Last year, I had the pleasure of attending a bourbon tasting with Maker’s Mark’s Bill Samuels Jr. At the end of the evening, he shared the recipe for his take on the Manhattan, and now I’m sharing it with you:
The Bill Samuels Manhattan
4 parts Maker’s Mark Bourbon
1 part Noilly Pratt Sweet Vermouth
3 drops Fee Brothers Cherry Bitters
Wee-bit cherry juice
Shake with crushed ice and strain into a Manhattan glass.
I am calling my version the ”mostly” Bill Samuels Manhattan because as you can see from the photo above, I used Maker’s 46 rather than Maker’s Mark, a different brand of vermouth and Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. I also had no cherries on hand, a situation I will soon remedy – but that’s the beauty of using the cherry bitters/liqueur: You really don’t even miss the cherry garnish.
