Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/221505
The "Honey Barrels" Rob Cooper is not known for doing things by half measures. He had been a rye enthusiast long before this spirit came back into vogue "When I discovered this rare aged straight rye, I immediately knew I had come across something exceedingly special," says Cooper. "Clearly, there is an extremely limited supply of aged straight rye available, especially over 13 years old. These are really the honey barrels,' as we have been diligently tasting along the way. We have had the good fortune of getting to this source at a very early stage, and ensuring we were patient in releasing them with optimal maturity." Adds Joen Choe, VP of Marketing for Cooper Spirits, "No hyperbole here: We tasted Lock, Stock & Barrel with some of the most notable folks in the whiskey world, and they tell us it's the best straight rye they've ever had." One of them, cocktail maestro David Wondrich, comments: "It's perfectly balanced, rich, smooth and heady. And, of course, gorgeously packaged. Many thanks for the bottle—it's on my top shelf, where it belongs. Indeed, it's kinda owning the shelf." Just as St-Germain was Cooper's tribute to 19th-century Parisian café society, Lock, Stock & Barrel is the spirits entrepreneur's testament to the great tradition of American rye whiskey—and one that's sure to make an impression on the spirits world as indelible as only Rob Cooper and The Cooper Spirits Company can make. Bar Director Damon Boelte, photographed at Prime Meats in Brooklyn's Carroll Gardens neighborhood. Lock, Stock & Barrel: The Bar Director's Take Damon Boelte is Bar Director for the Frankies/Prime Meats Group, with popular restaurants in Manhattan's trendy West Village and in Brooklyn's upscale (and bar-intensive) Carroll Gardens neighborhood. After discovering his passion for cocktails and bartending in his native Oklahoma, Boelte now makes his home in Brooklyn, where he plays in "outlaw country" band Brothers when he's not training staff, curating the spirits collection and creating cocktails for the restaurant group. Boelte also hosts mixology show "The Speakeasy" on the Heritage Radio Network, which reaches an international audience. For this busy buyer and spirits connoisseur, Lock, Stock & Barrel is the right whiskey at the right time. "The packaging is bad-ass," says the forthright Boelte. "You expect that from the Cooper Spirits Company, but I was pleasantly surprised that what's in the bottle is just as exciting." A whisky aficionado, Boelte loves Lock, Stock & Barrel's high-octane 101.3 proof and says it has "just the right amount of heat." While preferring his Lock, Stock & Barrel with one rock ("as it breathes and opens up, the cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee and tobacco flavors mellow to orange oil notes"), Boelte also reports that the new rye makes "a superb Sazerac and an elegant Manhattan—I've made quite a few cocktails with it." 130 / the tasting panel / december 2013 TP1213_104-148.indd 130 11/23/13 8:38 PM