![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whisky club and more whisky
Jun. 1st, 2017 10:59 pmLast night was whisky club. We had four 18-year Scotch whiskies. It was quite good. Oh, and we also had a 25-year Ardbeg. Amazing!
I know most of the people in the club pretty well. Some of us are making plans to get together next week. But I sat next to a new guy. He happened to mention he was going to a bourbon tasting in West Bend the next night. Funny enough, my dad and I were going to it as well.
So this insurance company in nearby West Bend (fun fact: people from West Bend are known as Benders. I did not know this.) was holding a fundraiser for the MACC Fund. Milwaukee Athletes against Childhood Cancer, I think it stands for. They were having a bourbon tasting, presented by Fred Noe, the great grandson of Jim Beam himself. In addition to that, they had a bunch of restaurants out presenting smoked meats. And items for sale and auction. My stepsister and I chipped in to buy a ticket for my dad for Father's Day. And since he was going, I had to go.
It was a rather exclusive event. You kinda had to know somebody, or work for the company. It was really expensive, being a fundraiser... put on by an insurance company. So everyone there seemed rich. There were a few young, tattooed people, casually dressed, apparently with disposable income, but most seemed to be older people, with good-paying jobs. The guy I met the previous night was invited by his friend the CEO.
The weather was amazing for this time of year. It really couldn't have been any better. 76° and sunny. Only a slight breeze. I got there a little after 5:00. All the meat companies were set up with their smokers. Brisket, pork tips, pulled pork, smoked salmon, smoked trout, smoke cheese, pork belly, you name it. So that was good, but the sign indicated dinner would be served later.
So then we had the tasting. Fred Noe put on a good show. He's kind of an old-timer, who grew up around the distillery. His dad was Booker Noe, if that name means anything to you. He had a lot of entertaining stories. And he used a lot of cuss words. :-) But he was able to work in a lot of good whisky info. And the whisky was... good. I'm not a huge bourbon fan, but it was good to taste them side-by-each (as they say in the south). There were over 300 people there, but nobody wanted to sit at the table right up front, because it looked like the VIP table, I guess, so my dad and I sat there. We weren't joined by anybody until a family arrived late and it was the only place left.
So then we went outside for dinner. We had a double-thick pork chop with roasted Brussels sprouts and red potatoes. There were little jars of barbecue sauce on the table, of which I took one home, even though I had to fight one of the servers for it. She was like, "well, I don't know!" and I was like, "yeah, I'm keeping this." And then miniature bourbon chocolate pecan pies for dessert. I'm glad they were very small. I still feel stuffed. Man, those pork chops were like 2-1/2 inches thick!
They had a band playing - Copper Box, who I've seen a couple of times. They're always fun.
And there was my new friend Tom. It was good that I actually (sorta) knew someone besides my dad. We talked with him a little bit. He's this totally type-A personality, really friendly.
I know most of the people in the club pretty well. Some of us are making plans to get together next week. But I sat next to a new guy. He happened to mention he was going to a bourbon tasting in West Bend the next night. Funny enough, my dad and I were going to it as well.
So this insurance company in nearby West Bend (fun fact: people from West Bend are known as Benders. I did not know this.) was holding a fundraiser for the MACC Fund. Milwaukee Athletes against Childhood Cancer, I think it stands for. They were having a bourbon tasting, presented by Fred Noe, the great grandson of Jim Beam himself. In addition to that, they had a bunch of restaurants out presenting smoked meats. And items for sale and auction. My stepsister and I chipped in to buy a ticket for my dad for Father's Day. And since he was going, I had to go.
It was a rather exclusive event. You kinda had to know somebody, or work for the company. It was really expensive, being a fundraiser... put on by an insurance company. So everyone there seemed rich. There were a few young, tattooed people, casually dressed, apparently with disposable income, but most seemed to be older people, with good-paying jobs. The guy I met the previous night was invited by his friend the CEO.
The weather was amazing for this time of year. It really couldn't have been any better. 76° and sunny. Only a slight breeze. I got there a little after 5:00. All the meat companies were set up with their smokers. Brisket, pork tips, pulled pork, smoked salmon, smoked trout, smoke cheese, pork belly, you name it. So that was good, but the sign indicated dinner would be served later.
So then we had the tasting. Fred Noe put on a good show. He's kind of an old-timer, who grew up around the distillery. His dad was Booker Noe, if that name means anything to you. He had a lot of entertaining stories. And he used a lot of cuss words. :-) But he was able to work in a lot of good whisky info. And the whisky was... good. I'm not a huge bourbon fan, but it was good to taste them side-by-each (as they say in the south). There were over 300 people there, but nobody wanted to sit at the table right up front, because it looked like the VIP table, I guess, so my dad and I sat there. We weren't joined by anybody until a family arrived late and it was the only place left.
So then we went outside for dinner. We had a double-thick pork chop with roasted Brussels sprouts and red potatoes. There were little jars of barbecue sauce on the table, of which I took one home, even though I had to fight one of the servers for it. She was like, "well, I don't know!" and I was like, "yeah, I'm keeping this." And then miniature bourbon chocolate pecan pies for dessert. I'm glad they were very small. I still feel stuffed. Man, those pork chops were like 2-1/2 inches thick!
They had a band playing - Copper Box, who I've seen a couple of times. They're always fun.
And there was my new friend Tom. It was good that I actually (sorta) knew someone besides my dad. We talked with him a little bit. He's this totally type-A personality, really friendly.
