Rouses Magazine - November December 2020

The Bourbon Issue In the Holiday Spirit

Holiday Recipes

Bill Goldring: The First Gentleman of Bourbon

Building Your Bourbon Bar

CALL me OLD FASHIONED RECIPE Spiced Cinnamon Syrup

1 Part Hot Water

Fresh Sliced Apples

1 Part Granulated Sugar

Angostura Bitters

Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Star Anise and Allspice to Taste

Bulleit Rye Whiskey

In a cocktail shaker, muddle 2 to 3 fresh apple slices with 1oz. spiced cinnamon syrup. Tart apple varieties like Granny Smith or Braeburn work best to balance the sweetness of the syrup. Add 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters and 1.5oz. of Bulleit Rye Whiskey.

Top with ice. Stir to combine for 30 seconds and strain over fresh ice.

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The Sweet Spot

by Donny Rouse, CEO, 3rd Generation

The very first whiskey drink I ever had was SoCo and Coke. That’s the nearest I’ve come to a cocktail since, aside from the occasional margarita. SoCo — Southern Comfort — is a whiskey with natural flavors that's made at Buffalo Trace. Since that first introduction to brown liquor, I’ve never turned back.

Peanut Butter & Pineapple Glazed Ham Serves 10-12

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Ham (any style) 1 pound box dark brown sugar 1 jar Rouses creamy peanut butter 2 tablespoons Rouses yellow mustard 20 ounce can pineapple slices in pineapple juice Small jar maraschino cherries HOW TO PREP: Preheat oven to 325°F. In a shallow roasting pan, bake ham, uncovered, according to weight. (Cooking times vary based on size and type of ham).

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, peanut butter, yellow mustard and the juice from the pineapple and mix until you have a creamy sauce. Set aside.

Remove the ham 20 minutes before cook time elapses and pour off the drippings.

Brush with glaze until ham is completely coated. Decorate ham with pineapples and cherries. Cook an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

ROUSES

And I’m not the only one who likes bourbon. It has never been more popular than it is now, especially around the South, where our history is steeped in it. Louisiana in particular loves bourbon; the state is the ninth-largest consumer of it.

With that in mind, we’ve built the largest bourbon selection on the Gulf Coast at Rouses Markets. Thanks to ambitious distilleries, we have a lot more budget-friendly options when it comes to good bourbon. Thanks to smart distillers who gambled on letting their bourbons spend additional time in the cask, we have a lot more older, better, investment-worthy ones. And, thanks to our relationships with distillers, we’re able to source more of both than anyone else.

This year I’ll be watching the Saints game over a plate loaded with Thanksgiving turkey, ham and dressing, along with a tumbler of Blanton’s. But I do appreciate the importance of a well-made cocktail. In this issue we share the history behind the Sazerac, Manhattan and Boulevardier — the kind of bourbon drinks your grandfather would recognize.

We also present Thanksgiving-themed cocktails perfect for serving at Friendsgiving get-togethers (see page 58).

Have you heard that flavored bourbon is the fastestgrowing segment in the bourbon market? If you like flavored bourbons, this holiday season is a great time to try one with the traditional flavors of Thanksgiving, like cinnamon-flavored Fireball, or Jim Beam Apple, made from fresh-pressed apples combined with Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — it’s great with cranberry juice. Wild Turkey American Honey is a bourbon liqueur made with pure honey. There’s also Heritage Bourbon BSB (Brown Sugar Bourbon), which was awarded the “World’s Best Flavoured Whisky” award from World Whiskies Awards. It just sounds like pie.

Lest you think bourbon is only a man’s drink, at last study, a solid 30% of bourbon drinkers are women. My wife, Kara, is a recent convert and a fan of Maker’s Mark. That distillery’s own Margie Mattingly Samuels, the woman behind the most iconic bourbon bottle in history and its trademark red wax seal, was inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2014.

Kara’s favorite bourbon cocktail is the Kentucky Mule, which is a bourbon-based version of the Moscow Mule (see page 34).

Whether you’re new to bourbon, or already a connoisseur, I hope that this issue helps you add some new bottles to your bucket list.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M

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COVER PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

1 6 7 8 9

In Every Issue Letter from Donny Rouse

Features

16

Contributors Letter from the Editor Letter from Ali Rouse Royster Departments & Services

Buffalo Bill — Bill Goldring, The First Gentleman of Bourbon

by David W. Brown

20

On the House

39

Building Your Bourbon Bar

BARREL PROOF

40

Collecting 101

46

Comiskey’s Whiskey

49

Bayou Bourbon Hunters

15

TIM ACOSTA’S

Buffalo Trace Cherries

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2 12-ounce jars of maraschino cherries Buffalo Trace Bourbon, enough to cover HOW TO PREP: Drain and pack your cherries into a large Mason jar. Pour the bourbon over the cherries until it covers the fruit completely. Screw the lid on tight. Let stand at least 48 hours to macerate.

by Sarah Baird

by Justin Nystrom

Small Batches Bourbon Glossary Around the Bar

34

Talk Derby to Me

48

What’s in a Name?

51

Making Waves

80

Smoke & Whiskey

82

35

Bourbon Balls

by Robert Simonson

Mint Julep

by Robert Simonson

36

Manhattan

38

Boulevardier

58

friendsgiving Cocktails

56 60 63

For all the bourbon fans in your life, we offer bourbon gift baskets and gift sets. We can also make personalized cocktail gift baskets. ​

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25

An Intoxicating Mix of Cheese & Cocktails

by Liz Thorpe

30

Old-Fashioned

33

Whiskey Sour

by Robert Simonson

by Robert Simonson

by Ali Rouse Royster Saintsgiving Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

Grilled Asparagus

69 71

Turkey 101 Buttermilk Brined Turkey Baked Turkey Smoked Sausage & Tasso Cornbread Dressing

72

Browned-Butter Bourbon Pecan Pie Mr. Anthony Rouse’s Down-Home Oyster Dressing

Cocktails GIFT BASKETS

Friendsgiving

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

In Our Stores Holiday Gift Guide Freezy Does It: Jack & Coke Popsicles

by Robert Simonson

Sweet Potato & Green Onion Sausage Hash

by Marcy Nathan

by Sarah Baird

by Robert Simonson

Holiday Recipes & Cooking Tips

by Sarah Baird

by Michael Tisserand

by Robert Simonson

Mint Julep Brownies

by Sarah Baird

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81

Kentucky Mule

by David W. Brown

by Wayne Curtis

We hand-select our very own private barrels of bourbon — from distilleries like Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve — that are bottled just for us. These limited, hand-select bourbon barrels arrive throughout the year.

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78

Merry Christmas & Happy Gruyere!

by Liz Thorpe

SAVE $1.00 MANUFACTURERS COUPON EXPIRES 01/31/2020

WHEN YOU BUY ONE (1) PACKAGE OF RICHARD’S 16 OZ. SAUSAGE (ANY VARIETY) Consumer: Limit one coupon per item purchased. Void if copied, sold, or transferred.

Consumer is responsible for all sales tax. Not eligible for doubling. Retailer: Richard’s Cajun Foods. will reimburse you the face value of the coupon plus 8¢ handling if submitted in compliance with our coupon redemption policy.

Redemption policy available upon request. Send coupon to: Richard’s Cajun Foods 1606, NCH Marketing Services, P.O. Box 880001, El Paso, TX 88588-0001. www.richardscajunfoods.com

certifiably great gift ideas.

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FORESTRY MIKE STRAIN DVM, COMMISSIONER

When you need a unique gift idea look for the Certified logos in stores, farmer’s markets and restaurants to support Louisiana businesses and families, while keeping your dollars at home and helping the local economy.

Buy certified louisiana products today!

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In the Holiday Spirit

by David W. Brown

SARAH BAIRD

Sarah Baird is the author of multiple books including New Orleans Cocktails and Flask, which was released this summer. A 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, her work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Saveur, Eater, Food & Wine and The Guardian, among others. Previously, she served as restaurant critic for the New Orleans alt-weekly, Gambit Weekly, where she won Critic of the Year in 2015 for her dining reviews.

DAVID W. BROWN David is a regular contributor to The Atlantic, The Week and Mental Floss. His work also appears in Vox, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest and Foreign Policy magazine. He is a regular commentator for television and radio.

ROMNEY CARUSO Romney is a Mandeville resident and has been a professional photographer for over 25 years.

He has styled and photographed food for hundreds of local and national publications, and for several cookbooks. His portrait series of chefs and bartenders, titled “Shakers, Knives & Irons,” was displayed in New Orleans and Los Angeles.

WAYNE CURTIS

Wayne is the author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails, which was updated and re-released in 2018. He’s written frequently about cocktails, spirits, travel, and history for many publications, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, enRoute, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, and Garden & Gun. He lives in New Orleans.

JUSTIN A. NYSTROM Justin is the Peter J. Cangelosi/ BEGGARS Distinguished Professor of History at Loyola University New Orleans where he teaches

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American History, Foodways, and Oral History. He is the author of the James Beard nominated Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture and New Orleans after the Civil War: Race, Politics, and a New Birth of Freedom.

ROBERT SIMONSON

Robert writes about cocktails, spirits, bars, and bartenders for The New York Times. He is also a contributing editor and columnist at PUNCH. His books include The Old-Fashioned (2014), A Proper Drink (2016) and 3-Ingredient Cocktails (2017), which was nominated for a 2018 James Beard Award. He was also a primary contributor to The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails (2015).

Simonson won the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation's 2019 Spirited Award for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer, and his work, which has also appeared in Saveur, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, New York magazine, and Lucky Peach, has been nominated for a total of 11 Spirited Awards and two IACP Awards.

A native of Wisconsin, he lives in Brooklyn.

LIZ THORPE Liz Thorpe is a world-class cheese expert. A Yale graduate, she left a "normal" job in 2002 to work the counter at New York's famed Murray's Cheese. She is the founder of The People's Cheese, and author of The Book of Cheese: The Essential Guide to Discovering Cheeses You'll Love and The Cheese Chronicles.

MICHAEL TISSERAND Michael is a New Orleans-based author whose books include The Kingdom of Zydeco; Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White; and a post-Katrina memoir, Sugarcane Academy, about Tisserand and other parents persuading one of his children’s teachers, Paul Reynaud, to start a school among the sugarcane fields of New Iberia. Tisserand is a founding member of the Laissez Boys Social Aide and Leisure Club, a Mardi Gras parading organization.

Though its precise origin is unclear, what is known is that bourbon was born in America in the mid- to late- 18th century. It was a pioneer’s drink, made with sweet corn and Kentucky water fermented in white oak, and it found a fast following across the burgeoning young nation. Some say the spirit was named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans, a major port city from America’s earliest days and the place through which countless barrels and bottles would pass.

Some suggest it was named after Bourbon County, Kentucky. Regardless of its name origin, the word “bourbon” soon became synonymous with any corn-based whiskey.

It was a serious drink for serious drinkers.

In more modern times, it was the distinct absence of bourbon that led eventually to its pronounced popularity.

During World War II, American GIs in need of an uplift were reduced to imbibing “ersatz whiskey”—mostly what are called “grain neutral spirits” that are made of just about anything that could be fermented and distilled.

This worked out to bottles of “whiskey” that were essentially 80 percent vodka and 20 percent the good stuff.

When the war ended, soldiers returning home were thirsty and understandably ready for some real whiskey. Postwar, bourbon exploded on the scene, but in satisfying the demand for the bourbon boom of the '50s, the industry overly commercialized its products, and bourbon lost its prestige. In satisfying the demand for the bourbon boom of the fifties, however, the industry overly commercialized and lost its prestige.

“It was akin to selling Rolls-Royces for $25,000,” says Mark Brown, the president and chief executive officer of Sazerac Company, one of the largest spirit companies in the world. “It tends to mess up your image.”

The American spirit invented this uniquely American spirit, and it was the same sort of tenacity and know-how that would ultimately save it. Master distillers rolled up their sleeves and began asking themselves what made bourbon great anyway? What made it distinctive? What advantages did it have over foreign liquors? Who made up its market, and what flavor profiles best suited both drink and drinker?

“Pioneers like Bill Samuels Sr., his wife, Margie, and Elmer T. Lee then launched handcrafted bourbons like Maker’s Mark and Blanton’s, aimed at communicating that bourbon is expensive to make and a finely crafted product,” says Brown. Their artistry helped defined bourbon as being versatile enough for mixing in cocktails, while retaining the smoothness, subtlety and complexity necessary to be enjoyed neat. The work of these master distillers made bourbon particularly accessible; with a little time and reflection, even a drinker new to the liquor can learn to pick out such notes in its flavor as vanilla, honey and oak...

Letter from the Editor

by Marcy Nathan, Creative Director

I have colleagues who obsess about bourbon, with whiskey collections organized by distillery. I like to drink those special reserve and bucketlist bourbons, too —especially when somebody else is paying for them.

For this issue’s photography, I borrowed some of their bourbon bottles, including a 12-year-old W.L. Weller and 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve. They fussed over their precious bottles having to go to New Orleans for the photo shoot as if they were children heading off for a first semester at Tulane. It was a helluva hullabaloo.

My first taste of bourbon came when I was still in diapers, rubbed on my gums to help alleviate teething pain. My parents would give us a spoonful when we were sick too. And we were allowed to have a taste of their drinks on special occasions (or at least, allowed to eat the garnish).

In high school, we spiked slushy Coca-Cola ICEEs with whiskey pilfered from a parent’s liquor cabinet. In college, everybody drank Jack and Coke. I still like a Whiskey Cola now and then, but now that I do know a jack more about bourbon, my standby is an Old-Fashioned. (See page ...)

It was love at first sip.

I had my first Old-Fashioned at the venerable Antoine’s Restaurant in the French Quarter. Numa, my family’s designated waiter, made the cocktail tableside, muddling sugar with Angostura Bitters, adding the bourbon, and garnishing it with a cherry and twist of orange peel. I still judge every Old-Fashioned by that one, and every waiter by Numa.

Here’s what I know after months spent researching this issue. Bourbon is not just a drink around here; it’s part of the culture. It can still be a bit intimidating, however, especially around these big whiskey types who can rattle off obscure tasting notes and the histories of various distilleries. At the end of the day, though, it’s just fancy American whiskey — in my case, served with an orange peel and cherry. But try telling that to a serious collector.

A few weeks ago, after unloading those borrowed bottles of bourbon and memorabilia, I texted a colleague in Thibodaux: “Help!” I wrote.

“What do I do? One of the boxes is wet! I think there’s a crack in the Weller.” The text reply: “Oh jeez.” (That’s an 80 proof curse word at best, instead of the expected cask strength, which I’m sure he muttered —OK, screamed — out loud.) Of course the only thing cracked open was the opportunity to play a joke.

When I returned the bottles to Thibodaux, someone tried to tell me the Pappy was missing. Puh-lease. I invented this game.

ROUSES

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M

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Holiday Open House

Everyone’s invited to our Free Holiday Open House, Saturday, November 16th. Sip, sample and savor dozens of our holiday offerings, 11am-2pm.​

Holiday Recipes

Thanksgiving

by Ali Rouse Royster, 3rd Generation

There’s something about the simplicity and tradition of Thanksgiving that really makes me happy. My family doesn’t do anything incredibly special or unique — our traditions are much like your average family’s. My dad is always in charge of the turkey and the ham, which are sometimes ready early and sometimes later. For the past five or so years, he’s made his famous guacamole to tide us over —in case this is one of the “later” years — and every year I quip, “Just like the Pilgrims” and nobody laughs, but I still maintain that it’s funny. My mom is a great cook and a bit of a control freak (sorry, Mom!) and so she remains in charge of almost all other dishes, by her own choosing. She does allow my sister and me to bring vegetable dishes, mainly because she doesn’t like vegetables, so who cares if her daughters mess them up?

She also allows desserts to be outsourced, and everyone’s favorite is her mom’s (my granny Mary Ann Barrilleaux’s) apple spice cake. It is a perfect fall dessert! And is superscrumptious when it’s still warm. We eat and visit; people stop by after lunch to say hello and we visit some more. It’s very low-key, even with lots of little ones, and feels so very different from the hustle and bustle of Christmas festivities. If the weather is nice we usually end up in my dad’s outdoor kitchen, sitting on barstools watching a game while the kids play in the yard. This year I can already imagine going home and munching on leftovers while watching that late Saints/ Falcons game! Thanksgiving for my family is a slow holiday, and slow is just my speed lately; this precious time with my precious family deserves to be savored, just like every last nibble of my mom’s cornbread dressing!

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We’ve collected some of our favorite recipes and holiday how-tos in one convenient place — our online holiday cooking guide.

Whether this is your first holiday as the cook, or you’re an old hand, this guide will help make your holiday meals memorable. Visit www.rouses.com. You’ll also find cooking and heating instructions for our Cajun meats and specialties there.

GET THIS RECIPE ONLINE

Heat & Serve Holiday Dinners

The holidays are showtime for our Rouses chefs and cooks. Our complete holiday dinners are freshly prepared and cooked, then refrigerated, so all you have to do is heat and eat. Choose baked turkey or ham as a main course. We also have family-sized servings of prepared dressings, including Shrimp & Mirliton and Oyster Bienville Dressing. Order your complete holiday dinner in our Deli Department.

Turduchens

What is a turduchen? It’s a deboned turkey stuffed with boneless duck and chicken and, in our case, two helpings of fresh sausage or dressing (or both). Other specialties include stuffed boneless chickens and chicken breasts, and stuffed pork roasts and center loin roasts. Order your turduchen in our Butcher Shop.

Whole Fresh Turkeys

Satsumas

Just picked, just for Rouses!

Fall and early winter are harvest time for so many great local ingredients. Be on the lookout for local oranges, grapefruits, Meyer lemons and satsumas grown just for us by second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-generation farmers.

Some of our sweetest satsumas come from the Plaquemines Parish father-and-son farming team Ben Becnel, Sr. and Ben Becnel, Jr.

Local Seafood

We have fresh, never frozen, premiumquality whole turkeys for your Thanksgiving table, plus duck, goose and Cornish hens.

For Christmas, choose a bone-in, boneless or spiral cut ham, or our extra-special prime rib, crown pork roast, whole beef tenderloin, rack of lamb or leg of lamb.

Just caught, just for Rouses!

Most of our seafood comes from local fishermen with whom we have close personal and professional relationships. We have fresh-offthe-boat local shrimp in a variety of sizes, fresh local crabmeat and crab claws, and Gulf Coast oysters. Our frozen seafood case is packed with peeled Louisiana crawfish tails.

Ingredients For Your Dressings

Party Trays & Platters

Our savory fresh dressing mix is made daily in our Butcher Shop. It’s the perfect start to rice or cornbread dressing, or dirty rice.

Scratch cooking? You’ll also find chicken gizzards and livers, turkey necks, smoked sausage, andouille, pickled pork and tasso ham in our Butcher Shop.

Entertaining is a whole lot easier with our tasty selection of ready-to-serve party trays and platters. We make all of your favorites including mini crawfish pies and meat pies, mini muffalettas and bacon-wrapped shrimp.

Our professional in-store sushi chefs make fresh platters to order. Stop by or call your neighborhood Rouses Market. For locations visit www.rouses.com.

WE’VE GOT EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE HOLIDAYS — FROM GULF COAST SEAFOOD TO CAJUN SPECIALTIES.

Rouses Gift Cards

You’ll never go wrong with a Rouses Gift Card. It’s the perfect gift for friends, family, coworkers, business associates and employees, and a great way to help your college student buy groceries. Discounts are available for company bulk quantities.

The quickest way to get a Rouses Gift Card to someone is to send it electronically. Visit website for details. Our Gift Cards are redeemable at any of our locations.

Support Your Local Food Bank

Local food banks rely on donations from people just like you. We make it easy to give right at the grocery store. Just scan a coupon at any Rouses register to add to your bill, or purchase a pre-packed bag of canned goods for $10, which we will deliver for you. You can help support local food banks all year long at Rouses, but your generous contribution of non-perishable food or money is especially welcome during the holiday season.

Holiday Pies & Cakes

We have a variety of delicious pies for the holidays. Our most famous pie by far is our milk custard Tarte-A-La-Bouille. It’s a timehonored Rouse Family Recipe — the recipes goes back three generations, and a Cajun tradition at Thanksgiving. Our Chocolate Thunder, Fresh Fruit Bavarian Cake, signature New Orleans-style Doberge and creamy Gentilly Cake are also showstoppers.

These are the perfect finishing touch to the holiday meal, and great for holiday parties and hostess gifts.

Holiday Flowers & Decor

Looking for that perfect holiday centerpiece?

