Spirits Confidential @ Nationals Park

I won the freakin Mini-​oak barrel.!!

Thanks to Unilocal,I was able to experience this enticing event. It was a great way to sample a wide array of liquors. And since I’m much more of a beer gal, the vast majority of liquors I had never tried before.
The «confidential» storytelling part was great. And the tables where they really informed you about the liquors were exceptional.
The crowd got to be too much for me towards the end. And the food seemed quite sparse in coming out and not nearly enough given the crowd size.
All in all, it was pleasant and informative evening. And the setting (Nationals Park) was great.

I rarely drink hard booze, I am more of a wine and beer drinker but this was a fun event.
The mixed drinks were really great, we tried all of them and they all went down well. I was able to confirm that, yes, I am still not a bourbon/​whiskey drinker (though JD did give out the neatest shot glasses). It was good to try a couple of types of tequila (white is not my friend, the more aged the better), 2 vodka’s (quite tasty skinny bitch and the «really, you might as well come out and have a label that this is aimed at the under 21 crowd» pucker) and some good flavored rum.
Quite a different crowd at this event (which is good… We played a game of «ID the Unilocalers»), but a neat opportunity. We were lucky that we figured out the food pattern early, got our food taken care of before it became like a feeding time for sharks by the time we left.

Exactly as advertised. A liquor tasting! And free! And we got to visit Nationals Park for the first time.
What’s not to love about that?!
I took my momma and even she had a ball, as we, every five minutes for about an hour, toasted to my impending thirtieth bday.
The highlight of my night was *finally* tasting Laphroaig, that mysterious, not-​so-​often touched bottle I’ve always wondered about dubbed «the most richly flavoured scotch whisky in the world.»
Umm yeah.
Tastes like a cookout!
Oh: And I got asked for ID in the ‘random checks.’ FIVE stahhhs!

First y’all, what you have to know is Jim Beam company OWNS EVERYTHING!!! From Sauza tequila to Knob Creek and Cruzan rum, the Beam family is expanding it’s booze and slurring empire to all types of spirits. It was at Spirit Confidential that the Grandson of Jim Beam himself highlighted their flag-​ship acquisitions and showcased the best booze they have to offer. The Reps lined-​up on stage (I swear all but the Suaza rep were already Three-​sheets) and regaled us with a confidential story about their booze (to bad 90% of the party was to busy drinking to listen, these guys were actually charming and funny)! But on to the booze right!
This event was for booze and about booze! Everything from fruity and infused cordials to Whiskey and Rum, there were reps on board to either educate or inebriate you… I did both! Some Chex-​mix-​like stand was well stocked to reset your palate with something salty, and I think I saw food come down the stair-​case and was swarmed on like a bunch of baby Pterodactyls pouncing on some pray the mamma drops into the nest (Seriously people… it was pretty scary, I think I saw someone bite a metal tray)! There were several stands dishing mixed cocktails based on the spirits around and the Margarita with blood orange cordial was BOMB! There was a game to test your nose against several elite Whiskeys and one of our Elite buddies one it (don’t know your name, but feel free to invite me over to open up that barrel of booze!)!
Great experience watching a master drink-​maker teach us the proper way to muddle and shake and crafting cocktails via mob mentality!
Part of me wants to become best buddies with these master craftsmen of spirits. Be a part of their testers committees for new flavors and batches; pal around with them at the Kentucky Derby and blow through Mint Juleps… but the other part of me wants to make it to 40… liver intact!
Shout out to Trish who tried to Pterodactyl me some skewers but almost lost her life in the struggle!
Cheers!

