Life is precious.

Whiskey is a lovely vehicle in life to create new friendships and maintain old ones.

When a whiskey friend told me he suffered aggressive cancer, he didn’t ask me to pray for him. Rather, he wanted to know if I could come by and photograph his rare bourbon collection before doctors performed surgery.

This man, a friend and an under-the-radar legend probably has the largest collection of Stitzel-Weller whiskey on the planet. Dale Hamilton, a former executive at the plant, is fighting kidney cancer. And dammit, he’s going to kick its ass.

He’s attended most of my Legends Series events at the Kentucky Derby Museum and frequently shares stories of old. Dale was a bourbon geek before such terms existed. He’s joked about the current bourbon craze and how nobody gave a charred oak shit in his day.

Thankfully, that has changed, and we’re enjoying bourbon’s greatest comeback since Prohibition. But we owe Dale a great deal of gratitude, and I’d like to ask anybody reading this to offer their thoughts and prayers to a man who helped build what we’re able to enjoy today. (Dale gave me permission to share his story.)

I care much more about the person than the whiskey. Cheers!