The Manhattan may be the most revered cocktail ever conceived, challenging even the martini. It’s been around for well over a century, built on a basic architecture of two parts whiskey, one part sweet vermouth, and a few dashes of bitters. Serve up or over a large ice cube.
As Gary Regan writes in his seminal book The Joy of Mixology, “Quite simply, when properly constructed, it is the finest cocktail on the face of the earth.” The simple formula is also highly adaptable. In his cocktail book, Cure, Neal Bodenheimer, proprietor of award-winning bars in New Orleans, writes, “To me, the Manhattan represents freedom. It’s such a flexible template…you really can take it in whatever direction you want.”
The Manhattan should properly be classified not as a single drink but as a class of drink. Using the template, you can experiment by altering whiskeys and vermouths. A spicy whiskey such as Still Austin’s Cask Strength Rye, for example, works sublimely well with a vanilla-forward vermouth like Carpano Antica, with orange bitters to lend a light citrus note. Swap sweet vermouth for a blend of sweet and dry vermouth, and you’ve got the variation known as the Perfect Manhattan. Even with just three ingredients, hundreds of combinations await.
And that’s before we get to additional ingredients—liqueurs, amari— when the universe expands exponentially. Over the past decade or two, countless “neighborhood” offshoots of the Manhattan have arisen, such as the Bensonhurst, Greenpoint, and Red Hook, each of which starts with the Manhattan architecture then adds on to it. (Note: When you lose the taste of vermouth and whiskey, you may be crossing the border into another territory.)
The three variations below all introduce notes from outside the classic canon—Chartreuse, Benedictine, tamarind—which take the Manhattan in tantalizing new directions without getting lost.
Scroll down for the three recipes.
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