sherman

1/3 jigger Whiskey (1 oz Fighting Cock 103 Bourbon)
2/3 jigger Sweet Vermouth (2 oz Cocchi)
3 dash Absinthe (1 bsp Kübler)
1 dash Bitters (Jerry Thomas Decanter)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Mondays ago, I reached for my copy of Esquire's Handbook for Hosts (1949) to look for a drink that a guest requested called the Horsecar (we made the drink by finding it online). That equal parts Perfect Manhattan with orange bitters does not appear until the Esquire's 1956 book, so instead I settled on the Sherman. The Sherman apparently was first published a decade before in the Old Waldorf Bar Days, and the idea of an inverse Manhattan embittered with a duo of bitters as well as absinthe sounded pretty close in feel to the Horsecar. While there is someone out there currently that the Horsecar is their go-to call drink, I wonder when the Sherman was last asked for much less regularly?
The Sherman shared a light anise aroma from the Kübler Absinthe, and this led into a grape sip with undertones of malt. Next, the Bourbon showed itself on the swallow seasoned with licorice and spice. Definitely using a punchier whiskey gave this inverse Manhattan some backbone, but I would definitely drink a Vermouth Cocktail such as this recipe without the whiskey in place.