Illegal
ClassicMezcal, overproof rum, falernum, and lime. A modern classic built like a tiki drink, poured like a Negroni.
Smoky and layered, mezcal's char meeting overproof rum's heat and falernum's warm clove-lime spice, with maraschino's cherry-almond note and fresh lime keeping the whole thing bright rather than heavy.
Ingredients
- 1 oz Mezcal
- 0.5 oz Overproof Rum
- 0.5 oz Falernum
- 1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur
- 0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 0.5 oz Simple Syrup
- Lime wheel · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- 2
Shake hard until well chilled.
- 3
Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
- 4
Garnish with a lime wheel.
The Story
Illegal is a 21st-century addition to the canon, built around mezcal at a moment when the spirit was just breaking out of Oaxaca and onto international back bars. Its six-ingredient spec — mezcal, overproof rum, falernum, maraschino, lime, and syrup — reads like a tiki punch, and that's deliberate: it treats mezcal's smoke the way a Zombie treats rum, as one flavor in a layered blend rather than the whole point of the glass. The International Bartenders Association added it to its "New Era Drinks" list as one of the newest cocktails to earn official recognition.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
