Whiskey Cocktails We’re Craving Now

By: The Local Palate

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When on the hunt for proper whiskey cocktails, Washingtonians need go no further than Jack Rose Dining Saloon.

The DC haunt has thousands of bottles on hand, including hundreds of bourbons. We tapped Andy Bixby, the bar’s cocktail mastermind, for brown water tipples to whip up at home. When it comes to choosing a bourbon, Bixby looks at everything from time spent in the barrel to the mashbill: “Its breakdown of grains can influence whether a bourbon shows vegetal spiciness, or rich cherry and vanilla sweetness.”

Bixby uses Knob Creek in his manhattan riff for its age and strength—“100 proof goes a long way to make it the driving force in a cocktail”—and looks to high rye Bulleit to balance the rich sweetness of his fruit-inflected Cassis and Desist. Find a rich and full-bodied bourbon to stand up to his julep’s mint and cream.