Golden Nugget’s Whiskey Revival grand tasting returned to the Downtown resort Saturday night, when a handful of the country’s leading distilleries gathered to show off their products and make mixology masterpieces for hundreds of brown-spirit enthusiasts.
After a few neat sips—from Bulleit’s bold rye to Death Door’s dangerously smooth white whiskey—I turned my focus to cocktails. A few takeaways:
• Templeton makes for a damn good Manhattan. The spicy rye presided in the simple sipper, balanced beautifully with Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth and with a sharp kick at the end from Peychaud’s aromatic bitters. And after soaking up all that boozy goodness, the tart black cherry garnish was a flawless finish to a flawless cocktail.
• I have to admit that I was a little worried when I first heard that the Whistling Andy booth was mixing moonshine margaritas—would the white whiskey prove to be a tasty tequila alternative in the classic cocktail? Well, the verdict is abso-freaking-lutely. The smooth and sweet moonshine almost had an agave character to it, which made it a perfect choice to mix with some fresh lime juice and orange liqueur. Citrusy and sweet, it was my favorite sip of the night.
• One of the participating brands I wasn’t familiar with was Eastside Distilling, which started distributing its aged Cherry Bomb whiskey in Nevada just last month—and that’s a very, very good thing. Handmade with Oregon cherries (read: no artificial coloring or flavor extracts), the spirit is fantastic both over ice and mixed with a splash of soda water. I’m definitely not surprised that it’s already made its way onto cocktail menus at both Tao Beach and Marquee Dayclub.
• The event also featured a number of distilleries offering spirits other than whiskey, from vodkas and rums to gins and various liqueurs. While I did make repeat visits to the Deep Eddy booth (for its delicious grapefruit vodka and soda water cocktails), my favorite non-whiskey sips were from St. George Spirits. Its Absinthe Verte was spicy and herbaceous with a tinge of citrus, the NOLA Coffee Liqueur tasted like a cup of cold-brew (with sweet notes from Madagascar vanilla beans and organic cane sugar) and its Spiced Pear Liqueur was dangerously sippable—tart and tangy with bold notes of cinnamon and clove. I want all three on the liquor shelf in my kitchen.
