Remember the Maine cocktail was named after the press slogan “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain”, blaming Spain for the unexplained sinking of the battleship U.S.S. Maine killing three-quarters of the crew in Havana Harbor, February 1898. This helped provoke the 1898 Spanish-American War.

In legend Charles H. Baker in 1939 The Gentleman’s Companion, he describes Remember the Maine as a twist on Sazerac cocktail and notes to “Treat this one with the respect it deserves, gentleman”.