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An Old Fashioned Quest

A crew of f riends spends an evening in search of the best classic cocktail Written By: Graham Averill Photographs by: Christopher Shane

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An Old Fashioned Quest

T heres a shrine to Hank Williams in the back of the Double Crown, a dive bar on the

f orgotten end of Haywood Road in West Asheville. Pictures, record covers, mementos, candlesall tucked behind some wire mesh taking up valuable real estate in the skinny hallway leading to the bathroom. Its a little unexpected, but then again Im drinking bourbon with apple butter in it, so maybe I shouldnt be surprised. T he drink is called an Appalachian Old Fashioned. Its one of Double Crowns signature cocktails, blending Wild Turkey with the condiment usually reserved f or biscuits at your grandmothers house. Its odd, but thats OK. My buddies and I are searching f or the best Old Fashioned in Asheville. Were open to odd. Seven bars. Seven drinks. Consider it a tour of Ashevilles emerging cocktail culture. In the last two years, a handf ul of bartenders have inf used craf tsmanship into the citys bar scene. T hink classic drinks like a Manhattan and bartenders dressed like its the Roaring 20s. T his new breed of booze-mongers makes its own tonics and bitters, and hand carves the ice that rests in your glass. If mixed properly, the Old Fashioned embodies this new lust f or classic beverages. Its the original cocktail, says Cynthia Turner, a New Orleans transplant and bartender at T he Imperial Lif e whos helping shape the drink scene here. Bourbon, sugar, ice, and bitters. If a bartender can make a good Old Fashioned, he knows what hes doing. Stop 1: Double Crown T he Double Crown is the kind of dive bar youll only f ind in Asheville and the f irst destination on our crawl. T he barkeeps wear trucker caps, and theres a DJ spinning classic hip-hop. Were the only people in the place wearing ties and jackets. Typically, Im not a tie guy, but were seeking serious liquor. It f elt right to dress seriously too. My cohorts f or the evening: Dusty, who is prone to posting bow-tie portraits on Instagram, Kevin, a painter with a strong appreciation f or Kentucky bourbon, and Jeremiah, we call him T he Vegetarian f or his ref usal to drink liquor of any sort. Plus, he is a vegetarian. T he rules of the quest are simple: Only one drink per stop. If a bar has a signature take on the Old Fashioned, were obligated to order it. Which is why were drinking Wild Turkey with apple butter. T he drink gets progressively milky as you work toward the bottom of the glass, but it lays a solid f oundation f or stop No. 2, where the Old Fashioned contains bacon.

Stop 2: T he Market Place T he Market Place is better known f or its locally sourced entres than its bar, but the high-end restaurant on Wall Street has an alluring cocktail on its menuthe Bentons Old Fashioned, made with Benton bacon-inf used bourbon and maple syrup. I have a sof t spot f or anything that combines alcohol and meat into one consumable product. We order three, plus a beer f or T he Vegetarian. T he drink is delicious, but in the way an clair is delicious. Have too many, and you run the risk of diabetes. Precisely because the drink contains both liquor and pork, I insist T he Vegetarian have a sip of mine. T he thought of it immediately sends him into convulsions. I think we should try to f ind an Old Fashioned without a breakf ast f ood in it, Dusty suggests, a request that leads us next door to Cucina24. Stop 3: Cucina24 Whenever possible, you should order a serious drink f rom a man with a serious beard. When we f ind Donnie Pratt behind the bar at Cucina24, hes sporting a long, Civil War-era beard and tie-vest combo, like a man straight out of the 1800s, which is appropriate, since the Old Fashioned is a libation straight out of the same century. Pratt gives us the annotated history of the Old Fashioned as he makes us a round, meticulously muddling the

sugar and bitters into a dark paste at the bottom of each glass. Originally, there were just a f ew ingredients to enhance the bourbon. But everything went wrong during Prohibition when good spirits were hard to f ind, he says. T hey started adding things like f ruit and soda water to cover up the taste. Pratts Old Fashioned is classic. Just the key ingredients and a dark cherry garnish f or a bit of f lourish. T his is a masculine drink, which is probably why the writers behind Mad Men put it in Don Drapers hands so of ten thick lowball glass, mahogany-hued liquor, and a single bulbous rock of ice. In Pratts version, theres nothing between me and the bourbon. While sipping perf ection, we watch Pratt make a daiquiri f or a woman at the end of the bar. He puts a thick cube of ice in a canvas sack and beats the hell out of it with a wooden mallet. Forget the blender. I want a job where I get to beat things in a sack with a hammer, Kevin muses. T he Vegetarian says, I still taste bacon. Stop 4 & 5: T he Unmentionables Fast f orward through two bad versions of the Old Fashioned at bars that shall remain nameless. One of the bartenders lines the rim of my glass with various wedges of exotic f ruit. I think theres a kiwi slice on there. At this point, its getting hard to f orm complete sentences. My tie is wadded up in my pocket. Dusty can only keep one eye open. And we either decide to head to Sazerac f or a bowl of popcorn, or we meet someone named Popcorn. Im not sure. All I know is there is a tweet f rom the evening that says POPCORN! Stop 6: T he Imperial Life T he last stop is T he Imperial Lif e, a speakeasy-style joint that always makes me f eel underdressed, even if Im wearing a jacket with a tie stuf f ed in the pocket. T hey do everything right here, f rom the house-made sodas on tap to the hand-carved ice that goes into every glass. T he bartenders at I-Lif e all wear vests and ties and of ten stand with their hands behind their backs like butlers. As I watch Turner chip away at a hunk of ice with a knif e until its the perf ect sphere of f rozen water she wants f or my drink, I regret putting I-Lif e at the end of our quest. Its 1 a.m. and the only thing I can taste is tomorrows hangover. T hats history in a glass, Turner tells me. You dont get to play with history in too many ways, but making these cocktails is a little like reenactment. If I can make that drink the way they did 100 years ago, then I can be proud. I tell Turner how were hopping f rom bar to bar looking f or the perf ect Old Fashioned, and she gives me the scoop on other spots we should try, her go-to bars f or a proper drink. Apparently, weve only scratched the surf ace of the citys burgeoning cocktail scene. And its only getting better, she says. Its a good time to be drinking in Asheville. Oh, the Places Youll Go Here are f our standouts f rom the quest f or the perf ect Old Fashioned. Double Crown If f or no other reason, go to see the Hank Williams shrine. Tip: Stir the Appalachian Old Fashioned of ten. 375 Haywood Rd,; (828) 575-9060 T he Market Place T he novelty could wear of f af ter a f ew, but everyone should have at least one Bentons Bacon-inf used Old Fashioned. 20 Wall St.; www.marketplace-restaurant.com

Cucina24 My winner f or the perf ect Old Fashioned. T he bar in this place is tiny, but if you want to see a true master of his craf t, go see Pratt. 24 Wall St.; www.cucina24restaurant.com T he Imperial Life A serious bar with serious bartenders, and a $5 cup of olives. 48 College St.; www.imperialbarasheville.com

Classic Old Fashioned

Ingredients: 1 Demerara sugar cube 1/2 oz. water 2 dashes Peychauds bitters 3 dashes Angostura bitters 2 oz. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon Ice Lemon peel Cherry Directions: In a glass, muddle sugar cube in water with Peychauds and Angostura bitters. Add bourbon and ice. Garnish with lemon peel and cherry.