Tales of the Cocktail - Day 2: Chemistry and Whiskey Legends

I have to say that the Tales of the Cocktail experience is growing on me and I am very glad to have finally been able to make the trip. Today was spectacular and the smile has not diminished from an enlightening afternoon.

This morning we took a little side trip in New Orleans to the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. It is a natural world oasis in the city and is filled with beautiful sculptures. For a break from the melee of a hectic week, I recommend this for anyone visiting New Orleans.

The cocktail inundation started with a return to the Hotel Monteleone and Melkon Khosrovian's (Modern Spirits & Tru Organic) seminar "Chemistry of the Cocktail." He is the quintessential spirit geek - meant in a very good way and I've heard that term thrown around a lot here so far - and has dissected cocktails and spirits in a way that I've never seen before. The highlight is his advice on pairing food and spirits and after tomorrow's lunch with Melkon and his wife Litty I'll have more to say. Also, I will be sharing Melkon's invaluable advice soon about pairings. As he explained in the conference, if you think wine and food go well together, imagine what a well designed cocktail can do - often it is better. When chefs are pairing they often deal with a wine that is bottled and is as it is. However, with cocktails the meal can be designed then appropriate drinks can be designed to compliment it.

To cap off the afternoon, the "must be there" seminar was "American Whiskey Legends." If you have never had the pleasure of speaking to a bourbon distiller you may not understand the cocktail of wit that is possible when you get four of them in a room together - the bourbon guys are a community that spans generations more than competition to each other. The panel was moderated by the one and only Paul Pacult, an icon in spirits tasting, and the panel was filled with "legends" including Bill Samuels (Maker's Mark), Fred Noe (Jim Beam), Tom Bulleit (Bulleit Bourbon), and Harlan Wheatley (Buffalo Trace).

With this group together the Kentucky quips came out one after another as they discussed - quite honestly - the past and future of the bourbon industry and the American influence on whiskey as a whole. Personally, it was a great pleasure seeing Samuels again after his gracious hospitality a couple years back when we toured his Kentucky distillery. Also, to put a live face to the legacy of Jim Beam after only speaking over the phone, and to discuss the new Red Stag was a gem in my day.

This is a very quick recap of Day 2 at Tales of the Cocktail and I promise there is so much more to come, not only as the week unfolds but as I digest the vast knowledge I am attempting to absorb over the coming weeks.