Cocktail No 13 Manhattan Dry

I couldn't just pass away the Sheep's Head as a Manhattan copy without giving into the temptation to do a direct comparison. Tonight is obviously Bourbon night!

Its amazing how different two drinks which on the surface contain similar ingredients in similar ratios. The real differences here are the Vermouths. The Rosso in the Sheep's Head give a deep and rich flavour, almost molases in its intensity. The Dry Vermouth is clean, pure and a faint resemblance of a fino sherry note.

I could drink a Manhattan Dry all night, but could only manage one or two of the Sheep's Head. Yes the Manhattan remains one of my favourite cocktails, almost, but not quite equaling the Dry Martini.

I am very surprised at the difference between the two.

Recipe

Add ice to mixing glass with 1 & 1/2 measures Bourbon Whisky, 1/2 measure Dry Vermouth and a splash of Angostura Bitters. Stir well and strain into a goblet.

Cocktail No 12 Sheep's Head

Don't be put of by the macabre name, this is just a variation on the Manhattan family. Bourbon based, but adding sweetness and herbal aromatics through Rosso Vermouth and a teaspoon of Bénédictine. Finished of with a twist of lemon to infuse with those wonderful citrus oils.

Tastewise, apart from the similarity to the Manhattan's its a little difficult to characterise. Its actually very well balanced, so nothing strongly stands out as a dominant note, but that is actually a good thing. The Rosso is definitely present. If you know the ingredients you can identify each one, although the Bourbon is surprisingly masked, but I am not sure I could have identified them from a blind tasting.

Recipe

Add 1 & 1/2  measures of Bourbon Whisky to a mixing glass with 1/2 measure Rosso Vermouth (careful not to over do this) and 1 teaspoon of Bénédictine with ice. Stir and strain into a small tumbler, or in my case one of the 2 remaining wine goblets from my parents' wedding gifts.

Twist a piece of lemon peel to release the citrus oils and drop on top. Decorate with a Cocktail Cherry.

Enjoy.