A cocktail of Rye Whiskey, Smoky Mezcal, Benedictine Liqueur and Chicory & Vanilla Bitters made for the perfect drink to capture Los Angeles in a glass. That was the goal of the contest held by LA’s first distillery post-Prohibition, Greenbar Craft Distillery (aka Greenbar Collective). The contest took place back in the spring of 2014 and was their goal was to find a drink that would be to LA what the Manhattan was to New York. I was just starting to fall in love with smoky Mezcal at the time. I already held Rye and Benedictine on pedestals and my thought was to try to combine all three.
I really wanted something where you could taste the sunny, sandy, smoggy, glitzy, palm-lined, paved chaparral, suburban-sprawl, melting pot of the Los Angeles Metro Area—known to newscasters as The Southland. More importantly, I wanted to use all-booze ingredients that were shelf-stable and bottles that you’d have on-hand for other drinks. I originally tried it with other bitters, but then a friend of mine, Michael Crane, gave me a sample of his newly minted Chicory & Vanilla bitters, which took it to the next level because they really helped punch up the Benedictine. This broke one of my rules, in that they were not exactly bitters that everyone would have on hand, but they worked so well in the drink that there was no turning back.
However, in 2016, I was having diner at an little joint on the West Side called Scopa Italian Roots. They had a drink on the cocktail menu that caught my eye called the El Camino. I looked it up later and it was the exact same proportions as the Southland. Everything was the same except it was made with Peychaud’s Bitters and finished with an Orange Twist. I still liked the Southland without a garnish as part of the concept was to be able to make it at a moment’s notice with shelf-stable ingredients, but the El Camino with the twist was excellent.
I was pretty blown away by the coincidence. I looked into it further and eventually tracked down the creator of the El Camino, Raul Yrastorza, a Los Angeles-area bartender, mezcal aficionado and former bar manager of Las Perlas, a mezcal-centric (or possibly mezcal-only) bar across the street from Cole’s French Dip and The Varnish. Raul now runs The Chestnut Club, a kind of sister bar to the bar at Scopa. Raul came up with the drink on a trip to Oaxaca with Ron Cooper, the owner of Del Maguey, shortly before the grand opening of Las Perlas in 2010. Raul started with the template of the Monte Carlo, split the base with Mezcal and tried different liqueurs as the sweetener, triple sec, monte negro, Benedictine and others. Benedictine emerged as the clear winner. That combined with it’s origins tracing back to the Monte Carlo, he named his drink after another Chevy, one with a fitting Latin twist, the El Camino.
Raul came up with this combination of ingredients before I did and when I spoke to him about it, I was marveling at the sheer coincidence of that. He also mentioned that Phil Ward came up with a drink called Good Cork that was almost the exact same thing as the El Camino, only instead of Rye, he made it with Irish Whiskey. What can I say? Great minds think alike and some assholes (me) fall head-over-heels into something worth while.
This is a great drink to barrel-age. The smoke is mellowed a bit by the barrel which isn’t the best thing in the world, but the hard edges are rounded off and some of the earthier, sweeter flavors are brought to the foreground. It can almost be sipped neat. It takes a little patience to age it, but it’s time well-spent. If you can’t seem to get ahold of the Chicory-Vanilla Bitters, try it with Peychaud’s and make it an El Camino. Let me know how it turns out for you. Cheers!
Recipe (1-Liter):
400 ml (13.5 oz) Rye Whiskey
400 ml (13.5 oz) Smoky Mezcal
200 ml (6.75 oz) Benedictine
10 ml (0.33 oz) Chicory & Vanilla Bitters (or Peychaud’s)
Combine ingredients. Add to cured oak barrel. Age for 3-4 weeks. Taste occasionally. When ready, strain through a fine mesh strainer and bottle.
Music:
Without a Doubt 1 by Anders Bothén
via Epidemic Sound
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Featured in This Episode:
Wild Turkey 101 Rye
http://wildturkeybourbon.com/product/...
El Silencio Espadín Mezcal
http://www.mezcalelsilencio.com/espad...
DOM Benedictine
http://benedictinedom.com/usa/en/home...
Drunken Crane Chicory & Vanilla Bitters
http://thedrunkencrane.com/the-drunke...
Order via info@thedrunkencrane.com (tell him Distinguished Spirits sent ya!)
Bluegrass Barrels
http://bit.ly/2ocrqmK
http://amzn.to/2xCQify
Barrel-Aged Southland - How to Make and Age this Rye Whiskey & Mezcal Cocktail | |
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| How-to & Style | Upload TimePublished on 15 Feb 2017 |
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