In celebration of the 100th anniversary of author F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic literary masterpiece "The Great Gatsby," the Louisville Seelbach Hilton Hotel has announced the opening of a new Gatsby-inspired two-room suite Fitzgerald is said to have frequented the hotel to imbibe in its infamous Rathskeller bar while on break from Louisville’s Camp Taylor where he was stationed in 1918 during World War I such as Union Station and a home in Cherokee Triangle Embellished with Art Deco décor reflecting the glamour of the era, the two rooms of the Seelbach Great Gatsby suite were designed by Louisville native Terra B. Nelson to highlight the dichotomy between characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan The Daisy-inspired bedroom is decorated in the look of the established old money of Tom Buchannan and Daisy: lavish but delicate and a vintage phone covered in a string of pearls are featured in the room The feel of new money permeates the connected Gatsby Lounge When entering the lounge an eye catching gold textile adorns the ceiling which converges at the center of the room on a three-tiered crystal chandelier additional "The Great Gatsby" inspired accents include photos of Fitzgerald as well as coastal art representing the fictional towns of East and West Egg A pearl necklace draped over a vintage telephone pays homage to the incessant always-ringing phone that recurs in the book and films The Seelbach’s Great Gatsby Suite will be available to book beginning Saturday, Feb. 1. For further information, visit seelbachhilton.com Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Historic Hotel Celebrates Connections to the Novel Ahead of its 100th Anniversary  Louisville’s oldest operating hotel is celebrating its rich history with a newly unveiled Great Gatsby suite ahead of the novel’s centenary this April the Seelbach Hotel has a storied past with a guest list that includes former U.S author of the classic American novel The Great Gatsby is said to have frequented the hotel to imbibe in its infamous Rathskeller while on break from Louisville’s Camp Taylor In honor of The Great Gatsby’s 100th anniversary on April 10 the Seelbach Hilton Hotel has unveiled a newly renovated two-room suite embellished with Art Deco décor reflecting the opulence the two rooms of the suite were designed to highlight the dichotomy between The Great Gatsby characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan guests will find the look of established old money of Tom and Daisy: lavish but delicate The room features a pair of gold peacock table lamps and a vintage phone covered in a string of pearls The first thing that will catch guests’ eye when entering the lounge is the gold luxurious textile adorning the ceiling which converges at the center of the room on a three-tiered crystal chandelier you have to give them something to talk about and one of the best ways to do that is by creating spaces that go beyond functionality and aesthetics to offer vivid and unforgettable experiences,” said Terra B “We were able to add some really nice vintage pieces and others sourced from local antique dealers One of my favorite features that brings the rooms together is the vintage green light that hangs by the door leading into the Daisy bedroom The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a recurring theme in the book Other Easter eggs that The Great Gatsby fans may notice can be found throughout the suite Find hints of the book’s characters and places on the walls Guests will also find a variety of Art Deco design books and The Seelbach’s Great Gatsby Suite will officially be available to book on the hotel’s website beginning February 1 For guests who want to experience more of the hotel’s opulent history the Hilton property provides free hotel tours at 4:30pm on Thursdays The tour includes facts about the hotel’s120-year history where Al Capone was said to have played cards which Fitzgerald penned as the location of Tom and Daisy’s lavish June wedding a one-of-a-kind historic space that was a USO during World War I and where Fitzgerald is to said have imbibed during his time off guests can visit the hotel’s in-house breakfast spot stop into the Old Seelbach Bar for a Seelbach Cocktail a decades-old Prohibition-era-inspired libation that mixes Bourbon The bar has also announced three new Jazz Age-inspired cocktails coming to the menu this spring with the addition of the Jay Bird Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More — The Seelbach Hilton in downtown Louisville is stepping back in time to the Roaring '20s with its new "Great Gatsby"-inspired suite Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Great Gatsby' books and all the other books of that period,” said Larry Johnson who has worked at the hotel since 1982.  Fitzgerald was stationed at Camp Taylor in 1918 during World War I Johnson said Fitzgerald is said to have frequented the Seelbach and the hotel’s famous Rathskeller “We were the hotel that was thoroughly mentioned .. he associated with other people," Johnson said and we think we're the only hotel in the city that (F.) Scott Fitzgerald did participate in."  The rooms reflect the bold colors and glamor of the era Throughout the rooms are Easter eggs highlighting "The Great Gatsby" characters such as Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in honor of the novel’s 100th anniversary Step into "The Great Gatsby" suite and the room is filled with the romanticism of both characters if you saw the Leonardo DiCaprio 'Great Gatsby' and to see the house where he had the big party it just brings it back to life,” Johnson said The 100th anniversary of "The Great Gatsby" is April 10. The Seelbach Hilton will begin accepting bookings for a "Great Gatsby"-inspired suite Feb. 1. Take a look at what inspired Fitzgerald with a "Gatsby"-inspired guide around Louisville. Leeza Seelbach and Emma Reining each won two individual events for the Franklin D. Roosevelt girls swim team in a 93-74 Orange County League loss to host Cornwall on Tuesday. Seelbach placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, and Reining took first place in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. Sarah Izzo won the 100 breaststroke. Roosevelt will travel to Central Valley on Thursday to swim Monroe-Woodbury. Warwick 100, Marlboro 72 -- Shannon Camuso, Laynie Callo and Taylor DeMarco all took first place in one individual event for visiting Marlboro in the Orange County League meet. Camuso swam to a time of 7:18.28 to win the 500 freestyle, Callo won the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:19.72, and DeMarco placed first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:31.26. Tori Stollmer score a goal in each half Monday, but her field hockey team from John Jay lost to visiting Yorktown, 4-2, in Wiccopee. The hometown Patriots gave up an early goal before Stollmer tied the score with one of her own. From there, though, the Huskers scored again to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Following another Yorktown goal shortly after the break, Stollmer scored to bring John Jay within 3-2 but the visitors added an insurance goal to improve to 5-3 overall. John Jay (3-5) hosts Arlington on Thursday. Webutuck 2, Red Hook 0 -- Hannah Collins scored twice as the host Warriors defeated the Raiders late Monday. Sophia Tomasetti made nine saves for Webutuck. C.J. Tozzi and Joseph Pugliese each scored a touchdown as Highland beat visiting Rondout Valley, 14-12, in a Section 9 Class B game late Monday. Tozzi caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Chris Ranalli on his team's first offensive play of the game. Pugliese scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter. Jake Armstrong booted two extra points for the Huskies, who trailed, 12-7, at the half. Ella Lindholm-Uzzi and Alix Coon were winners in straight sets at singles for visiting Red Hook in a 3-2 MHAL win over Saugerties late Monday. Ryan Haight fired an 8-over-par 43 at Rondout Golf Club for visiting Marlboro in a 169-190 loss Rondout Valley late Monday. Go to Home PageSubscribeAdvertiser disclosureSearch The Points Guy But nobody cemented the Seelbach's landmark status more than American novelist F Not only did Fitzgerald himself spend time at the hotel but the Seelbach served as a backdrop in his third and most well-known novel "The Great Gatsby." In real life Fitzgerald visited the Seelbach while stationed at Louisville's Camp Taylor during World War I (most notably to drink and dance with the local ladies) In "The Great Gatsby," the hotel makes a cameo as Tom and Daisy Buchanan's wedding location April 25 marks the book's 100th anniversary and the Seelbach is celebrating by bringing the novel off the page and into its storied halls the hotel debuted a two-room Great Gatsby Suite with one room styled after Daisy and the other after her one-time suitor and the book's namesake Previous slideNext slide1 of 3The Seelbach Hilton Great Gatsby Suite TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY012The suite's lavish art deco decor befits the book's decadence glamour and "new money versus old money" juxtaposition Guests enter the suite through the Jay Gatsby-themed lounge The room's deep colors and rich fabrics are accented by extravagant gold drapery on the ceiling and a three-tiered crystal chandelier TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY012The