It was a bitter cold night in the city, with restaurants closing early all over town because DC was a dead zone. And it was just a perfect night to think back a few years to this article I wrote about Bourbon.
Other than Bourbon (the bar), Acadiana has the best list in town. Scott Clime is stretched thin these days, but he still maintains this thoughtful, well-organized selection of America’s beverage.
The diner can choose from several categories (small batch, rare & selected, etc.), and even put together a prix fixe tasting flight. I chose a flight from the Single Barrel category ($11 for 3), all three from the Willett “Greenhorn” series: 3 year #1 (123.2 proof), 4 year #1 (121.1 proof), and 4 year #2 (122.8 proof). The subtle differences between them were remarkable, and worthy of thoughtful sipping, switching, and being fully plugged in.
I’ve been to Acadiana numerous times in the past, and have heard the Louisiana Seafood Gumbo ($21) was quite good, but I’d never had it before last night. Made with jumbo lump crab, shrimp, crawfish, oysters, redfish, and mahatma rice, it was even better than I expected, and absolutely perfect as a foil to these small batch Bourbons.