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Booker’s Bourbon Gives You “The Center Cut”

By Matt Domino Jun 18, 2015 10:00 AM

With the sudden onrush of summer, we looked around and realized that our friends at Booker’s Bourbon have released yet another of their 2015 limited edition small-batch whiskies.

Back in March, we covered Booker’s Batch 2015-01, “Big Man, Small Batch”, which kicked off the year’s specialty releases. Since that time, Batch 2015-02 (or “Dot’s Batch”) was slowly unveiled to liquor retailers. That bottle’s label featured Booker Noe’s “cherished Jack Russell Terrier”, Dot, and was lower in both age (only seven years and not seven years and two months) and proof (127.9 instead of 128.7).

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Now, we have Booker’s Batch 2015-03, “The Center Cut.” This latest batch has been selected with the help of a select group of whiskey experts and enthusiasts, as well as local Louisville chef, Coby Ming, who leant her culinary knowledge to the selection process so that the resulting batch would have an ideal flavor profile for food pairing.

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The goal for “The Center Cut” was to bottle a bourbon that perfectly captured Booker Noe’s love of both the center of his whiskey rackhouse, as well as the center cut of a piece of meat. Booker Noe favored aging his whiskey at the center of his rackhouse (the 5^th floor) so that each bourbon contained the unique, robust flavor that Booker’s has become known for.

Like most Booker’s Bourbons, this one is strong. It’s 127.2 proof (63.6% alcohol) and aged 7 years, 2 months and 28 days.

So, feel free to grab yourself a nice cut of meat from the butcher and then grab a limited edition bottle of Booker’s “The Center Cut” (it’ll only cost you about $60). It’s a perfect marriage of flavor that any man can enjoy; and one that Booker Noe would want you to enjoy.

Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction… Read Full Bio

The Craft Editions From Teremana Tequila Is the Way to Dress Up Your Bar Cart

Plant, Alcohol, Beverage

Every killer bar cart needs a few eye-catching bottles that don’t sacrifice quality in taste. Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana Tequila aims to do that with The Craft Editions, which the brand says are designed to celebrate and respect the land, people, and the craftsmanship behind every bottle crafted in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.

The Craft Edition marks the first time Teremana has introduced a limited-edition bottle design series, which promises to bring a bright pop to your bar cart. The bottles come in vibrant blue, “inspired by the brand’s 100 percent Blue Weber agave for the Blanco variant.” Then there’s a metallic copper bottle, “inspired by the handcrafted copper pot stills used during distillation for the Reposado variant.”

The NYC yakiniku restaurant where lean wagyu takes center stage

filet with uni on black plate

Picture A5 wagyu, and the most common image is intensely marbled beef that’s almost white compared to the deep red of supermarket beef. But in Japan, wagyu is butchered in countless ways, with some of the most highly prized cuts being the leaner ones. Japanese butchery specializes in breaking down beef primals into smaller, more specific cuts, producing unique cuts perfect for grilling or shabu-shabu. This focus on smaller, more individual cuts is designed to hyper-focus the palate on the flavor and texture of wagyu.

One Japanese yakiniku restaurant, Yakiniku Great, has centered its menu on these leaner cuts, known as akami. At Yakiniku Great NYC, the focus is on the lesser-known cuts of lean wagyu — misuji (part of the shoulder blade) or the dai-sankaku (lower inner thigh). Originally from Tochigi, Japan, Yakiniku Great has locations throughout Asia and recently opened its first U.S. location in New York City in June 2026. I was able to try their menu firsthand — a tasting experience both different and familiar.

Momoya and the Art of the Sushi Dinner

Food, Lunch, Meal

An epically long procession of jewel-like courses at an omakase counter as serene as a Zen altar scratches a certain itch once in a while. A whiz-bang sushi dinner laden with wagyu, caviar, and edible gold at restaurants like Nobu or Zuma hits the spot on occasion. But usually, I don’t need sushi as sacrament or sushi as spectacle. I just want my fix of raw fish, vinegared rice, and sake. Quick, delicious, and filling—the type of dinner Momoya does with aplomb.

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