Trip-out! Just a week after Dustin reviewed Kikori Japanese whiskey, a beautifully mellow drink made from rice, I found it inside a cocktail at the Balboa Bay Club’s A & O Kitchen + Bar called the Stay Golden.
It looked like a giant shot of Chartreuse, owing mostly to the green apple and green tea used to balance out the Kikori. But the Stay Golden tasted wonderful, even though I’m usually not a fan of tart. Here, the whiskey burst out of the gate with its spicy vanilla overtones, followed closely by the green apple’s pucker and a squeeze of lemon. But the true anchor was the green tea, added a depth you usually only see in amaro-based cocktails. I could’ve easily drank three of these, but it was late at night—and Newport Beacho’s po-po don’t take kindly to Mexicans driving drunk behind the wheel, you know?
A & O Kitchen + Bar at the Balboa Bay Club, 1221 W. Coast Hwy., Newport Beach, (949) 630-4285.
