Had a great opportunity during my trip to Dallas to visit a well known Whiskey bar called Nickel and Rye. It also was by coincidence that I was able to meet one of the co-founders of the venue Mike Hamilton and just talk shop! He also treated us to a few amazing drams that were just out of this world good! As they would put it:
As the best whiskey bar Dallas has to offer, we specialize in hand crafted cocktails, local & unique beers, rye whiskeys, and a chef-driven menu. We also serve a fantastic brunch each and every Saturday and Sunday!
Mike, tell us about yourself. What were you doing before you got into this business?
MH: I bartended and waited tables at a restaurant called Palio Ristorante in Ann Arbor, MI all the way through college at University of Michigan, move to TX in 2008 with a close friend and bass player to find a new city to start performing original music. When I arrived, I began waiting tables and ultimately bartending and managing at Kirby’s Steakhouse, our sister concept. We’ve been open for 3.5 years now, and I still perform music, now with my original band ‘Gray, the New Black’, as well as in a cover band with my wife and sister-in-law called ‘Kidd Sisters’.
You told me an interesting story about the name. Can you share it again with our readers?
MH: We had a company wide naming concept which ultimately came down to 2 names (out of about 500): The Wooden Nickel (our marketing director’s suggestion, and Rook & Rye (my suggestion). When I was 15 or 16, I played in one of my bands at a club in Ypsilanti, MI – had to get X’s on my hands, have my parents attend, just to get in the door. When we finished our set, I was offered beer, which I turned down, and then went to the restroom where I found a guy using drugs…a bit of a scarring experience. In turn, we combined the names and compromised!
What is your role and what does your day look like?
MH: My role as an investor and General Manager is complicated. I always need to weigh what’s best for the business (most important) against my personal and financial well-being, while also being conscious of my staff, most of whom have been here for 2+ years, and whom I consider like family. Generally, my day involves working out at Gold’s a half block away, cleaning up and coming straight into work by 11a-12p ish. During the week, that puts me here til mid-evening, through happy hour, generally, though on the weekends, I often will either arrive earlier (for our lively brunch crowd) or stay later (for our “party” crowd) – or both!
What challenges (if any) did you first face when you decided to go into this venture.
MH: Learning the ins and outs of managing a bar. I had managed a bar within a steakhouse, but there were huge gaps in my skill set that I wasn’t aware of, because my teacher at the time, Kevin Lenehan, the GM of the steakhouse handled so many things as 2nd nature, that I never even realized how much truly went in to running the business until it was in my lap. Lots of long nights!
I also didn’t really have a strong knowledge base or passion for whiskey, cocktails or beer until I was thrust into this world on a happening street in a lively entertainment district, so there was a steep and unforgiving learning curve – was helped along by a friend named Matt Orth (who is now a regionally well known mixologist!), as well as others…and a lot of google & wikipedia.
I am sure you had some proud moments so far running this venue, can you share some of those with us?
MH:
- One of my proudest moments was designing the menu for our Deep Ellum Brewing/Whistlepig Rye Beer-Whiskey-Dinner. (I’ve attached a graphic for it.) We executed that for the owners of DEBC and our regional rep for Whistlepig along with another 25 guests, and I really created it from the ground up, even cooking a lot of the food myself.
- Other proudest moments are definitely getting 2 of my managers prepped up to execute private whiskey dinners. We host one or two a quarter for groups at $60-100/guest, generally ranging from 20-100 guests and 3-6 courses. They include a guided tour through the whiskey making process, and while I’ve gotten to the point where I can ALMOST do it with my eyes closed, bringing my staff up to speed and watching their confidence grow as they inform people about the difference between Rye and Wheat, New vs Used Oak, etc. is a really rewarding experience.
How do you stay current with all the latest whiskies? With all the independent bottlers and small craft distilleries.
MH: More than anything, I rely on my staff to keep me informed of what they’re hearing and drinking around town. Usually by the time something hits a publication or local e-mag, my bartenders have already heard of it 5 x over.
How many different types of whisky do you have available at your venue?
MH: Right now, I believe it’s around 100-120.
Is Nickel & Rye known for anything else besides great Whiskey selection?
MH: We pride ourselves on our cocktails, which take a lot of the pretentiousness out of mixology. Generally, we spend time before and after a shift preparing infusions, shrubs, syrups, and purees, so that when it comes time to execute our cocktails, we only reach for 3-4 ingredients, skip the muddling, and get them to your table faster – whether that’s during a slow happy hour or a bumping Saturday night. That was (and remains) a huge focus for us when adding or considering cocktails – how efficiently can we recreate this in a high pressure situation? We also are getting well known for our beer selection.
We feature 80+% craft and local beers both on draft and in package, and host many events with local breweries, including beer dinners and rare tappings! And not to brag too much, but our food ain’t too shabby!
When it comes to making the classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned, how do you determine which whiskey to use?
