El Diablo or “The Devil” cocktail got its first reference in Victor Bergeron’s 1946 Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drinks under the name of “Mexican El Diablo” as his own creation.

Trader Vic was one the pioneers of the tiki movement during the 1940s, which is best known for its liberal use of rum.

A few years later, the drink reappears in his 1968 Trader Vic’s Pacific Islands Cookbook where the name has been shortened to “El Diablo”.