Tipperary

Cocktail Story

First appearing in Hugo R. Ensslin’s 1916 publication of Recipes for Mixed Drinks, the Tipperary marks one of the first significant entry points of Irish Whiskey’s participation in the classic cocktail canon. The 1914 song “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary,” an iconic wartime song for Irish regiments, coincided with the drink’s popularity in bars throughout Europe. According to 1935’s The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, which catalogs drinks made as far back as 1897, the Tipperary has a slightly more mundane origin that predates the wartime song altogether, instead simply referring to a state in the middle of Ireland. The historical debate among mixologists, however, seems to revolve around proportions. The original equal-parts recipe appealed to an early 20th-century palate, while modernized interpretations of the drink tend to go heavier on the Irish Whiskey, pulling back on the chartreuse and vermouth. Though Irish Whiskey certainly never got the spotlight in the golden age of cocktails, the Tipperary proves the spirit’s versatility while appealing to a wide spectrum of tastes.