We have one-of-a-kind holiday arrangements, gorgeous bouquets, red poinsettias and Christmas wreaths, and you’ll love our great selection of decorations and gifts. View our Holiday Gift Guide on page 81. Visit www. rouses.com to order flowers for delivery within specified areas. ​

PHOTOS BY ROMNEY CARUSO

GET THIS RECIPE ONLINE

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RASPBERRY BRIE MELT INGREDIENTS: 8 oz La Bonne Vie® Brie 2 tbsp raspberry jam 1/2 cup sliced almonds METHOD: 1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. 2. Place the Brie in an oven-proof dish. Spread the raspberry jam over the cheese and sprinkle the sliced almonds over it.

3. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

4. Pair with crackers and/or fresh fruit. Serve at room temperature.

ACCOUTERMENTS: Crackers & fresh fruit (optional)

SAME DAY DELIVERY

©2019 Celestial Seasonings, Inc.

Santa’s not the only one who delivers!

ENJOY A CUPFUL OF

Creating uniquely delicious blends since 1969.

Sip and LIVE FLAVORFULLY. 14

G lo ssa ry

Bourbon Angels’ Share

Bottled in Bond

Proof is defined as twice the alcohol

The share of bourbon that evaporates

Bottled in bond whiskey — or bonded

content by volume. Bourbon is bottled at a

from the barrel during the aging process

whiskey — must be produced in a single

minimum of 80 proof, which is 40% ABV.

and is taken “into the heavens.”

distillation season by a single distillery,

It varies according to factors like heat and

matured in a U.S. bonded warehouse

humidity, but averages about four to five

for at least four years, and be bottled at

percent of the total volume per year.

50% ABV, or 100 proof.

ABV

Alcohol by volume

Age Statement Bourbon must only carry an age statement if it’s older than two years but

Bottled-In-Bond Act of 1897

A set of rules that require whiskey to

younger than four. Bourbon has no

Barrel Proof

minimum aging period, with the

High-proof, unfiltered and uncut bourbon

exception of straight bourbon, which has

legal regulations to ensure the quality of

straight from the barrel or cask.

any spirit labeled “whiskey.”

The longer a bourbon

Char Level

Lincoln County Process

stays in the barrel, the

Bourbon legally has to be aged in new

A technique used

Liquid is filtered

more the barrel’s influence comes through

white oak barrels, and those barrels need

in the production

through sugar

in the flavor of the final product. The upper

to be burned and blackened. The char

of Tennessee

maple charcoal

limit for bourbon is typically 10 years

level affects the bourbon’s flavor.

whiskeys like

before going into

Jack Daniel’s.

the barrel for aging.

additional legal requirements, including a minimum aging of two years.

So why does age matter?

because of the climate conditions in KY.

Single Barrel

sometimes referred to as single cask

Mash Bill

a bourbon’s list of ingredients, or its recipe

Bourbon must, by law, contain at least

Most bourbon that’s put in a bottle is the

51% corn, but the other grains in the

product of blending multiple barrels

mash bill are up to the distiller.

together. Single barrel bourbon comes from an individual aging barrel. Famous

Small Batch

Just what it sounds like — bourbon distilled in limited quantities.

Sour Mash This is the process of using leftover

single barrel bourbons include the original,

Rackhouse or Rickhouse

Blanton’s, which is produced at Buffalo

The warehouse or building where barrels

Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.

be aged and bottled according to a set of

full of bourbon are stored for aging.

mash from a previous batch to start the fermentation of a new batch, a method similar to using a sourdough starter for bread.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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Buffalo Bill:

The First Gentleman of Bourbon

by David W. Brown

“When I first got into this business,” says Bill Goldring, “my father said, ‘Bill, you never want to go into the bourbon business, because one day you’re gonna wake up and you’re going to own a lake full of bourbon, and you’re not gonna know what to do with it, because people’s taste changes.’”

Today Goldring is chairman of the Sazerac Company, which owns the most award-winning bourbon whiskey distillery in the world: Buffalo Trace, which is spread across hundreds of acres in Frankfort, Kentucky, and which produces bourbon from five recipes, with the broadest range of aged whiskey in America. The distillery’s heritage reaches back two centuries, and Buffalo Trace is the oldest continually operating distillery in the United States. It even survived Prohibition, when it was given special dispensation to produce “medicinal” whiskeys — and anyone who has tried any one of its labels can attest: Medicine it is, if not for the body, then for the soul.

The advice Stephen Goldring gave his son all those years ago wasn’t wrong. The fortunes of all spirits rise and recede like the tides, but despite its longevity and distinctly American story, bourbon in particular proved prone to calamity. In the 20th century, after the Second World War, the illustrious liquor experienced a surge of popularity. Throughout the European and Pacific campaigns, GIs looking to ease their woes had to endure “ersatz whiskey” — what amounted to a blend of crude vodkas with a splash of whiskey for color. When soldiers came home, they were thirsty for the real thing, and no whiskey was more honest or American than bourbon.

To meet the demand, the market was flooded with so much bourbon that pairing animals and building arks wouldn’t have been the worst idea out there, and as a result, a spirit known for its craftsmanship became inexplicably associated with shoddiness — or worse, swill.

Mark Brown, the president & CEO of the Sazerac Company, told me in an interview that it was like selling a Rolls-Royce for 25 grand.

The magic was lost.

The fate of the whiskey fell to master distillers like Elmer T. Lee and T. William “Bill” Samuels Sr., who took the wheel and guided bourbon through the rough waters of the 1950s, however torn aplenty the ship might have been. They restored the liquor’s luster and then some, but tastes change, and by the late ’70s, the bourbon market again collapsed — this time with little hope of recovery. The business problem was one of capital: Bourbon is expensive to make, and takes years to age before being ready for bottling and selling.

An industry in dire straits cannot wait two, four, six or seven years before putting a product on shelves and in bars — especially not a product that might turn out disappointing when the time comes, for a market that might not be that interested. Thus the advice of Stephen Goldring, and a risky bet years later by his son Bill.

release a vodka brand during the McCarthy era was either visionary or insane. With the country turning over every rock in the hunt for communists in American society, who but a commie would drink a Russian alcohol?

But tastes change. The beauty of bourbon is its age, its taste and its aroma, and drinkers expected and enjoyed that. Vodka, on the other hand, was a surefire failure in the alcohol business because it was bourbon’s opposite: It had no taste, no smell, no odor. Who would drink a product without the very things that drinkers wanted in the first place? As it turned out: everyone. The secret of Taaka’s success was, and remains, written on every bottle’s label: “Mixes easy…just add people.”

Whatever you mix vodka with is what it tastes like. A Bloody Mary tastes like tomato juice. A screwdriver tastes like orange juice. An Arnold Palmer tastes like lemon juice and honey. “People could go out and have a vodka martini or a screwdriver, and could come back and [they] didn’t have alcohol on their breath,” says Goldring.

His father’s plan proved prophetic, and as years elapsed, vodka’s mixability took it from zero percent of the market to about one-third.

Bourbon, meanwhile, continued to suffer catastrophic losses in market share.

Which is what made Bill Goldring’s move in 1991 so daring. He knew someone in Kentucky who owned a bourbon distillery that was about to go out of business entirely. “The distillery, after Prohibition, had a reputation for making the best whiskey in America,” says Goldring. “His problem was that he had a lake full of bourbon — just like my father had predicted — and he said, look, you buy my inventory and I’ll give you the distillery.”

It wasn’t much of an offer. The distillery by then was floundering, dilapidated and down to 40 employees on 113 acres. Goldring knew the quality was there, but had no idea at the time that bourbon would ever make a comeback.

“Sometimes you’ve got to get lucky and you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time; and we bought the inventory, we got the distillery, and we started buying other brands from other major distillers.” Why would someone sell such revered brands as W.L. Weller, Old Charter or Benchmark to the Sazerac Company?

Because bourbon was doomed, and distillers had lost interest in the category all together.

So Goldring’s company spent seven years renovating its newly purchased distillery, modernizing it and renaming it for the migration path of buffalo headed westward from Kentucky. Buffalo Trace Distillery was born.

VODKA RISING, BOURBON FALLING “By the time the ’80s came,” says Goldring, “vodka had taken over.”

This wasn’t a bad state of affairs for the Sazerac Company. In the late ’50s, the company premiered Taaka Vodka (which today is the largest-selling beverage alcohol in the state of Louisiana). It was, at the time, one of just two vodka brands on the American market. Just as Bill’s bet on bourbon would be…risky at best, Stephen’s gambit to

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W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 1 7

“We just figured bourbon was going to come back,” says Goldring.

And he was right. Its first product, Buffalo Trace, ignited a bourbon renaissance when it was released in 1999.

BESTING THE COMPETITION “If you wake up in the morning and you think you have a J-O-B, you’re in the wrong place,” Goldring tells me. “This is a fun business.

Everybody likes to talk about their favorite beverage alcohol, and it’s easy to have a passion for something that is so much fun.”

With that joie de vivre, he set his sights on rival liquors whose products he felt were inferior to his own. “We thought bourbon, certainly, was a better product than scotch.”

Indeed, Goldring placed scotch directly in bourbon’s line of fire. Scotch, in Goldring’s prescient estimation, was a dominant whiskey worldwide not because of its quality, but because of the British Empire’s global footprint. They would move into a continent and bring their booze with them. It simply had a head start on the superior American whiskey. And before long, he says, people started to realize that bourbon does taste great. “I’m not just saying that because I’m in the bourbon business,” he adds.

It comes down to the basics: Bourbon is made in new charred oak barrels and aged. Scotch starts with used bourbon barrels, which means bourbon has a much better flavor to start with. Indeed, one is likely to find used Buffalo Trace barrels all over the world — and with good reason.

The Sazerac Company hand-selects each of its barrels, down to the particular part of the tree that will be used in the barrel’s construction. Moreover, scotch makers can add flavoring like caramel and coloring. With bourbon, what you see is what you get. Whatever comes out of the barrel is the end product. Such shortcuts versus the integrity of bourbon lead to huge differences in flavor profiles.

But scotch isn’t the only player on the market that a successful bourbon distillery must overcome.

Although there seem to be hundreds of bourbons hitting store shelves, hoping to capitalize on the liquor’s popularity, there are only about 12 real bourbon distilleries in the United States. This is, in part, because it’s so difficult up-front to start a true such distillery. (For comparison, there are about 12,000 wineries in the United States and 7,000 breweries.) Government regulations are a hindrance, but it’s also a question of time: Unlike vodka, which can be distilled today and bottled tomorrow, it takes six to seven years to make great bourbon. The first four years of that, you lose 25 percent of the bourbon to evaporation.

For a 20-year bourbon, the evaporation rate goes as high as 75 percent.

“If you wonder why a Pappy Van Winkle is so expensive,” says Goldring, “it’s because there ain’t much left when you get to 20 years old.”

It is one thing when you own the company to say that you make the best whiskey in America, but whiskey writers the world over are in almost unanimous agreement. The bourbons of Buffalo Trace Distillery are lauded annually with every award yet conceived. Among its most celebrated bottles are Buffalo Trace, W.L. Weller, Benchmark, Eagle Rare, Pappy Van Winkle, E.H. Taylor, Zachariah Harris, Blanton's and Elmer T. Lee. All 1 8 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

are the result of hard work and human hands. “Our master distillers over the past 200 years are all iconic,” he says. And their legacies continue to drive the company forward, from one success to the next.

“Edwin Edwards once said that if you sit by the river long enough, all of your enemies will pass by,” Goldring says. “If you hang around long enough and you’ve got integrity, quality and craftsmanship, you will get recognized for who you are. And nothing is more important than word of mouth, which I believe we have achieved with the consumer and our industry.”

TOWARD THE FUTURE When the Sazerac Company bought what would become Buffalo Trace Distillery, Goldring and Mark Brown, the company’s president & CEO, had no way of knowing that the distillery would one day grow to 2,500 employees, its 130 acres expanded to 450. The buildings on the facility span three centuries — the most recent such structures include the addition of one new warehouse every four months.

“Many years ago, we built an experimental warehouse in trying to achieve what we call the Holy Grail of whiskey,” says Goldring. They’ve taken different types of barrels made from woods from different parts of trees. They’ve used different types of grains and continually work at making better whiskeys. But what does it mean to be the “Holy Grail” of whiskey? How would you know it if you found it? Goldring compares it to making a gumbo.

“Every day a chef adds a little bit more sugar or a little bit more flour to his recipe in working to get the shape better. You don’t make any dramatic changes, but when you get there you’ll know it.” You’ve got to tinker with it, he says, and you’ve got to keep tinkering with it. Here, Buffalo Trace Distillery has a towering advantage over its rivals. They have dozens of different whiskeys, each slightly different: different proofs, different ages, different barrels, all in climate-controlled warehouses. They have laboratories with machines that analyze the DNA of what is in the barrel. The company, he explains, has a keen interest in agriculture, even growing their own corn on their property using non-genetically modified crops.

“Because we have so many different whiskeys, if you take a look at 90 percent of all the small distillers — and I mean small,” he emphasizes, “they start off making one whiskey and they really don’t know how it’s going to taste in six years, much less if the consumer is going to like the taste of what they have produced.” The question then is, what does a small distiller do in six years if they’ve produced something the consumer doesn’t want? The answer: not much.

This allows the Sazerac Company to take chances that others cannot.

Still, one thing Buffalo Trace has struggled with for a decade is demand outpacing supply. “What other people have done is reduced the age and reduced the proof, and we have refused to do that, nor have we gone out to buy whiskey on the open market. Every crop comes directly from Buffalo Trace.” Maintaining the integrity of their product is first and foremost in Goldring’s mind. Indeed, when considering the care that goes into making any bottle bearing the Sazerac Company name, the word that comes to mind is not factory, but rather, art studio. From the care and cleaning of the facility to

the use of organic corn to making sure the terroir of their soil is wellcultivated…artistry is the only correct word. Sazerac is truly in the culinary arts business.

But considering the sheer number of labels in the Sazerac Company portfolio — everything from George T. Stagg to Chi-Chi’s — I asked Goldring whether they were, to him, products…or something more? Does he have favorites? Is there a division between art and commerce?

No, he answered immediately. “Every one is better than the next,” he says.

Because of the overwhelming demand placed on their product, everything that the Buffalo Trace Distillery releases is on what is called “allocation.” Everything they make is a limited release.

Goldring hopes to change that. “That’s why we are building those warehouses,” he says. “Business is up, and we’re selling every drop.”

Because bourbon needs to age for seven years, they tried eight years ago to determine where they would be today and move away from allocation. They had no way of knowing just how profoundly the bourbon market would explode in popularity.

“We think that, four or five years from now, we’ll have it figured out.

You can’t put this stuff in the microwave,” he says.

THE MARKET AND SUCCESSES, EXPECTED AND NOT Consumer tastes change over time, and if there is one truism about the Sazerac Company, it is that they are obsessive about exploring new ways of distilling spirits while remaining steadfast in their commitment to the heritage of their bourbon forebearers. But they keep a close eye on the market, and Goldring was quick to walk me through the state of affairs in liquor today.

“I hear a lot of people talk about growth in gin,” he says. “There’s no growth in gin. As far as scotch whiskey is concerned — it accounts for about four and a half percent of the market, and it’s not increasing.”

Straight malt scotches are increasing, he adds, but blended scotches are decreasing. Rum is decreasing, he says, explaining: “Bourbon is picking that up, and tequila is increasing dramatically.” He suspects the rise in tequila is coming at the expense of vodka.

One of his own products, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, whose flavor evokes the spicy candy of the same name, has taken the market by storm, becoming the top-selling whisky in the United States.

They knew they had a winner on their hands almost immediately, Goldring says.

“Fireball started in Nashville. Country & western singers were drinking it, and it spread from Tennessee to Texas and all of a ROUSES

sudden, it’s everywhere,” he explained. “I use the expression: When the tom-toms are beating, they’re heard all over.” When millenials are drinking it in Texas, they’re also drinking it in Michigan. Still, he doesn’t think people quite understand the Fireball success story.

“The fallacy is, people think it’s a young person’s drink. Fireball is now consumed throughout the universe of ages. If you go to a home for grandmothers, it’ll be the number one brand there — just as it will be in a college bar. It has a great taste.” He compares it to Coca-Cola; no one has been able to imitate it — and oh how they have tried. “Competitors have come and gone,” he says.

Another astounding success for the company is Sazerac Rye 18.

“There’s nothing to tell you about it,” he tells me with a laugh.

“There’s about this much of it in the world,” and he holds his thumb and index fingers close together. The price reflects this; you would be hard-pressed to find a bottle of it for less than a thousand dollars.

Every October, the Sazerac Company releases an antique collection of spirits in limited quantities. “Eighteen years ago we didn’t even know we were going to have an antique collection,” he says.

George T. Stagg has been another 18-year-old success story for the company, rated as highly as the peerless Pappy Van Winkle. This year they released what they are calling Stagg Jr., which is a nineyear-old version of the same bourbon.

As for how the past informs the future, Goldring is optimistic.

“We’ve grown from the smallest distiller in America to the largest. In 20 years, we think if we get into enough countries we could be the largest or the second-largest distiller in the world. We’re going to have to make a lot of whiskeys to do that.” Despite the global reach, however, Goldring keeps coming back to his pride in the Sazerac Company’s local history.

“Sazerac is perhaps the oldest company in New Orleans and one of the oldest companies in Louisiana. Similar to Tabasco, Sazerac is a Louisiana company that is famous around the world.”

He adds: “Mark Twain said that there are three great cities in America: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans, and the rest of the world is Cleveland. New Orleans is known for its cocktail culture, and one of the most important things to me personally is to bring people into our great city and help its economy. And what we’ve done over the years through our foundation, and being a major benefactor of Tulane University, the Audubon Nature Institute, City Park, Woldenberg Park — all of those bring people into the city.”

And with last month’s opening of Sazerac House on Canal at Magazine, it seems that Bill Goldring is just getting started.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

William “Bill” Goldring; Sazerac House, exterior; Sazerac House, interior; friends Bill Goldring and Donald Rouse at the opening of the Sazerac House; Sazerac Rye

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On the House

by David W. Brown

Tourists use words like “charm” and “atmosphere” when describing New Orleans, and sometimes “history,” but what they are really talking about is time.

It’s a city that somehow never left the past behind, not really. It feels right to walk down Magazine Street hand in hand with your loved one. It is a bit of a promenade, but it is not affectation. You don’t need to be from around here to know how it should be done because, three steps in, and the city entreats and intoxicates and transports you, and you find yourself suddenly living life as it should be lived — as you always knew in your marrow you were supposed to be living before something somewhere went wrong. That’s what New Orleans does to you. It’s why those horse-drawn carriage rides along Jackson Square don’t feel quaint or ridiculous. They roll along the street, the wide wheels crunching gravel slowly, the clop-clop-clop of the mules in no rush to be anywhere, these old, dignified pros — not beasts of burden but, rather, lords of the city — who even know which post is theirs at stops along the way. Meanwhile, you’re in the carriage cozied up to your partner even in the sweltering Crescent City summers, and it’s the cars that seem to be the interlopers, not these timeless old carriages. And you know you’re precisely where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there.

That matters in the context of Sazerac House, an interactive sensory experience that opened this month on the corner of Canal and Magazine, in which visitors are invited to live the story and culture of New Orleans spirits and cocktails, including the namesake Sazerac — the official cocktail of the city. It is inaccurate to call Sazerac House a museum. Rather, it is a preservation not of what once was, but what remains, ongoing, today. I have been there twice now: once for a private tour, and once for its grand opening gala, and so I know what visitors can expect and how guests will respond. I can say with certainty that Sazerac House, a $50 million investment

by Sazerac Company, is perhaps the city’s most ambitious project since its National World War II Museum, and will likely surpass even that in traffic and attention.

Sazerac House is New Orleans, distilled.

As you enter the Sazerac House lobby, the first thing to catch your eye is a great white wall, two stories high and with scores of shelves lined with liquors distilled by the Sazerac Company. There are hundreds of bottles on display, and it doesn’t feel so ROUSES

much like the mirrored back of a barroom (minus the neon) as it does the stark glass cases of the Musée d’Orsay. You feel as though you see the “truth” of the spirits; that what has been bottled is not a product, but an art form: the result of crops tended, yields harvested, the chemistry of fermentation, the balance of flavor profiles and the slow movement of time during distillation.

Quality spirits aren’t something you simply buy at the grocery store and shove in a cabinet. They’re living things made by living people, and given the same care a painter uses when easing a brushstroke across the canvas.

Admission is free, but Sazerac House still uses an electronic ticketing system for entry.

