Four Roses Bourbon Dinner Nov. 14 at Bourbon's Bistro

[Robin Garr]

News release

Four Roses Bourbon Dinner at Bourbon's Bistro
Monday, November 14

Join us for a special Four Roses Dinner on Monday, November 14th. The speaker for the evening will be Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge. The evening will include five bourbon-inspired courses provided by Chef Michael Crouch and bourbon tasting. The price for the dinner is $45. Seating starts at 6:00pm, the dinner will begin at 6:30. Call 502-894-8838 for your reservation.


Bourbons Bistro
2255 Frankfort Ave.

I was one of the lucky ones in attendance last evening and I think I had the meal of my life time. Cornmeal dusted fried oysters with a Bourbon smoked bacon and roasted corn cream. I have never had such sweet and tender fried oysters. I am dreaming of an oyster po' boy made with them. Baby arugula tossed with baby beets, fresh goat cheese, Granny Smith apples and cashew brittle in a honey bourbon buttermilk vinaigrette. I want the recipe for that dressing! Seared lobster cake with lemon hollandaise and Bourbon Blood Orange Gastrique. It was the most "lobstery" of any lobster cake I have ever eaten. Roasted beef tenderloin with cilantro chimmichuri served with mashed potatoes and braised carrots. I don't know how Chef Michael was able to prepare tenderloin for some sixty people and have it all perfectly medium rare, juicy, and cut-with-a-butter-knife tender. Finally Bluegrass black bottom Bourbon babas with a Bourbon Creme Anglaise and Bourbon carmel sauce. Baba au rhum is now a thing of the past for me. That plus all the bourbons I got to sample including one that won't be released until next year.

I was one of the lucky ones in attendance last evening and I think I had the meal of my life time. Cornmeal dusted fried oysters with a Bourbon smoked bacon and roasted corn cream. I have never had such sweet and tender fried oysters. I am dreaming of an oyster po' boy made with them. Baby arugula tossed with baby beets, fresh goat cheese, Granny Smith apples and cashew brittle in a honey bourbon buttermilk vinaigrette. I want the recipe for that dressing! Seared lobster cake with lemon hollandaise and Bourbon Blood Orange Gastrique. It was the most "lobstery" of any lobster cake I have ever eaten. Roasted beef tenderloin with cilantro chimmichuri served with mashed potatoes and braised carrots. I don't know how Chef Michael was able to prepare tenderloin for some sixty people and have it all perfectly medium rare, juicy, and cut-with-a-butter-knife tender. Finally Bluegrass black bottom Bourbon babas with a Bourbon Creme Anglaise and Bourbon carmel sauce. Baba au rhum is now a thing of the past for me. That plus all the bourbons I got to sample including one that won't be released until next year.

STOP ALREADY Gayle, you had me at smoked bacon and roasted corn! I'm drowning in saliva....must have bourbon. Thank the gods there was no JerryZ photo of this. Food coma for sure.

It was a fantastic bourbon dinner!

Chef Crouch and crew were firing on all cylinders- that tenderloin was so, uh, tender, a toothless child could have eaten it. The whole meal I felt like my head was on a swivel- I was nodding in approvement so much.

Master Distiller Jim Rutledge gave a bourbon speach that was only for the initiated. He spoke of thier overseas bottlings, the history of the brand, even thier barrel selection process and philosophies regarding thier proprietary yeast strains.

The crowd came from far and wide- our table found us sitting alongside another beverage consultant/whisky writer from Indianapolis.

All-in-all, quite the event, for sure.

Master Distiller Jim Rutledge gave a bourbon speach that was only for the initiated. He spoke of thier overseas bottlings, the history of the brand, even thier barrel selection process and philosophies regarding thier proprietary yeast strains.

I was sad to have missed this. Four Roses runs an interesting operation compared to the other distilleries and puts out an excellent product. We toured the distillery a few weeks ago, and what really stuck out to me was the fact that they age all of their bourbon at ground level. All the other distilleries age in multi-level warehouses, and typically age the more premium bourbons at the bottom levels because the temperature is more constant and easily controlled. All Four Roses bourbon, by contrast, ages in multiple (12 or 14 I think?) one story buildings at ground level, whether its the yellow label or the single barrel.

Their philosophies regarding the yeast strains were also quite interesting.