Miles MacQuarrie at Leon's Full Service (AJC Staff)
I know it’s a little early, but is anyone up for a cocktail?
Well, if you want a handcrafted cocktail-culture cocktail — the kind made with gin from a micro-distiller, Italian marasca cherry liqueur and artisan vermouth — you may be in trouble. Creative mixologists, such as Miles MacQuarrie at Leon’s Full Service (left), are bemoaning the dearth of specialty spirits in the Atlanta market. Demand has far outstripped supply.
This was the subject of yesterday’s Sunday column.
Trendy spirits run dry
The “Easy Street” cocktail at Leon’s Full Service is anything but. Mixologist Miles Macquarrie concocted this retro-modern libation with Lairds Bonded apple brandy, almond-infused Prunier V.S. Cognac, Carpano Antica formula vermouth, green Chartreuse, Angostura and Peychaud’s bitters. Macquarrie is among a new vanguard of barkeeps who have turned their backs on the house gin and soda-gun tonic in favor of small-batch spirits, …