The White Lady's journey began in the roaring twenties, a time when gin cocktails were all the rage. Its creation is credited to Harry MacElhone, a legendary bartender who left his mark on cocktail culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
Originally, MacElhone's recipe called for Crème de Menthe, to which he later refined, replacing the mint liqueur with Gin. This changed the drink from a novelty into a classic. It gained popularity during Prohibition; its pale color perhaps helped it appear innocuous in a time of speakeasies and bathtub gin.
The name of the drink has generated a number of theories: that it was named for a ghostly apparition, that it was a toast to Zelda Fitzgerald novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife and one of the most famous 'flappers' of the day.
In the 1930s, the cocktail received a boost in popularity when it became a favorite of Laurel and Hardy, the famous comedy duo. This celebrity endorsement helped cement its status as a cocktail classic.
Over the years, this cocktail has undergone many transformations: adding a dash of Egg White to give it that silky feel or using different types of citrus. None of these changes really altered the basic recipe, and just goes to show how well balanced it is.
Today, this drink remains a darling in bars across the world's top cocktail destinations. And its enduring appeal is part of the unstated truism: classic, balanced cocktails will always be in style.
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