MORE NOTES So Seahawk didn't know this about me, but I'm a bourbon man. Through and through. 'tis my alpha and omega which makes it rather trying that my hard-earned booze dollars go to support a bunch of dumb shit hicks that keep voting Mitch Fucking McConnell into office. I'd been willing to accept that there were people in Kentucky who weren't assholes for most of my life but the past four years have cemented my deep and abiding hatred of Kentucky, all things from Kentucky and all people who will attempt to say nice things about Kentucky because honestly? fuck you. This shit isn't funny anymore. I grew up avoiding German-Anything because of Hitler so my 3 1/2-year-and-counting boycott of bourbon was second nature. But Bushmill's isn't great. Canadians are weak. And the local whiskeys are... okay? But you can pretty much tell that they're Seagram's passed through a barrel out of some dumb shit Woodinville winery to say they did. They aren't great. Enter Pennsylvania. I am not a great connoisseur of booze. I tend to drink what's good and easy. Of course, I discovered that most people don't know how to complete the phrase "Highland, Lowland, Islay, ________" so there's booze snobs and booze snobs, I guess. Either way, I was unaware and uninterested in the microdistilleries of the Keystone State up to this point but a couple drams have made me an enthusiast. Manatawny Still Works has booze they age in Mezcal barrels. this is a good idea. It makes "bourbon" (again, fuck you, Kentucky) that has a mezcal fire and it is yummy. I'm not a "tastes of roasting tires and a slightly cloying shrimp cocktail" kind of booze writer so I will simply say that when a bunch of talented dudes decide that they should make bourbon that tastes vaguely of mezcal you should give it a try. They're onto something. As you might expect, an outfit going by "bluebird distilling" doesn't make a pretentious product. It's just delicious. Rye is good. I like rye. The microdistillery rye around here (lookin' at you, Crater Lake) tastes like Seagram's. This stuff tastes like rye, if you wanted to make a rye that had enough flavor to offend Canadians. I like flavor. I intend to entice young Seahawk to violate interstate liquor laws further in the future.