How a once-in-a-lifetime bourbon tasting experience made me stop taking things for granted

Do you remember the last big event you went to before COVID? For most of us, it's impossible to forget, right?

For me, it was the Bourbon Classic the last weekend of February 2020. We were hearing news of this scary virus working its way around the world and it was real enough that I remember thinking maybe we should have some hand sanitizer available. The story I wrote about the Pappy Van Winkle tasting night would be — although I didn’t know it at the time as I clicked away on my laptop with the previous night’s bourbon still swirling through my veins — the last article I wrote about Louisville’s food and drink scene before our world imploded.

The annual event dedicated to all things bourbon had become a staple for me, and for the industry, by 2020. Enough so that I admit I may have begun to take it for granted. I know, I know, people would probably commit heinous crimes to get their hands on a taste of the Pappy 20 year, and that year my friend and I just wandered away from our pour.

I blithely indulged in all the weekend had to offer, not an inkling of premonition that the ability to, oh, say, sit elbow to elbow in a room full of people sipping cocktails that Molly Wellman of Japp’s cocktail bar in Cincinnati made right in front of us would be ripped away from us.

In hindsight, I didn’t appreciate the weekend nearly enough. 

Going into this year’s Bourbon Classic, then, I determined to drink it all in, even including judging the small plates and cocktail competition again. (I opted out of judging events a long time ago because nobody needs to eat and drink that much in one sitting!). 

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But what would it be like? I wondered. Would it be weird? How would it feel to be surrounded by people, drinking bourbon? 

Honestly? It felt absolutely amazing.

If living through a pandemic has taught me one thing, it’s to be grateful and to appreciate all of life’s pleasures. So when the media camp portion of the event kicked off with a tour and tasting at Michter’s Fort Nelson distillery in downtown Louisville, I was riding high, and not from the seven(!) cocktails we sampled with breakfast.

In fact, if anything, it seemed that at this ninth Bourbon Classic media camp, my journalist friends and I have settled down a bit. Maybe we’re older, maybe we’ve gained a different perspective, but rather than the raucous party that our bus turned into after a few tastings in those early days, now we’re mellow — more nine-year bourbon than fiery new moonshine.

That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy every sip. The morning began with a tasting of the coveted Michter’s 20-year bourbon, a pour that a fellow writer said would be her last drink on earth. It’s still too big to wrap my head around the fact that a drink at the 2020 event could have been mine or anyone’s last drink, but that notion is still there, however subconsciously. And I can get behind that pick — this was the perfect breakfast bourbon. 

It was also so lovely to settle around a table in the sun-drenched Bar at Fort Nelson to a soundtrack of cocktail shakers shaking, and the hum and buzz of conversation. Just clinking glasses with friends I hadn’t seen in going on two years for a toast is still enough of a novelty to spark ear-to-ear smiles. 

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The three-day event was packed with moments like that, from following Buffalo Trace hero Freddie Johnson around the distillery grounds where a $1.2 billion expansion is clear proof that the world is still spinning and we’re all still drinking bourbon; to one reunion after another with chefs and bartenders at the Cocktail & Culinary Challenge, where Louisville’s best and brightest served up pairings to hundreds of happy attendees. Even settling into a packed room for cocktail lessons from experts like Paul Clarke of Imbibe magazine was intoxicating.

And since the pandemic can never really be far from mind, event organizers required proof of vaccination from all attendees, so I felt as comfortable and safe as I probably will ever be able to.

But above all, the event just felt joyous. It reminded me of everything I love about bourbon: the camaraderie of geeking out with other bourbon fans over, say, Buffalo Trace dropping the ‘Jr’ from its Stagg Jr; the marvel of finding a new favorite cocktail (hello Michter’s South Point with lemon, peach, and pistachio), bopping from table to table at 21c Museum Hotel comparing tasting notes on the Pappy Van Winkle line-up with strangers; soaking up the heavy scent of angel’s share and perfect golden light of a rickhouse, and the incomparable warmth of that Kentucky hug when you sip our native spirit. 

I look forward to next year’s 10th Bourbon Classic, but for me, the 2021 edition will hold a place in my heart as the one where we came back to life. The first cocktail we tried that first morning at Michter’s summed it up: Wake Up To Slow Down. The (very tasty!) drink itself starred Michter's rye with chamomile, sherry, pear, and honey.

But the sentiment perfectly distills how it feels to be emerging from the grip of pandemic life — bourbon in hand. 

Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @bourbonbarbarella on Instagram.