I think I appreciate this event so much because it was so different from our usual Elite events. I liked the fact that I was able to mix and mingle with the MANY people in attendance who weren’t with Unilocal.I kinda like events that aren’t solely for Unilocalers.
The drinks were definitely flowing and I felt obligated to taste every single thing that was offered. I was surprised to see Skinnygirls cocktails there, and even more surprised to see nothing but men constantly crowding that table. My favorite of the mixed drinks that I tried had to be the Dancing with the Devil cocktail; which was mixed with Tabasco. I am definitely a fan of ANY drink that has some type of kick to it.
The part that annoyed me was the food situation. I know that this had absolutely nothing to do with Kristin, so I am not blaming her at all, but I think that the organizers of this whole event should have thought of a better way to distribute the appetizers. It was basically some sort of secret covert mission to snag some food, with the servers changing up their tactics and using secret passageways and tunnels to come out with food before the hoards of drunk and hungry vultures pounced on them. Again, I will state that this had nothing to do with Unilocal at all, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
In the future, I look forward to more of these type of events, away from the typical «closed-​out» bar setting, and more in environments where we get to interact with other people and be a little more active.

Whiskey/​liquor tasting at a ballpark? It was pretty much a no brainer that I needed to RSVP for this. I guess everyone could read my mind cause I was so excited for this event, and as we walked in Justin promptly announced my goal for the night: Occupy Laphroaig.
This however was a short sighted goal, cause I had no idea how many things that were there to try and sample. Before I got to this event I had no idea what Spirits Confidential was. Once I started recognizing some bartenders and industry professionals, I got the 411 from Kristin.
Spirits Confidential is the Beam Global (the largest U.S.-based spirits company) traveling trade show. They bring in brand ambassadors, mixologists, distillers, and representatives to town to talk to the public and hand out free samples. There were tables representing Courvoisier, EFFEN Vodka, Skinny Girl Cocktails, Connemarra, Kilbeggan, and Laphroaig, Maker’s Mark, Cruzan Rum, Thatcher Organic Liquours, Canadian Club, Knob Creek and Sauza Tequila. Some tables had very knowledgeable brand ambassadors, who loved telling us more about the product, others had more easy going reps who welcomed questions and handed out free samples.
As I pulled myself away from Laphroaig, I marched over to Cruzan, pronounced crew-​zhan (trust me they will correct you), and got to squeeze sugar cane juice. Then I carried my thimble of juice over to mixologist Bobby G, and he muddled watermelon with some thyme, poured in some cucumber vodka, dark rum and the sugar cane juice and blended the perfect drink. I in fact tried to remain sober for the rest of the night just so I could remember how this was made.
This event was also the first time I tried Makers Mark, and it was not for lack of trying in the past. You see, Makers Mark is the preferred beverage at bonfires in the Outer Banks. And Makers Mark is also the preferred alcohol to «confiscate» by Dare County Police, who crash bonfires. For two years, I’ve tried to offer them the Smirnoff instead but they weren’t having it. I finally got to sample Makers Mark with out of a hand dipped shot glass, and I must say I actually enjoyed Makers 46, but I like the fruit and tobacco taste in the sample of Bookers even more.
They also had a Throwdown Challenge, where you had 60 seconds to identify 8 glasses of liquor by sight and smell alone. Sank crushed it, and won autographed mini bourbon barrel.
I did see people eating food, however, I heard tales of servers being swamped by hordes of hungry people as they made their way out with serving plates. Frightened servers began selecting different entry points to avoid the Hunger Games. Other than peanuts, I sadly didn’t get to chew on much to absorb the alcohol in my stomach.
All in all, an educational and fun evening. This event is definitely something every liquor enthusiastic should check out.

Boooooozy evening with loads of well dressed people and an unending supply of bar mix! What’s not to like? Great to finally see the stadium that I’d never visited before and great to mingle with all you fabulous Unilocalers (et al)!
The drinks ranged from mind-​blowingly blech (to go unnamed but rhymes with anorexic female — no wait it doesn’t) to mind-​blowingly Booker’s-what-is-that-warmth-in-my-esophagus-that-won’t-go-away?
Shout out to our own Sank who won a freakin’ barrel just by the power of his sniffer! Yay Sank!