It was a battle of the booze in Bedford—the Great Whisk[e]y Debate ‘08. Two of the world’s great drinks were represented—Bourbon, for which Kentucky is famous, and Scotch, signature drink of Scotland. Whiskey versus Whisky, or, as a large-as-life banner cleverly put it, “to [e] or not to [e]“. Mr. Bourbon, with his genteel cowboy swagger and home country advantage, stirred patriotic leanings in the audience at the Bedford Village Inn on Monday, while Mr. Scotch had a cool accent, yelled “Go, Scawtch!” and wore kilt. For the audience, the deciders, would it be native son or exotic foreigner? Pride in homeland craftsmanship or the allure of a far-flung elixir?

It was neither. As the votes were taken—you waved a tiny American or Scottish flags in the air and, apparently, shouted “whoo”—a tie was declared, and disaster was diverted. Nevertheless, a victor’s party will be thrown tonight, 7-9 p.m. at The Barley House at 132 N. Main St. in Concord. And with complimentary bourbon and single-malt scotch, plus the chance to chat about whiskey (or whisky) with contenders Bernie Lubbers, of Kentucky, and Simon Brooking, of Scotland, it’s well worth the drive.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Liquor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.