Chapter 11

Ah ... confused are we? Settle down. All shall be revealed.

Are we seated comfortably? Then I’ll begin...

The six band stainless steel banded oak casks are beeswax lined ... no leaks. They have foodgrade stainless pour-spouts and come with matching individual cradles. The casks were handmade by the premier barrel cooper at the distillery in Linchburg Tennessee as part of his master coopers license test in 1920.

As a boy he was hired as an apprentice by a journeyman cooper in 1897. Eight years an apprentice, he was journeyman cooper in 1910.He made barrels for the British war effort during Great War and was one of the first men drafted when America declared in 1917. His skills as a cooper were more important than his marksmanship and he made barrels for the Army until 1919. Discharged, he was snapped up by the distillery. Pursuing his trade, he was asked to test for master. Mastery ... Prohibition ... let go. He never cooped a master barrel. He died and David bought his Masters project at the auction of his widows estate. David had the labels burned into the barrel head of each barrel.

The meal at The Bank

The shareable, bread and herbed oil, was ... indeed ... not on the menu.

Amy was quite impressed with Genevieve and the bread and oil was the best.

The salad ... Mediterranean, spring mix, assorted seasonal local veggies and feta cheese ... house-made Italian herbed dressing.

The entrée ... Nights... 32 ounce bone-in dry aged ribeye...

The sides ... for Gen ... a loaded baked potato and marinated grilled brussel sprouts.

For the Doctor. steamed FRESH asparagus with clarified butter and a baked potato.

Water ... no ice.

The discussion about numbers...? The limits in inches for the cyclekart Genevieve was considering.

All better now?

You may be about your business.

Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.