New York City, New York

One of the best things about America is its vastness and the diversity it inspires. My favorite series in the Firewater Lounge is the Around America series because of the uniqueness a particular location and its culture bestows on its drinks- the highbrow sophistication of the East, the no-nonsense alcohol-fronted power of the Midwest, the calm refinement of the Southern long drink, and the untamed whiskey-and-tequila-mixed cowboy history of the West.

We’ve taken in every region’s main drinking abodes- Vegas, Seattle, and San Francisco in the West; Dallas, Austin, and New Orleans in the South; Chicago, Louisville, and Milwaukee in the Midwest. And though Philly and Boston are solid, New York City is the cocktail beast of the East.

And, my friends, to our great dismay, NYC is a place that we have not visited a bar yet. Never sampled Milk & Honey, or Employees Only, or the Pegu Club, or Dead Rabbit or PDT. I know, it’s sad. However, we have had the good fortune to buzz over to the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn to take in a tasting at Widow Jane Distillery.

Amid the modern murals and historical brick of the port-cum-art district, the Widow Jane tasting room shares space with their sister company, the chocolate maker Cacao Prieto. While the family enjoyed chunks of chocolate, I tried to convince the barkeep to part with as many low-cost tastings as possible, which was a challenge given the stingy nature of the place.

I did not leave the Widow Jane Distillery empty-handed. I brought a bottle of their bloody butcher bourbon, the most expensive alcohol purchase of my lifetime. The whiskey is made with a mash bill containing 85% bloody butcher corn, the blood-red and dark red streaked corn you sometimes see around these parts for Halloween, and 15% heirloom barley.

Now, for those of you out there who are not whiskey people, this whiskey is not red-colored, because the color of whiskey comes from the oak it’s aged in, not the mash. Widow Jane’s bloody butcher bourbon is only aged a single year, so it’s amber-colored and smells of graham crackers. Its taste is of fine quality for such a young whiskey, vanilla dry in the front and sharp with lingering tobacco in the back. A good summer’s day tipple for the rich, but probably not worth its cost generally for us Lounge Lizards. A good part of me would like to be super obnoxious enough to mix the now $300 a 375 ml bottle with Carpano and Campari to make it red-colored and enjoy it Warren Buffet-style.

By the way, that’s actually a classic cocktail, here’s the recipe!

Boulevardier

1 ½ ounce bourbon

1 ounce sweet vermouth (use Carpano)

1 ounce Campari

Stir all ingredients on ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled Nick and Nora glass or coupe. Garnish with a bourbon cherry or swath of orange peel.