Bourbon Steak has teamed up with Ragged Branch, the distillery located in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, to launch an exclusive Bourbon Steak Bourbon, only available at the restaurant’s D.C. location.

Ragged Branch produces its bourbon from the ranch’s own grain, milled and mashed daily, aged in charred American white oak barrels and distilled onsite. Ragged Branch produces almost zero waste, as the water in the distillery is recycled for cooling tanks and the spent mash is fed to the cattle, creating their own unique beef, also produced at the farm. 

Bourbon Steak is Chef Michael Mina’s love letter to the American Steakhouse, and the D.C. location is the brand’s flagship, having debuted nearly 15 years ago at the Four Seasons hotel in the heart of Georgetown. The limited-edition whiskey is twice barreled and double oaked. The mashbill is 68% corn, 16% wheat and 16% malted barley, while the double-oaking consists of 4.5 years in a #3 char oak barrel and an additional 1.5 years in a #4 char oak barrel. Both are virgin oak. The barrel pick is undiluted, barrel-proof bottling at 126.56 proof.

Bourbon Steak chose Ragged Branch “naturally,” according to Lead Bartender Engidawork Alebachew. Ragged Branch is a local distillery and the restaurant seeks to partner with local purveyors as often as possible. Additionally, Ragged Branch is a self-sustaining, nearly zero-waste farm and distillery, using grain grown on their own land to produce the bourbon, Alebachew said.

The Ragged Branch team visited Bourbon Steak about business in general and it led to a discussion about Ragged Branch’s elite barrel program. Ragged Branch has a robust private barrel selection program and Bourbon Steak is accustomed to having these types of expressions on their bar.

For more information about Ragged Branch, visit https://raggedbranch.com/. For more information about Bourbon Steak, visit https://www.bourbonsteakdc.com/.

Photo by Katie Graves