Boozy Magnolia Blossoms

There's nothing new in this world.  It's all been done before. So they said...but they hadn't had a drink at Magnolia's lately.

Cassandra had never been to Charleston, SC, which, in the religious South, is kind of like a sin.  Especially when you live as close as Charlotte.  So keeping to my evangelical upbringing, I declared (oh there are SO many Southern references here) that we would go at the first opportunity, Labor Day weekend.  With all the excitement of the end of summer, many trips, and last chances to see friends before the move, it was a welcome opportunity to get there fast and then slow down for a day. Now I don't know about you but when you put two food and beverage lovers on a 24 hour trip, we will find a way to consume as many meals in as many places as humanly possible, at least 4 per day, seasoned with the occasional cocktail as an interlude between restaurants, and beginning with brunch.  Now this will not catalog all of our beverages...but the most remarkable one.

Magnolias already held a special place in my heart for the weekend of the Cooper River Bridge Run...what a dinner and lots of fun (PECAN PIE).  But I didn't have a cocktail from their menu that time. But tonight our dinner plans were at High Cotton and we had just enough time for one drink somewhere...and found ourselves at the far end of the curved wooden bar at Magnolia.  It's moody there, at the curved end.  You feel all the crush of the diners and all the stress of the servers entering tickets and yet it's tucked away and cozy.  Of course Cassandra ran into a friend (I don't have to tell you she's famous).  

And while she ordered her own creation, I opted to go with a selection from the menu: the Hibernia...Jameson Black Barrel Reserve, St. Germain, dry vermouth, orange bitters served in an old fashioned glass with rocks. There is no gin in this drink, yet it has the hallmarks of a favorite...St. Germain, vermouth, bitters.  What the devil is the Jameson doing in there?  I heard a whiskey expert say that Jameson is the perfect whiskey for mixing...and perhaps he's right.  But this Black Barrel is something different, and it's ability to blend and at the same time stand on it's own in the drink is alluring.

While technically not a martini (hey no one's paying me for this, I'll post what I LIKE) it was a unique cocktail that should be experienced.  Before or after dinner I think it would work well - I wouldn't go waving food at it.  But it is delicious. 

Mag's  - 7
"Martini" - 8