High-proof bourbons; new Bardstown hotel; ask a NOLA bartender

DAVID DIBENEDETTO

Thank you for subscribing to Distilled, our new newsletter devoted to all things bourbon. If you enjoy a good pour (and I had a nice one from a bottle of Old Fitzgerald the other night) and exploring the bourbon landscape, then you’ve come to the right place. This week we’re diving into the high-proof trend, checking out a new bourbon-centric hotel in Bardstown, and catching up with Neal Bodenheimer, a New Orleans bar owner who knows his brown water. And if you’re planning any backyard cooking for Labor Day (or any day), we’ve also got a recipe for grilled peaches that makes good use of...you guessed it, more bourbon! Hope you enjoy it.

Distilleries are pushing proof points ever higher, including the recently named Best Bourbon at this year’s International Whisky Competition (139.7 proof!). Some releases even cross the “hazmat” threshold. Should you be sipping a burlier bourbon?

With five bars, a Bourbon Butler service, its own private-label whiskey, and even IV drips, the Trail Hotel aims to be a bourbon country headquarters.

NEAL BODENHEIMER

New Orleans native Neal Bodenheimer opened Cure, an award-winning pioneer of the Crescent City’s craft cocktail movement, in 2009. He’s since opened Cane & Table and VALS, and runs the beverage operations at Peychaud’s in the Celestine hotel. He’s also cochair of the board of directors for the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.

What’s the most popular bourbon you’re pouring?
Buffalo Trace Bourbon, followed by Woodford and then the Cure barrel pick of Weller Antique 107.

What’s your dream bottle?
A.H. Hirsch 16-year Gold Foil. I missed too many opportunities to buy it while it was reasonably priced—it is the one that got away.

Your most popular bourbon cocktail?
The bourbon old-fashioned still reigns supreme. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it lives on our happy hour menus, but it’s an unstoppable drink whether we’re making a classic version or a riff.

And your favorite bourbon cocktail?
I love the Manhattan format for all whiskeys. It allows you to customize based on mood and can change wildly depending on the bourbon, the fortified/aromatized wine, or the bitters you use.

Is there a new brand or bourbon you’re excited about?
Ben Holladay 6-year Bottled-in-Bond (I go back and forth between the original and the red wheat).

Other than your own bars, where’s the best spot to drink bourbon?
In New Orleans I would go to Barrel Proof.

Neat? One cube? Crushed?
All of the above. How I drink bourbon depends on what’s in the bottle and what my goals are. A beautiful pour at a reasonable proof is generally neat. One basic cube or some water for high-proof. Big cube if I want it to be cool but still textured, and crushed ice if I want to drop the proof and drink something a bit more sessionable.

A few minutes on the grill and a bourbon flambé sauce fire up the season’s juiciest fruit.

Maker’s Mark’s bucolic campus in rural Loretto, Kentucky, gets more colorful with the addition of nine large-scale installations by glass artist Dale Chihuly, on display through December 7. Time your visit for dusk for the fully illuminated experience.

Enjoy a post-dink drink? Angel’s Envy has teamed with Charleston, South Carolina’s Short Court for an art deco–inspired, limited-edition pickleball paddle and matching hat.

Jackson, Mississippi’s Cathead Distillery (founded in 2010 and the Magnolia State’s first legal distillery) launched its Estate Collection with a pot-distilled wheat whiskey made with all Mississippi-grown grains.

Survey the ever-evolving landscape of bourbon in the Bluegrass State with the newly released book Kentucky Bourbon: The Essential Guide to the American Spirit. Author Susan Reigler (with a foreword by Julian Van Winkle III) leaves no whiskey stone unturned in capturing the state’s people, distilleries, and flavors.

What began as a top-rated bourbon podcast and then bourbon in a bottle is now Louisville’s latest bourbon destination: Pursuit Spirits on Whiskey Row offers a one-stop shop to thief bourbon from a barrel, take a cocktail-crafting class, and delve into local whiskey history.

Tickets to this year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival (September 5–7) sold out faster than ice melts during a Southern summer (hint: Check secondary listings), but it’s never too early to make plans for the 35th annual event, taking place in Bardstown September 10–13, 2026. Sign up here for updates.

—Tom Wilmes, G&G contributor