Posh Hotels, Good Whiskey And Fine Food

By Richard Thomas

When it comes to good drink and fine food, living in Kentucky offers a bounty so good that it often surprises those not acquainted with the Commonwealth. The presence of the bourbon industry obviously covers the first part of that pairing, but also serves as the wellspring for the latter. Whiskey and food pairings are now a major plank in drinks marketing, and dining/pairing events are a routine fixture of drinks festivals and the promotional agendas of whiskey companies.

The thing is, one encounters these events most often in major market cities, such as New York, or else in the centers of that whiskey’s production. Louisville sees a regular schedule of whiskey and food pairing events, some of them not even sponsored by a particular whiskey company, that due to its role as Kentucky’s largest city and its vibrant restaurant scene (itself the result of the bourbon industry, as many promising chefs and restaurateurs set up shop in Louisville because of it).

If you aren’t able to attend the Kentucky Bourbon Festival or happen to be lucky enough see a trip to Los Angeles coincide with a dinner co-sponsored by your favorite brand, though, you are not out of luck. This is because of a couple of converging trends. One is the explosion of craft distilling. With more than 700 active distilleries making whiskey around the country, there are potential small partners available in the local area of any interested eatery.

The second trend is the commitment of many upscale hotels and resorts to their in-house fine dining and bar programs (these aimed at keeping your tourist dollars on their premises, of course). By working together, these establishments can pair up and offer an experience that rivals anything Old Forester might do in Louisville or The Glenlivet in New York, and in a place that is already a holiday destination. That makes whiskey and fine dining an adornment to a more typical vacation, which is quite a different prospect from building a trip entirely around whiskey.

Enter Destin, Florida
I’ve heard about events of this nature for a few years now, but precisely because they are outside the usual whiskey circles or paths, it was only recently that I was able to see one for myself at The Henderson Beach Resort on Florida’s Emerald Coast.

The Henderson bills itself as “where Southern charm meets modern luxury,” a fair description. A beach-adjacent resort property, it’s amenities make it equally well-suited for a couple’s getaway or family vacation. Even the standard rooms are spacious, well-appointed and feature balconies. A gym, yoga program, outdoor games, extensive pool facilities, plus bike, kayak and paddle board rentals extend the activity options far beyond just the beach. But the beach is the main attraction, and the Gulf of Mexico is just a few minutes’ walk away. For extra relaxation, the resort also hosts an expansive spa with full range of treatments.

Pairing with the Henderson Beach Resort is Timber Creek Distillery, located some forty miles north. Timber Creek provided the sourcing for the Henderson’s house bourbon and rye, launched in November 2024. With a rooftop bar and a lobby bar with terrace, in addition to the resort’s restaurant, having house whiskey bottlings from a local craft distillery is a major bartender’s storytelling point for their cocktail program, and the standard bourbon was designed specifically for cocktails.

The house bottlings themselves were concocted by the Henderson’s staff, under the guidance of the staff at Timber Creek, including co-founder and Master Distiller Aaron Barnes and co-founder Camden Ford. Henderson food and beverage director Chris Matthew is a Basil Hayden fan, and their Black Rye Blended Bourbon reflects that. He described spending four months working on identifying individual casks and blending their pair of house whiskeys. “I’ve worked in food and beverage for 25 years. [Crafting the whiskeys] was amazing. Camden gave us a master class in tasting.”

Timber Creek is a special case among American craft distillers, in that despite their Florida roots, their production process is most similar to that used in Canadian whiskies. Barnes and Ford make single grain whiskeys, which is to say use just one grain in a mash. Like the Canadians, they use those unitary mash whiskeys like the colors of a painter’s palate, pulling them together for blending. So, when they label a whiskey bourbon, it is because it has drawn on the stock needed to meet the 51%-plus corn and new barrel aging requirements. This has solicited criticism from some bloggers, who point out that bourbon should be made from a mash of 51% or more corn, and not blended with corn whiskey until the proportions are 51%. The traditionalist in me agrees with that criticism, but I also don’t think my opinion on these issues and labeling counts for much in opposition to the US TTB.

The Dinner Series
The Henderson held their Timber Creek Distillery Dinner as a launch event and as part of their annual fine dining and pairing series. That series produces six to eight events each year, which heretofore had been wine focused. The hotel was pleased with both their house bottlings and the opportunity to go local for the drinks part of the evening. “We went local not just to say we went local,” said Matthew. “We went local because it is good.”

The evening passed with a starter plus four course meal drawn up by head chef Tyler Simmons, with each course paired either with one of the house whiskeys or else a cocktail made with said whiskeys: fried oysters, duck salad, jumbo lump crab cake, pork duo and bread pudding. The latter came with a caramel made with the Henderson standard bourbon.

The dinner easily landed in the same class as the best of the pairing events I’ve attended over the years, and the quality is something the local community appreciates. Although I think of these things in terms of tourism first, the truth is they offer folks who live far afield from the aforementioned hotbeds of Los Angeles, New York and Louisville (plus Nashville and Chicago) an opportunity to enjoy the same experiences. If a posh whiskey and food pairing event sounds like a good evening out, the first place you should always look is the nearest upscale hotel with a fine dining restaurant. The dinner I attended hosted a dozen and a half diners in an intimate environment, had Barnes and Ford present to talk about their whiskey, and only two of the diners plus myself were from out of town. I think part of that is explained by the dinner taking place in November and not during the peak tourist season, but that the rest of the seats were occupied by folks from the area speaks to the role a resort like the Henderson can play in bringing such things to enthusiasts far, far from the Bluegrass.