Stress. It’s an insidious thing. When I was a young man, I always thought I thrived on stress. I thought that I did my best work just under the deadline. And as such, I reveled in the thrill of rushing to get a project done. The rush of relief as I was finishing was worth the stress of rushing to get to that point.
But one day I had a panic attack at work. Somewhere along the line, I had gotten older and the stress and my anxiety had caught up to me. Stress was now a trigger. And it triggered both my anxiety and my depression. All of a sudden, work was a lot less fun. But luckily for me, I soon found myself some freelance clients. And shortly thereafter, I also found myself involuntarily self-employed as the company I worked for decided to let their entire marketing department go.
For me, this was the best thing that could have happened. I actually thanked the sympathetic (and now very surprised) HR person who came to have me sign the severance paperwork. It was great. I no longer had the stress of a 9 to 5 job. My mental health improved as I was now working on my own schedule and could balance my own workload. But on top of that, I was able to develop a second source of income as a dog sitter. I love dogs. I like them better than most people. A dog may tire me out, but seldom will they cause me stress.
Well until last night. Last night I had a 150 pound Great Dane decide that he was the boss and he bit me. Twice. Once on each arm. No worries, I was and am alright. It could certainly been worse. Just a bit of bruising due to his very large and powerful jaws. The stress, however, didn’t come from the bite. I’m pretty good at letting even big dogs know that I am the alpha in the house. No, it came from telling an owner that I wasn’t going to be able to take care of his baby. That is the hardest part of the job. I’ve only had to do it a couple times and this is the only time that it was because the dog bit me.
Afterward, I decided that I really wanted a drink. And since we had just done tasting notes for the New Riff Rye and it was still on the counter, I decided to grab that. I won’t say it was worth getting bit for, but it was damn good.
New Riff Rye Bottled in Bond
Purchase Info: $45.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the distillery gift shop. (I also bought a bottle at Old Town Wine and Spirits in Louisville, but lost the receipt. I assume I paid a similar price.)
Details: 50% ABR. 4 years old (Fall 2014-2018)
Nose: Cinnamon, mint, vanilla, brown sugar
Mouth: Cinnamon, spearmint, vanilla, allspice, cherry, pipe tobacco.
Finish: warm and medium length. Lingering cinnamon spice and just a touch of dill.
Thoughts: Folks, this is a delicious rye. Nice and spicy with just a hint of sweetness. I really enjoy this as a sipper. Works pretty well in cocktails too. Plus it sells for a relatively decent price. I just wish it was sold locally. But we already get their Bourbon, so I’m assuming that it is just a matter of time.
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