We Asked 4 Experts To Pair Pasta And Whiskey. Here’s What They Recommended

Pasta, how do you do it? How can the humble noodle be so versatile and comforting? While there are various starches to choose from, pasta manages to elevate any combination of ingredients in the most cohesive final dish. However, despite pasta’s perfection, you may still find yourself noodling around, wondering how to take a pasta dish from incredibly delicious to mind-bogglingly outstanding. In that case, you need to pair it with some booze, specifically with whiskey. And before you start mixing and matching like a culinary scientist, let the experts lead you in the right direction.

I had the pleasure of getting insight from some experts who know a thing or two about food and whiskey pairings: Greg Garrison, chef and partner of Prohibition Charleston, Alba Huerta, owner of Julep Houston, Brian Landry, chef and co-owner of QED Hospitality, and Dennis Prescott, chef and author of “Cook With Confidence: Over 100 Inspiring Recipes to Cook and Eat Together.” While they all come from different backgrounds, they all share one idea; there is a beauty in finding the perfect food and drink combination.

In the case of whiskey and pasta, there are a lot of elements to consider, but focusing on heartier pasta dishes should be your starting point. From there, finding a whiskey that complements the ingredients rather than stepping on them will make your pairing sing. Lean into creativity and look beyond the typical pairings you’re used to, and the pasta-bilities really are endless.

Lobster is one of those proteins that no matter what dish it’s part of, it automatically makes it a fancy one. Sure, you can order a salad, and that’s all well and good. But when you order a salad with lobster? Now we’ve got a whole new upper-crust dish happening. When it comes to presenting an elevated pasta dish featuring this succulent seafood, lobster pappardelle with a saffron butter sauce is the answer. Rich and decadent, it can only be complimented further with an equally indulgent whiskey: Eagle Rare bourbon.

A bourbon known for being bold yet delicate, with notes of toasted almonds, caramel, and dark chocolate, Eagle Rare is an ideal pairing for this pasta dish. “Whiskey pairs nicely with rich and creamy dishes,” said Greg Garrison. “Saffron has a tobacco-like element that works really well with this whiskey.” In this case, the saffron butter sauce provides that creamy, slightly smoky element for the pasta, and the lobster, which is able to hold its own from a flavor and texture perspective, is complemented nicely by a bourbon that is equally as delicate but straightforward in its flavor.

Spaghetti carbonara is one of those dishes that can come off as complicated, but when you break it down into its separate parts — egg, pancetta, Parmesan, and that oh-so-important pasta cooking water — it’s actually just a matter of timing more than anything else. For this rich pasta, Alba Huerta recommends reaching for something elegant to pair with, like Redbreast 12. “The whiskey’s sherry and toasted notes bring subtle complexity to the dish,” said Huerta. “It offers nuanced barrel flavors that enhance the pasta’s robust characteristics without overpowering them. Complex and deeply flavorful with a hint of spice and fruit, Redbreast 12 and carbonara manage to go hand in hand quite beautifully.

The beauty of a dish of pasta carbonara isn’t just in its simplicity, but in its versatility, and that goes for its ability to pair with more than one type of whiskey. For Brian Landry, carbonara is almost designed for pairing with Basil Hayden, a lower proof bourbon with notes of brown sugar and black pepper and a clean, pleasant finish. Landry uses Benton’s bacon, known for its deeply smoky flavor, in his carbonara, to pair with the charred oak notes in the bourbon.

When pairing whiskey with food, Brian Landry considers a few different elements to ensure that the flavors in the dish and in the glass complement one another. Specifically, the flavors in the corn, the amount of char or smoke, and any sweet or savory elements. For a dish like smoked lamb pappardelle, with a nod to BBQ mutton and the traditions of Kentucky BBQ, the savory elements come through in the lamb, which is smoky and a little gamey but can hold its own in a dish. As such, the best way to enhance the dish even further is to find a bourbon that can show off the flavors of the lamb without washing anything out.

To achieve this mastery, Landry suggests pairing it with Booker’s bourbon. Safe to say, Booker’s isn’t a beginner’s bourbon — all of Booker’s expressions are barrel-strength, uncut and unfiltered — meaning the flavors are strong and robust. However, for a dish like smoked lamb pappardelle, which is rich with flavor and smoke, Booker’s expression is ideal. The 2024-01 “Springfield” bourbon is deep and complex, with notes of vanilla, oak, and smoke, and when paired with the smoky pappardelle pasta, it makes for a complete and well-balanced bite each time.

There are a lot of different foods to consider when seeking out a comforting meal, but nothing quite hits like a simple mac and cheese. Rich and decadent, mac and cheese is like a blank, cheesy canvas with which to build upon and find that perfect combination for ultimate comfort and ooey-gooey perfection. Different cheese combinations and added veggies and proteins can certainly prove to take a good dish and make it great, but Dennis Prescott likes to go for the most decadent of add-ins: lobster. And how better to pair a decadent bowl of lobster mac and cheese than with a glass of something just as indulgent?

