A Miscellany of Projects - Gaming, SCA Combat, Arts & Sciences, and Travel

Hidden between Leander and Burnet, well off the beaten path, is Flanigan's Wine and Spirits .  Flanigan's storefront is  located in an old brick building in Bertram, with their production facility across the street.  Immediately upon entering, the first thing you notice is the spectacular decor - they have done a remarkable job of simulating a late-19th Century through Depression-era saloon-hotel, with alcoves, nooks, and private tables scattered across two stories and false doors giving the illusion of hotel rooms, a grand ballroom, and a much larger interior than is actually the case.  A large fireplace and common space dominates one side of the main room, and a bar runs the length of the other, with tables between. I have been to Flanigan's repeatedly, and each time have taken a slightly different approach.  The first time we were there, the proprietors, Kevin and Kathleen Flanigan, were quite busy, but got to us within fifteen minutes; the second, we arrived...

 In cooperation with the incomparable Lindsey Pickard, the following are the tasting notes from Bourbon Madness Night, also known as "what happens when your extrovert friend organizes a small party and then gets sick and can't show up."  All of the following are what I was sent as messages as we were going through my bourbon stockpile.  It is worth noting that there's some synesthesia even when she's sober.  I'm sharing all of this because she did a pretty good job of expressing flavor complexity in a way that I wouldn't normally manage, even if she will probably go "oh God" and hide under something as soon as I post this. She established fairly early on that bourbon's default color is apparently a dark green, like a hunter green or a rifle green, which led to some re-tasting to see what else was in there.  Where possible, I have linked back to my own previous reviews of the same material.  I have lightly edited and reorganized to group produ...

Outside of Summersville is a small distillery and winery, Kirkwood Winery and   Isaiah Morgan Distillery . which sells rye, moonshine, and bourbon in addition to an exceptionally wide selection of sweet wines - although they no longer sell mead, to my great disappointment.  Their distillery looks pretty much what you'd expect from a still in West Virginia, and they play up the country moonshiner angle as much as they can.  The entire operation is rustic wood and low-slung cabin and barn construction, a far cry from the slick, industrialized-genteel kinds of places that you find in Kentucky.  I cannot speak for anyone else, but I find the big distilleries a little impersonal, and therefore appreciate the smaller places.  There are other reasons for this; buying two bottles of Jack Daniels, for instance, will make no difference, but buying two bottles of Isaiah Morgan (or   Black Patch , or...) feels like you've helped keep someone in business. We picked up t...

In a rather sketchy-looking light-industrial park behind a Wal-Mart in Madison, Alabama, there is a hidden gem of a distillery.  Black Patch Distilling Company  is a veteran-owned and operated small family-business distillery.  Those who were here for the Hye Rum  review probably remember that I like to get the site description out of the way up front, so here goes: Black Patch is in the back of an industrial park in Madison, which is like Huntsville's boring cousin.  Madison isn't bad , but it's like the Hollywood version of the boring nerd girl everyone neglects while noticing her cool sister Huntsville.  Driving up on Black Patch, it doesn't look like much.  We didn't even think it was a distillery until we saw the logo. Personally, I find the logo a little on-the-nose, I don't like the Corinthian as a helmet, and I was a tad leery of the vet-bro vibe.  There is nothing about owning a DD214 that automatically makes you less of a jerk, or makes ...