The Widow’s Kiss cocktail was created by George J. Kappeler at Hollands House Hotel in New York and was first published in his 1895 Modern American Drinks, where he calls for calvados, yellow Chartreuse, Benedictine, and Angostura bitters.

The Widow’s Kiss recipe suffered a few modifications during the years after. For example, Jacques Straub’s 1914 Drinks Manual, calls a recipe with parfait amour liqueur replacing the calvados and egg white replacing the Angostura bitters.

However, Straub’s recipe gets lost and Harry Craddock in his 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book comes to confirm George J. Kappeler’s recipe.