2014 Kentucky Derby: The Bourbon Thread

It's high noon (at least out here on the West Coast) on the Thursday before the first Saturday in May and that can only mean one thing: the annual And Down The Stretch They Come Bourbon Thread! No, we're not talking about the street in the Big Easy which will cause you to go straight to hell simply for witnessing the activities going on therein. We're talking about a spirit that's required at any proper Kentucky Derby party.

My Derby week always kicks off with a trip to the liqour store to pick up this year's Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby commemorative bottle, which is used for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, mint juleps that my girl will make on Saturday morning. I'm not sure how many year's I'm going to keep purchasing one of those because our bar, at this point, is somewhat overwhelmed with bottles of booze. But it's a nice conversation piece at holiday parties in the dead of winter. The higher end/small batch bourbons, however, are for pure sipping goodness.

Anyway, enough about my macro bourbon purchasing habits, let's talk about your bourbon habits. What are you drinking this Derby and what bourbons are at the top of your current list.

[Yes, we can talk about non-bourbons since I know some of us are scotchies (looking at you, JP).]

Photo: the Whiskey Bar at FX McRory's in downtown Seattle.