Prejudice. Bias. Racism. Discrimination. Call it what you want, but it’s a black stain in human nature to have preformed unsubstantiated opinions based on nothing but conjecture. We all do it, in little things or in larger things that hurt people. 10 Years ago, we went on vacation to Greece, where it was my wife, my then 1 1/2 yr daughter, and me. We were taking the funicular from the top of the Santorini caldera to the bottom, by the shore. In the funicular with us there was a single young man, middle eastern or Arabic descent. He made small broken English conversation with us. But what was odd was he was holding a little Elmo doll. He offered the Elmo doll to my daughter, who gleefully wanted to accept. I absolutely refused. Not because of any reason, except mistrust. Why is a single guy carrying around an Elmo doll? Why was he in the funicular car with us? Why even make small talk when you can’t speak our language? A few days later, we run into the same guy at a restaurant there in Santorini. He’s working as a waiter. He approaches us, and says immediately in broken English, “sir, I am so sorry for making you and your family uncomfortable that day. It was not my intent. I saw your little daughter and it reminded me of my little daughter back home in Iraq. I had just bought her this doll, but I realized I couldn’t ship it to her anyway. I wanted it to give it to your daughter, hoping to see her smile, and I can think what my girl would’ve done. I am sorry”. I felt 1 inch tall, especially when he showed us the picture of him and his family. A highly educated dual advanced degree, non-white minority with a really good living in the US, now making a prejudiced call based on nothing but conjecture. That there leads me to this whiskey. ( what a freakin stretch...), sent graciously by my buddy @jonwilkinson7309. If you ever thought American craft whiskey can’t stand up to the best out of UK, India, or Japan, this here will set you straight. It’s a blending genius at the level of Compass Box, but a fraction of their price. Most folks write off blends as inferior to single malts, and an American blend...? Seriously...? Can’t be any good. This is youthful, fiesty, and energetic. Cherry pie, baking spices, and silky texture. It took the best American craft , and made them better. If you see this, buy on sight. I’m sure they’ll come out with batch 2...but who knows if it’ll be as good as batch 1.