Some nights during the winter I should be called Cornfriend, because when it’s fa-reezing out there’s nothing better than the brown stuff. The other night was one of those thaw-me nights, so I got some Woodford Reserve bourbon. I like both my drink and my tables reserved.
When it gets really freezing out (like 0 degrees in Chicago in January), I go even deeper with a peaty scotch. But we’ll save that for Scotch Week, coming this winter obvs.
grapefriend 
It really doesn’t get better than bourbon!
it’s just too good!
I agree with you – the brown stuff makes you all warm and fuzzy from the inside out!
one of the only good things about winter…
Love the brown stuff, warm and fuzzy and very contented.
yup!
There is a long list of edibles that I really want to enjoy but my pallet won’t allow it. Olives, hard cheeses, and bourbon :-(. However, I’ve recently come to love a simple little cocktail of bourbon and fresca, who knew? Bourbon…no. Fresca…no. Combine them…YES!
interesting – most people say that about scotch. Bourbon is usually the caramel gateway!
I found out a fascinating fact about bourbon recently, well not necessarily about bourbon per se, but its origins, and why the best bourbons come from Kentucky. I was reading “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell and one of the books essays concerned the historic family feuds of Harlan County. Seems that the original settlers were all Scots or Irish. This not only explains the fiery tempers but also the need for a drop of the hard stuff. Sláinte!
Ah, that totally explains it!
There’s always a bottle of Woodford Reserve in my house, too. We like to have it while sitting around the fire.
I always buy my daddy a bottle of Woodford as part of his Christmas and birthday. It’s perfect for winter.
There’s bourbon in Kentucky for two other big reasons too. First is the limestone in the water. Second is Shay’s Rebellion which happened right after the Revolutionary War. The government taxed whiskey which made the distillers mad and most of them picked up and moved to the wild frontier, of central Kentucky.
Wow, cool to know. Total history ignorance, but where did they move from?
I apologize, I got my post-Revolution rebellions confused. The Whiskey Rebellion was in 1791. Farmers on the frontier, mainly western Pennsylvania around Pittsburgh, came to blows with the federal government when they levied taxes on spirits in an effort to raise money to pay off the Revolutionary War. Many of these folks moved further west, settling into the area around Bardstown, KY. They brought their whiskey making traditions with them, as well as Catholicism. The area where they settled was originally part of Bourbon County. Because their product was so much better than the eastern ones, people started requesting the Bourbon whiskey and the name stuck. Shays Rebellion was actually in 1782 in Massachusettes and had nothing to do with bourbon. I am full of useless historical trivia. And love bourbon. And happen to live in the middle of bourbon country 😉
Aha, thanks! I’d be scared to live in bourbon country. Too good.
Hmmm, you all make bourbon sound like something worth swapping out my cognac for.
I find it easier than cognac, in a candy way. Give it a try, see what you think…
The “0 degrees in January” stopped me in my tracks until I realized you’re talking in Fahrenheit. So, that temperature’s pretty much what we get in Toronto in January, too. Bourbon is not only my favourite winter tipple of choice, it’s my fave spirit period.
I know, I love it! The peaty stuff is what really warms me to the core though!
Love the image. Good find.
cheers!