IBA
Illegal – IBA
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 19.8% ABV ∙
The Illegal is an IBA-listed mezcal sour built with white overproof rum, falernum, and maraschino liqueur, shaken with lime and sugar syrup. A smoky, high-proof punch settles into a silky, citrus-bright body, tart and lightly sweet, finishing dry with a faint whisper of spice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Mezcal 30 mlWhite overproof rum 15 mlFalernum liqueur 15 mlMaraschino liqueur 1 bspLime juice 22 mlSugar syrup 15 mlEgg white 5 ml
- Strain into the chilled cocktail glass or “on the rocks” in a traditional clay or terracotta mug
Tips
- Measure the maraschino by the barspoon and the falernum at a full 15 ml — both are strong and can overwhelm the mezcal if over-poured.
- Pre-chill the glass so the drink stays cold longer, especially if serving over rocks in a clay mug.
- Shake hard and long enough to fully emulsify the optional egg white before straining, or the texture will be thin.
History
Accounts of the Illegal's origin conflict. One version, reported in Italian bartending press, credits Italian bartender Samuele Ambrosi with inventing it in the late 1990s while working at the Castel Brando hotel in Cison di Valmarino, after an American guest, Dr. Joe Paul Shafer, described his love of Daiquiris and of the Central and Southern American countries he traveled to for work. In this telling, Ambrosi built a Daiquiri variant with tequila, falernum, Jamaican rum, maraschino, lime, and simple syrup, and Shafer's remark that it tasted "so good it must be Illegal" gave the drink its name; Ambrosi later swapped in mezcal while working at the Dom'us bar in Oderzo, arriving at the recipe used today.
Other reference sources describe the Illegal's origin as undocumented and note that, despite the near-identical name, it has no established connection to the Ilegal Mezcal brand founded in Guatemala. That brand traces to bartender John Rexer's Café No Sé in Antigua, where he began bringing in mezcal around 2004 and formalized it as a house brand in 2006 — a timeline that sits awkwardly with any claim that the cocktail was named for the brand, since the Ambrosi story places the drink's creation a decade or so earlier.
Whatever its exact origin, the Illegal entered wider circulation through modern craft bartending and was formally added to the IBA official cocktail list in 2020, under the New Era Drinks category.
FAQ
What is in an Illegal cocktail?
Mezcal, white overproof rum, falernum liqueur, maraschino liqueur, lime juice, and sugar syrup, shaken together, with an optional splash of egg white for texture. It is strained into a chilled glass, or served on the rocks in a traditional clay or terracotta mug.
Is the Illegal cocktail shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The lime juice and optional egg white need vigorous aeration to combine properly and chill through, which a stir could not achieve.
