Drink a smoky old fashioned among the celebs and the clouds.
A thousand foot above the Pacific , a series of tranquil villas — nestled betweenredwood woodlet — dangles atop the cloud . wide regard as one of the country ’s premier luxury lodges , there ’s no denying the Post Ranch Inn exists on an entirely different spirit level . As majestic as it is secluded , it ’s no wonder thishidden gem of Big Surbeckons to bothHollywoodA - listersfrom down south and tech titans of the north for the persuasion — and for the cocktails .
disregardless of your personal last worth , a night here is bound to make you find like a million sawhorse . In fact , it ’ll likely be an experience you ’ll never block . But for Reylon Agustin , it ’s just another Clarence Day at the business office . As the Post Ranch Inn culinary conductor , he supervise intellectual nourishment and drink operations at the attribute ’s solitary restaurant and bar , Sierra Mar. The blank space makes the most of its heavenly setting with floor - to - ceiling window and an sizeable outdoor terrace . Backdropping the legal community at sundown , billowing masses of moisture roster in from the edge of the worldly concern as the sky skews towards supernatural pinkish - purple .
With Agustin set behind the stick , you might encounter yourself wondering if he ’s running a beverage program or piloting a starship . The backbar , for its part , is aimed towards the stratosphere , with nursing bottle of whiskey soar above $ 300 a pour — such as the WhistlePig Boss Hog VIII : Lapalapu ’s Pacific . “ Personally I prefer ryes , ” explicate Agustin , whose careful curation of spirits incline heavy towards the spicy - grained category of American whiskey . “ Also , there incline to be too many cocktail — in particular in the summer — that are a slight more on the sweeter side . Rye evens the playing field . ”
Photo by Kodiak Greenwood, courtesy of Post Ranch Inn
His taste is prove along a glass ledge that allocate closely half its available real land to distinguished examples of rye . Included are label from Kentucky Owl , High West , Buffalo Trace , and the rarest releases from the aforesaid WhistlePig still out of rural Vermont . All of it is especially well suited to an evening sipping experience atop the patio . check a roller - full of the draft to your nose here and it ’s difficult to tell where the earthiness from the spyglass end and the ambient air — replete with pine needles and redwood barque — begins .
And yet when it comes time for cocktails and Agustin ’s signature tune preparation , the bar man reaches for thatotherstyle of American whiskey . He builds the Sierra Mar Smoked Old Fashioned using Bourbon dynasty . Not just any bourbon , mind you , but a friendly serving of Kentucky Owl Confiscated , a tough lowly batch offering that typically retails for around $ 125 a bottle . So before any modifiers are stick in , you know you ’re begin with a top - tier foundation .
“ This is our interpreting of an American classic , ” he openly admits . “ But here it ’s destine to help our guests settle into the ‘ Big Sur Way’—and for that we need a little daze , of course . ”
Photo by Kodiak Greenwood, courtesy of Post Ranch Inn
of course . And how does one furnish fog tableside ? We ’re happy you need . At Sierra Mar , it requires a function - built twist that shriek out the smoldering essence of whatever constitutive topic is sneak in into its business end . This includes natively sourced wood bit and perhaps even the occasional splintered pine tree cone or two . The drunkenness arrives before the Edgar Albert Guest in a rocks glass , obscured by clouds , beneath a massive bell shock trapping it all in spot .
“ The smoke is feed straight into that jar , ” add Agustin . “ So there ’s still a lot of movement in the glass . It immediately evokes the daze crawling up the coastline during halcyon hour . ”
But it does n’t justlooklike the surroundings ; the drink recall the calming aromas of the cliffside as well . The shock is remove and it ’s an almost therapeutic loss . In any other stage setting , you might even be tempt to label it as transformative . Here it ’s actually re - optimistic , confirming your inherent suspicions that this scope might indeed by some dreamlike spell .
Sierra Mar Smoked Old Fashioned|Photo courtesy of Post Ranch Inn
It ’s ok . Take a deep breath , follow by a unfaltering draft from the crank . What you ’ll smack is a unlined unification between smoky , gratifying , and feel . Then there ’s a slight unctuousness in the finish , kvetch up by the addition of black walnut tree bitterness . Perhaps it ’s only thejaw - dropping sundown speak , but this might just be the most comforting Old Fashioned you ever sip .
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“ We just endeavor to use ingredients that are local to Big Sur — specifically from our garden , ” Agustin propose modestly . “ That combined with gamey quality spirits is what hold us an edge . ” Though it ’s easy to go over it here . The Sierra Mar Smoked Old Fashioned itself clocks in at $ 50 per sizzle . Which is n’t incisively out of proportion on a property where entourage begin at $ 1,825 per Nox . Cocktail enthusiasts might even prefer the quieter months here , anyway . Agustin ’s selections rotate with the weather , and his egg - white sour spiked with pecan orgeat and amaro is a perennial bunch pleaser over the wintertime holidays .
While you do n’t have to be a hotel invitee to experience Sierra Mar , you will demand areservationto walk through the room access . Arrive in time to enjoy their Old Fashioned at sunset , and there ’s a good chance you ’ll be float back out on a swarm .
Photo by Kodiak Greenwood, courtesy of Post Ranch Inn
Photo by Kodiak Greenwood, courtesy of Post Ranch Inn
