Learning to Say No

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Douglas Blaine
Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?
View all responses

Probably not often enough.

Where this catches me most is in volunteering for things. I have never been especially comfortable watching the ball hit the ground. If something needs to be done and no one steps forward, I usually feel the pull to pick it up rather than let it sit there unattended. That sounds noble until you realize it is also how a person ends up serving on more committees than he ever intended.

Sometimes saying yes comes from responsibility. Sometimes it comes from not wanting something important to fail simply because no one else moved.

But saying no is not just a challenge in public life. It shows up in private life too.

There are plenty of small choices that compete with larger goals — and those are often harder to manage because they do not look serious in the moment. Watching one more show, playing a game a little longer, putting off cleaning, organizing, or even sleep because something enjoyable feels easier right now than what probably ought to be done.

Most interference does not arrive looking dangerous. It usually looks harmless, even deserved.

The truth is that every yes costs something, even when the thing itself is good. Time, energy, focus, rest — all of it gets spent somewhere.

I probably do not say no often enough, but life has taught me that if you are not careful, even good intentions can quietly crowd out the things that matter most.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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Quick Thought – Wednesday, March 25, 2026: When the Fire Became the Way Home

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Read

Romans 8:26-30

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Reflect

An old story often told along the coast of Newfoundland tells of a winter morning when a fleet of fishing vessels set sail, only to encounter a violent storm. As the townspeople waited for news about their loved ones, night fell without a single boat returning home.

Throughout the night, families waited anxiously. Some prayed that God would guide the fishermen safely back to shore. But during those dark hours, one fisherman’s home suddenly caught fire.

Because nearly every man in town was out at sea, it was left to the women to battle the flames. Despite their efforts, the fire consumed the home and everything inside.

At daybreak, one by one, the boats began returning safely to shore. Relief swept through the town—except for the wife whose home had been destroyed. She met her husband with tears and told him what had happened.

Instead of despair, he embraced her and said words she never expected:

“Thank God for that fire. Last night everything was pitch dark except for the light from our burning home. That light guided us safely back.”

Romans 8:28 does not say that all things are good. In this story, the storm was not good. The fear of the families was not good. The loss of a home was certainly not good.

But God used even those painful events together for a good outcome.

That truth can be difficult to trust when life brings loss, confusion, disappointment, or pain. Sometimes we may not immediately see how God is working, and sometimes we may never fully understand His purposes this side of heaven. Yet Romans reminds us that nothing surrendered to Him is wasted.

Even in the trials we do not understand, God is still at work—often in ways hidden from us at first.

This week, focus on deepening your relationship with the Lord. Pray that He will keep your heart aligned with His purposes. And when trials come, ask Him for the faith not only to endure them, but to trust that He is still working, even when you cannot yet see the full picture.

Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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March Bourbon Madness: Best-of-the-Shelf Challenge—Second Round Matchups 1-4

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Opening Pour

Round 1 thinned the field. Round 2 raises the stakes.

The margins are tighter now. The noses are richer. The flaws stand out faster. And texture continues to separate contenders from pretenders. A couple heavy hitters flexed. One underdog made a real push. And at least one bottle reminded me why blind tasting keeps the ego in check.

Let’s get into it.

🥃 Matchup 1 — Blind

T vs. W

Blind Tasting Notes

T

Color: Light mahogany
Nose: Brown sugar, chocolate, cherries, caramel
Palate: Brown sugar up front, followed by cherries, cinnamon, and toffee
Mouthfeel: Nicely creamy
Finish: Cherries, cinnamon, and toffee linger confidently
Score: 89.84

W

Color: Mid-copper
Nose: Leather, caramel, savory spice
Palate: Creamy caramel, savory oak, cinnamon, tart cherries
Mouthfeel: Deep and rich
Finish: Caramel and spice linger steadily
Score: 83.76

Reveal & Result

T: Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye (#1)
W: Seelbach’s 8-Year Cask Strength Bourbon (#33)

✅ Winner: Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye
➡️ Advances to Round 3

Post-Matchup Thoughts

This wasn’t particularly close on the score sheet, but W put up a respectable fight. The rye’s balance of sweetness, spice, and texture simply operated at a higher level.

What decided it:
Sweet-spice balance and a more complete finish.

