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All cocktails Preakness

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Preakness

Classic/vintage · Nightcap/sipping

4.2 115 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Rye whiskey 50% abv
3/4 oz Rosso/sweet vermouth
1/2 oz Bénédictine D.O.M.
1 dash Aromatic bitters

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

Method

  1. 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  2. 6 Garnish with skewered cherry.

Flavour profile

50.0% alc./vol. · 1.8 standard drinks · 184 calories

History

A sweet Manhattan with a herbal hint of Bénédictine.

According to a 2009 article by Dave Wondrich in The Malt Advocate, this cocktail was created in 1936 by George, the head bartender at Baltimore's Emerson Hotel. The Preakness Stakes, an American horse race held annually on the third Saturday in May at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, lent its name to the drink. George won a contest to devise an official cocktail for the first Preakness Ball that year. It is said that the Pimlico Racetrack is named after Ben Pimlico's Tavern, which was formerly in the area.