The Legend of Pappy Van Winkle Grows

I first heard about Pappy Van Winkle bourbon on a Bill Simmons podcast back in 2008 or '09.  He was talking sports with Wright Thompson (ESPN.com columnist), and on the subject of bourbon.  Wright mentioned that if he ever walks into a liquor store and there's Pappy on the shelf, he buys it all out.  It's that good and yet hard to find.  Over the past 5 years or so I've developed a greater appreciation for bourbon, so naturally I was interested in taking up this quest to find a bottle for myself.  I remember going to Stellar Cellar, our neighborhood liquor store, and being surprised to see 2 bottles of the Family Reserve 15 year, which along with the 20 year & 23 year, are considered to be the top-of-the line bourbon made by The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery.

I remember seeing the price was $64 and I hesitated to buy it as the store also had some of the 10 year Pappy on the shelf which was priced more in line with some of the other higher-end bourbons.  But I remember Wright speaking specifically about the 15 year so I grabbed it off the shelf as it felt like I had found a prized possession.  After tasting it, I understood why it was in such demand.  I remember going back to Stellar Cellar a few weeks later in hopes of securing that second bottle but it was long gone, so I decided to take home a bottle of the 10 year to compare, but it just didn't stack up at all with the 15 year.  And that was the last time I would ever see any Pappy on the shelf of a liquor store.  The cult following that Pappy Van Winkle had attracted was now in full force, and this article published on Grantland in 2011 verified this truth Pappy Van Winkle: The best bourbon you will never find in time for Father's Day

Fast forward to 2012; I discovered Stellar Cellar maintained a waiting list for their once-a-year shipment of the limited supply of Pappy.  No one knows exactly when it arrives or how much is allocated, but I got on their list, and was fortunate to receive a call from the manager in late November informing me he had a bottle of the 20 year if I was still interested in purchasing it for $144.99.  Merry Christmas to me from Cindy it would be.

This year it seems Bourbon Mania! has really taken Pappy to a new level as evidenced by this Mar '13 article in the WSJ.  In anticipation of the annual shipment this November, I discovered that there's a now an app which tracks the Pappy shipments by state:  Pappy Tracker app
And then there's this - news broke last month that $25K Worth of Pappy Stolen from Distillery and the follow up story that HuffPost ran on police finding a "person of interest" in the theft.

Having heard 2013 shipments to TN have already occurred, I stopped in Stellar Cellar this week only to discover that their limited supply has already been divvied out to those at the top of the waiting list - I'm outta luck this year.  Fortunately, I have yet to open the bottle pictured above from last year so I'll anticipate the next special occasion in the coming year to crack it open.  In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy my growing collection of fine bourbons.  Some of my favorites include: Eagle Rare, Booker's, Prichard's, Blanton's, Bulleit, Knob Creek, and Maker's Mark.  Recently a twitter follower suggested Hudson Baby (the only bourbon made in NY), which has been a tough find, but now has been added to my collection after a visit to Buster's.  For a change a pace, I also enjoy Fireball Whiskey, Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon, and Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream if I'm in the mood for a desert drink.  Which other bourbons need to be added to my collection?

Astrodome Memories

This morning I was disappointed to hear the effort to #SaveTheDome had failed in the election held yesterday in Houston.  On twitter, the hashtag #AstrodomeMemories already had a good collection of twets, so I started feeling nostalgic and tweeted out my top 3 memories.  On the drive into work, I couldn't stop thinking of other memories I had from attending events in this iconic Houston landmark.  I'll never forget these top 3 memories of mine from Astrodome history, as well as some other memorable events that I attended in the 20 years I lived in Houston.



1)  Oilers Pep Rally 1/6/80 - After the Oilers loss to the Steelers in the AFC Championship (for 2nd year in a row), one of the radio stations planned an impromptu pep rally to welcome the team back home in the Dome.  I was almost 12 years old and I can't believe my mom decided to take me and Barclay to this event.  I remember being out really late on a school night (I believe it was after 10p before the team actually arrived).  We found seats in the upper level and I remember thinking I had never seen the Dome so packed - truly a Standing Room Only event as I remember seeing people standing all throughout the concourses, and apparently there were thousands of late-comers outside of the Dome who were not allowed in.  We waited and waited, and then finally the team buses came streaming in.  Several of the players addressed the crowd to cheers, and then the unforgettable pledge from Bum Phillips, "Last year we knocked on the door, this year we beat on it, next year we're going to kick the SOB in!"  The following year was a disappointment and shockingly Bum was fired.  Just a few weeks ago Bum Phillips passed away, and I still got chills watching this YouTube video: Oilers pep rally with Bum's speech

