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Remember the Maine

Rye, sweet vermouth and cherry liqueur in an absinthe-rinsed glass — a darker, more aromatic Manhattan.

Difficulty
medium
Prep time
4 min
Strength
28.6% ABV
Glassware
Coupe glass
Base
whisky
Serves
1

Ingredients

  • Rye whisky
    50ml
  • Sweet vermouth
    23ml
  • Cherry liqueur
    10ml
  • Absinthe

    To rinse the glass; most is tipped out

    3ml

Garnish: Lemon twist

Scale for a party

Method

  1. Pour the absinthe into a chilled coupe, swirl it to coat the inside, and tip out the excess.
  2. Add the rye, sweet vermouth and cherry liqueur to a mixing glass filled with ice.
  3. Stir for about 30 seconds, until very cold.
  4. Strain into the rinsed coupe and express a lemon twist over the top.
Compared with the IBA specification

The International Bartenders Association lists this drink among its The Unforgettables. Its specification is a standard for training and competition — one reference, not the only right way to make the drink.

CocktailHQ

  • 50ml rye whisky
  • 22.5ml sweet vermouth
  • 10ml cherry liqueur
  • 2.5ml absinthe

IBA

  • 60 ml Rye Whiskey
  • 22.5 ml Sweet Vermouth
  • 15 ml Cherry Brandy Luxardo
  • 7.5 ml Absinthe

IBA ingredients as published at iba-world.com, retrieved 29 October 2026.

Allergen information

Contains an ingredient commonly associated with:

  • Sulphur dioxide and sulphites — usually (sweet vermouth)

Products vary, and this describes ingredients rather than the bottles you use — check every label. It is not a guarantee that a drink is suitable for anyone with an allergy. How this is worked out

Your version

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Your measures
How you rate your version

Equipment

Don't have everything? Here's what works instead.

  • Mixing glass

    Household swap: A sturdy pint glass.

Glass and ice

No ice in the glass

Served up, the drink was chilled and diluted in the shaker or mixing glass and goes into a chilled glass without ice.

Over a large cube it stays cold longer, but keeps diluting — it becomes a different, slowly lengthening drink.

About 113ml once mixed

The recipe's coupe glass is typically 150–250ml.

Workable:
nick & nora glass, martini glass, champagne flute, rocks glass
Oversized but acceptable:
wine glass
Unsuitable:
highball glass

Needs a glass of about 119–126ml brimful.

How this is worked out
  • A drink with no ice needs a little of the glass left empty — about a tenth — so it can be carried without spilling and has room for aroma.
  • Filled to the top with cubes or packed crushed ice, roughly half to three-fifths of a glass is left for the drink.
  • A drink built in the glass dilutes from the ice already there, so its melt water is not added on top.
  • One large cube takes up roughly 65–125ml, from a sphere to a 5cm cube.
  • Glass capacities are brimful and vary by maker — your own glass, measured with water, is the figure to trust.

Missing an ingredient?

Each swap below says what it changes and how to correct for it, so you can decide whether you are making this drink or a neighbouring one.

  • Instead of Rye Whisky

    Best substitute: Bourbon

    This is the base in this drink.

    Quantity: Same amount

    Flavour impact: Rounder and sweeter; pull the cherry back to 7.5ml.

    What changes

    Expect more sweetness, less bitterness and less strength. Still a good drink, and a slightly different one.

    Sweetness ↑
    The drink will land sweeter, which also makes it read as less sharp and slightly heavier even though nothing else changed.
    Bitterness ↓
    Losing bitterness makes the drink rounder and more approachable, and takes away the structure that stopped it tasting like squash.
    Strength ↓
    Bourbon is 40% ABV against 45%. A weaker bottle makes a softer drink — genuinely pleasant, but a different drink from the one written down.
    Character
    you lose spicy, dry, peppery and assertive, and you gain sweet, caramel, vanilla and oaky. Numbers can't see this: two ingredients can be identically sour and still smell nothing alike.