🥃 Matchup 2 — Blind

BB vs. J

Blind Tasting Notes

BB

Color: Light mahogany
Nose: Rich chocolate, toffee, mild baking spice
Palate: Slight tartness early, then dark chocolate, toffee, cherries, oak
Mouthfeel: Borderline creamy
Finish: Oak, chocolate, and spice linger nicely
Score: 87.23

J

Color: Rich mahogany
Nose: Buttery caramel, dark chocolate, savory spice
Palate: Buttery richness, dry oak, savory spice, hint of citrus
Mouthfeel: Warm and thick
Finish: Oak, spice, and toffee drift away slowly
Score: 90.38

Reveal & Result

BB: Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Toasted Barrel (#16)
J: Far Better Cask Strength Bourbon (#17)

✅ Winner: Far Better Cask Strength Bourbon
➡️ Advances to Round 3

Post-Matchup Thoughts

This was a heavyweight fight. BB was excellent. J was just deeper, thicker, and more layered. The finish alone might have tipped it.

What decided it:
Thickness, depth, and superior finish length.

🥃 Matchup 3 — Blind

A vs. P

Blind Tasting Notes

A

Color: Mid-copper
Nose: Oak-forward with savory baking spice, light vanilla, cherries
Palate: Golden apples, honey, cinnamon, creamy vanilla
Mouthfeel: Rich and developing
Finish: Oak returns with honey and vanilla leading
Score: 81.38

P

Color: Solid mahogany
Nose: Chocolate, caramel, nutmeg, light oak
Palate: Spice first, then chocolate, buttery caramel, cinnamon, hint of banana
Mouthfeel: Creamy, dessert-like
Finish: Chocolate, banana, and spice linger beautifully
Score: 89.30

Reveal & Result

A: Stagg Jr. #24C (#8)
P: Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Sweet Mash (#40)

✅ Winner: Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Sweet Mash
➡️ Advances to Round 3

Post-Matchup Thoughts

Blind tasting is humbling. Stagg Jr. is a powerhouse, but this particular pour couldn’t match the richness and cohesion of P. Sweet Mash tasted like exactly what you called it: dessert in a glass.

What decided it:
Creaminess and layered dessert flavors.

🥃 Matchup 4 — Blind

F vs. B

Blind Tasting Notes

F

Color: Light mahogany
Nose: Brown sugar, apples, caramel, light oak
Palate: Oak leads, brown sugar sweetness, baking spice, toffee
Mouthfeel: Just short of creamy
Finish: Decent length; oak and toffee most prominent
Score: 83.11

B

Color: Mid-copper
Nose: Caramel-covered cinnamon apples
Palate: Dry oak early, followed by brown sugar, cinnamon, creamy caramel, apples
Mouthfeel: Creamy
Finish: Spiced apples linger nicely
Score: 83.87

Reveal & Result

F: Old Forester 1924 10-Year (#9)
B: Brothers of the Leaf Blended Whiskey (#24)

✅ Winner: Brothers of the Leaf Blended Whiskey
➡️ Advances to Round 3

Post-Matchup Thoughts

This one was tight. Really tight. F brought oak and maturity, but B’s sweetness and texture gave it just enough edge.

What decided it:
Creamier mouthfeel and better sweetness-to-oak balance.

🔀 Round 3 Matchups Created

Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye (#1)
vs.
Far Better Cask Strength Bourbon (#17)

Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Sweet Mash (#40)
vs.
Brothers of the Leaf Blended Whiskey (#24)

Closing Reflections

Round 2 confirmed a pattern:

Texture matters.
Finish length matters.
Balance matters more than proof alone.

Two Jack Daniel’s bottles move forward. A blend survives. And one cask-strength newcomer continues to look dangerous.

We’re officially into the deep water now.

Note: This challenge recap is taking the place of the regularly scheduled Tasting Tuesday column. That will return on Tuesday, April 7.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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Hidden Talents (Including One That May Be Slightly Questionable)

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Douglas Blaine
Daily writing prompt
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
View all responses

Some skills people see right away.

If you spend much time around me, you’ll quickly figure out that I can teach, write, referee a football game, and probably tell you more than you wanted to know about bourbon, classic films, or old songs.

But secret skills are different. They’re the things people don’t immediately expect.

One ability I’ve always valued is the ability to read a room quickly. In a classroom, that matters. You can often tell within seconds whether students are engaged, confused, restless, worried, or just pretending to listen while mentally planning lunch. That’s not something listed on a résumé, but it may be one of the most useful skills a teacher develops.

