photos by Kate McFadden.
Patrons can choose from tables, bar seat and a downstairs space with a speakeasy feel
Barrel, a new bar specializing in bourbon and rye, will hold a soft opening today starting at 4 pm. Barrel is located at 613 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, formerly the home of the 18th Amendment. What you’ll find inside is a sleek location where you can picture yourself spending a few hours savoring the kind of bourbons you won’t find at most bars. The menu also promises to be a “gotta go back” feature.
In addition to the good stuff aged in barrels, Barrel serves wine and beer and a rotating seasonal menu of cocktails from The Elixir Bar. There you’ll find the “Jack Rudy,” made with a Tanqueray gin but turned on its head after being barrel-aged. I can’t wait to see what warm winter drinks the bar will concoct.
Downstairs you’ll find The Dispensary, home to more than 50 speciality small-batch distillers bottles of bourbon and rye with an occasional white rye, gin or vodka thrown in. This space, designed to evoke Prohibition-era watering holes, is where the liquid gold is held. It includes bottles of Boss Hog by Whistlepig, a 14-16 year aged rye; Pappy, a 23-year old bourbon; or the oldest bottle, Old Blowhard, which was aged in barrels for 26 years. The owners anticipate The Dispensary will be the site of tastings, classes and private events. Bartenders will pour 1 and 2 oz. pours on the reserves. Bring your gold card; remember, you’re drinking liquid gold.
the upstairs bar at Barrel
The bar will also feature Tap Takeovers where breweries like Devil’s Backbone from Northern Virginia and DC Brau literally tap their products into all of the bar kegs for a night or two.
The waitstaff, well-versed in the complexities and personalities of whiskeys, promises to help patrons find new favorites and navigate the variety of pours. I’ve heard whiskeys described with flavors of honey, caramel and smoke, but marshmallow, cinnamon, buttercream, nutmeg and mint?
Beer, beer, beer!
The bar is the first joint project between Matt Wiess (of 201 Bar and Union Pub) and partners Mark Menard and Mike Schuester (Trusty’s, Pourhouse and Star & Shamrock). Chef Garret Fleming, a chef who earned his stripes in Charleston, Chicago and New York, has developed a menu with a Southern feel that compliments the rich flavors rolling around in your glass. You may not be surprised to find Carolina BBQ and fried chicken on the menu, but ingredients like roast poblano may, blood orange jam make them just a tad different. High brow dishes like freshly-made pasta and sausages, and dishes like pheasant and porcini pappardell and veal polpette and a scallop, citrus and fennel salad will remind you that whiskey is indeed a gentleman’s drink — gentlewoman’s too. Pastas, bacon and sausages are made in-house.