New guy here

[Odiedog52]

Hey all .. New guy here writing from Haiti. I'm in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division deployed down here for disaster relief. I'm stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina .. But I'm originally from just south of Seattle, WA where I will be moving back to when I get out in 7 months.

Honestly, I'm not a huge bourbon guy ... Yet! Most of all, I'm a huge craft beer fanatic. One of my favorite being big imperial stouts .. And even more so, big imperial stouts aged in bourbon barrels. One of my favorites is Foothills Sexual Chocolate (Winston-Salem, NC) aged in 23 Year Old Pappy Van Winkle barrels... An it imparts such an amazing flavor, I had to try the bourbon behind the beer. Down here in Haiti, I get pretty bored and tool around on my iPhone and I'm super impulsive when it comes to alcohol. I started looking at PVW 23 .. Then I found the ORVW 23 Decanter .. And the fact that it was put into barrels the same month and year I was born and I couldn't say no. It's pretty cool having a bottle of bourbon almost exactly (within a week or two .. I'd love to know the exact date!) as old as I am.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty new to bourbon so I have no intention of opening this anytime soon until I'm ready for it and when I get back, I'll start working my way up to it.

Besides beer, I'm also into wine (my brother is a sommelier) and into various other spirits, though beer is my passion. I have a huge beer collection with some of the most sought after beers out there. I also have some various rare samples of different spirits .. Martell cognac from 1900, Invergordon 40 yo scotch, Port Ellen 82, Octomore scotch, Canto Cask 46, Del Maguey Mezcal, and some absinthe. Pretty much I love alcohol.

Aside from being in the army, I'm also an owner of and the beer editor for Mutineer Magazine (www.mutineermagazine.com ), a nationally distributed fine beverage magazine. We cover all things fine beverage .. Beer, wine, spirits, etc .. Even coffee and tea. If fact, a few issues back, Makers Mark invited one of our writers down to visit and he wrote the spirits feature about them.

So I suppose that's about it .. I won't be too active on here until I get back from Haiti .. But I look forward to getting into and learning more about bourbon!

cheers!

And any weird typos ... I apologize in advance, it's the predicative text on my iPhone going crazy!

[CorvallisCracker]

Well, hey there Odiedog. Welcome aboard!

The Pac NW is definitely the place for craft brews. All the more reason I expect you're looking forward to getting back.

On your return from Haiti, see if you can sneak a barrel of Barbancourt 15yo into your pack for me. I'll pay for your chiropracter visit.

Your magazine is interesting. When I have some time, I'll spend some there. BTW, your link includes the closing paren, so clicking on it takes one to 404 land. Here's one without that: http://www.mutineermagazine.com/blog/

Hope your situation in Haiti is not too unpleasant. Don't eat any of the cookies.

[Odiedog52]

Thanks for the welcome and the heads up about the bad link! The website is just a blog .. But if you ever swing through Barnes and Noble, we're found at nearly every location. I didn't come here to pimp my magazine, so before I get called out for any ulterior motives, I'll leave it at that :)

I've been seeing Barbancourt down here! Only rum though .. They keep trying to sell it to me (and Cuban cigars), but we aren't allowed to buy anything from them .. Let alone alcohol which we can't drink. Boo.

As for our conditions down here in Haiti .. It is unfortunately pretty unpleasant. Yesterday was our one month mark down here, but that's nothing to the 15 months I did in Iraq two years ago. I'll be home soon enough, so I can't complain. And eventually, back to the beautiful PNW.

Thanks again for the welcome!

[sailor22]

Welcome. Just curious -- did you find the Van Winkle decanter in Haiti?

The Barbancourt is a really good Rum, and is a fine sipper. Don't confuse the 5 star and the 15 yr with cheap mixer Rums. Don't miss an opportunity to bring back some 5 star or 15yr. They have an un-chill filtered 15 yr. version not for export that is really super, and a click better than the 15 Reserve available here. (Reserve Doumaine?)

[Odiedog52]

I actually bought the ORVW 23 from thewinecellaronline.com and it arrived to my brothers house today. He was quite amazed by the presentation, to say the least.

Unfortunately, one of our general orders here in Haiti is that we can't purchase, consume, or be in posession of alcohol .. Just as it was during my 15 months in Iraq. It wasn't pleasant.

I'd really like to bring some back as I really like rum as well .. But I don't think I'll have a chance to.

[fishnbowljoe]

Welcome to SB Odiedog. Another one of our members (GOCOUGS2002) is also down there at this time. I hope that the mission down there goes as smoothly as possible for both of you. Looking forward to the time you can post, and imbibe at home. :grin: Good luck. Cheers! Joe

[Odiedog52]

Welcome to SB Odiedog. Another one of our members (GOCOUGS2002) is also down there at this time. I hope that the mission down there goes as smoothly as possible for both of you. Looking forward to the time you can post, and imbibe at home. :grin: Good luck. Cheers! Joe

Thanks for the welcome Joe! I got in touch with GOCOUGS and he might be swinging through where I'm staying .. Pretty cool!

Thanks again and I can't wait to get home and enjoy some great craft brew and start my bourbon adventure. I haven't decided on what bourbon to start "learning" with I guess you could say, but it will end with my 23 yo ORVW decanter. I'll leave it up to the suggestions of you guys of what bourbon I should start with :) Money isn't really an issue. I HATE Jack Daniels. I really liked some Johnny Walker Blue and 25 yo Chivas Regal I had. I know those aren't bourbon, but maybe they might give you an idea of my palate?

So what should I track down when I get back to NC?

Cheers!

[p_elliott]

I'll leave it up to the suggestions of you guys of what bourbon I should start with :) Money isn't really an issue.

So what should I track down when I get back to NC?

Cheers!

IMVHO if you looked up bourbon in the dictionary it would have a picture of a bottle of WT 101 I would start there. And after being in Haiti for 6 months I would drink at least half of it :cool: