MERRY BLANTON'S (The Last Advent Calendar Post)

We have come to the end of the Advent season. And while the true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ, I don't think it was wrong to enjoy some spirits along the way.

Day 19-  I recently met a gentleman who drinks this honey-flavored Jack Daniels as his go-to whiskey. 

Day 20-  I got a little lazy in my ordering of this calendar, because we've got two days in a row with Jack Daniels. Since the calendar from the UK was a surprise,  I bought the single barrel selection since I'd never tried it.

Now I get to try it again

Day 21-  The new whiskey trend seems to be finishing the whiskey in different types of barrels. 

Jameson's has a Stout Caskmates edition that I loved, and the IPA is quite good,  which surprised me a little since I am not a fan of IPA's. 

Jameson's also makes a coffee infused whiskey that I could not stand. I had to drink it with coffee to polish off the bottle.

Day 22-  Another familiar brand that was also included in the UK selection, but still quite enjoyable.

Day 23-  Balcones is a Texas distillery, and Baby Blue is billed as the first Texas whiskey on the market after prohibition.

Day 24-  Noel! I agree the the birth of Jesus is far more sacred than a shot of Blanton's, but how about you indulge me for a few minutes here!

Blanton's is an 'allocated' whiskey, which basically means the retailer can place an order but they may not get all, or any, of it. In other words, good luck finding it.

I've had Blanton's shots in bars, had a shooter during my birthday whiskey travels, and have even found a bottle online (although I think I paid three times the suggested retail price), so when I saw these for sale at Magnum's, I knew this was going to be the finale of my whiskey calendar.

And to all a good night!

I know it looks odd to see these posted in March when they clearly were meant for an early January time frame. Thank COVID-in late December, I was COVID positive with no symptoms but developed  some health issues that required my undivided attention and some pretty intensive rehab.

LARRY'S ADVENT CALENDAR

 If you recall, I had looked for whiskey advent calendars online, but when I saw they were all shipping from the UK, I decided to make my own.

I found an empty calendar box on Amazon....

I stopped first at Magnum's, a specialty whiskey store that stocks a lot of things that you won't see at your chain stores...they had little bottles of Blanton's! 

I finished off my calendar at the local chain store, Total Wine. This is why I can never move back to Pennsylvania, or another state where you have to shop at state run stores-so much more access to different brands!

Since Jeannie had surprised me with the bourbon calendar, we shared that one for the first 12 days and used mine to complete Advent.  Most of the selections I found should be readily available, if not already familiar to most readers.

Day 13- Jameson's standard label, tried and true!

Day 14-  (in my best George Thorogood voice) "...and his partner Jimmy Beam"

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Day 15- More of the Irish...can you really go wrong with Bushmills?

Day 16- They had shooters of Johnnie Walker Blue for $30 each...I went cheap

Day 17- Bulleit is a favorite of ours, so this one was a no-brainer.

Day 18-  Slane is an Irish whiskey that I'd not come across before, so when I saw the shooters, I grabbed them. A lot of distilleries are popping up around Ireland (just like here in the US) as whiskey grows in popularity.

While I used to be a bourbon guy (I still like it), Irish whiskey has become my favorite, and Slane 

More to come!