Up to Date Cocktail Recipe: Rye and Dry Sherry

Up to Date

Where a Manhattan uses sweet vermouth, this one reaches for dry sherry. The result is lighter and drier, with walnut and salted almond notes wrapped around spicy rye and a faint glow of orange.

4.1Editors’ rating

Taste4.2

Balance4.1

Easy to make3.2

Popularity10

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GlassCoupe

TechniqueStirred

DifficultyEasy

Time3 min

StrengthMedium (approx. 24 % ABV)

OriginUnited States, 1910s

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Ingredients

1½ oz rye whiskeye.g. Rittenhouse · Bulleit · Sazerac · Wild Turkey · Old Overholt
1½ oz dry sherry amontillado or finoe.g. Tio Pepe · Lustau · La Gitana
¼ oz Grand MarnierBuy on Amazon →
2 dash Angostura bittersBuy on Amazon →

Garnish: Lemon twist · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Chill a coupe glass.
Add rye, sherry, Grand Marnier and bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with ice and stir for about 20 to 25 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Express a lemon twist over the drink and add it as garnish.

Watch it made

Up to Date

Taste

Dry, nutty and gently spiced, with rye pepper, oxidised sherry notes of walnut and almond, and a light orange sweetness. Softer in alcohol than a Manhattan.

History and origin

The Up to Date is recorded in Hugo Ensslin's Recipes for Mixed Drinks, published in New York in 1916. Ensslin, head bartender at the Hotel Wallick in New York, is best remembered today because his book is also the source of the Aviation.

His original recipe called for equal parts rye whiskey and sherry with a couple of dashes each of Grand Marnier and Angostura bitters. It belongs to the Manhattan family of stirred whiskey drinks, but with a fortified wine that is drier and nuttier than vermouth. Like many pre-Prohibition drinks, it was largely forgotten for decades before bartenders brought it back during the cocktail revival.

Bartender tips

Amontillado gives the best balance of nuttiness and body; fino makes a leaner, saltier drink.
Keep opened sherry in the fridge and use it within a couple of weeks.
If the drink feels too dry, add a bar spoon of Grand Marnier rather than sugar syrup.

Variations

Manhattan: The template: rye or bourbon with sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters.
Bourbon Up to Date: Easy twist: bourbon instead of rye for a rounder, sweeter drink.
Oloroso version: Use a dry oloroso sherry for a richer, darker drink with more dried fruit.