Build your Cocktail Box

The Manhattan has outlasted prohibition, it's survived countless trends, and is widely (and rightly) regarded as one of the greatest ever cocktails. If you believe the legend, it was first mixed in 1870 at a reception held by Jennie Jerome, soon-to-be mother of Winston Churchill. The venue? The Manhattan Club - where else. Or so the story goes. You can find it on cocktail menus around the world, and now, in your very own cocktail bar, too.

This story begins in Paris, at Harry’s Bar, where the famous barman Harry McElhone invented this special cocktail for Erksine Gwynne. Gwynne was well known because he was the grandson of the magnate Alfred Vanderbilt. Thanks to Gwynne, the Boulevardier became famous when he published the recipe in his “Barflies and Cocktails”, circa 1927, and he went on to create a monthly magazine called "Boulevardier”.

The origins of this cocktail go so far back that it's tough to trust anyone who says they created it. The original name was Whiskey Cocktail, as it reflected the characteristics of the classic cocktail formula laid down in 1806: spirit, sugar, water and bitters. The proliferation of new liqueurs available to bartenders from the 1870s resulted in a fad for new and allegedly 'improved' Whiskey Cocktails, which then led to a revolt amongst those who yearned for the original drink. Hence the Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail.

The true origins of the Whiskey Sour are shrouded in mystery, like any great story. While the sour drink first emerged when the Royal Navy sailors mixed citrus with their beer or rum, to keep the scurvy away, credit for the birth of the Whiskey Sour is often given to the intrepid Englishman Elliott Stubb. Stubb's adventures led him to a Peruvian port town in the 1870's, where he opened a bar and experimented with whatever he could find. He eventually tried mixing the local limon di pica with whiskey and sugar. The result? A classic that balances sweet warmth and tart citrus.