I had my last drink of bourbon for a good, long while last night.
Made sure it was a good one to go out on, too. Pappy Van Winkle's 12 year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Special Reserve. Charred oak and molasses, with some notes of vanilla on the finish. A damn fine whiskey. I'm not really going to miss much about drinking during this upcoming period of personal prohibition, but I am really, really going to miss bourbon.
And it honestly has nothing to do with the drunk of it. When it comes to the inebriation of the drink, bourbon is hardly my favorite. I don't hate it, but it just makes me kind of relaxed and sleepy; it's nothing special. When it comes to drinking for the feeling of it, I much prefer vodka, tequila, red wine, or even scotch over bourbon.
No, what I'm going to miss about bourbon, is the taste. It's the only alcohol I drink almost entirely just for the taste of it. (Though a fine cognac can be really delicious, as well.) It's the taste of a Summer's night at the cabin by the lake. Woodsmoke and caramel. Oak and cedar and hazelnut and charred barleycorn. To me, the taste of a good bourbon - and I'm talking a good bourbon here, not Jim Beam or Bullitt or some rotgut like that - is one of life's greatest pleasures. And I know this Summer is going to feel the lesser for its absence from my palette.
But I'm prepared for that. And I'm okay with it. Because what I'm going to gain through this sacrifice is worth a lot more to me. Giving up one pleasure, temporarily - even one that I enjoy as much as I do a glass of Kentucky's finest - is a ridiculously small price to pay to stop feeling like a drunk.
Wish me luck.
2 comments:
Good luck! I've heard it is easier to be addicted to alcohol if you are also addicted to carbs, so if you haven't done so already, you might want to look into a low carb paleo diet or similar to help with cravings.
LOL - read this immediately after consuming my last bite of my biscuits-and-jam breakfast. Alcohol *is* carbs, and so for me, I think the drinking-too-much led to the craving-starch-and-sweets, rather than the other way around.
Thanks for the advice! I'm already dreading the sweet-tooth I can feel coming on now that I've cut back on the booze. Going to try and counteract that with some high-protein shakes and jerky-treats. We'll see how it goes.
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