It’s an environmentally friendly move, but also a practical one: It keeps minors from drinking (illegally) before their time, and helps control the flow of traffic through what can be an almost meditative experience. Over 250,000 people are expected to visit in the first year alone. Tours are self-guided — an intentional touch by the curators of Sazerac House. Exquisite liquors aren’t something you pound back, or drink at the forced clip of others. They’re something to be savored patiently, reflected upon and enjoyed at your own pace. That doesn’t mean Sazerac House leaves you entirely to your own devices. “Experience ambassadors” are stationed throughout the three exhibition floors to give context to displays, and to help neophytes and experienced drinkers alike understand the profiles, complexities and tasting notes of the complimentary samples offered.

Each floor takes guests through some moment in time, some part of New Orleans.

There is the “Rum Room” on the second floor, which is just what it sounds like: an interactive exhibit featuring Myers’s, Cane Run and Jung & Wulff — Sazerac Company rums, all.

Countless genuine rum barrels are mounted

on racks, with the tops of some barrels lighting into video screens that explain the hard-won journey of rum from cheap swill to celebrated, sophisticated spirit. The rum exhibit also explains the process involved in making rum, and how that process has evolved over the centuries to reflect the tastes of drinkers.

The third floor takes guests to the French Quarter — then, now and always. You arrive in the city from the interior of a riverboat, complete with rivets in white walls, the windows animated as though with magic, showing the harbor ahead.

NO SMOKING THIS CABIN, reads a sign.

From there, guests visit the original Sazerac Coffee House, a replica of the original Merchants Exchange Coffee House on Exchange Alley, where a cocktail invented

by Antoine Peychaud, a Creole immigrant, would become popularized and eventually named “the Sazerac.”

Sazerac House offers a stylized re-creation of Peychaud’s apothecary — the perfect setting to explain what bitters are, exactly (a liquor infused with herbs, fruits and other botanicals, and used, of course, when making the famed Sazerac cocktail), how they are made, what they are used for — and because the Sazerac Company cut no corners when building its monument to the cocktails and spirits that make New Orleans great, Peychaud’s Bitters will be produced and bottled right there for guests to watch and learn about.

All of this eventually gives way to a walk through the city’s cocktail culture (and then, the doleful years of Prohibition), but this then leads to a particularly stunning arrangement of tables arranged as you might find in a bar. Standing around any one of the tables, guests can set out a coaster, and the table will come to life, presenting an interactive menu and classic bon mots from bartending guides: “Be Discreet,” reads one. “The sensible clerk will not appear to listen to what the patrons are saying, and if he hears anything should find an eternal grave in his heart.”

As guests flip through the bartending guides, they can order food (or a digital approximation of it, anyway) that is projected with unnerving clarity and realism on the table — things like shrimp gumbo or W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 2 1

charcuterie — and, as they tap the plates, the food slowly disappears. But this is a warm-up for the digital centerpiece of the museum: a full bar, the counter of which is a deceptive interactive display, and behind the bar, virtual bartenders driven by artificial intelligence. Take a seat and any one of the group of bartenders will take your order, walking you through the entire mixology process while riffing lightly on the history of the cocktail in question and firing off droll one-liners. (Each bartender has their own unique personality.) The “drink” appears in front of you, and you can send the recipe right to your smartphone.

Throughout Sazerac House are artifacts going back centuries — everything from ledgers like the original, early-19th-century ones from the original Merchants Exchange Coffee House, through paintings of Bernard Sazerac de Forge, who brought his cognac across the ocean during the French Revolution, turning a local specialty into a globally enjoyed drink. Four generations of Sazeracs would keep the cognac flowing. If nothing else, such exhibits explain how deeply rooted Sazerac is in French — and thus New Orleans — culture, and why the cocktail bearing th name would eventually be emblazoned on the façade of one of the most prestigious old buildings on Canal Street. Notably, this year Sazerac Company is releasing its first cognac in decades — Sazerac de Forge & Fils “Finest Original” Cognac — and it will be available exclusively at Sazerac House through next year.

Visitors who spring for a VIP package can also visit an exclusive bar on the third floor, where veteran bartenders will teach the art of mixing certain cocktails and, perhaps more pressingly, they can enjoy those cocktails. Regardless of whether or not you go for the

premium experience, sampling stations throughout Sazerac House ensure that guests do not leave thirsty.

The undisputed climax of a visit to Sazerac House is the working, two-story still producing Sazerac Rye whiskey on-site. Some will be bottled right here for the taking, and a barrel per day will be shipped to Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky for aging. I had never seen an actual whiskey still before, and do not know if they all look like the one at Sazerac House, but it is nothing short of a masterpiece. It looks a lot like an enormous, vertical, clarinet in brass, or maybe the upper stack of a saxophone. It is 60 inches in diameter and houses 500 gallons of whiskey. Because it is built adjacent to the building’s main façade on Canal Street, the sheer grandeur of it as seen through a massive plate-glass window will surely draw in countless curious guests, irresistibly drawn to see what all the fuss is about. This being balmy South Louisiana, the still requires an enormous “thermal energy tank” that’s 2,200 gallons large and able to make 14,000 pounds of ice every night — necessary to keep conditions just right for distillation even on the hottest summer day.

Sazerac House has a fourth floor — a 3,500-square-foot ballroom for formal functions — and its fifth and sixth floors are reserved as the Sazerac Company’s corporate headquarters. Such a prestigious location is fitting for perhaps the oldest and most successful family-owned business in New Orleans. Down on the first floor, no interactive experience would be complete without a retail shop where guests can find cocktail kits, spirits (get the cognac while you can) and Sazerac-branded souvenirs to take home.

My first tour of Sazerac House found me walking through empty corridors and large, open-air rooms, the footsteps of my companions

SAZERAC RYE

American rye whiskey dates back to the late 1700s around the time distillers in the Northeast were shipping their whiskey downriver to New Orleans. By the 1820s, bars disguised as coffee houses began popping up all over New Orleans. In the mid-1800s, the Sazerac Cocktail, America’s first cocktail and now the official cocktail of the city of New Orleans, was invented at the Merchants Exchange Coffee House on Exchange Alley in the French Quarter, which later became knowns as the Sazerac Coffeehouse. The cocktail’s original recipe featured Sazerac de Forge & Fils (a cognac) and Peychaud’s Bitters. Cognac was eventually replaced with American rye, and a dash of absinthe was added. In the 1930s bartenders substituted Herbsaint for the absinthe.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

and myself echoing on hardwood floors. There was a Zen-like calm to the place, as though the building had always been here in exactly this condition, but nobody knew to look for it. The whole tour was as much a master class in spirits and cocktails as it was in the city’s culture and heritage. So drawn was I by the serenity and majesty of the empty building that I wasn’t sure what to expect at the opening night gala — tuxedoes and gowns, yes, but with drinks flowing freely and jazz bands singing French songs, would the calm magic wash away?

It did not. As stunning as the ribbon-cutting pageantry was — among those holding scissors were Bill Goldring, chairman of the Sazerac Company; Mark Brown, the company’s president & CEO; John Bel Edwards, governor of Louisiana; and LaToya Cantrell, mayor of New Orleans — and as thrilling as the marching brass band was that paraded through the lobby once the ribbon fell and the staircase opened — what moved me most came after. It was how hard the glamour of the event had to fight to mesmerize the guests as much as the magnificent setting did. To enter Sazerac House is to want to know everything about it, and everything about the city that calls it home. The ballroom dance floor remained empty for most of the night because guests were so enthralled with “magic mirrors” that came alive unexpectedly with vintage advertisements and century-old photographs.

Even from the outside, Sazerac House is quintessentially New Orleans. It is the sort of edifice you find on Rue de Rivoli in Paris, where practically ancient buildings seem somehow as youthful as the day they were built. The Sazerac House building, abandoned for decades and now vibrant and dignified, is over 150 years old, with every inch of its 48,000 square feet restored and manicured to feel as timeless as the city itself, and its namesake drink. And after hours spent sipping spirits and cocktails distilled and mixed before your very eyes, you exit through the airy, capacious lobby, its ceiling so high it seems it might punch right through the clouds. You walk past its central, wooden staircase adorned in wrought iron and brought into relief by white, lighted and well-bottled shelves, and you step back into the city where horse-drawn carriages belong, taking your lover’s hand as you walk out into the New Orleans night.

PEYCHAUD’S BITTERS

Bitters are high-proof spirits infused with fruit, spices, tree bark, roots and other aromatics that were first developed and marketed for medicinal purposes. The famous Peychaud’s Bitters were invented around 1830 by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary from Haiti who settled in New Orleans. When friends gathered for late night parties at his pharmacy on Royal Street, Peychaud would mix brandy, absinthe and a dash of bitters for his guests – a drink that later came to be known as the Sazerac.

Around the Bar

by Robert Simonson

My career as a cocktail writer began with a Sazerac at the Monteleone Hotel’s Carousel Bar. It was 2006. I had been invited to fly to New Orleans to attend Tales of the Cocktail, a five-day event that calls itself a cocktail convention with a straight face. To be honest, I wasn’t all that interested in cocktails. I was interested in seeing New Orleans, a city I’d dreamed of visiting for 20 years.

That changed. My first night in the city, I took a seat at the Carousel Bar, a low-fi boozy circus act where a circle of stools turned around the central bar at a rate of 15 minutes per revolution. I remember being bemused by the way the standing patrons had to continually adjust their footing in order to keep up a conversation with their seated friends.

The call came for my order. I did not know at that point that the cocktail called Vieux Carré had supposedly been invented at this bar. Hell, I’d never even heard of the Vieux Carré. The Sazerac, however — that I had heard of, but only barely. I knew it was a cocktail. I knew it was an old cocktail. And I knew the Sazerac had long been associated with New Orleans which, at that time, was about the only place where you could order one with any assurance that the bartender would know what you were talking about.

I needed the bartender to know what I was talking about, because I certainly didn’t. I had done some research, so I knew what was in the drink. Still, if I’d ever tasted rye whiskey, I couldn’t remember the occasion, or its flavor. And I certainly had never sampled — or seen — Herbsaint or Peychaud’s Bitters, the two other critical liquor ingredients in the concoction. Sugar and a lemon twist completed the flavor packet.

There was a good chance that I would hate this bizarre combination of foreign elixirs. But it was New Orleans, and sure as shootin’ I wasn’t going to get off on the wrong foot by ordering a Martini or a Jack & Coke. A Sazerac it had to be.

The drink I got did not conform to my then-held beliefs about cocktails. It was in a rocks glass, but not on the rocks. There was a lemon twist, but it was discarded once its job was done. And the bright red hue just did not say “whiskey cocktail.” With some uncertainty, I took a sip. I could truthfully say then and can say now

HERBSAINT

J. Marion Legendre learned about absinthe while stationed in France during WWI. Upon his return to New Orleans during prohibition, Legendre, an apothecarist, began secretly making it in his Uptown home. When prohibition ended, he also began legally selling it as Legendre Absinthe. When the government forced him in 1934 to remove the name absinthe from his product because of the ban on absinthe from 1912, Legendre renamed his product Herbsaint. In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Herbsaint production, the Sazerac Company launched Legendre Herbsaint Original in 2009.

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The revolving Carousel Bar & Lounge is located in the famous Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOTEL MONTELEONE W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 2 3

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Peychaud’s Spritz

Corpse Reviver #2

What you will need: 1 ounce Peychaud’s Aperitivo 4 ounces Prosecco ½ ounce Q Mixers Soda Lime Twist

What you will need: ¾ ounce Gin ¾ ounce Orange Liqueur ¾ ounce Moscato d’Asti ¾ ounce Lemon Juice ¼ ounce Legendre Herbsaint

how to prep: In a large wine glass, add ice, then slowly pour in Prosecco. Add Peychaud’s Aperitivo and club soda, then give the drink a gentle stir. Garnish with a lime twist.

that it tasted like nothing I’d ever had before. The spiciness of the rye, the sweetness of the syrup, the herbaceousness of the Herbsaint, and whatever it was that Peychaud’s brought to the equation (besides that ruby hue) all melded together seamlessly into one mysteriously complete whole. Halfway through the glass, I decided I had found my new favorite cocktail.

I drank a lot of Sazeracs that week. They differed from place to place, but resembled each other more than they didn’t. The town collectively knew how to make a good Sazerac. I heard later that week that the general consensus among bartenders and the cocktail cognoscenti was that the New Orleans Sazeracs had skewed sweet of late. I had no way of knowing, but they all tasted pretty good to me. Certainly, better than most of the cocktails I was getting in New York.

New York. That was a problem. I would have to return eventually and had no idea where I might get a good Sazerac. The hunt began as soon as I touched down back in Brooklyn.

I found my first winner at The Good Fork, a cozy restaurant deep in the desolate Red Hook neighborhood. That figured, I soon discovered. The bartender was St. John Frizell, who had lived for a time in New Orleans. Within a few months, I had compiled a list of roughly a dozen places where the cocktail could safely be ordered.

That was a big relief. Nonetheless, no city will ever replace New Orleans for Sazerac consistency and ubiquity.

It’s like asking for a glass of ice water.

They are served everywhere, and that is a very comforting feeling. That point was driven home once and for all when I wandered into a Rouses Market in the Warehouse District one day. I gravitated, as I tend to do, toward the liquor section. As I turned down one aisle, I encountered a six-foot, vertical piece of signage that encouraged shoppers to purchase the ingredients needed for a Sazerac. To make it easier on the curious, the sign spelled out, in detail, exactly how to make the drink.

We may have some decent Sazeracs in New York now. But we’ll never have a grocery store with a sign like that.

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Wheatley Gibson What you will need: 2 ounces Wheatley Vodka 1 ounce Dry Vermouth A few drops of Onion Brine 1 Pearl Onion how to prep: In a mixing glass, add the Vodka, dry vermouth and onion brine, then add ice and stir.

Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass, and garnish with a cold pearl onion.

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Sazerac Cocktail What you will need: 1½ ounces Sazerac Rye Whiskey 1 Sugar Cube 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters ¼ ounce Legendre Herbsaint Lemon Peel how to prep: Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. In a second Old-Fashioned glass, place a sugar cube and add three dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters to it. Crush the sugar cube.

Add Sazerac Rye Whiskey to the glass with the Peychaud’s Bitters and sugar. Add ice and stir.

Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the glass with Herbsaint.

Discard the remaining Herbsaint.

Strain the whiskey/bitters/sugar mixture from the glass into the Herbsaint-coated glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

how to prep: In a mixing tin, add the gin, lemon juice, Moscato d’Asti and orange liqueur. Add ice and shake. Strain into an Herbsaint-rinsed coupe or cocktail glass. No garnish.

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El Presidente What you will need: 1½ ounces Cane Run Rum ½ ounce Orange Liqueur ¾ ounce Dry Vermouth Dash Grenadine Orange Twist how to prep: In a mixing glass, add the Cane Run rum, orange liqueur, dry vermouth and grenadine, then add ice and stir. Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist.

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Buffalo Trace Old-Fashioned What you will need: 2 ounces Buffalo Trace ¼ ounce Simple Syrup 2 dashes Orange Bitters 1 dash Aromatic Bitters Orange Twist Maraschino Cherry how to prep: In an Old-Fashioned or rocks glass, add the Buffalo Trace, syrup and bitters. Then add ice and stir until chilled and diluted. Garnish with an orange twist and a cherry.

an intoxicatin g m i x o f c hees e & co c kta i ls

Sazerac Cocktails

Though this pairing does not get as much attention as cheese and wine, cheese and cocktails can be a great mix. We asked Liz Thorpe, national cheese expert and author of The Book of Cheese, to recommend pairings with cocktails made with Sazerac brands.

Peychaud’s Spritz

Peychaud’s Aperitivo might look like Aperol, or remind you of Campari.

What I love is that it can please fans of either. Peychaud’s is sharper and more bitter and herbal than Aperol, but nowhere near as aggressive (nor as high in alcohol) as Campari. Pair it with Prosecco and you have an effervescent, herbaceous and bracing aperitif to whet your palate before a meal. Sip alongside rich, buttery cheeses such as Brie, triple crèmes and even mild, cream-enriched blues.

Cheeses to look for: Brie: La Bonne Vie Brie, La Bonne Vie Triple Crème Brie, La Bonne Vie Goat Brie, Saint-André, Fromager d’Affinois, Saint Angel, Sweet Grass Green Hill, Jasper Hill Harbison, Bucherondin Blues: Cambozola Black Label, Saint Agur, DaneKo Extra Creamy Blue wedge

Wheatley Gibson

Corpse Reviver #2

Refreshing, astringent and strong enough to perk up the senses, the Corpse Reviver #2 has notes of citrus, cinnamon, coriander and juniper but is dominated by orange and anise flavors.

For these reasons I reach for goat cheeses, with their lingering notes of lemon, orange and grapefruit.

Cheeses to look for: La Bonne Vie Goat, Cablanca Goat Gouda, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, La Bonne Vie Goat Brie, La Tur, La Bonne Vie Goat Log or Pyramid, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese Medallions

El Presidente

The blend of corn and wheat in Wheatley Vodka gives a softer flavor; the inclusion not just of a pickled onion but of its brine imparts a salty, briny flavor. Together they deliver an incredibly smooth sip up front with a savory, maritime finish. This combo is made for buttery, semisoft cheeses, especially those that have gotten a saltwater washing on their rind for added meaty, savory flavor.

Cane Run is a white rum with subtle molasses flavor that anchors this classic Prohibition-era rum cocktail. Golden in color and slightly sweet (without sacrificing refreshment), an El Presidente has more viscosity than, say, a Corpse Reviver. This, coupled with its sweetness, makes it a surprisingly harmonious partner to spicier, saltier and crumblier blue cheeses.

Cheeses to look for: Sweet Grass Thomasville Tomme, Havarti, Butterkäse, Red Wax Gouda, Beemster Classic, Fontina, Asiago Fresco, Chaumes, Port Salut, Taleggio, Limburger

Cheeses to look for: Statesboro Blue, Gorgonzola, Point Reyes Blue, DaneKo Blue, Stilton, Roquefort, Valdeon

Sazerac Cocktail

Buffalo Trace Old-Fashioned

A good Sazerac presents many of the same challenges as an Old-Fashioned with the added complexity of reliance on rye rather than bourbon. That means a high alcohol content but also spiciness from the rye. Alcohol and spice can be brilliant at cutting the fatty denseness of cheese — if you pick a cheese that can stand up to the cocktail. Here, dry, aged cheeses with acidity meet the rye and recede in spice/acid so you get to enjoy more of the toasty, nutty flavors inherent in Parmesan styles. Certain aged Cheddars work in a similar way.

As bourbons go, Buffalo Trace is sweet and mellow with notes of brown sugar, vanilla and toffee. But with little else to adulterate the burn of 90 proof, choosing the right cheese pairing is a tricky thing. Many cheeses would simply be run down. The solution is an aged cheese with layers of lingering flavor. Choosing complementary flavors of toast and butterscotch ensures a coupling that plays to the cocktail’s and the cheese’s essential natures. Aged Goudas and Swiss styles, with their smooth, dense texture and cooked-milk sweetness, are best.

Cheeses to look for: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, Piave, Sartori SarVecchio Parmesan, Karst Cave Aged Cheddar, Deer Creek Cheddar, Truly Grass Fed Cheddar

Cheeses to look for: Beemster Classic Gouda, Beemster Extra Aged Gouda, Rembrandt Gouda, Parrano, Comté, Emmentaler, Gruyere, Pleasant Ridge Reserve

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Ingredients: - 4 chicken breasts, 6-8 oz.

- 2 cups Odyssey Mediterranean Herb Feta Cheese, crumbled - 1 cup Kalamata Olives, chopped Directions: 1. Grill or pan sear chicken breast over medium-high heat until juices run clear or meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. 2. Divide feta cheese on top of the chicken breasts, top with chopped olives and put under broiler until feta cheese turns lightly brown.

This is a great light meal with crusty bread, a green salad, or on top of cooked orzo, barley, rice, or pasta!

Try our Mediterranean Herb Feta over Chicken! www.odysseybrands.com

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Old-Fashioned

by Robert Simonson

The zenith of American culture arrived in the two decades following World War II. The surest illustration of this is that all three of the country’s greatest contributions to world civilization were in full flower. On Broadway, the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, and Lerner and Loewe were, song by song, contributing a fat new volume to the American songbook. The clubs in Chicago, New Orleans and New York City pulsated with the bebop sounds of jazz greats in the making Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane and Bill Evans. And, in bars across the nation, people were drinking cocktails.