Another is interviewing people. Journalism sharpened that instinct years ago, but even now I enjoy asking questions that help someone tell a story they didn’t realize they were carrying. Somewhere along the way, I also discovered that I can read upside down remarkably well. Is that invasive? Possibly. Has it occasionally been useful when notes, schedules, or documents were sitting on the other side of a desk during an interview? Absolutely. I prefer to think of it as an occupational advantage rather than a character flaw.

And maybe one more: I can usually take scattered thoughts, fragments, memories, and unfinished ideas and shape them into something worth reading. That may be why writing has never really left me alone.

As for a skill I wish I had? I wish I could play piano well.

Not just enough to pick out a tune — I mean sit down and play with confidence, fill a room with music, and let the keys say things words sometimes cannot.

There’s something about that ability that has always seemed almost magical to me.

Maybe because words have always been my instrument, and I admire people whose instrument answers back immediately.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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Quick Thought – Tuesday, March 24, 2026: The Price of Disobedience

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Read

Genesis 16

Genesis 21:8-21

And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
Genesis 16:11-12

Reflect

Disobedience usually comes at a high price. Abram and Sarai found that out the hard way.

God had promised them a son, but year after year passed and nothing happened. At some point, the waiting had to feel unbearable. After all, how often does a couple in their 80s have a child? Yes, people in the early parts of the Bible lived much longer than we do now, but even then, an elderly woman becoming pregnant was hardly ordinary.

Eventually, impatience took over.

Sarai decided that if she could not bear a child herself, Abram should sleep with her servant Hagar so that he could at least have an heir. Abram agreed, and nine months later, when he was 86 years old, Ishmael was born.

The problem was that even though Sarai came up with the plan, she did not like what happened next. Once Hagar conceived, tension filled the household. Sarai became bitter, Hagar became distressed, and what had seemed like a practical solution quickly turned into conflict.

Later, after Isaac was finally born just as God had promised, the strain only deepened. Sarai insisted that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away, and Abram reluctantly agreed.

Here is what neither Abram nor Sarai fully counted on: God had no intention of abandoning Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness. He saw them, cared for them, and protected them. Ishmael too would become a great nation because he was also Abram’s son.

Instead of one family line, Abram now had two — and those two lines would carry tension for generations.

Traditionally, Ishmael is understood as an ancestor of many Arab peoples, just as Isaac became the father of Israel. Centuries later, entire civilizations would trace heritage through those lines, and many people see echoes of that ancient division even in the tensions of the modern Middle East. Whether history is ever that simple or not, Genesis makes one truth unmistakably clear: when people run ahead of God’s timing, they often create consequences far larger than they ever imagined.

That lesson still matters now.

Waiting for God is rarely easy. Sometimes you wonder whether He hears you, whether He cares, or whether the answer is ever coming at all. But forcing your own solution often creates problems that obedience would have avoided.

We all pray for different things, but too often we expect God to answer on our schedule rather than His.

The next time you ask Him for something, commit yourself to waiting for Him to answer in His own way and in His own time — and resist the temptation to run ahead with a plan of your own.

Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Tasting Monday: Best Bottle of Spring Break—An 11-Bottle Blind from the Road

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Opening Pour

Spring break this year came with two destinations and one mission.

First, a quick trip to Atlanta to see family — especially precious time with Lizzi and Sully, which always matters more than anything in a bottle.

Then it was on to Tennessee to finish my Tennessee Whiskey Trail quest, which meant distillery stops, store visits, and more temptation than any responsible whiskey shelf should probably allow.

The upside? I had planned for it. A good stretch of refereeing games had quietly built the whiskey fund, so every bottle on this trip was paid for by striped-shirt hustle and sideline miles.

By the time I got home, I had enough new bottles to do something worthwhile: line them blind and ask one simple question:

Which bottle was the best pickup of spring break?

What started as ten bottles became eleven pours because one late addition deserved inclusion — and because a few of these were close enough that tie-break pours became necessary.

And when the labels disappeared, a few surprises emerged.

The Blind Lineup

  • Old Forester Single Barrel 100-Proof Store Pick
  • Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Bottle
  • Tennessee Legend Kingsnake
  • Old Tennessee Sid’s Select
  • Jump Master’s Reserve Single Malt
  • Bootlegger’s Old 150th
  • Tennessee Legend Snapper
  • Company Distilling Single Barrel Finished with Pecan Wood
  • New Riff Distilling Single Barrel 6-Year Store Pick
  • 13th Colony Distilleries Single Barrel Cask Strength
  • Shortbarrel Bee’s Knees – Oregon Blackberry

Blind Tasting Notes

Mid-Pack, But Respectable

Tennessee Legend Kingsnake opened with nice color, solid oak, caramel, vanilla, and light tree fruit. Rich mouthfeel, but the finish didn’t quite keep pace.

