Good grief, I haven’t written about bourbon in quite a while, huh? Well, don’t worry – even if I haven’t been talking about bourbon, I’ve certainly been drinking it! Check the Instagram account if you need proof! So, let’s catch up on a couple recent bourbon adventures.
First off, my secret plot for a PPC reunion.
What could be better – bourbon and shenanigans with the original trio: Uncle Chris, the Husband and me! It started last fall when Uncle Chris and I talked about him coming up to visit us. That’s really the best gift I could give the Husband – a fun weekend with one of his best friends. Blah blah, it didn’t work out.
Fast forward to spring and finally Chris was able to make it happen. Like I said, originally this PPC reunion was gonna be a huge surprise for the Husband. I had outdone myself if I do say so myself. I had it all figured out. Uncle Chris and I worked out his travel details and I kept the itinerary on my phone instead of our shared family calendar.
As soon as we started talking dates, I began collecting every strangely flavored chip I could find. I live in a smallish town where some of the store employees recognize me – I can only imagine what they must think of my eating habits, hah!
Next, I called my trusty work wife Julie (the husbands work together). Jimmy put in the vacation day and even cleared it with the boss. Doesn’t sound like much, but it is when the Husband runs the vacation calendar!
Anywho, life happened and keeping it a surprise didn’t work out. When the Husband found out about the sneaking around I’d been doing, he said, ‘It’s maybe alarming how well you keep secrets from me!’ But I had the best of intentions, don’t you think?
When he saw the obscene collection of chips in the trunk of my car, I feebly said, well, I had to hide them so I don’t open any bags. Can you believe he bought it?? Wait a sec, that example proves my sneaking abilities aren’t all that sophisticated! Hiding bags of chips in the car? Come on.
So, no surprise. It’s ok, we can still have a fun weekend, right? Brisket BBQ pizza, Whiskey of the Month, Happy Hour, and of course lots of chips and cake! Oops, nope. Wait. Uncle Chris showed up with a little friend – a nasty stomach bug that hit HARD on the first night – PPC night. So much for the food and beverage free-for-all I had organized.
With Uncle Chris being down for the count, most of our plans got squashed. I did manage to still go up to Whiskey Acres, just without my posse. Yes, it’s a bit of a hike from my house, but so worth it! Even if I didn’t have friends meeting me there, it’s like my very own Cheers (except for the tiny detail of it being over an hour away…). I’m not joking – I got waves, shouts and hugs when I walked in and that was before they knew I’d brought cake!!
Naturally, Gina is one of the friends I invited to meet up. As you can imagine, her eldest, J, got bored with the tour pretty quickly. So I brought him back to the tasting room. When we walked in, again, it was a huge warm welcome – seriously, cheers and shouts. Tell me you wouldn’t love that reception! Tasty drinks, good company, s’mores and even a couple freebies – it doesn’t get better than that.
We did manage to round out PPC weekend with dinner at Byway Brewing and even introduced the kids to the classic game of Battleship before Uncle Chris and his stomach bug headed home.
Ok, onto the next adventure!
Hot off the heels of the PPC weekend, I hit up WhiskyX at their Chicago event. I don’t quite remember where I heard about this event, but really, who cares about that teeny detail. A whiskey tasting with brands I’ve never tried? Yes, please!
Plus, the stars and the cosmos or whatever agreed I should go: no schedule conflicts, the Husband was available to get the kids from school, and my original bourbon buddy, LP, was willing to go.
You know what that means? A mommy-break! Oh and I grabbed the tickets on the right day – the site applied some discount code which meant I didn’t pay full price.
Here’s the skinny on this event – a bunch of brand ambassadors, whiskey/ whisky tastings, and a bunch of food trucks lining the entrance. Oh and a band playing when the tastings end. Not a bad Friday, right?
It was surprisingly cold and drizzly and since we couldn’t wait inside for the event to begin, LP and I hit up the food trucks and then ducked under a bridge to eat like idiots. Sounds terrible but it was sorta funny. A memorable way to pass the time, if nothing else!
A coat check would’ve been nice, but I came prepared: a coat that folds up tiny, and my own swag bag. I’d show you my starter swag – a nice little tasting glass – but I can’t find it! LP: please tell me you have it!
My main highlight? Irish Whiskey! My first intro was Jameson shots at age 22; it was not love at first sight. Now, after WhiskyX (and sampling a couple Irish brands with Lindsay in April!), I know I can walk into a store or restaurant and happily choose Powers or Green Spot.
Other random highlights: I got to try Wild Turkey Decades – the rep there had never even seen Wild Turkey Forgiven so I got to tell her how I have not one, but two bottles of that gem! I found myself trapped in strange conversations with a petite Asian lady while drinking all the offerings from Compass Box. I even talked beer with the Guinness rep (I still don’t understand having a beer table at a whiskey event!) and received the t-shirt off the back of the gal at The Singleton table!
Of course as conversations go, my favorite has to be the 25 freezing minutes while LP smoked one of the free cigars they were handing out. There’s nothing quite like listening to the ups and downs of bachelor life!
Here’s my one gripe – they were supposed to pour till 9:30 but they stopped at 9. WTF! If I had known, I would’ve been more ruthless with my time so I could get to a few more tables – there are definitely some brands I wanted to try! Luckily I make up for a lack of photos by making a few whiskey friends.
One such friend is the lovely lady who runs the Chicago chapter of Women Who Whiskey. I’m guessing that will more than make up for the whiskeys I missed; stay tuned!
Great bourbon adventures!