Brooklyn Bourbon Festival

[cowdery]

Here's a plug for two of my favorite people:

Signing and sipping: Brooklyn Bourbon Festival, Sunday 9/24.
Author William Hogeland will sign copies of his book, The Whiskey Rebellion during the Brooklyn Bourbon Festival at LeNell's Wine and Spirits Boutique at 416 Van Brunt, in very happening Red Hook, Brooklyn, USA, 9/24/06. Music, food, drink, fun. (And LeNell has graciously begun stocking the book for sale at her excellent shop.)

[Mark]

Very cool, LeNell was just reminding me she would be having the Brooklyn Bourbon Festival again this year. Hope to see some there from the board.

[Brewer]

I hope LeNell will come out of hiding and tell us a bit more about what the plan is for this year.

[cowdery]

Since LeNell is still MIA, here is what Bill Hogeland (Whiskey Rebellion author) has to say about the event.

Brooklyn Bourbon Festival, Sunday 9/24. Author William Hogeland will sign copies of The Whiskey Rebellion (and just hang around) at the Festival, this coming Sunday, 9/24, LeNell's Ltd., a Wine & Spirit Boutique, 416 Van Brunt St. (Coffey / Van Dyke), Red Hook, Brooklyn, USA. Festival goes from noon to 9:00; book signing should start about 4:00ish.
Features: Highly regarded country combo The Whiskey Rebellion (it's true) will be playing; plus whiskey samples, food, sales, fun. LeNell's is a fabled wine and spirits shop with a specialty in American whiskey, especially artisanal brands, serving Red Hook and far beyond. Those who attended the New York Culinary Historians' TWR rye tasting may recall a certain "white dog" as the hit of the tasting -- LeNell was the source. She's also been gracious enough to stock the book in her very popular, hospitable and simpatico shop.

[Brewer]

Thanks for the update. I wonder if LeNell will be there???

[franckie23]

Hi Mark!

Im going to New York next week. Do you know any really good Whiskey shops and bars? Both Bourbon and Single Malts!

Kind Regards
Franckie

[Mark]

Hi Franckie,

Well, I'd definitely stop by LeNells in Brooklyn. LeNell and Ben are great people with a very nice shop with one of the best bourbon selections in NY. She's got Scotch there too, I think, but dont know much of what she has in that respect. You can get her address, phone number etc by visiting her website at http://www.lenells.com

As for bars and such I really cannot guide you in the right direction. I do know of one place actually in the city called Blue Smoke. It's a restaurant (they do bbq, memphis style etc, really good food) with a great bar in front that goes have a really great bourbon selection. I think their site is http://www.bluesmoke.com

If LeNell makes her way back here I am sure she can add more info in way of good bars. Maybe drop her a line if you can.

Have fun!

Mark

[franckie23]

Hi Mark!

Sounds like a great place. If you ever come to Stockholm Sweden I´ll give you few good places around here.

Thx again!
Franckie

[gillmang]

For bars in New York:

There is a large choice and here are some options:

I endorse the Blue Smoke suggestion it is in lower Manhattan in the 20's (21st Street I think but easy to find). Its Blue Smoke-brand bourbon is a Van Winkle 18 year old and very good. Also, the bar makes Sazerac cocktails from straight rye whiskey.

Virgil's is another bar-b-que place in the 40's near 6th/Times Square (easy to find on the Internet). Its bar makes a house Mint Julep which is excellent and the bartenders are knowledgable and professional. Also they do a fine Whiskey Sour. This has a wide selection of single malts and bourbons. You can eat in the bar or wait for a table, or not eat of course (as at any U.S. bar). (If drinking bourbon or straight rye in New York, make sure you try one of the cocktails mentioned, either Whisky Sour, the Manhattan, the Old-Fashioned or Mint Julep. Boubon and rye on the rocks or neat are fine for some but whiskey is or was very commonly taken in the cocktails mentioned and it is, or was again, the classic urban way to drink these whiskeys. Just specify the kind of bourbon or rye you want in them).

Try DBAs on 1st Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Street (or between 1st and 2nd Streets, I can never remember, but it is 100 yards either way). This is a typical lower Manhattan cool-style bar with a great whiskey selection (malt and bourbons). Excellent beers too from the U.S. and imported (especially Belgium, e.g. the draft Poperings Hommelbier should be there now). This place has more reserve than the typical American bar but you have to get into the spirit and see how it works, most Euroepans I know like it.

Collins Bar uptown on 8th at the 40's is an outpost of DBAs and has a slightly different atmosphere, I like it there too.

If you want to see what American beer bars are like, McSorley's on 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues is the classic workingman's bar (and many other kinds of people go there). It has only two kinds of beer, light and dark, but they are very good and the food too. To say this place is not fancy is an understatement but it is an old kind of 1800's New York bar which is a rare survival.

Down the same street is Standings, a beer bar which used to be called Brewski's. It is a sports bar but lower-Manhattan style. It is quite small with a fine American microbeer selection (all draught stuff, try the Thomas Hooker's Octoberfest beer).

Pete's Tavern also is a pre-Prohibition place but more modernised than McSorley's although this is relative and it really evokes the feeling of the old straw hat America of the 1910's and the old New York saloon. It is just south of Gramercy Park, take Lexington Avenue (the subway runs along it) south from mid-town and walk around the park and you will see Pete's on the other side.

Finally, The Gingerman on 36th Street between Madison and Fifth (under the awning). This is probably my favourite New York bar (that and McSorley's). The beers are fabulous and there is a good whisky and bourbon choice too. This bar offers local beers on the English-style handpumps, e.g., Chelsea's Sunset Red, Bluepoint's stout from Long Island and tons of draft and import beer.

