Back Down South

Drink This – The 36th Vote

HighWestManhattan-002

The Drink: The 36th Vote – High West’s Barreled Manhattan. Made with the pre-Phobition recipe of two parts Rye whiskey, one part sweet vermouth and two dashes of bitters. It’s then aged in a white oak barrel for 90 days.

It was Jamie Clayton that introduced this to me, so here’s his experience first…

Recently, I was lucky enough to shoot a wedding in Seaside, Florida. I got to stay at the amazing Watercolor Inn for 3 nights. The first night I was there, I sat down and ordered a drink called The 36th Vote. I can’t remember the bartender’s name. Gary? Ronald? He was a fantastic bartender. He grabbed a double old fashioned glass and pulled out the Macallan Ice Ball Maker and dropped a beautiful ice sphere in my glass. He then grabbed a bottle from Utah’s High West distillery. He put 2 dashes of Peychaud’s in the glass and then a solid 2 oz pour of this spirit. Wait, what? No mixing? I quickly realized I had ordered an aged manhattan. A simple garnish of 3 maraschino cherries on a pick and he slid the drink towards me. It was so delicious I ordered probably 10 the rest of the time while I was staying there. Nothing else. All I wanted was the 36th Vote.

Back to me (Caroline). We were staying just down the road in Santa Rosa Beach while Jamie was in Seaside. Every night he was in town, he’d text us to come to his hotel bar and try this drink. “Just one drink,” he’d say, “you’ve gotta try this manhattan.” Since we were on vacation with my parents, I never could pull myself away from family time, but I promised Jamie I’d buy a bottle on my way back through Atlanta.

So I did. We got home, and the first drink I poured was this baby. Just as the bartender served for Jamie. 2 dashes Peychaud’s, one large ice cube, 2 oz High West Barreled Manhattan. Y’all. This is hands down the best barrel aged Manhattan I’ve had (second to one that Jamie made a while back with bourbon, port wine, and amaro). I’ve been sharing it with guests like crazy, and cannot recommend it enough.

The other day I ran into High West’s Barreled Boulevardier which I will be buying immediately after I drink every last drop of the manhattan. Stay tuned…

The Glass: Fleur-de-Lis glass from One Kings Lane.

Brent and Alissa

01Photographed in Knoxville, TN by Cody Bennett

Raised in:
Him: Knoxville, Tennessee 
Her: Sparta, Tennessee

Lives in:
Him: Franklin, Tennessee
Her: Cookeville, Tennessee

Favorite Tennessee date spots:
My (Brent) favorite date we’ve had was to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg (it was the date I officially asked her to be my girlfriend!). It’s a fun town with rich history and a cool town square, not to mention great whiskey. In Franklin, we love the Bunganut Pig – live music 7 days a week, and the best burger/fry combo in town. In Cookeville, Taiko – The best sushi in town!

Now would ya look at that:
Brent and Alissa, snapped by Cody during their engagement shoot.

On Him: Patagonia down vest, J.Crew shirt, Levi’s 511 jeans, Vans.

On Her: Urban Outfitters shirt, Free People jeans, J.Crew flats.

Kevin – Seven Lamps

Kevin(SevenLamps)-002

Raised in:
Johns Creek, Georgia

Lives in:
Atlanta, Georgia

Kevin

Tell us about the drinks you’ll be making at the 39 x 43 Pop Up:
The cocktails are…

  • Prince of Thieves – Cathead Vodka, Tarragon-Celery Seed Syrup, and lemon juice. It’s light and refreshing and the tarragon adds a nice little cooling effect.
  • Forced Purpose – Four Roses Bourbon, grenadine, grapefruit juice, and Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters. This one is really easy to drink. I have a special grenadine recipe that is part cooked, and part cold-infused with the pomegranate and the cardamom plays well into that.

Now would ya look at that:
Meet Kevin Bragg, bar manager at Seven Lamps. He graciously whipped up his Sword of Orion for me (Pyrat XO rum, grilled pineapple-szechuan peppercorn syrup, lime), currently on their bar menu.

JNG, Part VI

Jess(SevenLamps)-006Photographed in Atlanta, Georgia

Raised in:
Born in Ft. Worth, raised on the state line of Georgia/Florida.

Lives in:
Atlanta, Georgia

Tell us about the 39 x 43 Pop Up Shop:
The 39 x 43 (named for the latitude of the Mason Dixon line) Pop Up Shop is a curated mix of independent Southern style. We had some space at Shops Around Lenox that was going to be empty for a bit before we built out a new shop. As Creative Director it’s part of my job to give folks cool reasons to come shop and eat with us, so I thought it would be cool to utilize the opportunity by offering up high-traffic luxury retail space to a variety of hand-picked brands who maybe don’t have their own brick and mortar or just wanted access to our customer. Brian, Clay and I pulled together a group ranging from big guys like Billy Reid to startups like Res Ipsa and staples like The Old Try for a weekend-long party complete with good booze and tunes – and then invite everybody to come hang with us. We’re so psyched to see it all come together now that it’s only days away.

