Barbecue Pitmaster Aaron Franklin’s Prime Rye Whiskey Picks

Austin, Texas is aware of the best way to have a superb time. Widely known for its stay music scene and vibrant foods and drinks tradition, town hosts a number of the greatest festivals within the nation. Austin has a means of bringing all kinds of individuals collectively. 

Austin-based chef Aaron Franklin is aware of one thing about this. The James Beard Award-winning chef, writer, and American Royal Barbecue Corridor of Famer has fused two of town’s iconic scenes, stay music and award-winning barbecue, at his famend Franklin Barbecue. At his latest enterprise, Uptown Sports activities Membership, a Louisiana-inspired idea with a Texas accent, Franklin flexes his enthusiasm for American whiskeys — particularly, rye.

Franklin curates Uptown’s whiskey checklist. He likes to current friends with uncommon picks on a fats block of ice, equivalent to his newest favourite, New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. Although he’s grown to have a larger appreciation for premium whiskeys, this ardour has developed over time. 

“Working round eating places, you’d have a beer and shot,” says Franklin. “If you happen to go to a rock present, it’s like, ‘Give me a whiskey,’ or ‘Give me a beer.’ Someplace alongside the way in which, I spotted that darkish spirits are extra my factor.” 

In his early 20s, Franklin says he “solely drank Knob Creek,” normally acquired as a present, which fueled his Beam Suntory desire over time. Franklin’s whiskey enlightenment reached new strata after he sharpened his barbecue abilities. 

“My love for whiskey occurred post-barbecue,” he says. “I began noticing the similarities between vanillin and candy flavors whereas cooking barbecue. There have been similarities within the tastes of whiskeys I like, equivalent to a number of the sweeter and toasted barrel flavors.”

“It was all in regards to the similarities between barbecue and whiskey, the science behind them. Whiskey is liquid barbecue.”

The fervour and curiosity that drives Franklin to good the artwork of fork-tender brisket is similar inquisitiveness that informs his strategy to whiskeys. 

“I like the way in which whiskey tastes and studying about the way it’s made, not simply the mash invoice,” says Franklin. “I prefer to know the way the warmth cycles. Was it re-barreled, or did it age in a Port barrel?”

About six years in the past, Franklin skilled his first premium rye, because of pal and fellow chef Chris Shepherd at Houston’s Georgia James Steak. 

Franklin ordered an Previous Normal, and Shepherd prompt Willett Household Property 4-12 months Rye Whiskey, which was difficult to get in Texas on the time due to allocation. Franklin turned hooked on Willett 4-12 months, and a rye whiskey convert was born.

 “I like barrel-strength whiskey, but it surely’s exhausting to drink these massive ones with meals,” says Franklin. 

Then got here a surprising revelation, coming from an award-winning pitmaster. “I don’t eat barbecue, I prepare dinner it. It’s like if you prepare dinner a Thanksgiving meal, and also you’ve been cooking turkey all day. The very last thing you wish to do is sit down and assume, ‘I’m trying ahead to consuming some turkey.’ 

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years. There are plenty of barbecue cooks that I believe are superb,” he says. “I like their meals, however I’m not going on the market like, ‘Man, I am excited to eat barbecue!’” 

When Franklin craves barbecue, he is usually within the Carolinas, the place they’re identified for the entire hog. “That is the stuff that I do get enthusiastic about. If Sam Jones is cooking someplace in North Carolina or [I’m at] Rodney Scott’s place.”

What makes for the most effective meals and rye whiskey pairing, in keeping with Franklin? The chef suggests a burger alongside an effervescent Whiskey Highball. 

“It’s actually flipping scorching down right here more often than not, so I like my whiskeys like my beers, type of refreshing. I don’t do massive IPAs,” says Franklin. “I am keen on Previous Overholt 10 (a cask-strength, 10-year rye), and I normally begin with that on a rock.”  Franklin additionally says he’s a fan of Previous Fitzgerald 8-12 months, Traverse Metropolis Whiskey Co., and 9 Banded Wheated Straight Bourbon.

Learn on for a number of of Franklin’s barbecue-meets-whiskey ideas.

High quality over amount

Life is brief. Whiskeys are supposed to be loved, to not merely sit on a shelf. 

“I’m not a kind of collectors hoarding every kind of bottles. These folks don’t make whiskey so that you can simply stare at. I’ve a handful of actually particular ones,” says Franklin.

It’s OK when you solely have three to 5 go-to whiskeys, so long as you relish them. “I do not go round tasting a whole bunch of various whiskeys,” says Franklin. “I do know those I like. I understand how they make it, and I get excited for sure ones. I can take the opposite ones or depart them.” 

He believes that high quality trumps amount. “I additionally really feel that means about barbecue since you solely eat a lot meals earlier than all of it begins to style the identical. The identical factor applies to whiskey, espresso, and wine,” says Franklin.

Benefit from the journey

Franklin is drawn to the science behind whiskey. And he likes to take his time with a pour. 

“I wish to begin neat and possibly rub a bit on my hand to get a superb whiff. Then, I’d add a rock. A glass of whiskey is really a journey,” says Franklin. “I’m not going to slam it or be like, ‘I solely drink it neat.’ I drink all of it methods.” 

Franklin loves an unheralded whiskey with sudden worth. “I get actually excited when one thing looks like it needs to be good, after which it punches means above its weight,” he says. “You are like, ‘Wow, it is a $60 bottle, and this needs to be about $160.’” 

Aaron Franklin’s prime three rye whiskey picks

Willett Household Property 4-12 months Rye Whiskey

“Willet 4-12 months Rye is my fave. I purchase it by the case and present it to all people yearly. I hold loads of it available at house. That’s my go-to,” says Franklin. “This was the primary whiskey I observed nuance in taste. I’m offered on something by Willett. What they will do in a brief period of time is simply unimaginable.”

Michter’s US 1 Kentucky Straight Rye

“I like how constant Michter’s is, they usually’ve received some actually good ones. It’s virtually like pure science, and it’s painfully constant,” says Franklin. “They air out their staves earlier than they make their barrels, they usually’re so particular. That’s just like the Franklin Barbecue facet of it, like, ‘How can we replicate this taste and make this over and over?’”

New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

“It is good, and it is reasonably priced. I believe it is nuanced and has many layers. It isn’t as wealthy as a Willett, but it surely’s nonetheless received the flavour,” says Franklin.