FOOD & WINE

aged and smoked BARREL-AGED COCKTAILS FROM WHICH TO SIP AND CIGAR BARS AT WHICH TO SAVOR

ARTICLE ALISON BAILIN BATZ | PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

THE PERFECT COCKTAIL AND THE PER-

barrel-aging is a crucial step in producing

FECT CIGAR HAVE A LOT IN COMMON.

aromatic,

flavorful

cocktails.

Currently,

They should both be balanced, contain

Tarbell’s has three 55-gallon barrels aging

only the highest-quality ingredients, and

cocktails to perfection. After three months of

ideally be made by a true artisan. Both also

aging, these barrels imbue the natural flavor

benefit when enjoyed somewhere special,

of the wood to the three cocktails aging in

including several restaurants and cigar

them: the Black Manhattan, the Manhattan,

bars across the Northeast Valley.

and the Boulevardier. The extra aging time

Courtesy Bourbon & Bones

brings out strong flavors of vanilla, rye spice, BARREL-AGED COCKTAILS A key way leading local eateries create

dried oak, and leather, and produces an oak-infused creamy vanilla scent.

the perfect cocktail experience is to barrel

At Bourbon & Bones, the Imperial Old

age, a process by which pre-mixed spirits

Fashioned, which is a proprietary mélange

or drinks are expertly placed in customized

of Basil Hayden’s Bourbon, small batch

barrels for weeks or months to tweak or

Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, and a

enhance the character and flavor.

touch of cherry with the Luxardo Sangue

Fat Ox, for example, has the total capac-

Morlacco, is poured from a barrel behind

ity of 100 liters for barrel aging, which is

the bar, where it’s aged for up to two weeks.

mostly used for its hyper-popular negronis

EVO Scottsdale is also known for

and Manhattans.

always having at least one barrel-aged

In addition to Fat Ox, every single cocktail

cocktail on its menu, and walking distance

poured at Citizen Public House originated

from EVO, Blue Clover Distillery makes

inside an American oak barrel with a grade-

its spirits from scratch in-house, includ-

four char inside, which denotes the degree

ing a luxe gin that is aged in a single char

to which the wood has been burnt inside

white American oak barrel. Due to the

the barrel. New cocktails are made in small,

flavorful characteristics of the fruit-forward

5-liter batches, and tested over an aging

botanicals, Blue Clover’s gin only needs

period of between six and eight weeks.

six months to age in a properly produced

Barrels never run dry, which makes the aging

oak charred barrel. Notes of smooth maple

process and continuous production, through

come through once the spirit is properly

a process called solera, in which the cocktail

aged. This gin is showcased best in the

is continuously reintroduced to the barrel

distillery’s house Old Fashioned recipe,

before the original contents run out.

or, for those all-around spirit enthusiasts,

At Tarbell’s restaurant and sister con-

enjoy the unadulterated taste of this bar-

cept, The Wine Store, there is a commit-

rel-aged gin by sipping it on the rocks with

ment to selling high-quality alcohol, and

an orange peel.

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Scottsdale Lifestyle | June 2021

CONTINUED >

Courtesy Citizen Public House