    To correct for it

    • Cut the syrup or sugar back — start by halving it and taste before adding any back.
    • A dash of bitters restores some of the backbone without changing anything else.
    • Pour a fraction more, or shorten the dilution slightly, to keep the shape of the original.
    Moderate confidenceShifts the drink

Make it better

  • Charles H. Baker, who printed it, told readers to stir it clockwise. It makes no difference; it is a good story.
  • A spicy, higher-strength rye holds up best against the cherry.
  • Cherry Heering is the usual choice; a darker, drier cherry liqueur makes a less sweet drink.
  • Chill the glass in the freezer for a few minutes beforehand — a warm glass takes the edge off a well-made drink fast.
  • Express the citrus peel by pinching it, skin-side down, over the drink before dropping it in — this releases aromatic oils across the surface.
  • Adjust sweetness gradually and taste as you go — it's easy to add more syrup, impossible to take it out.

Rescue this drink

Cough-syrupy
Too much cherry liqueur. Cut it to 7.5ml.
Tastes of aniseed
Tip out the absinthe rinse completely; only the coating should remain.
So cold you cannot taste itgeneral guidance
Spirit-forward drinks served up have a window: too warm and the alcohol burns, too cold and the aromatics stop volatilising and the drink reads as flat and numb. If it arrives correct and improves over the first few minutes, you have over-chilled it — shorten the stir slightly rather than skipping the freezer glass, because a warm glass ruins more drinks than a cold one.

Make ahead & storage

Batches well

Everything in this can be mixed days ahead and kept cold. It is one of the drinks to build a party menu around.

Add about 22% water to the batch to replace what the ice would otherwise contribute, or it will pour noticeably harsher than a fresh one.

Make it lighter

As written, about 2.9 UK units at roughly 28.6% ABV once diluted. 4 of six ways to lighten it work for this recipe. Units are an estimate of what is in the glass, not advice about drinking.

  • A smaller serveSupportedabout 1.9 units, 28.6% ABV

    Every measure at two-thirds. The balance is untouched because the proportions are; the only trade-off is a smaller drink — use a smaller glass so it doesn't look stingy.

    • 33ml Rye Whisky
    • 15ml Sweet Vermouth
    • 7ml Cherry Heering
    • 2ml Absinthe
  • Reverse the ratioSupportedabout 2.2 units, 21.4% ABV

    Two parts sweet vermouth to one of rye whisky. Reversed Martinis and Manhattans are long-standing variations: softer and more aromatic, and the sweet vermouth needs to be fresh.

    • 25ml Rye Whisky
    • 50ml Sweet Vermouth
    • 10ml Cherry Heering
    • 3ml Absinthe
  • Split the base with a lower-strength modifierSupportedabout 2.5 units, 24.8% ABV

    Equal parts rye whisky and sweet vermouth: the "fifty-fifty" treatment, at the same volume, for a rounder and softer drink.

    • 36ml Rye Whisky
    • 36ml Sweet Vermouth
    • 10ml Cherry Heering
    • 3ml Absinthe
  • Replace part of it with an alcohol-free bottlePossible, with a trade-offabout 2.7 units, 26.9% ABV

    Half the sweet vermouth with alcohol-free vermouth. Only a modifier has an alcohol-free counterpart here, so the saving is modest. Some alcohol-free bottles carry a trace of alcohol — check the label if that matters to you.

    • 50ml Rye Whisky
    • 11ml Sweet Vermouth
    • 11ml Alcohol-Free Vermouth
    • 10ml Cherry Heering
    • 3ml Absinthe
Not recommended for this drink: a longer serve; give it the spritz treatment
  • A longer serve. A stirred, spirit-and-vermouth drink is about concentration and texture. Soda turns it into something thin and confused. Note: the same alcohol in more liquid — weaker per sip, not fewer units.
  • Give it the spritz treatment. Sparkling wine for the base spirit leaves a fizzy vermouth, not a lighter version of the drink. Add the fizz last, at the glass.

Or make something lighter by design: Vieux Carré. All lighter drinks

What it tastes like

The taste, and what drives it

sweet, soft, light — a spirit and modifier drink served straight up, no ice.

Sweet

Dry → Sweet

Openly sweet, and balanced by something else rather than hidden.

What drives it: Cherry liqueur — carries the most sugar into the glass.

Gently bitter

Gentle → Bitter

Bitterness as structure — it stops the drink tasting like squash without being the point.

What drives it: Rye whisky — provides the bitterness.

Light

Light → Rich

Light-bodied. It refreshes rather than satisfies, which is usually the intention.

What drives it: Rye whisky — adds most of the weight.

