My paternal grandfather, Pierre T, died when I was five. My memories of him are sparse – him sitting in his big leather chair, stealing my nose (isn’t that what all grandfathers do?) and getting stuck in a small motorboat off the coast of the Florida Keys. One thing that I learned as I grew older was that his drink of choice was a Perfect Rob Roy.
My dad used to make one for my grandmother (she lived for another 37 years) and he still makes one for himself.
Recently Ed reached out to my dad to get the family recipe so he could make it for Sunday night cocktails. Despite this being a family favorite I’d never tried it.
What makes it “perfect?” Equal amounts of both sweet and dry vermouth. My grandfather (and now father) had a strong preference for an Italian sweet vermouth and a French dry vermouth. They also prefer a lemon (traditional) or orange peel (my dad’s addition) as garnish and are vehemently opposed to adding a Maraschino cherry (many recipes call for this). Add a dash of Angostura bitters or orange bitters (to accompany the orange peel) and you have a lovely classic drink.
As for the history of the Rob Roy, it’s named for a Broadway show and was introduced in the 1890s at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. It was around the time that blended scotch (or scotch whiskey) was being introduced to the United States. The drink is similar to a Manhattan but instead of bourbon it contains scotch. Ed used Dewar’s scotch as the base for this cocktail. Being married to a bourbon lover I don’t tend to drink much scotch, but I rather liked the taste of this drink – it was just the right level of sweetness (which isn’t too sweet for me).
My grandparents were married on January 1, 1942 – 25 days after Pearl Harbor was attacked – they would have been married 76 years this month. The “Pink Lady” in the background of this picture is a cookie jar my grandfather gave my grandmother not long after they were married. She has a special place in our kitchen.
| Pierre’s Perfect Rob Roy | Print |
- 2-1/2 ounces blended scotch whiskey (such as Dewar’s)
- 1 teaspoon sweet vermouth (preferably Italian)
- 1 teaspoon dry vermouth (preferably French)
- 1 dash of Angostura bitters or orange bitters
- Garnish: lemon or orange peel
- Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and stir for 2 minutes.
- Strain into a double old fashioned glass filled with ice.
- Rub lemon or orange peel over rim of glass then place in filled glass.
Beautifully said. I am getting all misty. Dad
Dad – Thank you! I appreciate you sharing some history with me.
Nicole, What a treat to see this post. I haven’t seen the cookie jar for ~45 years. Other than sentimental value, is it worth anything? I’m really glad you have it and have kept her safe all these years.
I don’t know if your Dad told you, but your grandfather would always order a “Perfect” Rob Roy and as often as not it would come with a cherry in it. Well, Dad would, nicely, tell the waitress that he had ordered a “Perfect” Rob Roy and that meant a lemon peel, not a cherry and send it back. As soon as the waitress was out of ear shot, Mom would invariably say, “you know all they’re going to do is pick the cherry out and put a lemon in it”. Dad, nonplussed, would just smile! That happened one night we went to dinner with your Aunt Jill (she really turned a lot of heads with her blond hair down to her derriere!).
I may give up my martini’s for a while now that you’ve reminded me of these.
Lance – Thank you for sharing even more history! Too funny about the repeated attempts to put a cherry in the drink instead of a lemon peel. Glad you liked it. Oh, and no idea about the potential value of the Pink Lady. Never occurred to me to look!
Drinking a perfect Rob Roy(with dewers scotch) with branded cherries.
Sounds “perfect!” Hope you enjoyed it.