About two weeks ago I spent four glorious days in Kentucky doing what a good bourbon enthusiast would do. Drink bourbon. A quick summary of what transpired
Wednesday – Driving 10 hours from Northern Virginia to Bardstown Kentucky. Dumb jokes, cigars and frequent bathrooms stops. Besides the 4 of us were 28 other bourbon dorks from all 
over the U.S. joining in on the fun with one participant coming all the way from Sweden; now there's dedication for you.
The plan for the evening was a one off tasting of single barrel whiskeys. We had a total of 44 bottles and the criterion for the bottle being included in the tasting was you had to have had a role in the selection process. Amazing that out of 32 participants, we ended up with 44 bottles of pretty darn tasty whiskey (both Rye and Bourbon were represented). I personally had a hand in the selection of 6 out of the 44 which means I bypassed my own stuff and concentrated on selections that up to that evening, I had only heard about. I'll admit that I sampled maybe a third of the bottles as there was just too much to sit and enjoy in one evening, although there were a few brave souls who attempted it. It was a great evening and I was able to meet some folks that I had never met in person yet chatted with many times in various bourbon forums. My two favorite of the evening was a 21 year old Rye and a 12 year Van Winkle Lot B that was Stitzel Weller bourbon.
Next up: Four Roses tasting and luncheon.
Sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWas the rye a Willett?
What are the two bottles in the bottom right corner?
The Willet's were both bourbon and rye; a mix of bottlings over the last 5 years or so and spanning in age from 4-22 yrs old. The two bottles in the lower right corner are samples from a barrel pick from HH, Henry McKenna specifically.
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