Sip on This: Kennessee Old Fashioned

Where: The Moonlight Mile // 200 Franklin Street, Greenpoint

When you have your first drink at The Moonlight Mile, it’s an excellent time to take pause and really re-evaluate every bar you’ve been going to up until this point. Garry Embry, owner, bartender and all around southern gentleman, has dedicated his entire bar to brown spirits, and brown spirits only. With the exception of a small but very impressive beer list, the only alcohol you’ll be enjoying at The Moonlight Mile is of the whiskey persuasion, and I really mean that. While most whiskey bar owners will advertise themselves as just that, they tend to save a bottle of vodka or gin on the back bar, just incase. Embry has chosen to take the high--and in my opinion, the better--road here, and is only serving American whiskies, bourbons and ryes. Whether you enjoy it on the rocks, or in one of their incredible cocktails, The Moonlight Mile is most certainly catering to the whiskey lovers of Brooklyn. Forget Disney World; this is the happiest place on earth.

Why:

I had the pleasure of sitting at the bar across from Embry recently, talking whiskey, cocktails, and his hometown of Kentucky. When I asked him what made him want to open a bar entirely dedicated to American whiskey, he had zero hesitation in his response. “I’m born and raised in Kentucky,” he said. “When you come from Kentucky there’s three things that matter: basketball, horse racing and Bourbon. I love all three of those, and I’m three for three. We figured that if we’re gonna do this, if the American whiskey movement is really exploding, why don’t we give it a try and do something a little different? Why don’t we give the consumer a different option?”

This passion and dedication to the American whiskey movement is clear to see in the Kennessee Old Fashioned, a southern twist on the classic Old Fashioned cocktail. Embry makes his own sassafras syrup at the bar for this drink, giving it an incredibly unique sweetness and satisfying spice. If you’ve forgotten just how delicious American whiskies truly are, have no fear. The Moonlight Mile is here to happily refresh your memory.  

Ingredients:

High Rye Bourbon
Homemade Sassafras Syrup
Angostura Bitters
Served up.

Drunk factor (scale of 1-5, 5 being the strongest): 3.8