Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Warhorse Edition

We made it to Friday once again. Congratulations to all of us. This week was a slog for yours truly. Though that will happen on the first week back from vacation. So I needed something to celebrate the end of the week, and I felt a whiskey based drink would be the perfect vehicle for proper end of week fetes. This week we’re making a Man O’ War. I had this one on my (quite extensive) list of drinks to make here, and it just….kinda got lost in the mix. Thankfully, I re-discovered when deciding what to make this week, and decided to give it a go. Contrary to what I thought of when I came across this recipe, it is NOT named for the massive 18th century warships that dominated naval combat, but instead it was named for the dominant race horse Man O War, who nearly won the Triple Crown in the 20s. Given the racehorse connection, the bourbon base makes so much sense now.

Should I have made this drink in May for the Derby? Probably. But, we’re here now (with all the ingredients on hand) so let’s make it!

2 oz. good-quality bourbon or your favorite rye whiskey
1 oz. Cointreau or other orange liqueur
.5 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Brandied cherries or lemon peel for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes then add the bourbon (or rye or whiskey), Cointreau, sweet vermouth, and lemon juice. Close and shake until it is thoroughly chilled (almost too cold to touch), at least 20 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the ice-filled cocktail glass, spear a few brandied cherries and a few bits of lemon peel onto a few cocktail toothpicks and garnish each glass. Serve.

The nose is lemon & citrus forward. I get some of the orange liqueur, but mostly the lemon scent. I do get a little bit of maraschino cherry aroma, but I really only noticed it after smelling the drink 2 or three times.

The flavor is heavy on an orange and bourbon mix up front. Underneath that, I get slight bitter notes from the lemon juice, but nothing too strong or overpowering. The flavors don’t change in intensity and all play really well here, making this a very well balanced drink. The aforementioned blend of flavors carries all the way through the sip. No real aftertaste to speak of here, although the lemon bitterness lingers for a second or two afterwards, but it fades rather quickly.

Overall, this is very Smooth, and drinkable. Strong enough to let you know this is a whiskey drink, but it restrains itself enough were you could have a second one if you wanted. I really like this one actually. Not just because I enjoy whiskey based drinks, but there is something about the simplicity at play that makes this work really well. This is definitely going to be one I make again, and relatively soon.

(Banner image found here)