Ok, so this is the second entry about The Grey, possibly my favorite whiskey bar. That is where my appreciation for the best Manhattan most likely started. So in subsequent trips to the Grey, I find that they are nearly impossible to live up to that very first experience. C'est la vie.
I was in Savannah for only one night. I just had to go to The Grey, despite there being so many other great options in that old city. I wanted another "best Manhattan." I don't recognize any of the bartenders (it's been a while), so I simply ask the one that waited on me to make me her best Manhattan. I watched her make it. The ingredients were fine. She used Cocchi sweet vermouth - my favorite. But gone was the experience, the flair, and extra attention paid to the process and result. So, while the resulting Manhattan was just fine, it didn't stack up to my expectations.
So, later in the evening I asked her to make me something "off menu," but Manhattan-like. I'm finding using that tact yields more interesting results than simply asking them to make me their best Manhattan. Bartenders tend to fall back to what special Manhattan recipe they already have on the menu. You have to ask them for something off the menu; something of their own creation, or something patrons don't typically think to ask for.
She made me a Vieux Carre, which is French for "old quarter," and was the common French term for the French Quarter in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. So, this nice little cocktail hails from the delta city itself. You can look up the recipe for a Vieux Carre online. There are plenty of references, but I've never heard of it. The recipe she made for me was:
1oz Templeton Rye
1oz cognac
1oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi)
1/4oz Benedictine
1 dash each of Peychaud and Angostura bitters
Brandied cherry garnish
The result was outstanding! Very smooth and rich. The sweetness of the cognac and vermouth were balanced very nicely with the spicy bitterness of the rye and Benedictine. My only challenge with this recipe was that the North Carolina ABC stores don't normally carry the Benedictine liquor, so I stopped at a liquor store in Savanna before leaving town. They are open on Sunday, which is amazing.
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