Yes, cocktails. Cocktails are the American invention that America forgets to crow about. We took what the rest of the world had to offer — liquor, bitters, wine, fruit, sugar, eggs, milk, what have you — and tossed them together in various combinations. And, because this wasn’t England, because we were all proud individuals deserving of our own special serving, we didn’t deposit those mixtures in a punch bowl. We put them into separate small glasses.

The potions went by various names: flips, slings, sours, juleps, cobblers, fixes, fizzes, bucks and cocktails. In a century’s time, we would come to refer to all mixed drinks as cocktails, but back in 1806, when the term was first defined in print, a cocktail meant a specific, and rather minor, category of alcoholic beverage, one composed of spirit, water, sugar and bitters. It was a simple composition, and 3 0 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

thus a sturdy one — one built to last. And it has lasted until today.

Not only lasted, but thrived. Not only thrived, but triumphed. You can get a close copy of that 225-year-old drink today in any bar or restaurant you care to enter. It’s called an Old-Fashioned.

This is a glorious time to be an Old-Fashioned drinker, even more so than during the postwar days. Back then, the drink was common and plentiful. You could buy one anywhere, and every bartender knew how to make a decent one. But the whiskey used may not have been top shelf, the ice was substandard, and you had to contend with a garnish of orange slice and traffic-light-red maraschino cherry — “the garbage,” as purists called it.

Over the past decade, that Old-Fashioned has enjoyed a glow-up, as the kids say. The whiskey is better; sometimes it’s rye, as it was back in the late 1800s, and often it’s of a higher proof. The ice in the best craft cocktail bars is limited to a single, crystalline cube, which both beautifies the drink and preserves its flavor, saving the contents from premature dilution. And the fruit element has been cut back to an orange twist or lemon twist, or both (called “rabbit ears”), garnishes that enhance and amplify the flavors in the whiskey but don’t muddy the appearance of the cocktail. Furthermore, nobody’s spraying any soda water on top of the drink.

Yes, you’ll still get the lazy 1950s version in many bars — most bars, really. But the point is, you don’t have to settle for it anymore.

Quality abounds.

And people aren’t settling. They’re demanding a better Old-Fashioned, and they’re getting it. It helps that these people are, by and large, young, as young people tend to get what they want. It could be argued that more young adults are drinking Old-Fashioneds today than at any point in history. It’s actually a trendy drink. And the Old-Fashioned, while always popular, was

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

never that before. It was a traditional cocktail for traditional folks.

That was true in the ’40s and ’50s, and it was true back in the 1870s and 1880s, when an army of cranky old sops, tired of bartenders slipping Chartreuse and absinthe and maraschino liqueur into their Whiskey Cocktails, started slapping their palms angrily on the bar and demanding an “Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail” — you know, like they used to do!

But today, the 20-something man in the slim-cut suit and pocket square and the 20-something woman in the jumpsuit are ordering Old-Fashioneds. It’s the number one order in most bars, eclipsing the Mojito, Cosmo, Margarita and other bestsellers.

It was a long time getting there. For, while the Old-Fashioned, like many other cocktails (Jack Rose, Aviation, Last Word, Jungle Bird, Ward Eight, Boulevardier — the list goes on and on), had never completely disappeared, it went through some tough times during the final years of the 20th century. Oh, its flame still burned bright in a few odd corners of the world. London hadn’t forsaken it, though their strange “stirred-down” rendition took 10 minutes to make and was purposely diluted. Wisconsin’s love affair with the drink never waned, but the Badger State made the cocktail with domestic brandy, a squirt of soda pop on top and all sorts of odd garnishes. Meanwhile, down in Buenos Aires they lined the inside of the Old-Fashioned glasses with a wallpaper glue of bitters-sugar mixture.

But in most other locales, the drink’s reputation was as a has-been.

It was a strange, sad concoction that your mom or dad drank, maybe your grandparents. To young eyes, its appeal was dubious. It tasted oversweet and looked murky. And that anything-but-food cherry was a dodgy character. Even the name was a turnoff. Who wants to be Old-Fashioned when you could be Cosmopolitan?

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The brash young mixologists who came of age in the ’00s were just as mystified by the cocktail, if more curious. They understood that the Old-Fashioned was a famous drink, an old drink, a cocktail with a pedigree. But, after sampling a hundred lackluster examples, they didn’t know why. Like a tourist, knowing the fame of the American hot dog, but only knowing the taste of a dirty-water dog from a Manhattan street cart, they were confused.

Slowly but surely, though, they beat their way through the modern brush of misinformation and bad bar techniques, back to the drink’s origins in the early 19th century, and its first heyday in the late years of the same century. Old cocktail books from before Prohibition helped. These instructional tomes, written by the greatest bartenders of their time, were out of print and difficult to lay your hands on.

But, beginning around 2007, they began to be reissued. Through these, barkeeps could finally see what the Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail had once been. It was not a soupy fruit salad. It was not a tiny bowl of Good Housekeeping punch. It was the simplest and most forthright of drinks. It was the embodiment of the forgotten second half of its name: Whiskey Cocktail. It was all the mixologists had ever been fighting for — complexity within simplicity; proud but smartly accentuated flavors; a portrait of a spirit flattered by a perfect frame.

And so, they began serving the Old-Fashioned again as it had never been served in the United States in 100 years. People noticed almost immediately. It was a familiar name, yes, but, to their senses, almost a different drink — a drink they liked better, a drink that taught them that, hey, maybe they liked bourbon after all. Maybe they even liked rye. A good Old-Fashioned can convince you of such life-changing notions.

It can also convince you that you want another Old-Fashioned.

Or maybe a different Old-Fashioned. Thus, around 2010, the age W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 3 1

of the Old-Fashioned riff was ushered in. We’re still living in it. Your favorite saloon probably has an Old-Fashioned variation on the menu. Your regular bartender probably has one, too, up their sleeve.

Some early examples included the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned, which used tequila and mezcal as a base instead of whiskey. That drink was invented by Phil Ward, a prolific New York bartender who worked at Pegu Club, Death & Co., and his own bar, Mayahuel. So was the Elder Fashion, which called for gin and a touch of St. Germain, an elderflower liqueur that was all the rage in the late ’00s. With the Prime Meats Old-Fashioned, the house drink at the late-lamented Brooklyn bar of the same name, bartender Damon Boelte showed that you can utterly change the cocktail by using a different bitters; in his case, homemade pear bitters made from a pear tree that grew behind the restaurant. Don Lee of PDT, the famed speakeasy in New York’s East Village neighborhood, went a bit further with his experimentation. In 2007, he took Four Roses Bourbon and mixed it with bacon fat from the prized Benton’s bacon of Tennessee. He then put the liquid in the freezer. Once it was frozen, he scraped away the fat, leaving behind bourbon that tasted delectably of smoky bacon.

With this he created the Benton’s Old-Fashioned. The drink remains the most popular menu item at PDT today.

New Orleans bartenders got in on the game as well. At Arnaud’s French 75 bar, Chris Hannah created the Rebennack (named after famed local musician Dr. John). It contained rye, Amaro Averna, Clément Creole Shrubb, Peychaud’s Bitters and an orange twist.

At the now defunct cobbler palace Bellocq, they came up with the Old-Fashioned Cobbler, basically an Old-Fashioned served over cobbled ice and crowned with orange, cherry, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.

When I wrote my 2014 book, The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail, I had no problem filling up the recipe section. Old-Fashioned with an absinthe base; one with a Grand Marnier base; ones that leaned in a tiki direction; a specimen that came out bright purple. They all found space in the book.

Such spins are not desecrations of the Old-Fashioned name.

The drink has been through this before. In fact, substitution and improvisation are built into the cocktail’s DNA. For the Old-Fashioned was never just one cocktail; it was many cocktails, a whole genre. Look in the old bartending manuals of the 1890s and 1900s and you’ll find recipes for Old-Fashioned Gin Cocktails, Old-Fashioned Rum Cocktails, Old-Fashioned Brandy Cocktails, Old-Fashioned Applejack Cocktails and so forth. Though we know the Old-Fashioned primarily as a whiskey cocktail, historically it was more of a blueprint, a format rather than a specific, hard-and-fast recipe.

The important thing is that that blueprint has now been recovered. With it in hand, we have the tools to build whole cities of Old-Fashioneds well into the future.

OLD FORESTER is America’s first glass-bottled

bourbon, dating back to 1870. Before that, bourbon was commonly sold by the barrel. It is also America’s longest continuously distilled bourbon, having been made before, during and after Prohibition. Old Forester is a Kentucky Straight. The term straight bourbon is used to indicate whiskey that has been aged at least two years. The distillery produces several varieties, including 1920 Prohibition Style, part of the Old Forester Whiskey Row Series, which celebrates the brand’s continued distillation during Prohibition, when it was produced and sold as medicinal whiskey.

Whiskey Sour What you will need: 2 ounces bourbon 1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon simple syrup Dash of Angostura Orange Bitters Half-wheel of orange, for garnish

how to prep: Fill a shaker with ice, and add all ingredients except the orange.

Shake vigorously. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice.

Garnish with the orange.

Mint Julep What you will need: 2 ounces bourbon 2 teaspoons water 1 teaspoon powdered sugar 4 mint leaves

how to prep: In a rocks glass, gently muddle the mint, sugar and water.

Fill the glass with ice, add bourbon, and stir until the glass is well frosted.

Garnish with a mint sprig.

Kentucky Mule What you will need: 2 ounces bourbon ½ ounce fresh lime juice Ginger beer, to top Mint sprigs, for garnish

how to prep: Fill a mug, preferably copper, ¾ full with crushed ice. In a cocktail shaker ¾ full with ice cubes, shake the bourbon and lime juice and pour into the mug. Top with ginger beer and more crushed ice. Add mint sprigs for garnish.

Manhattan What you will need: 2 ounces rye or bourbon 1 ounce sweet vermouth 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Cocktail cherry, for garnish

how to prep: Chill a coupe glass by filling with ice or putting in freezer. Mix all ingredients, except cherry, in a mixing glass and stir over ice until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with cherry.

Boulevardier What you will need: 1½ ounces bourbon ¾ ounce sweet vermouth ¾ ounce Campari Orange peel, for garnish

how to prep: Chill a cocktail glass by filling with ice or putting in freezer for about 5 minutes. Pour the liquid ingredients into a mixing glass. Fill mixing glass ²⁄₃ full of ice and stir until chilled, about 30 seconds.

Strain into chilled rocks glass.

Garnish with an orange peel.

Old-Fashioned & Sazerac Recipes + more on page 24

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Whiskey Sour

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

by Robert Simonson

Sours rule the bar.

The public may not realize it, but many of the cocktails they order and enjoy are sours — that is, broadly speaking, drinks with some citrus in them.

The Daiquiri is a rum sour. The Margarita, year in and year out the most ordered cocktail in the United States, is another sour, made with tequila and curaçao. The Sidecar is the same, but with brandy. The Cosmopolitan, the last cocktail to have achieved the status of household name, is nothing but a fancified vodka sour.

The Whiskey Sour is part of this family, perhaps the head of the family. But it arguably has had the misfortune of actually being called a sour. It’s hard to run with the cool kids with such a prosaic name. People seem to have recognized the drink’s clay-footed personality from the first. In an amusing sidebar published in 1919 in a Louisiana newspaper, a writer, contemplating the dawning of Prohibition, suggested calling a saloon by the euphemistic “bookcase” in future, and cocktails by the names of famous authors. A Dry Martini, for instance, would hereafter be called an H.L. Mencken. The writer he thought the best match for the Whiskey Sour? The social ROUSES

realist Theodore Dreiser. A fine novelist, to be sure, but the most bloodlessly earthbound of his trade.

This is unfair. For the Whiskey Sour has the goods to be not just a dully satisfying, but a potentially excellent drink. There are a few steps you can take to set yourself in that direction. First, choose your whiskey wisely. It needn’t be top-shelf bourbon, but quality shows here. Unlike a Manhattan, in which whiskey and vermouth vie for your taste buds’ attentions, the whiskey will show here. Second, proportions are important, so don’t be casual in your measurements. Two ounces of whiskey will provide the needed punch. Three-quarters each of fresh lemon juice and simple syrup will furnish the correct balance between sweet and sour.

(All sours are, after all, sweet drinks, the name notwithstanding.) Try a 2-to-1, sugarto-water ratio for the syrup to lend the drink even more body. And the mixture will need a rigorous shake — not just to render it super

cold — something the cocktail benefits from — but to line the surface of the drink with some invigorating ice shavings.

I know this all from experience. The Whiskey Sour was the first cocktail I ever made for my wife. While readying myself before one of our early dates, I found myself wanting in the provisions department. I had no vermouth, so Martinis and Manhattans were out. I was bereft of bitters, so Old-Fashioneds and Sazeracs were scratched. I did have the goods for a Whiskey Sour, though. But would a Whiskey Sour do? I was doubtful, but the situation was what it was and, minutes after she arrived, I went about shaking up a couple, using Buffalo Trace Bourbon and an antique cocktail shaker from the 1934 World’s Fair in Chicago. I handed the drink to her. She sipped it and said, “This is the best drink I’ve ever had.”

Every cocktail has its day.

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Kentucky Mule

by Robert Simonson

Mules are a category of cocktail, and they don’t all come from Moscow.

That may be hard to believe, given the sea of copper (or copper-colored mugs) that has washed over the world’s bars over the last decade, most festooned with the logo of some vodka company or other. These are used to hold Moscow Mules, a 1940s Hollywood invention composed of vodka, lime juice and ginger beer that has come roaring back recently after decades of obscurity.

Like many popular cocktails, the Moscow Mule has spawned an entire cocktail book’s worth of riffs and spins on the original recipe. Basically any spirit can be plugged into this formula. The Mezcal Mule, using the smoky Mexican distillate, may be the most popular variation at the moment. But whiskey has wheedled inside the copper cup as well, in the form of the Kentucky Mule. It is, as you’ve surely guessed, made with bourbon instead of vodka. Some recipes add mint as a garnish, but then you can’t stop Kentuckians from putting mint in their bourbon.

The Kentucky Buck, like the Moscow before it, has inspired its own riffs. Perhaps the most popular and famous variation came out of San Francisco. There, in 2009, at the Rickhouse cocktail bar, bartender Erick Castro created the Kentucky Buck, in which he substituted lemon juice for lime and dashed in a little Angostura bitters.

But the big addition that really made the drink was a muddled strawberry, which lent the highball its soothing fruity flavor and a vibrant rosy color. The drink remains the most noted cocktail to ever come out of Rickhouse, and it has been served at taverns the world over.

You may notice that Castro called his drink a Buck, not a Mule. What’s the difference between a Buck and a Mule, you may ask? Nothing. They’re both terms for cocktails made with ginger beer. So why did Castro call his drink the Kentucky Buck, not the Kentucky Mule? The same reason the Moscow Mule wasn’t christened the Moscow Buck. Assonance and alliteration. It just sounded better.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

Talk Derby to Me

by Sarah Baird

In terms of utter decadence, the combination of bourbon and chocolate ranks right up there with other legendary pairings like oysters and sherry, or caviar and champagne. And in Kentucky, this dynamic duo has been taken to the next level by merging the two into a whole host of boozy, sugary treats.

There’s the classic May Day Pie: a sticky-sweet dessert combining chocolate, pecans and a touch of bourbon that’s often served around Kentucky Derby time. There’s the highly coveted bourbon fudge made by Trappist monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani just outside of Bardstown, Kentucky (which also happens to be the epicenter of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail). And then there’s the bourbonchocolate treat to rule them all: bourbon balls.

These ping-pong-ball-sized orbs of liquoredup goodness find a creamy, pecan-flecked, bourbon-soaked center bathed in a glaze of dark chocolate served at pretty much any gathering during the holiday season. On the next page is a recipe in case you’re interested in whipping up a batch yourself. But be forewarned: These aren’t for children — and aren’t for the faint of heart! Think of it more as an edible shot than a piece of homemade candy.

Mint Julep

by Robert Simonson

Virginia and Kentucky are traditionally the states that duke it out over parentage of the Mint Julep.

Though Kentucky, where they make the drink with bourbon (naturally), is more closely associated with the crushed-ice wonder, Virginia was likely compounding Juleps long before Kentucky achieved statehood, albeit with brandy or rum.

But Louisiana has its own stake in the matter. This is largely due to one man, New Orleans bartender Chris McMillian. McMillian currently spends his time at Revel, a cocktail bar and restaurant he owns in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. But he has been keeping bar at various saloons throughout the city for 20 years, and arguably made his reputation with a wooden mallet in one hand, a Lewis bag full of ice in the other, and a mouthful of blarney between them. For if you ordered a Julep from McMillian, the price of the drink came with a show and a recitation.

The show was the big man pulverizing the ice with the mallet until it achieved a fine crumble, and then piling the frozen rubble into a silver chalice along with the needed simple syrup, bourbon whiskey and fresh mint. The

Bourbon Balls

Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 cup chopped pecans 1½ cups plus 3 tablespoons bourbon (your preferred brand — don’t go bottom shelf!)

1 pound powdered sugar ¼ pound unsalted butter 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons whole milk HOW TO PREP: Add pecans to an airtight jar and pour the 1½ cups of bourbon over them. Close the container and allow to sit for at least a week, but up to 10 days.

Drain the pecans and discard the bourbon.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy using an electric mixer.

Slowly add powdered sugar and the three tablespoons of bourbon to the butter until completely incorporated.

Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the bourbonsoaked pecans.

Using a melon baller (or a tablespoon), form the buttercream into approximately 1-inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until firm.

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recitation was a poem McMillian had dug up from the 1890s by journalist Joshua Soule Smith. It was a lurid piece of purple prose, using the kind of language typically employed by youths while in the first throes of love. This verse, however, was about a cocktail. It begins thusly: Then comes the zenith of man’s pleasure. Then comes the julep — the mint julep. Who has not tasted one has lived in vain. The honey of Hymettus brought no such solace to the soul; the nectar of the gods is tame beside it.

And it ends so: Then when it is made, sip it slowly … Sip it and dream — you cannot dream amiss. Sip it and dream — it is a dream itself.

No other land can give so sweet solace for your cares; no other liquor soothes you in melancholy days. Sip it and say there is no solace for the soul, no tonic for the body like old Bourbon whiskey.

It’s a safe bet that, when McMillian began casting those words upon the air for the benefit of strangers, like a man dutifully reciting the one poem he had managed to commit to memory in elementary school, no one had uttered them in a century.

McMillian has probably made a Mint Julep every day for the past 15 years. That’s saying something, since the Julep is hardly an everyday drink. You need special ice and a particular vessel and lots of fresh mint, which isn’t always available. It’s a drink made for occasions. Luckily, Kentucky has long furnished just such an occasion.

The annual running of the Kentucky Derby is all about opulence and decadence and self-indulgence. It’s a time when men and women pull out all the stops, in dress, in food and in drink. And what mixed drink is as opulent and decadent and self-indulgent at the Mint Julep? It is, as Smith pointed out, “the very dream of drinks.”

Combine chocolate chips and whole milk in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring until melted.

Use a dipping fork (or toothpick) to submerge buttercream balls, one at a time, in the melted chocolate, coating the balls on all sides.

Place back on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow balls to completely harden before eating.

Mint Julep Brownies

Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 5 sprigs fresh mint ¾ cup granulated sugar 4 ounces cream cheese, softened ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan 2 large eggs, room temperature 1½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 ounce dark (80% cacao) chocolate 1 teaspoon peppermint oil 1 cup powdered sugar 2 teaspoons bourbon HOW TO PREP: In a small bowl, muddle mint leaves with granulated

sugar. Allow to stand for a minimum of 4 hours and preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease pan generously with butter, then dust with flour. Remove mint leaves from sugar and discard them.

Using a handheld electric mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter and the minted sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs to the mixture one at a time, mixing until ingredients are completely combined.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into the wet mixture, stirring until batter is smooth.

Taking two small-medium bowls, melt one chocolate square in the first bowl and fill with half the batter, mixing to combine. Place the remainder of the batter in second bowl, then mix in peppermint oil. Pour chocolate batter in the pan, followed by the mint batter.

Drag a butter knife in a zigzag pattern through the batter to marbleize it. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit to cool.

Once the cooked brownie in the pan is cooled, sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add bourbon and whisk until smooth. Pour this glaze over brownies and allow to cool a bit before cutting into squares. Serve immediately.

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Manhattan

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

by Robert Simonson

What’s in a name? When it comes to cocktails, an awful lot.

Take the Manhattan. Does any drink have a cooler name than the Manhattan? Oh, I can guess what you’re thinking —the Martini has a certain powerful ring to it. But that’s come about only through decades of living forever on the tongue-tip of humankind as people argued over the virtues and makeup of the drink ad nauseam. We don’t even know what the name means. A Martini is a Martini, but what or whom was it named after? It might as well be a Dr. Seuss nonsense word.

