Simply Manhattan

The Manhattan may well be the perfect cocktail. While not as pure as the Old Fashioned nor as lively as the julep or mojito, it is both solid and stylish, sophisticated yet simple. It showcases a fine whiskey, and the ready availability of fine vermouth and different styles of bitters allow for infinite play.

Look Mom, One Cube!

It does have its limits. While fine whiskey makes a fine Manhattan, the higher you go up on the shelf the more your returns diminish. One loses subtlety any time whiskey is mixed. Save the Pappy's for the bare glass.

Mixing a Manhattan most often takes place in a shaker, but I make the case now for a stirred variety. The colder the cocktail not always the better. What's more, the ice chips that invariably fill the glass melt some flavor away. Stirring and serving over a single ice cube may not blend perfectly, but it gives the cocktail a kind of musky feel. At present, I put bitters into an old fashioned glass, pour whiskey over that, then vermouth (on a 2-1 ratio), stir, add my ice cube, stir again, add a garnish, and serve.

I will offer up some recipes with notes, and will continuously update this post to keep a running tab on the Manhattans I try.

Recipe 1: The Cheapside

Weller's Reserve Wheated Bourbon
Noilly Prat Rouge
Fee Brothers old fashioned aromatic bitters

I prefer Fee Brothers to Angostura because of its enhanced clove nose. I have tried this version with other bitters as well--notably Bolivar and Chocolate Mole bitters. Noilly Prat does not require a whole lot. It is a delicious apertif all its own, so I dumbed down the bourbon in this case to showcase the spice profile.