Garden & Gun Presents: Good Libations John T. Edge scours the South for 15 top-shelf worth pulling up a stool for Plus: ☛

The ONE DRINK YOU MUST KNOW HOW to M A K E The LIQUID ASSETS RETURN Making a splash at of the Julep in Houston. HOTEL Opposite: Space- themed records, A P R O ’ S circuit boards, and GUIDE to TA S T I N G snapshots from a refurbished photo BOURBON booth adorn the bar at Satellite in Birmingham. the ready. A potent pair at COUPED UP

This page and opening pages, right: photogra phs by

DYLAN + JENI

Illustration by Name Here line the back mirror. (High Wire Distilling of provinces (and unobscure Southern cities) beyond, drinkers have gained fuency in sin I have not been alone. Across the South and modern the defned Petraske Sasha where Opening pages, left: photograph by lowballs, await , now expert in fuid from Marie Antoinette coupes to fat-bottomed pon holly, and tangerine.) Elegant glassware, foraged ingredients including black tea, yau and grown locally from sourced amaro, try Charleston, South Carolina, crafts a Lowcoun- the correct modern bar. of bitters, marshaled like soldiers for war, fronts batch craft vermouths are the choice. A platoon cola treacle, are passé. House tonics and small- guns, coursing with anemic tonic water and pedigreed booze and principled mixers. solera-aged Soda rums. Southerners now demand gle-barrel bourbons, barrel-rested , and and dream green pixie dreams. path to legalization, to drink deep into his stock who charted wormwood-bewitched absinthe’s ceded, I hunkered in that city with Ted long Breaux, after Hurricane Katrina foodwaters re slow and pleasant dilution of a proper julep. Not Orleans hotel lobby, I learned crushing to ice blocks embracein a canvas bag the in a New Museum of the American , was mallet- family’s his bourbon. of wheated discovery and listened to him marvel at the kismet re I sipped old-fashioneds with Julian name Van and his Winkle whiskey was the fetish of the hirsute elite, bartenders. Before he was a household speakeasy aesthetic of Jazz Age cocktails and O Obscure amaros from obscure Italian Italian obscure from amaros Obscure My seat at the bar has been privileged. But Back when Chris McMillian, a founder of the D Raising rinks of C ey, the bar ly patron of Milk & Hon- revolution. I was an ear- drinking a to witness half, I have been a lucky ve

STEPHEN D r th t e past decade and a

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Souther emblematic cocktails to celebrate and repli state of drinking and came home with ffteen eighteensurveyedmonths,whichIthe in pinecone in faraway Rome. Oxford, Mississippi, to a mint julep goosed with cate, from a whiskey in my hometown of day bliss, achievable nightly across the region. totem of craft and creativity, a passkey to every hospitality frmament, the modern cocktailCokes is and a servility, now claims a her who, after placeyears of bourbon in and the rectangle of ice, presented with a fourish by of absinthe. Served over a silicone-mold sweet vermouth, perfumed with a fairyof Southern life, sharebrimming with stiff rye and idealized cocktail has reemerged as a fulcrum tail lists as lists. expended as much effort on cock Kimball House Pommes Macaire potato logs.) into Applebee’s territory. (I’m looking at you, andsalt needs ofdrinkers butdidn’t verge bars fell. Bars built menus that met the starch ships rose. whiskey-tossed seas of the modern South, all jured new tastes that respect old ways. On the fabled bottles, exhumed lost recipes, and con their forebears, restocked moribund bars with manifests, educated tenders paid homage to Digging in to apothecary manuals and saloon pository, and a cocked tail.) term. (The story involves a horse, a ginger sup Wondrich discovered the likely origin of the the French word for eggcup, the author David me believed the word years of fakelore validation, when dupes origins, likehistorians plundered archives. After formative years, others worked. In search of dynamic

VALERIYA DANILOVA Join me on a victory lap, run over the last Fifteen years or so into the revolution, the Barriers that once separated restaurants and This resuscitation work proved inspiring. While many of us merely drank during those s an a h n d cocktails vesse s s e v o l geometry y. r t e m o e g i cocktail c e derived from -frozen -frozen

