Kevin A. Roberts
Last March, Café Napoli’s team traveled to the Jim Beam American Stillhouse, in Clermont, Kentucky, where they sampled small-batch bourbons before hand-selecting a barrel in the racking house: 120-proof (60 percent) Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. Last fall, they returned to pick a second barrel, distilled on Halloween 2001 and bottled 15 years later. It’s rich and tannic, with lots of oak, leather, vanilla, tobacco, dark chocolate, and hints of black cherry. The cask-strength bourbon is used in the (aptly named) Kentucky Road Trip Manhattan along with Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth, Schladerer Edel-Kirsch cherry liqueur, bitters, and imported-from-Italy cherries. (A handful of $130 bottles are also available.)
Randall’s Wines & Spirits purchased a private barrel of Barton 1792 Distillery’s Full Proof. Just over nine years old and bottled at 125 proof (62.5 percent), the light-amber contents are complex and sweet, with vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, and floral notes. (Randall’s, too, has held back several bottles, which are available for $44.99.)
Seattle-based Westland Distillery, which produces single-malt whiskey, designated Cask No. 573 exclusively for the St. Louis market. After the contents had spent 31 months in new American oak, 225 bottles were poured at 54.81 percent. The nose is fruity, with notes of strawberry, blueberry, anise, and oak, as well as a buttery mouthfeel. The suggested retail price: $110. It’s available wherever fine single-malts are sold.
