Just looking to revive this awesome thread. I know next to nothing about wonderful coctails.

Lucifer, you should check out the bar The Matchbox. You'd like it.

I want to try some sake cocktails. I made some lychee syrup over the weekend to experiment with...

I am interested in a wide variety of Manhattans. Anyone have any good recipes?

The Aviation Cocktail is my all time go-to drink. It's a post WW1 cocktail that was invented by a man named Hugo Ensslin at Hotel Wallick in New York. This man created this drink for the pilots that returned home from the war. The Pilot takes the drink, holds it up, and says, "This reminds me of the blue sky I once flew in."

Gin
Luxardo Marachino liqueur
Creme de Violette
lemon juice
simple syrup (opional)

Shake over ice, pour into a martini glass, and garnish it with a Luxardo marachino cherry.

went looking for an epic whiskey snobbery thread... not sure we ever had one.

but i wanted to post this

http://...drinkupny.com/...e_Pot_Still_21_Year_p/s1432.htm

and figured this would be the closest to what i was looking for.

Chocolate Thunder said:
The Aviation Cocktail is my all time go-to drink. It's a post WW1 cocktail that was invented by a man named Hugo Ensslin at Hotel Wallick in New York. This man created this drink for the pilots that returned home from the war. The Pilot takes the dr...

This is actually my favorite cocktail as well and it's what I actually came to this thread to talk about.

Most call for more Luxardo than Creme de Violette, but I honestly prefer more Creme de Violette than Luxardo. I tend to avoid adding simple syrup. As far as gin goes, I find that Citadelle gin works very well if you're adding more Violette, because Citadelle has nice floral notes that work well with the Violette.

Ugh... This guy ordered an almost unheard of cocktail in the middle of a rush from my co-worker. It was "Dapper Day" at Disney and this hipster orders an "Eastside." Here's the base recipe. The real fucked up part was that he kept adding more shit like egg white among other things . My co-worker was so pissed.

The Eastside

2 oz. gin
1 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
8 mint leaves
2 slices cucumber
Ice cubes
Tools: shaker, muddler, strainer
Glass: cocktail
Garnish: thin slice of cucumber

I would love to make an Aviation at home, but the price tag gives me pause.

Aviation is absolutely worth your investment. I felt the same way about the Last Word and then I got over it.

Okay, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when you're dealing with vermouth, especially in this case, as a mixer. That last part is important here, because that's really the vermouth's role in a Manhattan, you're rounding out the whiskey the part of the foil is played by the bitters. the reason that is important is because they way the human tongue works when dealing with the combo of sweet/bitter on the palette. Almost anything in the vermouth that makes it distinguishable is going to be overshadowed by whatever flavor profile the whiskey brings (remember, the vermouth is a rounding agent here) and then even further obscured by the bitters.

All this means that the vermouth is seriously the least important element to your drink construction here (honestly, a well done house cured cherry is going to have more of an effect on the flavor profile), if you have a fixed amount to spend on the ingredients for a night of Manhattans I think you're better off with an $18 bottle of vermouth and splurging on some high end bitters.

Now, with that out of the way, If you really just want to put the best combination of products together so that your first drink of the night before palette is too worn to notice the very subtle differences I do have some suggestions:

1) starting with Rye (because that's my preferred Manhattan) - I really like Carpano "Antica Formula" with a spicy rye, I think it balances nicely and highlights the right notes.

2)For bourbon, this varies with the mash bill for me, and for what kind of drink i'm in the mood for.

For a sweeter wheated bourbon I occasionally like something brings some slight herbal notes to the party, it adds a different dimension to the drink, but it also steps away from the classic Manhattan flavor profile a little bit. For that i'll reach for Atsby's "the armadillo cake"

For a non wheated bourbon I'll grab Perucchi - Rojo.

But honestly, like i was saying earlier, at my home bar you're most likely going to find a bottle each of sweet and dry martini and rossi.

I had a drink the weekend before last that was:

Mexican Coke reduction
fernet
lime

I've never had nor heard of fernet before.

Mind: blown. That fucker was absolutely revelatory.

I was drinking myrrh, people.