While they didn’t invent the whisk(e)y bar, the team behind on-premise concept Seven Grand has certainly worked hard to perfect it. Owned by Los Angeles-based Pouring With Heart hospitality group, Seven Grand is an homage to whisk(e)y, both domestic and international. The concept boasts hundreds upon hundreds of labels, including a wide swath of private barrel selections that can only be found at its four locations nationwide. Though whisk(e)y is at peak popularity these days, Seven Grand tries hard not to be influenced by fads, choosing instead to hone in on what it does best—whisk(e)y pours, whisk(e)y cocktails, and whisk(e)y hospitality.
“Seven Grand is a bar for everyone, because whisk(e)y is for everyone and we’re based around that,” says Pouring With Heart COO Brett Winfield. “We’re infatuated with all things bars and hospitality, and we really care about whisk(e)y. Whisk(e)y is the vessel through which we connect with people and Seven Grand is deeply rooted in the idea of whisk(e)y for the people. We share the best whiskies from around the world with the people we care about.”
The concept launched in 2007 in Los Angeles, with initial inspiration coming from a whisk(e)y bar in Ireland. Seven Grand was designed to evoke an Irish hunting lodge, even though in its early days vodka still dominated in bars and craft cocktails were just starting to gain traction in major cities. But the bar was well received right from the start and became a key player in Pouring With Heart’s growing roster of bar projects in Los Angeles. Five years later, when the company was ready to expand beyond its home city, Seven Grand led the charge and became the company’s first project outside of Los Angeles when it debuted in San Diego. Today, the brand maintains its two California locations and also boasts units in Austin, Texas and Denver.
Seven Grand is a whisk(e)y lover’s dream and the bars offer upwards of 700 whiskies, along with a full roster of other alcohols. Spirits and cocktails make up the vast majority of sales at roughly 90%, followed by beer at 8% and wine at 2%; most of the venues don’t serve food. “Our ambition is not to carry every whisk(e)y that’s every existed, but to have a highly curated list with as many single barrel options as we can afford,” says Chad Owen, Pouring With Heart’s director of operations for Southern California. “Innovation is important, but at our core we sell Old Fashioneds and have a maniacally curated whisk(e)y list. Seven Grand isn’t there to chase what’s cool, but rather leverage the rich and curious history of whisk(e)y, and to break the ice and make some friends. That’s as relevant today as it’s ever been.”
Whisk(e)y Nerds
Both Winfield and Owen are self-proclaimed whisk(e)y nerds. Earlier in their careers, both of them worked as bartenders at Seven Grand, helping to shape the concept and subsequently falling in love with it. Even though they’ve progressed into larger management roles within Pouring With Heart, they have fond memories of working at Seven Grand and traveling together to whisk(e)y destinations all over the globe to procure new offerings for the bar. The pair have helped cultivate Seven Grand’s massive whisk(e)y program and fostered relationships with many distillers along the way.
Seven Grand’s private barrel program is one of its biggest draws for whisk(e)y consumers. The bars each carry a handful of exclusive single barrel labels at any given time, and each location buys its barrels individually so the offerings are unique to each venue. Winfield estimates that the flagship Seven Grand in Los Angeles has stocked upwards of 80 single barrel selections in its lifetime, while San Diego has had about 50. “The coolest and most unique thing about Seven Grand is that we have a ton of single barrels,” Winfield says. “We hold a case or two back from every barrel we buy to make sure it’s accessible on the back bar. We look for unique expressions of the distilleries, our palates, and things that would fit uniquely into our program.”
Current single barrel offerings in Los Angeles include a Teeling Irish Single Malt finished in Cognac casks and a Woodinville 100% rye whiskey, meanwhile the list in San Diego spans from a Four Roses OBSQ aged for 10 years and 9 months to a 6-year-old McCarthy’s Oregon Single Malt. In Austin, Texas, single barrel offerings range from Koval rye to a High West Bourbon finished in a Chardonnay cask, and in Denver the bar pours a Maker’s Mark Private Selection aged more than 6 years and a Buffalo Trace aged more than 7 years. Though prices vary widely based on the private barrel selection, most of Seven Grand’s offerings are $14-$50 a 1¾-ounce pour.
Beyond private barrel selections, each Seven Grand location boasts a lengthy list of whiskies from well-known producers and craft distillers, both domestic and abroad. American whiskeys comprise a hefty portion of the offerings and span from Bernheim Wheat whiskey to Elmer T. Lee Bourbon to Traveller whiskey in the California bars. But global whiskies are also popular. The Texas outpost of Seven Grand offers several Scotch labels from Single Cask Nation, as well as Japan’s Fukano whisky, while Denver pours Mortlach 20-year-old and Bruichladdich Octomore 14.1 Scotches. Most whisk(e)y pours fall in the range of $10-$50 a 1¾-ounce pour, though some prestigious labels can reach upwards of $500.
