Manhattan (Sweet)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (461 ratings)
  • Manhattan (Sweet) Image

    Manhattan (Sweet)

  • Jump to
Manhattan (Sweet) image

Photographed in an UB Retro Coupe Gold 7.75oz

Ingredients:
1 1⁄2 oz Bourbon whiskey
1⁄2 oz Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
1 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and discard.
  6. Garnish with skewered cherry.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile
Cocktail of the day:

17th June 2025 is The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York

Review:

I prefer my Manhattans served "Sweet", or "Perfect " at a push. The Manhattan is complex, challenging and moreish. Best of all, it's available in a style to suit every palate. For me, it's this recipe or the brilliantly simple High Ryeser Manhattan.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Served on-the-rocks in an old-fashioned glass.
High Ryeser Manhattan
Dry Manhattan
Perfect Manhattan

History:

See Manhattan cocktail history

Nutrition:

One serving of Manhattan (Sweet) contains 191 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 28.51% alc./vol. (28.51° proof)
  • 25.8 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

Manhattan (Perfect) Image
Previous cocktail

Manhattan (Perfect)

Manhattan Island Image
Next cocktail

Manhattan Island

Join the discussion

Showing 10 of 30 comments for Manhattan (Sweet).
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
Egg McKenzie’s Avatar Egg McKenzie
17th May at 08:30
i made with bulleit rye (95% rye) and martini rosso and it came out very dry. splitting the base with bourbon would help, or perhaps a sweeter vermouth. it didn't hit the spot so i need to revisit along the lines of this recipe.
1
reply
Tony Jones’ Avatar Tony Jones
24th December 2024 at 17:59
Hi Mr Difford
I appreciate you have to change your website, but it's gone really hard to use.
I've got a bottle of 101, but your site doesn't think I can make this cocktail because it doesn't think I have any bourbon.
What's going on?
(Couldn't find another way to contract you.)
1
reply
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
26th December 2024 at 09:43
We categorise standard strength bourbon (circa 45%) and BIB (50%) as different ingredients due to taste and affect on our calorie and alcohol strength calculations. However, I have now linked these as interchangeable ingredients so hopefully will now work for you.
4
reply
Annechien’s Avatar Annechien
2nd December 2024 at 20:37
I make this with rittenhouse rye and martini rosso. 2:1 is perfect for me. And a generous splash of luxardo syrup goes in with the cherry. Together with the ango spice an orange zest this is a lovely cocktail for the colder and darker days.
1
reply
Eugene Granger’s Avatar Eugene Granger
26th November 2024 at 20:11
Irish whiskey is for me a great choice
1
reply
Paul Belczowski’s Avatar Paul Belczowski
5th October 2024 at 12:24
The bourbon and rye combo really sets this apart. This is a favourite as I prefer American style whisky as opposed to scotch and therefore understandably that some prefer the Rob Roy. Both are great for all the right reasons
1
reply
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
6th November 2024 at 14:10
Exactly. I think we tend to go through phases of preferring certain flavours, or balances of sweet/sour/dry/aromatic etc. From a traditional herbal medicine point of view, this will be balancing certain states of the body’s tissues.
Agree re the specialness of the combo of the two whiskies. … I also love an Affinity for a scotch-based alternative.
2
reply
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
11th July 2024 at 13:44
Recently acquired a selection of The bitter truth bitters. Their aromatic bitters works fantastically well with a sweet rye mahattan. 60 Rittenhouse 25 carpano, bitters, orange twist and Luxardo cherry. Wonderful depth of flavour.
3
reply
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
24th May 2024 at 14:43
One of those recipes that allows for endless experimentation I believe. My current favourite is roughly 3:2 rye:islay scotch, Dolin rouge at half the spirit, angostura bitters, outrage twist and Luxardo Cherry garnish.
4
reply
Juniper Lately’s Avatar Juniper Lately
7th January at 22:45
I know it was a typo but an OUTRAGE twist just seems apropos to me as we begin 2025! 😉
2
reply
1 reply
Cyrus Gilbert-Rolfe’s Avatar Cyrus Gilbert-Rolfe
26th September 2024 at 16:37
Sounds like a Rob Roy!
1
reply
1 reply
Peter McCarthy’s Avatar Peter McCarthy
24th May 2024 at 05:50
Certainly a classic, but I fear most Manhattans are a little uninteresting for me... I'm curious to try it with different whiskeys/vermouths, though...
2
reply
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
24th May 2024 at 14:40
Agreed. Find the whiskey/s you like best, and try vermouths that support them, then match the level of sweetness/dryness, and appropriate bitters and garnish to lift/colour.
5
reply
Stephen Curtin’s Avatar Stephen Curtin
19th May 2024 at 21:12
Nah; not for me. I made a Rob Roy the other day which I much much preferred.
1
reply
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
8th May 2024 at 12:20
One of those drinks that I’m still not quite sure about but feel like persisting with and retreating periodically. Made tonight with all Rittenhouse rye and Dolin rouge, on the rocks. Strangely compelling and moreish…
2
reply
advert banner
Manhattan (Perfect) Image
Previous cocktail

Manhattan (Perfect)

The medium-dry version of the classic Manhattan cocktail

Manhattan Island Image
Next cocktail

Manhattan Island

A twist on the classic Harvard, or brandy-based Sweet Manhattan

Manhattan cocktail history Image

Manhattan cocktail history

Emerging in the 1860s-1870s, the Manhattan is regarded as the first "modern cocktail" due to the inclusion of an aromatised and fortified wine in...
Bourbon Image

Bourbon

Bourbon is as American as the Stars and Stripes, the Grand Canyon, and pumpkin pie, but there are some common misconceptions about what exactly bourbon...
Angostura & Angostura-style aromatic bitters Image

Angostura & Angostura-style aromatic bitters

Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a German doctor, created Angostura Bitters to treat stomach disorders and indigestion in a military hospital in the town...
20 best Amaretto cocktails Image

20 best Amaretto cocktails

The bittersweet almond and vanilla flavour of amaretto mixes brilliantly with dark spirits – particularly whiskey but this versatile liqueur also mixes...
20 best Easter cocktails Image

20 best Easter cocktails

There's more to Easter indulgence than mere chocolate eggs
How to make an Ice Cone Image

How to make an Ice Cone

Ice cones are an iconic garnish widely used in Tiki bars, particularly when serving Navy Grog cocktails. They are made by freezing crushed ice that has...