“Old Crow” is the name emblazoned on the oldest whiskey bottle I own. The name was stamped there more
than 100 years ago by a Chicago wholesale liquor dealer. Sadly, it is a 100-year-old whiskey bottle I own, not a 100-year-old bottle of whiskey. The sour mash in the bottle was probably finished off between the time the Wright Brothers went up and the Titanic went down.
“Thirsty Crow” is the name of one of the newest bourbon bars in L.A., barely a year old. Despite its youth, the name is derived from the same antiquated source as my battered bottle. The bar’s youth is also erased the second you walk in the door. The feel of the Silver Lake establishment is akin to the kind of pub that liquor-drinking Capone loved and law-enforcing cops hated during that bleak American era known as prohibition. Dark corners, wooden ceiling beams, a communal oval bar and, on some nights, a swinging jazz band breathe life into this 21st Century version of a 20th Century memory.
I first heard of the Thirsty Crow a year ago when I came across Caroline on Crack’s blog about the bar. It had been on my places to visit since then, but it wasn’t until last month’s one-year-anniversary that I was finally able to walk in and find a bourbon selection that rivaled mine. The crowd was savvy, hip and friendly. The bartenders, slammed by anniversary drink specials, still managed to shake, stir and shoot drinks to customers with alacrity. It was the kind of neighborhood bar one would expect in Silver Lake: trendy and self-aware of its hipness, but not to the point of annoyance.
Cooper Gillepsie is the general manager of the Thirsty Crow. And can you possibly have a better whiskey name than Cooper? Barley? Mash? Or, god-forbid, Yeast? I don’t think so. Like many people in LA, Cooper has another life – that of a musician – but when it comes time to her bar, she lives and breathes bourbon. Thirsty Crow’s signature drinks are devised by Cooper. The bar’s namesake cocktail is a refreshing mix of Jim Beam Rye, ginger beer, citrus juice and bitters – just what I needed on a warm Saturday evening.
Cocktails, a 19th Century invention, really took off during the 1920s as a way to mask poor quality alcohol. I sometimes shudder when I see really good stand-alone whiskies drowned with other liquids that strip away the very nuances that make whiskies so fascinating. But, I suppose there are those hot days when a cold drink is needed, plus cocktails are a way to introduce new whiskey drinkers to the spirit.
Another way the Thirsty Crow reaches out to tentative whiskey drinkers is through Sunday night whiskey tasting flights, and on Whiskey Wednesdays, when a single spirit is available as a $5 special.
“We have a whiskey for everyone and awesome bartenders who will make sure you have a great time,” Cooper told me, when I asked her why people should check out the Thirsty Crow.
In the words of Ira Gershwin, written in 1930 at the height of the secret whiskey speakeasy, who could ask for anything more?
Thirsty Crow, 2939 W. Sunset Blvd., LA. 323-661-6007.