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Private Home Tastings

Starting at $40/person

Bring a bourbon trail experience to your home, office or country club. Led by certified whiskey instructor Samantha Mercado, each tasting combines the stories behind the bottles with guided comparisons that help you understand what’s in your glass.

We begin with a classic cocktail, then explore a thoughtfully selected whiskey flight. Learn how grains, proof, aging and barrel choices shape flavor, compare your impressions with other guests and find out why you enjoy the whiskeys you do. Whether you’re new to bourbon or already have a collection, you’ll leave with knowledge you can use the next time you choose a bottle.

The Process

1 / Choose Your Theme

Select a flight or tell me what your group wants to learn. We’ll confirm your date, guest count and bottle lineup together.

2 / Gather Your Bottles

The host purchases the selected whiskey and provides food. I’ll help with bottle choices and substitutions based on availability and budget.

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3 / Taste & Learn

I bring the glassware, tasting materials, a cocktail and presentation. Your guests enjoy a guided tasting filled with stories, comparisons and conversation.

Request a Date

Choose Your Tasting Experience

Every flight tells a story and teaches something different. Find your bourbon flavor profile, compare wheat and rye, explore what the barrel adds or put your preferences to the test with a blind tasting. History-focused flights bring the people and turning points behind the whiskey into the conversation.

Choose a theme below or build a tasting around your own collection. Bottle selections and the final lineup are confirmed together before your event.

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Find Your Bourbon Flavor Profile

Explore sweet, spicy, fruity and oak-rich bourbons-

and discover the flavors that make a bottle your favorite

  • Buffalo Trace

  • Maker’s Mark

  • New Riff Bottled-in-Bond

  • Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

  • Wild Turkey Rare Breed

  • Middle West Michelone Reserve

Optional add-ons / substitutions:

  • Frank August Small Batch 

  • Old Forester 1910 

  • High West Bourbon 

  • Redwood Empire Pipe Dream

Single Barrel, Small Batch & Bottled-in-Bond

Learn what single barrel, small batch and bottled-in-bond tell you about a whiskey—and how those differences show up in your glass.

  • Frank August Small Batch

  • Elijah Craig Small Batch

  • WhistlePig Single Barrel Rye

  • New Riff Single Barrel Rye

  • Old Fitzgerald 7yr Bottled-in-Bond

  • Angel’s Envy Bottled-in-Bond

Proof: Flavor, Heat & Your Sweet Spot

Explore how proof, age and barrel treatment shape flavor and heat—and your personal sweet spot.

What the Barrel Adds

Discover how toasted oak, a second barrel and wine or spirit cask finishes add layers of sweetness, spice and fruit to bourbon.

  • Angel’s Envy Port Finish

  • Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

  • Old Forester 1910

  • Maker's 46

  • Penelope Toasted

  • Middle West Napoleon Calvados Cask Finished

  • Rare Breed

  • Wild Turkey 101

  • Russell Reserve 10- year

  • Old Forester 100

  • Old Forester 1920

  • Old Forester 1910

Side by Side:

What Makes Whiskey Different?

Wheated vs. High-Rye Bourbon

Find out how wheat and rye shape bourbon’s sweetness, spice and texture—and discover which style suits your palate.

  • Maker's 46 Cask Strength

  • Larceny Small Batch

  • Middle West Michelone Reserve

  • Smoke Wagon Small Batch

  • Four Roses Small Batch

Optional Add-ons

  • Old Grand-Dad Bonded 

  • Weller Special Reserve 

Blind Bourbon Tasting: Preference Over Reputation

Learn what you enjoy when the labels disappear. Taste a surprise selection of bourbons, compare your impressions and choose your favorites before the bottles are revealed. Will your palate agree with the hype?

 

$40 per person + Separate Estimated bottle budget:

$200 to $300 per group

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Bottle selections are coordinated privately with the host to keep the lineup a surprise for guests. Host provides bourbon and food; Wine & Whiskey CLE provides glassware, tasting mats, a cocktail and guided presentation.

Milestones in Bourbon History

  • Willett 4-Year Rye

  • Basil Hayden 10-Year

  • Elijah Craig Small Batch

  • Old Forester 1870

  • Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch

Compare grains, aging and production choices in four paired tastings - and discover which differences matter most to

your palate.

  • Bourbon vs. Rye:                                                Old Forester 100 Bourbon & Rye

  • Aged vs. Unaged:                                          Buffalo Trace & White Dog

  • Legacy vs. Modern:                                         Elijah Craig & Frank August Small Batch

  • Bottled-In-Bond vs. Solera:                            Heaven Hill Bottled-In-Bond & Blade & Bow

Taste your way through the people, innovations and turning points that shaped bourbon’s history.

Sazerac House Tasting

  • White Dog Mash #1

  • Buffalo Trace

  • Bowman Brothers Small Batch

  • Weller Special Reserve

  • Sazerac Rye

  • Colonel E.H. Taylor

  • Eagle Rare

  • Blanton's

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Compare familiar favorites from the Sazerac family and explore how mash bills, aging and production choices shape each whiskey’s character.

Pricing

Private Home Tastings • $40 Per Person

Your tasting fee includes glassware, tasting notes, a cocktail and a guided educational presentation. The host provides the whiskey and food; bottle purchases are separate from the per-person fee.

One standard 750 mL bottle of each whiskey provides approximately 25 one-ounce tasting pours. Groups of 10–14 make for an especially conversational experience, and remaining whiskey is yours to enjoy afterward. Larger groups are welcome, with bottle quantities planned accordingly.

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Corporate and country club events are quoted separately based on guest count, location and event needs.

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