The Merry Widow is a classic cocktail from the very early 1900s.

The cocktail has its first known reference in Jacob A. Grohusko’s 1908 Jacks Manual where he calls for equal parts of Byrrh wine and gin, stir and strain into a cocktail glass with a twist of orange peel.

The same drink appears in William Boothby’s 1908 The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them.

However, a more popular recipe come in Felix Mendelsohn’s 1914 The Art of Mixing Them where he adds a dash of orange bitters.

Harry Craddock also has a recipe under the name Merry Widow in his 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book but is a completely different recipe from all the ones I have mentioned.