Very bold

Delicate → Bold

Very bold — concentrated, and served small for that reason.

What drives it: Rye whisky — is the most concentrated thing in the glass.

What you smell first

  • Baking spiceLeads

    From Rye whisky, Cherry liqueur

  • Citrus peelLeadsBefore the first sip

    From Lemon twist

  • Fresh herb

    From Sweet vermouth

  • Oak

    From Rye whisky

  • Stone fruit

    From Cherry liqueur

Aromas marked as sitting above the drink reach you before the first sip — skipping that garnish changes the drink more than its size suggests.

How it was worked out

Each reading comes from the recipe's own recorded taste scores combined with what each ingredient contributes, weighted by how much of it is in the glass. Almost everything in this drink has detailed ingredient data behind it.

How balance actually works →

If it isn't right

What goes wrong with this drink, and why

Only the faults this particular recipe is actually prone to — open one for the likely cause, the adjustment, and what the adjustment costs you.

This drink is only as good as the vermouth in it

Degrades it

Vermouth is wine and oxidises within weeks of opening. A stale bottle is the single most common reason a stirred drink tastes dull rather than complex.

How to handle it: Refrigerate it after opening, buy the small bottle, and replace it more often than feels reasonable.

  • It's too sweet
    Likely cause
    Cherry liqueur is carrying the sugar here, and it is the easiest thing in the drink to over-pour — syrup clings to a jigger and a "splash" is rarely the same twice.
    What to change
    Cut cherry liqueur by about a third and rebuild. If it is already made, a little more of the base spirit or a dash of bitters will pull it back faster than starting again.
    What that does
    It will taste drier, and the base and any bitter or herbal notes come forward from behind the sugar.
    The trade-off
    Sugar carries body as well as sweetness, so you lose a little weight along with it.
    Cherry Heering: how it behaves
  • It's too bitter
    Likely cause
    Rye whisky is doing this deliberately, but bitterness also builds across a drink rather than announcing itself — the last mouthful is more bitter than the first even though nothing changed.
    What to change
    Lengthen it slightly, or add a small amount of sweetener. Do not add more of anything sour; acid sharpens bitterness rather than covering it.
    What that does
    The bitterness softens and the drink gets longer or rounder.
    The trade-off
    If you were hoping to keep it short and strong, this is the trade you are making — and sugar added to a bitter drink can make it taste cloying rather than balanced.
    Rye Whisky: how it behaves
  • It's too strong
    Likely cause
    Rye whisky dominates by design here — this is a drink built to be sipped, and the proportion of spirit to everything else is the point of it.
    What to change
    Stir a little longer, or add a measured 5–10ml of water. For a lasting change, pour a smaller measure of the base and keep the rest of the spec the same.
    What that does
    Alcohol presence drops and the aromatics open up — a slightly diluted spirit-forward drink usually smells better, not worse.
    The trade-off
    Go too far and it stops being the drink it was: spirit-forward drinks lose their character faster than long drinks do when watered.
    Stirring: what it does to a drink
  • It tastes harsh or hot
    Likely cause
    Almost always under-dilution. Stirring is how this drink gets its water — around 25% of the finished drink — and stopping early leaves alcohol heat that dilution would have rounded off.
    What to change
    Stir for longer — taste a drop off the spoon, and stop when the burn has receded rather than at a fixed count.
    What that does
    The heat recedes, the drink tastes rounder, and flavours that were masked by alcohol come forward.
    The trade-off
    Dilution is a target, not a direction: past it the drink goes watery and loses concentration, which is harder to undo than harshness.
    Stirring: what it does to a drink
  • It's watery
    Likely cause
    Stirring adds water while it chills, and the two cannot be separated. Wet ice from a freezer door, or small cubes, will over-dilute before the drink is properly cold.
    What to change
    Use bigger, drier, colder ice and stop sooner. Chilling the glass first buys you time you would otherwise spend diluting.
    What that does
    More flavour concentration at the same temperature.
    The trade-off
    Under-dilute instead and the drink will taste harsh — the aim is the right amount of water, not the least.
    Dilution and temperature
  • It isn't cold enough
    Likely cause
    Served without ice, this drink is at its coldest the moment it leaves the mixing glass and warms from the first sip. A room-temperature glass takes a surprising amount of that cold straight back out.
    What to change
    Chill the coupe glass first — ten minutes in the freezer, or filled with ice and water while you mix — and strain the moment you stop stirring.
