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Godfather

Godfather cocktail with ice and orange zest
Godfather cocktail with ice and orange zest

In 1976, Brian F. Rea’s Brian’s Booze Guide paired 1 ounce of amaretto with 1½ ounces of Scotch: the earliest printed Godfather recipe identified by the cited sources. [1][3] Two ingredients, ice and an old fashioned glass remain the drink’s essentials. [1][4] That printed record does not establish who invented it: the creator’s identity is not reliably established in the sources checked. [3][4]

Godfather recipe

Three parts blended Scotch to one part amaretto is Difford’s Guide’s preferred balance, published as 60 ml and 20 ml respectively. [1] The smaller serving below halves those quantities. It is adapted from that recipe and has not been tested by this site.

Serves: 1. Glass: old fashioned glass. Ice: one large cube for serving. Origin: The creator, first bar and first mixing date are not reliably established. [3][4]

Ingredients

  • 30 ml (about 1 fl oz) blended Scotch whisky.
  • 10 ml (about 0.34 fl oz) amaretto.

Method

  1. Stir the whisky and amaretto with ice.
  2. Strain into the glass over the large ice cube.
  3. Finish with an orange zest twist. [1]

Difford’s also allows optional bitters. Leave them out for the two-ingredient version given here. [1]

Keep the measure small, with water, food and breaks available; nobody needs to finish the glass. People who are pregnant or trying to conceive, taking medicines that interact with alcohol, living with conditions made worse by alcohol, or recovering from alcohol dependence should not drink. See Responsible Drinking for guidance.

Choosing the whisky and ratio

Start with blended Scotch for the Difford’s recipe above. Robb Report specifies unpeated Scotch in its version, offering another published starting point rather than a rule for every Godfather. [1][3] Choose the style and proportion you want to follow before reaching for the bottles. For a broader introduction, turn to the whisky cocktails guide.

Two ingredients do not mean one settled ratio. Difford’s quotes Brian F. Rea’s 1976 recipe as 1 ounce amaretto to 1½ ounces Scotch. Stanley M. Jones’s 1977 book and many contemporary books used equal parts. [1] VinePair describes a later shift towards two parts Scotch to one part amaretto. [5]

Think in shares, not larger pours. At equal parts, amaretto makes up half the mixture; at three to one, it accounts for a quarter, before dilution from ice.

Decide on bitters separately. Robb Report includes two dashes and says the original had none; Difford’s makes them optional. [1][3] For a first attempt, keep to the two-ingredient version. Changing one element at a time makes the differences easier to follow.

Origin: the film, the story and the record

The name is generally associated with the 1972 film The Godfather, according to Punch. [4] The American Film Institute records its New York premiere on 14 March 1972 and its release on 24 March 1972, with Marlon Brando playing Don Vito Corleone. [6] Those film facts do not establish who created the cocktail. The claim that it was Brando’s favourite is disputed. [4][5]

Verdict: Disputed

The claim: Disaronno claimed that the Godfather was Brando’s favourite drink.

Punch says Disaronno made the claim for years; VinePair says the brand neither claimed it was true nor denied it. [4][5] The sources conflict over what the brand claimed, and the drink’s status as Brando’s favourite is not established.

Earliest known source: Not reliably established.
Last checked: November 2026.

Sources: https://punchdrink.com/articles/unlikely-comeback-modern-godfather-scotch-cocktail-recipe/; https://vinepair.com/articles/the-godfather-cocktail-comeback/

Story box

The Godfather reaches the recipe books

The sources checked do not document the drink’s creator, first bar or first mixing date. What they do identify is a printed recipe: Difford’s Guide names Brian F. Rea’s Brian’s Booze Guide (1976) as the earliest recipe book mention it found, quoting 1 ounce amaretto and 1½ ounces Scotch. Robb Report identifies the same printing. [1][3]

Difford’s supplies the 1976 date and quoted quantities; Robb Report supports the first-print attribution, not a claim that Rea invented it. [1][3]

Last checked: November 2026; exact day not verified.

Sources: https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/864/godfather; https://robbreport.com/food-drink/spirits/best-godfather-cocktail-recipe-scotch-amaretto-old-fashioned-1236521658/

Verdict: Documented

The claim: The earliest printing found by the cited trade sources is Rea’s 1976 recipe.

