Barrel Aged Black Negroni With A Barrel Aged Gin That Actually Works

1 oz Bluecoat Barrel Aged Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz Averna
2 dashes Berg and Hauke Orange Bitters
2 dashes Berg and Hauke Aromatic Bitters

Stir everything with ice and strain into an Old Fashioned Glass. garnish with a Lemon Twist.

A little while ago I took the Pretty One out to Philadelphia Distilling to see their new facilities and try out their new lounge after a tour. For the my part I was most interest in seeing how their Whiskey was progressing and I wanted to try their new Elderflower Gin. While their Whiskey is still a little ways off and the Elderflower Gin was nice, I was mostly impressed with how much I liked their Barrel Aged Gin. 

There hasn’t been a Barrel Aged Spirit of something that isn’t usually Barrel aged on the market that I’ve really liked, though my exposure has been limited to a few Gins, Absinthes, and, yes, a Vodka (would that be a Potato Whiskey?). More often than not, the barrel aging of something with already strong flavors (well, aside from the Vodka) just added an extra flavor that competed with the rest.

The folks at Philadelphia Distillery figured this problem out with their Gin. To be fair, The standard Bluecoat Gin is one of the mildest Gins out there, for me it was my gateway Gin to finally acquire a taste for it. The barrel aging works because they do a great job of not over-aging it. According to the tour guide, they actually blend various agings together to get the flavor they’re looking for. This was the bottle I came home with (thanks to the Pretty One).

This is an interesting Spirit that mixes with amazing versatility. While at the distillery, they mixed me a Sazerac with this that actually worked. It wasn’t quite a Sazerac, but it wasn’t a Wink either. This Gin sits somewhere between what you can use in a Whiskey drink or a Gin drink and this “Black Negroni” sits somewhere between Negroni and Boulevardier.