Jump Master’s Reserve Single Malt had the lightest profile of the group — bready on both nose and palate, decent texture, but it never fully opened up.

Tennessee Legend Snapper had promise in color and aroma, but faded quickly on the palate, with oak becoming a little too dominant.

Strong Performers

Old Forester Single Barrel 100 Proof Store Pick delivered dessert-like flavor with bananas and caramel, though the finish didn’t fully match the flavor.

Bootlegger’s Old 150th surprised with one of the better noses of the blind: tropical sweetness, fresh bread, spice, and a long finish despite thinner mouthfeel.

13th Colony Single Barrel Cask Strength brought rich caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and strong structure — very good, though not especially layered.

Old Tennessee Sid’s Select showed well with honey, vanilla, leather, and oak, plus a finish stronger than expected.

The Final Four

#4 — Shortbarrel Bee’s Knees – Oregon Blackberry

This one almost gave itself away. Light color, sweet nose, rich honey-forward palate, and surprisingly firm oak structure underneath the fruit influence. The finish stayed sweet and satisfying.

#3 — Company Distilling Single Barrel Finished with Pecan Wood

Dessert whiskey in the best sense: caramel, chocolate, spice, and a finish that kept hanging on. The pecan wood influence doesn’t shout, but it absolutely contributes depth.

#2 — Chattanooga Experimental Bottle

Possibly the best color of the entire blind — nearly mahogany. Brown sugar, fruit, nutmeg, and the best mouthfeel in the tasting. The finish was one of the standout moments of the whole lineup.

#1 — New Riff Single Barrel 6-Year Store Pick 🏆

The winner.

Rich copper color, caramel, red fruit, chocolate, balanced oak, and absolutely no weak spot. Nose, palate, mouthfeel, and finish all landed exactly where you want them to.

This bottle didn’t just edge out the field — it felt complete.

Final Finish Order

  1. New Riff Single Barrel 6-Year Store Pick
  2. Old Tennessee Sid’s Select
  3. Company Distilling Single Barrel Finished with Pecan Wood
  4. Shortbarrel Bee’s Knees – Oregon Blackberry
  5. Bootlegger’s Old 150th
  6. 13th Colony Single Barrel Cask Strength
  7. Old Tennessee Sid’s Select
  8. Old Forester Single Barrel 100-Proof Store Pick
  9. Tennessee Legend Kingsnake
    1. Tennessee Legend Snapper
  11. Jump Master’s Reserve Single Malt

Closing Thought

The best part of a blind tasting is that reputation disappears.

Price disappears.

Packaging disappears.

And sometimes the bottle you expected to merely compete ends up taking the whole thing.

In the end, the best bottle of spring break wasn’t the boldest pour in the lineup — it was the one with no weak spot anywhere from nose to finish.

This time, New Riff Distilling walked away with spring break honors.

And that makes this trip feel even more worthwhile.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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Some Weather Comes With Memories

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Douglas Blaine
Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite type of weather?
View all responses

Ask me my favorite kind of weather, and the honest answer is simple: it depends.

That may sound like a dodge, but weather has never just been about temperature to me. It’s about what that weather invites, what season of life it recalls, and sometimes even where I happened to be living when I learned to appreciate it.

Back when I lived in Georgia, I loved a snowy day. Snow there felt like an event. You stocked up on firewood, made sure everything was ready, and settled in knowing the fireplace was about to become the center of the house. There was something satisfying about watching the world slow down while the fire kept roaring inside.

Living in Florida changes that answer, because snow here is mostly a rumor — the kind of thing you might see once in a generation and then talk about for years afterward. I don’t even have a fireplace now, so that old winter ritual belongs to another chapter.

But Florida has its own weather moments.

A cold rainy day can be just about perfect if it means sitting under a blanket with Daryl, listening to the rain, and watching a good rom-com while the rest of the world feels muted outside. There’s something about rain that gives permission to stop, settle in, and enjoy being exactly where you are.

Fall may still come closest to being my favorite, though, especially when football season is in full swing. When I’m refereeing and there’s just enough cool air to remind you summer has finally backed off, football feels the way football is supposed to feel. Crisp air and stadium lights just belong together.