bedroom is inspired by Daisy's generational wealth and old-money vibe pillows and wallpaper are complemented by hints of gold; delicate details include a pink glass-blown vase gold peacock-shaped lamps atop pedestal tables flanking the queen-size bed and pearls strewn around the vintage telephone the suite is not without its fair share of Easter eggs You'll find several Fitzgerald titles on the bookshelf along with a smattering of Ernest Hemingway tomes and art deco design books There's also a green light in the lounge that represents the literal and thematic "green light" that's ever-present in "The Great Gatsby." Framed pictures of Fitzgerald and the Seelbach Hilton are also on display as is artwork modeled after the fictional towns of East Egg and West Egg The suite has already proven quite popular but if your preferred dates aren't available don't worry: The celebration isn't relegated to guests who stay in the Great Gatsby suite Guests and visitors can visit the hotel's Old Seelbach Bar to order a Seelbach Cocktail (a mix of Kentucky bourbon orange liqueur and Champagne) or one of three new cocktails inspired by the book: the Jay Bird Hotel guests and the public are welcome to join free weekly tours led by historian Larry Johnson The tours touch on the hotel's 120-year history including its ties to Fitzgerald and "The Great Gatsby." The tours are generally held on Thursdays and Fridays at 4:30 p.m. Previous slideNext slide1 of 4The Seelbach Hilton Rathskeller TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY0123During the tour you'll visit the basement Rathskeller bar (now an event space) where Fitzgerald is said to have conducted the aforementioned drinking and dancing (reportedly to the point of being kicked out at least once) It is believed that Fitzgerald met George Remus a Cincinnati mobster also known as "The King of Bootleggers," here Many believe that Remus' lavish lifestyle served as character inspiration for the book's protagonist The tour will also take you through the Seelbach's Grand Ballroom the setting for Tom and Daisy's wedding reception in "The Great Gatsby." Elsewhere in town, the city is planning several special events to mark the book's centenary. Opening night at Churchill Downs (April 26) will feature a Great Gatsby theme, and the Belle of Louisville is hosting a speakeasy cruise May 30 1920s garb is highly encouraged at both events.) You can also eat and drink your way through Louisville's Prohibition-era history on Louisville Food Tour's Phantoms of Prohibition: Ghosts, Cocktails, & Bites Tour. Check Louisville Tourism for additional events and information on Gatsby's connections to Derby City. The Great Gatsby suite is a permanent addition to the hotel's suite offerings. So, even after the confetti has settled and the Champagne has gone flat, guests will have the chance to experience the Seelbach's Jazz Age. The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach That’s why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality You must be 21 or over to enter this website then you're not old enough to read Breaking Bourbon Classification: Straight Bourbon Finished in Amburana Barrels Distillery: Sourced from an undisclosed Kentucky distillery(ies) Official Website Cinnamon | Tree bark | Fresh cigar leaf | Cedar | Marzipan Cinnamon churro | Apple pie | Charred oak | Nutmeg Amaretto | Glazed donut | Molasses | Toasted oak | Vanilla extract | Touch of smoke An extremely big tasting Amburana finished bourbon that manages to find balance in the force but is also willing to take a chance when necessary Seelbach’s has done a few Amburana finished bourbons at this point (some under different sub-names One of their most notable was a 9 year old Amburana finished bourbon that was one of the best balanced Amburana finished bourbons I've ever had Sipping on Batch 003 amounts to buying a ticket and taking the Amburana express train to Amburanaville It’s huge on its Amburana notes and should be after spending 8 days in first-used Amburana barrels That amounts to an eternity in Amburana terms as many finish for only a couple of days The result is cinnamon churro and apple pie notes on the palate there is a degree of evenness found in this Amburana finished bourbon that produces a sip that is well rounded despite the bigness of its flavors but once again Seelbach’s proves they are one of the best when it comes to Amburana finished bourbons words: This feature is part of our 2024 Next Wave Awards “Why aren’t more people talking about this?” he asked himself “I was starting to see all these different craft brands coming out that were super good and exciting,” Riber says all these people are chasing Pappy Van Winkle that they were never going to get and more and more people are coming into bourbon.” he noticed a retail liquor license up for sale in Washington The District is unusual when it comes to spirits sales in America; as the only federal city in the U.S. there is no county or state to determine liquor distribution laws Meaning: Riber could buy whiskey from small craft distilleries across the country — ones with no other distribution in many cases — import them back to the two 6-by-10-foot storage units he had rented and then begin shipping them out to most of the other 50 states but back then it didn’t really seem smart to a lot of people,” he says this initial lark has turned Riber into one of the most powerful people in the bourbon industry even as he has remained fairly under the radar himself have become the one email that bourbon enthusiasts open as quickly as possible eager to discover the next craft brand or bottle that Riber and his team have anointed for greatness why don’t you just sell Four Roses and Buffalo Trace?’ many people said to me,” Riber recalls heritage brands from Kentucky that fly off traditional retail store shelves he decided early on that Seelbach’s would only focus on craft spirits Brands like Kings County Distillery out of Brooklyn He was still working full-time as an accountant hot new brands like Blue Run would bring eager customers to Seelbach’s one of the few places where their limited releases were available has become a sort of kingmaker for other brands like Thirteenth Colony and K.LUKE small distilleries and blenders that Riber thought were bottling the sort of high-quality whiskey that deserved a national audience a recent email touting the new Smokeye Hill Whiskey sold 1,200 bottles within the day with great power comes great responsibility unfortunately have to turn down many brands that approach them hoping Seelbach’s can make it rain for their spirits There’s only so much space in Seelbach’s now 8,000-square-foot warehouse in D.C (the retailer stocks about 1400 SKUs from some 300 to 400 distilleries); only so many emails they can send out a week before consumers quit paying attention but it’s the nature of limited time and attention If we start to burn people with stuff they don’t care about With so much customer data, and so many people buying and searching for bottles, Riber has become highly attuned to what’s about to become trendy in the industry, whether amburana barrels cask- strength release sold out in just one hour you begin creating content for the platform,” Riber says Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby ahead of the novel’s 100th anniversary in April 2025 steeped in history and once frequented by Fitzgerald himself during his World War I service at Camp Taylor now offers guests the chance to live out their literary fantasies in a Gatsby-inspired suite captures the spirit of the Jazz Age with Art Deco details and vintage touches that echo the opulence of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece The suite artfully embodies the dichotomy of old money and new money central to The Great Gatsby The Daisy-inspired bedroom is classically elegant with gold peacock table lamps and a vintage telephone adorned with pearls the Gatsby Lounge channels the flashier exuberance of new wealth with plush velvet armchairs a golden textile ceiling converging on a crystal chandelier notes that one of her favorite features is the vintage green light near the Daisy bedroom—an homage to the iconic green light at the end of Daisy’s dock that symbolizes Gatsby’s longing Fans of The Great Gatsby will delight in the suite’s thoughtful details Photographs of Fitzgerald and other characters coastal art representing East and West Egg and subtle nods like theincessantly ringing vintage telephone and pearl necklacecreate an immersive experience Guests can peruse Art Deco design books and copies of The Great Gatsby ensuring every detail speaks to the novel’s themes and timeless appeal The Seelbach invites visitors to fully embrace its literary and historical connections Guests can book the Great Gatsby Suite beginning February 1 take guided tours highlighting the hotel’s storied past or sip era-inspired cocktails like the Jay Bird and Jazzhound at the Old Seelbach Bar the hotel weaves its history with the allure of the Jazz Age offering an unforgettable journey into Louisville’s rich past and the enduring charm of Fitzgerald’s iconic work While once frequented by raucous authors and hard-boiled gangsters, the Seelbach Hilton Louisville is now host to a bevy of phantoms and paranormal investigators — and it may be one of the best haunted trips in America Here's all you need to know about