Satan's Whiskers

Here's a cocktail recipe that sounds scary, but it's actually quite good! Cocktail recipe inventors like to give all sorts of while names to their creations. That's part of the fun of creating cocktails. But in reality, the Satan's Whiskers Cocktail is relatively tame.

For those who have had a Bronx Cocktail, you'll notice that the Satan's Whiskers is a pretty similar recipe. And they are pretty similar! Satan's Whiskers is really just an extension (or some would say improvement) on the Bronx, adding some orange liqueur for further flavour and interest.

So the good news is that if you like a Bronx Cocktail, you'll probably like the Satan's Whiskers as well. Or, if you're a fan of Satan's Whiskers but you've run out of orange liqueur, you can make a Bronx Cocktail and you'll have something relatively similar.

Total Time 3

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

20 mL Gin London Dry is a good one here.
20 mL Dry vermouth
20 mL Sweet vermouth
10 mL Grand Marnier or similar Cognac based orange liqueur
20 mL Orange juice
1 dash Orange bitters

Instructions

Add gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, Grand Marnier, orange juice, and bitters to a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake everything well.
Strain into a coupe glass and enjoy.

Notes

As mentioned in the ingredients, Grand Marnier can be substituted with another Cognac based orange liqueur, just don't use triple sec or Cointreau. Grand Marnier has a much richer flavour than triple sec and it's actually quite different. If you're super desperate to make a Satan's Whiskers cocktail, you may be able to get away with using Cointreau, but it just won't be the same!

Beyond that, try this cocktail, it's great! As mentioned, it's a variant of the Bronx Cocktail. This cocktail first appeared in the 1930's in the Savoy Cocktail Book, so it's got some age to it. That just goes to show how much of a classic the Bronx is though! If the Satan's Whiskers came about in the 1930's, the Bronx has certainly been around longer...

Our Review Of The Satan’s Whiskers

Wow, just wow! I really liked this cocktail.

I’ve had a Bronx Cocktail and, while I really like it, always felt it lacked a bit of depth. The addition of Grand Marnier and orange bitters here just really pushes the orange aspect of the cocktail but in so many complex ways. After all, although Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur, it’s not just orange. If it was only orange, triple sec would do, wouldn’t it?

But despite all the orange-ness of the Satan’s Whiskers, I still felt like there was plenty of gin coming through. The sweet vermouth didn’t add much beyond sugar, but the dry vermouth complimented the gin, creating a minor and mini wet Martini with orange elements to it. But obviously much, much more.

While I really liked the Satan’s Whiskers, I felt like it was a little sweet, at least for my taste. I’m not sure what changes could be made to the cocktail to diminish some of the sweet aspects though. Maybe backing the sweet vermouth back to 10 mL would do the job. Despite that, I don’t think it takes away from the cocktail too much. If you do like sweeter drinks, the Satan’s Whiskers Cocktail will be for you.

On another negative note, I don’t think the name of this cocktail is for me. I get it: cocktail recipes like to have wild names. Satan’s Whiskers is a great name for a cocktail, don’t get me wrong, but not a great name for a cocktail that leans sweet like this. Especially for a sweeter cocktail that, compared to a lot of other cocktails, is relatively light in alcohol. Reserve the name Satan’s Whiskers for something filled with alcohol and is bitter but also deep and enjoyable.

Then again, I’m not one for naming cocktails and have no alternative ideas for this recipe… so I really can’t complain.

All in all, I really like the Satan’s Whiskers cocktail. I like a Bronx from time to time, but I think this recipe really builds and improves upon it. Drink one of these instead.

9/10