    What that does
    The drink stays in its best range for longer, and the first sip tastes the way it was balanced.
    The trade-off
    Very cold drinks smell of less, because aroma needs some warmth to leave the glass. A smaller serve that is finished cold beats a bigger one that is finished warm.
    Dilution and temperature
  • It doesn't smell of anything
    Likely cause
    The aroma you are missing is probably citrus peel, which sits above the drink rather than in it — skipping or under-expressing the garnish removes it entirely.
    What to change
    Express the peel over the surface with the skin facing the drink, then drop it in. Herbs go in the glass, not on the side.
    What that does
    Aroma arrives before flavour does, so the whole drink reads as more intense without a single measure changing.
    The trade-off
    The oil does land in the drink, though — an over-expressed peel adds a faint bitterness to the first mouthful.
    Garnish techniques
  • It tastes one-dimensional
    Likely cause
    With 4 components there is nowhere for complexity to hide — a drink this simple is exposed by design, so a dull one is usually a dull ingredient rather than a missing step.
    What to change
    Change the quality of what is there before adding anything new: a better base bottle, a dash of bitters. Bitters add layers at a scale nothing else matches.
    What that does
    More going on at the same strength and sweetness.
    The trade-off
    Adding a whole extra ingredient instead usually produces a muddier drink rather than a deeper one — and a better bottle costs more.
    How the Manhattan family is built
  • It's cloudy when it should be clear
    Likely cause
    Two possible causes. Absinthe clouds (louches) when water meets it, which is expected and harmless; otherwise the drink was shaken or churned, which whips in air and ice shards.
    What to change
    Stir smoothly with the back of the spoon against the glass, using fresh, clean ice, and strain through a fine strainer if your ice is chipped.
    What that does
    A clear drink with the dense, silky texture a stirred drink is meant to have.
    The trade-off
    Stirring takes longer than shaking to reach the same temperature, and the drink will be a little less cold for the same effort.
    Stirring: why it keeps a drink clear
  • My batch tastes worse than the first glass
    Likely cause
    sweet vermouth is the part of this drink that changes on standing — citrus loses its brightness, opened wine-based ingredients oxidise, and fizz escapes. The spirits are not the problem.
    What to change
    Store it cold, in a bottle filled close to the top, and keep anything wine-based refrigerated. Decant into smaller bottles as it goes down.
    What that does
    The last glass from the batch tastes like the first.
    The trade-off
    Adding components at service brings some of the work back to the moment you were trying to free up — measure them out in advance to keep it quick.
    Batching: what keeps and what does not
  • The garnish is all I can taste
    Likely cause
    The lemon twist sits right under your nose, so it arrives before the drink does. Expressed peel oil is intense, and a peel left in keeps releasing it.
    What to change
    Express the peel over the drink, then discard it rather than dropping it in.
    What that does
    The garnish frames the drink rather than replacing it.
    The trade-off
    Too little and the drink loses its first impression — the garnish is doing a real aromatic job here, so ease off rather than leave it out.
    Garnish techniques
  • Each drink comes out different
    Likely cause
    With 4 measured components, a few millilitres' drift in each adds up, and a mixing glass loaded for four chills and dilutes differently from one made for one.
    What to change
    Measure every pour with a jigger, and stir no more than two at a time. Pre-mix rye whisky, sweet vermouth, cherry liqueur, absinthe in a bottle beforehand so each round starts from the same base.
    What that does
    The fifth drink of the evening tastes like the first, at the same strength and balance.
    The trade-off
    Smaller batches mean more rounds of shaking or stirring; pre-mixing saves time but only for what keeps.
    Batching and make-ahead
  • It tastes flat, dull or like old wine
    Likely cause
    Sweet vermouth is wine, and once a bottle is opened it starts to oxidise: the fresh, herbal top notes go first and a flat, nutty or sour edge comes in. Nothing else in the drink can put them back.
    What to change
    Taste sweet vermouth on its own. If it is dull, open a fresh bottle — and keep the next one in the fridge with the cap on, or buy a smaller size.
    What that does
    The drink regains its aroma and tastes brighter, without any change to the spec.
    The trade-off
    A fresh bottle for one drink is a cost; small bottles cost more per millilitre but waste less.
    Sweet Vermouth: how it behaves

Something else wrong? Open this drink in the Recipe Doctor.

