There are thousands of cocktails using bourbon. These are a few of my favorites.

Use a good whisky for the drinks, but there is no need to spend a lot. For most of these cocktails I don’t like the wheated bourbons, such as Maker’s Mark. There are very good bourbons in the $30/bottle range. Experiment and see what you like.

Manhattan

I like to make this with both bourbon and rye. I use 2 kinds of bitters.

• 2 parts bourbon or rye
• 1 part sweet vermouth (recommend Carpano Antica)
• 1 dash bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters (optional)
• 2 cocktail cherries (recommend

1. Fill the serving glass with ice and water. Let this sit while you make the drink. This will chill the glass.
2. Add bourbon, vermouth and bitters to a cocktail shaker. Add ice.
3. Stir drink in shaker for about 30 seconds until frosty cold.
4. Empty serving glass and strain drink into glass. Garnish with cherries.

Bourbon Smash

• 1/2 large lemon cut into chunks
• 3/4 oz simple syrup
• 8 mint leave, plus 1 sprig
• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 cocktail cherry

1. Put lemon, mint leaves and simple syrup into shaker.
2. Muddle just enough to extract the juice from the lemon pieces.
3. Add the bourbon and stir well.
4. Strain into a rocks glass 1/2 full of ice. Garnish with the mint spring and cherry.