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Widow's Kiss
A pre-Prohibition stirred drink of calvados with yellow Chartreuse and Bénédictine.
Base spirit
Apple brandy
Style
Spirit-forward
Glassware
Coupe
Technique
Stir
The Widow’s Kiss uses apple brandy as a base and layers yellow Chartreuse and Bénédictine for honeyed herbal sweetness. Calvados contributes ripe apple and oak, while the two liqueurs thicken the texture and perfume the finish. Stirred and served up, it is rich, aromatic, and distinctly nineteenth-century in structure. George Kappeler published the drink in 1895.
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Ingredients
Servings
- • 2 oz calvados
- • 0.5 oz yellow Chartreuse
- • 0.5 oz Bénédictine
- • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Did you know?
“George Kappeler’s Modern American Drinks (1895) includes the Widow’s Kiss among early published apple brandy cocktails.”
Source:George Kappeler, Modern American Drinks (1895); David Wondrich, Imbibe!
Bartender's Note
No extra sugar is needed. Prefer true calvados or a characterful apple brandy over a neutral apple spirit.
Missing a bottle? See smart swaps in Learn.
How to make the Widow's Kiss
- 1Add calvados, yellow Chartreuse, Bénédictine, and Angostura to a mixing glass with ice
- 2Stir until well chilled
- 3Strain into a chilled coupe
- 4Serve without garnish, or with a thin apple slice only if desired
