manhattan exposition

2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac
1/2 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
2 dash Housemade Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist a lemon peel over the top and discard.

Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I traveled down to Deep Ellum for dinner and drinks. For a cocktail, I asked bartender Evan Harrison for the Manhattan Exposition off of their "Manhattans 8 Ways" section of the menu. For an otherwise straight-laced section, the drink was a bit of an abstraction. Here, the barrel-aged Cognac could mimic certain whiskey flavors and the dry vermouth supplemented by the sweetness and ruby color of sloe gin could perhaps trick the mind into thinking sweet vermouth. Indeed, it was an abstraction I was willing to try. While I could find no historical evidence for a Manhattan Exposition, various expositions did bring about some delicious drinks such as the Columbian Punch from the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
The Manhattan Exposition presented a Cognac and lemon oil aroma. Fruit notes from the sloe gin and Cognac predominated in the sip; these notes were chased by Cognac's heat and dry vermouth's botanicals on the swallow. Moreover, a pleasant wave of chocolate notes from the mole bitters lingered as the swallow's flavors subsided. Unlike most sloe gin-containing drinks, the Manhattan Exposition was surprisingly dry.