my lucky day

I have two stories today, showcasing how lucky I've been.

First, my flight from Seattle to Houston was delayed and got off the ground late.  (No, that is not the lucky part). I was originally going to have about a 50 minute layover- usually just enough time to get off the plane, go to the bathroom, pick up some food and get back on the plane.  Well, because of my late flight, I only had 10 minutes between the flight arrival and my next flight's departure.  I arrived in the E terminal, rushed off the plane, as did others trying to make their flights, and looked quickly at the tv screen to find the gate for my next flight.  Well, what do you know...I arrived at Gate E12 and the next flight was leaving out of Gate E15.  All I had to do was walk across the hallway!  How fabulous.  Of course, no time for bathroom breaks, but I was just happy to have made the flight.

Got to the hotel, checked-in, got my conference registration materials, and went to my room.  Went out to dinner at Mr. B's with a colleague.  Shared a crabcake for an appetizer (yum!), had bacon wrapped shrimp and grits for my dinner (double yum), and bread pudding for dessert (yum, but the one I made for new year's at home was better...if I do say so).

Headed back to the hotel (the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel), and saw that the hotel lobby bar is called the "Bourbon House."  Well, given my post yesterday I couldn't help but belly up to the bar and check out their bourbon collection.  They claim it is the most extensive bourbon collection in New Orleans.  I don't know if that is the case, but they do have an amazing collection.  They didn't have the "Corner Creek" I wanted to try, but they did have Basil Hayden's, which Peter C. recently reminded me about.  So, I asked for some Basil Hayden's.  They bartender said he likes to serve it neat with a separate glass of ice so you can add as much or as little ice as you want.  So, I tried the Basil Hayden's.  It was really nice and smooth-but still with that kentucky bourbon kick--quite good.  We struck up a conversation about bourbon.  He told me about a banana pancake drink he made at home with some Knob Creek, brown sugar simple syrup, dark chocolate bitters (or something like that) and bananas--all shaken up and emulsified and he said it was delicious.  Sounds yummy to me.  He also told me about a whiskey sour he used to make at his old job that was a Basil Hayden's whiskey sour.

Okay, so that was lucky in a way--lucky to have such a bourbon collection in my own hotel.  But the real luckiness came from the rest of the story.  I asked the bartender about Booker's and Baker's--two other bourbons made by the same distillery as basil hayden's (and knob creek for that matter).  He brought the 2 bottles over to me and gave me a look at the bottles and went off to help other customers.  I sat looking at the bottles, and then when he came by again, I asked him if I could take the lids off and smell the Booker's and Baker's.  He said sure, and then said I could even have a little taste of each and gave me 2 clean glasses. So, there I was, with my glass of Basil Hayden's- neat, and a bottle of Booker's, Baker's, and two empty glasses.  I felt funny opening the bottles and pouring myself a little taste, but I went ahead and did it--I wasn't going to waste my lucky day.  I poured the tiniest bit into each glass.  Booker's is something like 128 proof and it tastes like it--strong stuff.  It had good flavor, but it seems like you would only drink Booker's if you were trying to get drunk or something.  Not for me.  The Baker's had a nice nose to it and was pretty tasty too.  It has a higher proof than many Bourbons- I think it was around 100 proof.  Still strong but a little more mellow.  So, I got to taste three really good bourbon whiskeys for about eight bucks plus tip.  LUCKY!

So, I'm sitting there, having my own little impromptu tasting, when the bartender brings me about 1/5 of a glass of whiskey sour.  Apparently, someone else ordered a whiskey sour and the bartender suggested he use Basil Hayden's which the customer approved of.  After he was done pouring the customer's drink, I guess he poured what was left in his shaker into this glass for me.  Totally unexpected.  However, I much prefer my bourbon neat or on the rocks to a whiskey sour.  I could barely appreciate the good whiskey in it.

So, I told the bartender that I had to go to my room because I had to be up ridiculously early (at least my time), for meetings in the morning, but I said I might come down tomorrow night and try a different bourbon.  He told me to hang on for a minute then he went into the back room.  He came back out with a little booklet that said "Bourbon House - New Orleans Bourbon Society (NOBS)", with 47 different bourbons listed.  As you taste different bourbons you get a stamp and when you taste all 47 you become a "Master Taster" and your name is forever immortalized on a plaque in the Bourbon House.  As a member of NOBS, you get a complimentary pour of the featured bourbon of the month.  He gave me this little booklet, stamped my "Baker's, Basil Hayden's and Booker's" and said that now I could come back for a free taste tomorrow night.  He said he wouldn't be working  (so it wasn't just that he was flirting or something), and that they were tasting a bourbon this month called "Heaven Hill" (I think).   So, looks like my luck might run over into tomorrow night as well!