221. Manhattan Cocktail

 

My interpretation:

  1.5 oz Rittenhouse Rye

  1.5 oz Casa Mariol Vermut

  1 dash (3 drops) Angostura bitters

Stir with 1/2 glass cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — The original JM1908 called for Ballor Vermouth and Boker’s Bitters. Boker’s original recipe, or a good approximation of it, is not readily available, though Fee’s Cardamom is worth a try (perhaps mixed with Angostura). Ballor Vermouth may have been closer to a Turin chinato like Alessio. Casa Mariol has plenty of interesting qualities, if not the bitterness. In any event, Martini & Rossi was preferred by 1916. For the whisky (note that rye is crossed out in this copy), a spicy bonded rye like Rittenhouse works perfectly.

 

128. Evans' Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  2 oz Hochstadter’s Straight Rye
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  1 dash Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
  1 dash Fee Brothers Cardamom Bitters (Boker’s Style)

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir 30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This JM 1908 standby, a variation on a traditional “fancy” whisky cocktail, originally called for Boker’s Bitters, though this specification soon fell away before the 2nd edition in 1910 (I use Fee Brothers cardamom in tribute to this, and it fits really well with the profile). The apostrophe in the name was added in 1933. Straub borrows the recipe in 1913, omitting bitters altogether. Note that I have taken apricot brandy to indicate the sweeter, fruitier brandy-based liqueur, rather than a drier brandy distilled from apricots; this is supported by the small dosage required, suggesting a more flavorful quality.