Rosemary Miller and I have been deconstructing our favorite cocktail, the Manhattan, tearing it down to its base parts and studying how each part interacts with the other on the quest for the perfect Manhattan cocktail.
Our last installment generated a lot of conversation about whether we should be shaking or stirring our Manhattans. Many of you have strong feelings that a Manhattan should never be shaken. We started off with shaking because that’s how I have always made them at home and that’s the way the first known recorded Manhattan recipe says to do it. We will be exploring shaken versus stirred Manhattans in an upcoming post, so stay tuned.
In our last installment we both decided we liked the Michter’s Barrel Strength Rye the best, so that’s what we will be using as our base from here on out. We’re still using the same base recipe: large side of the jigger of rye, small side of vermouth, two dashes bitters, shake with ice and strain then add a cherry. This time we are focusing on vermouths.
We started off by trying 8 different sweet vermouths and kicked one out because neither of us had anything good to say about it. Here are the notes on the other 7:
- Martini & Rossi (Italian) – smells like rosemary and spice. Tastes light and citrusy. There’s a light bitterness on the finish.
- Dolin (French) – Very dark in color. Smells floral. Tastes sweet with faint herbal notes. Would likely be like just adding sugar to whiskey.
- Barolo Chinato Cocchi (Italian) – dark red. Smells herbal. Tastes sweet and bitter like orange peel.
- Antica (Italian) – heavy licorice smell. Tastes like dark chocolate and licorice.
- Berto (Italian) – Vanilla and lemongrass on the nose. Tastes light and sweet with faint bitterness and pronounced lemongrass.
- Noily Prat (French) – Smells like tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce. Tastes like sweet Worcestershire sauce.
- Maurin (French) – Smells strongly of lemongrass. Tastes like lemongrass and citrus, not very sweet.
Because our top two favorites out of this lineup were Italian (Martini and Barolo) we decided to break the vermouth portion of the study up further. We tried all four Italian vermouths this time, we will do French vermouths next time, and then we will narrow down our favorite from the top two of each.
Sweet but not overly so. Very balanced with a nice amount of spice. Light and refreshing herbal with a good mouth feel.
Strong but not overwhelming spice. Sweet but balanced with a hint of citrus.
Great first impression – chocolate and licorice – but then the licorice takes over and become overwhelming.
A very nice intro but then the spice becomes overwhelming. Pronounced lemongrass notes.
The Conclusion
After all the feedback we’ve received about our choice of vermouth early on, the old standard Martini & Rossi is sure hanging in there. Rosemary and I both liked the Martini & Rossi and the Barolo Chinato Cocchi the best out of these four. Rosemary slightly preferred the Barolo and I liked them both equally, so these are the two that will advance to the final round after we taste the French vermouths in the next round.
Photos Courtesy of Maggie Kimberl
Rosemary Miller also contributed to this story.
August 24, 2017 at 12:30 pm
I’m surprised at how receptive you two are to Martini & Rossi. It’s largely considered the bottle shelf of vermouth. I personally find it cloying and lacking of depth. Did you all taste the vermouths on their own or in Manhattans? If you tasted them on their own, try the Antica again in a Manhattan, those rich flavors are balanced nicely with the whiskey.
Not to make your job harder but you two should check out some domestic vermouths. I really enjoy Vya and Ransom.
What size jigger are you using? What are your actual proportions? A Manhattan is traditionally 2 to 1 whiskey to vermouth, but a standard Manhattan is about 3 ounces, and that gets 2-3 dashes of bitters. Sounds like you might be bitters heavy.
Lastly, you should probably settle on shaken vs stirred before choosing any ingredients as it’ll change the flavor and mouthfeel.
August 24, 2017 at 9:52 pm
Hey Jonathan, thanks for the feedback! The funny thing about the M&R is that I had heard so much negative feedback from the mixology and bar-tending community that I was sure I wouldn’t like it after trying it against other vermouths. Boy was I wrong! Even after trying 8 vermouths side by side by side it was still in my top two or three favorites. Everyone has different tastes and there’s no right or wrong here. As Booker Noe would say, drink it any damn way you want!
We did try one American vermouth and we were both quite unimpressed with it. We are going to stick with French vermouths for the next study, but we are already making notes for many further addenda after we reach the end of the study as we currently outlined it, so stay tuned.
I believe the jigger I’m using is 1.5 and 3/4 ounces, but don’t quote me on that. We are definitely using the 2:1 ratio. And we both like the two dashes of bitters in this ratio, which seems to be pretty standard according to our research.
Lastly, we have gotten more feedback on the shaken versus stirred debate than anything else in this entire study. As I explained above this decision was based not only on my own personal preference, but also on historical documents that call for a Manhattan to be shaken. I understand the thinking that this crucial element should be hammered out beforehand, but that is not how we are approaching things in this particular study.
One thing I will say for the mixologists and bartenders of the world is that there is no shortage of opinions about Manhattans 🙂