What came first – the cocktail or the glass? For Derek Gamlin, it was definitely the glass. Introduced to the whiskey pipe by a colleague, Gamlin saw its potential and bought as many as he could find. All that was left was coming up with a cocktail to do it justice. Enter: Smoked Manhattan. Once the restaurant’s house-exclusive Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, Antica Formula vermouth, whiskey barrel-aged bitters and a touch of cherry juice are poured into the whiskey pipe (yours to keep), a bartender adds cherry wood chips to a motorized smoking gun and infuses the drink with smoke for almost a minute. What results is a smoky, robust (and admittedly pricey) Manhattan that will have you dreaming of Luxardo cherries and leaving with a sweet souvenir to boot.
236 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.875.9500, gamlinwhiskeyhouse.com
This article appears in April 2014.