Custom Spirits at Chatham Bars Inn

Chatham Bars Inn has designed an ongoing Custom Spirits program offering an ever-changing beverage menu with carefully curated one-of-a-kind offerings distinctive to the Inn from bourbon to tequila, gin to rum and more.

Skip to:

[Maker’s Mark](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-397)

[La Alteña Distillery](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-402)

[Mayflower Brewing Company](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-400)

[Etesia Gin](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-401)

[Plantation Rum – Single Cask](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-404)

[Jefferson’s Reserve Single Barrel](https://www.chathambarsinn.com/life-at-the-inn/blog/custom-spirits-at-chatham-bars-inn#paragraph-406)

Assistant Director of Food and Beverage Adam Couto has spearheaded the program since its inception, travelling with other members of the Chatham Bars Inn team across the country and internationally to create these unique flavor profiles.

Extremely popular with guests of the Inn and local visitors, these spirits are served on their own and as part of a creative and extensive cocktail menu. Each year, guests look forward to seeing how the program has expanded. While each of the custom spirits has a limited life due to the popularity of the program, Couto and his team are always updating the program with new and exclusive spirits. And each has its own story. . .

Maker’s Mark

In 2018, Chatham Bars Inn’s Adam Couto and his team were on a mission to develop a beverage menu that exuded the same sense of creativity that guests have come to expect from all areas of the Inn. Their quest to concoct cocktails with a sense of place led them all the way to Kentucky, where they called on the Maker’s Mark distillery to create a custom bourbon that concentrated the feeling of Chatham Bars Inn into every smooth sip.

Chatham Bars Inn Maker’s Mark Private Select Vol. 1 became the inaugural spirit in the Inn’s ever-expanding litany of custom beverages. According to Couto, he and his team have worked with Maker’s Mark on three different barrel projects, including the Chatham Bars Inn Maker’s Mark Private Select Vol. 1, specifically for the Inn. This bourbon was so popular at the property that the first barrel – the equivalent of 250 bottles of bourbon – sold out in 10 weeks.

At the Sacred Cod Tavern, drinks are modeled after the physical environment of the bar. A classic tavern with dark wood and low lighting, the tavern specializes in a variety of whiskeys, including the Chatham Bars Inn Private Select Bourbon from Makers Mark. “Whether it’s going to Kentucky and blending these bourbons or something else,” says Couto, “with everything we put on our menu, we want to have a story behind it.”

The Private Select Bourbon has notes of pepper with deep oak, which lends itself well to mixed drinks like the Bourbon Smash and reflects the classic atmosphere of the tavern where it is served. The subtle hints of cherry, vanilla and caramel, which balance the earthier flavors, offer a warm, deliciously smooth, satisfying flavor when drinking the bourbon neat.

Whether it’s going to Kentucky and blending these bourbons or something else, with everything we put on our menu, we want to have a story behind it.

Adam Couto

La Alteña Distillery

It’s only natural, after the success of the bourbon and craft beer, that Couto’s journey to find the perfect tequila for Chatham Bars Inn’s waterview bars would culminate in another custom project. His latest endeavor, the acquisition of a Private Select barrel of reposado tequila, began in late 2019 when Couto and his team visited a distillery in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The La Alteña distillery, which produced the popular El Tesoro tequila, was founded in 1937 in the mineral-rich highlands of Jalisco. Today, the grandson of the company’s original founder is El Tesoro’s master distiller. After tasting from four barrels of reposado, the Chatham Bars Inn team chose one with a flavor profile they all felt would meld perfectly with the waterview, tequila-focused Bayview Bar at the Inn.

El Tesoro ages their reposado tequila in American oak ex-bourbon barrels for up to 11 months. This in-depth aging process creates a sweet and smoky flavor with hints of vanilla and oak. Additional accents of fruit essence and dill complement the taste of agave with smoke and pepper notes. These slightly botanical flavors reflect the outdoor environment of the Bayview Bar.

Mayflower Brewing Company

Mayflower Brewing Company, a craft beer microbrewery located in nearby Plymouth, Massachusetts, brews and pack