it’s geared towards that kind of style. Maraschino was a bit of an offbeat choice, but defendable from that position.

However, this time I’ll just be forcing through what I like, not what would be the most reasonable, practical or logical.

Enter Bénédictine. It’s a honeysweet, herbal liqueur with a deceptive history. The inventor, Alexandre le Grand, invented a story about a Normandic abbey that was destroyed in the French Revolution and a recipe lost in time. Quite a smart marketing trick… it’s almost a pity that Bénédictine did not originate with Dom Bernardo Vincelli, the Benedictine monk. It makes a good bar story.

But a story alone doesn’t make a good drink, and that’s where this liqueur does deliver. Made from 27 plants and spices, it has a complex flavour. Should that be a reason to generally ignore this ingredient in the cocktail world? Is it too complex to invent good recipes? I have to say no to that.

Chartreuse is much celebrated, especially in the classic cocktail revival, but it is every bit as complex (or even more so, with its 130 ingredients). Sweet vermouth isn’t very straightforward either.

Mixologists have found ways to tinker around with the troublemakers, often with quite nice and occasionally great results. There’s no reason Bénédictine should be left out.

By the way, talking about bar stories: the recipes of both Bénédictine and Chartreuse are closely guarded. Only three people will know the specifics of the recipe at the same time. How’s that for keeping something secret?

And let’s not forget that some true classic cocktails have Bénédictine as a key ingredient. The original Singapore Sling, as served in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, calls for Bénédictine. B&B, which is Bénédictine ‘diluted’ with brandy, became so popular that the company started to produce B&B as a premixed product.

So don’t hesitate to search out this liqueur and make up your own mind. It’s one of the CocktailDB’s special recommendations, so I’m not even alone in my enthusiasm for this liqueur. The beautiful bottle will surely not mar the look of your drink cabinet.

The distinctive ‘DOM’ on the label doesn’t allude to Dom Bernardo, but it’s short for ‘Deo Optimo Maximo’, which translates as ‘To God, most good, most great’, the motto of the Benedictine order.

And although not the most logical addition to the bar, it does present us with a great opportunity: a promising inroad to inventing your own cocktail. It’s no surprise that a lot of combinations have already been tried throughout one and a half century. A lot of things you might come up with, have probably already been tried by others. But Bénédictine remains quite unused. So if you want to have a promising shot at your own creation, this is a good starting point.

Rolls Royce

Another one that can be found in The Savoy Cocktail Book. Since I like Bénédictine, I’m not going to mess around with a dash or dashes: I add a full part of the stuff. The vermouths make sure this remains quite an aromatic recipe.

The Rolls Royce is also a nice example of the Perfect Martini type: it uses equal parts dry and sweet vermouth.

4 parts gin

2 parts dry vermouth

2 parts sweet vermouth

1 part Bénédictine

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

Yes, that’s a great colour for an autumn cocktail.