Knob Creek Event at Barley Mac
The Story: Barley Mac hosted a Knob Creek dinner and whiskey pairing. The dinner featured four different Knob Creek whiskies that the Barley Mac chefs expertly paired with each course.
Experience I had the pleasure of attending this dinner with Cameron Syme (Owner and Master Distiller of Great Southern Distillery) and John Rochfort (Owner and Master Distiller of the Mclaren Vale Distillery). I could not have asked for better company to help with my review, especially because John was a chef in a past life. Once we were seated, each person received a Knob Creek Manhattan (my favorite type of appetizer). It was wonderfully well balanced and kept everyone entertained while we waited for all of the guests to arrive.
Once everyone arrived, the first course was served. At the same time, Palmer (local Jim Beam’s Ambassador), explained the history of Knob Creek and the pairing of the duck foie gras with the Knob Creek Small Batch. Unfortunately, I could not hear the description of the pairing because it was a little loud in the room, but I was too distracted by the food to mind. It was such amazing pairing! Cameron described it as “MWAH,” and I had to agree with him. It paired together perfectly and was a wonderful start to the meal!
The next course was venison paired with Knob Creek Rye. As we ate, we were told the story of how Rye Whiskey came to be during the Revolutionary War as a way to preserve excess grains. At this point John tried to get me to try all of the components of the pairing separately, but I was enjoying it far too much to slow down. The pepper notes at the end of the Rye complemented the venison perfectly. Even though I did not try everything separately, John kindly told me everything was prepared perfectly.
The third course was Knob Creek Single Barrel paired with wild boar. One of my favorite parts of the night was hearing about the Chef’s genius behind the pairing. Each course matched the grains in the individual animal’s diet to the whiskies that it was paired. I also got to learn a few interesting tidbits from John about how my boar was butchered, but I will spare you that story. As with all of the courses, it was absolutely amazing.
We ended on a sweet note with a wonderful winter citrus dessert paired with Knob Creek Maple. I could not have picked a better ending to the meal. The sweet maple complemented the desert perfectly without being a hint overdone. The bitterness of the blood orange combined with the grain in the cake paired perfectly with the sweet maple flavors. It was over the top amazing!
Recommendation: I recommend any dinner event Barley Mac ever does in the future to anyone with taste buds. It was a wonderful meal on all parts, and both of my companions completely agreed. At $55 for the food and drinks, I am almost positive the restaurant lost money, but they definitely have a new regular. I loved the dinner, and I give a huge thank you to John and Cameron for accompanying me. I’m off to yoga. Cheers!