Spring has its own appeal too — that brief stretch when winter has loosened its grip but Florida hasn’t yet become an oven. It’s that narrow window where the air feels right, the days are comfortable, and you know you’d better enjoy it before summer comes barging in.

When I lived in South Texas, people joked that there were only two seasons: summer and February. Some years, Florida feels like it borrowed that calendar.

Maybe that’s why my answer can’t settle on one kind of weather. Some weather brings comfort. Some brings memories. Some simply fits the moment so well that you don’t want it to leave.

And maybe that’s what favorite weather really is — not one forecast, but the one that makes life feel especially right when it arrives.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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Quick Thought – Monday, March 23, 2026: Wise Choices

Posted on March 23, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Read

Proverbs 1:1-9

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7

Reflect

How wise are you? In each of the following examples, choose which action you think is wise:

Your grandmother gives you $50 for your birthday. You should…

  • Save it to spend on a special item or occasion.
  • Don’t save anything, and spend it all on candy and ice cream.

Your teacher announces that a major test will take place on Friday. You should…

  • Get together with a friend to study each day for an hour.
  • Put studying off until Thursday night and cram for an hour or two.

Your boss says that you might get a raise if you work a little harder. You should…

  • Offer to work as often as possible, and volunteer to do even the messy jobs.
  • Call in sick a few times, and take lots of breaks when you do work.

Clearly, the first choice in each example is the wise choice because wisdom usually looks beyond the moment and considers what matters most later. But as silly as the other answers seem to be, there are people in this world who would choose option #2. Being wise isn’t always the clear choice it should be, but God says that it’s always the right thing. And He says that people who follow Him will seek His wisdom. Basically, it boils down to this: Wise people respect God and His ways, and foolish people avoid God and aren’t willing to learn from Him.

What do you desire – the wisdom of God, or doing things your own way? Today, pray that God will help make you wise and that you’ll seek His wisdom when you’re faced with tough choices.

Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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The Sunday Pour: The Long Rickhouse Aisle

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

There’s something about walking between rows of aging barrels that feels almost sacred.

It’s not just storage. It’s not even just production. It feels like walking through time itself — past, present, and future stacked quietly in wooden rows.

The closest comparison I can think of is flipping through an old photo album… or scrolling through years of pictures in Google Photos. You see moments frozen in place, each one belonging to a different chapter of life. But even that doesn’t fully capture what a rickhouse feels like, because in a rickhouse, all those years are still actively becoming something.

A 20-year barrel sits in one place, carrying two decades of slow transformation.

A bonded barrel, just four years old, waits somewhere else — mature enough by law, but still young compared to what surrounds it.

A newly filled barrel rests nearby, barely begun, holding promise more than memory.

All of them exist under one roof.

And the smell — that unmistakable mix of oak, sweetness, vapor, and time — fills the air before you ever touch a barrel. It’s one of the few places where aroma alone can make you pause and smile.

Then comes the moment every bourbon lover remembers: pulling whiskey straight from the barrel with a thief and tasting it where it lives.

That experience changes how you think about what’s in the glass. Because suddenly you’re not just tasting bourbon — you’re tasting where it has been, what it has endured, what the seasons have done to it.

I’m no master distiller, but it’s hard not to imagine that every barrel carries history beyond itself.

A barrel laid down twenty years ago belongs not only to the distillery’s story, but to everything happening when it was filled — the state of the company, the country, the world… even your own life.

That whiskey may have begun aging while someone was raising children, changing careers, grieving losses, celebrating milestones, or simply living years they never imagined would matter to a pour decades later.

Maybe that’s part of what makes the long rickhouse aisle so compelling.

You’re not just walking past barrels.

You’re walking past years.

And every one of them is still quietly becoming something better.

Scripture says in Ecclesiastes that there is “a time for every purpose under heaven.” A rickhouse almost feels like a living reminder of that truth. Nothing there can be rushed. Heat, cold, expansion, contraction, patience — every season matters.

And maybe that’s true of us too.

Some things only deepen because they stayed in the season long enough.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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March Bourbon Madness: Best-of-the-Shelf Challenge—First Round Matchups 29-32

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Douglas Blaine

Opening Pour

The Final Four of Round One

The last pours of the first round are in the books.

By this point, fatigue is real. Subtle differences matter more. Texture separates contenders. And a couple of heavy hitters had to survive gritty matchups to advance.

Here’s how the final four blinds of Round 1 played out.

