Toronto Cocktail

Serve in a

Garnish:

Orange zest twist (discarded) & Luxardo Maraschino cherry

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.

Review:

Originally with a dash of sugar syrup but, thanks to a comment by Yacha Han on Difford's Guide, presented here with maple syrup as a more appropriate sweetener. Whether you use sugar or maple syrup, both tame and amplify the flavour of the whiskey, but maple syrup contributes so much more. However, it's Fernet that dominates this Manhattan-style cocktail.

Variant:

Served on-the-rocks in an old-fashioned glass.

History:

A previously forgotten classic resurrected in 2006 by Jamie Boudreau, Seattle, USA. The Toronto appears in David A. Embury's 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks but its earliest written incarnation is as the "Fernet Cocktail" in Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails - How to Mix Them.

Fernet Cocktail
Fill the bar glass half full of broken ice and add:
1 dash of Angostura Bitters
2 dashes of plain Sugar or Gum Syrup.
¼ gill of Fernet Branca.
¼ gill of Cognac Brandy, or Rye Whisky to taste.
Stir up well with a spoon, strain into a cocktail-glass, and squeeze lemon-peel on top.
This cocktail is much appreciated by the Canadians of Toronto.

Robert Vermeire, 1922

TORONTO
1 part Sugar syrup
2 parts Fernet-Branca
6 parts Canadian Whisky
1 dash Angostura to each drink (optional)
This cocktail may be made in Old-Fashioned glasses or may be stirred with large cubes of ice and strained into cocktail glasses. In either case, decorate with a twist of orange peel.

David Embury, 1948

Alcohol content:

• 1.5 standard drinks
• 26.29% alc./vol. (52.58° proof)
• 20.5 grams of pure alcohol