For the bourbon-obsessed, a 5-course dinner with the Van Winkles

For bourbon enthusiasts sick of hearing their Barolo or California Cabernet-obsessed friends bragging about this or that wine dinner they’ve attended: a dinner with the Van Winkle line of prized whiskeys.

The Wine House in West Los Angeles is hosting a special dinner featuring the Van Winkle series and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m., at their bistro Upstairs 2.

It’s a chance to taste many of these hard-to-find, hard-to-afford bourbons at one time. Half-ounce pours only and because of an extremely limited supply the bourbons will not be available for sale by the bottle. (If they were available, they’d sell for $180 to $230.) If you fall in love with one, be prepared to go into mourning.

Pairing Bourbon with food is an interesting exercise. With passed hors d’oeuvres of venison tenderloin with black curing gastrique and spice grilled shrimp in smoked tomato sauce, they’re pouring Van Winkle Family Reserve 13-year-old straight rye whiskey. Two ryes, the Sazerac 18-year-old straight rye whiskey and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac straight rye whiskey, are meant for cold smoked trout with greens in a sherry shallot dressing. Blistered corn ravioli with mascarpone and ricotta and a “melting” tomato sauce, whatever that is, will be served with Van Winkle Special Reserve 12-year-old Lot “B” bourbon and Eagle Rare 17-year-old bourbon.

Next up is roast breast of pheasant with root vegetables, lentils and black cherry demi-glace served with Pappy Van Winkle 15-year-old bourbon and George T. Stagg bourbon. And the William Larue Weller bourbon and Pappy Van Winkle 20-year-old bourbon is reserved for grilled prime New York strip steak with duck fat potatoes. If I could slip in for just one course ...

The meal finishes with a goat cheesecake with chocolate bourbon crust and the rarest bourbon of the night, the Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old bourbon.

Quite the menu. Quite the bourbon. All for $299 a person. Space, needless to say, is limited. Tickets can be purchased on the Wine House website.

Or, for the more budget-minded, you could attend “Come Fly with Frank and Jack: After Hours at the Wine House” on Thursday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for that event are just $25. It seems like a pretty good deal seeing as it includes passed appetizers, mixed drinks by Jack Daniels brand ambassador Eric Tecosky and Sinatra music all night.

That $25 entry price can be credited toward the purchase of a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select. That’s one liter of Sinatra-inspired whiskey. What that means, according to the description, is that this whiskey is closer to Jack Daniel’s as it was when Sinatra started drinking it: much denser and chewier than Old No. 7, “rich with caramel, oak, candied orange peel and a fair amount of spice.” With the discount, that bottle of Sinatra Select will set you back $124.99 rather than $149.99 at full pop.

The Wine House is at 2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles; (310) 479-3731; www.winehouse.com.

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