Although bourbon belongs to the state of Kentucky, Atlantans aren't shy about tipping a glass toward this Southern brown liquor. September is recognized by the U.S. Senate as National Bourbon Heritage Month. Bar manager Jeff Banks of Graft Restaurant in Grayson shares the history of bourbon.
"Originating in Bourbon County, Bourbon was made from corn and then shipped down stream on rafts to New Orleans. Elijah Craig (either by luck, accident or divine intervention) was the first to char the inside of his barrels. After the trip downstream, the whiskey had time to age and pull flavor from the caramelized sugars in the wood. Upon opening the barrel in New Orleans they discovered a brown liquor and every one started asking for the brown liquor from Bourbon County, hence where bourbon got its name."
As a salute to the end of Bourbon month, we rounded up five of Atlanta’s best bourbon bars.
4969 Roswell Road, Atlanta 30342
404-497-9700
Food 101’s own bartender, J.D. Doyle, barrel-ages his bourbons right behind the bar. In providing Atlantans with their own “bourbon trail”.
"All of our bourbons are mixed into Manhattans or are barrel aged for at least two weeks. The oldest barrel has been in use for more than 19 months. And we have a total of 14 barrels currently being aged behind the bar."
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
3315 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, 30326
404-946-9070
The bar section of Southern Art is rightly named, as one of “America’s Best Bourbon Bars” by The Bourbon Review two years running. Since earlier this year, head mixologist Toki Sears has been stirring up trouble on her debut cocktail menu. A salute to fall is the “Johnny Appleseed” with Four Roses Small Batch, ginger syrup, merlet pear liquor and fresh lime juice.
Starting on October 16, you can join Toki Sears for "Dinner with Toki", where a four course menu will be paired with her bold cocktail creations. She serves up a bourbon, fernet branca, chocolate bitters and orange zest cocktail with peach tarte tartin.
516 Grayson Parkway, Grayson, 30017
770-338-9001
Graft is a small chef-owned and operated restaurant far beyond the city reach in Grayson. Bar manager Jeff Banks tries to stay away from the big company "call brands" and instead, encourage and patronize the lesser known, but just as talented distilleries. On the upcoming fall menu, Rowans Mill bourbon cuts through the sweetness of their bourbon pecan pie, making for a nutty slab of dessert.
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
Credit: Alexa Lampasona
3290 Northside Parkway, Atlanta, 30327
404-968-2078
The bar boasts a wall of more than 150 varieties of the brown liquor. Coming up on October 26 is their Jefferson Bourbon Dinner. Jefferson Bourbon is made in extremely small batches, which lends each bottle to a unique taste. The dinner will lead you through pairings of an 18 year, 21 year, 21 year rye, a 25 year bourbon, and dessert pairs with Jefferson's Ocean.
1028 Canton Street, Roswell, 30075
678-869-5178
As owner Ryan Pernice said, “A person’s favorite bourbon is like a great story that gets better when passed between close friends, and I love nothing better than sharing a rotating list of over 40 stories with anyone who steps up to the bar.”
The bourbon bar is coming out with a new menu in the beginning of October. Pernice likes to explore the outer frontier of bourbon, beyond the state of Kentucky. One of his favorites is the High West Distillery, out of Salt Lake City. This is a blend of bourbon, rye and Scotch. And for dessert, savor flavors of sorghum, a Southern sweetener, in the sorghum bread pudding with bourbon toffee sauce and buttermilk ice cream.
Angel's Envy bourbon is running a social media campaign called "Toast to the Trees."
"Together with The Arbor Day Foundation, Angel's Envy is fighting back, and we need your help. Throughout September, for every Angel's Envy drink you order—neat, on-the-rocks or cocktail—we'd like you to take a picture of it. Post it to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #AE4THETREES and we'll plant a white oak tree for every hashtag.*"
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