⚜ The Whiskey Talks LLC
Pours with
a purpose
Guided whiskey tastings for private parties, weddings and package stores. You provide the whiskey; we bring the tasting glasses, the know-how and the stories behind every pour.
Where we pour
Every tasting is a small, guided flight: a handful of whiskeys tasted side by side, with enough history and know-how that your guests leave able to taste the difference. Under Connecticut law the host, venue or store supplies the whiskey, and we help you choose it.
Private parties
Birthdays, retirements, poker nights and backyard get-togethers. You buy the bottles and serve them free to your guests; we set up and run the tasting so you can enjoy your own party.
Weddings & venues
A tasting station for cocktail hour, a groomsmen's pour before the ceremony, or a rehearsal-dinner flight, using whiskey from your licensed venue's bar. We coordinate with the venue.
Package stores
In-store tastings of the bottles you want to feature, poured from your stock during your regular selling hours, so customers can try before they buy.
Groups & companies
Team outings, client dinners and clubs, held at a licensed restaurant or venue, or hosted privately with whiskey the host provides.
Tell us about your event
Date, place, headcount and what your crowd likes to drink.
We plan the flight
We send you or your venue a short list of bottles to pick up, from easy sippers for newcomers to bold pours for fans.
We guide the tasting
A relaxed, guided hour of tasting and talking, with plenty of time for questions.
From grain to glass
Every whiskey follows the same six steps. The choices a distiller makes at each one are why no two taste alike.
Grain
Corn, rye, wheat and malted barley. The recipe, called the mash bill, sets the base flavor. Corn brings sweetness; rye brings spice.
Mash
The grains are ground and cooked in water, and enzymes from malted barley turn their starch into sugar.
Ferment
Yeast eats the sugar and makes alcohol, creating a sour, beer-like liquid distillers call the wash or distiller's beer.
Distill
The wash is heated in a pot or column still. Alcohol boils before water, so the vapor is captured and condensed into clear, strong spirit.
Barrel
The spirit rests in oak for years. The wood gives whiskey its color and much of its flavor, and some evaporates each year: the angels' share.
Bottle
Barrels are tasted, blended or kept single, cut with water to the right proof and bottled.
What makes it bourbon? It must be made in the USA from at least 51% corn and aged in new, charred oak containers, with nothing added but water.
A short history
- Middle Ages
The water of life
Monks in Ireland and Scotland distill grain spirit and call it uisce beatha, Gaelic for "water of life." Say it fast and you'll hear where "whiskey" came from.
- 1494
First on paper
Scottish tax records note malt given to a friar to make aqua vitae, the earliest known written record of Scotch.
- 1791
The Whiskey Rebellion
Farmers in western Pennsylvania revolt against a new federal tax on spirits. President Washington sends troops to put it down.
- 1897
Bottled in Bond
Congress sets a standard for honest whiskey: one distillery, one season, at least four years old, bottled at 100 proof.
- 1920
Prohibition
Thirteen dry years. A few distilleries survive by selling "medicinal" whiskey by prescription until repeal in 1933.
- 1964
America's native spirit
Congress declares bourbon a distinctive product of the United States.
Learn with us
Short lessons on how whiskey is made, the history behind the labels, and what to look for in your glass. New posts every week.
Book a tasting
Tell us a little about your event and we'll get back to you within two days with ideas and pricing.
Connecticut law requires the host, venue or store to supply the whiskey, so once you book we'll send a suggested bottle list. All guests must be 21 or older.