Manhattan
The IBA specifies 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, strained into a chilled glass with a cocktail cherry; we stir it over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and serve it in a coupe. That is five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The Oxford Companion says the most commonly told story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club on 29 December 1874, at a testimonial dinner for Samuel J. Tilden, later retold with Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, as host or inspiration, and calls that story simply not true: she had given birth to Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire less than a month earlier. The Companion names O. H. Byron’s Modern Bartenders’ Guide among the bar books that printed the drink in 1884, and we read Byron’s and Charlie Paul’s books of that year in the Internet Archive scans. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. We keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Variations
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Luxardo maraschino cherry
Ingredients
50ml
Around 40% ABV, with real spice. Rye gives a drier Manhattan in which the bitters read clearly; bourbon gives a rounder, sweeter one. The IBA names rye, and so do we.
20ml
A rich Italian style at our working 16% ABV; Carpano’s own page gives its Antica Formula at 16.5%. We keep it in the fridge once open and finish it within about four weeks; at over a quarter of the drink, a tired bottle shows.
1 dash
One dash, as the IBA gives it. It ties the whiskey to the vermouth; a second dash starts competing with the rye.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer or with ice water.
Add the rye, sweet vermouth and Angostura to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Empty the coupe and strain the drink into it.
Drop in a cocktail cherry.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Treat the vermouth as perishable. We keep it in the fridge from opening and replace it within about four weeks; in our experience a stale bottle is the commonest reason a Manhattan disappoints. In our view a rich Italian style such as Carpano Antica Formula, which Carpano’s own page describes with vanilla and dried fruit, sits closest to rye. One dash of Angostura is the IBA’s measure, and it is enough. The bitters frame the whiskey and vermouth; a second dash starts to compete with the rye. Use a mixing glass and a spoon, never the shaker. Shaking clouds the drink and leaves bubbles on the surface, where 20 to 30 seconds of stirring chills and dilutes it and keeps it clear.
Behind the Manhattan
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The Oxford Companion reports the most repeated story: the Manhattan Club in New York on 29 December 1874, at a testimonial dinner in honour of Samuel J. Tilden, with Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, as its host or inspiration. The Companion calls it simply not true and says she was not in New York: she had given birth to her son Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire less than a month before, and in 1874 the club stood in the Benkard mansion on Fifth Avenue, not the Jerome mansion on Madison Square.
What is established is print. Charlie Paul’s American and Other Drinks and O.H. Byron’s The Modern Bartenders’ Guide both carry a Manhattan in 1884. Paul’s is Scotch whiskey with vermouth, a few drops of Angostura and syrup; Byron gives two, one with French vermouth and whisky, one with Italian vermouth, curaçao, Angostura and whisky. In 1914 Jacques Straub’s Drinks printed a Manhattan of bourbon and Italian vermouth with a dash of Angostura, stirred.
The Template
Whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters, stirred cold and served up. Change the whiskey to Scotch and it is a Rob Roy; swap the vermouth for dry and add maraschino and it heads towards the Brooklyn. As the Companion’s entry on David Embury notes, he listed the Manhattan among his six basic drinks in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, first published in 1948.
Rye Versus Bourbon
Rye’s spice gives a drier, sharper Manhattan in which the vermouth and bitters stay distinct. Bourbon’s corn gives a rounder, sweeter one that is easier on a first-timer and kinder to a modest vermouth.
The Vermouth Standard
At 20ml in a drink of about 70ml before dilution, the vermouth is over a quarter of the glass. Fresh, it brings dried fruit, body and the sweetness that balances the rye; stale, it tastes flat and slightly medicinal. In our view a rich Italian style such as Carpano Antica Formula, which Carpano’s own page describes with vanilla, spice, citrus and dried fruit, suits rye best.
The Perfect Manhattan
The Perfect Manhattan splits the same 20ml of vermouth into 10ml of sweet and 10ml of dry. The dry vermouth adds a herbal, wine-like edge and trims the sweetness, so the rye’s spice comes forward. It usually takes a lemon twist, though a cherry suits it too.
Three Manhattans
The Manhattan as the IBA specifies it, and its two vermouth variations as we make them; the units are our calculation
Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 20ml sweet
- Bitters
- One dash Angostura
- Garnish
- Cocktail cherry
- UK units
- About 2.3
Perfect Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 10ml sweet, 10ml dry
- Bitters
- One dash Angostura
- Garnish
- Cherry or lemon twist
- UK units
- About 2.3
Dry Manhattan
- Rye
- 50ml
- Vermouth
- 20ml dry
- Bitters
- None
- Garnish
- Lemon twist
- UK units
- About 2.3
| Drink | Rye | Vermouth | Bitters | Garnish | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | 50ml | 20ml sweet | One dash Angostura | Cocktail cherry | About 2.3 |
| Perfect Manhattan | 50ml | 10ml sweet, 10ml dry | One dash Angostura | Cherry or lemon twist | About 2.3 |
| Dry Manhattan | 50ml | 20ml dry | None | Lemon twist | About 2.3 |
For Scotch in place of rye, see the Rob Roy; for dry vermouth with maraschino, the Brooklyn; for amaro in place of vermouth, the Black Manhattan.
