Rolls Royce Cocktail a Luxurious Sip

Rolls Royce Cocktail – A Luxurious Drink

The Rolls Royce cocktail, like its namesake, is one of things you don’t often see. Classic, elegant and luxurious with two varieties of vermouth and Benedictine. 

In many respects this cocktail is a variation on a Manhattan or a classic martini. In fact, it is nearly identical to another cocktail built on the Manhattan formula, the Martinez.

Rolls Royce Cocktail Ingredients

The Rolls Royce cocktail 2 ounces of London dry gin along with both sweet and dry vermouth. A touch of Bénédictine takes the place of bitters.

• London Dry Gin – A classic London dry gin does is perfect for this. Bombay Sapphire is nice with its well balanced juniper and spice character.
• Sweet Vermouth -A classic Italian vermouth does the trick here. If you want to live up to the drink’s namesake you can use Carpano Antica or some. If not, something more affordable like Martini or Cinzano will work just fine.
• Dry Vermouth – For dry vermouth it is the same story. A premium vermouth will give you greater depth and complexity, but any decent dry vermouth will work.
• Bénédictine – is an herbal French liqueur. The recipe is a secret, but it is reputed to contain over 27 different herbs and botanicals. Of those that are known many are classic gin botanicals like juniper, angelica root, coriander, orange peel and lemon. This makes it a decent pairing with both gin vermouth.

Creating a Variation on the Rolls Royce Cocktail

The place I would start with this cocktail is to take a look at the Benedictine. You could swap it out for other herbal liqueurs pretty easily. Chartreuse immediately comes to mind, but you could look a little further afield. Something like Genepy or suze might be an interesting choice.

This is one of Cocktail Monkey’s favorite classic Gin Cocktails. If you are looking for something similar try the London Maid or the Tuxedo No.2.

For more like this check out our Guide to Classic Cocktails.