The Kick'n Chick'n

About a week and a half ago, my classmate Lane and I hit the local cigar bar, The Knoxville Cigar Company for a special whiskey tasting and cigar night. The price of admission (a mere $25) bought a cigar, five whiskey tastes (see picture), and some delicious sausage gumbo for dinner. I have to admit, I'm not a huge whiskey OR cigar guy, but it sounded like a good night out and Cara was out of town for work, so I figured it'd help distract me from missing her too much. The whiskey tasting was put on by the master distiller for Wild Turkey, Mr. Jimmy Russell HIMself. I hadn't heard of the guy MYself, but I guess he's the beez-neez. He was certainly a charismatic fellow. My favorite part of the night was when one of my fellow whiskey-sipping, cigar-wielding comrades hollered "Kick'n Chick'n - WHOOO HOOO!!!" That got me pretty good and fired up.

Jimmy Russell is a nice, older guy. One of those grandfatherly types you just feel comfortable around. He had lots of fun stories about how much he enjoys his job. "I would go to work, taste a couple hundred sips of whiskey, and go home and pour myself a glass as a night cap." He also enjoyed telling us childhood stories. "Out where I lived growing up, grandma would mix some whiskey, sugar, and little bit of lemon, heat it up, and call it cough syrup. I learned pretty quick that I could fool her faking a cough every time - until I started trying to do it during the summertime." Definitely good for a chuckle or two. I don't know if you can actually tell what's going on very well in the picture at the left, but Jimmy is in there...somewhere. He even signed a few tumblers at the end for everyone with some fancy paint pen. I have to give my respect to the guy - his signature on a glass with a fancy paint pen is better than mine with a regular old pen and paper writing on a flat desk. The guy has got talent. Fo sho. I just don't know how I felt about this little old drink he was peddling.

I have to admit, I was more than a little bit intimidated at the thought of downing five tastes of Wild Turkey. You see, the Kick'n Chick'n and I have a little bit of a rough history. We don't necessarily see eye to eye. It's been a while since we've visited with one another, but back after my sophomore year of college, I had my first experience "tasting" Wild Turkey while camping with some friends. I admit I was still relatively "green" when it game to drinking (for my parents possibly reading this blog, please PRETEND this was the summer after my senior year of college), and I did not have the proper "maturity" to enjoy a whiskey as fine as Wild Turkey.

I mixed a few drops of wild turkey in a two liter bottle of coke, took a sip, and what h appened next is forever etched in my mind. My eyes crossed. My vision went blurred. My stomach t wisted in knots. And I spent most of the evening trying to stay as far away from that disgusting stuff as I could. The battle lines were drawn. The kickn' chick'n and I were to be enemies for life. That is, until this whiskey tasting. You see, my buddy Lane (pictured at right), wouldn't have any of it. So he scheduled this little rendezvous and next thing I know, I was sitting there face-to-face with my sworn enemy.

The enormity of the situation did not fully hit me until I settled into my bar seat, casually puffing on my cigar. The rest of the crowd dissolved into the smoky recesses of the bar, leaving me and those five shots of Wild Turkey caught in a long and tense stare down. Me. Wild Turkey. Mano e whiskano (x5). "Alright chick'n," I thought to myself. "Tonight, I'm gonna do the kick'n." So, as Jimmy Russell explained the nuances of the Wild Turkey whiskey distillation process, I got reacquainted with an old friend. My tastes have definitely grown up quite a bit in 7+ years. And as I sipped that whiskey, I reflected on how my life has changed in the last 7+ years. I can hardly believe the journey I have had that lead me to Knoxville and that bar stool with a good friend and classmate that particular evening. And, it was a wonderful evening. I actually enjoyed that whiskey. The cigar and the food were the perfect compliment, as Lane and I visited and met new friends. It was an experience I will not soon forget. And I've got the signed Jimmy Russell whiskey tumbler to prove it. And something tells me it won't be another 7+ years before I sit down and "visit" with glass of Wild Turkey.