Slightly North of Delancey Manhattan
By Warren Bobrow
The Manhattan holds a soft spot in my heart. This is probably because my grandfather loved Rob Roy’s (the Scotch version of the Manhattan) He only ordered them up at his country club… I think they were a four ounce drink…Kept his mind off of me!
I don’t really care for Scotch, so I started (once I was 18) ordering Manhattan’s in the Men’s Grill at when he asked me to have lunch with him. I know that he wasn’t impressed, nothing I did impressed him. But the deep flavors of this drink remind me of him and his well practiced, gruff nature.
He was a really tough guy, in the commercial laundry biz. He packed a pistol during tough union negotiations! we found it after he died…
This is my version of the way they used to make the Manhattan’s (and Rob Roy’s) at Crestmont Country Club in West Orange, NJ.
The Cocktail Whisperer’s Slightly North of Delancy Street Manhattan
Ingredients
- 4 oz. Barrell Whiskey #001
- 1/2 Ounce Maurin Vermouth (red) or Carpano Antica (red)
- Home Cured Cherry- it’s easy, in a Mason Jar, pack with pitted cherries, cover with 100 proof rye whiskey or dark rum for a month in a cool, dark place- you now have cocktail cherries! You can add some Moscovado sugar if you want for added fermentation..
- Bitter Truth Chocolate Bitters (in an atomizer)
- Bitter Truth Orange Bitters (in an atomizer)
Directions
- To a mixing glass, fill 3/4 with large cube ice
- Add the Barrell Whiskey
- Add the Sweet Vermouth
- Stir carefully and considerately
- Strain into a large “Old Fashioned” glass
- Garnish with three of your home cured cherries
- Spritz each of the bitters over the top of the cocktail.. first the chocolate, and then the orange…
- Yum!