Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/430172
december 2014 / the tasting panel / 67 L os Angeles–based Vintage Bar Group (VBG) owns and manages six bars, and this past fall, five managers from five locations met with Jonathan Pogash, The Cocktail Guru, to kick-start the group's first barrel-aged cocktail program. As of this writ- ing, the barrel-aged Port-finished Manhattans that Pogash instructed VBG's bartending team to prepare have been aging since the first week in October, and should be now making their way from barrel to glass at the group's bars: The Parlour Room, The Woods and The Well in Hollywood, and El Bar, The Fifth and NoBar in the San Fernando Valley. Luke Barnett, VBG Managing Partner and bartender at NoBar, said it was his first time toying with a barrel-aged program. "We do a lot of infusions at NoBar, but this will be new, and it's great because the majority of our crowd is whiskey lovers," he said. Pogash chose to focus on the TAP RYE Port Finished Canadian Whisky, a limited-edition line extension of the TAP 357 Whisky brand, which is aged for up to eight years. "We found it works really well in barrel-aged programs, given its nuances of wood, spice, nutmeg and cinnamon, and for this Manhattan, we are mixing it with sweet vermouth and Angostura Bitters—three ingredients, very simple." As Pogash's demonstration got underway, Laurie Fitzpatrick, bartender and Manager at The Parlour Room, divulged her enthusiasm: "I am psyched about this program—I do specialty cocktails with homemade organic simple syrups and I'm excited to work with TAP RYE." A row of barrels, already sanitized with a cleaning tablet, were perched atop the curved bar at The Woods in downtown Hollywood. "These are five-liter barrels," Pogash explained, "and we're only filling them about two-thirds of the way because it's good to leave a little room for air to speed up the oxidation process." Using a 3:1 ratio (three bottles of the TAP RYE Port finished whisky, one bottle of sweet vermouth and three ounces of Angostura), we then funneled everything straight through the tiny bung into the barrel, just as if making a batch. We gave the barrel a 360-degree spin and, voila, let the aging begin. Pogash cautioned that pours should average three- to four-ounces, so that one barrel, which contains about 150 ounces, should yield roughly 50 drinks. "It's definitely good to have a second barrel for a back-up batch," he said. As for aging, "We've noticed that the sweet-spot is about four to five weeks—where you get great flavor out of the barrel, a little vanilla and spice," said Pogash, adding that it's important to taste each week, because "readiness" is dependent on personal taste. "These are clean barrels with no char—I like brand new barrels because you get those fresh vanilla and spice notes. The TAP RYE Port finish is pretty mellow on its own, and I like to bring out that mel- lowness, which makes for a smoother and very approach- able Manhattan." "You put it on the backbar and people see the barrel and it creates a conversation piece," says Jacob Mutscheller, who was watching from the side. Mutscheller is Western Division Manager for Van Gogh Imports, the company that imports the TAP line of whiskies. "It also gives bartenders the ability to make a classic drink without the labor of putting it together—they can pour it out of the barrel, over ice, and it's ready to go." Every VBG bar gets to put its individual stamp on the program because no barrel-aged cocktail will ever be the same. Pogash concluded that, ultimately, it's all about the clientele—and "Experimentation is king." Cocktail Guru Jonathan Pogash led a barrel- aging lesson for manag- ers of the L.A.–based Vintage Bar Group. "Experimentation is king," when barrel-aging cocktails, said Jonathan Pogash.