The Hanky Panky was conceived by Ada ‘Coley’ Coleman, Head Bartender at the Savoy Hotel’s American Bar, at the start of the twentieth century. Coley served at The Savoy from 1903 until her retirement in 1926, bowing out with icon status and a famous cocktail to her name. Of the drink, Coley said:

“The late Charles Hawtrey… was one of the best judges of cocktails that I knew. Some years ago, when he was over working, he used to come into the bar and say, ‘Coley, I am tired. Give me something with a bit of punch in it.’ It was for him that I spent hours experimenting until I had invented a new cocktail. The next time he came in, I told him I had a new drink for him. He sipped it, and, draining the glass, he said, ‘By Jove! That is the real hanky-panky!’ And Hanky-Panky it has been called ever since.”

ginfoundry.com