After having made it through the first day of Tales of the Cocktail, I can say for sure that this is the ultimate tipsy field trip, without peer, I don’t care how special you think you are. I shouldn’t be surprised by the quantity of cocktails available at a conference devoted to booze, but even for an accomplished imbiber like myself this is truly amazing. Unless you have a galvanized liver, you can’t really drink every cocktail or sample that is handed to you. That said, you really want to drink every one because you are a committed cocktailian and these drinks are coming from some of the best minds in the business.

As we were registering this morning (it’s like signing up for college classes, except with course names like "On the Rocks: The Importance of Ice", and the “handouts” are cocktails and liquor company swag), a rep from Bulleit Bourbon invited us to the Tasting Room for a seminar on that product, led by Tom Bulleit. Considering that so many of the tastings I have experienced recently have been in the form of a booze babe handing out samples at the liquor store, or of over-confident but under-knowledgeable brand reps dishing out shlock at the trade show, this was quite a luxurious experience. First there was the jazz combo that played while the distinguished guests took their seats. And the hors d’ouvres plate of mini crab cakes, sautéed scrimps and mini muffaletta. Then there was the introductory cocktail—a delicious Fig Mint Julep, which startled Joe at first because he did not hear about the fig, which through the translucence of the whisky looked something like a grub taking a bath in the bottom of the glass. I myself was worried that someone dropped a piece of bread in my glass, though not worried enough to exchange it for another. As Mr. Bulleit educated us about his product they passed around samples of neat Bulleit in a sexy shot glass inspired by the bottle, and we learned how to taste bourbon neat and how to cut in half with water, which he says they do when tasting at the distillery, because it takes away the alcoholic “heat” and allows you to taste the development of the bourbon. According to Mr. Bulleit, "water is to whisky what oxygen is to wine."
This was followed by a cocktail of a more fruity nature, which was made by their bartender who was flown in from New York for the event. We were not able to linger to meet the bartender or find out more about his recipes, as we had a lunch date with two nice ladies from San FranDisco, whom we had met the night before at the Carousel Lounge here at the hotel.