Try Your Manhattan Black

So about a week ago, I met up with Jason Wilson, spirits columnist for The Washington Post. He was in town for a wedding, so we met up at Zig Zag to celebrate and talk shop. After touring through a few rounds of the menu, he asked Murray to make him a Black Manhattan.

Black Manhattan: rye whiskey, Averna, and Boudreaux's cherry bitters in almost the same proportions as a classic Manhattan. Try it however you take yours. Murray's version was so balanced, it was deadly. The perfect example of the some kind of magic a great bitters can bring to a drink. Some of the sweeter, cola-edged bottles like Averna and Ramazzotti love to play around with whiskey, and they're all old friends at my house. But this cocktail has stayed with me, and I've tried to recreate it.

I've settled on a 5:1 ratio of Old Overholt to Averna, and 2 splashes of Fee's bitters with a smashed cherry because clearly I need to reformulate and tone down my cherry bitters. Damn you Boudreaux!