I’ve always been a big fan of Manhattan. So far my experiences have been limited to Manhattan being served in bars (the late Polka Bar in Soho, London did a particularly good one) and quick Manhattans made with bourbon and Martini Rosso.
So, I decided to do some research around the web and finally decided to do my Manhattan with American rye whiskey, 50/50 red and white vermouth, a dash of Angostura bitter and two dashes of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur.
Why the liqueur? Well, I’ve never been a huge fan of the cherry in the bottom of the Manhattan glass, so substitute the cherry for Maraschino cherry liqueur and problem solved.
So this is almost the original Manhattan recipe.
The result was quite surprising. Much more subtle than a lot of the Manhattans I’ve had to date. I think this is because of the Rye whiskey which is a lot more subtle than bourbon.
Very interesting though, and delicious! Next time I will try making it with only Rosso instead of a Perfect Manhattan with equal parts Rosso and Bianco. I think Perfect Manhattan works better with bourbon.
Ingredients for two Martini glasses:
100 ml Rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky)
25 ml Martini Rosso
25 ml Martini Bianco
One dash of Angostura (or more than one dash if you want your Manhattan more bitter)
Two dashes of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
How to make it:
Fill your Martini glasses with ice. Fill a large glass with ice and add all the spirits to this glass. Stir slowly (stirring fast will “bruise” the spirits and make your Manhattan cloudy) for around 20 seconds. Discard the ice from the Martini glass, rub the edge of the glass with the cut end of an orange peel then strain your Manhattan into the glass. Garnish the edge of the glass with a twisted orange peel.
UPDATE:
I recently made Manhattan with Woodford Reserve bourbon. I used the same recipe as above but with a few dashes of Angostura Orange bitters instead of the normal Angostura bitters. It was very nice and smooth.