Preakness Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (85 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 12 oz Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
34 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
12 oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

How to make:

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

Garnish:

  1. Express lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  2. 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

Review:

A Sweet Manhattan with a herbal touch of Bénédictine.

View readers' comments

History:

Thanks to a 2009 article by Dave Wondrich in The Malt Advocate we know that this cocktail was created in 1936 by a chap called George who was the head bartender at Baltimore's Emerson Hotel. The Preakness Stakes is an American horse race held on the third Saturday in May annually at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. George was the winner of a contest to come up with an official cocktail for the first Preakness Ball held that year. Incidentally, The Pimlico Racetrack is said to be named after Ben Pimlico's Tavern which once stood in the area.

Nutrition:

One serving of Preakness Cocktail contains 184 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 30.7% alc./vol. (30.7° proof)
  • 25.4 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.

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Werd Bmocsil’s Avatar Werd Bmocsil
13th September at 01:48
Sazerac Rye and Carpano Antica Formula in mine. I like Manhattans, so this was a natural. Very nice evening sipper, and I tend to make mine long. Will be interesting to try again with a higher-proof rye, like Old Forester.
Alexandre Perron’s Avatar Alexandre Perron
10th July 2022 at 20:00
WOW ! Exceptionnal !