The Manhattan's history is the history of American rye whiskey in miniature: born in a rye-drinking city, nearly killed by Prohibition, kept alive in a sweeter bourbon form for sixty years, and restored to its original spec by bartenders who went back to the books. This is the Archive — the long version, with the myths separated from the record.

The deep-dives are above; what follows is the arc in one piece.

Before the Manhattan: Whiskey and Vermouth

Two things had to be true before anyone could make a Manhattan. American bars had to be drinking whiskey in quantity — they were, and in New York that whiskey was Pennsylvania and Maryland rye — and vermouth had to be on the shelf. Vermouth was a new and increasingly fashionable import in the 1870s and 80s, and bartenders did what bartenders do with a new ingredient: they mixed it with everything. Gin and sweet vermouth became the Martinez, the Martini's ancestor. Rye and sweet vermouth, with the aromatic bitters that already went into every "cocktail" of the era, became the Manhattan.

New York, the 1870s

The drink appeared in New York in the 1870s or early 1880s, and it was in print by 1882; the date is debated, and so is the bar. The Manhattan Club on Fifth Avenue is the traditional claimant; a bartender named Black on lower Broadway is the rival account; the banquet story involving Winston Churchill's mother is a myth that collapses on its own dates. By the middle of the 1880s the Manhattan was in bartenders' manuals and on newspaper pages as a drink readers were expected to know. The evidence is weighed in who invented the Manhattan.

What the early recipes make clear is the whiskey. They say "whiskey," and in 1880s New York that usually meant rye, though an 1883 Boston account already describes a bourbon Manhattan. Proportions varied more than they do now — equal parts was common, and some recipes added a dash of curaçao or absinthe — but the frame was already fixed: rye, sweet vermouth, bitters, stirred, served up.

The Family Begins: Rob Roy and Brooklyn

Once a drink is a template, bartenders start substituting. The Rob Roy, a Manhattan built on Scotch, is traditionally dated to 1894 and named for the operetta then playing in New York. The Brooklyn was in print by 1908 — rye with sweet vermouth, maraschino and the bitter French aperitif Amer Picon, with dry vermouth from 1913 — and the Perfect and Dry Manhattans, which swap in dry vermouth, belong to the same era. By the First World War the Manhattan had a family, and all of it was built on rye.

Prohibition and the Bourbon Years

Prohibition did more damage to rye than to any other American spirit. The Pennsylvania and Maryland distilleries closed and, when repeal came in 1933, most stayed closed — the stills, the capital and the skilled workforce were gone. Kentucky bourbon had survived in pockets and Canadian whisky had spent thirteen years supplying the country illegally; those were the whiskeys on the post-repeal shelf, and the Manhattan was remade with them.

The result was the mid-century Manhattan: bourbon or Canadian whisky, sweet vermouth that had been open on the back bar for months, and a bright-red cherry. It was popular — it never left the menu — but it was a sweeter, softer drink than the original, and it is the version many people still picture. By the 1980s only a handful of rye labels survived, and the rye Manhattan lived mostly in older bartenders' memories. The structural reasons the rye version works better are set out in why rye is traditional; the bourbon version, done properly, is in the bourbon Manhattan recipe.

The Revival

The craft-cocktail movement that took hold in New York in the late 1990s and 2000s went back to the 19th-century books and rebuilt the classics as written. For the Manhattan that meant rye, fresh vermouth kept cold, a proper stir and a real cherry — and it meant bartenders needed rye whiskey, which pulled the category back into production. The same bars produced a new generation of Manhattan descendants: the Red Hook and Greenpoint, each a Brooklyn with a different amaro or liqueur, and the Little Italy, a Manhattan riff with Cynar. From San Francisco came the Black Manhattan (Todd Smith, 2005), which replaced the vermouth with Averna. Within fifteen years the rye Manhattan was the default again in any bar that cared.

The Manhattan Today

The modern consensus spec — 2 oz rye, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura, stirred, up, cherry — is close to what the 1880s manuals describe, adjusted drier. Bourbon remains a legitimate alternative; Canadian rye has its own tradition; the Perfect, Dry and Reverse are standard orders. What has changed most is the vermouth: the revival restored it to the fridge and to freshness, and that, as much as the rye, is why a Manhattan made today tastes like the drink New York invented. The canonical build is the rye Manhattan recipe; the whole family is mapped in Manhattan Variations and Manhattan by Spirit.

The Manhattan and the Old Fashioned

The two drinks share a century, a spirit and most of a back bar. The Old Fashioned is older — its formula of spirit, sugar, bitters and water is the original "cocktail" of the early 1800s — and the Manhattan is what happened when vermouth gave bartenders a second way to sweeten whiskey. Their parallel histories are told in the Old Fashioned Corner's history of the Old Fashioned, and the two are compared directly in Manhattan vs Old Fashioned.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the Manhattan invented?

In New York in the 1870s or early 1880s; it is first mentioned in print in 1882. The first printed recipes under the name appear in bartenders' guides in the 1880s.

Who invented the Manhattan?

Unknown. The Manhattan Club is the traditional claimant; a Broadway bartender named Black is the rival account. The story involving Winston Churchill's mother is a myth.

Was the original Manhattan made with rye or bourbon?

Most likely rye. New York's usual whiskey in the 1870s was Pennsylvania and Maryland rye, and early recipes that said "whiskey" generally meant it, though an 1883 Boston account already describes a bourbon Manhattan. Bourbon became the common Manhattan whiskey after Prohibition.

Why did the Manhattan become a bourbon drink?

Prohibition destroyed the Northeastern rye industry. After repeal, Kentucky bourbon and Canadian whisky were what bars could buy, and the Manhattan was remade with them for most of the 20th century.

When did rye come back to the Manhattan?

With the craft-cocktail revival of the late 1990s and 2000s, when bartenders rebuilt the classics from 19th-century sources. Rye is again the default in good bars.

What are the Manhattan's oldest relatives?

The Rob Roy (Scotch, traditionally dated to 1894), the Brooklyn (maraschino and Amer Picon, in print by 1908 with sweet vermouth and later made with dry) and the Perfect and Dry Manhattans, all from the decades before Prohibition.

Frequently Asked Questions (Voice Search)

How old is the Manhattan cocktail?

About 150 years. It was created in New York in the 1870s or early 1880s, first mentioned in print in 1882 and in recipe books by the mid-1880s.

Is the Manhattan older than the Martini?

They're close contemporaries. Both grew out of vermouth's rise in American bars in the 1870s and 80s; the Martini descends from the Martinez of the same era.

What did the first Manhattan taste like?

Sweeter and more vermouth-forward than today's — early recipes often used equal parts rye and sweet vermouth, sometimes with a dash of curaçao or absinthe, stirred and served up.

Why is rye the traditional Manhattan whiskey?

Because 1870s New York drank rye, and the drink's balance of a dry, spicy spirit against sweet vermouth was built around it.