Sipped Stan, followed by a quiet lip smack if in polite company. About 40 years ago I got invited to a Bear/Hog hunt back in the mountains. Breakfast was fried ham, grits and about an inch of a clear, water like liquid. Being a guest I tried to be as quite and polite as I could be. The talk was fairly normal but a little quiet. After taking a big bite of that salty fried ham I reached for my "water" glass. The table fell quiet. I just knew I was about to be the center of entertainment for everyone. I took a medium sip and swirled it around my mouth, killing nerve endings for a year before swallowing it. Then the small lip smack.
Everyone watched me waiting for the coughing fit that was expected to follow. Instead I looked at the old fellow at the head of the table and said Apple and Pecan, that's a good run too. He just about fell out of his chair. Asked how I knew that. Told him I had an uncle who use to run of a batch now and then and would use apple wood and pecan wood or charcoal to smooth it out and flavor it. He said his own sons never knew his secrets until that day. Shame I said such a fine thing should never be allowed to end. That was a mighty fine tasting run.
Never saw a bear or hog but still have memories of a fine weekend. Feeling returned in less that a year, but I could use that stuff to numb a fellow before extracting a tooth. It was high grade.
The really good stuff goes down as smooth as cool spring water. I've tasted the best and the worst. Just because a man knows how to make likker don't mean he knows how to make good likker.
SRH