But the Manhattan — we know what that drink is named after — namely, the most sophisticated, storied sliver of the United States there ever was, the land of Broadway and Wall Street, Central Park and Museum Mile. The inventor of the Manhattan must have thought a lot of this simple mix of whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters to honor it with such a handle.

Like Manhattan Island, the cocktail has gone from strength to strength over its

century and a quarter of life. Of the four greatest drinks in the cocktail canon — Manhattan, Martini, Old-Fashioned and Daiquiri — it has been unquestionably the most stable and reliable. The Martini has gone through myriad changes in its time, evolving from a sweet aperitif in the 1880s to a desert-dry power drink in the mid-20th century. It has been made with gin and vodka, shaken and stirred, served up and on the rocks, etc., etc. It’s reign as top cocktail has ever been stormy.

The Manhattan, in contrast, has proven sure and steady. It began in the 1880s as an equal parts drink, half whiskey and half sweet vermouth, with a dash of bitters thrown in. And, aside from the whiskey portion increasing over the years — 2 to 1 is the typical ratio — it has remained relatively unchanged. If you want to argue about what makes the best Manhattan, you’ve basically got only two fronts to fight on: rye or bourbon as base; and cherry or lemon twist as garnish. And most Manhattan drinkers I’ve met are pretty much OK with

all those choices. Maybe something about the mellowness of the cocktail leads to mellow drinkers.

True, you’ll find those that prefer a Perfect Manhattan, in which the vermouth is split between the dry and sweet types, but they are rare beasts. Advocates of the Dry Manhattan, which uses just dry vermouth, are even more unicorn-like. However, the latter does appear to have enjoying fleeting fashion in New Orleans around the turn of the 20th century. One “New Orleans club-man,” writing in to The TimesPicayune in 1899, remarked, “I have heard a good deal of discussion among local connoisseurs…that Manhattan cocktails should always be made with Italian instead of French vermouth.” He went on to explain that Dry Manhattans were quite the fad among the Big Easy bons vivants, but concluded, “It is one of those nice points that good livers like to debate at length, and, of course, the last word is, after all, de gustibus.’” There it is, that evenhanded Manhattan drinker equanimity.

LUXARDO CHERRIES: Luxardo’s created the original maraschino cherry. Muddled in Old-Fashioneds and served as a garnish in Manhattans,

these luxury cherries, candied in marasca cherry syrup, have been made since around 1905. Dense and chewy with a sweet-tart flavor, they don’t taste anything like the candy-apple red cherries you’re used to. Each jar of Luxardo’s is about 50% cherries, 50% syrup. The syrup itself may be used in many cocktails as a flavored sugar.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

37

Boulevardier

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

by Robert Simonson

The Boulevardier has a fairy-tale story like no other cocktail.

It began as a footnote and, 90 years later, has emerged as a colossus. Fifteen years ago, you’d have to have been a supersleuthy cocktail historian with a highpowered magnifying glass to even know that such a drink as the Boulevardier existed.

It was mentioned as the tiniest of footnotes in Barflies and Cocktails, the Paris-published 1927 cocktail manual by bartender Harry MacElhone. The Scottish MacElhone was the reigning mixological force at Harry’s New York Bar, an expatriate watering hole in the heart of Paris just steps from the Palais Garnier at 5 Rue Daunou.

MacElhone listed dozens of drink recipes in his slim volume, but the Boulevardier’s recipe was not one of them. That twist on the Negroni was relegated to the back pages of the guide, where it said only, “Erskine Gwynne crashed in with his Boulevardier cocktail,” made of ¹⁄₃ Campari, ¹⁄₃ sweet vermouth and ¹⁄₃ bourbon whiskey.

Gwynne had his own colorful story. A well-born American who counted Vanderbilts among his relations, he founded a monthly literary magazine in Paris called, yes, Boulevardier. That Gwynne should have a signature cocktail, or frequent 3 8 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

Harry’s, is no surprise. He spent much of his time in Paris carousing, dating models and getting into fights. As one paper said in 1933, “Where there’s Erskine, there’s always action.”

That would have been that, if not for the enterprising ways of the striving young bartenders of the early 21st century who, like amateur historians, got their hands on as many old cocktail books as possible, including Barflies and Cocktails. (The MacElhone book was reissued in 2008 by publishing scion and cocktail geek Greg Boehm of Mud Puddle Books, thus further exposing bartenders and enthusiasts to the recipes within.)

Bartender and writer Toby Cecchini, in a 2012 column in The New York Times’ T Magazine, lamented that the Boulevardier had not yet won a wider audience. Just two years later, he had nothing to complain about. The cocktail was everywhere, including at Cecchini’s The Long Island Bar, where it become the house specialty.

(Cecchini spent a long time on his formula, eventually settling on a combination of two whiskeys, two vermouths and Campari. It is widely regarded as the best example of the cocktail to be had in New York and, perhaps, the United States.) One bar in Dallas went so far as to name itself Boulevardier, after

the owner became enamored of the drink during an exploratory New Orleans bar crawl. Around the same time, barrel-aged Boulevardiers were being served in some bars, and a few distilleries began selling the cocktail in bottled form.

That the drink should take off so quickly with bartenders was no mystery. They were already in love with the Negroni, a three-ingredient cocktail that contained everything they loved: gin (as opposed to vodka), Campari (beloved for its bracing bitterness) and sweet vermouth (often unjustly vilified). The Boulevardier was the same bill of goods, except with something else they loved — bourbon — substituting for the gin.

For the consumer, the Boulevardier — like the Negroni — was a lost classic that they could easily wrap their tongues around, as well as master at home with minimal effort and a light shopping trip to the liquor store.

And so a footnote drink, and the forgotten Gwynne himself, improbably achieved a belated bit of immortality. It couldn’t have happened to a better drink.

Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, spirits and bars for the New York Times. His new book, The Martini Cocktail, is out now.

Wayne curtis

Building Your Bourbon Bar When giants roamed the Earth, anyone could stock their home bar with a few handles of liquor — bourbon, gin, rum — and a few quarts of mixers. Throw in a bag of limes and — voilà! — you were the consummate cocktail party host.

Those days are fading fast. The craft cocktail revolution has seeped out from dank subterranean bars and into well-lit homes everywhere. Your guests may well have been to a craft bar, their tastes in drink recalibrated and refined.

Expectations have changed.

But it’s not that hard to step up your cocktail game. Here’s how.

Technique/Knowledge

Pick a specialty, then find a bar guide that will help you hone it, and stick with this until it’s muscle memory. Not even sure where to begin? There’s been a flood of outstanding books that lay out the basic topography of the cocktail landscape. These include Cocktail Codex, Spirits Sugar Water Bitters, Meehan’s Bartender Manual, and How to Cocktail from America’s Test Kitchen.

For graduate-level cocktail education, New Orleans is home to a number of great resources, including the new Sazerac House on Canal Street downtown, and the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference held each July in the French Quarter, with a full roster of seminars and tasting sessions that draw thousands of bartenders from around the globe.

Glassware

The perfect drink deserves a perfect vessel. A solid, well-weighted rocks glass conveys quality in a way a thin-walled tumbler can only dream of. Martini glasses are iconic and suggest elegance, but are impractical for holding and sipping. Instead, look for more elegant and sensible coupes or glasses like the ones Nick and Nora used in The Thin Man. And think small when shopping for cocktail glasses — three to five ounces is plenty, which allows a drink to be served cold and finished cold. Those lap-pool-sized martini glasses are designed for the supersize culture. When guests pointedly remark on your stinginess in serving their drinks in less-than-epic glasses, note that two cold cocktails are better than one that’s tepid at the end.

Feeling adventurous? Scout your local thrift shop for coupes and vintage stemware.

Gear

Cocktail making requires minimal gear: shaker, strainer, muddler, barspoon and jigger. A solidly made, three-piece cobbler shaker is best for a home bar — avoid those with rubber gaskets sold by some chains. There’s a top-notch selection at www.cocktailkingdom.com.

If there’s one essential extra, it’s a handheld citrus squeezer — which lets you add fresh lemon or lime juice with minimal effort but maximal improvement in taste. The OXO Good Grips Citrus Squeezer is a good pick. Oh, and a good vegetable peeler can do double duty for citrus twists.

It’s often the simplest things that separate serious amateurs from weekend duffers. Like bar towels. Keep a big stack handy, and use them constantly to keep your bar area tidy and clean. Kegworks.com has good, basic towels for $10 per dozen.

Etcetera

Attention to small details can help a home bar look professional. Keeping simple syrup (a 1:1 mix of sugar dissolved in water) on hand is a good place to start. Next step: Try an infused simple syrup made with something like strong and smoky lapsang souchong tea, or with fresh thyme. Use this to complicate your next bourbon cocktail. As you become comfortable in your role as bartender, try coming up with little additions to classic cocktails to make them more appealing. When it comes to mixing drinks, practice really does make perfect — so keep practicing, and in no time you’ll be creating crafty cocktails of your own.

Spirits

Aim to build your spirits collection around your favorite drink — rum for Mai Tais, bourbon or rye for Old-Fashioneds or Manhattans, cognac for Sidecars.

American bourbons are flourishing.

One rule of thumb: Look for products bottled above the federal legal minimum of 80 proof, which suggests that the product is being controlled by the master distiller, not the distillery’s accounting department. Also look for “bottled in bond,” a style that dates to 1897 and has come back strong in recent years. It’s always at 100 proof, which helps it stand up to even the most bullying of mixers.

Rye — made mostly from rye grain as opposed to bourbon’s corn — is also back on the shelves in force after years of exile. It has a more assertive, spicier flavor profile than bourbon and also works well in whiskey cocktails like the Sazerac.

No spirit has returned with more raffish charm than rum, once the lubricant of frat boys. The better variations are now as eminently sippable as an aged cognac. Louisiana rums like Roulaison and Cane Land are doing a particularly good job of showcasing the state’s sugar bounty.

Finally, vermouth: Upgrade your Martinis and Manhattans by tracking down some of the higher-quality versions. They cost about twice as much as the bottom-shelf vermouths, but makes each sip immeasurably more intriguing.

Be sure to refrigerate after opening — it is wine based, and will oxidize over time.

Collecting 101

by Sarah Baird

It can happen to anyone, and it can strike at any time.

One day, you’re unassumingly ordering a Manhattan or Boulevardier, espousing the merits of bourbon cocktails, and the next you’re talking about mash build and tasting notes to everyone you meet. I get it — a raging case of “bourbon fever” has the ability to simply settle in overnight.

A passion for bourbon can quickly become all-consuming, and soon you’re not just interested in sipping the latest release from Four Roses and chatting about it with other dedicated bourbon-heads; you want to start building a serious bourbon collection of your very own.

Where to begin, though, in what seems like a daunting process?

Below is a 10-step system to help ensure your wallet and sanity are protected as you dip a toe into the bourbon-collector waters.

1

DETERMINE IF YOU REALLY LIKE BOURBON THAT MUCH.

If you’re going to start a bourbon collection, you need to be really passionate about it — like, your-friends-are-sickof-you-talking-about-it passionate. If you find yourself drawn to bourbon, but also feel equally fond of rum or gin, collecting is probably not for you. Trust me, there’s no need to drop thousands of dollars if bourbon, exclusively, doesn’t get your blood pumping.

2

FIND YOUR BOURBON COMMUNITY AND BECOME A REGULAR.

Now that you’ve double-checked you’re a certified bourbon obsessive, it’s time to find the perfect watering hole.

Bars with expansive bourbon collections are everywhere today, filled with bottles for sampling in the perfect try-beforeyou-buy scenario. (For the record, my preferred bourbon-heavy bar is Barrel Proof in New Orleans.) Want to have a finger of Booker’s to see what the whole “cask strength” thing is all about before searching for your own bottle? (Don’t worry, “finger” is a measurement in the bourbon world, not an actual finger.) Sip it at your go-to bar. You’ll have a built-in community of others to wax poetic about bourbon all night long with you. This community will prove invaluable down the line when you’re looking for insider tips and intel about which local stores are getting which bottles. In collecting, it’s all about connections.

3

UNDERSTAND YOUR PERSONAL PALATE.

If you’re going to collect bourbon, you’re going to want to enjoy your bourbon. This means learning via trial and error (see Step 2 above) the flavor profiles that really make your personal taste buds sing. If you’re into the zip and bite of a bourbon with a high-rye ratio, you’re going to want to err on the side of bottles like Basil Hayden’s 10 Year and Bulleit Barrel Strength. It’s all about being true to what you prefer, even if it means a collection of bottles that go against the grain of what others might consider “the best.”

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4

CARVE OUT SPACE IN YOUR HOME.

Bourbon bottles take up a lot of space — particularly when a collection seems to never stop growing. And while an entire bourbon room or wing of your home might not be realistic, setting aside a designated shelf or bar cart to display your collection ensures that you don’t end up haphazardly placing your bottles all over the house. You could also divide your collection between “everyday bottles” and “special occasion” bottles, placing the more frequently enjoyed ones closer to the kitchen or dining room. Bourbon collections tend to collect a lot of dust fairly quickly, so don’t forget to brush off your bottles on a weekly basis. No one wants to sip from a bottle that’s less than pristine.

5

START SMALL.

It may seem tempting to “go big or go home” when it comes to launching your bourbon collection, and chase after the rarest-of-the-rare from the get-go, but starting with solid, less-expensive bottles with flavor profiles you like (see Step 3) ensures a solid foundation for your collection. For any and all “stock the bar” parties when people move into a new home, I always gift a bottle of Old Grand-Dad 100 proof Bottled in Bond — something that’s unique enough that people wouldn’t necessarily purchase it themselves, but cheap enough to ensure it’ll actually be enjoyed sooner rather than later.

6

LEARN THE STORIES.

The culture surrounding bourbon is all about stories: who made what bottle, how long it aged, the family legacy behind its cultivation and what makes it different from every other bourbon on the block. This also means remembering your own stories about the bottles you collect: how you learned about them, what you were doing the first time you cracked them open, the feeling of absolute glee you experienced when — in the dark recesses of a liquor store shelf — you spotted a yearned-for bottle accidently hidden among some gin. Bourbon collectors are also top-notch storytellers, so be prepared to spin a few yarns of your own if you’re getting into the game.

7

DON’T TREAT YOUR BOTTLES LIKE TROPHIES.

Collecting is, of course, about rarities, amassing the most eclectic array of bottles you can and, for many, completing sub-collections within your collection from the different bourbon families. One of the most notable sub-collections is Blanton’s, with collectors aiming to find all eight, uniquely shaped, metal horseand-rider bottle stoppers, which are also stamped with a single letter so that, when the collection is complete, the stoppers spell out “Blanton’s” and show a horse race from start to finish. As tempting as it is to treat these über-special bottles like Fabergé eggs, don’t do it. Enjoying your bourbon collection is half the joy of having it.

8

WATCH THE RELEASE CLOCK.

Bourbons are released on their own specific timelines. This means that if you’re serious about the hunt for the latest bottles, you must be aware of the release clocks for the bourbon of your dreams. If the latest from Elmer T. Lee was released in August and you’re beginning a search for it in March, that’s a real newbie move.

9

CHECK OUT ESTATE SALES (SERIOUSLY).

One of the greatest joys of bourbon collecting is finding older, diamond-in-the-rough bottles that people have perhaps overlooked for decades. Once you know the timelines for new releases (see Step 8), it’s wildly enjoyable to head in the other direction as well, and dive deep into one-off bottles found in the least likely places. This means attending auctions and estate sales where you might find an über-rare bottle of vintage bourbon a family didn’t even know they had. Or it can mean visiting an out-ofthe-way liquor store in a smaller town that might not be as hip to the whole bourbon boom. If you decide to expand your collection in this way, it’s also helpful to be able to decipher what the bottle itself is trying to tell you, including learning how to interpret the bar code, the label and the stamp on the bottom of the bottle. If you’re going to be a serious collector, there’s a little detective work involved, too.

10

WOODFORD RESERVE DISTILLERY

A recent count of working distilleries in Kentucky put the number at more than 70, with most of them offering educational tours that include plenty of opportunities to sample the wares. But for Cary Robinson, store director of Rouses Market in Covington, deciding which distillery to visit was easy: Woodford Reserve Distillery in the regally named town of Versailles, Kentucky. “I wanted to visit Woodford because it is the preferred bourbon of my choice,” says Robinson. The distillery is nestled in rolling hills where you’ll see thoroughbred horses grazing in pastures, reflecting Woodford Reserve’s picturesque location an hour down the road from Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby. Visitors to the Woodford Reserve Distillery are promised the chance to see such marvels as a 500-foot-long, gravity-fed barrel run, as well as historic, century-old copper pot stills. For Robinson, the biggest lure was the opportunity to witness Woodford’s unique triple-distilling process. Overall, Robinson describes the vibe at Woodford as “very classy meets rural” — and special tours include the opportunity for lunch and dinner reservations with meals prepared by the James Beard-nominated Chef Ouita Michel. (Special holiday dinners include bourbonglazed ham and whiskey chicken a l’orange.) For Robinson, choosing a taste highlight of his trip was as easy as choosing which distillery to visit: He still remembers sipping a glass of rye that was paired with a dark chocolate, pecan-topped bourbon confection. “It was an absolute adult dessert,” he says.

– MICHAEL TISSERAND

CHASE THE UNICORNS — WHEN YOU’RE READY.

When you’ve completed all other nine steps on the list, now it’s time to hunt after those elusive “Holy Grail” bottles that, perhaps, got you into bourbon from the start. Like Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, you’re now ready to pour energy into trying to get your hands on a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle, or whatever other “unicorn” of the bourbon world makes your heart skip a beat. Just don’t forget to keep building as the search for the big guns gets underway — your collection needs to continue to grow with a little something new, a little something old and a few special bottles along the way to properly pay homage to your bourbon collecting personality.

ANGEL’S ENVY handcrafted, small-batch bourbon from Louisville

Distilling Company uses the unique process of finishing their bourbon in used port wine barrels for an added layer of flavor and complexity. Lincoln Henderson, a master distiller and the creator of Woodford Reserve, designed the process. Angel’s Envy Rye is finished in rum barrels.

BELLE MEADE BOURBON , from the reincarnated Nelson’s Green

Brier Distillery in Tennessee, uses a blend of four barrels per batch using two different mash bills and yeast strains. Each barrel is aged between six and eight years. Belle Meade has a high rye content and a 90.4 bottling proof.

ROWAN'S CREEK is one of several small-batch bourbons produced

at the Willett Distilling Company (Kentucky Bourbon Distillers).

The name derives from the creek that runs through the distillery grounds. Noah’s Mill is another.

ROUSES

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 4 1

Holiday Memories are made with

Chicken & Andouille Gumbo made with...

Savor What’s THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

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Comiskey's Whiskey

and trim for a man over 70, there is no mistaking that he is in his final round.

It is difficult to believe that, not even 50 years after his death, a Google search for a man once as powerful and ubiquitous as James Disembarking from the Tulane Avenue streetcar under E. Comiskey yields almost nothing of value. One is just as harda fading summer sky, just beyond the darkened form pressed to find an image of his namesake whiskey, “Old Comiskey of the massive new deco courthouse rising from the Brand” bourbon, which for over 40 years was a staple in every mud, you see men crowding through a fenced opening corner grocery and neighborhood restaurant in the city. But like those mom-and-pop corner stores and the political machine that on Broad Street. You join them, dropping 50 cents into dominated civic life throughout much of the 20th century, when a basket, and edge forward through the gate into the Comiskey and his label passed from the scene in the early 1970s, open-air arena. A man standing next to you inscribes they were replaced by a different set of political, economic and hopeful propositions into a book, then thrusts it into cultural realities. Yet it would be difficult to identify an individual who his pocket while a flurry of last-minute bargains unfold more fully embodied the way New Orleans once was, a man who built an empire on a foundation of politics and whiskey. as a loudspeaker crackles to life. A bell rings. Cheering Comiskey’s upbringing welded him into a fusion of boldness, soon drowns out the yellow hum of the sodium vapor tenacity and loyalty, forged as he was in a home full of strong lights that shine upon a white canvas square where two personalities. They included his maternal aunt, Virginia Casserly, lean, shirtless men in high-waisted shorts circle each whom Comiskey credited with raising him after his mother died in other, gloved hands raised and ready to strike. Tobacco an accident on Easter Sunday, when he was only nine. An active smoke veils the upturned faces of shouting spectators, suffragette who once “chained herself to the White House fence for her cause,” Casserly was also the head of NORD at a time when few hands waving betting cards and cash, teeth clenching women even worked in public service. His uncle, Edward Comiskey, cigars, the air thick with the fumes from a thousand pint was a state senator who saw that his young nephew found a job in bottles of bootleg whiskey. the capitol as a page.