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Feb. | Mar. kimball-house.com like a camellia in spring bloom. high fade and the aroma wafting ing over the highball lip into a rives, a white velvet froth plum fourishes later, the drink ar in the freezer, and a few Thirtymore minutes, a quick rest Boston shakers like castanets. Chapman or Jason Harris work tif and watch bartender David der a pony of lager as an aperi goes into a proper cocktail, or leans—reaches its platonic ideal. rial Cabinet Saloon in New Or- Henrico C. Ramos at the Impe- —conceived in 1888 by depot where the Ramos Kimball House, a former train achieve. Long would have loved a profcient barman should white-and-cream body that curls, he held forth on the egg- his hair combed into a mop of fzzes. Dressed in a white suit, political demagogue, drank gin Huey Long, the 1930s Louisiana , lime juice, simple , Gin, egg white, cream, lemon Kimball Kimball House, oudrtn h ao ht that labor the understand To orange fower water, and 15 2017 Ramos Gin Fizz

WAY TH orange seltzer Frothy GARDEN

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TOAST

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Sours

Rum al Pastor Edmund’s Oast, Charleston, SC ✻ Aged rum, demerara syrup, lime juice, cilantro, bitters, and charred pineapple

As bartenders moved away from bottled mixes and canned , the term bar chef briefy Trinidad Fizz gained traction among food and Small Victory, beverage writers. But that fey Austin, TX phrase, which implied that bar- ✤ tenders were merely aspiration- Angostura bitters, egg al chefs without the poofy hats, white, cream, lime juice, never suited. grenadine, and soda Today, bartenders take pride in their profession and Not all cocktails need to pack their title. At Edmund’s Oast, alcohol wallops. Suppressors, Jayce McConnell does more a term that gained purchase in than pair drinks with food. Atlanta in the early years of this He crafts drinks that conjure decade, describes an emergent foods, including those pineap- category of low-proof drinks, ple-marinated and cilantro- built on fortifed and confettied pork tacos, born bitters instead of whiskeys of Lebanese immigration to and gins. Mexico, now translated by The jolt here arrives on the seemingly every taqueria in the shoulders of Angostura, that South. edmundsoast.com omnipresent bottle of bitters sheathed in an oversize white wrapper. One and a half ounces doesn’t sound like a lot, until you consider that most recipes call for dashes. Shaken with cream and egg white, served in this ele- gant shotgun bar perched at the rear of a garage, this pale mauve Lurleen conceit is a replenishing quaff Snackbar, Oxford, MS that buoys instead of bombs. ✻ smallvictory.bar Bourbon, ginger liqueur, bitters-soaked lemon, grape- fruit juice, sweet vermouth, and nutmeg HEADY TIMES From top: Jayce McConnell gets to This is my family drink. To be work behind the bar at Edmund’s Oast; his Rum al Pastor. Opposite: Kimball exact, this is a drink named after House’s towering Ramos Gin Fizz. my family dog, who was named

