Four Seasons Book of Cocktails

Some of America’s best-known vintage cocktails are based on rye whiskey. They also have rich histories. Take the Manhattan, for example: In the Gilded Age it was a staple for the upper crust, and financier J. P. Morgan is said to have enjoyed a Manhattan every day after the stock market closed.

For other rye whiskey recipes in this chapter, see Dee Dee’s Manhattan, Rye Fizz, facing page; and Whiskey Fizzer. Or choose rye for any of the recipes that leave the type of whiskey up to you.

With dry vermouth and lemon

2¾ ounces rye whiskey

¼ ounce dry vermouth

Lemon twist for garnish

Combine whiskey and vermouth in mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Strain into glass and garnish.

So famous it lent its name to a glass

½ teaspoon superfine sugar

Orange slice

Maraschino cherry

2½ ounces rye whiskey

1 splash still water

Muddle sugar, orange, and cherry in bottom of rocks glass. Add ice, pour in whiskey, and top with water.

Created in the mid-1800s at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans

1 ounce simple syrup

3 to 5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

3 ounces rye whiskey

Absinthe for coating glass

Crushed ice

Lemon twist for garnish

Chill rocks glass while preparing drink. Combine syrup and bitters in mixing glass and stir. Add whiskey and ice and stir to chill. Discard ice in rocks glass and wipe dry. Add enough absinthe to coat the inside as glass is swirled. Fill glass with crushed ice, strain in whiskey mixture, and garnish.

With sweet vermouth and maraschino liqueur

2½ ounces rye whiskey

¼ ounce sweet vermouth

¼ ounce maraschino

Maraschino cherry for garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Strain into glass and garnish.

Named in the early 1900s for the political precinct of Roxbury, the Boston suburb

2 ounces rye whiskey

1 ounce lemon juice

½ ounce orange juice

2 or 3 dashes grenadine

Maraschino cherry for garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Strain into glass and garnish.

A simple yet classic pairing

2½ ounces Seagrams 7

12 ounces 7UP

Pour whiskey into ice-filled highball glass. Top with soft drink and stir.

Named for Greg’s Long Island hometown

1½ ounces Jameson Irish whiskey

½ ounce dry vermouth

½ ounce sweet vermouth

Lemon twist for garnish

Pour liquid ingredients into ice-filled rocks glass. Stir and garnish.

Usually fast, sometimes “sloe.” Sloe gin is made from sloe plums, the fruit of the black thorn tree (Prunus spinosa).

2 ounces whiskey of choice

1 ounce sloe gin

Olive for garnish

Pour whiskey and sloe gin into ice-filled rocks glass. Stir and garnish.

Catch it!

2 ounces whiskey of choice

2 ounces orange juice

½ ounce lemon juice

Lemon peel spiral for garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and stir to chill. Strain into glass and garnish.

Jack and mint on the rocks

2 ounces Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey

1½ ounces green crème de menthe

Club soda

Mint sprig for garnish

Combine whiskey and liqueur in mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Pour with ice into glass, top with club soda to taste, and garnish.

Light ’n’ lemony

2 ounces whiskey of choice

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon grenadine

½ teaspoon powdered sugar

Lemon peel spiral for garnish

Combine whiskey, juice, grenadine, and sugar in ice-filled white wine glass. Stir and garnish.

Not limited to golf days

2 ounces whiskey of choice

1½ ounces orange juice

Orange slice for garnish

Combine whiskey and juice in ice-filled rocks glass. Stir and garnish.

Effervescent and sweet

2½ ounces rye whiskey

½ teaspoon superfine sugar

1 dash Fee Brothers lemon bitters

Crushed ice

Club soda

Combine whiskey, sugar, and bitters in mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Strain into glass filled with crushed ice, top with club soda to taste, and stir.