American Straight Rye Whiskey to the RESCUE! Manhattan cocktail joy and drink

In the realm of whiskey I was always confused about what "Rye" whiskey was. I grew up in Canada and it seemed like virtually all Canadian whiskeys were just referred to as rye whiskey. The funny thing is, everyone I knew and grew up with never drank it, the only people who did were just really old, and they certainly weren't my parents. It seemed everybody just drank beer, the typical macro stuff and not any craft beer cause the movement in those days wasn't as big as it is now.

When I got into bourbon, I started learning just about whiskey in general, and many bourbon fans also enjoy rye whiskey too. However, I soon learned that there was a distinction to what Americans call rye and what Canadians call rye. There are many distinct differences, but not to say that one is superior over the other all the time.

One of the most obvious things is that American rye whiskey has to contain a mash bill that is at least 51% Rye. There is no such stipulation or law for this in Canada for rye whiskeys. Some Canadian whiskeys hardly even contain any rye at all.

I was also realizing that many people like Rye in their Manhattans which is easily a favorite cocktail of mine. I normally have it with bourbon being such a fan, but as I started hearing people talk about all these great American ryes, I felt like I was missing out on something special.

So I grabbed three straight American rye whiskeys to compare against, and more importantly try them all in a tasting. The results and imbibing joy are all below.

Cheers!

The White Manhattan Cocktail... twist on a classic standard. You can teach an old white dog new tricks!

Sometimes, everything comes together in life. When it comes to a good cocktail, it's also the finer things and the patience involved to make it, that somehow makes it more rewarding.

I had done a previous whiskey tasting of young whiskey as part of my series. While tasting the whiskey I realized that much of it sat on the shelf and I cared not often to bring it down for my liquid pursuits.

However, after finishing the tasting I went back to some old articles and came across one for white whiskey in the Washington Post, and there it was ... there was included a recipe using white whiskey in a classic standard cocktail favorite of mine... a "white Manhattan".

I love Manhattans. I am normally a Bourbon fan with them and particularly like them on the rocks. What my biggest pet peeve with them though was, were the ubiquitous companionship of cocktails.. those things that I could not escape no matter how hard I tried... the dreaded red fake cocktail cherry.

But even then I fixed that solution purchasing Italian Wild Cherries that were just DIVINE. I was all set, I even decided to order some other French Vermouth, only to receive dry vermouth instead of Blanc (white/sweet). My plans were put on hold, I would have to wait... WAIT to make this drink... My temptation to just make one, sans true cocktail cherry, sans Dolin Blanc (perhaps even ruining it with an old long shelved bottle of Martini Rossi Bianco), no I would have to be patient... A true good cocktail need EVERYTHING just right. And the wait was well worth it.

Subtle, sweet glycerine taste, orange slight bouquet, Benedictine... oh what a great liqeur you are... and then topped with a great tasting cherry. This is a great sweet drink, which you white whiskey fans may be all over... Benedictine is not a normal component in a classic Manhattan. Put here with the sweentess of a Blanc Vermouth it really adds a great texture along with orange bitters. Definitely worth a look.

I present to you... the White Manhattan. Cheers!

So what's the deal with cocktail cherries?

Cherries.... I always hated those things...

To many people who know me, they know I am not in to sweet things. I usually do not care for sweet drinks (although the right occasion sometimes calls for them!) and I usually have no interest in dessert. I like to tell people when I eat out that when I am asked if I am interested in having anything for desert I'll say give me another steak. So I usually steered away from sweet things and that included fruit.

My admonishment for all things fruit also goes back to how I grew up eating fruits in general. I grew up in a very Northern climate that was also very far from typical fruit growing regions in North America. Fresh fruit was not common. Cherries to me were always a rare thing. I did seem to make an exception for citrus.

My first impression with cherries was... it was those bright red things that came in a jar. It was what you found on a banana split at the Dairy Queen. They were bright red almost florescent soaked in a sickly disgusting syrup that was filled with lots of artificial flavoring.

I absolutely HATED them, they were repulsive.

So to this day when it comes to cocktails, the cocktail cherry is something that I really despise. People still use those sickly corn-syrupy artificial red dye things. I ranted about this in my Old Fashioned video. So many times when I was at a bar asking for a Manhattan I would constantly tell them to not put cherries in my glass. However, after moving to an area with a better change of produce in season, I discovered cherries actually were different.

My wife came home from the farmers market with a bag of cherries. The first thing I noticed was how DARK they were. "What are these?" I asked her.. she looked at me as if I had three heads. "They're CHERRIES... try one." And I discovered that in season cherries I really liked.

So I would throw those in cocktails and they'd hit the spot, occasionally I'd make a cherry syrup, but the problem was they wouldn't stick around. I figured well that was it... no cocktail cherries for me any more, but I somehow felt there was a way around this. And boy was there ever.

Enter the picture above. I read and found out about these cherries that come from Italy. They are wild and selected Amarena Fabbri cherries. These... are just perfect. I know feel I can but these in my glass and not be disgusted. They tasted absolutely divine, not too sweet, great texture, almost alcohol brandy like, and they look like the real thing.

So all is not lost, and the imbibing world just got a little better, so this time, pretty please make a Manhattan, with Fabbri Wild Cherry on top!