The Waldorf Cocktail is a family member of the manhattan. The Waldorf was first created in the early 20th century at the old Waldorf hotel in New York City. The original recipe, which appeared in “The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book” by Albert Stevens Crockett, combined equal parts rye, vermouth, and absinthe. That is a boozy drink and a lot of absinthe, which can prove to be a challenging flavor for some drinkers. If you like absinthe and want to try the original, go for it.

Waldorf Cocktail

Like the manhattan whiskey drink, it uses sweet vermouth and bitters as ingredients. What sets the Waldorf Cocktail apart is the use of an absinthe rinse on the glassware.

For this cocktail, we use Tahwahkaro Malted Rye. Distilled grain to glass in Grapevine, TX. They use malted rye to bring out hints of vanilla toffee mingled with pepper and spice. The finish leaves a lingering taste of chocolate and buttered toast.

This is a fun cocktail to play around with since you can experiment with bitters, vermouths, and ryes.

Ingredients

• 2.25 oz rye whiskey

• .75 oz sweet vermouth

• 3 dashes angostura bitters

• Absinthe rinse

How to make the Waldorf Cocktail
Rinse a chilled glass with absinthe and set aside. In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the other ingredients. Stir and strain into the chilled glass. The lemon peel garnish is optional. 

Check out the millionaire and the other Texas whiskey cocktails you can make at home.