As I age, winter gets tougher to endure. It gets harder to want to leave the house to socialize. A warm house is here along with a broken couch, a comfortable spouse and the internets. Plus I'm old, cranky and do not like driving at night in the cold, inclement weather.
A few weeks ago an internet acquaintance invited us into a local bourbon group on Facebook which turned into a bourbon club night at someone's house. At first I was not going to go because I was supposed to be reading in Pittsburgh the night of the party. Then I messed up my car and could not justify the travel expense after paying for the repairs. So bourbon club it was. Now me and social phobia was entering the home of a stranger, surrounded by people I mostly do not know except for online with a lot of liquor, and my wife does not really drink bourbon - what could possibly go wrong?
Nothing did! We had a great time. Met some wonderful new people. Had some good snacks and drank some really fine bourbon.
Part of admission was bringing a bottle. My contribution was Even Williams' Single Barrel which was good, but not my favorite of the night. The two that were exciting were Four Roses' Small Batch and its pleasant vanilla finish and one from California I knew nothing about.
Breaking and Entering is not distilled in California but blended there, from a blend of many different sources in Kentucky. A very full, rich and flavorful blend.
Two different people brought a bottle of Michter's Small Batch. There was a bottle of High West, which is distilled in Utah. A disappointment was Basil Hayden's which was all heat and no flavor. The surprise was Wild Turkey 101, which gave me the opportunity to tell about Mennonites who bought it back in the day at East Main Liquors in Fredonia. It's a very flavorful and powerful drink, at a very reasonable price.
It was a fun night. Can't thank our hosts enough. They let a group of friends and strangers invade their home with liquor and nothing got broken! I gave myself very small pours over the course of a few hours, got to try everything and was able to drive home with no problem. Can't wait for the next one, and there may be a sidebar gin party!
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