Both accounts identify the book; Difford’s quotes the recipe. [1][3] The original book was not opened for this research, and first publication does not establish invention.

Earliest known source: Brian’s Booze Guide, 1976, as reported by Difford’s and Robb Report.
Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Sources: https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/864/godfather; https://robbreport.com/food-drink/spirits/best-godfather-cocktail-recipe-scotch-amaretto-old-fashioned-1236521658/

Verdict: Disputed

The claim: Disaronno’s role in the Godfather’s creation and popularisation is disputed.

Punch reports that the brand denies creating the drink while helping to popularise it. [4] Disaronno’s current Godfather page does not explain the drink’s origin; the creator is not reliably established. [7]

Earliest known source: Not reliably established.
Last checked: November 2026.

Sources: https://punchdrink.com/articles/unlikely-comeback-modern-godfather-scotch-cocktail-recipe/; https://disaronno.com/en/drinks/godfather/

Disaronno’s own Godfather takes a different base spirit: blended Irish whiskey. Its current published serve combines 50 ml (about 1.7 fl oz) with 25 ml (about 0.85 fl oz) of its amaretto, stirred over a large ice ball and finished with an orange twist. [7] Check the whisky as well as the ratio when comparing recipes: the producer’s version uses Irish whiskey rather than the Scotch specified above.

Other combinations have their own family names. Difford’s lists the Godmother as vodka and amaretto, the Godchild as brandy and amaretto, and the French Connection as cognac and amaretto. It also identifies The Boss, listed in Jones’s 1977 book, as a bourbon substitution for Scotch. [2] These names distinguish related drinks rather than offering interchangeable labels for the Godfather.

The French Connection also has an International Bartenders Association specification: 35 ml (about 1.2 fl oz) cognac and 35 ml (about 1.2 fl oz) amaretto, gently stirred in an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes. [9] The Godfather itself was absent from the IBA’s current list checked in November 2026. [10] That official specification belongs to its cognac relative, not to the Scotch and amaretto drink.

For a modern reinterpretation, Punch documents Chad Arnholt and Claire Sprouse’s Godfather No. II at Tosca Café in San Francisco, combining blended Scotch, Lagavulin, maraschino, amaretto and amontillado sherry. [4] It shows how later bartenders have used the two-ingredient partnership as a starting point for a more elaborate recipe.

Where to go next

Sources

  1. Difford's Guide. Godfather. Undated web edition, checked November 2026. Trade reference, including its quotation of Rea's 1976 recipe and its current specification. https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/864/godfather
  2. Difford's Guide. Godfather cocktail siblings & variations. Undated web edition, checked November 2026. Trade reference. https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/3135/cocktails/godfather-cocktail-siblings-and-variations
  3. Robb Report. How to Make a Godfather Cocktail, the Old Fashioned With an Italian Accent. Web edition, publication year not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. Trade reporting. https://robbreport.com/food-drink/spirits/best-godfather-cocktail-recipe-scotch-amaretto-old-fashioned-1236521658/
  4. Punch. The Unlikely Comeback of the Godfather Cocktail. Web edition, publication year not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. Trade reporting. https://punchdrink.com/articles/unlikely-comeback-modern-godfather-scotch-cocktail-recipe/
  5. VinePair. The Godfather Returns? The Much Maligned, Disco-Era Cocktail Plots Its Comeback. Web edition, publication year not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. Trade reporting. https://vinepair.com/articles/the-godfather-cocktail-comeback/
  6. American Film Institute. AFI Catalog: The Godfather (1972). Online catalogue record, checked November 2026. https://catalog.afi.com/Film/54023-the-godfather
  7. Disaronno. Godfather. Undated web edition, checked November 2026. Producer's own recipe. https://disaronno.com/en/drinks/godfather/
  8. International Bartenders Association. French Connection. Undated online specification, checked November 2026. https://iba-world.com/iba-cocktail/french-connection/
  9. International Bartenders Association. All Cocktails. Online list, checked November 2026. https://iba-world.com/cocktails/all-cocktails/

This piece is desk research based on the site's verified fact sheet and its cited references; the historical recipe books were not consulted directly.

Last checked: November 2026