MH: For me, I generally aim to stick to the basics. We don’t muddle any fruit in our old-fashioneds (also stirring them to preserve the oils, and not splashing with H2O or Soda), and generally strive to let the spirit shine in any of the old school cocktails – as they were all designed to be predominantly spirit-forward cocktails. Our favorites are usually robust higher proof whiskeys that stand up and shine through and alongside the bitters, vermouths, etc that are usually used in most of these cocktails. We also don’t generally recommend breaking the bank to mix a cocktail.
My personal break point is about $12 for a cocktail – if it’s going to cost more than that, it better come straight out of the bottle tasting great. At the end of the day, we’ll always give the guest what he/she wants, but those are my personal inclinations! One of my manager/bartenders swears by a Glenfiddich 14yr 100% bourbon cask Old-Fashioned, and I admit it’s delicious.
What are you most excited about in the whisky scene?
MH: For me, the first “great” whisky I ever drank was Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (a port finished single malt scotch whisky), so I’ve always been all about the “finish”. A ton of distilleries in America are now taking notes from Scotland and incorporating interesting barrel-finishes into their bourbons, ryes, single malts (i.e. Angel’s Envy Rum Cask finished Rye, High West Yippee Ki Yay Sweet Vermouth and Syrah oaked Rye, Westland Sherry wood Single Malt – a few of my faves!!)
What kind of crowd does your venue attract ? The whiskey connoisseur, the noobie, maybe the “whiskey know-it-all”, the general go-er perhaps?
MH: We built Nickel and Rye mainly for the surrounding residents and employees of nearby businesses. We attract a wide variety of guests – from our loyal University of Michigan fans for Basketball and Football watch parties, to the residents across the street and caddy-corner, to the employees of the giant office building next door – but at the end of the day, we really just wanted to be homebase for the people who call Uptown Dallas “Home”. I think most people that come through, whether connoisseur or newbie, leave with a nugget of knowledge they didn’t have before coming in.
What kind of profiles drive your interest when selecting a special whisky for your bar?
MH: For me there’s really 2 things that set a whiskey apart: First, it always starts with the taste. If it’s just “good”, that’s not good enough, because I’ve got 100 good whiskeys on the shelf…and if I don’t already have it, chances are it’s going to be tough to talk the Maker’s Mark or Buffalo Trace drinker out of their standby for something that is simply “also good”. So I look for something unique, whether it’s a spicy finish, or a flavor that might lend itself well to a specific cocktail, or something off the wall (like Amador Ten Barrels Hop-infused whiskey, partially distilled from Racer 5 IPA).
So for me, it’s taste first – and it has to be better, different or more interesting than the standby go-to whiskeys of your everyday non-connoisseur. Second,I love a story. A lot of them are hot air…but who doesn’t like a little intrigue with their whiskey? Templeton being the Al Capone smuggled out of jail Rye recipe, different methods of procuring peat to smoke Bruichladdich single malts, Jefferson’s Ocean crossing the equator 4 times and visiting 31 ports…all that is tasty info and helps give my staff something beyond “it’s good” to latch onto and then create a memorable experience for the guest later on. People can drink whiskey at home, they come out for the flare, info, experience.
Is there any particular type of whisky that sells more than the other?
MH: We sell more Bourbon than anything else, categorically. I think a large part of that is that the Old-Fashioned and Kentucky Mule are our most popular whiskey cocktails, and both generally have people steering towards that category, though we certainly don’t force them. For neat and rocks pours, Bourbons and Single Malts are neck and neck, with Ryes taking a backseat. Some of our top selling individual whiskeys, however are Ryes (Whistlepig, High West – specifically the MidWinter Night’s Dram)
How big is the whisky scene in Dallas?
MH: The whisky scene in Dallas has mellowed (ha! pun…) in the last year or so, it seems to me. The general excitement surrounding craft cocktails, and more specifically the Man Men era of brown-spirit-forward drinks, seems to have been pushed to the back for the local and craft beer scene to a degree. There are definitely some hardcore devotees still keeping the scene alive with tastings, “bottle shares”, charity whiskey events, mixology courses, USBG, etc., as well.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of Tastethedram?
MH: I think learning about whiskey, for me, has been a reminder of how important each step in any process can be to a final product. Refining taste can’t simply start 8 years into the process after fermentation, distillation and aging. Sometimes, what you start with – those first decisions in any scenario – are just as important as the label you put on the bottle, and arguably MORE important.
Seems a little contrived, but I really do think anything that people devote their whole lives to, the lives and fortunes of their families for generations in many cases, is something worth analyzing beyond the simple product we consume. When you think about something like Booker’s 25th anniversary going into a barrel in the late 00’s, Booker Noe passing away, the whiskey being released under a limited label as the last batch he touched – a guy who was a pioneer in the industry – the pride his family takes in that product, it just reminds you of what goes into a lot of things we take for granted!