86 GARDENANDGUN.COM Feb. | Mar. 2017 photographs by MARGARET HOUSTON photograph by NAMEGOESANDREW THOMAS HERE LEE Tkdate. | Tkdate. 2010 GARDENANDGUN.COM 00 for Lurleen Wallace, the wife of on a classic. Reworking the machine shop, showcases the Alabama politician George Manhattan, Julep proprietor postmodern exuberance. Wallace and the frst woman Alba Huerta has built a luxurious Glasses get a chilling swirl of to govern that state. Bitter like drink with a boozy undertow. liquid nitrogen, followed by an Wallace politics, sweet like Every detail is engineered to atomizer spritz of Herbsaint. the love of a mutt, the Lurleen provide pleasure, including the Bottled Sazerac The strong stuff arrives batched straddles the sour-sweet divide ice, from a local supplier who Filament, Dallas, TX in a stumpy bottle. It’s a fool- and offers a lesson in becoming freezes water gradually to yield ✴ proof execution, elevated by a regular. blocks that are denser and slow- Rye, cognac, Herbsaint, theatrical swagger, ready for ad- In conversation with the ten- er to melt. The overall process Peychaud’s bitters, and aptation in any latitude where ders at Snackbar, where Chef sounds like a comedy skit, show- demerara thirsty people gather. flament Vishwesh Bhatt serves drink- casing the pretentious lengths dallas.com ing food like peanut-tossed to which twenty-frst-century Proper Sazeracs, those anise- fried okra chaat, I told them Southerners go to rationalize scented rye bombs, were once that I liked my whiskey cock- their buzzes. Until you take hard to fnd outside of New Whiskey tails sour. Blair, my wife, showed a sip, follow with a bourbon- Orleans. Just as po’boys still phone pictures of our pup. A marinated , and realize taste best in the city of their Forward drink appeared. Soon it earned what happens when true craft birth, Sazeracs depended on a place on the bar’s roster. Such is applied to a craft cocktail. the latitude of their makers. are the fruits of claiming a stool julephouston.com That changed after Hurricane at your local. citygroceryonline Katrina, as New Orleans bar- .com/snackbar tenders dispersed through the nation, and the craft cock- tail movement inspired new- COLD COMFORT generation tenders. Bottled Joy Moses Guidry at Filament with an extra- Frozen Bourbon chilled glass. Opposite: Julep’s Bottled The Sazerac at the in Bond comes ready for sharing. Filament, set in a retroftted Milk Punch Bourbon House, New Orleans, LA ♣ Bourbon, vanilla, ice cream, and nutmeg

This velveteen sipper, cranked from the sort of daiquiri machine employed by lowest-common- denominator French Quarter drunk depots, tastes like a milk shake that went on a holiday Bottled in Bond bender. Churned to a linen foam, Julep, Houston, TX the slurry also recalls the gentle ✴ milk punches that have long Two bourbons, two ver- been standard morning bever- mouths, and two bitters, ages at family holiday gather- served with almonds, dark ings in the home of proprietor chocolates, and bourbon- Dickie Brennan. marinated That dichotomy best de- scribes drinking hereabouts, Served in a cut-glass decant- where low and high culture clash er, jutting from an ice bucket and complement. Consumed like a bottle of fne champagne, in the mirrored front barroom this is a drawing-room cocktail at Bourbon House, while revel- for four mixed for a generation ers parade the Quarter, such a that wouldn’t know a drawing drink rationalizes a splendid room from a restroom. Like afternoon, marked by two reflls, many of the best drinks poured a fute of fries, and the creep today, Bottled in Bond is based of slanting sunshine across