These are just a few suggestions.

Gary

[gillmang]

For whisky stores:

Lenells is no. 1 (see http://www.lenells.com).

On Manhattan itself, for the older style liquor store (1950's ambiance), Warehouse Wines and Liquors is a personal favourite in Astor Place area (lower Manhattan again, around 7th and Broadway, but look all these places up first in the Yellow Pages).

Also, I like Park Avenue Liquors which (prenez bonne note) is on Madison Avenue, not Park Avenue, in the 40's. Small but chock full of the best especially for single malt and Irish whisky, e.g., they have the new Crossbeam from Compass Box and a million other malts.

I like too Sherry-Lehman also on Madison but further north in the 60's. It is the typical elegant uptown wine shop in Manhattan and if you like wine ask them for a suggestion in your price range for a California cabernet.

Gary

[Mike]

Vatman, you are an interesting fellow whose knowledge of all things spirit (ual) is amazing. At this very moment, I am drinking some CRXR in your honor.

If your travels ever take you to Atlanta, please accept my invitation to stay at my home where I will open my liquor and beer cabinets to you for our mutual enjoyment, providing of course, that you agree to share some stories of how you came by your vast store of knowledge.

[gillmang]

Thank you Mike.

I was in Atlanta once, on business. This is about 20 years ago. I remember using the subway, which was quite new at the time. Very deep stations. I stayed at a hotel downtown that had a revolving restaurant at the top. Nearby I found some good regional food. I remember the dessert had peaches in it, really! A cobbler of some kind. The beer was Old Milwaukee on draft and such like but with good whiskey to chase.

Gary

[Mike]

Gary, time to come to Atlanta again, it is a better place to visit! I can take you to an excellent brew pub (I took a course on brewing from their brewmaster once, he has a degree from Univ Cal at Davis, where they offer a degree in brewing) and will even take you to Maidson, Ga for its history, fine food, and Pappy 20 (see my post Pappy comes to Madison). Come on down!! Maybe, perchance, we can talk Mike Veach into coming too! What a treat for me..............and you guys, of course!!

[gillmang]

Well thanks again and the pleasure would be mutual, one day this will happen.

Gary

[gillmang]

Since I have Mike's encouragement I am going to carry on with my peregrination of New York watering holes. It is a very personal one, but that is kind of what peregrinating is.

The Algonquin Hotel on east 44th Street is a classic old-style smaller New York hotel. In the inter-war years a famed literary circle and their friends met there for book talk and other elevated conversation. People such as H.L. Mencken, Anita Loos, Sinclair Lewis, Joe Hergesheimer, F. Scott Fitzgerald I believe and many others. The hotel's 1930's-40's atmosphere is well-maintained, as comfortable as an old shoe (when the lobby is not too crowded). Through the lobby and to the left one enters the hotel bar, a small darkly lit place in the older American fashion. The personnel are mostly older and experienced. This is the place to drink a Manhattan. Truth to tell, it is not better than you will get elsewhere but the ambiance is unbeatable for a certain kind of older urban New York experience. It tends to get (by definition almost) the wrinkly crowd but some younger people like it too for the nostalgia factor or they just fit in spiritually. There are some young fogeys out there you know.

Across the street (a bit westerly) is St. Andrew's, a whisky specialty bar. This is THE place for single malt in New York. The atmosphere and decor are a bit anonymous but that's okay - the focus is on the whisky and the place excels in that like no other. It has good Irish whiskey too, e.g., Jameson's Gold, all the Connemaras, Green Spot, etc.

At 41st and Broadway (just a bit east) is a branch of the Heartland Brewery. This is a New York-only chain of brewing restaurants (brewpubs). I am not sure if each location brews but the beers offered are all made by the company that owns the restaurants. The one at 41st street is my favourite. The original one is in lower Manhattan and there is one now too at the base of Empire State Building. The food is decent but the beer is where it's at. The pumpkin ale is still available I think and I like their Indiana Pale Ale (that is not a typo) and their Cornhusker Lager. They have a good bourbon selection too. This is a good example of the newer type of bar in America, well-lit, large, less claustrophobic than the older places, more welcoming. Of the older style, one can count no longer unfortunately the classic McHale's on 8th Avenue and about 44th street. It closed last year. This was the dark kind of place where when you enter you see a row of vinyl seats at the bar, the kind perched on a chrome or aluminimum frame. Ah yes McHales, a draft beer and a shot of Old Grandad or Early Times - even blended whiskey tasted good in there.

You can see I don't frequent fancy places much. I have no prejudice against them. If you have the brass, I can recommend Petrossian's for Champagne and caviar or smoked fish. The restaurant is very good too for classic fish dishes. On Central Park South as you walk from one side of the park to the other, you will see the self-explanatory Whisky Bar. This is an excellent bar with a fine selection of whiskey of all kinds (it had many straight ryes when I was last there). It tends to attract the gentry amongst visitors and New Yorkers - which is fine but it means the prices are not cheap. The bars in some of the grander hotels in the area are interesting, I like the one at the Waldorf which has a grand lobby and a great brunch on the weekend. The Waldork really does evoke the swanky style of the large society hotel of the pre- and early post-war years. Its bar has a good commercial beer selection (beer such as Michelob, which are getting hard to find in bars) and it has a large range of spirits of course, not in the specialty sense but wide enough. The peanuts are great too. But the best thing is the people...


Gary