Austin, The cradle of the West!

You can expect a good amount of content to come from Austin! There are so many great places to visit and the town is just great to hang out in.

We started this visit at The Westin hotel located on 5th street downtown. First stop had to be the bar because we’ve been finding that sometimes the best Old Fashioned is served up at the hotel bar vs. the actual bars.

The price was reasonable and I tipped him more than the drinks cost to show my respect for the craftmanship of his work. I would keep an eye on this bartender Waco because he has a bright future. If you stop by, tell him you found him on my site.

Price: $
Quality: Exceptional
Overall rating for Old Fashioned: 10 out of 10
Likelihood of revisiting? You can count on it!

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College Station, Texas
1791 Whiskey Bar

At the 1791 whiskey bar at The George. The hotel is very nice and they boil oranges with their simple syrup to produce a very nice drink. Their spirit of choice is BuffaloTrace

Price:$
Presentation: Eh
Quality: OFT approved!

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Even through our guy did use 15 year old Whistle Pig Estate oak rye which made an excellent end result, it was billed at Westin rates. $44.00 for this beauty which was priced high for the market but then again it was a hotel bar.

I’m thinking about dedicating an entire page to nothing but Whistle Pig even though it’s not a Texas brand. I’ve owned a few bottles over the years and I’ve never been disappointed.

Our first stop was not too far from the hotel at a place celled The Diner Bar located at 5th & San Jacinto. Oysters, American caviar and Old Fashioned drinks!

This turned out to be very interesting because we had dueling bartenders that wanted to create their best Old Fashioned and neither failed. One was made with Eagle Rare bourbon and the other was made with 15 year old Whistle Pig but both were well worth it! The drinks were only $15 – $18 per and the food was a very nice break from what’s available in our neck of the woods in central Texas.

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Fort Worth Texas
Sandman Signature Hotel

FIRST, this hotel recently opened right next to the convention center and I found this gem of a property while looking for something close to downtown. I consider myself SO lucky that I booked and got exposed to the property and people.

The property is in the W.T. Waggoner Building that opened in 1920. My first impression was that it was very “Za Za” esq but with more of a Driskill feel. The staff were amazing. Maybe it was the fact the property just opened or maybe it will be their standard moving forward but whatever it was, it worked. I likened my experience to if I were a guest at Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel.

After looking around the property like a tourist, I made my way to the bar. That’s where more magic happened. It’s not often that I get to record a “first” but I’m very glad to do so. Eric Rodriguez prepared the Musume Old Fashioned. This was a first in for me in 26 years.

This Musume old fashioned contains:

~ Japanese whiskey
~ Sake
~ Vanilla reduction
~ Chocolate bitters

My eye was immediately drawn to the lack of an orange peel but before I could ask, Eric started explaining as he handed it to me. The orange conflicted with the chocolate bitters and personally, I didn’t miss it. I was still trying to digest the thought of an old fashioned with Japanese whiskey & Sake.

IF you find yourself downtown in Fort Worth, stop across the street and purchase your hat at Peter Brothers then do yourself a favor and stop in and see Eric & Amanda. You can thank me later……

Price: $$
Presentation: Visually simple but, buckle up.
Quality: The bar has been raised. (Pun intended)

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Chris knows his way around Whiskey and is a walking library of knowledge when it comes to Texas whiskey. He makes his own bitters from scratch and takes great pride in his work. I didn’t think my first submission would come from the bar at the Aloft in Waco but this guy really impressed me! The flavor profiles he created with the three whiskeys shown in the photo and his own bitters was out of this world.

Garrison Brothers small batch bourbon whiskey along with a smokey bitters, square ice and traditional candied cherry made for a robust Old Fashioned that was smooth and enjoyable. Chris used a torch on the orange peel to bring out aromas that complimented the drink even further.