A Whiskey Tasting At Rabbit Hole Distillery

Rosemary and I were lucky enough to get an invitation to a Rabbit Hole whiskey tasting for the press the other day. The evening started with cocktails in the gift shop area of the distillery. We were served an Old Fashioned cocktail made with apple brandy and an appetizer of Mushroom Tarts with Farm Cheese were passed around while we waited for everyone to arrive. Many of our media friends arrived and chit-chat soon took place. Kaveh Zamanian, the founder of Rabbit Hole, mingled with the guests for a while and then started a tour of the distillery. Other distilleries could learn a thing or two from Kaveh about giving a tour to writers. He kept the talk to a minimum, while hitting the meaningful highlights of the process. After all, we had all been to a distillery before and we were there for the tasting.

The tour came to an end on the top floor of the distillery and we were led into their newly remodeled bar/tasting area. The bar is well designed and includes a catering kitchen and a dining area. The dining area was set up for the tasting. We sat down and examined the whiskeys in front of us. Kaveh, with the help of his three Master Tasters, led us through the whiskeys. These were four of their Distillery Series collection of finished whiskeys. The first was Starlino, a rye whiskey finished in Vermouth casks. (I will taste these again with Matt and give full tasting notes here at a later date.) I liked it quite a bit and it had the distinct flavor of a Manhattan cocktail. Next, was Sucrule, a Bourbon finished in maple syrup barrels. It was not overly flavored by the maple syrup and I was pleased to drink it. The third offering was Velarde, a Bourbon finished in Oloroso casks. This was my personal favorite of the evening with warm flavors of almonds and apricots. We finished the tasting with Favios, a Bourbon finished in Tawny Port casks. Another excellent whiskey.

After the tasting, we were served dinner provided by Chef Noam Bilitzer of Meesh Meesh restaurant. I had saved some of each of my pours as I wanted to see how they would pair with each course. I had an idea of which would go with each course and I was proved correct. The first course was a salad of local apples, with local greens, in a honey and cardamom vinaigrette. I was tossed between the Starlino and the Sucrule to pair with the salad, but decided that the Starlino paired better with the tart, green apples and dressing. The next course was a Sumac spiced chicken with melted shallots, heirloom carrots and Baharat buttered potatoes. The Velarde paired well with the umami flavors of the chicken and the sweetness of the carrots. The final course was dessert, a flourless chocolate torte with Turkish coffee caramel and Bourbon cream, topped with toasted hazelnuts. The Favios was the perfect whiskey to pair with the chocolate and caramel in the dessert.

We ended the evening after dessert. The bar is open to the public for cocktails and Rosemary and I have decided to come back and try their cocktail menu later. It was a very good event and we enjoyed every aspect of the evening. Well done Kaveh and crew. I look forward to returning for a cocktail at the bar.