The Manhattan Variations

What is the perfect cocktail and why is it the Perfect Manhattan with rye whiskey? Plus, recipes for four other renditions.

Sometimes I forget about certain drinks for, like, years at a time. Even drinks that I absolutely love. So it was disconcerting the other day to receive Robert Simonson’s cocktail newsletter, The Mix, which asks the question, “Who Drinks a Perfect Manhattan?” Simonson’s thesis is that fans of the cocktail are few and far between. My immediate thought was to raise my hand and say: “I am a Perfect Manhattan drinker!” I wasn’t the only one. In the comments section, others came out of the woodwork to profess their admiration. It was like a support group for Perfect Manhattan drinkers.

Yet after I posted my comment, I gave it more thought: When was the last time I actually drank a Perfect Manhattan? It had certainly been a while. Too long, in fact. Well, this was an easy enough dilemma to rectify. I mixed one up the other night. The Perfect Manhattan is so called because it splits the vermouth portion of the Manhattan between sweet and dry. It’s slightly drier than the classic Manhattan. If you use rye whiskey instead of bourbon—as I like it—it’s even drier still. A perfect formulation to my dry-leaning palate.

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To be honest, I find that I don’t drink as many Manhattans in general as I used to. A decade ago, when I was in the thick of writing about cocktails, I would have told you that the Manhattan, and its many variation, was the finest cocktail in the world. In Boozehound, I wrote:

“The Manhattan is more complex than the martini and more flavorful. Like a strong poetic structure, the Manhattan’s recipe is more of a starting point than a rote list of ingredients. It is both universal and highly personal. The Manhattan encourages modifications, riffs, virtuoso performances.”

I even published a list of “non-negotiable” rules for making Manhattan variations. (“Do not omit the bitters”; “A Manhattan is always stirred.”) Ah, the callowness of early-aughts cocktail culture!

But here’s the thing. By the end of the 2000s, the world was drowning in a sea of way too many Manhattan variations. I confess my own contributions to this Manhattan riff overload, including the Pennsylvania Dutch Manhattan (with the addition of Root liqueur) and the Black Manhattan (which replaces the vermouth with Averna amaro).

So to make a long story short, it had been a while since I’d made myself a Manhattan of any kind. Over the past few days, I’ve dipped back into the recipe archive to reconnect with a few of my favorites. I’ve always loved the Greenpoint, for instance, which adds a bit of Chartreuse to the mix, as well as the Little Italy, which replaces the bitters with Cynar. I also made a Rum Manhattan, replacing the rye whiskey with rhum agricole. (All cocktail recipes below.)

Diving a little deeper, I re-aquainted myself with a cocktail I used to make all the time about a decade ago, but haven’t thought about in years. It’s called the Monte Carlo, basically a Manhattan with the vermouth replaced by Benedictine. Cocktail nerds of a certain age might also think of the Monte Carlo as a Vieux Carré with no Cognac and more of the liqueur.

Now there’s a future cocktail newsletter: “Who Still Drinks a Vieux Carré?” That support group is open below.

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Manhattan Variations: The Recipes

Perfect Manhattan

Of all the ways to make a Manhattan, this is my preference. Always with rye whiskey. Always two dashes of bitters. I’m less strict about garnish. Cherry or lemon is fine.

• 2 ounces rye whiskey

• ½ ounce sweet vermouth

• ½ ounce dry vermouth

• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

• Maraschino cherry or lemon peel

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry or lemon peel twist.

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Greenpoint

In the early aughts, two Manhattan variations created at the famed Milk & Honey became modern classics: the Red Hook (with maraschino liqueur) and the Greenpoint (with Chartreuse). Personally, I’ve always preferred the Greenpoint. There is some debate over whether to use yellow or green Chartreuse. Use green. Both the Greenpoint and Red Hook originally called for Punt e Mes, but I think that spoke to the quality of vermouth in the early aughts. Now we have a wide array of top-quality vermouths (including my go-to Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino) that work just

• 2 ounces rye whiskey

• ½ ounce green Chartreuse

• ½ ounce sweet vermouth

• Lemon peel twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon peel over the top, then add as garnish.

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Little Italy

As the early aughts cocktail renaissance rolled on, dozens of Manhattan variations named after various neighborhoods in New York popped up. This one, created by Audrey Saunders at the influential Pegu Club, is a modern classic.

• 2 ounces rye whisky

• ¾ ounce sweet vermouth

• ½ ounce Cynar

• Maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon peel over the top, then add as garnish.

Monte Carlo

I love this cocktail, which is essentially a Manhattan with the vermouth replaced by Benedictine. Cocktail nerds might also think of this as a Vieux Carré with no Cognac and more liqueur. They key here is to use Peychaud’s bitters, which always plays well with Benedictine.

• 2 ounces rye whiskey

• ¾ ounce Benedictine

• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

• Maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Add the cherry as a garnish.

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Rum Manhattan

There is also whole universe of Manhattan riffs in which the whiskey is replaced with other spirits. The best of the bunch, in my humble opinion, is a Rum Manhattan, made with rhum agricole, preferably one with some age.

• 2 ounces rhum agricole

• 1 ounce sweet vermouth

• Barspoon maraschino liqueur

• 1 dash orange bitters

• Orange peel twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express orange peel over the top, then add as garnish.

9Photo: Washington Post/Getty Images)

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