The Red Hook

[CrispyCritter]

This is sort of a hybrid between the Manhattan and the Brooklyn. Red Hook itself is a waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn, for that matter. Funny how a Chicagoan would be a fiend for cocktails named after NYC, though! :slappin:

A recipe that I found:

• 2 oz. rye whiskey
  
• 1/2 oz. Punt e Mes
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass.

I made the first one with Rittenhouse BIB and 1/2 oz. of Luxardo Maraschino along with the Punt e Mes. Mmmmmmm...:drinking:

It's definitely on the sweet side, so I tried adding a little more Punt e Mes and a little more rye, and dropping back a bit on the Luxardo. Heavenly!

Although the recipe didn't call for it, I garnished it with a cherry, as well.

If you can't get the Punt e Mes, you could probably substitute a standard red vermouth with a generous dose of Angostura bitters, and maybe some Fee's old-fashioned bitters as well. It wouldn't be quite the same, though - the bitters in Punt e Mes aren't like anything else I've had.

Maraska Maraschino (from Croatia) could be used in place of Luxardo, as well. I don't think that Wishniak or Cherry Heering would be a substitute, at least from what I've read.