Bourbon and Cigars at the Louisville Country Club
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:29 pm
Last Friday I had the honor of being invited by Julian Van Winkle to a Bourbon and Cigar Dinner that he was hosting at the Louisville Country Club. Iwas told to bring a guest so I invited Brenda to come along. I knew her birthday was the next day I thought this would make a nice birthday present and so did she. After the normal questions (what should I wear?) from Brenda we accepted the invitation and went to the club as Julian's guests. It was promising to be a very interesting evening. The Louisville Country Club is drenched in Bourbon History and it was fun to sit in a room and look out at the place where Pappy Van Winkle played golf and posed for publicity shots with his dog as a caddy.
The turn out was fairly light because they were competing with the first round NCAA tournement game with U of K playing that night at 9:30. Even so there were many interesting people who showed up and enjoyed Van Winkle bourbon and excellent food. After having a cocktail before dinner (Brenda and I both enjoted a 12yo Van Winkle neat), we sat down for dinner. The first course was Bourbon cured salmon, Barrel roasted and glazed with apricot and honey served atop acorn squash puree and crispy shallots paired with Old Rip Van Winkle 10yo 90 proof. The salmon was excellent with a slightly woody flavor due to the fact that the chef, Patrick Colley, finished it on a bourbon barrel head in the oven. The bourbon was slightly fruity with apples and caramel and complimented the fish wiothout over powering it.
The second course was Baby spinach salad - bourbon apple cider poached pears, toasted hazelnuts, pumpkin seed and golden raisin melange with blue chees and mustard vinaigrette paired with the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 yo. The pears in the salad brought out the flavor of the fruit in the bourbon that had some wood notes and caramel that also went well with the hazelnuts.
The third course was Espresso cocoa dusted breast of duck with multi-grain pilaf with acho-toasted pecans, baby vegetables and a dried cherry demi-glaze paired with Pappy 15 yo. The duck was juicy without being greasy and the drier woodiness of the 15 yo went well with the slightly sweet glaze on the duck.
The dessert was Bananas Foster, a crisp Belgium waffle topped with bananas, black pepper maple caramel sauce with ginger ice cream paired with Pappy 20 yo. The dessert was very sweet but the Papy 20 was rich with caramel and oak and held its own with all of that sweetness of the dessert.
The night ended with Pappy 23yo and an Olivia cigar while the crowd mingled and also watched the first half of the game with U of K pulling ahead of Nova. On the whole it was a very nice night. Good food and bourbon with interesting people in a historical setting. Life does not get better than that. Julian always puts on a good , class event and you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself at one of his dinners.
We left at about 11:00 and I think I saw a tear in Brenda's eye when she realised that she was going to have to leave the Louisville Country Club. It was a great night.
The turn out was fairly light because they were competing with the first round NCAA tournement game with U of K playing that night at 9:30. Even so there were many interesting people who showed up and enjoyed Van Winkle bourbon and excellent food. After having a cocktail before dinner (Brenda and I both enjoted a 12yo Van Winkle neat), we sat down for dinner. The first course was Bourbon cured salmon, Barrel roasted and glazed with apricot and honey served atop acorn squash puree and crispy shallots paired with Old Rip Van Winkle 10yo 90 proof. The salmon was excellent with a slightly woody flavor due to the fact that the chef, Patrick Colley, finished it on a bourbon barrel head in the oven. The bourbon was slightly fruity with apples and caramel and complimented the fish wiothout over powering it.
The second course was Baby spinach salad - bourbon apple cider poached pears, toasted hazelnuts, pumpkin seed and golden raisin melange with blue chees and mustard vinaigrette paired with the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 yo. The pears in the salad brought out the flavor of the fruit in the bourbon that had some wood notes and caramel that also went well with the hazelnuts.
The third course was Espresso cocoa dusted breast of duck with multi-grain pilaf with acho-toasted pecans, baby vegetables and a dried cherry demi-glaze paired with Pappy 15 yo. The duck was juicy without being greasy and the drier woodiness of the 15 yo went well with the slightly sweet glaze on the duck.
The dessert was Bananas Foster, a crisp Belgium waffle topped with bananas, black pepper maple caramel sauce with ginger ice cream paired with Pappy 20 yo. The dessert was very sweet but the Papy 20 was rich with caramel and oak and held its own with all of that sweetness of the dessert.
The night ended with Pappy 23yo and an Olivia cigar while the crowd mingled and also watched the first half of the game with U of K pulling ahead of Nova. On the whole it was a very nice night. Good food and bourbon with interesting people in a historical setting. Life does not get better than that. Julian always puts on a good , class event and you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself at one of his dinners.
We left at about 11:00 and I think I saw a tear in Brenda's eye when she realised that she was going to have to leave the Louisville Country Club. It was a great night.