Home-crafted Cherry Rye Manhattan Cocktail

A local restaurant called Origami has a cocktail on their menu called the Sakura Noir. During a date night, the description caught my attention, mostly because it included rye whiskey:

rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, sour cherry syrup, peychaud & cherry bitters.

I enjoy rye whiskey and will make myself a Manhattan once in a while, which this drink resembles. The price was right so I gave it a try. The Sakura Noir was served down in a rocks glass, unlike a Manhattan. The rye was forward, but it was tempered by the cherry syrup and made for a nice drink.

My wife, on the other hand, likes Irish whiskey in a Big Ginger, but never neat. She was willing to try the Sakura Noir… and fell in love. Since the restaurant is rather distant and date nights are few and far between, I was asked a few times to put one together at home. Not being a bartender of any type, and with a limited bar to work with, I eventually settled on a recipe using ingredients we usually have around the house.

Ingredients

For rye whiskey, I tend to keep Redemption Rye around, but the reality is it’s just one brand of rye distilled by MGP/LDI in Indiana. The main feature is that a bottle won’t set you back much (around $30 for a 750mL) so you don’t feel bad about making cocktails with it. If you want a sipping rye… well I haven’t ventured into that area. Yet.

A good sweet vermouth is nice to have around, but the bottle I have came from Trader Joe’s a year or two ago. It works, but like rye, it’s not an area I’ve explored much.

Since I don’t keep sour cherry syrup around, I had to find something else. In its place, I used the juice from some marinated cherries: .

These cherries are great by themselves, but work really well in a cocktail. More importantly, the liquid they are packed is an amazing mixer. We had a jar of leftover liquid in the fridge, and it turned out to be a great call. One thing to note is that bourbon is an ingredient of the cherries, so I wouldn’t give them to your kids. They wouldn’t appreciate them anyway.

Finally, we have the bitters. There are two in the original: and . Peychaud is a kind of aromatic bitter like Angostura, which I usually have on hand. Peychaud is also the bitter for the Sazerac, a New Orleans cocktail. If you don’t have either, any other kind of classic or aromatic bitters will work. However, a bar should have a few different bitters on hand at all times.

Cherry Manhattan Recipe

Serves 2

• 3 oz rye
• 1.5 oz sweet vermouth
• 1 oz
• ‎2 dashes
• 2 dashes

1. Add all to shaker full of ice.
2. Stir until cold.
3. Strain into old-fashioned glass.
4. Garnish with .

The recipe can scale up or down, but keep in mind it packs a punch. Everything contains alcohol, except the ice. One is more than enough for an evening, even less if you are my wife. As with any drink, be responsible in your consumption.