Sometimes I like to make drinks that don’t involve 13 ingredients, including various homemade liquors. This one’s not quite a standard Manhattan, but just replacing a scant half ounce of the American whiskey with peaty scotch takes it to a whole different place without veering too far from how the drink is supposed to taste.
Smokey scotch is an acquired taste, and this is actually a pretty good way to acquire it. Too often people go right for trying to sip a dram of it neat, and then get overwhelmed and turned off. Making cocktails with a splash of smoke lets you get used to the flavor more gradually.
Half an ounce doesn’t sound like much, but it brings plenty of smoke to the party, which is just fine by me! If you think that’s going to be too much, there’s no harm in dropping down to a quarter ounce or even just a barspoon full.
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This article is a modified and enhanced version of a post that ran on my nightly cocktail blog, DrinkShouts.
The Smoked Manhattan Cocktail Recipe
Equipment
- Bar spoon
- Cocktail Strainer
- Chilled cocktail strainer
Ingredients
- 2 oz. Bourbon Wild Turkey 81
- .5 oz. Islay Scotch Laphroaig 10
- 1 oz. Sweet vermouth Carpano Antica FormulaÂ
- Dash aromatic bitters The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas’s BittersÂ
- Luxardo maraschino cherry
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a pint glass over ice and stir thoroughly. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.Garnish with a Luxardo marachino cherry.
