Link Up

Joe Gilmore (19 May 1922 – 18 December 2015) was one of the longest running Head Barmen at The Savoy Hotel's American Bar. He was born in Belfast and moved to London in 1938. Gilmore started as a trainee barman at The American Bar in 1940 and was appointed Head Barman in 1955, a position he held until he retired in 1976. Over his years as Head Barman, Gilmore invented numerous cocktails to mark special events and important guests, a longstanding tradition at the American Bar. Gilmore invented cocktails in honour of various politicians, celebrities, and members of royalty, including Prince William, The Princess Royal, The Queen Mother, Prince Andrew, Sir Winston Churchill, and American Presidents Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon. He also invented cocktails to commemorate the first walk on the moon in 1969 by Neil Armstrong, and the American and Russian link-up in space in 1975.

In addition to serving five generations of royals at private receptions and parties, Gilmore has also served Errol Flynn, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Grace Kelly, George Bernard Shaw, Ernest Hemingway, Noël Coward, Agatha Christie, Alice Faye, Ingrid Bergman, Julie Andrews, Laurence Olivier Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Gilmore retired from the Savoy in 1976 and died in 2015.

Cocktails created by Joe Gilmore

The Blenheim

Created for Sir Winston Churchill’s ninetieth birthday. It is also known as the Four Score and Ten.

Churchill

Created for Sir Winston Churchill on one of his many visits to The Savoy.

Common market

Created to mark Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community in 1973, using drinks from all the member states.

Four score (1955)

Created for Sir Winston Churchill’s eightieth birthday.

Golden doublet

Created in 1973 to commemorate the wedding of Anne, Princess Royal, Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips. Doublet was the name of the Princess’s horse on which she participated in the European Championships in 1973.

Kensington Court special

Created for Sir David Davies (1870-1958), Sir David Davies.

Link up

Created in 1975 to mark the American and Russians link up in Space, the Apollo–Soyuz project. The link up cocktail was sent to the U.S. and U.S.S.R. for the astronauts to enjoy when they returned from their mission. When told this by NASA as they linked up in Space, they responded, "Tell Joe we want it up here."

Lorraine

Created to mark President Charles de Gaulle’s State visit to United Kingdom, Britain after the Second World War.

Missouri mule

The Missouri mule cocktail was created for President Harry S Truman. The cocktail commemorates Truman's home state of Missouri and the donkey mascot of the Democratic Party (a mule is a hybrid of a donkey and a horse).

Moonwalk

Created in 1969 to mark the Apollo 11, first moon landing. The cocktail was the first drink the United States, American astronauts had when they returned to Earth. A letter of thanks was later sent from Neil Armstrong to Joe Gilmore.

My Fair Lady

Created to mark Julie Andrews’ first night in the musical My Fair Lady.

Nixon

Created in 1969 to mark American President Richard Nixon's visit to United Kingdom, Britain. The cocktail was mixed at the American bar and then sent over to Claridge's where Nixon was staying.

Powerscourt

Created for Sarah, Duchess of York’s

The Ed Shelly

Created for Edward Shelly at his request.

Royal arrival

Created in 1960 to mark the birth of Prince Andrew.

Savoy affair

Created by Joe Gilmore at the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski, Atlantic Hotel, Hamburg, Germany.

Savoy royale

Created for The Queen Mother on one of her private visits to The Savoy.

Savoy corpse reviver

The Corpse Revivers are a series of hangover cures invented during prohibition. This recipe is a variation invented by Gilmore in 1954.

Wolfram

Created in 1990 to commemorate the election of John Wolff Director of Rudolf Wolff as Chairman of the London Metal Exchange. "Wolfram" is another name for the element tungsten.

See also

* List of cocktails

References

Further reading

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* Nicholas Foulkes "''Joe Gilmore and his cocktails''" (2003)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmore, Joe
1922 births
2015 deaths
Bartenders
People from Belfast