To aid in consumer education, Seven Grand offers several whisk(e)y flights, too. In Denver the bar serves a Heaven Hill Bonded flight that includes pours of Rittenhouse rye, Evan Williams Bonded Bourbon, Mellow Corn whiskey, and Heaven Hill 7-year-old Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon, as well as the Suntory/Beam, comprising pours of Suntory Toki Japanese whisky, Basil Hayden Bourbon, Legent Bourbon, and Maker’s Mark Private Select Bourbon. For Scotch drinkers, the bar offers the Single Malts flight, with pours of Mortlach 12-year-old, Oban 14-year-old, Talisker 10-year-old, and Lagavulin 16-year-old (flights in Denver are $20-$45 for four ¾-ounce pours).
Beyond The Bottle
Whisk(e)y cocktails are also a big draw at Seven Grand, and the bars offer a full list of classics and new creations. Old Fashioneds are the concept’s biggest sellers. Each location’s menu offers a handful of whisk(e)y suggestions for Old Fashioneds, but also lets guests choose their own label if they prefer (the venues’ standard Old Fashioned is $12). Whisk(e)y Highballs are popular too, and Seven Grand was an early adaptor of Suntory’s Highball machine to aid in serving a top-notch version of the drink ($9). Other classic whisk(e)y drinks on the menus include a Manhattan, Sazerac, Mint Julep, Rob Roy, Vieux Carre, and Irish Coffee.
Beyond these staples, Seven Grand also offers a variety of specialty cocktails. Standouts include Austin, Texas’ Fair City ($12), made with Paddy’s Old Irish whiskey, Montenegro amaro, Angostura bitters, grenadine, and lime juice, and San Diego’s Wheated Wonderland ($18), blending Weller Antique 107 Single Barrel Bourbon, Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao liqueur, and Miracle Mile Toasted Pecan bitters.
“There are a ton of whisk(e)y bars out there now, and there were plenty before we opened,” Winfield says. “What differentiates us is the level of hospitality. We take care of people wherever they are, and whisk(e)y happens to be the thing we’re focused on. If we’re being idealistic, we say drink it neat or on the rocks. But if that’s not for you, have an Old Fashioned, and if not that, a Whiskey Sour or Highball. We’re agnostic about how you enjoy whisk(e)y. We just want you to enjoy it.”
Of course, for non- whisk(e)y drinkers, Seven Grand stocks a full selection of other spirits. “We always carry a little bit of most things,” Owen explains. “Agave spirits are blowing up so we carry a couple, just in case. But really, we try to redirect people toward something that fits what they’re looking for, but in a whisk(e)y.” Beer is also present in every location, with both a few globally known brands and a selection of local and regional craft labels offered. Wine is a very minor part of the program, but each Seven Grand does pour one white and one red wine for the consumer who prefers it.
As the Seven Grand concept has grown, so too has its whisk(e)y programming. Each of the bars has its own Whiskey Society, a tasting-based event series held regularly that features different labels and types of whiskies for sampling. The events are often attended by brand representatives and distillers, who talk through the spirits on display and interact with guests.
Without Pretense
Seven Grand and its team of whisk(e)y aficionado employees aim to make their venues approachable for all types of consumers. Each location has a large wall of whisk(e)y on display as a focal point to anchor the bars, and they also have a few design elements that are constant across locations—tartan carpet, woodsmen-style wallpaper, mahogany paneling, and similar finishes and lighting. But the bars also focus on being individual and reflecting their distinct locale.
Winfield describes the Los Angeles Seven Grand as edgy and the San Diego location as more laid back, and both venues house a secondary bar with a more focused whisk(e)y program in a back room of their primary space. The Austin, Texas location is more roughhewn and it reinforces the “everything’s bigger in Texas” vibe with whisk(e)y wall that’s almost double the size of its counterparts in California, while the Denver bar is intimate and cozy, with lower ceilings and seating areas that are tucked away. “Each bar has its own feel and something unique about it, but there’s also a heavy sense that you’re home,” Winfield says. “They’re all cool in their own way, and there’s no question that you’re in a Seven Grand.”
Owen maintains that the Seven Grand concept hasn’t changed much over the course of its 15-plus-year history, and he says that’s intentional. The focus has been and will remain on all things whisk(e)y. Winfield adds that while parent company Pouring With Heart isn’t against adding more locations of the concept, it isn’t actively seeking out expansion opportunities. And he adds that the company—which overall has 17 bars in California, eight in Texas, and three in Colorado—is very selective about choosing new markets as it grows.
“Seven Grand is about community and bringing people together,” Owen says. “We’re all about whisk(e)y for the people. Seven Grand exists as a bar where high heels and sneakers should be living together, and we’ve always offered excellent cocktails and a higher standard of hospitality, specifically to create an environment where we can use the heritage, history, and stories about the bottles behind the bar as a bridge to connect with people. At the end of the day, we want you drinking an Old Fashioned or a glass of whisk(e)y. Everything else is pretension.”