I know it’s been a while. Mostly because I can’t get my act together enough to make a cocktail, photograph a cocktail and drink a cocktail on the weekend so I can post it on Friday.

I’ve been thinking about this cocktail a lot since I first tried it when Matt took me to the Gibson, in DC. It’s not common here and I’m such a creature of habit. Ma’s first reaction when I told her about it was “It sounds like a less simple manhattan, a manhattan is perfect, why would you want anything else?”. She has a point. I also don’t have absinthe, however, I’ve covered that before by using Pernod and I did the same this time.

The Maine we’re supposed to remember is the USS Maine a dreadnought that exploded in Havana in 1898. The US claimed the Spanish did it and declared war, the popular catchphrase of the time was “Remember the Maine, the Hell with Spain”. Catchy.

I like it, I’m not sure that it will replace the manhattan as my favourite cocktail, however, the Heering and the Pernod add a complexity that I really like.  It’s a keeper.

The recipe I used came from Imbibe, which in turn came from ‘The Gentleman’s Companion’ by Charles H. Baker, Jr. If you like manhattans, give this one a go!