Garnish With A Cherry

A few years ago I picked up a copy of "Villas at Table" at Multnomah County Library's used bookstore; Title Wave Used Bookstore. The book is a collection of Mr. Villas' essays on food and drink.

Most of the essays are entertaining and educational and frankly forgettable. They're articles about restaurants, visits to France, wines of some obscure region or a recipe for Glockenspiels with Horseradish Sauce. You know the type. The article that keeps you interested while you're waiting to be called at the doctor's office. The story you can put down 95% of the way through and not care if you finish it or not. I like books like this, they're kind of like Reader's Digest, good to have when you need a quick read at bedtime or while you're taking care of business.

This book would probably have been donated back to the library system for them to sell again if an unpublished essay called "A Few Choice Words About the Manhattan" hadn't grabbed my attention. The essay outlines Mr. Villas's introduction, at age twelve, to the Manhattan by his father. It continues on with his pursuit of Manhattans in Manhattan prior to the current cocktail renaissance (the book was published in 1988 and doesn't say when the essay was written). One of his biggest obstacles was that during the time period the essay was written many establishments had eschewed the glowing red maraschino cherry in favor of a lemon or orange twist. Mr. Villas took to carrying his own bottle of the bright red gems in order to satisfy his habit.

Villas the Elder's Manhattan
2.5 oz Blended American Whiskey (I'm guessing I used Elijah Craig 12 y.o. Bourbon)
1 oz of Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
"less than a dash" Angostura Bitters
and a maraschino cherry
Served strained into a 4 oz stemmed cocktail glass

Inspired by fervor of Mr. Villas, I bought a bottle each of marachino cherries, Angostura Bitters and Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth. I don't know what bourbon was in the house when I made that first Manhattan, but I was hooked. Many bottles of bourbon, vermouth and cherries have passed through the doors of my house since I read this article.

James Villas's Perfect Bourbon Manhattan (In his words: "and by "Perfect" I'm by no means referring to the abomination by that name that includes a shot of dry vermouth")
2.5 oz Bonded Whiskey (Bottled in Bond Bourbon is 100 proof)
1.5 oz Cinzano Sweet Vermouth
"a quick dash" Angostura Bitters
A Big Fat maraschino cherry
Served strained into a chilled 6 oz stemmed cocktail glass

Something about the Big Fat Maraschino Cherry has never sat quite right with me. According to the article the Manhattan was invented around 1890 by Supreme Court Judge Charles Henry Truax when he was president of New York's Manhattan Club. The Maraschino as we know it today was invented by an Oregon State University professor named Ernest H. Wiegand. The original Maraschino cherries were made by soaking small sour wild black Maraska cherries, from what is now Croatia, in Maraschino Liqueur. These original cherries were a luxury item and getting one as a garnish was a real treat. I'll deal with my pursuit of the ideal cocktail cherry in a future installment.

Mr. Villas was kind enough to include Judge Truax's recipe for Manhattans in the book. It includes more sweet vermouth than what is common in most of today's recipes. A lot of the older cocktails include a higher proportion of sweet modifiers and I suppose that was a reflection of the tastes of the day.

Judge Truax's Original 1890 Manhattan Club Cocktail
2 oz Rye (or bourbon)
1 oz Sweet Italian Vermouth
A dash of Angostura Bitters
Garnish with a stemmed Maraschino Cherry

One of the really good things about the essay was the fact that there were multiple recipes, using different ratios of whiskey to vermouth, different whiskeys and vermouths. Obviously this is a cocktail that can be customized and tweaked to suit your preferences. This is the kind of research I can get behind.

After making my original Manhattans with a variety of bourbons I noticed that the original recipe called for rye. Hmmm....rye? I headed off to Rose City Liquor and was gratified to see that rye was readily affordable and came in a handy multiple choice selection. The rye I came home with that day, Wild Turkey Rye 101, has pretty much become my house pour for Manhattans ever since.

The Manhattan I'm Drinking Now
2.5 oz Wild Turkey Rye 101
1.0 oz Noilly Prat Sweet Vermouth
2 big dashes of Angostura Bitters
1 housemade cherry

For further reading on Manhattans see This Article by Gary Regan