Nothing says “HAPPY HOLIDAYS!” like a flight of whiskey to savor and compare. Forget bargain shopping. Nobody really needs all that crap anyway. Belly up to the bar with the family and toast having the good sense to avoid the crazy crowds at the mall. Cheers!
Just up the road from South Bend, Indiana, you can experience the lovely small town vibe of Three Oaks, Michigan AND visit Journeyman Distillery. Over 100 years ago, E. K. Warren offered corsets and buggy whips in this factory in lower Michigan. Journeyman Distillery opened in 2010 in the beautifully renovated factory space as a family-run business that not only turns out craft spirits but tasty food as well. The lunch crowd packed in to eat pizza, burgers and more on the day after Thanksgiving but the star of the show was no doubt the homemade hooch. A whiskey flight with their five shots was only $4. That’s right-handcrafted spirits that went down like silk for a couple of bucks. Got to love the Midwest!
The cocktail ingredients ranged from shrubs to reductions combined with their own small-batch spirits. No beer, no wine-just a wide variety of homemade gin, vodka, limoncello, and whiskey. My kind of place! Cocktails were inventive like the Beetlejuice cocktail with red arrow vodka/simple syrup/house beet-basil reduction or the Fall Classic with whiskey/navy strength road’s end rum/simple syrup/ lime juice/McClary Bros. lemon ginger shrub/house amaretto. WOW. I could go there every night for weeks and sip unique drinks. Probably good for my liver that I go home Monday to Seattle.
After trying all five whiskeys, my tongue and lips were numb but happy. I loved the W. R. White Whiskey that had notes of banana, mango and ripened fruit as well as white pepper and spices. The only thing stopping me from buying LOTS of bottles of different spirits was the damn TSA liquid restrictions. A return trip on our next visit will no doubt be a priority. Tired from shopping or dealing with crazy relatives? Try a whiskey flight (or two) and have a happy holiday!
Travels with Melinda 