Name: Preakness Manhattan
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Bourbon whiskey; 7.5 ml Cognac (brandy); 15 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.; 15 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 3 dash Aromatic bitters

Preakness Manhattan
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Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ fl oz	Bourbon whiskey
¹⁄₄ fl oz	Cognac (brandy)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
3 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

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

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A Sweet Manhattan with a herbal touch of Bénédictine and cognac. Drier and more complex than our Preakness Cocktail recipe.

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Variations/similar cocktails:

Vieux Carré

History:

A brandy-laced Sweet Manhattan with a herbal touch of Bénédictine. If you like this, you should also try a Preakness Cocktail recipe.

Nutrition:

One serving of Preakness Manhattan contains 201 calories

Alcohol content:

1.8 standard drinks
30.26% alc./vol. (60.53° proof)
25.3 grams of pure alcohol

More Classic/vintage cocktails

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.

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Showing 10 of 23 comments for Preakness Manhattan.
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John CARR

24 hours ago

Definitely prefer this to the Preakness cocktail. Loads going on and love the little touch of vinous dryness from the cognac. Be sure to give a decent stir to open up the flavours. Personally I’d even consider splitting the vermouth with half dry to really ramp it up and counterpoint the Benedictine. Next time.

Fredrik Rosin

9th June at 10:40

Fantastic cocktail! I added 2-3 drops of saline solution to balance all the flavours. Did quite the trick.

Josh Harpoon

7th June at 21:39

A nice one, like it.

CJ Grant

27th July 2025 at 16:56

I went with a half ounce of brandy (a local pear brandy that is not heavy on the pear) and orange bitters. I like that the brandy brings a little nuance and pairs with the Benedictine well. I am usually wary of a bourbon cocktail, especially when I am using a shelf bourbon, as it can tend to get lost, but it provides a nice, lightly smoky sweet base here.

Graeme McPherson

8th June 2025 at 00:48

Ooooh! I think I might like this more than a conventional Manhattan! I made this and sipped on it while watching an old 50’s noir movie and it was the perfect accompaniment.

Werd Bmocsil

14th April 2025 at 22:13

Foro Vermouth di Torino gave this a great caramel boost!

Garth Stanish

31st March 2025 at 03:19

I have to battle my antipathy towards cognac; which just tastes like bottled gout to me….. but the almost homeopathic amount here combined with my love of benedictine triumphs…I think it needs to settle in the glass a bit, it struck me as a real slow sipper

Ruth Harvey

26th March 2025 at 17:33

I knew this was going to be good when I read the comments! I used Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey... because I could. All the picky cocktail drinkers lapped it up and asked for seconds...on a school night!

Simon Sedgley

8th March 2025 at 04:47

Our favourite Manhattan...gorgeously feminine with its elegance and subtlety, pretending to hide an underlying voluptuousness.

Olga María Gómez Henderson

28th February 2025 at 12:41

That's really good. It's balanced and tasteful.

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