Whiskey with Mike

08/31/2026

08/28/2026

2026 Festival 🥃🥃🥃

08/27/2026

Round three 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃

08/27/2026

Round Two 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃

08/27/2026

Current situation ❤️☘️🥃

08/24/2026

2025 Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Heritage Toasted Barrel.

100 proof, 1L.
Barrel Number 25-06524.
Bottled on 06OCT25.
Barrel Entry 07JUL17.

Part of my personal collection.
Not for sale.

08/23/2026

1991: Friends and Failure…

Looking back, 1991 was a major turning point in my life. To understand why, a little background is required.

My parents worked their asses off to send me to private schools. I was an above-average student academically, a student-athlete, member of Student Council… the whole package. I even started college with a small academic scholarship at the legendary Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

My first semester in Fall 1990 went well enough. I finished with a 3.0 GPA and everything seemed right on track.

Then came Spring 1991. That was the moment my self-discipline and self-image truly began to get tested… and honestly, I failed.

I joined a fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, and quickly fell in love with alcohol, parties, and chasing girls. Keep in mind, I came from an all-male Catholic high school with around 500 students. Suddenly I was a free man walking around a university filled with 20,000 beautiful Texas women.

I was not ready. No one is to blame but myself. My social life took off like a rocket while my grades crashed just as fast. I thought I was too cool for class or homework. Many nights ended at IHOP, drinking gallons of coffee while trying to cram months of reading into a few desperate hours before exams. I showed up looking like a freaking zombie. Yet somehow I always had enough energy to party and attempt to outdrink Thor.

It was not all doom and gloom though. I built friendships that still exist today. I learned hard lessons about priorities, discipline, and consequences.

Somewhere along the way, I forgot the, “work hard and play later” message my parents tried to instill in me. What should have taken four years took six. Eventually, in Fall 1996, I left college and joined the Army in January 1997. That was the moment I finally realized: “My head needed to be removed from my ass.” Thankfully, the Army did a wonderful job helping with that.

Looking back now, I honestly wonder how I survived my early twenties. I learned from my mistakes and eventually finished my undergraduate degree and even earned a Master’s Degree while serving in the Army.

Today, as a parent, my goal is to prepare my children for being on their own someday. I am not saying my parents failed me. They did not. I failed myself and them.

Failure is the ultimate teacher. You cannot rise if you do not fall. There is no light without darkness. Sometimes life feels like a hurricane. All you can do is charge the storm. That is what I remember when I think of 1991.

08/22/2026

Have to love airport rules, beer at 0930 👊🍻

08/21/2026

2026 Two Stacks The Lost Chapter Ch. 1.

56% ABV, 700ml.

The Lost Chapters is a tribute to a remarkable era of Irish whiskey, a chapter that has since changed hands, but whose spirit and legacy deserve to be remembered and shared.

Crafted by Lough Gill Distillery, this release captures a moment in modern Irish whiskey history that cannot be recreated. It stands as a snapshot in time: bold, characterful, and deeply reflective of the people, ambition, and liquid that helped shape a new generation of Irish whiskey.

While ownership and direction may evolve, great whiskey remains timeless. The Lost Chapters exists to preserve and showcase these exceptional casks to the whiskey community - celebrating not only where Irish whiskey is today, but the paths, risks, and stories that brought it here.

This particular cask also forms one of the key components behind Pillars of Creation 2026, allowing whiskey drinkers a rare opportunity to experience both the individual chapter and the final blend it helped inspire. Together, they offer a deeper insight into the art of modern Irish whiskey creation and collaboration.

The first of many chapters worth retelling.

Part of my personal collection.
Not for sale.