As far as the island in the mouth of the Hudson River: sorry, it sucks and there’s nothing I can do about it.  This is about the Manhattan cocktail.

The Manhattan is a mixture of whiskey and vermouth, by default sweet (red) vermouth.  The International Bartenders’ Association says:

5 cl Rye Whiskey

2 cl Red Vermouth

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Pour all ingredients into mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.Garnish with cocktail cherry.

The only real variation on this are advocates of a 2:1 spirit:vermouth ratio and assurances you don’t need to use rye whiskey (you don’t, but more on that).

The problem with this is — at least if your crowd is anything like mine — drinking anything with vermouth in it is sort of like paying black people a fair wage to pick cotton on your farm.  There’s nothing, on examination, wrong with it, but still comes off as a sort of sinister affectation.

Part of this is that vermouth tastes pretty odd/bad even when it’s fresh, and if you’re an amateur, that’s quite likely not to be the case.  I only buy the small bottles, and it still lasts me…a few months, I won’t say more than that.

Regardless of one’s agreement with the above statement, it’s far easier to ruin a drink with too much vermouth than too little.  Don’t let your vermouth go bad — I convinced myself the Rob Roy (Scotch Manhattan) was some sort of joke for longer than I care to admit by first making it with Johnny Red Label & bad vermouth — but all things considered it’s best to use less of the stuff.  Does anybody drink wet Martinis anymore?

As far as whiskey, rye whiskey is mostly recommended for historical reasons.  Bourbon is fine.  I use the 100% rye Old Overholt to mix most whiskey-based drinks (the mint julep being the main exception) because it’s cheap, smooth, and generally pretty good — and, I’ll admit I buy into the historical argument for rye whiskeys in cocktails.

Anyway, the point of all this is to use a 3:1 ratio for whiskey and vermouth, even a 4:1 if you’re dubious or mixing the drink for a novice.  I’ve also found Peychaud’s bitters superior to Angostura for this drink; Angostura’s earthy root herbs make the cocktail taste “dirty”, as in there’s dirt my glass, when combined with the vermouth, in my opinion.  It should be stirred, of course.

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The Manhattan

6cl Whiskey

1.5-2cl Sweet Vermouth

1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

Stir & Strain; garnish with a cherry.