manhattan project

1 oz Old Overholt Rye
1 oz Zucca Rabarbaro (Sfumato)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
4 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Wednesdays ago, I was scanning the Kindred Cocktail database for rabarbaro recipes to make use of my newly opened replacement bottle of Sfumato. There, I uncovered an old recipe from Carlo Caroscio that he created at Volt in Frederick, Maryland, in 2013; I met Carlo in 2016 when he joined the team at Backbar where he rose to bar manager, and he recently left Backbar for Portland, Maine, to help run the Death & Co. project The Danforth. The Manhattan Project reminded me of one of the recipes at La Brasa when I first joined in 2019 called the Law of Octaves (2 oz Old Overholt Rye, 1 oz Zucca, 1 dash Prohibition Aromatic Bitters; coupe with flamed orange twist) but this one added sweet vermouth and orange notes to the mix. Once prepared, the Manhattan Project led off with an orange, herbal, and roast aroma. Next, grape and roast notes on the sip gave way to rye, bitter herbal, and orange flavors on the swallow.