I found this recipe in the Savoy Cocktail book and on cocktailsdistilled.com.

gin, Benedictine, lemon juice, soda (equal parts of each)

Cornell Special is one of four Ivy League cocktails that appear in The Savoy Cocktail Book. There is also Harvard Cooler, Yale Cocktail, and Princeton Cocktail. I think they missed an opportunity by not calling it Princeton Punch, because that definitely has a ring to it.

Anyway, this is the drink I chose to give Benedictine a try for the first time. Benedictine is another French liqueur created by monks with secret ingredients…there are only three people on earth who know the complete recipe, initially created in the year 1510. I love liqueur histories!

Benedictine reminds me of Drambuie in a way. It doesn’t taste like Drambuie, but it has a sweet, spicy, complex loveliness like Drambuie. No challenging bitter notes like Chartreuse or Fernet-Branca. It just hugs you and tells you everything is going to be okay.

This cocktail is a simple one, and it does indeed show of the loveliness of Benedictine very well. It is a bit tart for me, but a splash of Benedictine stirred into the finished cocktail fixed that.

One more note – I’m so glad I took the time to digitize The Savoy Cocktail Book. That’s how I chose the cocktail to give Benedictine a try for the first time…because I can actually FIND the recipes that use Benedictine!