In the 1934 London book “1700 Cocktails for the Man Behind the Bar,” there is a Gargoyle Cocktail No. 1 and No. 2. Does anyone know if either drink had anything to do with the private club The Gargoyle Club that thrived in Soho in the late 1920 and 1930s?
1 Like
Just putting this out there, though maybe it’s a byway you don’t want to go down: The Gargoyle Society is an architectural honor society dating back to at least 1918 and still extant. I don’t know if they have/had any special drinks, Im afraid. They exist in the USA and Europe, but that’s about all I know.
2 Likes
I think the Gargoyle Club is a good bet. The 1937 books Approved Drinks and the Café Royal Cocktail Book both attribute the version with equal parts vodka, gin and sweetened passion fruit juice to one G. White, and Christian name of the Club’s head bartender was George, so that seems more than possible.
3 Likes
Thank you! I’m going to test the drink tomorrow. Will report back.
2 Likes
Speaking of R. de Fleury, does anyone have a scan of that book? I believe it’s not in the public domain for another five years and it’s exceedingly rare in libraries. (I want to see that carhienor for myself 
)
1 Like
To hijack the thread towards the Old Hickory, the drink appears previously in “Down the Hatch” from 1920. “Down the Hatch” is attributed to Paul of “Remo’s” in New Orleans. It exhibits several misspellings, many characteristic of oral transmission:
So my current hypothesis is that “carhienor” is coriander. When I get a chance I’ll experiment with parfait amour, and I’ve got some coriander bitters around here somewhere. Anyone have information about old French coriander liqueurs? Apropos of Mouquin’s, I did find https://www.nytimes.com/1956/08/27/archives/about-new-york-french-pharmacy-flourishes-here-with-stock-of-herbs.html
2 Likes