photographs by DYLAN + JENI Feb. | Mar. 2017 GARDENANDGUN.COM 89 the arched windows that face Singularities Bourbon Street and frame the scrum. bourbonhouse.com ☛ A S L I G H T VA R I AT I O N on the C L A S S I C of C L A S S I C S An Old-Fashioned Hardest Walk (Rum Negroni) Changeup Cure, New Orleans, LA ✣ The old-fashioned is the Doric column of the cocktail world. A sturdy and simple pillar of Overproof dark rum, whiskey, sugar, and bitters, it doesn’t cry out for experimentation. But here’s a bit of heresy: It sweet vermouth, and does work surprisingly well with the South’s frst spirit—rum, which was imported from the Gran Classico Caribbean long before corn decided it wanted to be . ¶ With rum experiencing a new golden age, now is the perfect time to be adventurous. Creative Southern producers, such Know the ratio and you know the as Richland in Georgia, are making aged variations robust enough to pair with bitters, and Julep del Professore drink. Traditionally built with even such larger traditional brands as El Dorado are releasing more refned expressions. Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, The right rum can mimic the steadfast appeal of the whiskey original while adding a bright Rome, Italy and Campari, the Negroni traces underlayer of tropical notes—always welcome on a winter’s night. And opt for orange bitters ♣ to early-twentieth-century Italy. if you have them. They send up small freworks of understated festivity.—Wayne Curtis Bourbon, Pino Mugo, Stirred with overproof dark rum mint, and sugar instead of gin, the Hardest Walk is a heady subversion of the The Jerry Thomas Speakeasy, norm, fligreed with the Italian accessed by a dark and dank drinking bitter Gran Classico. cobblestoned street not far from That last ingredient is key. the Piazza Navona, is a Roman Born in the 1860s in Turin, homage to the nineteenth- Italy, Gran Classico is only re- century lion of the American cently available again in the Rum cocktail, the man who literally American market. A more com- Old-Fashioned wrote the book that has become plex variation on Campari, it’s a a bible to modern-day drinkers great example of what happens INGREDIENTS of juleps, smashes, and shrubs. when dedicated and knowledge- Thumb-sized orange peel Absent a sign, fronted by able proprietors like Neal Boden- (no pith, and certainly an owl-shaped brass knocker, heimer and Kirk Steinopal root not a wedge) adorned with peacock wallpa- through the world pantry to 1 sugar cube per, and enlivened by jazz, Jerry stock a bar with lost elaborations 2 oz. aged rum Thomas is not wholly a period of excellence. curenola.com (such as Richland Rum piece. Order a mint julep and it or El Dorado 5) comes laced with Pino Mugo, 3–4 dashes orange bitters an Italian liqueur made with Maraschino cherry pinecone resin, crowned with (a good one, such sprigs of sugar-dusted mint, and as Luxardo, not an served in a pewter cup bejeweled alarmingly fake with ice and wrapped in a red red cherry) napkin. That frst stout sip will Rugbrød remind you that Southern whis- PREPARATION keys and Italian marry Old-Fashioned Lightly muddle orange peel well and travel far. thejerry Southern Effciency, with sugar cube and a thomasproject.it Washington, DC tablespoon of water in a ✣ rocks glass. Add rum and Rye, aged aquavit, bitters. Stir until sugar is honey, , and bitters completely dissolved. Add a SPIRITED SELECTION large ice cube or two and stir From top: One of Bourbon House’s whiskey cabinets; the house milk Codifed, some say, at the again briefy. with punch, topped with a swirl of nutmeg. Pendennis Club in Louisville, Autry Charlotte by styling prop and Food maraschino cherry.

90 GARDENANDGUN.COM Feb. | Mar. 2017 photographs by ALISON GOOTEE photographs by JOHNNY AUTRY the old-fashioned at its simplest is made with nothing more than bourbon, sugar, and bitters. While the vanguard trend today is generally toward simplicity, some bartenders are so expert that they should be trusted with folderol. Derek Brown is one of those Stay Awhile tenders. In his capable hands, this new-fashioned drink relies Reviving the art of the hotel bar on honey for sweetener, salt for savoriness, and aquavit for, well, oddity. It works. (So does the sherry-based Sazerac riff he calls ☛ There was a time when hotel bars were the ne plus ultra of sophisticat- a Shazerac.) Practicing feats of ed quaffng, only to become overshadowed by speakeasies and neigh- cocktail legerdemain, Brown borhood cocktail lounges. Now, from roof to lobby, a new wave of hotels with convinces drinkers to take a high style, well-thought-out menus, and impeccable service are taking back chance on his uncommon pal- the night, as these fne establishments demonstrate.—David Hagedorn ate. whiskeyhome.com

FAENA HOTEL ✴ Miami Beach, FL Retro splendor defnes the red- and gold-accented Living Room bar on the main foor of the Boat Drinks 1 year-old Faena Hotel. Settees upholstered with leopard and tiger prints, rosewood tables, a baby grand piano, and an enormous chandelier designed by the Italian artist Alberto Garutti set a high-toned scene that begs for a fute of Pol Roger. faena.com/miami-beach

