1626
2.5 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon
0.75 oz. Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur
1/2 tsp Cherry Heering
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Pour ingredients into mixing glass, stir with cracked ice for 20 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.

(1626 was the year the very first Manhattan was purchased, albeit about 250 years before the cocktail came to be. Prof. Jerry Thomas was the original king of cocktails during the golden era of the late 1800’s. The first bar he opened was in the same building as P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in Manhattan If you happened to go through the museum’s egress thinking it was another attraction, you could always console yourself with a cocktail made by the “Professor”.)