Ohio comes to Manhattan this week for the Friday cocktail hour, which I will enjoy, shivering but happy, on my fire escape in the West Village, with Columbus–based OYO clear rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, bitters, and the indulgent Luxardo maraschino cherries (picked up around the corner at The Meadow (thank you Mark!—check out his book, my favorite salt book, period). The Manhattan, a classic I never stray far from, a family favorite, and well enduring for a reason (this is one of my favorite Friday Cocktail Hour posts). The rye Manhattan is especially good when you have great cherries. I add some syrup from the cherries, here not yet dissolved and sleeping at the bottom of the cocktail; rye is marvelously dry as whiskeys go and so the extra sweetness is perfect for this excellent winter cocktail. Happy Friday, all! Have a great weekend!
If you liked this post, check out these other links:
- My other cocktails that feature whiskey or rye: my first Rye Old-Fashioned post, Meyer Lemon Fig, and Whiskey Sour.
- Learn how to make your own maraschino cherries.
- Two James Spirits in Detroit is whipping up their own brand of American rye.
© 2014 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2014 Donna Turner Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
OYO RYE MANHATTAN
Ingredients
- 2 ounces/60 grams OYO rye whiskey (or any good rye on hand)
- 1 ounce/30 grams sweet vermouth
- 5 sturdy shakes bitters (2 grams or so)
- 1 to 3 Luxardo maraschino cherries (or those candy-like ones in the sundae aisle of your grocery store if that's all you can find)
Instructions
- Combine the liquids in a lowball, then add ice and cherries.
- Stir, sip, take a deep breath, and exhale.
The Manhattan is one of my favorites as well. I was in Ohio last month and totally forgot to pick up some OYO. I remember you recommended it awhile back but couldn't think of the name while I was making my liquor run. Bulleit Rye will have to suffice until next time.
Sexy cherries,
the Luxardo cherries make an Aviation cocktail over the top. With a twist of lemon and creme de violet.
So nice looking laying in the bottom of an iced martini glass - filled with whatever: Manhattan, Aviation, Tall Tail!
Oscar weekend, oscar cocktails and champagne with crab legs, rib eyes with red wine.
And a drunken independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.
Spring is in the air.
Happy Friday all!
Manhattans are my go to cocktail for most of the year. I always have a few bottle of rye around and Noilly Prat Rouge. I prefer mine up instead of on the rocks. I also like to experiment with different flavors of Fee Brothers bitters in addition to the usual Angostura.
I'm glad to see that you have a heavy hand when it comes to bitters. I've been finding that a bitters-forward Manhattan is a fine drink and much more to my tastes than ones where I can't really detect the presence of the bitters.
Get your hands on some Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino. It makes a fantastic Manhattan. Also, try what I've been calling an upside down Manhattan, which Jacques Pepin describes in his memoir (comes from Paul Child who, in addition to being Julia's husband, was a cocktail fiend and constantly plying friends in Paris with his latest experiments). Just reverse the ratio and make it vermouth heavy. If you have good vermouth its terrific.
thanks for the vermouth suggestion, and the reverse cocktail (and story)!
Y'know, I am not a fan of the Luxardo cherries; they don't deliver the punch that the grocery store ones do IMO. Am I the only one?
i hope so!
@Michael: 1 or 3 cherries - never 2. Isn't 2 bad luck?
@Bruce: It was revelatory when I started having a heavier hand with the bitters.
@BDW: Yes, you very well might be, but to each his own.
one wasn't enough and could only fit two on the matchstick, the only pick I have in the apt.
Luxardo has maracchino cherries? I have some of their liquor but no cherries. I will have to look for some next time I'm in the States!
you'll love them! and yes, there liqueur is fabulous, see my post on the aviation: https://ruhlman.com/2009/09/cocktail-the-aviation/
Love a good manhattan!
I'm near Mentor, OH - where can I find that vermouth?
The OYO products across the board are really quite impressive, and I was really skeptical before my first dram. Though I can't pass up Dickel Rye at the price point, they could charge $10 more per bottle and it'd still be a good buy.
Dolan is ok as sweet vermouth goes - try Carpano Antica Formula for my favorite Manhattans.
I'm a bourbon Manhattan devotee, even though Canadian with all our wonderful rye whiskies. I have never seen a clear rye. Interesting.
Second on the Carpano Antica. Try Vya (Sweet) for vermouth as well. I like to go back and forth between them. I have found that vermouth makes just as much difference as the rye you use.
Nice! Also, I'm loving the new format to the site...really clean and sleek and cool. I'll have to look out for Oyo here in NYC. I like to plop in a few brandied bing cherries in my Manhattans. I'm too lazy to pit them though, ha.
I love the dark Morello cherries in my Manhattan. They are available at Trader Joe's.