By Doyne
Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine
I remember sitting in the waiting room of an auto repair shop and
reading an Esquire Magazine
article about the young romance between Dew Westbrook and Betty Helmer. It was a fascinating read about
the cowboy dance hall subculture. It was written by Aaron Latham in 1978.
Latham latter paired up with James Bridges and wrote a screenplay from the article
and using the same name Urban Cowboy for the
1980 movie.
I recently was introduced to the world of
Bourbon. This occurred on three separate occasions during the year. In January
I was in Hochatown, Oklahoma for an annual outing with family and friends and
came across a distillery nearby. The Mitch and Kerri McDaniel and family left
their Arkansas roots and moved out to Hochatown for a new business venture.
Mitch’s family is involved in The Hochatown Distilling Company, resort cabins,
a brewery, restaurant and gift shop. Mitch took us on a tour of his distillery
and showed us his set up. Later that year they had their 200 gallon distillery
running. It was at this meeting I discovered there are hundreds of these
smaller operations springing up all over the country.
In April I was invited to a Bourbon Tasting
at Corks
in Germantown TN. Having never been to one I really didn’t know what to
expect. It was held at 4:00 in the afternoon and at 4:00 a large number of
business men in upscale vehicles descended on the parking lot. They quickly
stepped into the store some carrying bottles from home. They approached the
table set up in the lobby with a distinguished man setting there and nearby a
shelf with a variation of bourbon bottles. Some sounding familiar even to a
novice like me. The gentleman was Master
Distiller James Russell with the Wild Turkey out of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.” Mr. Jimmy” was here to promote his new
bourbon carrying his name and to sign any and all bottles bought or brought to
him. Those brought were mostly collector’s runs such as anniversary or special
event runs. He gladly signed all with a pen with golden ink.
My third encounter was with a Facebook
posting from a friend. He had taken a long weekend with his wife and several
couples on the Bourbon Trail in
Kentucky. I admit I was not aware of the trail so I had to Google it. The
distillery’s are all in an area between Louisville and Cincinnati. You can tour
each one and do so in just a few days. I did find out when speaking with “Mr.
Jimmy” that they are all friends in the business so why not develop a
promotional tour as such for all the interested customers.
Bourbon may not be the next big thing to
hit the popularity level of the Urban Cowboy. After all Urban Cowboy had
romance. But who is to say writing a romance into the Bourbon craze wouldn’t
work. The drink is seen in a lot of popular movies and shows that have
everything from romance to murder. House of Cards President Francis
“Frank” Underwood played by Kevin Spacey is known to drink Blanton’s a fine Kentucky Bourbon with a Jockey on Horse cork.
Keep your eyes open for those surprising
subcultures around you. You can bring them to the forefront but to do so it
must be in a way that connects those not in the subculture. No doubt romance is
a great way to do it. Romance crosses all subculture lines.
And just in case you missed it June 14th was National
Bourbon Day. There
is always next year.
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