Tonight was amazing. We hosted 20+ of our friends for Pappy's Pizza Party. So much whiskey, pizza, and ice cream.

I have no patience for pretentiousness when it comes to whisky. So we thought, how should we take the piss out of the aura around Pappy Van Winkle, BTAC, and the like? The answer - pair it with pizza and ice cream!

So we ordered a number of pizzas from our favorite local joint, Blue Square Pizza, as well as several frozen pizzas from St. Louis and Chicago - Imo's, Giordano's & Lou Malnati's. We had salad which was mostly veggies from our local CSA, Small Farm.

Dessert was ice cream from the BEST place around - Erikson's Ice Cream. And chocolate from Goodnow Farms.

I put out some nice Glenmorangie, the Compass Box Whisky Hedonism 10th Anniversary, some Willett, Van Winkle from the 10 through the 23, the BTAC collection circa 2012, and a few others.

Friends brought even more pizza, a chocolate cream pie, cookies, a Four Roses Single Barrel, several bottles of Weller, a Penelope, and more I'm probably forgetting. We had a lot of whisky.

We ended up pulling out the Glenmorangie Milsean to compare with the Harrison Ford. The Middle West Spirits Pumpernickel Rye and Ported Pumpernickel for a few who hadn't yet tried them, same for the Copper & Cask Roxie and The Doctor Is In, and even more.

And we killed the Pappy 23!

Fantastic evening - good food, good whisky, and good friends.

Whisky is for sharing, not for staring.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Bourbon #Rye #Glenmorangie #CompassBox #Willett #BTAC #PappyVanWinkle #BuffaloTraceAntiqueCollection #MiddleWestSpirits #CopperAndCask

Recent pickups from Julio's Liquors and Burlington Wine And Spirits

From Julio's I grabbed several recent Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society picks:
- Bully Boy Distillers 'Wicked Dahka' Single Barrel Bottled-In-Bond Straight Bourbon
- Rittenhouse Rye 'Orange Crush' Straight Rye
- Proof and Wood Tumblin' Dice 'The Big Papi' 11-year Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon
- Middle West Spirits '38 Special' Single Barrel Straight Rye *Dark Pumpernickel*

If you missed out on the 38 Special, I'm sorry. I love rye, and this dark pumpernickel is fantastic. Just different from other ryes and very interesting, a great dram. Middle West does have a pumpernickel rye in their core lineup, which is also great, as long as you can catch it when it is in stock. They sell out fast

We tried these at the recent Middle West Whisk(e)y Wednesday at Julio's Liquors, and everything was great. I tried to be responsible and limit myself, but I did also end up grabbing their Double Cask Collection Ported Pumpernickel Rye. This is their pumpernickel rye that gets secondary aging in French tawny port casks.

The port brings a whole different depth and experience. I wouldn't say better or worse, just different. I really enjoyed both - obviously, given I bought both - but your palate may vary.

And this past week's WW was Maker's Mark, and we all brought home a 375ml of the standard Maker's Mark Bourbon. It's a solid bourbon, can't complain.

I was also over at Burlington Wine recently for a rum event and picked up a couple of bottles that had arrived since the last time I was there. They're both independent bottlings of Hampden Estate Rum, a favorite of mine.

The Colours of Rum Jamaica 1998 HD Edition No.6 Cask 6 23-year Cask Strength Rum

Raising Glasses & Nobilis Rum Papilio 6-year Single Cask, Cask Strength Rum

The Papilio is the C<>H (C Diamond H) mark, the 7th heaviest out of the eight marks Hampden distills, so it has some character. You don't often see the heavier marks bottled outside of a blend. The 1998 HD is HLCF (Hampden Light Continental Flavored), the fourth of the eight marks, and one that is quite commonly bottled by itself.

#Whisky #Whiskey #Bourbon #Rye #Rum #BullyBoy #Rittenhouse #ProofAndWood #TumblinDice #MiddleWestSpirits #MakersMark #HampdenEstate #TheColoursOfRum #RaisingGlasses #NobilisRum

To Toast America's Birthday, They Blended Bourbon From Every State

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/dining/drinks/united-states-of-bourbon-blend-lost-lantern.html

#Bourbon #Whiskey #USA

Today’s Cocktail: The Improved Whisky Cocktail

https://sam.upstate.blog/cocktails/2026/todays-cocktail-the-improved-whisky-cocktail/

Happy National Bourbon Day!

One of these will be cracked. Or my Bookers. Or…

#bourbon

NOW PLAYING == Simply Symons 6/12/26 Michael Symon's Favorite Sweet and Salty Summer Starter

https://youtu.be/GcmyjuzWJ0U?si=fSw167QniWDdjk55

#arts #peace #food #cooking #radio #resist #vsn #ChewedUp #Michael Symon #LizSymon #burger #bourbon #DiverseSpectrumOfTheLeft #SupportIndependentMedia

Hurray, hurray for the 14th of June, National Bourbon Day. Yeah, it doesn't rhyme. So what. Gonna do something about it tough guy, or do you just talk big

https://www.mashed.com/2186051/best-old-school-bourbon-cocktails/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=fark&ICID=ref_fark

#food #drinks #alcohol #cocktails #bourbon #spiffy

#TipsFromMasterCriminals: Often the ability to just blend in and look like a regular worker can help a heist. It also helps when the company says fuck it and "several other standard security checks were skipped."

> Thieves posed as delivery drivers to steal $500,000 in bourbon from a Philly warehouse https://qz.com/noble-oak-bourbon-theft-philadelphia-warehouse-060926

#Bourbon #whiskey #crime

> Kentucky man accused of scamming rare bourbon buyers with juice https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/kentucky-man-accused-of-scamming-rare-bourbon-buyers-with-juice/

There really is a sucker born every minute.

#KentuckyProud #bourbon #scams #crime #whiskey