Garden & Gun: Top Tier Whiskey And Food Pairings Near You

By Richard Thomas

Finding purpose in pairing good food with good drink has been a thing since wine first came into vogue in the 1970s, but it took decades before the idea really caught on with restaurateurs, food critics and the culture at large. Nowadays whiskey pairings with good food are very much a fixture, but are often limited to suggestions on the menu at whiskey bars that have a gastro-theme attached to them. Events centered on whiskey and food remain uncommon outside certain fixed locations, such as Kentucky or Scotland (where the industry is) or New York or London (where the business is).

So, while I live in Lexington, write about whiskey and get invited to events of this nature on a regular basis, folks in much larger cities from Atlanta to Portland see them far less frequently and miss them even when they do come around. In the past, I have suggested that upscale hotels partnering with local craft distillers offers one type of outlet to keep an eye on. Another is Garden & Gun.

Although many Garden & Gun whiskey-themed events are set in Kentucky, especially at the Garden & Gun Club at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, other events and events series combine the magazine’s deep connections with Southern fine dining to the Upper South’s strong whiskey-making traditions. Visit Sevierville co-sponsors the Taste of Tennessee series, which in past years has been in Birmingham, Alabama and Charlotte, North Carolina, combining the mettle of a top chef from Sevierville (part of the Gatlinburg area resort complex) with Shine Girl, the legal moonshine distiller owned by Dolly Parton’s niece. The series recently ventured into what one might consider enemy territory: my hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. If Tennessee moonshine cocktails in the capital of horse country leaves one confused, the excellent seafood offered more than made up for it.

We don’t really need the help in Lexington. It’s Bourbon Country. But a similar event, drawing on Chef David Rule of Sevierville’s The Appalachian, is due in Atlanta in September. And Garden & Gun, while especially famous for its events, is just one organization who organizes such series around the country. You don’t need to travel to Kentucky or Scotland during a whiskey festival to attend such events; you just need to know whose event calendars to keep an eye on. Local posh hotels plus magazines that sponsor events of this nature are the best place to start.