Distinctive bartenders create some amazing scotch cocktails
Colin Joliat I went to the Caribbean last week with the intention of sampling all of the exotic rums that I could get my hands on. That didn’t end up happening. Instead I spent a week drinking mostly scotch on the rocks. Not exactly a warm weather cocktail, but I want what I want. I was all over the board, having a few different Macallans, Highland Park, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, and last but not least, the Famous Grouse. We’ll get to a few of those next week, but today we’re talking about Famous Grouse’s sister (Or is it brother? I don’t know the gender of whisky), The Black Grouse.
Last month I had the pleasure of attending The Black Grouse’s “Distinctive Bartender Tour.” The tour began in LA, headed to Chicago where I hopped on, stopped in Miami last night, and will culminate in New York next month. It features some of the top bartenders in each city mixing up signature cocktails that show off the unique taste of The Black Grouse as well author/comedian/blacktivist and conversationally hilarious Baratunde Thurston acting as host. Before the event, I couldn’t even fathom why an night like this needed a host, but it quickly became obvious. He did an excellent job interviewing bartenders, keeping the flow of the evening going, and forcing everyone to have a good time.
As Charles Joly points out in the video, there aren’t a ton of great scotch cocktails floating around. Given my recent preference for both scotch and cocktails, I was so excited to check out this events. The premise of the night was simple. Put a good scotch in the hands of bartending vets and let them work their magic. And magic they worked. Listen to what they had to say about Chicago influences, cocktail culture in general, and how they go about making their creations. Stick around to the end because the personalities really start to come out!
I think Joly summed up the difference between this caliber bartender and the ones we looked at in the “Shit Bartenders Say” video when he said, “I take my cocktails seriously, but I don’t take myself to seriously when it comes to it…cranberries in your pants.” Mike Ryan’s hair, on the other hand, should be taken seriously because it’s awesome.
Each bartender made two cocktails and the crowd then voted on which of the two we liked most. I was hoping there would be an single winner, but apparently this was the BCS of drink tasting. Thankfully, I have this forum to declare that Mike Ryan’s “A Quiet Smoke in the Woods” was the overall winner due to our shared hatred of Maraschino cherries. In second was Joly’s “The Royal Mile,” and in 3rd, but still better than 97.3% of all cocktails I’ve drank, was Lynn House’s “Highland Breeze.”
While I’d love to make all of these myself, that’s really just not going to happen. With the exception of “AQSITW,” most involve ingredients that aren’t easy to find, so I’ll just have to use them for inspiration to make up my own.
As a bonus for you, here’s a bit of Baratunde’s standup. He’s the Director of Digital, whatever that means, for The Onion, and more importantly, he’s the reason I participate in #WhiskeyFriday on Twitter.
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