Drunken UnicornTastings
One tasting, built for your group.
Two hours, five bourbons, two Executive Bourbon Stewards at your table. You bring the people. We bring everything else but the bottles.
Certified Executive Bourbon Stewards · Professional educators · 90+ events since 2023
The Sensory Bridge, start to finish.
Our first class, run as your private tasting. Here is how the night flows, from the first drink to the last pour, and what each part leaves your guests able to do. Every guest works from The Tasting Room, a booklet that goes home with them.
- About two hoursstart to finish
- Five half-ounce poursfour blind, then the Unicorn
- Four aromas firstbefore any bourbon
- 6 to 20 guestsat your place or a venue
- 1Settle in
About 10 minutes
A mini cocktail, and one question.
Everyone gets a mini bourbon cocktail on arrival. We meet the room, and you write down what bourbon is to you before the first pour. There are no wrong answers. At the end of the night you answer the same question again.
You leave able to see what changed, in your own words.
- 2What makes it bourbon
About 10 minutes
The law, in seven letters.
For most of its life bourbon had no rules. In 1964 Congress declared it a distinctive product of the United States, and the standards it protects fit in an alphabet, A to G. We walk through it, with the history that explains why each rule exists.
You leave knowing what makes a bourbon a bourbon.
- 3Nose first
About 10 minutes
Four aromas before any bourbon.
A small kit of unlabeled scents goes around the table: the grains and the wood that bourbon is made from. You write what each one reminds you of, in your own words. This is the bridge the class is named for: from the raw grain to the glass in front of you.
You leave with your own words first, before anyone hands you a vocabulary.
- 4Four bourbons, blind
About 55 minutes
Four pours, and a wheel to name them.
Four bourbons from across the flavor map, poured blind, each with its story. Every pour runs the Five S’s: See, Smell, Sip, Savor, Share. Then the bottle is revealed, and you decide whether you’d buy it.
The American Whiskey Wheel, in the middle of your booklet, gives you the words for what you find. It’s yours to keep.
You leave able to name what’s in a glass, and say why you like it or don’t.
- 5Compare notes
About 10 minutes
What the room found.
We put the four pours side by side. Someone caught what you missed. You leave each bourbon with a few words and a list of what to look for next, at three price levels, and you describe the bourbon you’re hunting for.
You leave knowing what to buy next, and what to skip.
- 6The Unicorn
About 15 minutes
One more pour, revealed last.
Once the room can taste, we pour the Unicorn, and then we show you the bottle. It shows what’s possible once you know how to taste, and it’s rarely the most expensive bottle in the room. You go home with your booklet, the wheel, and one assignment for your next pour out. The host keeps the open bottles.
You leave with a target: the bottle that speaks to you.
The short version, for your group or your boss.
What the group gets.
Words for what each guest likes and doesn’t, a flavor wheel to keep, a list of what to buy next at three price levels, and a clearer picture of the bourbon they’re hunting for. In about two hours, led by Executive Bourbon Stewards who are career educators.
What it takes from you.
A room, a date and 6 to 20 people. You buy the five bottles from our list. We bring the glassware, the tasting mats, the aroma kit, and a booklet and wheel for every guest. Nobody needs to know anything about bourbon.
What it costs.
$79 per guest with a $500 minimum, the same for private and company groups, plus a flat travel fee only outside the Columbus area. The bourbon is separate, because you buy it.
One price. We bring everything but the bottles.
6 to 20 guests · two hours · we come to you
We bring
An Executive Bourbon Steward to lead the tasting, the glassware, a tasting mat at every seat, the aroma kit, and a booklet and wheel for every guest.
You bring
The people, the room and the five bottles on our list. Your home, your office or a venue you book, in Ohio, Indiana and Northern Kentucky.
Travel
None in the Columbus area. Farther out, one flat fee covers the drive, the same whether one or two of us come.
- Columbus areawithin 50 miles of downtown
- No travel fee
- Up to 1½ hoursDayton, Mansfield, Zanesville, Athens
- $175
- Up to 2½ hoursCincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Akron, Toledo
- $275
- Up to 3 hoursIndianapolis, Fort Wayne
- $400
- On our routea date where we’re already headed
- No travel fee
- Tell us the date, the place and the headcount.
Birthday, holiday party, bourbon club, team offsite, client tasting. If you’re not sure yet, say so.
- We send the bottle list.
Five bourbons with typical prices and where to find them. One bottle of each covers twenty guests. The names stay hidden from your guests until the reveal.
- We show up with the rest.
Your steward arrives with the glassware, the tasting mats, the aroma kit, the booklets and the wheels. We take it from there.
Find Your Unicorn: five classes, one variable each.
The tasting is the first class. Groups that want more come back for the next four, in order.
- Class 1 · Book nowThe Sensory Bridge“Get more from every pour.”
The senses. How to nose, taste and name what’s in the glass. The tasting above.
- Class 2Decoding the DNA“The recipe is on the label. Now read it.”
The mash bill, and the bourbon family your palate belongs to.
- Class 3The Controlled Burn“Older isn’t better. Mature is.”
The barrel: char, climate and when age is worth paying for.
- Class 4The Hunter’s Toolkit“Open the top shelf. Without the burn.”
Proof, water and glass, so barrel strength turns into flavor.
- Class 5Behind the Label“Buy the bourbon, not the bottle.”
Label law, sourcing and a blind tasting to prove it.
Before you book.
Do I need to know anything about bourbon?
No. The room runs at your pace, whether you’re new to bourbon or have been drinking it for years. The senses lead and the words follow.
How many people can you host?
6 to 20 guests. Small groups are where the method works best.
Do you come to us?
Yes. We’re based in Columbus, Ohio, we cover Ohio, Indiana and Northern Kentucky, and we come to you: your home, your office, a bar, store or distillery, or a venue you book.
What does a tasting cost?
$79 per person with a $500 minimum, for private and company groups alike, plus travel outside the Columbus area. The bourbon is separate, because you buy it.
Is there a travel fee?
Not within 50 miles of downtown Columbus. Farther out, one flat fee covers the drive: $175 up to an hour and a half away, $275 up to two and a half hours (Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Toledo), and $400 up to three hours (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne). It’s the same whether one or two of us come. When your tasting falls on a route we’re already driving, there’s no travel fee.
Who brings the bourbon?
You do. We send a bottle list built for the tasting, you buy the bottles, and whatever is left is yours. We bring an Executive Bourbon Steward to lead the tasting, the glassware, a tasting mat at every seat, the aroma kit, and a booklet and wheel for every guest. If you book a venue, check that it lets you bring your own bottles.
How long is it?
About two hours. You taste five half-ounce pours: long enough to know each bourbon properly, short enough to leave the rest of your day yours.
Why are the pours blind?
Because the label and the price tell your palate what to think before you’ve tasted anything. Guests taste the glass first. The name comes out after each pour, once you’ve said what you found.
Do you work with companies?
Yes. Team and client tastings run the same way at the same price. Staff training, customer events and brand programs are built for the job.
Is this for someone else?
A tasting makes a good gift for the person and their friends. Or start with a bottle: the gift finder picks three in your budget.
Try the method at home first.
One printable page: the Five S’s we work through at every tasting, a four-bottle flight to try with friends, and a tasting sheet to fill in.
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