24 Hours in New England
Earlier this year, my husband and I had a 24-hour Bourbon trip to New England where we left home on Leap Day and returned home on March 1 (that “extra day” came in handy) . This whirlwind trip was prompted by a weekend trip to New England back in November. Whenever we travel, I try to join the local Bourbon Facebook groups. Once I’ve been accepted in the group, my first question is usually where to find the best barrel picks in the area. When you ask about barrel picks, fellow members are more open with suggestions and that also helps develop relationships. We got several great barrel pick tips from this group. We came home with eight bottles, including two OWA from Total Wine and two Russell’s Reserves from Julio’s (barrel names of L& K Funk and L&K Soul). We had such a good time at Julio’s and their staff was so friendly and knowledgeable that, even though we live in Maryland, we followed Julio’s on Facebook and signed up for their newsletter.
Fast forward to early January this year, and I started getting messages from Julio’s about their upcoming Go! Whiskey Week 2020 event. This event featured daily meet and greets with distilleries, brunches, lunches and even dinners. To close out the week, they hosted The Grand Dram event on Sunday, March 1st from 1-4pm that included over 300 whiskey, bourbon and scotch pours for the $10 ticket.
Because of work and other commitments, we were only able to attend the Sunday event. We booked a 6pm flight out of BWI to Boston on Saturday, February 29th and returned on an 8pm flight from Providence to BWI on Sunday, March 1st. We were determined to pack as much into these 24 hours as we could.
To plan for the tight time frame, I reached out to the local Facebook group again and asked for recommendations of places to visit. During our 24 hours in New England we visited:
Marti’s Fine Wine in Newton (picked up their Tumblin’ Dice pick – delicious!)
Wegman’s (first time seeing liquor sold in a grocery store!)
Total Wine and a few other liquor stores
Bourbon’s Kitchen and Cocktails for dinner – this is a MUST visit! Luke, the owner is a fellow bourbonite and this is reflected in the pours available on the regular drink menu and Owner’s Reserve menu, cocktails and food (candied sweet potato fries with maple bourbon aioli - YUMMMM)
On Sunday, we arrived 30 minutes early for the Grand Dram event and about 100-150 people had the same idea. Luckily, the line moved quickly. Tasting glass in hand, our game plan was to try brands that were new to us, specifically scotches. This plan lasted all of 5 minutes as we found some other delicious whiskies to start with.
Our first stop was in a room with tastings of several Loch and K(e)y picks. Loch and K(e)y is Julio’s private selection society. These picks included a Four Roses pick with Al Young (unfortunately, no longer available by the bottle). Based on a tip from former attendees and to avoid carrying a hand basket for hours, we immediately purchased the picks that we liked and took them to the car. Lucky for us, we got the last Old Forester Single Barrel Loch & K(e)y – Cherry Bomb.
As we continued around the main floor, there were 20-30 distilleries spread out and each had several different pours available. Then we headed downstairs… WOW! Another 40-50 distilleries and reps in two separate rooms! We tried different pours from Ardberg, Glenmorangie, Balvenie, Compass Box, Lagavulin and Laphroaig, and more. We also tried Canadian whiskies and ryes, including Lot 40 cask strength, and pours from Journeyman, Redemption, Four Roses, Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey. The options were endless!
As we drove to Providence for our return flight home, Robert and I discussed if the trip was worth it and we agreed that we would definitely do it again.
Lessons learned from this trip:
Stop by the store the night before to get the lay of the land.
See what picks are available before the event. If they have a bottle open, ask for a taste.
Stay over Sunday night – I stopped sipping early because we had to drive to Providence.
Uber or Lyft – we saw several people waiting for rides when the event was over. This is much better than having to drive after a three-hour whiskey tasting.
Bring friends with us – that’s how much fun we had!
This trip was another great reminder of how important connections on Facebook groups can be. Bourbonites are typically good people and are willing to answer most any question you have. It certainly helped make our 24 hours in New England a real success.
