Commodore No. 3

Name: Commodore No. 3
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Rye whiskey (50% alc./vol.) — 50 ml (1 2/3 oz); Lemon juice (freshly squeezed) — 15 ml (1/2 oz); Sugar syrup (2:1) — 10 ml (1/3 oz); Orange bitters — 2 dashes

A sour and citrus whiskey cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 23.9% ABV ∙

The Commodore No. 3 is a rye whiskey sour built with lemon juice, sugar syrup, and orange bitters, shaken and served up.

Ingredients

Servings

Garnish

Lemon wheel

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Shake all ingredients with ice: Rye whiskey 50 mlLemon juice 15 mlSugar syrup 10 mlOrange bitters 2 dashes
Fine strain into the chilled glass
Garnish with a lemon wheel

Tips

Shake hard with plenty of ice for 12-15 seconds. The rye is 50% abv, and a lazy shake leaves the drink boozy and thin.

History

Commodore No. 3 follows the whiskey branch of the Commodore, a name that covers two distinct pre-Prohibition drinks. The rye version, built with gomme syrup, orange bitters, and citrus, appeared in Harry MacElhone's 1922 Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, credited there to Phil Gross of Cincinnati, and in Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. This Commodore No. 3 recipe uses plain sugar syrup instead of gomme.

The rum-based form, Commodore No. 1, appears in Albert S. Crockett's 1931 Old Waldorf Bar Days. David A. Embury noted in 1948 that the two were Commodores commanding two different fleets.