The nose was like a Sazerac cocktail New Orleans style, rye whiskey, pure sugarcane syrup and Creole-style bitters while we sat at a freshly varnished oak table. We munched hickory smoked almonds and cashews when the jazz band started to play a piece from Thelonious Monk called “Straight, No Chasers.”

After reduction we imagined being on a Mississippi paddle steamer passing old plantation houses while we devoured the book of the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The mash bill for this bourbon consists of 75% corn, 21% rye and 4% malted barley, matured in a #4 char new oak barrel with #2 char heads.