The Derby Cocktail was first published in Harry MacElhone’s 1923 ABC of Mixing Drinks where he credits the cocktail to “E. G. De Gastreaux, of Canal and Vine Streets, Cincinnati, 1903.”

The cocktail would be improved on David A. Embury’s 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by the addition of a small quantity of sugar syrup – not over 1 teaspoonful per drink.