The Sazerac Company has introduced Handy & Schiller Barreled Cocktails, named for two men who had an impact on the cocktail culture in New Orleans: Thomas Handy and John Schiller.
Schiller was a New York bartender who found his way to New Orleans and, by 1860, began operating the Sazerac Coffeehouse in the French Quarter. Handy, originally from Maryland, worked for Schiller at the Sazerac Coffeehouse, and later went on to establish an importing and wholesale liquor business.
With the launch of Handy & Schiller Barreled Cocktails comes two signature cocktails: the Handy & Schiller Barreled Old Fashioned, and the Handy & Schiller Barreled Manhattan. Both were crafted and aged at Buffalo Trace Distillery.
The Handy & Schiller Old Fashioned, 84 proof, is made using the distillery’s flagship Buffalo Trace Bourbon and Peychaud’s Bitters. The Handy & Schiller Manhattan, 70 proof, is also made using Sazerac Rye Whiskey, vermouth and Peychaud’s Bitters, and is aged in Sazerac Rye barrels.
Fittingly, Handy & Schiller Barreled Cocktails will initially launch only in New Orleans, with the intent to spread to other select markets by late 2018. Each will come in a matching canister and will be available beginning in October at a suggested retail price of $39.99 per 750-ml. bottle.
