Nashville Barrel Company · Cocktail Recipes
NBC
Whiskey Cocktail
Recipes
Ten cocktails — six for NBC bourbon & rye, four built around NBC's Barrel Aged Agave. Old Fashioned. Whiskey Sour with real egg. Paper Plane. Gold Rush. Boulevardier. Mule. Paloma. Agave Old Fashioned. Agave Espresso Martini. Every one worth making.
🍷 10 recipes — bourbon & agave
📍 Nashville, TN
✦ Tennessee Blender of the Year
Old Fashioned
The Classic · 2 min
Rocks glass · Large ice cube
- 2 oz NBC Bourbon — Small Batch 86° or Founders Fourteen
- 1 tsp simple syrup (or 1 sugar cube)
- 2–3 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 dash orange bitters (optional)
- Garnish: orange peel, expressed & dropped
Method: Combine bourbon, syrup, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice. Stir 30–40 rotations until well-chilled. Strain over a large rock. Express an orange peel over the glass, run it around the rim, drop it in.
NBC Small Batch 86° for a smooth intro. Founders Fourteen for depth and proof. The old fashioned rewards better bourbon — don't cheap out here.
Whiskey Sour
Real Egg White · 4 min
Rocks glass or coupe · Ice optional
- 2 oz NBC Bourbon — 7yr Barrel Proof or Small Batch 86°
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz simple syrup
- 1 fresh egg white
- Garnish: lemon wheel, 3 drops Angostura on the foam
Method: Dry shake all ingredients first (no ice) for 10 seconds to emulsify the egg white. Add ice, shake hard 15 seconds. Double-strain into a rocks glass over ice or a chilled coupe straight up. Float 3 drops of Angostura on the foam. Don't skip the dry shake — it's the difference between foam and nothing.
The 7yr Barrel Proof holds its ground against citrus. Small Batch 86° is lighter and easy-drinking. The egg white is non-negotiable for the real thing — no aquafaba shortcuts here.
Paper Plane
Equal Parts · 2 min
Chilled coupe · Straight up
- ¾ oz NBC Bourbon — cask strength preferred
- ¾ oz Aperol
- ¾ oz Amaro Nonino
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- No garnish
Method: Combine all four equal parts in a shaker with ice. Shake hard 12–15 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled coupe. The drink is the garnish — no citrus wheel, no cherry. Serve immediately.
This drink demands proof. NBC's cask strength releases — 7yr Barrel Proof or any Founders Fourteen — hold their ground against Aperol's bitterness. Amaro Nonino adds alpine complexity. One of the most satisfying equal-parts cocktails ever written.
Gold Rush
Honey Forward · 3 min
Rocks glass · Large ice cube
- 2 oz NBC Bourbon — 7yr Honey Barrel #1643 is perfect here
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz honey syrup (2:1 honey to water, warmed to combine)
- Garnish: lemon wheel
Method: Combine bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake hard 12 seconds. Strain over a large rock in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel. Make the honey syrup in advance and keep it in the fridge — it lasts two weeks and makes every batch faster.
NBC's 7yr Honey Barrel #1643 was literally finished in a honey barrel — using it here amplifies the honey character in the spirit and creates a cocktail that couldn't be made with any other bottle. If that's sold out, any NBC bourbon works; the honey syrup carries it.
Boulevardier
The Bourbon Negroni · 3 min
Rocks glass · Large rock or stemmed glass neat
- 1½ oz NBC Bourbon — Founders Fourteen or 7yr Barrel Proof
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz sweet vermouth — Carpano Antica preferred
- Garnish: orange peel or Luxardo cherry
Method: Combine all three in a mixing glass with ice. Stir 40 rotations — this is a stirred drink, never shaken. Strain over a large rock (or into a chilled coupe neat). Express an orange peel over the glass. A Luxardo cherry if you're feeling it.
The Negroni's bourbon cousin — everything that makes the Negroni work, just warmer, rounder, and more American. The proof of NBC's Founders Fourteen cuts through Campari's bitterness without losing any of the bittersweet complexity. Stir it long. Don't rush.
Bourbon Mule
Built in the Glass · 2 min
Copper mug · Crushed ice
- 2 oz NBC Bourbon — Small Batch 86° or 7yr single barrel
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- 4–5 oz quality ginger beer (Fever-Tree or Gosling's)
- Garnish: lime wheel, candied ginger
Method: Fill a copper mug with crushed ice. Add bourbon and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and give a gentle stir to combine — don't over-mix or you'll lose the carbonation. Garnish with a lime wheel and a piece of candied ginger on the rim.
The copper mug keeps everything cold. Good ginger beer is the difference between a great mule and a flat one — go for Fever-Tree Ginger Beer (not ginger ale). NBC's Small Batch 86° plays well with the ginger; if you want more heat to compete, use the 7yr single barrel.
Agave Paloma
Bright & Citrus · 3 min
Rocks glass · Salted rim · Ice
- 2 oz NBC Barrel Aged Agave
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- ½ oz fresh grapefruit juice
- 4 oz grapefruit soda — Jarritos or Fever-Tree
- Pinch kosher salt
- Rim: Tajín or flaky sea salt
- Garnish: grapefruit wedge
Method: Rim a rocks glass with Tajín or flaky salt. Fill with ice. Add agave, lime juice, grapefruit juice, and a pinch of salt. Top with grapefruit soda, stir once gently. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge.
NBC's Barrel Aged Agave is 100% agave distilled in Mexico and aged in Nashville in a Kelvin barrel — the barrel aging adds a layer of vanilla and oak that a standard tequila paloma doesn't have. The Tajín rim ties it all together. This is one of the best cocktails you can make with NBC's portfolio.
Agave Old Fashioned
Stirred & Smoky · 3 min
Rocks glass · Large ice cube
- 2 oz NBC Barrel Aged Agave
- ¼ oz agave nectar (or ½ tsp)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 dash mole bitters (optional but excellent)
- Garnish: orange peel, expressed & dropped
Method: Combine NBC Barrel Aged Agave, agave nectar, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice. Stir 30 rotations until well chilled. Strain over a large rock in a rocks glass. Express an orange peel over the glass, run it around the rim, drop it in.
The agave old fashioned is underrated. NBC's barrel-aged expression adds the vanilla and oak notes that make this drink feel more like a whiskey old fashioned while keeping the vegetal agave character underneath. Mole bitters — if you have them — take it somewhere genuinely new. Don't skip the orange peel.
Agave Espresso Martini
Shaken Hard · 4 min
Chilled martini glass · Straight up
- 1½ oz NBC Barrel Aged Agave
- 1 oz fresh espresso or cold brew concentrate (cooled)
- ½ oz coffee liqueur — Kahlúa or Mr Black
- ¼ oz simple syrup
- Garnish: 3 espresso beans floated on the foam
Method: Chill your martini glass in the freezer for 5 minutes. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake as hard as you can for 15 full seconds — the foam depends on it. Double-strain into the chilled glass. Float 3 espresso beans on the foam.
The barrel-aged agave is the upgrade the espresso martini has always needed. Where vodka is neutral, NBC's agave brings vanilla, toasted oak, and a faint vegetal complexity that makes the coffee flavors hit differently. Mr Black coffee liqueur is worth tracking down — it's less sweet than Kahlúa and lets the espresso shine. Use fresh espresso or quality cold brew. Don't use room-temperature coffee.
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