🥃 Matchup 29 — Blind

CC vs. B

Blind Tasting Notes

CC

Color: Light mahogany
Nose: Lighter than expected — caramel, vanilla, oak
Palate: Warm caramel and oak lead; baking spice and tart cherries follow
Mouthfeel: Decent
Finish: Tart cherry, oak and caramel

Score: 83.65

B

Color: Deep copper
Nose: Rich creamy caramel, chocolate and nutmeg
Palate: Milk chocolate leads caramel and baking spice
Mouthfeel: Creamy and substantial
Finish: Solid, with spice and caramel rounding it out

Score: 84.20

Reveal & Result

CC: Old Forester 1910 (#6)
B: High West Chardonnay Cask (#59)

✅ Winner: High West Chardonnay Cask
➡️ Advances to Round 2

Post-Matchup Thoughts

This one surprised me. 1910 is usually reliable, but it showed up a little restrained here. The High West brought richness and texture that carried the edge.

What decided it:
Mouthfeel and chocolate-driven depth.

🥃 Matchup 30 — Blind

EEE vs. I

Blind Tasting Notes

EEE

Color: Deepest copper
Nose: Butterscotch, caramel, nutmeg, light oak
Palate: A butterscotch bomb — caramel and nutmeg in reserve
Mouthfeel: Mildly creamy
Finish: Toffee and nutmeg linger

Score: 87.34

I

Color: Light copper
Nose: Buttery toffee, nutmeg, vanilla, mild oak
Palate: Caramel and baking spice with a touch of peanut
Mouthfeel: Mid-level
Finish: Spice and caramel dominate

Score: 79.96

Reveal & Result

EEE: Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Oloroso Cask (#27)
I: Cooper’s Craft 100-Proof (#38)

✅ Winner: Jack Daniel’s Oloroso Cask
➡️ Advances to Round 2

Post-Matchup Thoughts

This wasn’t particularly close. The Oloroso finish delivered concentrated dessert richness and control. It felt composed and confident.

What decided it:
Layered sweetness and balance.

🥃 Matchup 31 — Blind

BBB vs. F

Blind Tasting Notes

BBB

Color: Mid-copper
Nose: Proof and oak lead; brown sugar trails
Palate: Sweet brown sugar with strong cinnamon and light caramel
Mouthfeel: Silky
Finish: Shorter than hoped; brown sugar and cherry

Score: 83.44

F

Color: Solid mahogany
Nose: Brown sugar, nutmeg, crème brûlée
Palate: Rich buttery layers of caramel, chocolate and nutmeg
Mouthfeel: Full and rich
Finish: Long, layered, and persistent

Score: 85.50

Reveal & Result

BBB: Four Roses OESO Barrel Strength (#11)
F: Woodford Reserve Double Oaked (#54)

✅ Winner: Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
➡️ Advances to Round 2

Post-Matchup Thoughts

OESO came in strong, but Double Oaked did what it does — richness, texture, dessert weight. It simply lingered longer and felt more complete.

What decided it:
Depth and finish length.

🥃 Matchup 32 — Blind

L vs. FF

Blind Tasting Notes

L

Color: Light copper
Nose: Ethanol and dustiness, but brown sugar and caramel hiding
Palate: Heavy spice with brown sugar and toffee
Mouthfeel: Solid and rich
Finish: Caramel and baking spice

Score: 80.62

FF

Color: Mid-copper
Nose: Mixed berries, light oak, vanilla
Palate: Cinnamon up front, berries, caramel and vanilla
Mouthfeel: Silky
Finish: Tart fruit, cinnamon and oak

Score: 79.10

Reveal & Result

L: Green River Single Barrel (#22)
FF: Chattanooga Experimental Single Barrel (#43)

✅ Winner: Green River Single Barrel
➡️ Advances to Round 2

Post-Matchup Thoughts

Not the cleanest matchup of the round. Both had rough edges. In the end, L’s structure and sweetness outweighed FF’s fruit-forward profile.

What decided it:
Better balance despite early ethanol notes.

🔀 Second-Round Matchups Created

High West Chardonnay Cask (#59)
vs.
Jack Daniel’s Oloroso Cask (#27)

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked (#54)
vs.
Green River Single Barrel (#22)

🏁 Closing the First Round

Round 1 is complete.

A few themes emerged:

  • Texture consistently separated winners.

  • Dessert-forward profiles performed extremely well.

  • High proof alone did not guarantee advancement.

  • Some familiar names are already gone.

Now the real fun begins.

Round 2 is where reputations get tested. I’ll see you on Tuesday for the start of Round Two.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

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