Cocktail Poetry for a Scottish Legend
Words by Edward Washington drink styled by Simon McGoram
Albert Crockett, author of The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, claims the ‘bobby’ as an evolution of the Robert Burns – a whisky and sweet vermouth cocktail, that had dashes of absinthe.
Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) appears to be the first time the Bobby Burns cocktail was listed in its contemporary style (albeit with different proportions to today’s mix) but where, what and how did this cocktailian classic come from?
“By the time the cocktail was in print Scotland was experiencing hard social times.“
Simply put – it’s uncertain. Dom Benedictine was available in the US since the late 1880s, so one could think that in the age of the ‘cocktail boom’ an enterprising bartender would have been keen to try out this new tipple with a whisky base.
By the time the cocktail was in print Scotland was experiencing hard social times and Robert Burns’ nationalistic sentiment was back in vogue.
In 1930 Craddock wrote of the ‘bobby’: ‘its a very fast mover on St. Andrew’s day’ – Saint Andrew is the patron Saint of Scotland, and Burns is held in a similar esteem so it’s plausible that the cocktail was made for St Andrew’s day in his honour.
*Got anything more to add on the history of the Bobby Burns cocktail? edward@spantonmedia.com
Try it with Amaro Montenegro instead of Benedictine for a delicious “Monty Burns Cocktail”
I have never heard of Robert Burns being referred to as Bobby – Robbie and Rabbie – but certainly not Bobby. My Grand Father and late Father were both Burns enthusiasts. My Father was a past Presient of The Royalty Burns Society.