Would you like dinner with your bourbon?

 

What could be better than tasting your favorite bourbons in a relaxed atmosphere? How about pairing them with some fantastic food! That’s the premise behind “bourbon dinners,” a concept we picked up on, and have watched them grow in popularity and multiply, during the pandemic.

The idea is pretty simple – you get a dinner served in small courses, each paired with a different bourbon. Sometimes it’s a bourbon drink, other times the pours are served “neat” to taste the full flavors of each with the food. Then the bourbon rep explains something about each one. It’s also a pretty ingenious way for representatives of the distilleries to get more people interested and to try their product!

 

The latest bourbon dinner we attended was in January 2022 at Oliver Royale in downtown Knoxville. We’ve attended several bourbon dinners there and enjoy both the food and bourbon pairings each time! Christy is a fan of their pork belly, in particular.  Oliver Royale has various dinners throughout the year.  To keep abreast of the happenings, register to receive their emails or check out their events page.

Now let’s also add that there’s nothing wrong with drinking bourbon in the comfort of your home. We tend to do that as well! But it’s very cool to get to hear the stories behind the various brands, labels, and mashbills. That’s one of the reasons we enjoy bourbon – the stories! For example – at one recent bourbon dinner, we learned that the Weller Special Reserve label is green in honor of the green ink that William Larue Weller (the father of wheated bourbon) used to stamp his thumb print on every barrel.

At this particular dinner, which was hosted by Sazerac, the parent company of all-things Buffalo Trace, the welcome cocktail was bourbon and champagne in a flute (think French 75 but with bourbon).

To give you an idea how it works without too many of the gory, yet delicious, details… here’s a rundown of the pairings for this dinner:

•        Smoked Pork Belly paired with Eagle Rare Manhattan
•        Kale & Endive Salad paired with a Sazerac
•        Trout paired with Buffalo Trace Vieux Carre
•        Hanger Steak paired with Weller Full Proof Old Fashioned
•       Banana Spring Rolls paired with Blanton’s neat

They pretty much hit all of our favorite bourbon drinks in one sitting!

We should point out that these are not often full pours or full-sized drinks! It would be a challenge to navigate safely afterward otherwise. But you get enough of each to make the most of the pairings.

As we noted earlier, there are a growing number of places hosting bourbon events in Knoxville. We’ve attended a dinner at Boyd’s Jig and Reel, and other places like Barley’s in the Old City and Oak Room by Abridged are also offering dinners this year.  We have also attended bourbon and whiskey classes at Total Wine - just to name a few.

Is there a bourbon dinner in your future? You might even be able to ask your favorite restaurant to host one (assuming they have a good bourbon selection).