Name: Cinnamon Spiced Manhattan Cocktail Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Cuisine: Cocktails
Ingredients: 2 oz rye whiskey; 1 oz red sweet vermouth; 2 dashes angostura bitters; 1 bar spoon brown sugar; 2 dashes cinnamon; orange slices, for garnish; cinnamon sticks, for garnish

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I don’t know about you, but I’m all about making fun cocktails at home lately. And this cinnamon spiced Manhattan cocktail is the perfect recipe for a fancy cocktail at home.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been mostly cooped up at home for 6 months, or maybe it’s because my husband has become an amateur bartender, but I’ve just loved making creative and different cocktails to switch up the many evenings at home.

The Classic Manhattan

I talked a lot about the classic Manhattan cocktail in my Easy and Cozy Fig Manhattan Recipe.

The Manhattan is a classic cocktail consisting of whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters.

Adding cinnamon to the Manhattan cocktail gives it a fall twist that’s gladly welcomed. I have been loving all things cinnamon and pumpkin spiced this fall – so this drink is perfect!!

Common Manhattan Cocktail Questions

What is the difference between a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned?

An Old Fashioned cocktail is make with whiskey, bitters and sweeter. A Manhattan cocktail, however, is made with whiskey, bitters, and vermouth.

Why is it called a Manhattan?

The Manhattan cocktail is named after the bar it was originated in, the Manhattan Club in New York City.

What is in a Manhattan Cocktail?

A Manhattan contains whiskey, bitters, and vermouth. It’s commonly garnished with a Maraschino cherry.

Smoking a Cinnamon Spiced Manhattan

An added bonus if you make this cocktail – smoke it! We love smoking cocktails. It gives the drink an added flavor that makes your house feel like a super fancy cocktail bar.

Smoking a cocktail is super easy. You’ll need 3 things:

A cocktail/dessert torch (as shown in the picture below)
Something non-flammable to torch on – we use a stone stand with a glass dome to capture the smoke
Wood chips

To smoke a cocktail, place wood chips on your non-flammable surface next to the mixed cocktail. Torch the chips until they’re on fire, then cover with a glass dome.

Covering the cocktail in the dome will extinguish the flames, which in turn releases smoke that infuses into your cocktail. Or, if you want to make this whole process way easier, you could buy a cocktail smoker online, like this one on Amazon.

If this process is intimidating, don’t worry! It tastes great on it’s own!

I also like sprinkling an orange with some brown sugar and torching it with the small torch. This creates a brûlée effect on the orange and becomes a beautiful cocktail garnish!

More Cocktail Recipes

Here are more cocktail recipes to get your mixology juices flowing!

Fig Manhattan: This delicious Manhattan recipe uses homemade fig syrup (I promise it’s easy!) that gives this drink a sweet spin on the classic cocktail.

Blood Orange Gin Gimlet Cocktail: Blood orange juice is the perfect twist to a classic gin gimlet cocktail. This easy recipe is great as a batch cocktail.

Cranberry Mulled Wine: Is there anything more comforting in the winter than mulled wine? This delicious cocktail will warm you up on chilly winter nights.