Leche de Pantera

Recipes for this cocktail often call for different spirits, however, it is traditionally made with gin.

Similarly, you can vary the ratios for both the milk and condensed milk, eschewing either one altogether.

The most popular story behind this drink claims that a Spanish General by the name of José Millán-Astray (1850-1923), close friend to dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975), commissioned the creation of the cocktail to Pedro "Perico" (Parakeet) Chicote, a bartender from Madrid.

Allegedly, the cocktail was created as a nod to stories of Spanish legionnaires mixing milk with alcohol taken from the infirmary. Not too disimilar to Nineteenth Century British sailors doing the same with their rations (see Gimlet).

The name of the drink apparently comes from a mutual friend (and rumored lover) to Millán-Astray and Chicote: Argentinian entertainer Celia Gámez (1905 - 1992). Gámez had very striking eyes, which apparently served as inspiration for the cocktail’s name.