Singapore Sling

The Singapore Sling is a tall, fruity gin cocktail of the sling family, born at the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel in Singapore and built around gin, cherry liqueur, Bénédictine and a herbal-citrus lift of pineapple and lime. It is a rosy, tropical-looking drink — pink to amber, sweet-tart and aromatic, with the cherry and herbal liqueurs giving it depth behind the fruit. Created by the bartender Ngiam Tong Boon around 1915, it was reputedly disguised as an innocent fruit punch so that women could drink it in public. It is one of the most famous cocktails of the early twentieth century and a recognised classic of the International Bartenders Association.