Cocktail · Medium strength
Amaretto Sour
Almond, lemon, and silk — the sour that traded whiskey for dessert.
How to order it: Add a bourbon float and egg white for the modern spec. Game-changer.
Flavor profile
The recipe
- 1½ oz amaretto
- ¾ oz cask-proof bourbon
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 tsp rich syrup; egg white
- Dry shake, then shake; rocks
The story
Amaretto itself comes wrapped in a Renaissance legend — Disaronno tells of a Saronno widow who, in 1525, distilled apricot kernels in brandy for the painter Bernardino Luini, a story best enjoyed rather than verified. The cocktail is far younger: a 1970s American creation from the era when Italian liqueurs and pre-made sour mix ruled the back bar, and it spent decades dismissed as training wheels. Then in 2012, Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler published a rebuilt version — cask-proof bourbon, fresh lemon, egg white — under the cheerful claim that he made the best one in the world. The drink endures because it was never wrong, just underestimated: silk with a backbone.
Classic variation
The Amaretto Sour is a riff on a classic. Meet the original:
Adjacent pours