Bourbon Manhattan Recipe. A riff of the classic, we swapped out Rye for Bourbon in this Manhattan Cocktail.

A Bourbon Manhattan is a riff off the original Manhattan Cocktail. A Manhattan is a whiskey cocktail with sweet vermouth and bitters. Rye whiskey is traditionally used to make a Manhattan. To make this cocktail we simply swap out Rye for Bourbon whiskey.

This 3 ingredient classic cocktail is effortless and sophisticated. For a sweeter Manhattan, we used bourbon.

Next to the Old Fashioned, this is one of the best winter bourbon cocktails.

Ingredients for a Bourbon Manhattan

• Bourbon
• Peychaud’s Bitters
• Sweet Vermouth
• Luxardo Cherry
• Orange Peel

Also, if you are not using a Luxardo Cherry you are wrong. If you didn’t know that putting that bright red ice cream sundae cherry in your cocktail is absolute trash, then now you do!

Best Bourbon for a Manhattan

The best bourbon for a Manhattan is Buffalo Trace or Weller Special Reserve. Even though these are allocated bottles we can always find one or the other on the shelf. Since we can easily get our hands on these bourbons we pretty much use them for all our Bourbon Cocktails.

Other highly recommended bourbons for a Manhattan are Elijah Craig Single Barrel and Henry McKenna.

Best Sweet Vermouth for Manhattan

Sweet vermouth is aromatized sweet wine. For our Manhattan’s we recommend the following.

• Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino
• Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth

How to Make a Bourbon Manhattan

Making a Manhattan with bourbon is just as easy as making the classic.

• First, fill a mixing glass with ice. This is a martini-style cocktail served without ice.
• Next, add bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters to the mixing glass and stir until chilled.
• Strain into a martini or a coupe glass.
• Finally, garnish with a Luxardo cherry and orange peel.

Pro-tip: Twist the orange peel over the cocktail before garnishing. The orange will release its oil and fragrance adding an extra sensory element to the bourbon manhattan cocktail.

Manhattan Variation

This Bourbon Manhattan is a variation in itself. Other riffs of the classic Manhattan include:

• Pick your whiskey. Classically a Rye cocktail but not limited to other whiskeys like Irish, Japanese, or American Whiskey blends.
• Try different bitters such as chocolate bitters, or black walnut.
• Serve it over ice.

More Bourbon Cocktail Recipes

Find all our best bourbon cocktails in one place on the website!

Bourbon Manhattan Recipe