North Country Road in Smithtown is part of the route George Washington's spies used to move messages across Long Island during the Revolution. A new tasting room and cocktail lounge at 52 N. Country Road has taken that history as its theme. The Cipher Room pours the spirits of Spy Trail Distillery, a small-batch distiller based in Ronkonkoma, in a room designed as a modern version of an 18th-century spy tavern.

The history behind the name

The Culper Spy Ring was the network of Long Islanders and New Yorkers who gathered intelligence on British forces for Washington from 1778 into the 1780s. Its members carried reports from occupied Manhattan out to Setauket and then across Long Island Sound by whaleboat to the Continental Army in Connecticut, writing in a numbered code and invisible ink. Caleb Brewster, a Setauket native, ran the boats. One member is known to history only by a number, 355.

Spy Trail Distillery says on its site that it draws on that story and on the family's own military connections. The local households that watched British soldiers in the area and passed information along the trail to Washington are the reason for both the distillery's name and the lounge's.

The references run through the menu. One cocktail is named for Brewster. A section of the lounge's site is called The 355 Society.

What is on the menu

The Cipher Room's menu is built around five Spy Trail spirits: a vodka, a gin, a straight bourbon whiskey, a honey bourbon whiskey and a black tea bourbon whiskey. Guests can taste them in flights of three one-ounce pours:

  • Flagship Series: vodka, gin and straight bourbon
  • Bourbon Explorer: straight, black tea and honey bourbon
  • Signature Spy Trail: straight bourbon, black tea bourbon and vodka
  • Coastal Spirits: Sound Gin, vodka and black tea bourbon
  • Sweet and Smooth: honey bourbon, black tea bourbon and vodka
  • Build your own: any three of the five

The cocktail list leans on tea, infusions and house techniques. Brewster's Nightfall Crossing combines bourbon, calvados, amaro, walnut orgeat and apple under a rosemary smoke bubble. Nocturne Black Op is a hazelnut-infused honey bourbon drink with coffee liqueur, creme de cacao and a mocha tea, washed with chocolate ice cream. Squash the Enemy uses a squash-washed bourbon and a squash amaro with Cynar and sweet vermouth. Two drinks, Rhu the Barb and The Pearadox, are force carbonated.

The Cipher Martini mixes gin with sake, shochu and dry vermouth, and the list includes a classic Old Fashioned made with the distillery's bourbon. Beer and wine are also served.

Reservations and walk-ins

The lounge takes reservations through its site and also welcomes walk-ins, saying it will make room for guests who drop by. It is open four nights a week:

  • Thursday, 5 p.m. to late
  • Friday, 4 p.m. to late
  • Saturday, 3 p.m. to late
  • Sunday, 4 p.m. to late

Spy Trail's distillery is at 159 Comac Street in Ronkonkoma.

If you go

The Cipher Room, 52 N. Country Road, Smithtown. Thursday from 5 p.m., Friday and Sunday from 4 p.m., Saturday from 3 p.m. Phone (631) 780-5325. Reservations and the full menu are on thecipherroomny.com. Guests must be 21 or older to drink.

Sources