the Seelbach Hilton and how you might land a haunted stay this October: The Seelbach Hilton Louisville has been the ideal of luxury living in Kentucky for over a hundred years The hotel was founded by Bavarian-born brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach in 1905 with the brothers using ornamental touches from around the world — bronze from France Irish linens and Persian rugs — to bring the hotel to a level of opulence that would attract visitors en masse It was also a local haunt to many stars in the early 20th century one of the hotel's regular visitors was Al Capone who routinely visited the hotel for gambling and bootlegging Capone's favorite room is immortalized with a few of his personal touches such as a large mirror he'd sent from Chicago That room also has hidden doorways behind panels that lead directly into secret passageways The Seelbach is also widely known to have served as inspiration behind F Fitzgerald is said to have used his weekend passes to visit the Seelbach to relax and sip on bourbon He was even allegedly banned from the hotel at one point due to his behavior after having one drink too many a gangster who became the model for Jay Gatsby His experiences in The Seelbach's elegant rooms inspired Fitzgerald to use the hotel as a model while writing the classic American novel The hotel pays homage to Fitzgerald with Gatsby’s on Fourth The Seelbach has been known to host more than a few ghosts a woman's body was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft at The Seelbach Hotel Historical records show she was identified as 25-year-old Patricia Wilson and over the years many theories floated around the circumstances of her death The first theory was that Wilson jumped to her death after receiving the devastating news of her fiancé's death claimed Wilson was seen arguing with a man named Brigadier General Henry H Wilson's body was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery until the last three members of Wilson's family were located and visited Louisville in 2018 Wilson had been from a small town in Oklahoma and moved to Louisville with her then-husband Her true name was also revealed to be Pearl Mae Elliott The headstone marks her resting place at Evergreen Cemetery: "Pearl M The Lady in Blue is most often sighted on the eighth floor where she jumped — or was pushed — to her death down the elevator shaft While price varies based on the time and room availability, a night at the Seelbach Hilton Louisville averages about $168. To view available rooms and suites, visit the Seelbach Hilton's website Reach reporter Rachel Smith at rksmith@courierjournal.com or @RachelSmithNews on X Former reporter Dahlia Ghabour contributed to this story October is the perfect time to visit some of Louisville's spookiest places we're not talking about "haunted houses," but actual haunted locations We dug into our story archives and unearthed five tales about haunted locations in Louisville you can visit this Halloween — or anytime you're looking for a scare 335 W. Broadway; brownhotel.com The iconic Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it's been said ghosts love it there The hotel is said to have a haunted floor that is used for storage space previously lived on the 15th floor where most of the paranormal activity reportedly happens It is said the elevator is known to stop on that floor for no reason and footprints have been seen walking in plaster dust on the floor, according to Kentuckyhauntedhouses.com One guest event reported hearing heavy walking and moving furniture at night 625 S. Fourth St.; louisvillepalace.com The Louisville Palace opened in 1928 as the Lowe's Theater and is said to be haunted by several ghosts Some have seen apparitions on the balcony, including a man in 1930s-era clothing or a spooky faceless woman in a blue-grey dress with shoulder pads walking the mezzanine lobby, according toKentuckyhauntedhouses.com who is said to have died from either a heart attack or a fall down a backstage staircase is sometimes seen up in the projection room A boy and girl are often heard giggling by the Mammoth Bar and slamming doors in the restroom an employee also once said someone pulled his wife's ponytail when they were there More: It's spooky season! Here are 10+ haunted places to visit within an hour of Louisville 500 S. Fourth St.; seelbachhilton.com The Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville was founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places it has had many guests report strange sounds and activity during their stays It is said that a mysterious “Lady in Blue” haunts the floors She was there to meet her husband at the hotel but he was killed in an accident and she allegedly threw herself from a stairwell There have also been reports of televisions turning on at a loud volume early in the morning and the sound of running footsteps on wooden floors "The building is very haunted," night security guard Patrick Rhodes previously told the Courier Journal. "Between Al Capone and the gangsters (staying here) World War I and II and the Great Depression and the age of the building there's lots of different things that have happened here." Rhodes said he whispers the Lord's Prayer to himself and makes the sign of the cross on his chest to keep the spirits at bay The Seelbach's ghost lore has been well documented, and U.S. News & World Report featured the hotel in a story titled "The 27 most haunted hotels in America." People regularly visit the Seelbach specifically to experience its supernatural energy and witches have all visited and asked Rhodes to take them on a late-night ghost tour everybody in every realm that have reported doors opening and closing or the smell of perfume," Rhodes previously said of the infamous "Lady in Blue." "Maybe a blue streak of light going across a room I have thousands and I'm still adding on to the stories." You may like: 'Very haunted.' More than 1 ghost walks the halls of this downtown Louisville hotel 2035 S. Third St.; speedmuseum.org The Speed Art Museum houses tons of artifacts many of which are tied to dark chapters in America's history such as the Native American genocide and the Civil War that many believe could be linked to ghosts the museum itself also has a resident ghost According to legend, a female spirit haunts the hallways and the basement of the building. While there's no evidence that the glimpses of shadowy figures or the flickers on security cameras belong to the museum's founder, Hattie Bishop Speed some staff members certainly wonder if she's still wandering the halls 80 years after her death whenever the elevator opens unexplainably on a random floor he just shrugs and tells Hattie to "come on in." You may like: Strange footsteps, unexplained events & a rogue elevator: Are ghosts haunting The Speed? 4400 Paralee Drive; therealwaverlyhills.com The Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate Louisville patients struck by a tuberculosis outbreak The tuberculosis hospital closed in 1961 and reopened in 1962 as Wood Haven Medical Services Woodhaven had numerous complaints over patient neglect and was closed by the state in 1982 After closing, Waverly Hills gained a reputation for being haunted. Volunteers working on the building's restoration have reported hearing ghostly sounds and slamming doors, seeing apparitions in doorways and being struck by invisible hands, according tokentuckyhauntedhouses.com "Once you went to Waverly Hills, you became a permanent resident," the Waverly Hills Historical Society states on its website Waverly Hills attracts tourists from around the country with its paranormal and historical guided tours It also allows private paranormal groups to host investigations of the facility many of whom claim to have experienced inexplicable paranormal activity during their visits Waverly Hills has also been featured on ABC/FOX Family channel's "Scariest Places on Earth," VH1's"Celebrity Paranormal Project," Syfy's "Ghost Hunters," and HuLu's "Living for the Dead." Reach Features Clerk Gege Reed at greed@courier-journal.com Compared to lots of recently-opened bourbon bars in the Louisville area Oldness is in the DNA of The Old Seelbach Bar seats 75 people and has history on its side as the hotel and a version of the indoor bar has been around since 1905 History like author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who used the iconic space as inspiration for “The Great Gatsby.”  It holds stories of gangsters and politicians even musician Billy Joel hanging out there too — an Old Fashioned that’s hard to beat in a town known for inventing the classic cocktail Jordan Long, the bar manager at the Old Seelbach, told the Courier Journal that the Old Fashioned, priced at $15 and made with Elijah Craig bourbon "It's nothing for us to go through a couple hundred of those when we're busy," he said who has worked at the Old Seelbach for three years “It's not crazy esoteric ingredients in there,” he said “It's just very well made.” that he “wanted to add just a little bit of a slightly different flavor to it.”  Some of that comes from a happy accident when Long was batching the sugar for the drink and he saw the concoction was boiling over note added something special to the cocktail That’s one thing that’s new about the Old Seelbach Bar We featured The Old Seelbach Bar in the latest installment of our video series, called the “Best Thing I Ate This Week.” You can follow along each week by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com Louisville left such an impression on author F. Scott Fitzgerald that he immortalized the Seelbach Hilton Hotel and a couple of other landmarks in his iconic novel “The Great Gatsby.”   Well, at least as much as it can remember a young, not-quite-famous author among a throng of soldiers who was briefly stationed at nearby Camp Taylor during World War I the Derby City’s influence on Fitzgerald lingers just ever so subtly beneath the Roaring 20s high-society New York backdrop of the novel This year marks 100 years since the publication of the classic tale of how self-made millionaire tries to reignite his failed romance with a southern-bred socialite and married woman In honor of this literary milestone on April 10, Louisville Tourism has released a whole list of Gatsby-related activities and landmarks, and Churchill Downs Racetrack has even declared Opening Day on April 26 will have a "Great Gatsby" theme I set out to learn as much as I could about how the celebrated author’s time in Kentucky shaped his work how a few sentences in a classic novel have since influenced Louisville and its culture More: Here are 10 ways to celebrate the 100th anniversary of 'The Great Gatsby' in Louisville this was about as challenging as opening the novel at random and landing on one of few Louisville-related passages but it ended up being more difficult than I expected After several calls to area museums, universities and archives with no luck, I tracked down Andrea Eggers-Peavler, who admittedly “obsessively” taught "The Great Gatsby" at Mercy Academy for nearly a decade She's the type of teacher who'd turn on 1920s jazz as her students settled into class to set the mood for the lesson and she was famous at Mercy for throwing a Gatsby-themed party once they finished the novel Eggers-Peavler has done plenty of research on its Louisville tie over the years they always seemed to help her find another local connection in the novel She suspects there are somewhere between five and 10 solid references to Louisville in the nine chapter novel “There's just so much underneath,” Eggers-Peavler told me “I think that really helps to get (my students) to buy into ‘what else are we gonna find in here?’ that I definitely did not get when we were reading Shakespeare or 'The Handmaid’s Tale.'”   like Camp Taylor and the house that inspired Fitzgerald’s passage about Daisy Buchanan’s home The budding author was only in Louisville for a matter of weeks, James L. W. West III, a Fitzgerald expert and emeritus professor of English at Penn State University He reported to the now defunct Camp Taylor on March 15 and was transferred to Camp Gordon in Georgia at some point in April Camp Taylor appears in Fitzgerald’s most famous novel The class-strained romance begins because Gatsby is stationed at Camp Taylor during World War I and eventually finds himself at the home of a young southern socialite Fitzgerald writes that “the largest of the banners and the largest of the lawns” belonged to Daisy’s house and “all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night.”  the military base operated for about three years and closed well before the book was published The Spanish Flu ravaged the complex mere months after Fitzgerald left town That acreage was auctioned for new suburb that’s still called “Camp Taylor” today there’s no shortage of theories about which house in Louisville inspired Fitzgerald’s description More: SNEAK PEEK: Inside 'The Great Gatsby' Suite at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville Several Gatsby enthusiasts cite a private residence at 2427 Cherokee Parkway near the intersection of Longest Avenue near the famous Cherokee Park with its large white columns and sweeping staircases is valued at just under $2.1 million in modern dollars it was worth about $100,200 when Daisy’s family would have lived there That’s an insurmountable kind of wealth that a young soldier like Gatsby would not have been able to overcome When Gatsby’s time in Louisville is through While this reference is much more subtle than the nod to Camp Taylor Eggers-Peavler's students and other readers have worked out over the years that the character must have left town from the old Union Station at 10th Street and West Broadway downtown Arguably the story’s most famous reference to Louisville appears in Chapter 4 “In June (Daisy) married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before,” the novel reads “He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” I headed to the 120-year-old hotel at 500 S who doubles as the historic landmark's concierge and historian The hotel has changed hands so many times in its history that the Seelbach doesn’t have any records from the early 20th century Meaning the hotel doesn’t have any ledgers indicating that Fitzgerald ever stayed in one of its rooms, even though, there’s a line in Fitzgerald’s “A Short Autobiography” that almost suggests he did The article in the New Yorker is a comically brief outline of his encounters with alcohol between 1913 and 1929 and states that bellboys smuggled bourbon into the officer room at The Seelbach in 1918 The way Johnson learned the story is that Fitzgerald liked to let loose at the hotel’s bar, then known as the Stables, and in its ornate downstairs event space, which at the time operated as the local USO “That's where all the young soldiers would hangout and all the young girls would come in,” Johnson told me it was like you see in movies where the guys would pay a dime for a ticket for a dance The hotel’s lore says that on at least one occasion Fitzgerald drank too much and was asked to leave Even so, Fitzgerald’s fame and fragments of how he saw Louisville still live on within the Seelbach’s walls. The bar hasn’t been called the Stables in decades, but the Old Seelbach Bar operates in the same spot where Fitzgerald would have indulged The old USO and its illustrious Rookwood pottery embellished event space is mostly quiet today except for special events hotel guests can slip downstairs and see where Fitzgerald might have purchased a ticket to dance with a girl Much has changed in the hotel's ballroom since Fitzgerald selected it as the spot for Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s wedding but you can still look out its grand arch-shaped windows just as he might have he pointed to a large white structure about 4 miles off in the distance Churchill Downs and the development around it have boomed dramatically in the past century Fitzgerald would have been able to spot it from these windows Very few guests realize the connection between the Seelbach and Fitzgerald until they arrive at the hotel, Johnson told me. Many folks walk right by its Gatsby's on Fourth restaurant without ever linking the two together But if you’re lucky enough to step inside the hotel’s Gatsby Suite, you’ll see a whole shrine to the novel The room is decorated in furniture from that era and it’s meant to imitate the deep wealth that surrounded Daisy just as they did in one of the Gatsby films The bookshelves are stocked with several different editions of his most famous novels and a small portrait of iconic author hangs over the bed Fitzgerald’s memory is alive and well at the Seelbach more than 100 years after he left Louisville And even though it’s not recorded in his writings A quick Google search shows the word Louisville appears at least 14 times in a collection of his letters A notice of their honeymoon appeared in the April 25 edition of The Courier Journal and it described Fitzgerald as “one of the literary sensations of the moment.” He was just 22 at the time but his first novel “This Side of Paradise” was a hit and he had already sold the movie rights for one of his short stories that “sensation of the moment” has lived on into 2025 Eggers-Peavler believes Fitzgerald’s longevity stems from the timeless themes he wrote about What’s much more obvious in the book than his quiet reverence for Louisville are the themes of racism Those are themes we’re still talking about in the world today And it’s one of many reasons that 100 years later we are still talking about “The Great Gatsby.”   Features columnist Maggie Menderski writes about what makes Louisville your town or even your closet that fits that description — she wants to hear from you Say hello at mmenderski@courier-journal.com Follow along on Instagram @MaggieMenderski Your access to this service has been limited If you think you have been blocked in error contact the owner of this site for assistance If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send" You will then receive an email that helps you regain access Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 5 million WordPress sites The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site You can also read the documentation to learn about Wordfence's blocking tools or visit wordfence.com to learn more about Wordfence Click here to learn more: Documentation 6 May 2025 0:38:16 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString()); If any bottles remain after all supporters have had an opportunity to purchase they are made available to the public on a first come Each barrel is sponsored by a retailer partner who sells the bottles directly to end purchasers Retailer Partner: Seelbach’s Classification: Straight Bourbon Finished in Toasted Oak & Rum Barrels Age: NAS (7 years according to the company) About the Tiers but New Holland Spirits found just the right balance of base whiskey and the rum finish with Dragon’s Milk “Sweet Tea.” It came together so well that it earned a 4.5 barrel rating This barrel pick was made just for the club and started with a selection of the base pre-finishing bourbon We picked barrel BOU17D25 which moved to the next phase in late September From there it was a waiting game to get the finishing just right Our hope was a final result that came at least close to Dragon Milk’s earlier release which we reviewed and gave such a high rating Flavors of butterscotch and cream soda on the palate inspired the idea of the nickname “Butterbeer.” Be sure to check out the full tasting notes below We hope you enjoy this barrel as much as we do A quick swirl reveals caramelized oak and juicy apricot and a sweet cream soda note pop against a layered base consisting of toasted oak The sip ends with a long finish consisting of rye spice A hint of green tea emerges before along with a lingering creme brulee note in the background this double barrel finished whiskey is bold and delicious layering together the familiar Dragon’s Milk Origin Toasted Barrel flavor profile with complementary accents from the rum barrel finish For this pick, we partnered with spirits retailer Seelbach’s, which was founded by Blake Riber, also the creator of Bourbonr and the Bourbonr Facebook group. An online-only retailer with a twist, we interviewed Riber to discuss how he’s running his shop differently than everyone else “Unlocking Craft Spirits” he calls it - seeking out up-and-coming craft distilleries and learning about their process and tasting through their products to find hidden gems Distillers, Producers, and Retailers: If you would like to be a part of this program and get your name in front of millions of bourbon enthusiasts, contact us.‍Please note these bottles will not be sold by Breaking Bourbon but will be sold by retailers we partner with in order to fulfill the orders and ship the bottles directly to Patreon supporters Breaking Bourbon will receive no compensation from our partner retailers under these agreements (with the exception of a bottle from each barrel for editorial purposes) If you represent a retailer and ship to consumers and you’re interested in partnering just let us know Distillery: Sourced from an undisclosed Canadian distillery(ies) Every so often a few unbelievable barrels cross our paths, and these are two of those barrels. Tasted at Nashville Barrel Company’s tasting room in Nashville, Tennessee, these barrels started their journey over 34 years ago in Canada. ‍Nashville Barrel Company was founded in 2018 and sources whiskey from many distilleries The company bottles a lot of single barrels and even offers a custom experience where customers can choose from various barrels then have it bottled with a custom label We like the company’s transparency and recognized from the first time we spoke with them (years ago) that they were just as much fans of whiskey as we are For this pick we zeroed in on the high aged Canadian whiskeys Nashville Barrel Company had and after a few drill attempts to get access to the whiskey inside we realized the fill levels were pretty low A delicious sweet-spicy flavor profile that was immediately likeable But one of the other barrels really intrigued us It had an unusual funky oak note that we notice with old bottles sometimes and fondly refer to as a “dusty funk,” in a good way Balanced against sweetness it really started to grow on us after a few more pours ‍SBC #92 Nashville Barrel Co #300 34-Year Canadian 147.74 Proof “The Sweet & Spicy One” A wave of vanilla custard and baking spices washes over drizzled caramel and graham cracker sweetness on the nose with a slight funky oak emerging first as the spice recedes It’s further accented by deep rich caramel and creme brulee notes which continue to grow in intensity into the finish against bold white peppery spice at the onset  ‍SBC #93 Nashville Barrel Co #284 34-Year Canadian 145.68 Proof “The Dusty Funk One” A prevalent “dusty funk” on the nose gives way to pipe tobacco which is contrasted by buttercream frosting An underlying vanilla-caramel sweetness creeps in beneath the spice which is amplified as it transitions into the finish revealing prominent aged oak before it transitions to a caramel-baking spices mix About Seelbach’s‍For this pick, we partnered with spirits retailer Seelbach’s, which was founded by Blake Riber, also the creator of Bourbonr and the Bourbonr Facebook group. An online-only retailer with a twist, we interviewed Riber to discuss how he’s running his shop differently than everyone else Distillery: Ross & Squibb Distillery (MGP) and check out the full tasting notes below sweet-savory mix of scents on the nose is accented by hints of stone fruit and dried fruit rich honey and graham cracker are complemented by pie crust and ripe apricot A hint of cinnamon plays in the background allowing the bourbon’s sweeter flavors to hold center stage Delicate white pepper spice and layers of caramel are revealed on the finish Classification: Straight Tennessee Whiskey Age: 15 Year Age Statement (Barreled May 5 Age: 15 Year Age Statement (Barreled March 31 Tier 1 - Thursday 2/13/2025 @ 10AM ETTier 2 - Thursday 2/13/2025 @ 2PM ETTier 3 - Friday 2/14/2025 @ 10AM ETTier 4 - Friday 2/14/2025 @ 2PM ETAbout the Tiers these two George Dickel 16 year old whiskeys we hand-selected are also cask strength they lose proof over time and come out of the barrel at a lower proof and these two Dickel picks are both over 16 years old and can be had at under a Benjamin a piece and dark cherry combine against a heavy backbone of dank Hints of vanilla custard and maple syrup ride through the midpoint followed by splashes of cinnamon and allspice pulling out a wave of flavor capping the whiskey off with a delightful ending It’s an incredibly balanced 16+ year old whiskey that combines velvety sweet intense sugars with rich musty oak to create a highly enjoyable sip Vibrant scents of caramel and vanilla combine with leather and dry aged oak on the nose A slight hint of allspice in the background adds depth The whiskey’s age reveals itself on the palate The savory side is balanced with layers of sweets in the form of caramel It’s a wonderfully vibrant 16+ year old whiskey that balances savory aged oak against familiar sweet bourbon flavors to satisfying results Retailer Partner: Seelbach’s In 2019 we interviewed New Riff Distilling Co-Founder Jay Erisman to learn more about the distillery and share with our readers New Riff Distilling’s onsite barrel selection process is extremely well thought out and we couldn’t recommend it more highly if you have an opportunity to select a barrel One of the most exciting aspects of selecting New Riff barrels is the extreme variation in flavor profiles they achieve across barrels in the sample set It’s proof that barrels derived from the same mashbill can taste dramatically different due to other factors and highlights the purpose of selecting single barrels in the first place - to find something unique that doesn’t taste quite like anything else we tasted barrels showcasing this extreme variation to the max we did it live on site at New Riff Distilling The barrel we ended up choosing is a tobacco-lover’s dream as tobacco is complemented by spiced cocktail cherries The palate joins tobacco with a slight earthiness It turns quite dry as it transitions to the finish with intense white pepper and cigar box mingling in It’s quite unique making for a memorable bourbon that showcases New Riff’s ability to push the boundaries of flavor profile range Nose: Tobacco | Spiced cocktail cherries | Slight herbal undertone | Heavy baking spices | Intense Palate: Earthy | Tobacco | Raisins | Dark cherries | Peppery oak | Leather | Dry Finish: White pepper | Tobacco | Cigar box | Lingering dryness You may or may not be surprised to hear that Kentucky was a popular stop for some of the most notorious gangsters of all time They loved to take advantage of horse racing and bourbon paradise as they traveled from northern cities like Chicago to ports of "trade" in New Orleans and Florida The extravagance of the Seelbach Hotel made it the place to be for these wealthy "businessmen." The incredible architecture modeled after old-world Parisian beauty and vaulted ceilings with an impressive glass dome above the lobby Al Capone loved playing cards and eating dinner in The Oakroom He and his associates favored a small private alcove with access to an easy escape route should the authorities come looking for him The Seelbach Hotel has hidden doors and passageways you'll notice a big mirror that Al Capone had shipped to the hotel from Chicago so he could always see whoever came in the door Here's a video of Seelbach concierge Larry Johnson with more on the history of the room and its guests Al Capone wasn't the only historical figure who liked to stay at The Seelbach portions of the hotel are named after him and The Great Gatsby He even based a character in the novel on someone he met while staying there Here's what the Seelbach website says "Cincinnati-based mobster and "King of the Bootleggers" George Remus also spent time at the hotel Fitzgerald himself had visited the hotel while training for the U.S and eventually used it to help write his famous novel, The Great Gatsby the hotel’s Grand Ballroom was the inspiration for the wedding scene that took place between two of the book’s main characters Fitzgerald conceptualized the character of Jay Gatsby based on his interactions with Remus.)" There's no doubt you can feel the "ghosts" of Seelbach's past when you stay there or go for a tour. If you don't want to make the trip, here is a virtual experience to see how gorgeous the hotel is Gallery Credit: Dave Spencer With hidden doors and passageways, this stunning hotel is packed with history and mystery. Have you ever stayed here?\nRead More There's no doubt you can feel the "ghosts" of Seelbach's past when you stay there or go for a tour. If you don't want to make the trip, here is a virtual experience to see how gorgeous the hotel is The "forgotten" Louisville cocktail is perfect for Derby Day (2 Tbsp.) Kentucky bourbon (such as Old Forester) (1 Tbsp.) orange liqueur (such as triple sec or Cointreau) — The Seelbach Hotel is swelled with 116 years of history and there are multiple accounts of current guests spotting ghoulish guests whose spirits still roam the building One of the historic Louisville hotel’s most infamous ghost stories is that of the “Lady in Blue.” 24-year-old Patricia Wilson was found in one of the hotel’s elevator shafts wearing a long blue dress with long dark hair A newspaper report listed her death as a suicide or accident.  joined the Seelbach team as a bellman in 1982 “The Seelbach: A Centennial Salute to Louisville’s Grand Hotel,” Johnson covers the stories of the hotel since its opening in 1905.  He gathered information from news articles books and people over his 40-year career at the hotel “It's about a young lady that had a rough life with a young gentleman by the name of Wilson who was a traveling salesman,” Johnson said “She ended up being left and loyal by herself The only way she could make a living was being a lady of the evening.” The thing he has done longer than being alive and married to his wife is digging into the mysterious death There have been reports of a lady in blue roaming the floors of the hotels decades after her death.  You can find Johnson's video about the Lady in Blue here. a hotel cook named James Scott was making waffles and omelets for Sunday brunch when he saw a young woman with long dark hair wearing a long blue dress walk in an elevator and disappear.  “He told the chef what he had seen and the chef sort of laughed at him and said what's so bad about a lady walking in the elevator The doors were closed and she walked through the doors,'” Johnson said.  The doors of the elevator were pried open but nothing suspicious was found.  Before the security guard could file the report a housekeeper came in saying she saw a woman in blue walk into that same broken elevator on the 8th floor.  Johnson found articles from a 1955 True Detective magazine with information uncovering a new theory of what happened to Patricia Wilson on July 15 “The name of the article is ‘Bluegrass Justice for the General,' and the article is about a general that had been in the Kentucky National Guard He had also been lieutenant governor of the state of Kentucky," Johnson said.  General Henry Denhardt was down on his luck A guest on the 8th floor heard an argument and went out of his room and found the general arguing with a young woman.  “He closed the door and a few minutes later he heard a loud noise and a woman screaming,” Johnson said.  The guest said when he opened the door again he saw the general running toward the same elevator Patricia Wilson was seen in 1987.  Some believe Wilson was working in the hotel and the general was unable to pay her “The guest of the hotel had told the police what he saw but it wasn't enough proof to say that the general had pushed her down the elevator shaft so he more or less got away with it,” Johnson explained “So she was left to roam the hallways trying to seek a way to get out I’ve heard about the paranormal if a person is murdered or some there’s some untimely death they don't leave the property until they're resting at peace.” Johnson believes the sighting of the ‘Lady in Blue’ was Wilson trying to escape the hotel and the only way to do so was to prove she didn’t kill herself.  I think there may be people that might feel her walking down the hallway one night,” says Johnson “They might even feel her breathing down their neck She's very peaceful at peace now and I don't think she'll ever be seen again." He and his wife leave flowers at her grave site on holidays.  Johnson discovered the general was engaged to a woman named Verna Garr Taylor who heard rumors about suspicions of him killing Patricia.  the couple got into an argument and the general pulled the car off the side of the road.  Taylor got out of the car and started to walk and the general followed her and shot her to death.  “What he didn't realize was he was in front of a farmer's house and the first words out of the general’s mouth were 'I think my fiance committed suicide,'” Johnson said.  Johnson found reports that during the course of the trial the general was living in a hotel in Shelbyville One night he was standing on the steps of the hotel with his lawyer and a couple of Verna gar Taylor's brothers walked up to him and shot him to death He says the brothers got away with mental incompetence.  Classification: Straight Bourbon Finished in Toasted French Oak and Maple Syrup Barrels Distillery: Sourced from an undisclosed distillery(ies) in Kentucky Official Website Maple sugar candy | Light toffee | Charred oak | Light syrup | Buttered pancakes | Whiff of vanilla sugar | Vegetative | Interesting combination of scents Pine sap | Light sweet syrup | Gentle rye spice | Faint brown sugar | Toasted oak | Light citrus rind | Clove | Mellow Peppercorn spice | Cinnamon spice | Rye spice | Light syrup | Oak | Tad of leather | Light lingering peppery spice A combination of French oak and maple syrup finishing barrels provides for a unique twist to your typical Kentucky bourbon For those who are unfamiliar, Seelbach's is an online-only spirits retailer that “is dedicated to unconventional spirits.” Seelbach's Private Reserve Batch 5 is a follow-up to the company’s inaugural Private Reserve release the company states that they “sourced 4-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon from Bardstown Those barrels aged for 6-months in the Florida heat before they were dumped we selected blended a total of 10 select barrels This base blend filled two toasted French Oak barrels and two ex-bourbon Maple syrup barrels.” The bourbon's final form ended up being a final blend of 60/40 Toasted French Oak to Maple syrup barrels.Any bourbon that uses maple syrup barrels as part of their finishing composition would be expected to instantly evoke notes of sweetness Seelbach's Private Reserve Batch 5 certainly delivers on that expectation but thanks to a combination of adding French oak barrels to finish the whiskey Opening with sweet scents of maple sugar candy and light syrup more unusual scents such as buttered pancakes and vanilla sugar help form an intriguing aroma The midpoint brings a transition to a distinct spice note that helps to balance out the sweeter notes that appear and produces a mellow palate that never sways too heavily in any one direction the bourbon gravitates away from previous sweeter components and ends on a more traditional path this is another nice showing from Seelbach’s which produces a fun sip for their Private Reserve Batch 5 bourbon that fans of unique pours will enjoy The bottle being reviewed is number 978 out of 1064 spaces that just seem to embrace you and pull you close or that make your chin drop and your eyes pop one of those places is the Rathskeller at Louisville's historic Seelbach Hotel Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories in that station's most popular podcast.  in an effort to first clarify one of the key elements that should be asked of any product - did the producer distill it or did they source and blend it This leaves room for carefully blended products that have been sourced from other distilleries but meet other requirements allowing them to still be considered craft “I think blending is a way overlooked thing in American Whiskey,” Riber notes While Riber vets and tastes every product available on Seelbach’s he understands it’s not just about what he likes but more about what meets a certain threshold of quality and authenticity "I know my taste isn’t everyone’s taste…[and] I don’t put a rating on it because I know that I’m not going to keep all smoked whiskey off the site because I don’t like it,“ said Riber Treaty Oak calls their sourced bourbon ‘Red Handed’ [for example,] what better way to be honest and make a joke about it?”Riber is able to work directly with producers and distillers whenever a particular product is not available through traditional distribution channels - which for craft spirits is quite often This allows for small run craft products that might otherwise not be worth the time and effort for distributors to find a way to reach more consumers than just those in their geographic area.Because of the time and labor intensive nature of the procurement process it means you won’t necessarily see an overwhelming number of products available on Seelbach’s right away and has set realistic expectations given his self-imposed ruleset and the fact that the company and concept is still in its infancy 2019 will mark Seelbach’s one year anniversary “Seelbach’s is the ultimate combination of the past 5 years of my life...accounting and bourbon [backgrounds] crescendoing into something good What I love doing is trying different stuff talking with people about how they make it “At this point I’m happy with [Seelbach’s] if it’s a somewhat successful small business What more could you ask for from a whiskey nerd perspective [However,] I’m not doing anything to halt the growth I’d love it to be the spot to go for all these small producers.” Poughkeepsie…Dutchess County Executive Marcus J Molinaro has selected Heidi Seelbach to serve as Dutchess County Commissioner of Finance following the retirement of Commissioner Pamela Barrack on Friday Seelbach currently serves as Deputy Commissioner of Finance Heidi Seelbach has been selected by County Executive Molinaro to serve as Dutchess County’s Commissioner of Finance “We wish Pam Barrack the very best as she retires from public service Heidi Seelbach is a strong successor to the Commissioner of Finance position The Department of Finance serves a critical role in the operation of county government and Heidi’s private and public sector experience and expertise will provide for a smooth transition for both department employees and all those who depend on the Finance Department on a daily basis.” Heidi Seelbach began her career with Dutchess County Government in 2011 when she was appointed Director of Central Services by former County Executive William R she became the Deputy Commissioner of Finance she has overseen the accounting process of the County with responsibility for the receipt and disbursement of all County moneys Seelbach has been responsible for the preparation of the County’s annual financial report and works closely with the Budget Department with various revenue projections She also oversees the accounting process for the County’s debt fixed assets and construction work in process Prior to joining Dutchess County Government She resides in Hyde Park with her children Seelbach will serve as the Chief Fiscal Officer of the County charged with the responsibility of receipt and disbursement of county funds she will be responsible for enforcement of real property taxes levied for county The Commissioner of Finance is responsible for obtaining borrowing on behalf of the County to finance Operating and Capital Programs and the issuance of Official Statements as required as well as ensuring all financial records are maintained in accordance with the rules established by the Comptroller of the State of New York and generally accepted accounting standards as prescribed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board “I am grateful to County Executive Molinaro for the opportunity to take on this new challenge It has been a pleasure working with Pam Barrack for the last few years and learning the intricate workings of this complex department I look forward to working with the entire Finance team as well as other departments throughout county government in this new role.” County Executive Molinaro will forward the resolution to appoint Ms Seelbach as Finance Commissioner to the Dutchess County Legislature for confirmation at the June 9th board meeting words: Far below ground in Louisville lies a room out of time its ceiling vaulted into a dozen or so apexes A section of the ceiling is lined with intricately painted leather Remaining surfaces are lined with Bavarian-themed Rookwood pottery dating to 1907 Scott Fitzgerald found inspiration for “The Great Gatsby.” Several floors above sits a small dining room where a secret door leads to a hidden staircase and subterranean tunnels Legend has it gangster Al Capone and bootlegger George Remus used the room for gambling — and quick escapes at the first sign of trouble Sitting at the corner of 4th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard blocks from “Whiskey Row,” sits The Seelbach Hotel Its Prohibition-era history is enough to cement it firmly in American alcohol history But the Seelbach’s boozy ties didn’t stop with the 21st Amendment Its namesake Seelbach Cocktail took the mixology world by storm after its pre-Prohibition recipe was “rediscovered” at the hotel in 1995 the backstory was revealed to be one bartender’s elaborate hoax the hotel’s bar acquired single barrels of bourbon and rye from Bardstown’s Willett Distillery Dubbed “Speakeasy Select Bourbon” and “Rathskeller Rye,” most of the stock was sold on premises by the pour A scant few bottles made their way into wider distribution and today command resale prices sometimes north of $20,000 The story of the Seelbach is a story of Louisville’s continued place as a focal point of whiskey culture As with so many stories surrounding aged spirits it’s an ongoing chronicle of tales both tiny and tall — almost always with a kernel of truth Built by Bavarian-born brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach the Seelbach opened in May 1905 with about 150 rooms just in time for that year’s Kentucky Derby and the brothers expanded to around 500 rooms two years later the hotel changed owners (and names) several times A 1975 ownership bankruptcy led to its closure and in 1978 it was purchased by actor and developer Roger Davis and eventually sold again and rebranded to the Seelbach Hilton Louisville The explosion of bourbon tourism renewed interest in the hotel’s history, particularly its (alleged) ties to Prohibition-era crime. Those stories center on two figures: legendary crime boss Al Capone, and “King of the Bootleggers” George Remus who likely served as an inspiration for the character of Jay Gatsby “I’ll never say that Al Capone was at the hotel … it just makes sense that the city of Louisville and the Seelbach Hotel would have been a great stopover for any of the gangsters.” “The explosion of bourbon came about … and the stories of Al Capone and George Remus all came to life that much more,” says Larry Johnson Johnson has worked at the hotel since 1981 he wrote “The Seelbach: A Centennial Salute to Louisville’s Grand Hotel.” While a common local adage claims Capone and Remus used the Seelbach as a gathering point Johnson says there is little evidence to prove it it’s not as if mobsters kept public records it’s easy to imagine well-to-do bootleggers stopping by for some impolite company “I’ll never say that Al Capone was at the hotel,” Johnson says … It just makes sense that the city of Louisville and the Seelbach Hotel would have been a great stopover for any of the gangsters It was known at the time for having the best billiards and poker room in the Midwest.” that game room has a secret door that leads to two different sets of tunnels beneath the hotel Johnson says the motivation for a clandestine passageway dates to well before Prohibition hit Kentucky “The stairs from the poker room were built in 1908 before Prohibition,” he says “That’s not to say they didn’t have something like that in mind; it was an ideal getaway If there had been a game going on with a lot of money swapping hands what better way to get away than one of the two sets of tunnels.” Scott Fitzgerald was stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor near Louisville It’s likely Fitzgerald and fellow officers visited the Seelbach to drink and cavort with young women What happened next depends on which legend you subscribe to “To walk into the lobby of the Seelbach was to walk into infinite possibility,” writes Rebecca Rolfes for “The Bitter Southerner the province of the wealthy and glamorous.” Some claim it was here that the 20-year-old Fitzgerald met 40 year-old George Remus sparking a friendship that would eventually inspire the titular character in “The Great Gatsby.” “Every single thing that came across Fitzgerald’s desk or kitchen table was fodder for his writing … Probably the hotel he ends up writing about was a combination of lots of hotels.” Other reports say Fitzgerald was kicked off the premises three times for public intoxication quite the feat given the four-week duration of his Camp Taylor stay it’s difficult to nail down the specifics of Fitzgerald’s social time in Louisville “Much of the speculation about Fitzgerald’s inspirations and their Seelbach connection is exactly that a biographer who has written two books on F it’s impossible to deduce exactly how the Seelbach influenced subsequent writing “Every single thing that came across Fitzgerald’s desk or kitchen table was fodder for his writing,” Taylor says … Probably the hotel he ends up writing about was a combination of lots of hotels novelist Fitzgerald had a penchant for leaving clues his writings mention the Seelbach Hotel by name Gatsby makes nearly a dozen mentions of Louisville as the home of Daisy Buchanan One passage names the Seelbach (or “Muhlbach Hotel,” depending on the edition) as the site of her and Tom’s marriage: “In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel…” Dr. Taylor also cites a 1929 piece for The New Yorker titled “A Short Autobiography,” in which Fitzgerald gives a yearly chronology of drinking escapades “The Bourbon smuggled to officers’ rooms by bellboys at the Seelbach in Louisville.” The Seelbach itself has occasionally leaned into the novel’s mention “Gatsby’s on Fourth” offers a buffet breakfast seven days a week