Taste profile

Sweetness
3/5
Sourness
0/5
Bitterness
2/5
Strength
4/5
Fruitiness
2/5
Freshness
1/5
Creaminess
0/5
Smokiness
0/5

Nutrition & alcohol

Estimate only
Calories
190 kcal
Sugar
7 g
Carbohydrates
8 g
Alcohol units (UK)
2.88
US standard drinks
1.61
ABV
28.6%
Serving size
100 ml
Show calculation assumptions

Source: Calculated from standard measures

Calorie breakdown: ~158 kcal from alcohol, ~32 kcal from sugar and mixers.

Likely range: 143–238 kcal, reflecting the confidence level above — not a lab-measured figure.

Assumes rye at 45% ABV, sweet vermouth at 16%, cherry liqueur at 24% and about 22% dilution from stirring.

These figures are estimates, not laboratory measurements — individual tolerance to alcohol varies. See our responsible drinking guidance.

Variations

  • IBA proportions

    60ml rye, 22.5ml sweet vermouth, 15ml cherry liqueur and 7.5ml absinthe.

What kind of drink this is

The structure behind the recipe

A stirred build: a spirit and modifier whisky-based drink, served straight up, no ice — silky and dense in the mouth.

Spirit and modifier

Spirit combined with an aromatised or flavoured modifier and little else — concentrated, and served small for exactly that reason.

  • Base

    Rye whisky

  • Modifier

    Sweet vermouth

  • Sweet element

    Cherry liqueur

  • Aromatic

    Absinthe

Drinks built this way are collected as the Manhattan family.

Technique

stirred

The liquid is moved around the ice rather than against it, so it chills and dilutes with almost no air incorporated and almost no ice broken up.

A heavy, silky, completely clear drink. Alcohol reads more sharply than in the same drink shaken, because nothing has softened it.

What it ruins: Nothing outright, but it will not combine egg, dairy or thick syrup — those need force.

Everything about stirring →How the technique works →

Dilution

During mixing, then strained

Water from ice typically makes up around 25% of the finished drink for a stirred build (commonly 20–30%). Dilution is an ingredient here, not a side effect.

Why dilution is an ingredient →

Served

Straight up, no ice

Coupe glass · 100ml

Chilled during mixing and then strained away from the ice, so it arrives at its coldest and most concentrated and warms from the first sip — which is why 100ml is the right size for it.

Texture and aroma

Silky and denseLemon twistAbsinthe

Stirred without aeration, the drink stays heavy and slightly viscous in the mouth.

Aroma arrives before flavour does. A citrus twist is expressed over the surface so its oils sit on top of the drink — skipping it changes the drink more than its size suggests.

Where to go from here

Each of these is here because of something specific about this drink, not as a standard set of links.

Where it comes from

Origin and family

Origin of the Remember the Maine

Printed by Charles H. Baker Jr. in The Gentleman's Companion (1939), and named after the rallying cry that followed the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbour in 1898.

The IBA uses 60ml rye, 22.5ml sweet vermouth, 15ml cherry liqueur and an absinthe rinse. This uses less rye and less cherry.

Family

Manhattan

2 parts aged spirit · 1 part sweet vermouth · 2 dashes bitters — stirred, served up or over a large cube.

1934–1979Other mid-century drinks →

On drinks history

Cocktail origin stories are frequently repeated and rarely evidenced. Our history section separates what is documented from what is folklore rather than picking whichever version reads best.

History and culture →

Try this next

  • Vieux Carré

    You may like this because it's part of the same manhattan family as the Remember the Maine.

  • Monkey Gland

    You may like this because it shares a fruity-forward profile with the Remember the Maine, but uses gin instead of whisky.

  • Tipperary

    You may like this because it shares a strong taste profile with the Remember the Maine.

Use up your ingredients

Bought a bottle just for this? Here's what else it's good for.

Related tools

Scale this for a party

Work out bottles, mixers, ice and total alcohol units for any number of guests.

How far a bottle goes

Drinks per bottle, which bottle runs out first, batching — and the cost, at your own prices.

Recipe confidence

The printed source and the origin of the name are documented.

High confidence