Bourbon Date Night With Cocktails and Dinner

Rosemary and I decided to have a Bourbon date night the other day. We are at an age where date night starts early and ends early. We got in the car and Rosemary dropped me off at Art Eatables while she parked the car near Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery. I purchased a couple of boxes of Michter’s truffles – a box of their Bourbon truffles and a box of their sampler truffles, and walked down to Fort Nelson. We met just outside the distillery and went in for our 3:30 reservation at the bar.

It was the first day for their spring cocktail menu and we sat down and ordered some cocktails. I ordered a Lime In The Coconut, a pleasant cocktail made with Michter’s rye, coconut, lime, banana, pineapple, passionfruit, ginger bitters, lime leaf and fig leaf. It was a very pleasant cocktail that had a very tropical taste. Rosemary ordered an After Hours, made with Michter’s Sour Mash, Faretti Biscotti, cold brew coffee and pistachio milk. Another excellent cocktail for a spring pick-me-up. I then ordered a Peachy Keen cocktail made with Michter’s Bourbon, peach, lemon, honey, vanilla, Pedro Ximenez sherry and mint. It was my favorite of the evening with a very nice fresh peach flavor. I next ordered a Battle of Puebla cocktail at the recommendation of our server. It is made with Michter’s Bourbon, bitter orange, dry Vermouth, green poblano, honey, Mexican chocolate bitters, and a dried Arbol chili. It was spicy and very flavorful. I ended the evening with the Jam Packed cocktail made with Michter’s rye, Italian Vermouth, strawberry absinth, black pepper tincture and creole bitters. Another excellent cocktail. (By the way, I sampled these cocktails—always drink responsibly!)

We paired the cocktails with our chocolates from Art Eatables and had a lovely conversation with a couple from Michigan sitting at the table next to us. I recommended that he order a Michter’s barrel strength rye Manhattan and he loved it.

We next left the bar at Fort Nelson and went to a new Louisville eatery called Cipollini, an Italian restaurant on Bardstown Road near our house. It is founded by Chef/Owner Dallas McGarity, and General Manager/Owner Tarek Hamada. We love Dallas’s cooking and have eaten at his restaurant The Fat Lamb several times, so when we heard that he was part of this new place, we had to give it a try. We started with a cocktail each. I had a Manhattan and Rosemary had a Boulevardier. They were both very good cocktails. We shared the garlic ricotta toast appetizer that was very good and I ordered the bucatini & meatballs, while Rosemary ordered the pork tenderloin saltimbocca. Both main courses were excellent. The place had a great atmosphere, if maybe a little loud, and we enjoyed our dinner.

We ended the evening after the restaurant and went home. It was a very enjoyable evening. I enjoy a good Bourbon date night with Rosemary and I would have to say that her company made an excellent evening of cocktails and dinner even better.