A law unto itself, this 2,000-seat fight club is the domain of one man: Despite the presence of such moderating influences, who tutored James Edward Comiskey, an athletic 33-year-old with coal-black him in the way of politics, it was Comiskey’s father, a deputy sheriff hair and bright blue eyes. With New Orleans more than a decade with a habit of landing on the wrong side of the law, who had an deep into Prohibition and locked tight in the chokehold of the Great inescapably large influence on his son’s style. A scene that unfolded Depression, the hour belongs to men like Comiskey who have found one afternoon in 1915 at the old Kempster Park, once the site of a way to thrive in hard times, even if it means navigating the jagged Warren Easton High School’s baseball field where young Jim played line between what the law dictates and what the common man wants. first base, was emblematic of this family relationship. Comiskey’s However the feds or their wives may perceive the moment, the workfather got into an argument with a younger man named Henry Nagle ing stiffs and hard cases crowded around the ring see Comiskey as a over a game of dice. The elder Comiskey told Nagle he wouldn’t hero who keeps his promises. As the fight reaches its climax, you see dare challenge him that way if his son were there. Undeterred, Nagle him smiling, deep in his element. insisted on fighting the son. “I tried to get them to call off the bet, but Forty years later, a film crew from the British Broadcasting Corpofather was laying three to one and neither side would stand down,” ration arrives at a neglected and shabby building on Jefferson Davis Comiskey later recalled. “A very large crowd gathered, and we Parkway. Here, they have been told, they will find the last of a breed walked around looking for a place to fight. Finally, we settled on of old city political bosses, a holdover from a bygone era when the second base.” A punch from Comiskey in the bare-knuckled fight that machine ruled New Orleans. A camera pans across a sign on the wall ensued left Nagle sprawled unconscious in the dirt. identifying it as the Branch Office After a few unsuccessful years of the long-serving tax assessor for as a semi-pro baseball player and the First Municipal District, James journalist, James Comiskey discovered E. Comiskey. People from all walks a calling more suited to his personality of life anchor rows of backless in 1924, when he opened the Green benches, each waiting their turn to Onion bar at 2901 Tulane Avenue. plead before “Big Jim,” a remedy “That saloon was an all-night affair,” available every Wednesday to he told a reporter in 1969. “I met a lot anyone willing to come during the of people, and I began signing bail 13 hours between 9am and 10pm. bonds out of friendship and courtesy.

Comiskey listens intently to a I guess I signed a million dollars’ supplicant’s problem, though he is worth of bonds, and I never made completely deaf, while a younger five cents in my life from it. It seemed man, his nephew, writes out a note a natural thing to do, and I made a describing the situation. Comiskey lot of friends.” Friends that would one reads and nods. Calling out to an day make James Comiskey a valuable attorney waiting in the back of the operator in the city’s political machine. room, he holds out a folded piece Despite such connections, life as of paper and directs the man to a bootlegger did not come without help his constituent. The problem is James E. Comiskey founded his wholesale friction. Comiskey was arrested in liquor business in New Orleans in 1933. as good as solved. Though upright 1924 and fined $50 for selling liquor,

by Justin Nystrom

4 6 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

a common occurrence in New Orleans in the immediate post-Prohibition years, at the time, but a more serious brush good bourbon was difficult to find. with the law unfolded a year later. For By the time World War II began, Old reasons lost to time, someone torched Comiskey had become the region’s besta bar near Comiskey’s presciently selling private label whiskey. Did Big Jim named “The Quiet Spot.” When the fire use his political influence to place it in the marshal came to inspect the scene the city’s hotels, restaurants and bars? Former next morning, he found Jim Comiskey, Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris his father and a few other men poking once dismissed the idea with the somewhat around the ashes. Both the marshal and shaky defense that if Comiskey used his policemen called to assist in clearing office to sell booze, he’d be making more the men from the building had to flee money at it. Certainly businesses that sold when the Comiskeys attacked them. liquor in his district — which included the Despite the seeming gravity of their commercial Canal Street — were smart Enjoying Old Comiskey Brand Whiskey offence, both father and son went free to visit the distributorship of James E. with only a $100 fine.

Comiskey Company at 100 Common Street.

Comiskey was in his late 20s when he first became a Third Ward The reach that Comiskey had with Old Comiskey was impresprecinct captain in the Regular Democratic Organization, or “RDO.” sive. A full-page newspaper ad in 1942 boasting that the label was He possessed every quality they could want. Charismatic to a fault, “seen at more bars, enjoyed by more people” was difficult to deny. In his tavern provided Comiskey with not only disposable income, but addition to scores of corner taverns, thirsty New Orleanians could also what the current generation would term a “large social network.” find it at landmarks like the St. Charles and Monteleone hotels, as And then there was the boxing: In 1928 he started the Third Ward well as at familiar places still around today like Uptown’s Domilise’s Court House Athletic Club, first with amateurs and, by 1930, profesor the Vojkovich family’s Sixth Ward Crescent City Steaks. Even the sionals. Boxing was more than a sport back then — it was such a part notorious mob boss “Silver Dollar Sam” Carollo was a customer. of the cultural fabric of that era that it channeled the very energy A cherished nugget of local lore centers around the fact that the of the body politic. When Comiskey promoted a fight sponsored bygone Schwegmann’s grocery stores featured a bar inside, lending

by Mayor Walmsley and held in the Municipal Auditorium for a uniquely New Orleans dimension to the weekly family shopping the benefit of the city’s many jobless residents, it was a spectacle trip. During the Mardi Gras season of 1961, this meant a special that fused machine politics, the visible welding of alliances, favors Carnival Special of “Hi-Balls” of Old Comiskey whiskey for only 25 granted, and promises made. cents. Like Comiskey himself, shoppers wheeling their cart unsteadily The end of Prohibition began a new chapter for Comiskey, when through the canned goods at Schwegmann’s with an Old-Fashioned the Old Regulars nominated him for tax assessor of the First Municipal in hand belong to a New Orleans that, for better or worse, is long District, a job that he would hold from 1934 until his death in 1972. gone.

Few political posts came with more power attached. In addition to his ability to fix property assessments, Comiskey had access to a network that could, if it chose to, solve almost any problem. It was also in 1934 that he opened his first “Branch Office” on Broad Street and began holding his famous Wednesday sessions, only a biscuit’s toss from where he once promoted nighttime boxing matches.

Exceeding Comiskey’s legacy as a political boss, however, was his role as liquor magnate. When decades later the newspaper airily noted that Comiskey entered the whiskey business “immediately upon the repeal of Prohibition,” it alluded to the poorly kept secret of how savvier restaurateurs and saloonmen profited handsomely in the untaxed, all-cash bootlegging trade. With the encouragement of a Kentuckian named Harry Scott, in 1933 Comiskey legitimated his enterprise by founding L&J Company and he fielded three salesmen to greet the avalanche of demand to come.

His most conspicuous legacy, Old Comiskey Brand bourbon whiskey, hit the shelves in 1936, first bottled at the short-lived K. Taylor Distillery outside of Frankfort, Kentucky. Like all domestic whiskey available then, Old Comiskey was a rather green 2-yearold label, a status reflective of the still-rebuilding American distilling apparatus. The drinking public, thirsty for a steady flow of spirits, were not deterred by the probable burn. And it was all relative — a fancier bourbon that appeared next to Old Comiskey in a 1937 Thanksgiving ad for the fabled Solari’s grocery proudly boasted its ripe age of 30 months. By 1939 Old Comiskey had aged to three years, and by late 1940, the growing company celebrated its “fifth birthday” by announcing that Big Jim’s eponymous whisky was now barrel aged for five years. Old Comiskey, in its final form, became a six-year blended bourbon after World War II. One forgets that,

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W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 4 7

What's in a Name?

All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey — or whisky, depending on where you’re from — is bourbon.

By federal law, bourbon must be made in the United States, whereas whiskey can be distilled anywhere in the world. Scotch is technically whisky that has been distilled and matured in Scotland; Irish whiskey is made in Ireland. Canadian whisky is made in...you get the picture.

Bourbon must be made with a fermented mash of at least 51% corn. That high corn mash bill gives bourbon a distinctive sweetness not found in most whiskeys. Other flavoring grains such as rye, wheat and malted barley are added for flavor complexity. Conversely, Scotch and Irish whiskey are made mostly from malted barley. If they are made from a single distillery — and with malted barley and water — they are referred to as single malt.

In bourbon mash, all the grains are fermented together. In Canada, each grain is usually fermented, distilled and aged separately before being combined in the finished mature whisky product. As with bourbon, corn is usually the primary grain. And while American rye whiskey requires a minimum of 51% rye in the mash bill, there’s no legal requirement for any rye percentage in Canadian whisky.

Bourbon must be distilled at no more than 160 proof, while other whiskies must be distilled to no more than 190 proof. Moreover, bourbon must be stored in new, charred oak barrels, which impart that distinct brown color and mellow taste. Though standard whiskey barrels must be oak, they need not be new or charred.

Not to confuse you even more…straight bourbon must be aged for a minimum of two years, while the cheaper stuff can be distilled, bottled and sold in as little as three months. Scotch and Irish whisky, however, must be aged for at least three years.

Unlike other whiskeys and whiskys — Irish, Canadian, Scotch — bourbon cannot contain any added flavors or coloring. What you get from the barrel is what you get in the bottle. Water is added exclusively to bring down the proof, though you can find rare “barrel proof” bourbons with little to no added water. But be forewarned: You’ll really feel it the next day.

BOURBON TIP: The best way to think about flavored whiskeys

like Fireball, Crown Royal Regal Apple and others is not like a shot of whiskey, but more like a well-made bourbon cocktail.

There are also flavored whiskey liqueurs, like Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Evan Williams Honey, and the original, Wild Turkey American Honey, which begin with a whiskey base that is then sweetened or flavored with honey, vanilla, apple, ginger or herbs. Don't confuse liqueurs with liquors, which are often best sipped straight. Liqueurs are best mixed into cocktails.

BOURBON TIP: I have more than 90 open bottles in my whiskey

room. I want them to keep, so I’m smart about storage. Two things will change the flavor of your liquor over time: sunlight and oxygen.

The first one’s easy — just keep your bottles out of direct sunlight.

But avoiding oxygen is almost impossible. You’ve experienced oxidation before. Remember the last time you opened a bottle of wine and didn’t finish it? It tasted like vinegar a couple of days later.

That’s oxidation at work. Rum, whiskey and other liquors don’t oxidize as quickly; it takes many months and sometimes even years.

Over time, the flavors will turn a little flat and lose some of the robustness from when you first opened the bottle. One more thing — always store your liquor upright. Storing a bottle of liquor on its side might corrode the cork after a while, which causes — you guessed it — oxygen to get inside.

— BOBBY CHILDS, ADVENTURESINWHISKEY.COM

BOURBON TIP: If you like bourbon, try a whisky that has matured

in old bourbon casks (barrels that have previously aged bourbon).

Glenmorangie Original fits the bill; this single malt Scotch has aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels. You’ll pick up familiar bourbon notes like vanilla and coconut. The Glenlivet 12-year-old is another single malt Scotch option that features a balanced flavor profile of creamy vanilla and pineapple notes, courtesy of its time spent maturing in American oak barrels. And Irish whiskies like Jameson and Tullamore D.E.W. carry over those caramel, vanilla and light fruit notes found in bourbons like Bulleit or Four Roses. But don’t expect these whiskies to be as bold as bourbon. Their aromas and flavors are bit more subdued, which can be a good thing.

— BOBBY CHILDS, ADVENTURESINWHISKEY.COM

BULLEIT (pronounced bullet) is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey based on a family recipe created by founder Tom Bulleit’s great-great-grandfather. Bulleit 10’s mash bill of 68% corn, 28% rye and 4% malted barley is the same as regular Bulleit, though it has a slightly higher proof (91.2 vs. 90 proof of regular Bulleit).

Bulleit was made at the Four Rose Distillery until its first dedicated distillery, a 300-acre facility in Shelbyville, Kentucky, opened in 2017.

Formerly known as Yellow Label, FOUR ROSES ORIGINAL is a blend of Four Roses’ 10 bourbon recipes, which are made from five different strains of yeast and two different mash bills. The distillery is based in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

BARREL PROOF

BARREL PROOF

We sell whiskey from Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Japan and, of course, from right here in the United States — more than 421,000 bottles a year. Crown Royal, with its iconic purple bag, is our number one seller.

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Winemakers use oak for fermenting, aging or both. But bourbon barrel-aging — finishing in new, heavily toasted American oak — can help boost wines’ flavor and richness. We recommend Stave & Steel Cabernet, Cooper and Thief Red Blend, The Federalist Barrel Aged Zinfandel or Beringer Bros.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Chardonnay.

Bayou Bourbon Hunters

by Sarah Baird

For the most part, serious collectors — whether of coins, stamps or salt & pepper shakers — are a fussy bunch.

Baseball card collectors keep their prized, rookie-season gems safely stored in pristine sheaths, and plenty of vinyl-obsessed record collectors would never dream of taking a mint-condition record out of the plastic to actually listen to it. As a child, I learned the hard way that collectors are very serious about the “look, don’t touch” rule.

A playmate’s mother collected vintage and rare Barbie dolls, but I could never understand why we were banned from opening the dozens of boxes of those well-costumed playthings. (After all, they were just sitting there!) One afternoon, I talked my friend into freeing one of the vintage Barbies from her box to join our tea party, and let’s just say…I was not invited back.

A new generation of collectors, though, seems to suggest that the persnickety nature of collecting enthusiasts might slowly be falling by the wayside. For lifelong friends and bourbon collectors Blake Richard and Jordan Barbera, their expansive bourbon collections are as much about sharing and community as admiring the difficultto-find bottles on a shelf. Richard describes Barbera and himself as “two of the biggest bourbon fanatics in the Thibodaux area.”

“The whole bourbon world is different from any other spirit,” says Barbera, who originally found a passion for bourbon (and specifically, the Heaven Hill portfolio of products from Bardstown, Kentucky) while working for the liquor distribution company Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. “It’s all about stories and traditions with bourbon. A lot of other spirits are made quickly — for instance, like a bottle of vodka. But a bottle of bourbon is going to take years to age before it can be sold. That brown color isn’t just food coloring in a bottle — it’s the oak that’s been aging the spirit.”

“What attracted me the most…to bourbon is the story behind the bottle,” says Richard, a third-generation member of the Rouse family and current assistant store director in Thibodaux. His preferred bourbons come from the Buffalo Trace Distillery out of Frankfort, Kentucky. “There’s so much history that goes into every single bottle, especially with the Buffalo Trace Distillery. I mean, that place is a National Historic Landmark.”

As bourbon collecting has boomed over the past decade, the community of high-stakes collectors and rare-bottle hunters has also exploded across the country. Ten years ago, it would’ve been unimaginable to think that there would be hundreds of message boards, dozens of secret trading groups and countless listservs devoted to swapping bourbons and comparing tasting notes. Thirty years ago, it would’ve been ludicrous to think you’d find dozens of people camped outside of a grocery or liquor store overnight — with sleeping bags and tents — awaiting the limited release of a bottle of bourbon. Today, it’s par for the course.

Richard was formally introduced to Buffalo Trace at a Rouses Christmas party, where his uncle, Donald Rouse, suggested he try a glass. But it wasn’t until he started the search for a fairly obscure bottle of bourbon — Weller 12 — as a wedding gift for a friend that the passion for rare bourbons truly took hold. “Once I bought that [Weller 12], it opened up a whole new door for me to all of the other stuff, especially what comes out of Buffalo Trace Distillery: the Pappy Van Winkle and the E.H. Taylor and the Elmer T. Lee,” laughs Richard.

Of course, not every collector is such a devotee of the Buffalo Trace family of spirits. Barbera is fond of what comes from the ROUSES

Bourbon collectors Blake Richard and Jordan Barbera PHOTO BY CHANNING CANDIES

Heaven Hill line — which includes Elijah Craig, Larceny and Henry McKenna, among others — meaning that Richard and Barbera (who are now in their late 20s but who’ve been “best friends since the diaper years”) are now engaged in a spirited rivalry of sorts between “Team Buffalo Trace” and “Team Heaven Hill” as their collections grow.

“I started with Elijah Craig — that’s still my go-to — and Larceny, then started buying some different single barrels, and my collection kept growing and growing. I’d find one I liked, and then I’d keep buying it and trying different things, and trying new lines, trying aged, finished bourbons,” says Barbera, who now has 125 bottles of bourbon since starting his collection in earnest just over two years ago.

Richard and Barbera’s bourbon lust took them to the front lines for Jordan’s bachelor party; that’s when they ventured to the Bluegrass State for a trip along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Even today, when the two speak about the trip, it’s with all the reverence of a religious experience.

“At Buffalo Trace, they gave us Freddie [Johnson] as our tour guide, and that dude blew my mind,” says Richard of Johnson, who can trace his connection to Buffalo Trace back three generations. “I mean, he was hands-down the best tour guide. He was also just inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame last year. It was just an incredible experience to go behind the scenes — we even got to cork our own barrel.”

And, as you might imagine, there was also a little friendly backand-forth between the two as to which distillery gave a more engaging tour. (I’ll let you determine who sided where.) But at the end of the day, the faux-competitive nature of Richard and Barbera’s bourbon collecting is a clear reflection of the strength of their friendship.

“Of course, it’s all just jokes,” says Richard. “Jordan and I have a bourbon night once or twice a week, and we talk to each other every single day. I even have a bottle of bourbon that I won’t drink with anyone else except Jordan: An Old Forester 1924 that’s been laserengraved, from our trip to the Bourbon Trail.” Similarly, Barbera says W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 4 9

that the favorite bottle in his collection is a Blanton’s Gold Edition that was signed by each of his groomsmen from the trip to Kentucky.

The relationship between Richard and Barbera speaks to the heart of what the bourbon community knows so well: There’s a sense of connection in every bottle of bourbon that requires thoughtful, reflective consumption among friends — not just sticking it on a bar cart somewhere to gather dust.

“I usually try to buy two of every bottle. I want to save one, maybe pass it down to my family if I ever have kids. But I like to have another one to enjoy the moment. Bourbon was meant to be enjoyed with others.”

Barbera echoes Richard’s spirit of hospitality. “I would rather have the memories that the really good bottle of bourbon provided for my friends and family together than any amount of money that

EVAN WILLIAMS STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

is named for the man who opened Kentucky’s first commercial distillery along the banks of the Ohio River back in 1783. There’s a smooth, easy-to-drink 86 proof black label version, a 100 proof white label version and an 80 proof green label, which is a value bourbon, but it offers quality way beyond its price point. Heaven Hill Distillery in Louisville produces both Elijah Craig and Evan Williams.

ELIJAH CRAIG’S bourbon is sourced from 200 barrels

or less. Its namesake was the Baptist preacher often credited with first putting distillate into charred oak barrels. Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel is one of the oldest single barrel bourbons in the world.

5 0 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

these bottles could be worth. Of the 125 or so bottles in my collection, about 100 of them are open.”

One rara avis bourbon that both hope to one day add to their respective collections is the Colonel E.H. Taylor Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Bourbon: an extremely difficult-to-come-by bottle that, as the name implies, comes from barrels that weathered a tornado. (A quick search shows only one bottle available for a cool $3,900.)

“A very bad storm came through in 2006 at Buffalo Trace, and one of the warehouses had its roof and wall ripped down from the wind, exposing the barrels to the elements. While they were trying to repair everything, they discovered a really unique flavor in the bourbon in the barrels that had been exposed,” says Richard.

“That’s an act of God sort of thing. It’s never going to happen again; you can’t reproduce that. I can’t wait to taste it. I always talk about it — it’s my Holy Grail.”

For those looking to dip a toe into the blood-pumping, borderlineobsessive world of bourbon collecting, Barbera suggests learning what you like, not what others tell you is supposed to be “good.”

“When you want to start a collection, try different things at first.

If there’s a tasting around, go, and try out different distilleries and mash builds. Soon, you’ll find what you like, and then you’ll find similar bottles to try. You’re not going to find something you love just because someone else likes it. Everyone’s taste is different. You have to trust what you like. For example, I like corn and wheated stuff — I’m not that into ‘high rye.’ But I do keep some rye bottles at my house for when friends come over who might prefer that.”

Bourbon has the ability to seamlessly connect yesterday, today and tomorrow for drinkers, as they sip little glasses of history while making memories today that will last a lifetime.

