Jester Concepts barman Jesse Held makes an annual pilgrimage to Kentucky whiskey country.  Those trips are "hard work" (the quotes are mine) but result in experience and knowledge that benefits anyone who has ever darkened the doorstep of one of Jesse's bars.

The recipe for the Kentucky Son was inspired by one of these trips, upon returning to the crisp Minnesota fall weather.  It's designed after a traditional whiskey sour, where ‘sour’ connotes a combination of spirit, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

This recipe uses uses a combination of brown sugar and maple syrup -- in season during the spring, despite providing fall-like flavors -- to replace the basic simple syrup.  The combination lends a a deep, rich, caramel flavor that perfectly complements a good,  rounded bourbon.

This is a drink that challenges you notice the nearly 3 oz of booze it contains, since it goes down so smoothly.

Recipe:

• 2 oz Makers Mark or Basil Hayden's
• ¾ oz Cappelletti
• ½ oz Earl Giles Lemon Cordial
• ½ oz Earl Giles Maple/Brown Syrup
• ¼ oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients and shake over ice to combine. Strain into a chilled stemmed glass, and garnish with an expressed lemon peel.

Parlour can be found underneath Borough in Minneapolis’s North Loop neighborhood.

730 N Washington Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 354-3135

www.boroughmpls.com/parlour/