Tasting notes / FILM 11 / 39 SECONDS
Room for Character
The unexpected note might be the one you remember.
By Old Treasure · September 7, 2026
From our recorded conversations at The Pearl.
BEHIND THE CONVERSATION
The unexpected note might be the one you remember.
Larry and Susie leave room for a whiskey to have a little personality. A note outside the familiar bourbon vocabulary can make a glass interesting, if it belongs with everything around it.
That last part matters. They’re talking about character that works within the whole. As you taste, notice what catches you off guard and what happens next. Sometimes the surprise becomes your favorite part.
Read the full film transcript
There's no real perfect, flawless bourbon. It might be an unexpected flavor that some people would consider a flaw. Maybe even their taster would say, “Hey, this isn’t right. This isn’t what our normal profile is.” I think the flaws, a lot of times, are where the character comes from. But not just for the sake of flaws, obviously, because sometimes they don't work. But that could be really nice for a single barrel, as long as the flavor kind of melds and kind of makes sense, is cohesive, and doesn't kind of stick out as imbalanced with the other flavors.
Story adapted from the accompanying filmed conversation.