“You know, you open a bottle, and you start having a conversation, and you start joking around, and you start telling stories, and then a couple hours later, you realize that that bottle’s gone,” says Barbera.

“That bottle may be gone, but the memories that you have from that night — the stories that you told — they’re never going to go away.

When you get a good bottle, you want to make sure and enjoy it.”

Making Waves

by Michael Tisserand

Starting any business is a journey, but none more so than Jefferson’s Bourbon, which partners with the nonprofit organization Ocearch — which studies and tracks sea creatures including great white sharks — to experiment with aging bourbon out on the open sea on Ocearch’s vessels. It’s just one of many experiments that Jefferson’s Bourbon founder and master blender Trey Zoeller has launched. He recently took some time from his bourbon journeys to recall how this one began.

Q: There were many ways to cause the motion of liquid in barrels. You decided on boats. How did you decide to partner with Ocearch?

A: Chris Fischer, the owner and expedition leader of Ocearch, is a longtime friend of mine. We celebrated our 40th birthdays on his ship, which was named Ocean at the time, in Costa Rica, where we fished, surfed and — being Kentucky boys — we drank lots of bourbon on the bow. I noticed the bourbon sloshing around in the glass and thought that it would do the same thing in a barrel. I then suggested to Chris that we put barrels on his ship. Chris did not think that was a good idea, as his crew caught and tagged great white sharks. But the more he drank, the more he thought about this great idea: Let’s put barrels on the ship!

I have followed Chris and Ocearch since day one, and really appreciate what they are doing for the future of the world’s oceans. Their ultimate goal is to maintain and even increase the abundance to make sure our grandchildren can enjoy fish sandwiches. How can you not get behind that!

Q: You call yourself a Kentucky boy but I understand there is a connection between you And Tulane University?

A: I graduated from Tulane in 1990, and I have a lot of relatives in Louisiana. As my grandmother would say, “We are everything that came down the Mississippi.” There is a great relationship between Louisiana and Kentucky, and specifically bourbon, as it [New Orleans] was the first marketplace for Kentucky bourbon. The flatboats that the bourbon barrels floated on were dismantled and broken down to build the houses in New Orleans in the mid-1800s.

Q: When did you first taste the bourbon that you had prepared via the boat journey? From the moment you tasted it, did you realize you were on the right track?

A: The barrels traveled on the Ocearch for three and a half years. It was “new fill” bourbon when it was originally loaded on the ship, which means it was clear as water. Three and a half years after it was loaded — mainly hanging out in the Pacific around Mexico — the ship returned to Key West for repairs, and I took three journalists to come taste it with me. We did not know what to expect. We tapped into the barrels and it was black in color, extremely thick and absolutely delicious. It was like three spirits in one: like an Islay Scotch because of the salt influence; like a dark rum because the sugars really came alive in the extreme heat around the equator; and it is a bourbon. Or, as the Charleston Brown Water Society dubbed it, the “salted caramel popcorn bourbon.”

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JIM BEAM is one of the best-selling bourbons

in the world. Seven generations of Beams have run the Clermont, Kentucky distillery, beginning with founder Jacob Beam, a farmer, who used his father’s whiskey recipe to distill his excess corn. He sold his first barrel of Old Jake Beam Sour Mash in 1795. By the 1800s, that bourbon, renamed Old Tub, had become a national bourbon brand. In 1920, Prohibition brought bourbon production to a halt. When it restarted, the distillery was refounded and renamed. Jim Beam White Label is made from a recipe nearly 230 years old. A mash of 77% corn, 13% rye and 10% barley – note, the more corn the sweeter the whiskey – is fermented using the same yeast colony kept alive since Prohibition’s end. The mixture is distilled twice, then aged for four years, which is twice as long as the required two years. Originally aged for eight years, Jim Beam Black is now aged for six years.

BOOKER’S is one of several small batch bourbons produced

by the Jim Beam distillery. Its namesake is Fredrick Booker Noe II, who was Jim Beam’s grandson, and the master distiller at Jim Beam from 1965 to 1992. (He was succeeded by his son, Jim Beam’s current master distiller, Frederick “Little Book” Booker Noe III.) Booker’s is the highest-proof bourbon in the Jim Beam small batch collection, between 121 and 131. That, and up to six to eight years in the barrel, gives it plenty of bite.

KNOB CREEK is a traditional, small batch Jim Beam bourbon

that takes its name from Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home in Kentucky. Launched in 1992 under the direction of Booker Noe, a sixth-generation Beam family master distiller, Knob Creek has become one of the most popular premium bourbons on the market today. It shares the same mash bill as Jim Beam — 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley — and it’s made at the same distillery and aged in the same warehouse as Jim Beam. Knob Creek stays in the barrel up to nine years, compared to Jim Beam’s White Label, which is aged four years, and Jim Beam’s Black, which is aged up to eight. This bourbon is both bold and sweet. There is also a Knob Creek Straight Rye and a Single Barrel Reserve, which comes in at 120 proof.

BASIL HAYDEN’S is a longer-aged version of Old Grand-Dad,

the high-rye bourbon that has been around since 1882. (Rye adds dry, spicy, peppery flavors to the whiskey.) Both are made at the Jim Beam Distillery. Basil Hayden’s is named after Old Grand-Dad’s original distiller.

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 5 1

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Friendsgiving

by Ali Rouse Royster

I was in college at LSU at the height of the TV sitcom Friends’ fame. My roommate was my best friend since kindergarten, Kristin. Several of our other friends lived in our apartment complex too — the whole bunch of us would sometimes get together on Thursday nights to eat and watch the show on my big red sofa. I had a midterm one night during a big cliff-hanger reveal (Who was the father of Rachel’s baby?!), and most of our little gang did me a solid and waited to watch until I got back. That’s true friendship, you guys. Though, to be honest, it was easier back in 2001 to avoid spoilers because there was no Facebook or Twitter or even much texting, if memory serves!

One of the hallmarks of Friends was the big Thanksgiving episode every fall. The first one began humbly enough with the characters’ family plans falling through, and everyone settling on spending Thanksgiving together with their friends instead. It gained momentum as the series grew, and everyone (not just our group) excitedly anticipated the Thanksgiving episode each year — they always featured celebrity guests and memorable moments out the wazoo: Monica with the turkey on her head! The trifle that tastes like feet! While it was not a conscious decision, my friends and I started having a sort of Friendsgiving of our own, but with much less cooking, while we were in our early 20s. The night before Turkey Day was basically a mini-high school reunion every year, with a sprinkling of college friends who were visiting for the holiday instead of making longer treks home to their families.

I moved back home to Thibodaux after graduating from LSU (coincidentally, the same month that Friends ended), and our Friendsgiving nights out started to become more about house parties than bars, and slowly started incorporating real food. Once everyone started having babies it slowed down quite a bit, but now that we’re mostly getting the hang of this new season of life, complete with great babysitters, I’ve started trying to host a holiday get-together (last time it was more of a Friendsmas than a Friendsgiving) with our friends again — I’ll admit, I’m definitely a Monica.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO 5 7

Green Bean Gimlet

Apple Pie Cocktail

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2½ ounces gin ½ ounce lime juice ½ ounce simple syrup Pickled green bean, for garnish

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 ounce vanilla vodka 1 ounce Fireball Cinnamon Whisky 4 ounces apple juice Pinch of ground cinnamon Brown sugar, for the rim Cinnamon stick, for garnish

HOW TO PREP: Add all ingredients (except green bean) to a shaker with ice and shake well.

Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Garnish with a pickled green bean.

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HOW TO PREP: Moisten and sugar the rim of a rocks glass.

Combine the vodka, Fireball, apple juice and ground cinnamon together in a shaker with a handful of ice cubes. Shake well. Pour contents into the sugar-rimmed glass half full of ice. Serve chilled and with a cinnamon stick, for garnish.

Cranberry Mimosas Makes 4 Cocktails

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 lime, halved 2 tablespoons sugar 12 fresh cranberries 1 cup sweetened cranberry juice 1 bottle champagne 4 fresh rosemary sprigs, for garnish HOW TO PREP: Rim glass with lime and dip in sugar. Put 3 cranberries in the glasses. Add 1/4 cup cranberry juice to each glass and fill with champagne.

Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.

Honey Sage “Clucktail” WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1½ ounces honey sage simple syrup (recipe below) 2 ounces bourbon 1½ ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 lemon peel, for garnish 1-2 sage leaves, for garnish HOW TO PREP: Combine honey sage simple syrup, bourbon and lemon juice in an ice-filled shaker, and shake. Strain into ice-filled Old-Fashioned glass; garnish with a twist of lemon and sage leaves.

HONEY SAGE SIMPLE SYRUP ¼ cup water, ¼ cup honey 5 fresh sage leaves, stems removed Bring the water, honey and sage to a boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool before use.

Bourbon Pumpkin Smash Cocktail

Bourbon Pecan Pie Cocktail

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 ounce pumpkin spice simple syrup (recipe below) 2 ounces bourbon ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice 1 ounce soda water Pumpkin pie spice, for the rim Lemon peel, for garnish

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 ounce bourbon 1½ ounces praline pecan liqueur ½ ounce vodka

HOW TO PREP: Moisten and rim the glass in pumpkin pie spice.

Combine the pumpkin spice syrup, bourbon, and lemon juice together in a shaker. Shake well. Strain into pumpkin pie spice-rimmed glass over ice. Top with soda water; garnish with lemon peel.

HOW TO PREP: Combine in an ice-filled shaker, and shake. Strain into a rocks glass over ice; garnish with pecans as desired.

PUMPKIN SPICE SIMPLE SYRUP 8 ounces pumpkin puree, 1 cup water, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let sit for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Rest for 15 minutes. Cool completely in an air-tight container. ​

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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Thanksgiving will feature Dirty Bird as well as turkey again this year.

We play our longtime NFC South archrivals, the Atlanta Falcons, for the second consecutive season in the prime-time Thanksgiving game.

That means you’ll need extra to eat while yelling at the TV.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO 6 1

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Black Skillet Friday

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

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Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: ¼ pound unsalted butter 1 medium white onion, finely diced 1 bell pepper, finely diced 1 bunch green onions, sliced 2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix, assembled according to package directions but without baking 1 large egg ½ cup milk ½ pound Tillamook Aged Cheddar, shredded

Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion, bell pepper and green onions. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Increase the heat to high, allowing the butter to become extremely hot. Pour the cornbread batter over the hot butter, but be very careful as it will splatter a little.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from the oven and sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top of the cornbread.

Return skillet to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Once the cheese is melted, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cornbread comes out clean, remove the skillet from the oven. Allow the cornbread to cool slightly before serving.

TIM ACOSTA’S

Sweet Potato & Green Onion Sausage Hash Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 pound Rouses Green Onion Sausage, removed from its casing 1 medium white onion, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 jalapeño, stem and seeds removed, diced 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled, diced and roasted Kosher salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste ¼ pound monterey jack cheese, shredded ¼ pound cheddar cheese, shredded HOW TO PREP: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the green onion sausage to the skillet and stir until fully cooked. Remove sausage from the pan, reserving fat in the skillet, and set sausage aside.

ROUSES

To me, a recipe is really just a jumping-off point. My sweet potato hash started as a basic potato hash. But we had sweet potatoes in the kitchen, and kale growing in the backyard ... sometimes I fry an egg and put it on top.

You know what’s better with an egg on top? Everything.

— TIM ACOSTA, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, ROUSES MARKET

Add the onion, bell pepper and jalapeño to the rendered pork fat in the pan, and sauté the vegetables until tender.

Stir in the roasted sweet potatoes and cooked green onion sausage, and place skillet in the oven, uncovered.

Bake the hash for 20 to 25 minutes, then remove and sprinkle the cheese over the top.

HOW TO PREP: Preheat oven to 350°F.

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Black Skillet Friday

Place skillet back in the oven for another 10 minutes so the cheese melts and the surface of the hash gets slightly crusty.

Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

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Leftover Turkey Pot Pie Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 yellow onion, diced ½ cup carrots, cut into half moons ½ cup celery, diced 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, picked from stems and chopped 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups turkey brothstock (or low-sodium chicken broth) 1½ cups half & half 2 cups leftover cooked turkey, chopped 1½ cups leftover cooked potatoes, diced Kosher salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste 1 sheet of puff pastry, frozen 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a tablespoon of water to make an egg wash HOW TO PREP: Melt the butter and olive oil together in a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery, and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Stir, cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Once the vegetables are tender, add the chopped thyme and cook 1 minute.

Sprinkle in the flour, stirring until it’s absorbed, then cook for 1 more minute.

Continue to stir while pouring in the turkey broth and half & half. Increase the heat under the pan to medium, and stir until thickened. Simmer for 10 to

15 minutes to cook out the flour taste. You can add a little more turkey stock if it thickens too much.

Add the chopped turkey and diced potatoes; stir and season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.

Pour the pot pie filling into a 10-inch skillet, and let cool for 35 to 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove puff pastry sheet from freezer and let it thaw while the filling continues to cool.

Preheat your oven to 400° F. Once the puff pastry is thawed — it should be cold and not sticky — place it on a lightly floured surface and gently roll it out, pinching any split ends back together. Place on top of the cooled filling in the skillet, stretching gently to cover the surface.

Brush the top of the puff pastry with the egg wash.

Place the skillet on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spills. Slide the pan on the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling.

Remove from the oven, and let stand for a few minutes to allow it to cool slightly before serving.

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Grilled Asparagus Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2 bunches asparagus 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Kosher salt and black pepper to taste Parmesan cheese, to taste HOW TO PREP: Heat your grill to medium-high heat, and let it preheat for 10 minutes.

Trim the bottoms of the asparagus to remove the fibrous ends. Lightly toss the asparagus spears with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place the asparagus on the grill perpendicular to the grates so they don’t fall through. Grill the spears until they begin to lightly char. (Asparagus cooks quickly, so don’t leave it on for too long or it will overcook.)

Remove the asparagus from the grill and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. This allows the cheese to slightly melt and stick to the asparagus spears better.

Serve immediately.

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 6 3

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Holiday Helpers WITH

Marinated Brussels Sprouts 1 bag (16 oz.) Season & SteamÂŽ Microwavable Whole Brussels Sprouts 1 cup prepared Italian salad dressing Salt & pepper, to taste Follow the microwave instructions on the back of the Whole Brussels Sprout bag. Pour Italian dressing directly over sprouts. Tightly close ziplock.

Place bag, steam valve side up in the microwave (you may also stand sealed bag up if your microwave is large enough to ďŹ t standing bag). Cook on high for 5 minutes or until sprouts are tender. Let stand 1 minute in microwave. Carefully remove bag from microwave and serve warm or place cooled marinated sprouts in the refrigerator overnight and serve marinated sprouts chilled. These Brussels Sprouts get more delicious the longer they marinate!

SEASON & STEAM READY TO SERVE BRUSSELS SPROUTS

For more recipes & inspiration, visit www.oceanmist.com

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LIBBY’S BAKED CORN PUDDING • • • • • • • •

� cans (�� oz.) Libby’s® Whole Kernel Sweet Corn (drained) � eggs (room temperature) ⅓ cup butter (melted, but not bubbling hot) �∕� cup whole milk � Tbsp corn starch � Tbsp heavy cream � cup shredded cheddar cheese Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease casserole dish. Gently combine all ingredients and pour into casserole dish.

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO DAY-AFTER LEFTOVER TURKEY SANDWICH: One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is the day-after leftover turkey sandwich.

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Just like your usual sandwich, ours is made with leftover roasted turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce and gravy.

It’s served on Rouses French bread. There was a fierce debate whether or not to add mayonnaise; in the end, the mayo haters won.

WHAT SIZE TURKEY SHOULD I BUY? For turkeys that weigh less than 16 pounds, estimate about 1 pound of raw turkey per person, which delivers around a half-pound of edible meat. Bigger birds are meatier, so with those, figure 1½ pounds per person. Note: Bigger turkeys take longer to thaw and longer to cook, and can cook less evenly. If you’re serving a large group, or want more leftovers, we suggest you cook two smaller birds.

HOW DO I THAW MY TURKEY?

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY TURKEY IS DONE?

— 101 —

The most important thing you need when preparing a turkey dinner is a meat thermometer. If your turkey did not come with a pop-up timer, you will need to check the internal temperature with a food thermometer. Your turkey is ready to come out of the oven when the breast temperature reaches 165 degrees and the thickest part of the thighs reaches between 170 and 175 degrees. The thermometer should be inserted into the joint of the leg and thigh. Don’t push it in so far that it touches bone; the thermometer makes its reading within the first inch of the probe.

Turkey

You want to buy your turkey at least four days before Thanksgiving, because it will take a while for the bird to thaw in the refrigerator. Thaw it breast side up, in the unopened manufacturer’s wrapper, on a tray in the refrigerator.

Plan on about 24 hours per every four pounds of the bird’s weight.

A thawed whole turkey will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days before cooking.

UH-OH. Believe it or not, it’s actually safe to cook a turkey from the frozen state — but be aware that the cooking time will be at least 50 percent longer than what’s recommended for a fully thawed turkey, so make sure you put it in the oven in enough time.

WILL MY TURKEY GET COLD IF I LET IT REST? The turkey needs to rest for at least 30 minutes before carving, which gives it time to reabsorb the juices. Don’t tent the turkey with foil to keep it warm while it’s resting; it’s unnecessary and will make the skin soggy. And don’t worry about temperature. As long as the turkey is intact, it will cool pretty slowly.

WHAT IF I UNDERCOOK THE TURKEY?

IS THERE A FASTER WAY?

Carve the breasts and legs off the carcass (keeping the pieces whole), place them on a rimmed baking sheet, and pop them back in the oven at 350° until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°.

Yes, you can use a cold-water thaw, but it still takes 30 minutes per pound. Thaw breast side down, in the unopened wrapper, with enough cold water to completely cover the turkey. You will need to change the water every 30 minutes.

Although there’s no real going back from an overcooked or dry turkey, you can add gravy to moisten it a bit.

DOES TURKEY REALLY MAKE YOU TIRED?

WHAT ABOUT FRYING?

WHAT IF IT’S OVERCOOKED?

Nope, turkey doesn’t actually contain any more tryptophan than many other foods.

Be sure to use a fully thawed turkey, because moisture from a defrosting turkey may cause dangerous oil splatters.​

How To Carve A Turkey

How To Spatchcock A Turkey

Place the turkey, breast side up, on a clean cutting board, and cut any twine that’s still holding the legs together. (If the turkey is still hot, let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving.)

Spatchcocking, or butterflying, can drastically reduce the amount of time you spend roasting your turkey. Because a flat turkey cooks more evenly, it can handle higher heat. You will want first to brine it, just as you would a bird for a traditional roast.

Feel for the wishbone between the neck and the breast where the meat joins the bones. Using a sharp chef’s knife, make a small cut behind the bone, then use your fingers to loosen the wishbone from the cooked turkey.

Run your knife along the backbone and under the breast meat to remove the breast in one piece.

Gently pull one leg outwards from the body until the skin is stretched taut. Cut where the leg joins the turkey. Repeat with the other leg.

Separate the thigh and the drumstick by cutting through the joint between the two parts. Remove the skin if desired.

Holding the wing tip with one hand, gently pull it away from the body with the other until you can fit the knife easily between the wing and the breast. Cut where the two join.

Once you have portioned the turkey, use your fingers or two forks to shred or pull the meat apart.

With a large knife or shears, cut the bird open along the backbone on both sides, through the ribs, then remove the backbone. Once the bird is open, split the breastbone to spread the bird flat; this will allow it to roast evenly.

When ready to roast, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, brush the turkey with oil and, depending on its weight, cook for 70 to 90 minutes. (A 12-pound turkey will take approximately 70 minutes.)

Because your turkey is splayed open with no center cavity, a safe internal temperature is 165 degrees. Once the roasting is complete, you’ll discover a very even cooking of the legs, thighs and breast.

(The breast is typically the part of the bird that suffers most during a traditional roast, drying slowly over time. By opening the turkey with this technique, the breast will be far juicier and have more flavor.)

CHEF’S TIP: If you remove the wishbone from a cooked turkey

before you carve it, the breast meat will come off in one whole piece when you carve it.

ROUSES

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 6 9

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Leave the Fuss to Us! We offer complete holiday meals (turkey or ham) with traditional fixings, as well as dressings and side dishes available Ă la carte. Our chefs can also prepared large pans of your favorite comfort foods, local favorites or any of our signature items. All you have to do is heat and eat.

