Whenever I finish a few conference days on the trot, my first thought is always “Where can I get a whisky?” Perhaps unsurprisingly that whisky was at my hotel on Saturday night, but I wasn’t at the hotel bar…
This was a special underground spirits bar provided by the ‘Wizard of Whiskey’ Justin Koury. Where I happily found whisky from Scotland, Ireland, Canada and, of course, plenty of Bourbon. And he didn’t just have whisky…
Justin had pulled together four tables worth of spirits including Vermouth, Gin, Vodka, Rum, Honey Wine, Moonshine, and many more handcrafted and flavoured liquors I couldn’t keep track of. But Justin could keep track – even after three pond evenings on the trot pouring for thirsty bloggers – he had all the information to hand and little gifts and giveaways for us too.
I know I was immensely grateful to walk into an Aladdin’s cave of creative and diverse spirits, and even more so to learn a bit more about the craft spirits scene that is taking the US by storm.
It was a great compliment to the wine blogger’s conference, and a welcome drink at the end of the day. But what impressed me most is that Justin had prepared a special spirits room for his fellow bloggers just for fun. It’s a lot of work to pull together as extensive a tasting as the he did, and to be there attentively pouring each night (after a long day’s conference activities) is no mean feat.
That to me shows real bloggers spirit. Cheers Wizard!
