The Whiskey Club kicked off the 2025 Valero Texas Open with another blind bottle tasting tradition. With labels hidden and reputations set aside, participants sampled each pour and voted for their favorite. As always, the results proved that when whiskey is judged strictly on taste, the winner isn’t always the bottle people expect.
A Honey Island Swamp tour with Cajun Encounters, a visit to the Whiskey Tree, and whiskey from Seven Three Distilling with Luka Čutura. One of the most memorable experiences of the trip.
Curiosity led me to try infusing bourbon with dehydrated fruit — oranges, blackberries, pears, and cranberries. The idea seemed promising, but the results were surprisingly dull. Instead of adding flavor, most of the experiments turned out flat or slightly bitter, proving that sometimes bourbon already does the job just fine on its own.
Curious what tea might pair with bourbon, I tried an infusion using Dahongpao oolong. Replacing the tea’s normal brewing water with bourbon created a surprisingly fast extraction. After just three days, the infusion picked up roasted, fruity notes that layered naturally over the bourbon’s caramel and oak backbone.
Blind tastings have a way of humbling even the most confident whiskey drinkers. When labels, price tags, and reputations disappear, what’s left is just the whiskey in the glass. Sometimes the expensive bottle wins — but often the quiet, overlooked one steals the show and reminds everyone that great whiskey doesn’t need a story.
The Whiskey Club gathered on December 16, 2025, for a pre-Christmas blind bottle tasting at Red Berry Estates, a hidden San Antonio venue near the Frost Bank Center. With labels concealed and opinions based purely on taste, participants sampled each pour and voted for their favorite—revealing once again that the results of blind tastings can be full of surprises.
Inspired by a bartender’s infusion idea, I decided to try chamomile with bourbon. Using simple ingredients and a little patience, the experiment revealed how slowly chamomile integrates with whiskey. After seven days of tasting and adjusting, the result was a subtle, balanced infusion that complemented the bourbon without overpowering it.
The Whiskey Club kicked off the 2025 Valero Texas Open with another blind bottle tasting tradition. With labels hidden and reputations set aside, participants sampled each pour and voted for their favorite. As always, the results proved that when whiskey is judged strictly on taste, the winner isn’t always the bottle people expect.
The Whiskey Club kicked off the 2025 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo with another blind bottle tasting. With labels hidden and reputations set aside, participants sampled each pour and voted for their favorite. As always, the results showed that when whiskey is judged purely on taste, the outcome can be surprising.
A blind bottle tasting at Ranger Creek Distillery brought the whiskey club together to compare pours without labels or expectations. With each participant voting on their favorite, the results revealed which whiskey truly stood out when judged on taste alone—often with a few surprises along the way.