Now would ya look at that:
Jess Graves, the Creative Director for Shops Around Lenox, and quite a familiar face around here.

Clay

IMG_8904Photographed in Atlanta, GA

Raised in:
McDonough, Georgia

Lives in:
Atlanta, Georgia

Tell us about Clay + Bros:
We make really simple sandals using a Vibram sole and parachute cord. We’re incredibly excited to announce the upcoming launch of our full website on march 21st and our current Kickstarter campaign.

Now would ya look at that:
Meet Clay, founder of Clay + Bros.

Clay, along with Jess Graves and Brian Frances, is part of the brain trust behind the 39 x 43 Pop Up Shop, an edited collection of Independent Southern style. Catch it on March 22 and 23 in Atlanta – for a full list of vendors and more info, click here.

Brian – Red’s Outfitters

Brian001Photographed in Atlanta, GA

Raised in:
East Cobb, Georgia

Lives in:
Atlanta, Georgia

Tell us about Red’s Outfitters:
Red’s has a pretty compelling back story. You can read the story of how our brand got started here and it’s included in every package of sunglasses we sell. There is a lot of passion behind Red’s.

Red’s is a lifestyle brand specializing in handmade, luxury sunglasses. We’ve based our brand on quality. Red’s embraces Italian artisanal craftsmanship and we’ve infused that with our American heritage and style. Whether it be a design or color, our shades can complete a look, serve a functional purpose, or compliment an outfit, sneaker, hat, watch, bracelet, etc. Sunglasses aren’t just a functional accessory anymore.  They are essentials.

Our product is handmade in Italy with Carl Zeiss lenses, meaning that you are not only getting the nicest lenses in the world, but they also feature the finest plant based Italian acetates. Each frame you literally mold to fit your face shape. I believe that we’ve achieved a product that is functionally and stylistically the new standard in quality eyewear.

Now would ya look at that:
Meet Brian Francis, founder of Red’s Outfitters.

Brian, along with Jess Graves and Clay Reeves, is part of the brain trust behind the 39 x 43 Pop Up Shop, an edited collection of Independent Southern style. Catch it on March 22 and 23 in Atlanta – for a full list of vendors and more info, click here.

Caleb, Part II

CalebIIaPhotographed in Woodstock, GA

Raised in:
Marietta, Georgia

Lives in:
Woodstock, Georgia

Favorite southern beach:
I’d give the edge to St. Augustine – lots of character and a perfect beach for bocce. Also, the food is unreal. I love O’Steens for fried shrimp or Columbia Restaurant.

Now would ya look at that:
See also: Caleb, Part I

Music Monday – Bootstraps

bootstrapsPhotographed by Rozette Diaz

I sent Bootstraps‘ debut album to a handful of friends on Spotify and simply said “gosh this guys voice.”

But for real…Jordan Beckett’s voice…

In a great interview Hydrogen, Beckett says that he wanted to make this a “road trip” album. “A lot of the songs came from that sort of picture in my mind, of driving up the 101 to Santa Barbara. I wanted the music to capture that feeling, so that if there was one album you would take up the coast, this would be it. There is a vast contrast in the state, from extreme noise to extreme quiet and beauty. The coastline holds some mystique and gives a storybook feeling to California that I wanted to capture other than say, what Katy Perry or The Beach Boys have done.”

He has without a doubt acheived his goal. This album transports you somewhere beautiful.

I beg of you to listen to their album in it’s entirety because picking just one to share was near impossible. Below is the first track on the album with words, since it opens with an Explosions-in-the-Sky-esque instrumental track.

Stream: “Sleeping Giant”
Sleeping Giant

iTunes | Spotify

Meredith

Meredith
Photographed by Cody Bennett 
Raised in:
Nashville, Tennessee
Lives in:
Knoxville, Tennessee
Best concert you’ve attended:
Hands down, Garth Brooks’ Flood Relief Concert in Nashville. I was born and raised in Nashville, and the flood that came in 2010 was horrific. Garth Brooks left his Las Vegas acoustic show to come back to Music City and perform 9 sold-out arena concerts, 2 shows a night, donating all the profits to the Flood Relief Projects. Garth hadn’t performed in an arena with a full band in years…and his excitement was tangible and contagious. Every single person in that arena knew every lyric, and made sure he heard them singing along. We sat so far away, and yet it was STILL the best concert I have ever been to. He is an incredible performer, and nothing feels better than singing “Friends in Low Places” with thousands of people who all know the infamous third verse. It was flawless.
Now would ya look at that:
Meredith’s outfit is “essentially one big Christmas present from Cody (scarf, jacket, jeans, and boots).”
Photographed with a Nikon F100 and Fuji 400H film.
Page 24 of 56
1 … 22 23 24 25 26 … 56