Godfather Cocktail Recipe

The Godfather cocktail is a simple two-ingredient build of Scotch whisky and amaretto liqueur, typically served in a rocks glass over ice.

The origins of this modern classic are unclear, but the cocktail came into popularity soon after the groundbreaking family crime drama The Godfather took over the world’s movie screens in the early 1970s. The drink is said to have been inspired by the Oscar-winning film. 

In many of the earliest recipes, the Italian amaretto liqueur producer Disaronno is specifically called for. The brand — which wasn’t imported into the U.S. until the 1960s but became one of the most popular liqueurs in the country — has long claimed that the cocktail was a favorite of Marlon Brando, the actor who played the title role in The Godfather movie. While it’s been suggested that the actor was the original creator of the drink, this story was likely a marketing effort that leveraged the seismic popularity of the movie at the time.

Bartender and cocktail historian, Brian Rea first featured the Godfather cocktail recipe in his 1976 publication, Brian’s Booze Guide. This book also contains two other cocktails that are part of the two-ingredient amaretto family, the Godmother (vodka and amaretto), and French Connection (brandy and amaretto).

After the 1980s, the Godfather, then associated as a disco-era drink, fell out of fashion and into relative obscurity. The cocktail has recently resurfaced with a renewed interest in drinks from that time period.

Why does the Godfather work?

The Godfather is essentially a scotch Old Fashioned sweetened with a flavored liqueur rather than plain sugar, lending a nutty complexity, rich viscosity, and honey sweetness.  

Early recipes feature scotch to amaretto proportions anywhere from equal parts to 2:1. The ratios of the two ingredients can be tweaked depending on the drinker’s preferred sweetness level. This recipe employs a light amaretto touch, resulting in a delicate hint of nutty sweetness without overpowering the malty notes of the Scotch whisky.

Though this recipe calls for a blended scotch, a single malt would also work well. Different types of amaretto liqueurs will also range from lush and toasty to bright and bittersweet. In this two-ingredient, spirit-forward cocktail, slight adjustments will result in big flavor shifts for a cocktail you can’t refuse.