Southside Sips: Léon 1909’s Blanket Finish

This Saturday, May 2, is the annual Kentucky Derby, or as the folks at Churchill Downs like to say: The most exciting two minutes in sports.

Held the first Saturday of every May dating back to 1875, it is the oldest sporting event in the United States, and marks the first of the trio of races of the Triple Crown (the Derby is followed by the Preakness Stakes and Long Island’s Belmont Stakes), in which the best and fastest three-year-old thoroughbreds and their jockeys hoof it out for, this year, a piece of the $5 million winning. And, of course, the prestige of being champions.

But there are other traditions of the Derby, too. The hats (the hats!), extravagant symbols of Southern tradition and good luck for those on the track. And then there’s the cocktail.

The Mint Julep is, of course, the most well-known of whiskey whistle-whetting sips, renowned at Churchill Downs and far beyond. But beverage director of Léon 1909, Gillian Georges, had a mind to remake the classic this year because even the most beloved traditions can always stand a little improvement.

As much as its famed race, Kentucky is also well-known for its place in history with bourbon, and continued production of it. There is a particular whiskey producer who has tied itself to the julep and Churchill Downs, and that’s all well and good. But for our taste, we applaud Georges’ choice of Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Bourbon, available at Hampton Wine Shoppe, Park Place Wines, BottleHampton, Race Lane Wine & Liquors and many other spots around the East End. And, as it so happens, its owner Joseph Magliocco heartily agrees.

“Because of the extra, costly steps we take in producing Michter’s US*1 Bourbon, it offers rich and full flavored vanilla, caramel and stone fruit notes balanced by a hint of oak that makes it shine through in cocktails,” Michter’s owner Joseph Magliocco told us when we chatted with him about his lovely whiskey (truly: It’s a house fave). “When you taste it neat, you get cascade of flavors that doesn’t burn, but rather gives you a Kentucky hug.”

Georges picked up on those stone fruit notes here, adding to the classic mint some muddled and charred nectarine, teasing out those notes in the bourbon. And that Laphroaig mist? It adds a little East End bonfire-on-the-beach and salinity note to final flavor. It’s kind of a Blue Grass-meets-Hamptons mash-up — and that’s a classic cocktail update we can get behind.