5) Queen Village Aged Manhattan and Quadrello di Bufala

We finished with the richest, booziest pairing of them all. My fiancé and I have been playing this barrel-aged cocktail over the past year as follows: we primed a white oak barrel with sherry for six months, then discarded the sherry and filled the barrel with a variation on a Manhattan (when aging a cocktail, it can’t contain fresh elements that will spoil, like juice or vermouth). Our combo included Rittenhouse Rye BIB, Amaro Abano, Luxardo Maraschino, orange flower water and creole bitters.

While you might not have your barrel-aged cocktail ready, you can easily substitute a regular Manhattan for this pairing. To go with it, Rocco cut thin slivers of Larchmont beef bresaola (aka cured and smoked filet mignon), laide it over quadrello di buffalo cheese and generously drizzled Bath Tub Gin peaches and cream conserve over it.

Everything about this pairing was phenomenal. The cheese and meat of the hors d’oeuvre was decadent and transformed and improved each sip of the dry, oaky, barrel-aged cocktail. The sweetness of the peaches and cream conserve provided a wonderful counterbalance to the bold and spicy spirits. This combination would be right at home at the end of a meal as a sweet and savory dessert.  

All photos by Jen Killius