Celebrity Crushes and Bourbon Loves

While for some Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, passion and romance. For others it is a day to reflect on loves lost, passions that passed and romantic regrets. We at The Whiskey Corner are here for you. In today’s article, a few from our team share with you their first loves. 

You’ll read the romantic tale of their first celebrity crush and also the story of the first Bourbon that stole their heart. Hopefully as you read this you’ll be inspired by these stories of moving on from unrequited love and this will help to heal your lonely, broken heart. Or…just pour another drink. Whatever works for you.

Tawnya Bennett’s Love Triangle

I've had too many crushes to count, both celebrity and everyday people. Not one stands out more than any other. As a young girl, my interests changed as often as I changed socks. Fickle, as my sister would often say. So instead, I will share a current crush/love affair.

They say there is someone for everyone, but what if you find yourself in a complicated love triangle? What on Earth should you do? You can work on splitting time between them, but eventually, you wear yourself out. In the end, you must do what makes you happy but cause no harm to others. 

It's been a tough road trying to choose between two men that consistently make me happy. One of them is a family man. He's sweet and gentle and comes from a long line of dedicated men in the family business. He is pure and a hero dressed in white. The other can be a Gentleman, at times, but it seems he has difficulty deciding what he truly is inside. He has a bit of a rough reputation.  The man in black if you will. He's a bad boy.

Is it wrong that I decide which one I want to be with based on my mood that day? These two have so many things to offer. They are both exciting and enjoyable in their own unique ways. They'll never have to fight over me because my heart is equally divided for love of both. Please don't ask me to choose one over the other because it just isn't fair. Whether it's Jim, my man in white, or Jack (who likes it when I call him Jasper), I'll forever be thankful for the time I get with each.  

This Valentine's Day, I just may shake things up a bit and spend it with both.

Savage Love from Nichole Roberts

Remembering my first celebrity crush didn’t take much thought as it lasted for years. I was a big fan of “The Wonder Years” and the main character, Kevin Arnold, better known as Fred Savage. Back then we didn’t follow our crushes on Instagram and Snap Chat, being able to keep up with everything they do, eat and see on a regular basis. In the 80’s it was good ole snail mail. I remember sending handwritten letters in the mail, expressing who-knows-what as a 9-year-old girl (memory is only so good) in hopes of some kind of reply for being his “biggest fan”.

Notice the autograph on the photo. Obviously…true love.

I remember when I received an envelope from Burbank, California, which I ripped open in seconds to reveal two postcards. The first was of the entire Wonder Years cast with signatures of each on the backside. The other was of Fred Savage himself, in the typical late 80’s print shirt of bright colors and crazy shapes, looking absolutely adorable. Maybe back then I referred to him as “cute”, surely not “hot”. At the time, I didn’t know it wasn’t personally signed just for me and that hundreds of other girls my age had gotten the same response to their letters. I thought it was personal and just for me so I made sure to take it to school and show all my friends that Fred Savage wrote me a postcard because I was his biggest fan. I still have it to this day, a cherished memento from my childhood. I still fan-girl the adult Fred Savage, who is still active in movies, Netflix shows and other projects. He still has his boyish looks from way back when and remains very much “crush-worthy”.

Going from my first celebrity crush to my first bourbon love is a little tougher as I have been drinking bourbon for over 10 years. I told my bartender friend that I wanted to learn to drink bourbon so he started me with various cocktails to develop a taste for it. I keep trying to remember when I graduated from cocktails to preferring my bourbon neat, but that timeframe isn’t as clear.  When I started buying bottles to enjoy at home, 1792 Small Batch was my first purchase. I don’t recall my decision process or why I first chose 1792 Small Batch but it became a favorite and was my home bottle of bourbon for years.  Of course at that time, I might have had two bottles sitting on top of the fridge, whereas now I’ve got a China cabinet full with a wide variety of brands. At that time, I was nowhere near the bourbon drinker I am today as I was typically mixing it with ginger ale when drinking at home. 1792 Small Batch really is a great bourbon for the price point (in my area $24). It’s smooth with a great flavor that is enjoyed by the seasoned drinker or one new to bourbon. Even after all these years and expanding my palate, 1792 Small Batch will continue to have a spot on my home bar.

Justine Mays Has “The Right Stuff”

I am not really one of those mushy, love-stuff girls.  I have never gone all out celebrating or buying gifts for Valentine’s Day or Sweetest day.  Since it is Valentine’s Day though, I will share my first celebrity crush and my first bourbon love.

