Bourbon Stigmas

[cornsqueezins]

I stopped in at a local store to check out their stock this evening and as I was eyeing the shelves this fella and his girl walked in and came down the bourbon aisle where I was. I heard her ask him, "How about Heaven Hill?". He replied: "What do you think I am, some sort of hillbilly?" Ha, ha, get it? Heaven Hillbilly? Hmmm.....I thought so. Anyway, something told me his wit was dull even if his sarcasm was intentional. Especially after he and she quickly brushed past the bourbon and grabbed one of those purple velvety bags with the drawstring that holds a bottle that doesn't contain bourbon. Evidently a drink for true, cultured, Tennessee non-hillbillies.

I'm not sure whether to celebrate such an attitude toward bourbon or not. The more such stigmas abound, the more bourbon there is for me and mine, but the drink deserves more respect than that. I should've confronted the guy in the parking lot and busted him over the head with my bottle of Buffalo Trace but I can think of better uses for that bottle. I also picked up a bottle of WT Rye that I could've sworn was the same bottle I saw three and a half months ago which was the last time I had been in that store. I wonder how many velvety bags passed thru that store while the WT Rye collected dust. But that is fine with me.

-Troy

[Bob]

Troy,
You should have hit him over the head with one of those purple bagged items! Just kidding of course, but seriously, those ill informed folks allow us the opportunity to buy the good stuff. I can't imagine trying to buy the Stagg and Birthday Bourbon if we educated the ignorant. I say, all they deserve is the stuff in the purple bags! Let them eat cake! Leave the good stuff to us!
Bob

[CL]

Is BT now in TN? That would be cool, because I thought it was limited to KY and IN. If TN has it, it may find it's way here to NC.

[cornsqueezins]

Yeah, it's here. Some stores are loaded down with it. Hopefully you'll find it in NC before long.

[CL]

Speaking about general public's lack of bourbon knowledge...

Has anyone ever gone to a restaurant, asked the waitperson what bourbon selections they have and had

(1) the waitperson know the answer without having to go to the bar
(2) the waitperson come back from the bar with a list that did not include TN whiskey or scotch?

If so, you are a lucky person! I don't think it has ever happened to me, even in very nice restaurants. Even if you say Kentucky bourbon to try to keep out the TN whiskeys, you still get JD in the answer.

I can deal with getting our TN brethren in the answer, but it really frustrates me when a nice restaurant includes scotch in the answer! (We have Johnny Walker, etc...)

Another gripe is that they try to hide their lack of knowledge with a question - What are you looking for? Of course, they always give me a frustrated look when I name something they've never heard of and they have to scurry off to the bar anyway.

I'm always polite about it, though. No sense in hassling the waitstaff when it's the management's fault.

[Aahzz]

At least the upside is that it keeps the prices low. When the snobs discover it, it'll get as pricey as Sc***h in a heartbeat.

[racer]

It's cruel, how some persons will try to type cast others. Sc**ch has a long history of illegal operations also. It's too bad people don't know the real story on Scotland. Scotch also has a history of moonshining, bootlegging, and running.
mark

[jeff]

I find that most scotch drinkers around here are just a small step removed from their Boone's Farm "Strawberry Hill" days in college. They just went from one trendy drink to the next.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Mark H.,

Just in case you didn't realise it - the name of this website is StraightBourbon.com and we really don't give a shit about sc**ch!

[Blackkeno]

I've seen several bourbon lists which include Crown Royal also.

I have always thought of Tennessee Whiskey as non-bourbon (and communicated this to wait staff), but I thought I read somewhere that it technically qualifies as bourbon also? Could someone (Chuck?) clarify by quoting the regs?