HOTEL EMMA ✴ San Antonio, TX Weathered concrete columns, a twenty-fve-foot vaulted ceiling, and a massive freplace 2 lend an air of majesty to Sternewirth, the bar and club room at Hotel Emma, a beautifully reimagined nineteenth-century brewery. But cozy nooks, buffalo-leather sectional sofas, and kilim-upholstered armchairs make it warm and inviting. Settle in with the house milk Rocket Booster punch or a Vieux Carré and you may never want to leave. thehotelemma.com Satellite, Birmingham, AL ✚ QUIRK HOTEL ✴ Richmond, VA Cathead honeysuckle Maple & Pine bar and restaurant sits in the center of the open-concept lobby at Richmond’s , Campari, simple 3 Quirk Hotel, a 1916 Italian Renaissance building that once housed the city’s fnest depart- syrup, and Tang ment store. No walls separate the hotel’s reception, lounging, and dining areas, so full bar service is extended to the various two-tops and sleek, modern pastel-colored sofas A beach drink, absent the throughout the lobby, already a social epicenter of this booming food town. d e s t i n a t i o n beach and without the fruit, hotels.com/quirk-hotel this frozen quaff is a reminder that, in this age of craft spirits THOMPSON ✴ Nashville, TN and wild-foraged garnishes, we Nashvillians can now get a new look at the city from on high with chef John Besh’s L.A. sometimes want cocktails that 4 Jackson, perched on the twelfth foor of the recently opened Thompson Nashville in the are merely good to drink, not growing Gulch district. Sporting a sixties-retro vibe, the rooftop bar’s 120-seat interior necessarily good to think. affords a 270-degree view via foor-to-ceiling windows and opens out to an expansive Developed by Steva Casey terrace. The selection is exclusively Southern, while the menu features such specialties and spiraled from a slushie as boudin balls, venison poppers, and broiled oysters. thompsonhotels.com machine that looks as if it were liberated from a 7-Eleven, the WATERGATE HOTEL ✴ Washington, DC Rocket Booster is a playful drink, A curving wall composed of 2,500 whiskey bottles, sculptural upholstered armchairs in lip- 5 stick red, and a long, polished stainless-steel bar set the swanky tone at the Next Bar, secreted within the lobby of the notorious and newly renovated Watergate. Named after a line from the Doors’ “Alabama Song,” the bar stays true to its moniker with an array of more ORANGE CRUSH than ffty bourbons and ryes along with a library of Scotch and a selection of Japanese whis- Satellite’s Rocket Booster, a frozen keys. thewatergatehotel.com homage to Tang.

photograph by STEPHEN DeVRIES Feb. | Mar. 2017 GARDENANDGUN.COM 93 served in a playful space crossed Chefs spun cotton candy from by ductwork painted to resem- ham fat and wedded proteins HOW to TA S T E W H I S K E Y like a P R O ble black-and-white Saturn with something called meat glue. ☛ rocket boosters developed in Cocktails recently survived a Huntsville. Tang, which NASA similar moment, when bartend- stocked for John Glenn’s 1962 ers trapped smoke beneath Mercury fight, renders the cloches and grinned smugly. THE GLASS drink dusky and raspy. Owing Now comes a return to sanity, as Bourbon “Typically, I’m tasting out of a Glencairn,” to that orange hue, it’s also goofy, the best practitioners refocus on Zoeller says. The tulip- THE FINISH which is just what a beach drink classics and their variations. Appreciation shaped glass funnels “A good bourbon requires, even when served Tucked in a warehouse and Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller makes a living off his aromas straight to goes down your throat far from the water. saturn decorated with thrift-store swag, palate. A master , he practices the age-old art of mixing the nose—enhancing nice and easy and birmingham.com/satellite Bastion dials in the new lean whiskeys into balanced, sought-after fnal products, which means not only scent but lingers on your chest,” aesthetic. Instead of a catalogue he’s constantly sampling batches to separate the exceptional also favor. Zoeller says. “A little bit of splendors, the tenders here from the acceptable. Here are his top tips for cozying up with a of burn isn’t the worst have curated broad categories. new bourbon.—Jed Portman THE SWIRL thing in the world, but Best is the Buck, made with a Before you take a sip, I try to avoid that in bright ginger syrup, mixed with swirl the whiskey once. my whiskeys.” vodka, rum, or gin. Call for the Look for thick, syrupy gin and you get a kicking cousin legs streaking down THE FLAVORS to the , a beast of the sides of the glass. Good: vanilla, caramel, pleasure, not burden. bastion “That indicates maple, leather, toffee, The Yachtsman nashville.com weight,” Zoeller says. black cherry, honey, Ticonderoga Club, “When a whiskey has . Not so good: Atlanta, GA some weight on it, grain, green wood, ✚ that’s when you know grassiness, overpow- Aged rum, Madeira, lemon you’re getting into ering sweet corn, juice, honey, salted orange something good.” overpowering wood. cordial, and bitters Cocktail Co., began bottling his If it’s strong and spicy, Gin & Herbs own potion in 2011. Swampy THE SNIFF it might be a high-rye At Ticonderoga Club, the phone with lime and muddy with funk, Holding the glass about bourbon—such as Four quacks instead of rings, plastic the Hive tonic—a protean ver- The Green Room an inch from your nose, Roses Single Barrel or bats hang from the ceiling, lyre- sion of the Rudy, developed The Roof (the Durham inhale with your mouth Old Grand-Dad. Soft playing squirrels feck the red by Reitz when he worked for Hotel), Durham, NC open, which helps the and toasty? Famous bathroom wallpaper, and the the 21c hotel group—reminds ♦ aromas of the bourbon high-wheat whiskeys get through the haze include Maker’s Mark best seat in the house is a lone drinkers that highballs can Gin, Green Chartreuse, white of vaporized alcohol. and Pappy Van Winkle. white leather captain’s chair, be bracing, even challenging. vermouth, lime, and mint Then, slowly ease your perched at the pole of the bar. thehivebentonville.com Hive N’ Dime nose into the glass. ICE OR NO ICE? A nautical subtheme in- The Hive (21c Botanicals are hip. Just ask a There’s no shame in forms the drinks, too. Created lonely vodka drinker. After de- Museum Hotel), THE SIP ice for casual sipping, by Paul Calvert, this colonial- cades of decline, gins have blos- Bentonville, AR “That frst sip just slaps but when Zoeller punch -inspired cocktail nods to ♦ somed on the scene. So have you in the face,” Zoeller really wants to “get a childhood on the water, which Gin, house-made tonic, aromatic liqueurs, made from says. “It’s like Tabasco.” to know” a bourbon, he shares with his Ticonderoga and soda water various fora to smell like some- Roll the second sip over he drinks it neat. As colleague Greg Best. The inclu- thing a monk might have foraged your tongue and you’ll for water, a splash can sion of Madeira, a wine that oxi- Tonic begins with quinine, de- from a rain-forest understory. begin to pick up texture help open up a high- dizes and improves as it crosses rived from cinchona bark, cut Green Chartreuse—made and favors. By the third proof whiskey. G the Atlantic in transit from the from the South American fever Gin Buck from 130 botanicals, crafted or fourth sip, you’ll get archipelago of the same name, tree (so called because it has Bastion, Nashville, TN since 1737 by real live French the full bouquet. amplifes the oceangoing refrain. been used to treat malaria). That ♦ monks—gives this sprightly ticonderogaclub.com is to say: Tonic is not merely that Gin, house-made ginger drink a verdant cast and taste. bland fzzy water you buy in a syrup, bitters, lime juice, Enjoyed on a hotel rooftop over- squat foam-wrapped bottle. and soda water looking a booming downtown, For a one-stop guide to Southern cocktails, recipes, The modern rebound of this study in green plays well and more, go to gardenandgun.com/cocktails tonic most likely began when A couple of decades back, with a bowl of guacamole, spar- QUICK REFRESHER Brooks Reitz, proprietor of the Southern cuisine withstood a kling like jade in the late-day The peppy Green Room at the Durham Hotel’s rooftop bar. Southern-based Jack Rudy molecular gastronomy phase. sun. thedurham.com/roof

94 GARDENANDGUN.COM Feb. | Mar. 2017 photograph by LISSA GOTWALS photograph by JOHNNY AUTRY