Saratoga sounds nice; I'l have to try that. :thumbsup:
The Saratoga was really good. It's from that class of cocktails where people were like "hey, I like this drink, but what if I swapped out half the main ingredient for some additional liquor which should not go together but absolutely does?" Like the "Between the Sheets"; take a Sidecar (2 oz cognac, 1 oz lemon juice, 1 oz Cointreau) and sub out half the cognac for a nice amber rum (1 oz each of cognac, rum, lemon juice and Cointreau); it's AWESOME. The Saratoga is the same idea with a Manhattan and some brandy. I used the following recipe:
1 oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1 oz brandy (Paul Masson Grande Amber VSOP, but a nice cognac would be lovely)
1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica if you can swing it, Martini and Rossi would be fine)
2 dashes Angostura
Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an orange twist (a lemon twist will do in a pinch, but the orange really is magical here, and you can go for a flaming twist if you're feeling especially flamboyant). It's less spicy and slightly sweeter than a traditional rye Manhattan; exceptionally smooth. Don't know how well it would fare with bourbon and brandy, since bourbon is a bit sweeter than rye to begin with. But I highly recommend it.