Certain cocktails seem to have their own
gravitational pull. Some might deem them workaday drinks, the Rob
Roy isn’t lacking in fanciful appeal, it is poured into a long-stemmed cocktail
glass, its auburn glow begs for dim lights and slow sipping. But unlike its swinging socialite sister, the
Manhattan, the Rob Roy is a little bit tamer, but not quite a wallflower. Children of Rob Roy devotees may carry a
flame of nostalgia for the drink, that’s not the reason it’s hung in there for
more than 100 years since its likely creation at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.
That simple cocktail likely came to be
because of Waldorf Astoria’s original location on Fifth Avenue from 1893 to
1929, conveniently perched smack within the Great White Way, the original
well-lit section of the city devoted to the stage arts. According to Caiafa, also the author of “The
Waldorf Astoria Bar Book”, that a Herald Square Theatre production of an
operetta named “Rob Roy” by the composer Reginald De Koven inspired the birth
of a drink. It’s a tidy origin story and though it lacks the often-cited
exclamations of fuzzy impossible-to-pin characters in drinking lore, it’s likely
a true story.
According to Phil Greene, “Vermouth was an
Italian import that no one in America had heard of until it appeared in the
melting pot of the cocktail. Everyone started using vermouth then.” By the
1860s, vermouth cocktails began showing up in American bars. Soon after, we
find evidence of the Manhattan cocktail. By 1894, says Greene, rye was
swapped for scotch, and the Rob Roy was born.
Bahama Bob’s Rum Rob Roy- 2 oz. Doorly’s XO Rum
- 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
- 3 dashes Angostura Bitters
- Garnish: Cherry
Place all ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice and
stir gently. Strain into a martini glass
and garnish with a cocktail cherry.
