About the Remember The Maine cocktail
Remember the Maine is a classic stirred cocktail made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, cherry liqueur, and absinthe. It is rich, boozy, and aromatic, with rye bringing spice, vermouth adding depth, cherry liqueur giving a dark fruit accent, and absinthe adding a subtle anise finish.
The cocktail was first documented in Charles H. Baker’s The Gentleman’s Companion, where Baker described encountering the drink in Havana, Cuba. Its name comes from the rallying cry “Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain,” which followed the 1898 explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor and helped lead to the Spanish-American War. Despite its Cuban connection, the drink feels closer to a Sazerac-style stirred whiskey cocktail than the bright rum and citrus drinks more often associated with Cuba.
