The Bourbon Bar: Grand Opening and More

I was so excited when this past Friday my boss turned to me and said ” Go Home” at 3:45 pm. Of course, being that I was in Atlanta it would still take me some time to get there.

 

Cue the crappy Atlanta highway traffic, a wreck or two, construction, and a sideways re-route courtesy of Waze down Jodeco road and I ended up in Macon around 6:30 (I actually left Atlanta around 4:15- so you do the math) with just enough time to jazz up my outfit & throw on some makeup before heading down to the opening of The Bourbon Bar.

 

Aside from the fact that I knew half, if not more, of Macon would be there- I wanted to go and support two of my writers, Chelsea and Ryan, who are working there. I figured getting there around 7 would be ok anyway. Wrong. It was packed. Way packed. I saw a ton of familiar downtown faces: Alex & Eleta, Virgil, Evelyn, Jean, Tess, Leila, Melanie, Meg, Chris, Chippy, Tom, Everett…. my whole crew was there.

 

 

The best thing about the opening of The Bourbon Bar- well there’s a few things. A- It’s nice to have young business people who aren’t the same ol group opening up something. I’m grateful to legacy business owners in Macon, not just downtown, but it’s really important to get fresh blood in there. B- For as many familiar faces as I saw, there’s were even more than were not familiar to me. This is GOOD. It means we’re getting more diverse. C- Well, it’s a new high-end bar in walking distance of all of my other favorites and a $5 cab ride from my home. What could be bad about that?!

 

I’ll be honest, upon walking in I knew it would be packed- I’m not sure I expected it to be that packed. After all it was basically dinner time, shouldn’t the pre-dinner crowd have cleared out? Nope. That did mean I had to wait a little while for my drink, if I’m being perfectly honest. But that’s not a criticism. I generally don’t go to new places right when they first open because there will always be kinks in the system.

 

 

But was my drink good? Once I got it, yes, yes it was. I’ll be going back on a slower night just to see how things are then because I think that will be a better barometer. Suffice it to say, I think things will be good for them.

 

As for the drinks themselves, I ordered the Horse’s Neck: Jim Beam White Label Bourbon, Barritt’s Ginger beer, and bitters. It was good- not too heavy, and not too sweet either. I would say this was a good one to start out with, especially if you’re not into straight bourbon or whiskey.

 

 

 

Melanie got the Ramos Gin Fizz (yes they have more than just bourbon here): 13th Colony Southern Gin, 1:1 simple syrup, heavy cream, lime juice, lemon juice, orange blossom water, farm egg white & club soda. Like a true friend, she let me try it. Let’s just say I’m a big fan of gin, especially 13th Colony’s gin, but even if I wasn’t I would love this. An amazing amount of craftsmanship went into that drinks. Kudos, y’all.

 

 

@bourbonbarmacon debut #Macon #cocktails #downtown

A photo posted by Molly Wilkins (@mollymwilkins) on Aug 14, 2015 at 5:22pm PDT

 

 

Oh- and I should make note of this. Guys, when you are hitting on girls are a bourbon bar… or hell anywhere really, do not do what this guy did- as not only was he unsuccessful but we made fun of him the rest of the night. Oh, poor Chace, you did not know what you were getting into here! So Chace comes up to Melanie and I and says: ” Ladies, let me give you some advice,” and reaches in between us to the menu. ” Whatever you do- DON’T order this:” and point to a scotch.

 

I should note- it happened to be the one scotch I was familiar with. Melanie is more versed than I am in scotch and said ” Yeah- that’s what we had at the Historic Macon tasting, remember?” I was so startled that I said, ” Do I know you?” Of course we didn’t know each other. Melanie then said, ” Yeah we know this scotch, it’s not my favorite but it’s not bad.”

Chace: ” I would rather drink mayonnaise that’s been left in the Georgia sun for a WEEK than have that!”

 

Men, there will be some women in these places that know about scotch and bourbon. We’re not just drinking Bud Lite in a koozie waiting around for some guy to school us. Chace’s description of Macallan scotch lasted the rest of the night, even more so because he told us where he was going next and he would like to buy us drinks. To which I said, well we won’t be there- likely Tic Toc or Dovetail.

 

And so it was not the end of my night. We traversed on to Dovetail, my usual spot. It was really nice to get to have dinner with some of my friends who I have not seen in way too long (ahem- Meg), some who have just moved back (Tess), those who are leaving (Melanie), and those who I hope I will get to know even better in the future. My favorite part of dinner might have been our debate regarding the move of Sesame Street to HBO. Yes, I’m serious!

 

 

Champagne and debating Sesame Street's move to HBO #notkidding at @dovetailmacon

A photo posted by Molly Wilkins (@mollymwilkins) on Aug 14, 2015 at 7:31pm PDT

 

 

My friends would move along home while I made a brief stop at The Bird to meet Hannah, our coffee writer here who had made the trip up from Americus to check out The Bourbon Bar. It’s always nice to get to meet the people on your team face to face!

 

 

 

 

All in all, it was a lovely weekend complete with random guys hitting on us and “Man-splaning” us as Melanie called it, lots of cocktails, champange, and fantastic friends. But I’m looking forward to this weekend staying in with my sweet babies, after Melanie’s going away party.

 

Love to all y’all,

 

Molly