For locations, phone numbers and a copy of our holiday menu, go to www.rouses.com.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 1.Cornbread Dressing 2.Cranberry Pecan Relish 3.Sweet Potato Casserole 4.Turkey Gravy 5.Green Bean Casserole 6.Shrimp and Mirliton Dressing

7 0 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

Legendary Master Distiller Jimmy Russell, known as the Buddha of Bourbon, has been crafting whiskey at the WILD TURKEY DISTILLERY in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, for over 60 years. (The bourbon is named after a nearby hill.) His youngest son, Eddie, was himself named a master distiller in 2015 after 35 years at the distillery. Aging in a charred oak barrel is one of the legal requirements for bourbon.

LEE VEILLON’S

Buttermilk Brined Turkey WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 gallon buttermilk 1 gallon water 2 cups kosher salt 6 tablespoons of your favorite rub (I like Cajun Blast Seasoned Rub) 12-pound turkey

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HOW TO PREP: Pour buttermilk into 1-gallon pitcher. Add 1 cup salt and stir until dissolved (only so much salt will dissolve in a gallon of liquid, so we are going to do this in steps). Add the 6 tablespoons of rub and stir until well mixed. Transfer into a brining container (for a small turkey use a stockpot; for a larger one, use a 5-gallon bucket).

Pour water into the 1-gallon pitcher and add the last cup of salt, stirring until completely dissolved.

Pour it into the brine container, and stir again to mix.

4

Now it’s time to submerge the turkey. Remove the packaging from the turkey; be sure to remove the neck, giblets and anything else that might be in the bird’s cavity. Lower the turkey into the brine and use a heavy plate, bowl or even a bag of ice to weigh it down and make sure it doesn’t float. It’s important that the turkey be completely submerged. The turkey must stay between 33 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit, so the fridge is the best place to keep it while it brines. Let the turkey brine for 10-12 hours, then rinse well under cold water, pat dry and set aside.

SEASONING THE TURKEY: Lay the turkey breast side up and work your hand under the skin until it is loose from the top and from the sides. Place the seasoning of your choice on the outside of the turkey and under the skin wherever possible.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

Wild Turkey distillery ages its bourbon for at least six years, and the barrels are given the more intense No. 4 — known as the alligator char — to help deepen the flavor as the whiskey ages. The distillery’s flagship bourbon — Wild Turkey 101 — is bottled at 101 proof, instead of 100, which adds extra spice. Russell’s Reserve, named for Wild Turkey’s master distillers, is a smallbatch, 10-year-old bottled at 90 proof. Wild Turkey American Honey is a straight-up bourbon liqueur made with pure honey.

ROUSES

SMOKING THE TURKEY: Prepare your smoker according to the manufacturer’s directions. I recommend using our new Rouses Pecan Wood Logs, but any good smoking wood will work. Fruitwoods like cherry, apple and plum are great for turkeys.

When the smoker is holding the temperature between 225 and 240 degrees and producing light smoke, place the turkey directly on the grate, breast side up.

A 12-pound bird will take about 6 hours at 225-240 degrees to cook. Use a digital probe meat thermometer to tell you when the turkey reaches 165 in the thickest part of the breast or thigh. Once the turkey has reached its goal temperature, remove it from the smoker. Set it aside for about 20-30 minutes before carving.

This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.

TURKEY TIP: I make this same turkey

every year for Thanksgiving. This is the best smoked turkey you will ever have. The brine mixture features buttermilk, which adds flavor and helps keep the meat tender and oh-so juicy. You need to start thawing the turkey about three days before you’re ready to use it (turkeys thaw at a rate of about five pounds per day). Don’t rush it. The turkey needs to be completely thawed in order for the brine to work correctly.

— LEE VEILLON, HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR, ROUSES MARKETS

Baked Turkey WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 10- to 12-pound turkey 2 sticks unsalted room-temperature butter, softened ¼ bunch fresh parsley, chopped 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped 3 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped 3 sprigs oregano, chopped 3 sprigs sage, chopped HOW TO PREP: Preheat oven to 325°F. Choose a 10- to 12-pound turkey and remove it from its packaging. Remove the giblets from inside the turkey. Discard them unless you plan to make giblet gravy, in which case, set them aside.

Combine the softened butter with all the herbs to make a compound herb butter.

Pat the turkey dry inside and out with paper towels, making sure to absorb any liquid behind the wings and legs.

Tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey. (This is so that the small, delicate wings don’t overcook.)

With your fingers, separate the skin from the breast.

Tuck the butter under the skin into the nooks of the breasts, wings and legs. Scoop some of the butter and push it under the skin and work back toward you. Flatten to spread it out evenly.

Liberally season the outside of the turkey with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Place the turkey breast side up in the center of an ovenproof skillet or pan. Place in the preheated oven. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees, up to 4 hours. The wings and legs should wiggle loosely, and the juices should run clear.

Turn off the oven and let turkey rest, uncovered, in the oven for 20 minutes. This allows the turkey to continue to cook, redistribute its juices, and cool down enough for you to carve it.

Transfer to a cutting board and carve.

W W W. R O U S E S . C O M 7 1

CHEF MARC ARDOIN’S

Smoked Sausage & Tasso Cornbread Dressing Serves 8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 pound smoked sausage, diced ½ pound tasso, cubed 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 cups onion, diced 2 cups celery, diced 2 cups green bell pepper, diced 2 tablespoons garlic, minced 1 tablespoon Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic 1 bunch green onions, chopped ½ bunch parsley, chopped 2 tablespoons sage, chopped 1 quart chicken stock 2 pounds prepared cornbread (bought from Rouses Bakery), cut into cubes HOW TO PREP: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat the canola oil in a large pan over mediumhigh heat, and cook the smoked sausage to render the fat, around 5 minutes. Add the tasso and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove the sausage and tasso from the pan, reserving the fat. Place the cooked meat on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess grease.

Add the butter to the pan of reserved fat from the sausage and tasso; heat until melted. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper to the mixture in the pan, and cook over medium heat.

Scrape the bottom of the pan with your spoon to release the “fond” from the bottom of the pan. This will help give a little more color to the vegetables.

(You can add a little of the chicken stock to the pan if necessary to help loosen the stubborn bits.)

After the vegetables have cooked down and caramelized, add the garlic and Poultry Magic to the pan, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Combine the cubed cornbread, tasso and smoked sausage, cooked vegetables, green onions, parsley and sage in a mixing bowl. Toss until completely mixed.

Transfer the dressing mix to a 9x13 baking pan, and pour the chicken stock over the mixture.

Place pan in the preheated oven, and bake the dressing for 45 minutes or until a golden brown crust forms on the top.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

7 2 N OV E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2019

Browned-Butter Bourbon Pecan Pie

Serves 6-8

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: ½ cup unsalted butter 3 large eggs 1 cup sugar ¾ cup light corn syrup ¼ cup honey 1 tablespoon dark molasses 1½ tablespoons bourbon, or 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon salt ¾ cup chopped pecans ¼ cup whole pecans 1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked 1 cup heavy cream, whipped HOW TO PREP: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat and cook, watching closely but not stirring, until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour browned butter into a bowl and set aside.

Blend the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, honey, molasses, bourbon and salt in a food processor until smooth.

Add the browned butter and blend. Add the chopped pecans, and process with just a few quick pulses. Scrape the mixture into the pie crust. Scatter the whole pecans decoratively on top.

Bake for 12 minutes. Lower the heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 40 minutes. Check to see if the crust is browning too quickly; if it is, cover it carefully with a long, narrow, folded-over piece of foil. Pie should be nicely browned and firm at edges, but still a little liquidy at the center.

BOURBON TIP: Bourbon, especially wheated

bourbon, pairs particularly well with brown sugar and pecans. Save the Pappy for drinking; for cooking and baking, use Maker’s Mark, Redemption Wheated Bourbon or Heaven Hill Larceny. If you don’t want to use bourbon, you can substitute one part vanilla extract plus two parts water for each tablespoon of bourbon.

MR. ANTHONY ROUSE’S

Down-Home Oyster Dressing

Serves 8-10

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2 cups cooked long-grain rice, covered and kept warm 1 pound lean ground beef ½ pound ground pork 1 16-ounce container Guidry’s Fresh Cuts Creole Seasoning, or 1 large onion and 2 large green bell peppers, finely chopped 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning mix 1 tablespoon dried basil 1 tablespoon granulated garlic ½ tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning 1½ quarts Louisiana oysters, cut in half if large 1 bunch green onions, white and green parts, finely chopped 1 tablespoon Kitchen Bouquet HOW TO PREP: In a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, brown beef and pork. Add Guidry’s Seasoning (or onions and bell peppers). Mix well and cook until onions are translucent.

Add Cajun seasoning, basil, garlic and Old Bay, and mix well. Add oysters. Mix in green onions and Kitchen Bouquet.

Remove from heat and combine with the rice. Serve.

Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before serving.

There’s a reason why a bottle of MAKER’S MARK is instantly recognizable, and that reason is Margie Samuels. The first woman involved in a distillery to be named to the prestigious Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, Samuels noticed the “maker’s marks” signatures stamped on jewelry, and went on to fashion the distinctive red wax top that distinguishes Maker’s Mark from other bottles on store shelves. Every design element has a story: The mark includes a star to represent the family’s “Star Hill Farm” in Bardstown, Kentucky, and the square-shaped bottle was inspired by Margie’s collection of antique cognac bottles. It was Margie’s husband, Bill Samuels Sr., who created the first batch of Maker’s Mark from an old family recipe, opting for soft, red winter wheat instead of rye to give Maker’s Mark its distinctive taste. (The distillery likes to say that Margie Samuels is why people buy their first bottle of Maker’s Mark, and Bill is why they buy their second.) The Samuels debuted their Maker’s Mark in 1954; in more recent years, the historic Maker’s Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky has added to its traditional line by producing Maker’s Mark 101 — 100/101 proof is the sweet spot for many drinkers — and Maker’s Mark Cask Strength, which varies from 108 to 114 proof, depending on the barrels. Bill Samuels Jr. succeeded his family in running the company, and in 2010 also added a line of select Maker’s Mark 46, so named because toasted French oak staves were introduced into the process, and the exact name of the wood is “Stave Profile No. 46.”

Bill Jr. retired in 2011, and today his son Rob is Chief Operating Officer of the company.

— MICHAEL TISSERAND

Mr. Anthony Rouse’s

Down-Home Oyster Dressing ROUSES

W W. R O UCARUSO SES.COM 73 PHOTO BYWROMNEY

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Not valid with any other coupon or offer. LIMIT ONE COUPON PER ITEM PURCHASED. Coupon will be void if altered, transferred, exchanged, sold, purchased or copied. Any other use constitutes fraud. You are responsible for any sales tax. This coupon is valid only in the U.S.A. Retailer: We will reimburse you the face value of this coupon plus 8 cents handling provided it is redeemed by a consumer at the time of purchase on the brand specified. Coupons not properly redeemed will be void and held. Reproduction of this coupon is expressly prohibited. Any other use constitutes fraud. MAIL TO: COMMUNITY COFFEE COMPANY LLC 1587, NCH MARKETING SERVICES, P.O. BOX 880001, EL PASO, TX 88588-0001. Cash Value is $.001. Void where taxed or restricted. © 2019 COMMUNITY COFFEE COMPANY

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by Liz Thorpe Gourmet cheese, bourbon and perfect pairings for the holidays.

Pairing bourbon (or any spirit) with cheese is tricky. The high alcohol content of liquor can overpower many cheeses; that burn demands a texture that can withstand the hit. This is the first reason I reach for aged cheeses nine out of 10 times when I’m pairing them with bourbon. Aged cheeses are firm and dry in texture. They have much less water than creamy cheeses like Brie. As a result, each crumble is all fat and protein, which helps absorbs the sting of the spirit. There are other reasons to go aged. With time, cheeses like Cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan develop toasty, nutty, woody and caramel-y notes, all of which complement the basic flavor profile of bourbon.

If I had to pick a single cheese to pair with any bourbon it would be Aged Gouda. The cheese has a waxy, almost crayon-like texture, and the signature tasting notes read like a bourbon placard: vanilla, toast and butterscotch with a delicate, spicy finish.

I’m not saying you can’t pair bourbon with a Blue or fresh Goat cheese, but it’s harder to get a great pairing. Just as bourbons have a wide range of nuance within a single style of liquor, aged cheeses give you an incredible range of flavor possibilities. They won’t seem boring or repetitive — they’ll be reliably delicious.

EAGLE RARE + AGED GOUDA (REYPENAER) Truly, this cheese would work with any bourbon. I like Eagle Rare because its honey and sweet palate actually drive forward flavors in the cheese beyond butterscotch. The bourbon forces you to acknowledge the complexity of Aged Gouda beyond being just “cheese candy.”

BULLEIT 10 YEAR + PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO The spicy bite and woody notes of Bulleit make it the perfect bedfellow for Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano. Real, imported Parm-Reg is surprisingly acidic, with fermented fruit flavors in addition to more predictable toasted nut notes. Here, the spice of the bourbon and the acid of the cheese meet and recede, so you get more vanilla and leather from the bourbon.

BUFFALO TRACE + ALPINE CHEESES (GRUYERE, GRAND CRU OR COMTE) If Bulleit and Parmigiano-Reggiano are about putting spicier notes together so they recede, Buffalo Trace and Gruyere are about putting sweeter notes together so they deepen and linger. The palate on this bourbon may be too sweet for some but for most it’s what makes Buffalo Trace so drinkable. The sweet (low acid/lower salt) flavor profile of Alpine cheeses, coupled with roasted nuts and chocolate notes, is what makes them so easy to love. Together you get the s’mores of bourbon and cheese.

MAKER’S MARK + “SWEETER CHEDDAR” TRULY GRASS FED OR SARTORI MONTAMORÉ) When I say “sweeter cheddar” I mean a new class of Cheddars whose flavor isn’t about being sharp. Instead, these Cheddars are crafted to have flavors of stone fruit, buttered toast and butterscotch as opposed to an old-fashioned hit of lemony acidity.

That said, they’re still Cheddars and they have a backbone of acidity that balances the big blast of sweetness you get from this wheated bourbon.

ELIJAH CRAIG + SMOKED CHEESES (SMOKED GOUDA OR SMOKED CHEDDAR) Just as a few drops of water in Elijah Craig will open up its smoky notes, a piece of Smoked cheese pushes them to the fore as well. Smoked cheeses are more straightforward in flavor and do better with a bourbon that isn’t about wildly complex flavor layers.

WOODFORD RESERVE + AGED SHEEP CHEESE (MANCHEGO) Citrus notes and an ethanol hit on the nose make Woodford feel like a knife primed to cut the super fat of Sheep milk cheeses. Macademia nut, coconut and caramel undertones cushion this bourbon that drinks lighter than its 90 proof.

Merry Cheesemas!

At Rouses Markets, we think food makes the best gift. From seasonal cheeses to big Blues — and the bourbons that go with them, we have the perfect present for every foodie on your list.

Look for our 12 days of Cheesemas this December. We have a different selection on sale each day.

KNOB CREEK + MELLOW BLUE (SAINT AGUR, STILTON OR POINT REYES BAY BLUE) While I often reach for Aged cheeses it’s possible to have a brilliant Blue/ bourbon combo. The trick is a rich bourbon with lots of brown sugar and caramel, and a Blue that’s creamy and mellow rather than crumbly and spicy.

It’s my upgrade on the traditional Blue cheese and dessert wine pairing.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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Cigar 101 Tobacco Leaves

Cigars are made up of  types of tobacco leaves.

1 The wrapper is the cigar’s outermost leaves, or what you see when you look at a cigar.

Its color runs from light green or yellow to almost black. The wrapper determines up to 60% of the cigar’s character and flavor.

A good wrapper should have steadyburning qualities.

2 Filler makes up the majority of the cigar.

Filler is wrapped-up bunches of tobacco leaves. Cigars usually contain three types of filler tobacco, chosen from various parts of the plant to affect how the cigar will burn.

The filler is responsible for how strong a cigar will taste.

3 Binder leaves are what keep the filler leaves in place and separates them from the wrapper. This is what gives the cigar its proper shape and size & holds it together — effectively binding the cigar (hence the name). Binder leaves are usually picked from the bottom part of the plant, where the leaves are thicker and stronger.

Cap or Head

The cap, or head, is the closed end of a cigar. This small, round piece of tobacco helps to hold the wrapper together. This has to be cut, pierced or removed before you can smoke a cigar. Before you do that, make sure you see where the cap ends to avoid tearing the wrapper. Cut the cap using a punch cutter to make a small hole, or remove the cap from the end with a guillotine or scissors, cutting off no more than 3-4 mm.

Cigar Band

The cigar band is the branded label that wraps the head of the cigar. Wait to remove the band until it’s in danger of igniting.

Foot

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The foot is the end of the cigar that is lit.

Smoke & Whiskey

by Sarah Baird

For people new to the world of cigars, figuring out what to smoke — and knowing where to find what you like — can seem fairly daunting. After all, cigars are not just a hyperspecific niche unto themselves; they are often a ticket to relaxation and luxury when coupled with the (other) finer things in life: a wedding reception, a good glass of bourbon after a fine meal, a round of golf with longtime friends. It’s hard not to want to kick back with one.

For charismatic cigar legend Rocky Patel, owner of Rocky Patel Premium Cigar Company, the relaxation factor looms large in his cigar creation, as does the desire to create opportunities for happy surprises.

“It's kind of like wine, right? In the wine industry, for a long time people were just drinking Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Then, all of a sudden, you had something different: Pinot Noir, and Brunello, and Shiraz from Australia. So, the same principle applies in cigars. People are looking for unique, varied taste profiles,” Patel explains.

“They get tired of smoking the same tastes all the time, the same brand all the time. And when you actually incorporate and blend tobaccos from different regions in the world — I’m known to source regions that have never been used before, such as Costa Rica and Panama — it’s like a good chef. When you have different ingredients, you can cook and make different recipes.”

Patel, who found his way into the cigar industry during the “cigar boom” of the early 1990s and who spends almost 300 days of the year on the road, has a charm that lends itself to making sure customers are deeply enjoying their cigar experience, whether it’s at a barbecue or a black-tie gala.

“Smoking a cigar is like meditating, slowing the day down and being able to collect your thoughts, whether you’re sitting around with some friends — talking about life, politics or sports — or golfing, hunting or fishing,” says Patel, who has smoked cigars with everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Meat Loaf to Michael Jordan. “It’s just very leisurely: Smoking a cigar helps you to slow down the pace of life, take it easy and just chill.”

For those uninitiated into the high-end, ultra-tailored world of luxury cigars who are looking for a reason to treat themselves, Patel suggests starting with a Vintage 1999 from his collection, which he describes as “a very mild, smooth cigar, a very buttery cigar that’s easy to draw and easy to smoke, light

on the palate, elegant and well-balanced.”

For the more seasoned smoker, his pick would be the “caramel, coffee, espresso and lingering white pepper” notes of his Sun Grown Maduro. Soon, the company will be releasing a unique line of cigars made with tobacco that has been aged between eight and 12 years. For ultimate relaxation, Rocky likes to pair his cigar with a glass of red wine or a single malt scotch.

As for me, I believe that cigars and bourbon are the ultimate match. A good cigar can open up a glass of bourbon and add new depths of flavor that you didn’t even know were present before you rolled the smoke around in your mouth. I enjoy playing scientist, experimenting to find just the right match between the spicy notes of a bourbon and the creaminess of a good cigar — or vice versa. (I’ve had particular successful with Calumet Farm bourbon as a real tasting workhorse; I’ve found it lends itself well to pairing with a variety of cigars.)

Up next on my list? Taking one of Patel’s top-notch cigars — the Vintage 2003 Cameroon, perhaps? — and settling in to unwind with a flight of bourbons until I find just the perfect pair.

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Jack & Coke Popsicles WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 10 popsicle molds 5 ounces of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey 20 ounces Coca-Cola 10 maraschino cherries, halved

HOW TO PREP: Pour the Coca-Cola into a bowl and allow to sit until no more carbonation is present, about 1 hour.

Pour 1/2 ounce of Jack Daniel’s into each popsicle mold. Add 2 cherry halves to each and top with 2 ounces of the flattened Coke. Freeze until hard.

JACK DANIEL’S , the first registered distillery in the country, was founded by its namesake distiller in 1866 and is now the top-selling American whiskey in the world. Jack Daniel’s meets all of the criteria to be called bourbon — a recipe of at least 51% corn, aging in new charred oak barrels, etc. — but don’t you dare. As Jack Daniel’s proudly states on its bottle, it’s Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey, which means the distillers have gone one step further. It’s charcoal filtered just before it goes into those new charred oak barrels to age, a technique known as the Lincoln County Process. Jack Daniel’s is made with a high-corn mash bill, which adds to its sweetness.

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