The shakers will be shaking in Nashville next week as a local hotel and a beloved restaurant showcase new spirits. First off, Henrietta Red in Germantown is graciously turning over the keys to their bar room to their friends at Liba Spirits on Wednesday, April 26, for an extended happy hour featuring their latest launch.
Liba Spirits calls itself “a nomadic distillery,” meaning that they partner with outside distilleries to craft their products using rented equipment, space and time to distill in situ at the sites that inspire the spirits. No matter, I’ve always said I couldn't care less about where the chemical reaction takes place as long as it’s good product. Founders Colton Weinstein and Devon Trevathan love to travel and have been inspired by some of their destinations to bring new products to the market, including a New Orleans-based spirit — Lafcadio Botanical Rum, which is infused and macerated with bay leaf, orange peel, cardamom, white pepper and cherry bark — and an Austrian inspiration named 1643 Alpine Gin.
Their latest product is inspired by Music City, a bourbon aperitivo called Terrativo Tennessee, which is distilled locally. They’ll be pouring all three spirits in the Henrietta Red bar room on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m. as part of special happy hour cocktails crafted by Pat Hollaran and the Liba team. Representatives of the distillery will also be on hand to lead guided tastings of their product line.
The event is free to attend, but they ask that you make a reservation to let them know you’re coming so that they can get a head count in advance. Note that this reservation is not for a table inside the restaurant, but the full menu will be available in the bar if you can find a spot to sit. If you want to make sure you can stay for dinner (and you should!), make a dinner reservation here.
Over in the Gulch, conveniently right next door to the Scene offices, the W Nashville Hotel has planned several days of “Meet the Distiller” tastings in The Living Room of the hotel from 4 until 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The free events are open to the public and will feature guided tastings, live music and the opportunity to interact with the actual distillers who created the spirits.
Here’s the schedule:
Monday, April 24: Pennington Distilling Co.
Tuesday, April 25: Lo Siento Tequila
Wednesday, April 26: Corsair Distillery
Thursday, April 27: Guidance Whiskey
To cap off the week, The Dutch at the W will hold a special edition of their Social Hour on Friday, April 28, featuring food and drink deals, selected spirits from the participating distilleries and a whiskey dessert whipped up just for the event.
Cheers!
