Churchill

A sophisticated Scotch sour named after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Cointreau and sweet vermouth add citrus sweetness while lime juice provides bright acidity.

The Churchill cocktail is a stirred Scotch preparation honoring Winston Churchill — Britain's two-time Prime Minister (1940–1945 and 1951–1955) and one of the 20th century's most celebrated political figures — that is closely associated with the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London, which was Churchill's favored cocktail bar during his decades of London public life. Joe Gilmore, who served as the American Bar's head bartender from approximately 1955 until his retirement in 1976, was celebrated for creating drinks honoring distinguished guests, and the Churchill cocktail is among those associated with his tenure. The formula typically combines Scotch whisky with sweet vermouth, Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice — a construction that blends the spirit-and-vermouth Manhattan framework with the citrus-and-orange-liqueur Sidecar structure in a way that produces a more accessible, fruit-forward Scotch cocktail than the standard Rob Roy. Winston Churchill's personal preference was for Scotch whisky heavily diluted with water, and he was not characteristically a cocktail drinker; his association with the drink is honorary rather than culinary. Churchill also famously favored the Savoy's hotel accommodations and its restaurant throughout his career.