How to Serve It
Stirred, strained into a chilled coupe and finished with a cherry dropped into the glass. A rocks glass over one large cube is the alternative, longer and cooler as it melts. It suits the hour before dinner as well as the one after.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Rye)Rye whiskey, under the US standard 27 CFR 5.143, takes at least 51% of its grain from rye and its colour from new charred oak, and goes into bottle at a 40% ABV minimum; our recipes take 40% as the figure. Rye makes a drier, spicier, more peppery spirit than corn, which is why stirred classics such as the Manhattan, Vieux Carré and Brooklyn are written for it. It appears in 23 of our recipes.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Manhattan?
Rye or bourbon?
Should a Manhattan be shaken or stirred?
What cherry goes in a Manhattan?
Why does the vermouth matter so much?
What is a Perfect Manhattan?
Why is it called a Manhattan?
How strong is a Manhattan?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- IBA, “Manhattan” (official specification: 50 ml rye whiskey, 20 ml sweet red vermouth, 1 dash Angostura bitters; pour into mixing glass with ice cubes, stir well, strain into chilled cocktail glass; garnish cocktail cherry).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Philip Greene), “Manhattan Cocktail” (secondary source: the Manhattan Club story (29 December 1874, Tilden) called untrue, Jennie Jerome in Oxfordshire; Mulhall’s Black in the 1860s; earliest known reference an 1882 column; Byron, Winters and Gibson in 1884; lemon peel in the earliest recipes, the cherry from 1891).
- Charlie Paul (1884), Internet Archive, “American and Other Drinks” (primary source: Manhattan Cocktail, three or four drops of Angostura, plain syrup, half a liqueur glass of vermouth, half a wine glass of Scotch whiskey, stirred, lemon on top).
- O. H. Byron (1884), Internet Archive, “The Modern Bartenders’ Guide” (primary source: Manhattan Cocktail No. 1 (a pony of French vermouth, a pony of whisky, three or four dashes Angostura, three dashes gum syrup) and No. 2 (Curaçao, Angostura, a wine-glass of whisky, a wine-glass of Italian vermouth; fine ice, stir)).
- Jacques Straub (1914), Internet Archive, “Drinks” (primary source: Manhattan Cocktail, a dash of Angostura, half a jigger of Italian vermouth, half a jigger of bourbon; stir).
- Luxardo, “Original Maraschino Cherries” (maker’s own page: candied cherries soaked in Luxardo marasca cherry syrup, no thickening agents and no preservatives, natural dark red colour).
- Carpano, “Antica Formula” (maker’s own page (Italian): nose of vanilla with spices, citrus and dried fruit (almonds, raisins, cloves); 16.5% alcohol).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (the Companion), “Embury, David A.” (secondary source: The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, 1948; the six basic drinks include the Manhattan).
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A Vieux Carré is 30ml each of rye whiskey, cognac and sweet vermouth, with 5ml of Bénédictine and two dashes of Peychaud’s bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over a large cube in a rocks glass, with lemon peel expressed over the top. About 3.1 UK units. Those are the IBA’s ingredients. The IBA serves it up, in a cocktail glass, finished with orange zest and a cherry; we keep the lemon peel of the recipe Stanley Clisby Arthur printed in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, which Difford’s Guide dates to 1938, and serve it over ice. Difford’s Guide reproduces Arthur’s entry, in which Walter Bergeron, head bartender of the Hotel Monteleone cocktail lounge in New Orleans, says he originated the drink in honour of the Vieux Carré. Difford’s Guide dates it to 1938. Vieux carré means old square: the French Quarter, where the hotel stands.
Boulevardier
A Boulevardier is 45ml bourbon, 30ml Campari and 30ml sweet vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with orange peel. It is the bourbon Negroni: the same Campari and vermouth with bourbon in place of gin, and that one change makes it warmer and rounder. About 3.0 UK units. It first appeared in print in Barflies and Cocktails, Harry MacElhone’s book, published in Paris in 1927, in a chapter by the columnist Arthur Moss, as the cocktail of Erskine Gwynne, an American in Paris who, Difford’s Guide says, helped found a monthly magazine called Boulevardier. Barflies and Cocktails gives the 1927 recipe as equal parts Campari, Italian vermouth and bourbon. The measures here are the IBA’s, with the bourbon ahead of the other two. Equal parts works well with a lighter vermouth. Against a rich one such as Carpano Antica Formula, the extra 15ml of bourbon keeps the drink from turning heavy.
La Louisiane
La Louisiane is 30ml each of rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and Bénédictine, with two dashes of absinthe and three of Peychaud’s bitters, stirred for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora, with a maraschino cherry on a pick. About 3.1 UK units. Stanley Clisby Arthur printed it in 1937, in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, as the special cocktail served at Restaurant de la Louisiane, “one of the famous French restaurants of New Orleans”, in Difford’s Guide’s reproduction of the book. His recipe, as Difford’s Guide reproduces it, pours a third of a jigger of each of the three, with three or four dashes each of absinthe substitute and Peychaud’s; ours keeps the thirds and trims the absinthe to two dashes. It sits on the Manhattan’s frame of rye and sweet vermouth, with Bénédictine poured at the same measure as both. In our view that makes it richer and more herbal than its parent, and the anise of the absinthe and the Peychaud’s places it in New Orleans.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026