2) Stratford wins State 12/23/78 - Led by RB Craig James, Stratford High School wrapped up an undefeated season by beating Plano for the State 4A Championship (there was no 5A at the time).  I remember several of their playoff games that year were held at the Dome and these were so much fun going to because it felt like we had the place all to ourselves since it was mainly fans from just the 2 schools in a 50,000+ seat stadium.  What was memorable about this game is that our family was driving up to Dallas on the day of the game to spend Christmas with the grandparents.  But we saw car after car driving south on I-45 with Plano flags that finally about half-way there, probably around Huntsville, my dad had seen enough and he turned the car around and we headed to the game!  And it was a great decision as we were able to attend this great game.

3) Astros-Phillies NLCS Game 5 10/12/80 - This was the first year the Astros ever made the playoffs, and my dad had secured some company tickets in the grey SkyBox section at the top of the Dome for this game that would decide who went to the World Series.  Things were looking great -- 'Stros up 5-2 in the 8th inning with Nolan Ryan on the mound and 5 outs to go, then it all turned bad.  Phillies put up 5 in the inning to take 7-5 lead; however, Astros countered with 2 in the bottom frame to tie it, but ultimately lost in 10 innings.

The Astrodome holds many other great memories for me.  I figured I probably went to at least 130 Astros games over the years I lived in Houston, most occurring during the 10 year span of 1976-1986 when I was between 8 and 18 years old.  I saw Ken Forsch pitch a no-hitter in '79, Nolan Ryan's 4000th strikeout in '85, the MLB All-Star game in '86, and my last game was during their final season in the Dome on 4/17/99.

The Oilers would be next on the list for number of games attended.  I remember going to games and seeing Earl Campbell run over poor defenders.  I remember going to games during the Luv Ya Blue era with columbia blue pom poms and Krazy George beating his drum as the fans sung "Houston Oilers #1".  I remember buying season tickets (first time I ever had season tickets) for the 1993 season on the mezzanine level; in December of that year, I moved to Memphis and I remember watching the final home game of the regular season on 1/2/94 all alone in my apartment in Memphis thinking why did I leave Houston as the Oilers were headed to the playoffs.  The following year the Oilers imploded, fired Jack Pardee on the way to a 2-14 season, and the last Oiler game I ever attended was the final game of the season with my parents on Christmas Eve as Jeff Fisher picked up his first win as head coach in beating the NY Jets.  A year later news broke about the Oilers possible move to Nashville, which was made official before the '96 season.  The following year, '97, they made their move to TN and played their home games at The Liberty Bowl in Memphis and I was there for all of the games of course.

I remember going to a number of University of Houston football games, and cheering on the Longhorns when they were the opponent, and also going to the Blue Bonnet Bowl in '87 watching Texas beat Pitt; ironically this was the last Blue Bonnet Bowl game held.  I remember going to see the Houston Gamblers, led by Jim Kelly and the run-and-shoot high flying offense of the USFL in '84 and '85.  I remember going to the 1989 NBA All-Star game in the Dome.   

And it wasn't just all sports at the Dome.  I remember as a child always wanting to go to the annual Thrill Show and Destruction Derby.  It was always around my birthday in January and unfortunately my dad always had a major trade show to attend at this time so my mom would reluctantly take me on occasion. (She said it was always too loud and smoky in there for her!)  When I was finally old enough to drive myself, I remember going with my friends and realizing it wasn't all that entertaining and understood why my mom didn't enjoy going.  Also, the year that we went was tragic as the daredevil that dropped from the top of the Dome into a bucket of water was unsuccessful in his attempt and later died at the hospital.  I don't remember the Dome ever hosting another one of these events.  There were concerts too...the Texas Jamm in '84 headlined by Rush, Ozzy, 38 Special.  And I remember going to see The Jacksons on the Victory Tour in '84 with my mom.  There was Metallica-Guns 'n Roses double-bill in '92, and the Genesis concert in '92.

One more Astrodome memory was captured on film, who can forget watching the scenes filmed inside the Dome in the "Bad News Bears in Breaking Training".  One of my favorite movies from my youth and a few years ago I had to purchase the DVD.

Last weekend there was an "Astrodome Yard Sale" which attracted close to 10,000 people, all seeking out memorabilia including sections of astroturf and a limited number of pairs of seats from the rainbow section.  I understand that there may be an additional online auction held in the near future to sell the remaining items.  I hope this comes together because I would love to have a souvenir from this historic place in Houston's history.

Farewell Astrodome!

Here's a video of the famous scoreboard:
Astrodome scoreboard goes dark in 1988 to make room for seats