The History of the Manhattan
The Manhattan is one of the most elegant cocktails from the late nineteenth century. Along with the Dry Martini, it shows how simple a great drink can be. A short list of ingredients, a straightforward method, and a result that depends entirely on the bartender’s touch. It is strong, balanced and timeless.
Its history mixes truth and myth. The most famous story begins at the Manhattan Club in New York. According to this tale, the drink was created in the mid 1870s for a banquet hosted by Lady Randolph Churchill, the mother of Winston Churchill. It is an appealing story, but it breaks apart on a simple fact. She was in England at the time and pregnant. This makes the story highly unlikely.
A more credible view, shared by Simon Difford is that the Manhattan evolved within the New York bar scene during the late 1860s and early 1870s. Bartenders had long been mixing spirits with bitters and sugar. The arrival of Italian sweet vermouth in the United States created a new opportunity. By combining rye whiskey with vermouth and bitters, bartenders produced a drink that felt modern for its time. Cocktail historian David Wondrich describes the Manhattan as one of the first drinks to move beyond the older formula and into the era of more complex mixed drinks.
Timeline
Before 1860
American whiskey cocktails usually combined spirits, sugar, water and bitters. Vermouth had not yet become part of American bar practice.
1860s
Italian sweet vermouth becomes widely available in New York. Bartenders begin experimenting with mixtures of rye and vermouth. This period is the most likely starting point for the Manhattan.
1870s
The term Manhattan cocktail appears in print. An 1882 newspaper article describes a whiskey, vermouth and bitters mixture that had become popular under several names including the Manhattan cocktail.
1884
The Modern Bartenders’ Guide by O. H. Byron prints the first widely recognised Manhattan recipes. The book includes two versions that feature whiskey, vermouth, Angostura bitters and instructions to stir with ice and strain.
This helps define the drink and allows it to spread through the growing cocktail culture.
1890s and after
The Manhattan becomes a national standard. Variations appear quickly. Scotch produces the Rob Roy. Cognac gives the Harvard. Each variation keeps the same core structure.
Key Figures and Myths
Bartending authorities like Harry Johnson helped establish the Manhattan in print and promoted consistent technique, although they did not claim to have invented it. Another early story credits a bar owner named Black, who supposedly served a similar mixture in the 1860s. The evidence for this claim is thin, but it supports the idea that the Manhattan grew out of the culture of New York bars rather than a single dramatic moment.
Legacy
The Manhattan shaped an entire family of drinks built on the combination of base spirit, sweet vermouth and bitters. It showed how three ingredients, handled with care, could produce depth and balance. It remains a benchmark cocktail. Any bar that takes classic drinks seriously includes it. More than a century after its birth, the Manhattan still reflects the best of nineteenth century bartending.