“A sweet and smooth bourbon with tasting notes like caramel, vanilla, and oak is the ideal pairing for a super-rich, comfort-packed dish like mac and cheese,” said Prescott. Smooth and deeply flavored, Jefferson’s Ocean is that bourbon. Notes of light brown sugar and sea salt in the bourbon dial everything up to reach deeper and more savory notes in each bite. Prescott recommends using aged cheddar and an herby topping on the mac and cheese to provide another layer of bright and complex flavor.

Lasagna recipes are certainly steeped in rich, nonna-led tradition, but they have the ability to be tweaked and changed ever-so-slightly to turn an already delicious pasta creation into one that really can’t be missed. Dennis Prescott turns typical lasagna on its head, using a smoked Bolognese for a hearty meat element, bechamel sauce, and, of course, plenty of cheese. The construction of the lasagna is what you would expect, but the smoked Bolognese is where the beauty in this dish lies, infusing an extra layer of richness to the ground beef, Italian sausage, and myriad of herbs and spices. When paired with a glass of Macallan Double Cask 12, those rich, smoky flavors turn from a chorus into a symphony.

“I love to pair this with a smooth and slightly peaty scotch,” notes Prescott. “The rich bechamel, cheese, and Bolognese in the lasagna help balance the pairing, with subtle notes of smoke sneaking through from the Bolognese.” Delightfully smooth with notes of spice, wood, and dried fruit, Macallan Double Cask 12 brings in a smoky and slightly sweet sip to contrast with the rich, unctuous smoked beef and Italian sausage Bolognese. Paired with a warm fire and a cozy blanket, this pasta and scotch pairing is comfort in every possible sense of the word.

Pasta is really an open-ended category, with a seemingly infinite amount of noodles, sauce, and toppings combinations to play with. That said, there’s something extra special about a filled pasta like agnolotti; what some (okay, me) may consider a small dumpling filled with joy. In the case of Brian Landry’s sweet corn agnolotti, his small dumplings are filled with joy and sweet corn and topped with a brown butter sauce infused with smoky country ham and sage. Delicate yet packed with flavor and decadence, it’s only right to pair this corn-focused pasta with Knob Creek 9-Year bourbon, a spirit that is equally as devoted to the corn in its own recipe. 

“For this pairing, I focus on the corn,” said Landry. “The creaminess of the corn puree and the nuttiness of the brown butter pairs extremely well with the vanilla and caramel notes of the bourbon.” From there, the addition of country ham only helps to add more richness and delicate smoke to the dish, with the sage lending its mellow, earthy qualities for balance.

Is there anything quite as lovely as a pasta dish that only has four ingredients? Despite its elegance and stunning appearance when it’s brought out to you in a bowl (or, if you’re lucky, inside an actual wheel of pecorino Romano cheese), cacio e pepe, which means “cheese and pepper” in Italian, requires pasta, salted water, freshly ground black pepper, and pecorino Romano. For Alba Huerta, it’s the honesty and simplicity that comes with a really good bowl of cacio e pepe that lends it to pair so effortlessly with a simple and honest bourbon like Maker’s Mark.

Maker’s Mark is classic in every sense of the word: handcrafted in Kentucky, Maker’s Mark is a no-nonsense bourbon that has essentially set the standard for quality American whiskey. “It’s a wheated bourbon and a timeless classic, just like the dish,” says Huerta. “The proof is perfect for the flavors of the dish to not be overpowered.” It’s this balance of flavor in both the pasta and the whiskey which is crucial for the pairing; something as simple as cacio e pepe needs to be supported, not outshined. Luckily, the sweet balance of oak and vanilla with a soft, creamy finish in the Maker’s Mark is just what the chef ordered, acting as a complement to the peppery, cheesy pasta rather than overshadowing it entirely.

If you’re unfamiliar with orecchiette pasta, it’s time to listen up, literally. Italian for “little ears,” orecchiette noodles are shaped like tiny little bowls, acting as the perfect pasta to catch a hearty sauce, ground meat, little pools of oil, or just about anything else delicious making its way into your pasta dish of choice. In Alba Huerta’s recipe for orecchiette with broccoli rabe, anchovies, and ricotta, there are a lot of flavors and textures going on, all of which are begging for a whiskey to balance it out just right. Savory and briny from the anchovies, creamy from the ricotta, and a hint of bitterness from the broccoli rabe, the ideal whiskey pairing is something a little more delicate and light, like Kaigan 12.

A Japanese whiskey made in the style of scotch, Kaigan 12 has light floral notes, with hints of toasted oak and tropical fruit to cut through the richness of the anchovies and broccoli rabe for a bite that is balanced without cutting out any of the important flavor elements. It’s this marriage of bold and delicate that ends up being so ideal, proving that even in pasta and whiskey pairings, opposites can and do attract. “Japanese whiskies can be delicate, floral, and herbaceous,” notes Huerta, “which makes it so interesting for this savory dish.”