I drink bourbon first and foremost because I like it! It has wonderful, complex, and interesting flavors made all the more alluring by the effects of the alcohol (this is obviously not to be taken as an invitation to abuse alcohol).
I also drink bourbon because I am an American. Bourbon seems to be very American to me. As baseball, jazz, blues, cowboys, generousity, humor, independence, and (unfortunately) violence define us, so too does bourbon whiskey. It has an edge lacking in other great spirits, a bold bite that seems so in character with being an American.
Taken too far that edge is rough, unpolished, unattractive, and even dangerous. Tempered and contained, it is creative, innovative, assertive without being assualtive, and self-assured. It struts like a peacock....... all the while with a smile on its face inviting you to come along for the adventure. 'Watch me, now,' it says, 'see what I am going to do next!'
The best bourbons mirror what is best in America and Americans. Good bourbons reflect what is good, and bad bourbons, well, they are as offensive in their way as are bad Americans.
It is no accident that Mark Twain, that most American of writers, was a prodigious consumer of bourbon, as was William Faulkner, another through and through American. It is impossible to imagine Twain or Faulkner drinking Scotch, or Cognac.
I have been coming to Bourbon Enthusiast now for about two years. When I came I was wet behind the ears, and, believe me, there is still some moisture behind them. But, in these two years, it has been my intent to learn about bourbon (I stated on day one that I was a student of bourbon) and I have tried many bourbons and reviewed almost all of them. It has been a learning process.
What I have learned about bourbon from this is a very modest amount. I do not know much about bourbon and know I will never be a particularly astute taster. But, if being an astute taster was ever my objective, it should not have been. While it is certainly worthwhile to utilize the experience and tastes of others as a guide (maybe a necessity), it is one's own tastes that must be cultivated and brought to life. A very wise man once said, 'You spend your life becoming yourself'.
As I look back on many, many, sips and many reviews I begin to see that there is no goal in drinking bourbon, nothing to be achieved beyond enjoying what is in my hand now. I need do nothing other than sip the bourbon before me now. And, if I am of a mind, record my impressions as to its qualities (I like to write reviews, it is a challenge to be myself, to be creative while being truthful, and to explore my own particular tastes, and, in the best of worlds, to be helpful to someone as they explore their own tastes).......no need for consistency with past comments or reviews.
Now, I must be judicious in my use of bourbon, since it is potentially a poison to me (as it is to everyone, only more so to me), making it all the more enticing. Still, I hope to enjoy bourbon a while yet and will give it up only when the moment is right, and, if I am most fortunate, I will give up everything just when the moment is right!