Name: The Slope
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 20 ml Vermouth amaro (Pun.); 10 ml Apricot liqueur; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

2 fl oz

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

²⁄₃ fl oz

Punt E Mes vermouth amaro

¹⁄₃ fl oz

Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur

1 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.

Prepare garnish of dried apricot or skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

Garnish with dried apricot on rim or skewered maraschino cherry.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of The Slope contains 183 calories

Alcohol content:

2 standard drinks
31.68% alc./vol. (63.37° proof)
28.7 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Vermouth amaro - robust & full (e.g. Punt E Mes) — Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

History

The house Manhattan for the opening menu of her Clover Club bar, which sits a couple of neighbourhoods away from Park Slope in Brooklyn's Carrol Gardens.

Our 6:2:1 formula is courtesy of G. M. Genovese, a fellow Discerning Drinker, in November 2023. The original spec called for a whopping 75ml (1½oz rye whiskey, 22.5ml (¾oz) Punt E Mes, 10ml (⅓oz) apricot brandy, and 1 dash aromatic bitters.

Comments & Discussion

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Chris Dimal 36w

I had it as the original recipe and after, the Educated Barfly's spec (reduced the rye to 67.5ml). Really potent and intense variation of the Manhattan. The slug of apricot liqueur really makes it wonderful. I will say that in spite of my wet palate though, I still prefer the original Manhattan just that bit more, not sure why.

John CARR Premium Member 25w

Tempted to think of this is as the Manhattan to have when you’ve only got rye to hand. For me the bittersweet/dry profile was pretty much identical to a Manhattan. Used Woodford reserve rye this evening, Bitter Truth aromatic bitters, de Kuyper apricot. Absolutely delicious.

Chris Dimal 24w

I do need to make the Difford's Guide version. Still didn't get to it.

Chris Dimal 20w

Got to it finally. The Difford's version is so much nicer in my opinion. Now it's balanced and wonderfully fruity. Still spirituous.

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Very similar profile to a sweet Manhattan. Loved the touch of intense fruity apricot - with a fresh bottle of De kuyper mwuh - for me perfectly balanced late night sipper. I’m out of rouge vermouth but did have punt e mes so could make to spec. Adding to rotation…now!

Ro Carbone 1y

Is this a joke that you don't let 'free' members print a recipe? Wow.

Paloma Difford Verified User Premium Member 1y

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Calvin Grant Premium Member 1y

And do well you do. Exceptional resource and for less than a cup of coffee. A thousand thanks for all your efforts! Cheers

Caspian Berggren Premium Member 1y

Quite sweet but not too sweet. The bitterness is pretty much perfect. The apricot brandy is a tad too dominant but the Punt E Mes really helps to tame it.

Ranjitsinh Mahida 1y

Made with Michter’s Rye, Luxardo Antica and Giffard using Simon’s specs. Fantastic!

Morten Carlsbaek Premium Member 1y

Made it with Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, Dubonnet (so similar to Punt E Mes), Merlet Lune d'Abricot and the Angostura, and it was really lovely.
I first made it with a very distinctive rye (Stauning Floor malted rye) and turned out being totally rye dominated in a unpleasant way. I learned - use a less distinct rye or go for a great bourbon in this cocktail.

Morten Carlsbaek Premium Member 1y

Apparently, Wild Turkey 101 bourbon is produced with a big part of rye without being a rye whiskey. Maybe it is the perfect non-distinct sort-of-rye whiskey for this cocktail? Please comment, active persons on Difford's.

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 1y

As far as I'm aware, Wild Turkey bourbon only has 13% rye in its mash bill.

Morten Carlsbaek Continue thread (1 reply)

John CARR Premium Member 1y

I haven’t had the pleasure of trying Stauning, but strongly suspect you are right - many of the famous bourbons and ryes are skilful blends, perhaps more akin to a blended scotch in comparison to a single malt. The Praecocia in variants above is a very similar bourbon version. I’m guessing Rittenhouse will be the most common option of going for 50% ABV rye, and it’s a barely legal 51% rye, rest is corn and barley. This works for a lot of bittersweet Manhattan riffs etc, but not for others such as Sunray and haystack, where corn heavy bourbon harmonises nicely with flavours such as orange and cognac.

Jonathan Goldthorpe 2y

I swapped the Punt e Mes with Tempus Fugit Gran Clásico and a touch more apricot. Delicious.

Alex Grieb 2y

I really enjoyed this drink, althoug the rye spice is a bit overwhelmin gin my opinion. Since I used italian Punt e mes and an italian apricot liqueur, I substituted the rye with aged grappa the second time, and the result was sublime! Try it if you can!

Ian Fenton 2y

I think my rye wasn’t good enough for a spirit-forward cocktail, but I’m struggling to find anything that I like Punt e Mes in so that probably doesn’t help.

John CARR Premium Member 2y

I didn’t have quite the exact ingredients but the version I made was surprisingly delicately balanced amongst the ingredients, I was able to add a dash more apricot for my palate. One that I’ll need coming back to I think.