The Mamie Taylor – A Forgotten Classic from the Gilded-Age

It’s time to rediscover a delicious and refreshing cocktail from the sophisticated gilded age. This champagne-coloured cocktail is easy to make and at its heart is blended whisky, lime juice and ginger beer and appeared decades before the Moscow Mule. Its name is both interesting and tastefully comedic.

Mayme Taylor was a middling musical comedy actress on Broadway. Her real and deserved claim to fame is this excellent cocktail named after her.

The story goes that in 1899, after a sailing trip to Ontario Beach, her sailing party visited a local bar. She asked for claret lemonade and, by mistake, received a mix of whisky, lime and ginger beer which she enjoyed immensely and asked for a twist of lime to be added, recommending the drink highly to all her fellow party members.

The whole bar became curious about the enthusiastic reception of this drink by her sailing party and asked for it, and the bartender, Bill Sterritt, promptly named it the Mamie Taylor.

We’ve used Compass Box Artist Blend in this particular recipe. Compass Box, founded by the Whisky Maker John Glaser, has created some of the best blended Scotch whiskies on the market. His fervent philosophy is that blended whiskies can be just as excellent, if not better, than single malts. The sweet spice notes of this blended whisky make it perfect for a cocktail from the gilded age.

We recommend using a highball glass.

Ingredients

• 2 parts (or 2 ounces) Artist Blend whisky
• ¾ part (or ¾ ounce) of freshly squeezed lime
• Top up with Fever Tree ginger beer
• Twist of lime or wedge for garnish

Steps

1. Fill a glass with ice and add the whisky and lime juice
2. Top up with ginger beer according to your preference and stir
3. Add garnish