Bourbon Tasting at Morton’s « My Wine Education

Bourbon Tasting at Morton’s

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Recently, Michelle and I attended the bourbon tasting at Morton’s Steakhouse in downtown Cincinnati. (It’s worth mentioning we were comp’d the tasting.) The featured bourbons were the upper end of the Jim Beam family, specifically Knob Creek, Booker’s, Basil Hayden, and Baker’s. There was a specific recipe made for each bourbon that paired with the appetizers.

Bernie Lubbers, Whiskey Professor, was brought in from Jim Beam to discuss the attributes of America’s native spirit and he did a great job of filling in historical information in an easy to digest manner. He made the lecture part of the evening light and entertaining before walking around to talk with each table personally. Adding the extra level of personal touch was a nice re-reinforcement of the overall friendly atmosphere.

Drinks included the Southern Citrus Smash, Knob Creek Mint Julep (incredibly sweet), the Booker’s Manhattan (which was amazingly potent), and the dessert-like Washington Apple martini.

The layout of the room was reception style with the appetizers in the
middle and two drink stations on either end of the room. We were lucky
enough to get a window seat using the ledge as our unofficial table and
providing a great view out onto Fountain Square.

The bar at Morton’s has a fantastic selection of
"bar bites" that provide a great end to any evening. We had the
mini-cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese (thanks to Lauren who also had
the salad), and blue cheese french fries. Overall, a few additional
tastes to finish the evening.

Morton’s next event is a Chimay beer tasting on October 24. They’ll be sampling Chimay Premiere (Red Cap), Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue Cap), and Chimay Cinq Cents (Gold Cap). The event is $45 and $5 of the ticket price will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Michelle and I will be in Sonoma, CA, that day, but if we were in town, we’d definitely go for the beer tasting. Morton’s has a great attention to detail and I imagine this next event will reflect that as well.

Recipes for our bourbon drinks, and corresponding photos, are after the jump.

Southern Citrus Smash
Basil Hayden Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Fresh Mint Leaves, loose
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Simple Syrup
Angostura Bitters
Sodas

In a pint shaker glass, add mint, juice, syrup, bitters and hand press with muddler. Add bourbon. Fill glass with ice. Shake vigorously for 6 seconds. Fine strain over fresh ice into old fashioned glass.

GARNISH: Powder sugar, dusted mint sprig and lemon wedge.

Knob Creek Mint Julep
Knob Creek
3 Sprigs Muddled Mint Leaves
Basil Hayden Mint Julep
Crushed Ice

Muddle and mix Ingredients in Pint Shaker with no ice. Fill RX glass with crushed ice and pour liquid over the ice.

GARNISH: One fresh sprig of mint with stem on so it stands up on the side of the glass.

Washington Apple
Baker’s
DeKuyper Sour Apple Schnapps
Cranberry Juice

Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake 10 times and strain into martini glass.

GARNISH: ¼ inch thin slice of red delicious apple with cinnamon sprinkled on it.
Cut apple in half. Core Apple and cut in half again down lengthwise. Pare off skin. Cut ¼ inch thin strip of apple from the quarter. Sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon.
Drop in Drink. If you make these ahead of time sprinkle some lemon juice on them so they do not brown.

Booker’s Manhattan
Booker’s
Sweet Vermouth