MAGGIE KIMBERL
Every hour in our day is a premium, but are we spending them wisely?
Musings on time
My grandmother is 97 years old. She doesn’t say much these days, but when she speaks it can often be profound. One thing she has said the last few times I have seen her is, “I wish we had more time.”
In November I was judging the World Whiskies Awards in Washington, DC. The judges were a selection of amazing folks from all over the country, ranging from distillers to spirits writers to bar owners. Among my friends there was Lew Bryson, who commented that he wished we had more time to catch up. It made me start thinking back to my grandma’s comments and how profound they really are.
Many of the friends I’ve made over the years are people I see repeatedly at different events. We have such a short time to catch up, usually over a whiskey, before we’re off in our different directions again.
Whiskey has brought many great people into my life: an architect from Seattle and his wife who is a nurse; a cyclocross coach and his wife from Pittsburgh; a woman who was once a backup dancer in one of Prince’s music videos; and many more. We cross paths once in a while, catch up over a Bourbon and then go our separate ways again.
On Christmas Day last year, Four Roses brand ambassador Al Young died. It shook me as I read the news on Facebook, remembering my grandmother’s words. Al, I wish we had more time.
Whiskey brings people together who might not otherwise cross paths. Al began his career in the theatre but went on to become one of the most revered distillery managers in Kentucky Bourbon history.
Al Young, Lew Bryson and all the friends I’ve made along the way are people I’ve come to expect to see at whiskey events. You know when you attend a whiskey festival that you will never be alone, and the friends you make over a dram of whiskey are a treasure not to be taken for granted.
As you join whiskey clubs, go on distillery tours and attend whiskey festivals, talk to the people you meet there. Try to find a common ground. If you aren’t sure where to start, try to find your degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon (or Colonel Sanders or Muhammad Ali if you’re from Kentucky).
You’ll start to find you see a lot of the same people in line at the liquor store for special releases as you do on tours at distilleries and tasting classes. Saying hello and catching up when you see them is how you break out of your social rut and meet people who may be more alike than they are different to you.
Over the years this has greatly decreased my anxiety about going to new places. I know I can count on somebody I recognize being there when I land, but on the off-chance I end up somewhere that I don’t know anybody, it’s just an opportunity to get to know people.
This adds another layer of joy to my job. In addition to having the opportunity to meet some of the most fascinating people on the distillery side, I also look forward to meeting equally interesting enthusiasts. No matter where I go, I never roam alone.
I love talking with the craft distillers about the new products they are bringing to market or the new areas they are expanding into. They are always so full of passion at that point in their brand’s history. I enjoy talking to the farmer distillers about their growing season, how the harvest went, what kind of corn or wheat or rye they are hybridizing or bringing back and the challenges they face on the farming side of things. I get to talk to the established legacy distillers about the old days and the changes they have seen along the way, because that knowledge serves as a guidepost for things to come.
If I meet you in my travels, whether it’s at a distillery or an event, please know that I am always happy to have talked to you. I love to hear your thoughts on the industry, how you like this event compared to others and, most importantly, whether you’ve been to Kentucky yet, and why not?
To my dearly departed friend Al Young, it’s never going to be the same without you. Your smiling face always lit up the room. Those of us who were fortunate enough to get to know you greatly benefitted from having you in our lives. We will do our utmost to carry forward the history of the Four Roses brand you loved so much.
And to my friends I see far too little, I wish we had more time.
... the friends you make over a dram of whiskey are a treasure