I hate winter. Cold, dark, wet and depressing, the season’s only charms are exhausted before the tinsel is even off the tree. My only consolation is that the brown, bitter, and boozy cocktails I love so much taste best when the weather is at its worst.
But what to drink as the weather turns again to tolerable? 50 degrees and drizzling isn’t weather for a dry gin martini, nor does it require the same fortifications as 10 degrees and snowing. During the months on either side of winter, I often find myself still drinking cocktails based on brown, brooding spirits, but mixed with lighter accompaniments. My favorite example is the Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn is essentially a 19th century-style Manhattan subbing dry vermouth for sweet and calling for a specific brand of bitters. Light, herbal and a little bit floral with a boozy backbone, it’s the ideal cocktail for March—equal parts lion and lamb.
Brooklyn
- 2 oz. Rye Whiskey (preferably 100 proof)
- 1 oz. Dry vermouth
- .25 oz Luxardo Maraschino
- .25 oz Amer Picon (unless you live in France, you’ll have to sub Torani Amer or make your own)
Stir over ice for 45 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish a real preserved cherry
About our Bartender – Michael Bowers is the Head Bartender at the Modern Hotel and Bar in Boise, Idaho. His patrons know him for the uncanny precision with which he tends his bar. Michael’s cocktails have been noted by, among others, Food and Wine, Sunset Magazine, and the New York Times. See more in The Drink archive.
thirsty.
thirsty.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, inexpensive rye?
Old Overholt <$20
Priced at about $15 (depending on your home state’s tax rate), Jim Beam makes a decent, inexpensive rye, and probably good enough for mixing in cocktails, but Sazerac is very good ($27) and Russell’s Reserve is even better ($31)
I agree that the best among the cheapest is Old Overholt. I don’t like Jim Beam’s rye (though their bourbon is serviceable), but I do agree about Russell’s Reserve– if you can afford it, it’s quite good.
Sazerac is my go to for making the cocktail of the same name. For general rye-drinking, Bulleit Rye is excellent.
My go to for cocktails is Rittenhouse 100 proof. Wild Turkey’s rye whiskey is also excellent but a few dollars more than Rittenhouse. Bulleit has a new rye that is reasonably priced and very good, too. A lot of folks like Old Overholt, but it’s never suited my tastes and is only available at 80 proof. 80 proof whiskey tends to be kinda flat in cocktails which is why I recommend 100. Sazerac 6 year has also been mentioned, and though I like it very much, you can get better bang for your buck with my recommendations above.
Old Overholt if you’re really cheap (14 in California), Rittenhouse Bonded if you’re not (20 bucks). Beam’s and Bulleit’s rye whiskies can’t compare to either of these. Russell’s Reserve is decent and Sazerac is fantastic. Of all of these, though, Rittenhouse is my favorite.
Also, Amer Picon is effing amazing. Step one of this cocktail should seriously just be, “Go to France and buy some Amer Picon.” Or get your friend to go there, like I did.
Also, regarding the freshness of vermouth, “a few weeks” is a pretty absurdly short time. I find that in the fridge it’ll stay good–and bear in mind, here, good just means “retaining its delicious flavors at their most intense”, because it never actually goes bad enough to be undrinkable–for a couple months. If you buy one of those Vacu-Vin winesaver things (10 bucks at Total Wine) it will keep for forever.
This drink should come with a disclaimer. I ordered it after reading this article, and it kicked my ass out of the park!
Crown Royal Rye Whiskey is superb. That is a superb canadian rye for the price. i enjoy Wiser’s Rye as well, but finding that in bars is much more difficult than Crown Royal. Though both as a Canadian whiskey, they’re not true rye whiskey as the recipe calls for. In the great white north rye whiskey and canadian whiskey are used interchangeably, since originally all Canadian Whiskey was supposed to be made from Rye. Not so much the case now.
No, sorry, Joel. Crown Royal is a blend. Unless a Canadian rye is specifically marked 100% rye, I cannot recommend it. Usually it’s part rye whiskey, part neutral spirits. And that is terrible.
I really like Bulleit’s rye ($23)
Bulleit 95 Rye it definitely worth seeking out.
For anything but super-premium liquors (which tend to cost far more for less of an increment in quality), your quality will be reflected in the price. If you want inexpensive, check out what’s on the shelves and buy the one in your price range. Usually if someone says a certain inexpensive brand is really good, that’s just their own taste talking, and to someone else it may not be so great. Otherwise, you can probably line up all the bottles based on quality and another line based on price, and they’ll be roughly the same order.
Also, unless you’re in a grocery store or the counter has a clerk who looks like he is barely of legal age, ask the guy at the counter. Especially if you go to an actual liquor store, they will be happy to point out some widely-like ryes.
I’m a fan of Old Overholt. It’s somewhere around $15. It’s got an interesting flavor that lends itself well to certain drinks.
Buillet Rye is very delicious and only costs a little more than$20.