The Manhattan Rhapsody

Hands down, my favorite cocktail is the Manhattan. Shall I tell you the many reasons I love this beverage so?

• It takes effort to make. Mixing a Manhattan takes me about twice as long as making a martini (splash vermouth, pour gin, pop in olive, done!). The more elaborate process of Manhattan mixing means more time for anticipation, plus more time to feel like a bartender.
• It's open to variations. Bourbon, rye or blended whiskey? 2:1 whiskey to vermouth, or vice versa? Angostura or orange bitters? Perfect or standard? My personal favorite recipe: 2 oz Baker's bourbon, .5 oz sweet vermouth, .5 oz dry vermouth, 3 dashes Angostura bitters, shaken gently. Prior to pour, rinse glass with a particularly peaty single malt Scotch (or as I did tonight, Suntory Yamazaki) 'Rinsing' is a delightfully extravagant technique I picked up in Esquire, probably the best source of preposterously indulgent cocktail development tips.
  
• It's beautiful. I can't think of anything else I can put in a glass and hold up to the light that seems quite as warm, alluring, philosophical and sexy simultaneously as a Manhattan. It's not as sharp as the martini, not as airy as the cosmopolitan ... Every time I take a first sip of a Manhattan, there's a piano tinkling gently in the background. I slip into a kind of brief, comfortable solitude that is alone, but not at all lonely.
• It's intoxicating - literally moreso than figuratively, despite the previous bullet point. I don't think anything puts me in a 'happy drunk' mode more than a Manhattan.
• It comes with dessert. Like an inverse ice cream sundae, it has a cherry on the bottom.