Fanciulli Manhattan

Francesco Fanciulli (1853-1915) was given the unenviable task of succeeding John Philip Sousa as the leader of the United States Marine Band. After he refused an officer’s request to play a tune, Mr. Fanciulli was arrested for insubordination. But Fanciulli later had a cocktail named after him. The drink’s origins are murky, but it is clearly in the manhattan family, the chief difference being a touch of the amaro Fernet Branca, perhaps a nod to the musician;'s childhood years in Italy. This recipe is from Philip Greene, a Washington-based cocktail historian.