Imbibist

Beautiful line up, in a city that celebrates drinking.

Latin Manhattan. Happy Thursday.

While it’s easy enough to get a drink in a Las Vegas casino, you never know exactly what will be delivered to you. Hi-balls are a popular choice. But while one manager wants to get you drunk and sloppy, another is squeezing pennies and watering down. I’ve come to learn the Crazy Horse Bar in the MGM Grand makes a good and consistent Martini. And if I’m ordering from the blackjack table, I’ll stick with beer or a premium spirit, either neat or on the rocks. Finding a well made craft cocktail in a casino is an impossible task. Or is it? The rebirth of classic ingredients like bitters and fresh juices has found its way to a handful of Las Vegas casino bars. But can they execute? In the spirit of sacrifice and discovery, your favorite amateur cocktailian ventured out to Sin City in search of answers.
 

MGM Down
 

A recent trip to Vegas exposed my girlfriend and I to the two ends of the specialty cocktail spectrum at MGM Mirage properties. In case you’re not up on your Vegas corporate knowledge, MGM Mirage owns roughly half the megaresorts on the Las Vegas Strip (Caesar’s Entertainment owns the other half – yes, two companies control nearly the entire Strip). Their newest offering is CityCenter, a 9+ Billion Dollar complex featuring five distinct properties that are decidedly bland by Vegas standards. Anchoring CityCenter is Aria, a 4,004 room resort and, strangely enough, home to CityCenter’s only casino. Overly anxious to end our January detox, and curious to see what $10 Billion gets you these days, we left our modest South Strip digs and trekked up to Aria.
 

Aria at CityCenter Las Vegas. Courtesy of ChrisYunker via Flickr.

The first lounge we encountered, The Deuce, seemed a bit too “ooncha-ooncha” for our taste. The drink menu, however, left us both surprised and encouraged, as it boasted the use of fresh juices and – get this – specialty bitters. Yeah, I even spotted celery bitters on there. Whoa. Someone here either cares about the drinks, or the suits in Marketing noticed the term “bitters” trending higher on Google searches. Regardless, we moved on to City Bar, a more-inviting-yet-still-swanky casino bar situated in the middle of the action. Standing front and center on the bar was a bottle of Peychaud’s and, to its right, Fee Brothers. Whoa, again. My buzz quickly crashed into bewilderment, however, after I noticed the menu’s definition of a Manhattan: Bourbon and Sweet Vermouth. No bitters. What the hell is going on here? I figured it was time for a test.
 

Me: I’d like a Manhattan, but can I get it with Peychaud’s bitters?
Bartender: Sure. Wait, did you say Payshods?
Me: Yeah, Peychaud’s bitters.
Bartender: OK, sure, no problem.

The place was very busy, and I could not see him during the entire process. I did notice him checking the bitters bottles; apparently he didn’t yet know Peychaud’s is the small bottle with the white label. What was delivered to me was very pink. “How much bitters did he put in there,” I wondered. And upon tasting, I discovered he used much. I also found he used the wrong ice in the shaker, as the drink was watered down to children’s strength. I was very disappointed, and the color and the taste didn’t make any sense. My palate was out of shape from the detox month, and this hurdle had me perplexed.
 

Aria's Manhattan. Or Sazerac. Or neither.

“Just what in the hell am I drinking? It’s too bitter, but I knew that from the color. It’s watered down to all hell. It almost tastes like a Sazerac sans absinthe. Wait, it’s not sweet. It’s not sweet at all. Bingo.”

He left out the vermouth. He thought I wanted Peychaud’s in lieu of vermouth. And he used small ice, rendering the final product as flavorless as daytime television programming. Additionally, bitters is used in a number of house cocktails at City Bar, but not the Manhattan. What was it my Little League coach used to preach to me? Fundamentals first. Yes, that’s it. Fundamentals first. Fail.
 

MGM Up
 

The following day we found ourselves meandering further up the strip. We dodged the rain, gambled sporadically, played Drink Arbitrage at the video poker bars, just doing the Vegas thing. Eventually we found ourselves at another MGM property, The Mirage. Twenty years ago, the Mirage was the toast of the town, with its volcano and white tiger shows. It’s still a respected property and, in my opinion, more enjoyable than the $10 Billion behemoth down the Strip. I digress.
 

Upon entry we encountered Rhumbar, a clean and modern lounge specializing in – drumroll please – rum drinks. I’d read some good things about Rhumbar somewhere – I cannot recall where – so it was imperative we check it out. Some prominent features at Rhumbar are a bank of daiquiri machines and beautiful-yet-dingy girls ordering mojitos. These are not necessarily bad things, but I do not find them reassuring either. We pressed on to find an intimidating array of rums. As a self-professed amateur, I must confess I know little about rums. Indeed, I’m still working my way through whiskeys and gins. But I know a Hemingway Daiquiri is a good thing, and upon finding it on the menu, I made sure the bartender put one in my hand in short order.
 

The Latin Manhattan at Rhumbar

You’ll have to forgive me, as I didn’t take good notes here. I cannot elaborate too much on the two drinks I had, except to say they were both delectable. Perhaps a little on the sweet side, but strong and flavorful nonetheless. The Hemingway Daiquiri was delicious, and unlike its ungodly cousins, it did not come from one of those slush machines. My second drink, the Latin Manhattan, was a delight: Rum, vermouth, bitters, maraschino liqueur, and “Caribbean Spices”. I asked the bartender to elaborate on the Caribbean Spices and his response was an unsure, “Uh, Angostura, you know.” Outside of this deer/headlights moment, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. We would have opted for another round, but the sun was still up, and a strong buzz was festering itself upon us.
 

MGM Again?
 

It’s nearly impossible to avoid MGM properties while perusing the Strip, so the Vegas traveler will find him- or herself ordering a drink at these resorts at some point. The $15 price point on City Bar’s Testament to Confusion warrants avoidance for a good while. Rhumbar is worthy of a return, however. Even if the bartenders aren’t cocktail experts, they execute well on good recipes. But to emphasize the obvious, casinos simply aren’t craft cocktail destinations, regardless of their efforts. A shame, considering the strides they’ve made in the restaurant realm. Sorry MGM, but for now, the most luxurious room in Vegas is still at the Four Seasons, and the top destination for craft cocktails remains the Downtown.

Latin Manhattan at Rhumbar, Mirage, Las Vegas. Damn good for a casino.

Corn n Oil at Sidebar. Downtown Las Vegas.