A Legend Leaves Us

I’m not sure what’s going on, but the loss this week of the great Al Young has hit me pretty hard. He was a colleague and a friend, but we never spent much time together outside the Cox’s Creek facility. Still I find my self utterly devasted by his loss.

In truth,Whiskey is not like other businesses. Once you’re in, you’re stuck. It’s like family. And just like family you don’t choose it, it chooses you. So sometimes yoi end up dealing with people we don’t much like and that’s just the way it is. You love them anyway because that’s what family is all about. But we also get the chance to meet people of pure class. Al Young was one of them. Our bourbon grandpa. He had more stories in his pinky finger than most men acquire in a life time.

We met over the years, perhaps a half dozen times, an hour or two at a time, but we shared so much together in those fleeting exchanges. Perhaps it’s because I was always more interested in Al’s life than in the whisky we were tasting or maybe because tasting whisky with Al was an adventure in its own right - but our short time together had always seemed special.

He was able to bring you in and make you feel like you’d known him your whole life. The man knew more about the business than he ever cared to share, but he was equally happy to talk about nearly anything if you knew the right questions to ask. Al was also a great egalitarian. He seemed to love everyone. Even if he didn’t like you, he’d still show you respect. He was kind.

And that is his legacy, a man who had unparalleled experience and knowledge, yet was able to offer respect and kindness to everyone he met. Al, we will miss you deeply and profoundly. Your memory will do little to fill the gaping hole in our hearts. We will cherish our broken hearts, just as we cherished you, the truest reminder of how special you really are. Thank you, good Sir. Thank you.