Bourbon enthusiasts lurked in the shadows of the Hotel Montleleone and bribed waiters to bring tasting glasses. These tastings were not permitted within the Tales of the Cocktail confines and among the many backdoor events stealing cocktail enthusiasts, writers and bartenders from the world’s premier cocktail convention.

I was invited to a few of these secret tastings on the condition of anonymity.  All that’s allowed within my handshake agreements: One tasting involved an award-winning corn whiskey. We called one of their products a “palate killer” because it rippled your tongue with so many different notes you could not possibly taste a thing afterward.

Aside from the unnamed corn whiskey distiller, I attended two other secret whiskey tastings. As we bumped against sweaty bartenders in the Tales hallways, whiskey  drinkers found me and kept inviting me to special events. I’d look in my Tales’ program to see these hot-ticket items were nowhere to be found. They were truly invite only.

On the official ticket, Four Roses had a tasting room; Heaven Hill had a nightly tribute to Parker Beam and a Larceny cocktail tasting; and Jim Beam and Bulleit sponsored dinners and lunches respectively. On paper, it looked like bourbon had a presence, but a unified effort was lost in New Orleans.

As I mentioned in a previous post, bourbon needs a stronger presence. On more than one occasion, a reader or friend pulled me aside and asked, “where’s the bourbon.” It’s true; the bourbon was nowhere to be found.

At its nightly ALS tribute for Parker Beam, Heaven Hill offered a bottle of the Parker’s Heritage and that was the only ultra premium whiskey available at Tales-sanctioned events, while Four Roses tasted its various yeast strains. Michter’s sponsored a seminar, while Heaven Hill’s Craig Beam and Wild Turkey’s Eddie Russell educated those who’d listen. So, the effort is there, but so much potential is lost.

Bourbons of all kinds, from Texas and New York and Kentucky and Indiana are here, but it’s so isolated that the effect is likely minimal compared to the special Cognac experience or Finer Side of Mexico events that wowed every palate in the house.

Maybe the category doesn’t see bartenders as an important category to target or it’s just too expensive for a unified event or maybe Tales is too close to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Or, maybe the bourbon unity we’re sold is just a front and these distiller dinners they do every quarter mean little compared to the accountants who really make the decisions.

For sure, bourbon needs to do more here.

As it is now, whiskey drinkers are meeting in hotel suites to drink the good stuff. And that’s just weird.