The Century Bar, Dayton’s only bourbon bar, located at 10 S. Jefferson Street is locally owned by Diane Spitzig and Joe Head. Named The Century in 1942 and bought by Diane in 1996, it was at Joe’s urging that they started to focus on bourbon in 2011 and has since been voted one of the “Best Bourbon Bars in America” by The Bourbon Review for seven consecutive years. It also made the “10 Best Bourbon Bars in America” list by Men’s Journal in 2015, and was named one of the “Best Whiskey Bars in America” by Travel & Leisure in 2014 and continues to rack up accolades and recognition across the country.

The new winter drink menu rolls out today and I had the chance to preview it with Dayton’s bourbon expert Joe Head. It seems only right that this new menu comes out on the 21st anniversary of Joe’s hiring as a bartender at The Century.

The menu changes seasonally, Joe explained and he basically gives each of the bartenders an ingredient challenge and then allows them to creatively craft a cocktail based on that suggestion. Once each of their 11 bartenders (which include their 4 current apprentices) perfect their drink, then the entire staff sits down for a tasting, often helping each other perfect the taste profile of the winter cocktails.

I tasted a few of them, starting with Nick’s Cured and Crafted. His challenge flavor was bacon. His cocktail is a collaboration cocktail derived from an Iberico ham leg provided by Crafted & Cured on Wayne Ave. He used a hickory bacon based syrup blended with Jim Beam double oaked and garnished with Drops and Sansimone cheese

Strawberry Fields

The Cigar City was the next one I tasted and the aroma of this drink brings back memories of my father’s den with the pipe tobacco bitters and a sweetness from the port.

Next up was a cocktail created by bar manager Kelli, Strawberry Fields. Her challenge was to create a sweet cocktail, which was a challenge because she tends to usually steer towards smoky gin based drinks. She succeeded in making a cocktail that looks like pink and frothy, or as Joe described it- it’s an episode of Happy Days in a glass!

Another collaboration cocktail is the Winter in Versailles which is created using maple syrup that Chef Mike from the Inn at Versailles aged in a bourbon barrel provided by the Century. With notes of vanilla, rosemary and chocolate from the mole bitters.

Red Dahlia

Malia, the newest apprentice at The Century (apprentices must study, work and demonstrate their liquor knowledge for months, culminating in a 2 hour verbal test while bartending, with all current bartenders voting on whether they pass) was challenged to create a champagne cocktail for the winter menu. She chose the fermented raspberry flavor of Framboise complement the bubbly in creating her Red Dahlia, with a little gin and lemon juice and of course it is garnished with a flower.

If you like your cocktail on the savory side (Don’t Fear) The Reaper is the one for you- made with Pusser’s Rum, Falernum- an almond, ginger, lime, clove syrup, coconut curry, absinthe and curry bitters and it’s VEGAN.

ring of fire

If you prefer your drink with some heat, Bar Manager Tim has created the cocktail for you: Ring of Fire- a raspberry Habanero pepper based cocktail made with mescal and hellfire bitters

The menu includes some classic cocktails that Joe explains are standards on all of their menu’s, like the Whiskey Sour, Manhatttan, Sazerac and the drink they make the most of, the Century Old Fashioned. For the bourbon purists, the bar continues to add to their extensive line of whiskey and scotch and Kelli shared that currently there are about 3000 members in the Century Club. I can proudly share that I’m #13 , but alas I doubt I’ll ever catch Michael Colvin, who holds the record for drinking the most bourbon, Joe thinks perhaps even more that he has.

Of course in talking with the staff, I had to ask about the future plans. As many of you know the long talked about plans for the speak easy never came to fruition, due to complications from the first developer associated with the property. Perhaps it’s for the better, because the new plans are even grander! Hopefully within the next 6 months or so, The Century Bar will move one door south, bringing the bar and all the decor with them to a space that will allow them to seat up to 150 guests (current space seats about 75), with expanded bar seating. But that’s not all, they’ll add a 2nd floor intimate cocktail space with some booth seating and windows looking out on the city and on the 3rd floor, an event space that will allow The Century to host small weddings, corporate and charitable function for about 100 guests.

In the meantime, there’s plenty of reasons to stop by, and Joe said plans are underway to bring back the classic blind bourbon tastings, that were a monthly occurrence in the early days of their transition into a bourbon bar. Since the bar is often at capacity, Kelli suggests making The Century the start of your evening out, reminding folks they open at 3pm. You can also reserve the back room for meeting or host small bourbon tastings, which they’ll happily curate for you. They continue to purchase bourbon barrels, and Joe even told me about a recent meeting he had with the folks at the liquor commission where he was able to represent independent bar owners and help them to work on understanding the needs of small bar owners.

After a great afternoon of tasting, Joe’s parting words were “how proud he and Diane are of the business they’ve built and the staff they’ve created that not only care about bourbon, but are continually working to expand their knowledge and create great experiences for their guests.”

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