Name: Manhattan (Sweet)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Bourbon whiskey; 15 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 30 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

1 1/2 fl oz

Bourbon whiskey

1/2 fl oz

Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)

1 fl oz

Strucchi Rosso Vermouth

1 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.

Prepare garnish of orange zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and discard.

Garnish with skewered cherry.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Manhattan (Sweet) contains 191 calories

Alcohol content:

1.8 standard drinks
28.51% alc./vol. (57.03° proof)
25.8 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) — Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

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.

The above recipe scaled and reformulated to fit a small (150ml/5oz capacity coupe or nick & nora):
30ml (1oz) Bourbon
15ml (½oz) Rye whiskey
22.5ml (¾oz) Rosso (sweet) vermouth
1 dash Aromatic bitters

Comments & Discussion

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Ryan Harrold Premium Member 9w

I made this with Buffalo Trace, Knob Creek Rye, Carpano Sweet Vermouth & Scrappy Aromatic Bitters and copied the comments by adding a barspoon of Maraschino Cherry Syrup, which makes a Manhattan go from a 4.5 star to a 5 star, however as much as I love bourbon, I might prefer a Manhattan with just rye whisky and no bourbon

Ryan Harrold Premium Member 9w

I just checked and it looks like I’m going to have to add the High Ryeser cocktail to my wish list, as that answers what I might prefer

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Was intending to make a nightcap sipper but it disappeared so quickly! Maker’s 46, Rittenhouse and Cocchi storico.

Scott McIsaac Premium Member 1y

A note on blending bourbon and rye: Triticale is a grain that is a hybrid of wheat and rye. Some distilleries are beginning to make whiskey from it. I've found that Dry Fly Straight Triticale whiskey makes a very nice Manhattan.

Paul Belczowski 1y

Tried something a little different with this one. I usually stick to my go-to recipe, but this time I swapped out the sweet vermouth for Chambord raspberry liqueur — and it was fantastic! Not saying it’s the ultimate version, but definitely worth a try. If you do, try it and let me know what you think!

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Don’t have any Chambord but I sometimes swap in my favourite lingonberry liqueur for the sweet element in a cocktail and it generally comes out well. So similar idea I’m guessing. Have you tried the Cherry Manhattan also on diffords? Can recommend!

Paul Belczowski 29w

That sounds amazing

Paul Webb 29w

Genius!

Egg McKenzie 1y

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.

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Yeah Bulleit rye is amazing but super spicy. Definitely good to cut it back with something more harmonious. I’m currently loving Elijah Craig but any of the decent bourbons will mellow it nicely.

Tony Jones 1y

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.)

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 1y

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.

Annechien Premium Member 1y

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.

Annechien Premium Member 1y

After finishing the martini rosso I bought a bottle of carpano antica and all of a sudden I didn’t enjoy this cocktail anymore. I started reading up on manhattan preferences online and somewhere I found the information that fixed my problem. With a bold vermouth like antica you just need different ratios. Now I do 2,5 shots rittenhouse rye to 1 shot carpano antica and I’m a happy girl again.

Scott McIsaac Premium Member 1y

I agree with the 2:1 ratio and the cherry syrup (I typically add about a barspoon). My favorite vermouth is Carpano Antico, and my favorite whiskey is Angel's Envy or Jameson Black Barrel, but to my taste these proportions work well with nearly any bourbon, rye, or Irish and nearly any red vermouth.

Annechien Premium Member 1y

Ah yes, I see where I went wrong. It should have been: “ With a bold vermouth like antica *I* just need different ratios.” My preferences are not universal of course. I still consider myself quite new to this cocktail business and I love to read everyone’s personal experiences in the comments. There’s usually a wealth of information in there. I looked up your whiskey preferences and I must say especially the Angel’s Envy has got me intrigued. Not cheap but still within my price range where I live. Into my wish list it goes..

Eugene Granger 1y

Irish whiskey is for me a great choice

Paul Belczowski 1y

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

John CARR Premium Member 1y

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.

John CARR Premium Member 2y

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.

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Manhattan (Sweet)

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Method

Garnish

Flavour Profile

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

Alcohol content:

Allergens:

History

Review

Cocktail of the day:

Variations/similar cocktails

Gallery

Comments & Discussion

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Are you a Discerning Drinker?

Manhattan (Sweet)

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Method

Garnish

Flavour Profile

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

Alcohol content:

Allergens:

History

Review

Cocktail of the day:

Variations/similar cocktails

Gallery

Comments & Discussion

See more...