King Kong

There are times you stumble across a cocktail that’s too good to be true. Like a lightning bolt thrown out of the past directly at you: Everyone should know this drink. When luck shines on you, you find one of these absolute bangers in an old cocktail book or a newspaper clipping. Occasionally you find one in your own notebook.

Part of the allure of the King Kong is that it was a contemporary homage: Some old-timey bartender was doing that thing we modern drink slingers do today, paying tribute to a piece of popular culture without the slightest notion that it might stand the test of time. At least so I thought. For a few years, I made the drink, and loved the drink, but couldn’t find where I’d written down the source. There was no denying the King Kong’s particular genius: pairing the almond-like liqueur Crème de Noyaux (actually made from apricot kernels and cherry pits) with the iconic French herbaceous liqueur Benedictine made this gin sour singular and greater than the sum of its parts. But when it came time to share the drink that has brought me so much joy with you, I needed proper attribution, which sent me on a wild goose chase that had me calling in favors with other bartenders and scouring all my old recipe books until I finally got lucky.

Thanks to Greg Boehm (owner of Cocktail Kingdom, who keeps many classic recipe tomes in print today), I was able to rediscover the original King Kong recipe in 1700 Cocktails for the Man Behind the Bar. R. De Fleury's epic first edition was published in 1934, just one year after the film it pays tribute to was released. If the drink wasn’t great, it would be just a cute story about how barkeeps from time immemorial were ready to tell you about some cool new thing via high-proof tribute, but the drink is. And 90 years later, it’s time for you to try it now that Crème de Noyaux is available again.