A Tasty Twist on a Manhattan

At Sentinel & Station in Lake Placid, I enjoyed a drink called the Young Buck and so decided to try it at home based on the ingredients listed in the description on the menu.

To make it, I had to buy some Cynar, an Italian liqueur worth getting to know.

First off is how to pronounce it: CHEE-nahr. (I asked for SIGH-nar at the liquor store and was met at first with blank stares.)

Like Campari and Aperol, it’s an amaro, a bittersweet herbal liqueur. And like its Italian cousins, it’s often served as an aperitif or a digestif on its own or with some fizz.

The Cynar bottle features a drawing of an artichoke on it, and the name comes from Cynara scolymus, the Latin botanical name for the globe artichoke. However, it does not taste like an artichoke. That’s because the plant’s leaves are just one of a dozen other undisclosed herbs and plants infused into the alcohol. Caramel is also added to balance the woody, aromatic flavors of the botanicals, deepening the drink’s color and putting the sweet in bittersweet. I plan on trying it in my Negroni in place of the Campari.

Young Buck-ish

Dolin Blanc, a sweet, white vermouth that’s widely available, adds welcome floral notes to the cocktail.

Makes 1 drink 

Ingredients

2 ounces rye whiskey, preferably Michter’s

1 ounce Cynar

1 ounce Doolin Blanc

2 to 3 dashes orange bitters

Orange peel or orange slice for garnish

Directions

Combine the whiskey, Cynar, vermouth, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir until properly chilled. Serve over a large ice cube or in a chilled coupe glass garnished with orange peel or an orange slice.

Cynar, a key ingredients in this drink, gets its deep aromatic flavor from artichoke leaves along with many other botanicals.