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