The Preakness

I know what you're all thinking... "'The Preakness' like the horse race?" 

Surprisingly enough, this cocktail is not the official cocktail of The Preakness Stakes, that's the Black Eyed Susan. You can get the recipe for it on the Preakness Stakes website, so I won't bother with it here. Though you may hardly ever encounter it, The Preakness is a cocktail worth knowing.

According to Doug Ford of Cold Glass,

Historians tell us that George Backert, head barman at Baltimore’s Emerson Hotel, invented the Preakness Cocktail as a contest entry. It seems the Pimlico racetrack owners were looking for a good evening cocktail to serve at the  first Preakness Ball in 1936, and Backert’s simple twist on the classic Manhattan won the honor of becoming the first official cocktail of the afterparty.

The formula for this cocktail is easy and uses ingredients typically found in a home bar. We got our recipe from the Death and Company cocktail book, which you can purchase here.

Ingredients:

• 1.5oz Boundary Street Bourbon
• 0.75oz Benedictine or B&B
• 0.75oz sweet vermouth
• dash aromatic bitters

Directions:
Combine all ingredients over ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an expressed orange peel. Serve.