Logan Smallwood — RyeCentral Lab Mixologist
Logan Smallwood
Hamilton, Ohio
Twelve years behind the stick and Head Bartender at Eyrie Cocktail Lounge — award-winning mixologist, festival bartender, and a firm believer in leaving the pretension behind.
Available for
Logan's Approach Behind the Stick
Twelve years behind the bar have settled Logan on one operating principle: you're never done learning. Running the bar program at Eyrie Cocktail Lounge in Hamilton, Ohio, she keeps an open mind behind the stick, absorbs what's happening around her, and takes inspiration from everything — with a simple goal: be approachable and knowledgeable, and leave the pretension behind.
Her toolkit runs deeper than most working bars — shaken, stirred, built, smoked, fat-washed, batched, clarified, carbonated, and infused, plus low-ABV builds for the lighter moments. It's a range she keeps sharp off the clock too: an award-winning mixologist who also works festival bars at music festivals, and spends her free time deep-diving into new techniques.
How Logan Found Rye
Rye has always been present in Logan's family — a staple at family gatherings. "I love the warmth and spices and the depth it provides," she says. It's the pour she grew up around, and the one she never left.
Her go-to bottle is Castle & Key Restoration Rye — "woman owned, affordable for quality," as she puts it, malt-forward with citrus and spices blending together for approachability. Behind the bar she splits the work: Old Forester Single Barrel Rye when the drink is stirred, Monks Road when it's shaken, and the Sazerac as the classic she reaches for first.
Logan's Signature: The Red Wine Manhattan
A Manhattan gone vinous — a spiced red wine reduction folded into Monks Road rye
Ingredients
- 2 oz Monks Road Rye
- 1/2 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
- 1/2 oz spiced red wine reduction
- 2 dashes orange bitters
Method (Logan's words)
- Grab your glass and chill it (ice and soda water)
- Grab your mixing vessel
- Add all ingredients listed above with ice
- Stir your cocktail (30–45 turns)
- Dump out ice and water from glassware
- Strain cocktail into prepped glass
- Garnish & enjoy!
RyeCentral Lab Tested
Cocktails from Logan’s Wheelhouse
Lab-tested builds that match how Logan works — the classic she reaches for first, and the Manhattan her signature riffs on. Click either to read the full guide.
Rye Sazerac
Rye Manhattan
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Available for
Bookings · Collaborations · Consulting
Get in Touch with Logan
Booking a bar, planning a tasting, or want to talk shop? Drop Logan a note or say hi over on Instagram.
Email lands in Logan's inbox directly. Allow a day or two for a reply.
In Logan's Words
Q. What makes a good cocktail?
Knowledge, balance, freshness.
Q. Why do you do what you do?
Mixology is my art form. The feeling when I create something unique, beautiful, and balanced — and having others to share and enjoy it with — brings me so much joy.
Q. Where do we find you when you're not behind the bar?
You can find me at a concert, or at home with my family.
Q. If you could bartend anywhere in the world, where would you?
New Orleans — the history, the culture, THE FOOD.
Q. A quote you pour by?
"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o'clock in a mostly empty bar... Have a negroni. Have two... Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride." — Anthony Bourdain
Community Reviews
Worked with Logan? Tell us how it went.
Booked Logan for an event, sat at her bar at Eyrie Cocktail Lounge, or built her Red Wine Manhattan at home? Leave a rating and review — verified RyeCentral Lab entries are tagged.
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What Logan Brings Behind the Stick
- Twelve years behind the stick — Head Bartender at Eyrie Cocktail Lounge, Hamilton, Ohio
- Never done learning — an open mind behind the bar, taking inspiration from everything
- Knowledge, balance, freshness — her three-word test for a good cocktail
- Techniques in deep rotation — shaken, stirred, built, smoked, fat-washed, batched, clarified, carbonated, infused, and low-ABV
- Castle & Key Restoration Rye as the go-to pour; Old Forester Single Barrel stirred, Monks Road shaken
- Award-winning mixologist and festival bartender, with the Sazerac as her first-call classic
Logan's Mission Behind the Bar
Logan's mission is the simplest one in mixology and also the hardest to do consistently: approachable, knowledgeable, pretension-free. Mixology is her art form — creating something unique, beautiful, and balanced, then having others to share and enjoy it with. That, in her words, is the joy of the job.
Here's to your and Logan's next Rye discovery! 🍾
Explore the rye reviews and cocktail builds Logan's pulling from
Browse All Rye Whiskey ReviewsProfile compiled from Logan's application · RyeCentral Lab Mixologists Program
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