Whiskey Tasting and Liberty Pole Spirits

For those that follow history, July commemorates the height of the whiskey tax that took place in what is now Washington, Pennsylvania and the rebellion that arose from it. My traditional Celtic music group, Wayward Companions, are often called upon to perform at such events that commemorate and reenact the historic event on which the farmers making whiskey to have as a means of trade for goods of survival was now being taxed by the government. Now, the governments reasoning for the tax was to use it as a way to compensate veterans of the revolution. On the farmers' end, however, they were barely making enough to survive and for many, having a bartering system with the whiskey was the difference between being able to eat or not. As a result, the farmers rose up, rebelling against the tax and forming the Mingo Creek Society. The society set up liberty poles as a way of demonstratng their unity.
One of Wayward Companions' most recent gigs was the whiskey tasting event at Woodville Plantation, a plantation owned by John Neville, a man widely respected but maligned when he was among those supporting the whiskey tax. In response, rebels torched much of Neville's property and some government officials were taken and made subject to punishments such as tarring and feathering. The whiskey tasting event was the start of several events that are to take place in Washington, PA throughout the month of July, and Liberty Pole Spirits was the distillery that provided the whiskey.



Liberty Pole Spirits is a whiskey distillery in the heart of Washington, PA, set up to not only provide good whiskey, but preserve the legacy of the Whiskey Rebellion and Mingo Creek Society. After Wayward Companions performed, we did get to partake in the whiskey tasting and I tried three different kinds:

Rye
Bourbon
Peated Bourbon

For the rye whiskey, a winter rye is used with a touch of wheat to soften the rye-spice ever so sslightly. The rye spice is still quite prominent in the pallet and nasal passage, as I experienced when I tasted it.
As for the bourbon (I personally prefer bourbon in general), the distillery refers to it as one of their flagship products. For the bourbon, they use the heirloom Bloody Butcher variety of corn, a variety grown in the Washington, PA area during the Whiskey Rebellion. It is pot distilled and aged for between 9 and 15 months. As bourbon is my preference, I tend to be on the picky side when it comes to this particular spirit and I will say that Liberty Pole did not disappoint at all with this one. In fact, it was among the best bourbon I ever tried.
Now, with bourbon under my belt, they were able to convince me into trying their peated bourbon. Peated bourbon combines American Scotches with American Bourbons. Like the bourbon, they use the Bloody Butcher corn, but then combine it with a heavily peated barley. I would say that I did like the peated bourbon even more so than the regular bourbon and could definitely taste its smokey and sweet notes. I very much enjoyed it.

I highly recommend checking out Liberty Pole Spirits if you happen to take a trip to the Washington, Pennsylvania area, especially throughout the month of July when all the Whiskey Rebellion Festivities will be taking place. Liberty Pole has a great website that offers even more detail on their whiskey varieties and distilling process, along with an option to take a tour of their distillery for a very reasonable price. They also have their own version of the Mingo Creek Society (which I plan on looking in to joining).

Liberty Pole Spirits website

And don't forget to show them love on social media:

Liberty Pole Spirits on Facebook

Liberty Pole Spirits on Instagram

Liberty Pole Spirits on Twitter


And last but not least, don't forget to check out Wayward Companions at The Whiskey Rebellion Festival on July 7

Cheers and Huzzah!

Friendship Day at the Depreciation Lands Museum

The weekend of May 20 was a busy one, between promoting the webseries Heroineburgh at 3 Rivers Comic Con and then a gig with my 18th century folk music group, Wayward Companions at the Depreciation Lands Museum's Friendship Day event. It was a fun event and as always, we enjoyed performing and did a mostly Irish set. Long overdue video of that event will be up soon, but in the meantime, here are some photos from the event. :)



18th century potter, Mike Flaherty and his wares.:



 I might have just a slight obsession with his stuff as I own several mugs he's made...

I think I might have been doing something like watching Gladiator and drinking a giant mug of tea or coffee. One of the two. 

And here is Paul Claus with his jacked leatherware. He's not as frightening as he appears... :D




And last but not least, here are some photos from the after party. Me with my vintage leopard print sunglasses. :)


Here's two of my Wayward Companions bandmates:


You can visit the Depreciation Lands Museum this summer (we will be doing a couple more gigs there). Check out their website at the following link:
Depreciation Lands Museum website

And of course, check out the Wayward Companions website to see where we will be next! :)

3 Rivers Comic Con and Heroineburgh

Hey there!

Just sharing some photos from my appearance promoting the webseries Heroineburgh as my character, Darbouka/Darsha Bukhari at 3 Rivers Comic Con a couple weeks ago. :)

 Headed out the door... :)


 Donning the Darbouka cape..


 Taking some photos of the Heroineburgh table...




Coffee break inside the VIP room...

 And they gave us all hand sanitzer...





And then I walked around and took a few more photos

And last but not least, a picture of us "heroines"

Check out the Heroineburgh website. :)

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