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You can tell a lot about a person by what's in their glass.
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Sometimes it says, "I appreciate true craftsmanship." And sometimes it says, "I'm going to explain
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my crypto portfolio to you at a child's birthday party."
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I'm Tim Fulton, and this is Character Proof.
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Tasting notes and character flaws.
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In every episode we pour one bottle — bourbon, scotch, tequila, whatever's on the shelf — give
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it an honest tasting, and then lovingly, specifically roast the exact person who drinks it on purpose.
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So grab a glass, pull up a chair. Let's get pouring.
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Let's start with a safety briefing, because this week the whiskey requires one.
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Stagg Jr. — rebranded simply "Stagg" a few years back, but the faithful still say Junior — is
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Buffalo Trace's uncut, unfiltered barrel-proof bruiser, released in batches that land anywhere
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from the mid-120s to the low 130s proof, and it is, credit where due, magnificent.
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Get past the fumes — and there are fumes; nosing this carelessly is how you cauterize
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a sinus — and the nose is dark cherry, brown sugar, tobacco, and chocolate cake.
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The palate is enormous:
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black cherry and molasses riding in on a wave of heat, then dark chocolate, oak char, cinnamon
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bark, a savory leather note underneath, all of it delivered at a volume that makes your
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fillings hum.
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The finish is very long, hot, and cocoa-dark, less a finish than an occupation.
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Watered down, it blooms beautifully. Neat, it is a dare. And it is exclusively as a dare
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that it interests Derek Stubbs, who has never added water to anything in his life and regards
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the option the way other men regard forfeiture.
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Derek is thirty-six, owns a heating-and-cooling company with his name on four trucks, and drinks
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exclusively above one hundred and twenty proof, a policy he refers to as "not wasting the glass."
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His shelf is a skyline of barrel-proof monsters arranged by batch number, and he can recite
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those batch numbers — with tasting deltas — like a man listing his children, which, in fairness,
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Craig does with shelf prices and nobody's staged an intervention there either.
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The Stagg is the
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crown jewel.
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When a new batch drops, Derek posts a photo of the proof statement — never the bottle,
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the proof statement — captioned with a single flexed-arm emoji, and the comments fill
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with men typing the word "hazmat" in the reverent lowercase other communities reserve for scripture.
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Guests at Derek's bar receive their pour with a waiver speech — delivered while he watches
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your face with the neutral intensity of a proctor, and whatever you do with that face
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gets entered into a permanent mental ledger from which there is no appeal.
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Watch him drink it, though, because this is the show.
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The pour is one ounce, exact.
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The glass is a Glencairn, obviously.
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Derek brings it up, takes the sip, and then — nothing.
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Total stillness. A monk's face.
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Somewhere behind that face, a fire alarm is going off in an empty building, and Derek's
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entire self-image depends on not dispatching a truck.
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Four seconds later he exhales through his nose, slow, like a bull considering a career
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change, and delivers the verdict:
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"smooth."
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It is not smooth.
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It has never been smooth.
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It is a hundred and thirty proof of barrel-strength consequence, and "smooth" is simply what Derek's face has
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agreed to say on behalf of a body that is currently filing complaints.
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His friends have watched ice melt in their own glasses while pretending not to notice
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his eyes water.
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Everyone performs.
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It's beautiful.
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And of course there's the hot sauce shelf, because there's always a hot sauce shelf —
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same wall of the kitchen, bottles with skulls on them, arranged by Scoville the way the whiskey's
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arranged by proof.
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Derek is not chasing flavor on either shelf;
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he's chasing voltage, collecting certificates of endurance.
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In the Buffalo Trace universe we keep returning to, Craig hunts scarcity and Wade hunts
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lineage —
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Derek hunts wattage, and his prey, at least, is always in stock eventually.
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And here's the affectionate part, because there's always one — actually two.
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First: behind the theater, Derek's palate is real.
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His batch notes are accurate.
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He called the cherry-bomb batch before the review sites did, because you cannot fake your way
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through a hundred proof reviews at full strength;
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the man has earned his opinions the hard way,
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one seared taste bud at a time.
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And second — and Derek, if you're listening, we would never tell them — there is a bottle
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of Basil Hayden hidden behind the protein powder,
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eighty proof, gentle as a handshake, and it is one-third empty.
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Tuesday nights, alone, garage fridge humming,
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no Glencairn, no audience, no verdict.
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Doug Pemberton would be proud.
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So pour the Stagg, Derek, at full send, and give us the four seconds and the "smooth" —
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we love the show,
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we've always loved the show.
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But some Tuesday, pour the soft one in the open, in front of the guys.
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That's the real hazmat suit, buddy —
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and you're the only one who thinks it's still on.
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Well, the glass is empty, and the verdict is in.
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That's going to do it for this episode of Character Proof.
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If you saw yourself in tonight's pour — first of all, we love you.
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Second, hit subscribe, leave a five-star review, and send this to the friend whose bar cart
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costs more than their car.
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Got a bottle you want us to put on trial?
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Drop it in the reviews or find us on socials, and you just might be next week's character.
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Until next time: drink responsibly, pour generously, and always check your character flaws.
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Cheers.