What Is A Roy Rogers Drink And Is It The Same As A Rob Roy?

Who are the eponymous Roys and why do we drink in their name?

Roy Rogers is renowned as one of the most iconic cowboys in the world. A celebrated singer and musician, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and starred in a multitude of immensely popular western films during the 1930s and 1940s. Even if you don't remember watching a Roy Rogers movie or TV show, or if his name is unfamiliar to you, you’ve undoubtedly heard his voice. He is the vocalist behind several classic country songs, including "Don't Fence Me In" and "Happy Trails." In the 1950s, he also made memorable television appearances alongside his beloved horse, Trigger.

The drink named after Roy Rogers is only loosely connected to the man himself. Roy Rogers, the individual, was known to abstain from alcohol, making his wholesome image an ideal backdrop for marketing the beverage in the 1950s. Unlike Shirley Temple, who reportedly disliked her namesake mocktail and consumed it on several occasions, there is no record of Roy Rogers ever actually drinking a Roy Rogers.

The Waldorf Astoria in New York is credited with the creation of the Rob Roy cocktail. According to the Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, the drink was inspired by an operetta being performed at the Herald Square Theatre, near the Waldorf's original location on Fifth Avenue. This operetta tells the story of Rob Roy MacGregor, an 18th-century Scottish hero akin to Robin Hood, who was immortalized and popularized by Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. In a creative twist on the classic Manhattan cocktail, which had been invented over a decade earlier, the bartender at the Waldorf Astoria replaced whiskey with Scotch, the hero's native brew. Thus, a new cocktail legend was born.