Everyone remembers their first celebrity crush.  When I was growing up we had shrines to them on the walls of our bedroom or inside our locker at school.  We didn’t have the social media medium to declare our admiration for a celebrity crush like the teenagers (or some adults) nowadays.   I grew up in the era of the “OG” boy band New Kids on the Block.  So of course they were my first celebrity crush, well not all of them.  In particular Joey McIntyre.  Don’t get me wrong they all were and still are “drool-worthy”, but Joey…he was my favorite. While they weren’t my first concert, they were my first concert I went to with limited parental supervision.   It was the summer before 7th grade, three of my friends and I saw them in concert at the Ionia County Free Fair.  My friend’s parents took us to the fair, but they didn’t come into the concert with us.  Anyway, we were so excited and arrived at the concert in our homemade NKOTB shirts and when they came out on stage, we screamed our heads off. One of my friends cried because she was so excited.  I wasn’t that over the top, but it was the best night ever for us! Fast forward a few years, I have seen them twice as an adult.  The second time I saw them, my friend and I took her daughter.  I guess we felt like we had come full circle since we were passing them on to another generation. Most recently though, I saw them in 2019 on the Mixtape Tour along with Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Salt-N-Pepa and Naughty By Nature.   Holy Crap!  Talk about coming full circle.  That concert definitely brought back a lot of memories and Joey McIntyre is just as cute now as he was then.  I guess some crushes never go away.

If you have listened to any of The Bourbon Daily episodes where we have talked about how we got started on our bourbon journey, you have heard me say I’m a Beam girl.  My first bourbon love is Jim Beam.  I started out drinking Jim Beam White Label and Red Stag mixed with Coke.  When you are young and in college, it’s the trifecta: cheap, readily available and tastes good.  Those two were pretty much my “go-to” for years.  I went through a rum phase and a vodka phase, but eventually came back to those two.  Even though I loved drinking Beam, I never really knew anything about the history of bourbon or how it's made.  On a girl’s trip to Louisville for a long weekend, my friends and I decided to go to the Jim Beam distillery for a tour.  Seems only fitting for my first bourbon love to be my first distillery tour, too.  During that tour we were able to taste the other products and even put our own bottle on the line to fill a bottle of Jim Beam Single Barrel for purchase.  It was a great tour and opened my eyes to so much more.  Shortly after that I purchased a bottle of Knob Creek and then it went on from there.   As I traveled to Louisville more and went on tours at other distilleries my palate expanded and I started buying other brands, but I have always and will always have a bottle of Jim Beam White Label on the bar at home.  I may even break out my bottle of Beam and listen to NKOTB for Valentine’s Day. LOL!

You Really Got Me Now - Kevin Rose

Can you guess the name of my first celebrity crush?  I’ll give you a hint: she now hosts her own cooking show.  So, c’mon. Guess. No, it’s not Paula Deen.  Why would you guess Paula Deen?  Guy Fieri?!  Please! You guys are really bad at this.

My first celebrity crush was Valerie Bertinelli.  Yes, today she is known as a host of her own cooking show on the Food Network.  However, back in the day she was the young, super-cute star of the sitcom “One Day at a Time” that aired during the late 70’s and early 80’s (and, yes, we had television back then and, yes, it was even in color).  This crush on her caused me to hate the band Van Halen for many years.  You see, Valerie married Eddie Van Halen and I just didn’t think he was good enough for her.  Over time the crush faded and I eventually patched things up with Van Halen (“Unchained” off the Fair Warning album actually became one of my favorite songs by the band).  Sadly, Valerie and Eddie divorced in 2007 but at that point I had already moved on.

My first Bourbon love is one that lends itself to obsession on many levels.  The bottle is iconic and distinctive.  Its history is also quite unique in the Bourbon world.  Many Bourbon Casanovas have swiped right on this whiskey.  (Note: old guy who’s never used a dating app just tried to make a Tinder reference.  If I totally botched it…apologies).

And the topper.  Don’t forget the topper.  All of them must be collected and then prominently displayed.  I am, of course, talking about Blanton’s.  Once I weaned off Maker’s and Coke, the first Bourbon that really captured my attention was Blanton’s.  At that time it was relatively easy to find and seemed to be universally liked.  Now, it is inexplicably difficult to find on a liquor store shelf and has become quite polarizing.  If you mention on social media that you like Blanton’s, the responses will range from haters calling you “tater” and maligning your heritage, to the obsessed fan demanding you tell them where you got the bottle, where does the line start to get one and will you take $100 for it.  Sometimes it feels like Valerie and Eddie’s relationship was less dysfunctional than some of the relationships are in today’s Bourbon world. 

Nevertheless, today I plan to enjoy time with my current crush of 30 years (The Wife).  Maybe we’ll watch some TV together.  Does anybody know what channel the Food Network is on?  Or maybe I’ll just have another pour of Blanton’s instead.  That’s probably a better idea.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

By they way…is “I Will Always Love You” still ringing through your head? You’re welcome.