For decades, Louisville’s Brown Hotel generally eclipsed the Seelbach in national popularity, despite it opening 15 years later. That was largely thanks to the Hot Brown an open-faced sandwich invented at the Brown as a lavish hangover cure shortly after Adam Seger was named bar manager at the Seelbach Seger stumbled upon a bourbon and Champagne cocktail from 1912: Seger claimed the recipe originally resulted from an accidental spilling of Champagne into a Manhattan That story, it turns out, was a hoax. Roughly 20 years after “rediscovering” the drink, Seger admitted he’d made the entire backstory up, as detailed by Robert Simonson for The New York Times The drink was Seger’s original — more contemporary — creation “What we’re trying to do is help people navigate through these fake stories and prioritize transparency So I thought it was a good tie-in to what we’re trying to do.” “It really caused quite a stink in Louisville when that came out because it was such a famous cocktail,” says Heather Wibbels “It is very common that the stories behind the creation of a cocktail are not true or they’re added on to a very thin fact … We all know people will remember a story more than they’ll remember a fact.” The cocktail’s fictitious past hasn’t slowed its popularity It remains a top draw to the Old Seelbach Bar but I don’t think that it takes away from the interesting aspects of the drink,” says Jordan Long “I think it’s a fun thing to tell guests The unraveling of the cocktail’s myth did have an additional impact on the American spirits landscape It inspired the name for an online retailer “It was really the cocktail story I ended up hearing about and I thought it was a funny story,” says founder Blake Riber who started the site soon after the cocktail hoax came to light “What we’re trying to do is help people navigate through these fake stories and prioritize transparency So I thought it was a good tie-in to what we’re trying to do.” Riber’s Seelbach’s platform specializes in products from craft distilleries selling and shipping directly to consumers While his site shares a name with the hotel Riber says their lines of business are too different to warrant any issues “I thought I’d hear something from the hotel they saw a trademark for what the hotel has but there was nothing involving online commerce.” In 2007, the Seelbach bar selected two single barrels of whiskey from Willett Distillery in Bardstown, Ky. One was a 14 year-old Kentucky straight bourbon with a distillation date of Jan Most of the bottles were sold by the pour at the Seelbach bar or through room service. Some made their way to Washington D.C.-area bars The hotel’s own stock of the treasured whiskey is long gone the auction prices are as much a source of humor as they are of pride and we laugh about those bottles going for so much,” Long says Today’s Seelbach Hotel features 321 guest rooms, offers 32,000 square feet of meeting space and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places It remains one of the city’s prime spots for lodging with a rare mixture of convenience and stateliness one of Larry Johnson’s main goals is to inform guests the hotel is an attraction itself Part of that draw is enjoying hospitality in the same rooms and bars famous outlaws may or may not have patronized “The hotel itself has been not only a great place to stay for 100 years but it’s a great place to taste whatever spirit or drink you wanted,” he says It’s a sentiment echoed by other members of the staff I tell them it’s best not to compartmentalize “And I always recommend they go see Larry.” grand old hotels is in line for a major expansion.  at Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard filed an application with the city Tuesday to build an 11-story tower on the north side of the existing Seelbach annex wing and above an existing two-story ballroom addition Ohio-based investment firm that bought the hotel two years ago said the upgrade also will include a "comprehensive renovation" of all existing guest rooms and public spaces “This will be a transformational project for both the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky,” Jim Merkel “By re-establishing the iconic nature of this historic hotel we will shine national attention on Louisville and Kentucky.” The 150-foot tower will include guestrooms between the second and ninth floors a meeting space at the 10th floor and a rooftop bar which will have both an indoor and an outdoor space the addition will include a little more than 30,000 square feet expanding a facility with 308 rooms over 300,000-square-foot The renovation will start after plans are finalized and capitalization is completed The company provided no cost projections or planned numbers of rooms.   More things to do: Take a sneak peek at Louie's Hot Chicken and Barbecue opening downtown Louisville has recently undergone a massive hotel boom, with more than 2,400 rooms added in the last three years. And more including an eight-story Hyatt-branded hotel for Second and Market streets There's plenty of space in the marketplace for additional capacity to accommodate convention goers and other travelers executive director of the Louisville Downtown Partnership an agency that promotes the city's downtown and coordinates economic development activities The Seelbach is one of the city's anchor historic hotels and "we're incredibly thrilled to see this investment," Matheny said "The asset that this property is is so important." some of the city's biggest downtown properties including the Galt House and the Louisville Marriott have announced renovations of more than $100 million combined.  Related: Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald and a ghost: Inside The Seelbach's glitzy Roaring '20s history CBRE Hotels Americas Research reported nearly a year ago that Louisville led the nation with a quarterly increase of 11.4% in demand for hotel rooms That number was higher than many other cities because of pent-up demand for rooms while the Kentucky International Convention Center was shut down for renovations and the period leading up to the opening of 612-room Omni in 2018 announced in December 2017 that it had acquired the Seelbach and had enlisted Musselman Hotels in Louisville as the property's management team. The reported purchase price by RB Seelbach LLC was $38.6 million president and CEO of Musselman Hotels said his company has "a track record of executing comprehensive projects like the Seelbach we will deliver a hotel commensurate with the legacy and history of the storied Seelbach.”  Over the years, the Seelbach has had many notable guests — including famed mobster Al Capone and "Great Gatsby" author F At the hotel to tell their stories is resident historian and concierge Larry Johnson who was named hotel historian of the year by Historic Hotels of America this past year The Seelbach also is an architectural gem The creators, brothers Otto and Louis Seelbach lavished touches on the turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts Baroque hotel with imported marbles from around the world linens from Ireland plus Persian and Turkish rugs The Rathskeller bar in the basement features Bavarian-style arched columns decorated with Rookwood Pottery tiles from Cincinnati.   It’s been a busy May Saturday for City Councilmember Chris Seelbach It started with a flurry of early morning calls to colleagues to help thwart the resignation of Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell he heads to Weaver Field in the West End to proclaim “West End Reds Day” in honor of the businesses and GoFundMe donors who saved the inner-city youth baseball team inching his Smart car into a “cheater” space on Race Street between a No Parking sign and the loose bumper of a Toyota He strides past the outdoor vendors until a woman selling custom jewelry stops him “You’ve been kicking butt on city council,” she says Seelbach breaks into his big altar boy smile before making his way to the beer garden on Elm Street where he buys a Moerlein Helles and drops a tip for the ALS fund-raiser that he’s there to support “I just wanted to thank you again,” Thomas says her friend from Northern Kentucky was visiting OTR when rowdies in a passing car tossed a drink at her and shouted insults Seelbach heard about the incident and called her friend to apologize “It was a small thing [to call],” Thomas says the city’s first openly gay councilmember and at 35 one of its youngest has garnered national attention as an advocate for issues dear to the LGBTQ community and he’s proud to have played a role in transforming the city’s reputation when it comes to matters of sexual orientation But he’d like to be known as more than just the “one-trick pony” that his staunchest critics make him out to be He has pushed for labor rights in a city dominated by Blue Chip corporations and championed controversial needle exchange programs in the face of the area’s unprecedented heroin problem But his attachment to urban quality-of-life projects such as the streetcar hasn’t endeared him to a certain segment of Cincinnati voters Neither has his active enmity toward his one-time Democratic ally If he aspires to higher office—and he does—Seelbach needs to make “first openly gay councilmember” a chapter in his political career there are the wide-ranging daily duties of a city councilmember he’s buttonholed by a market employee: there’s a Bob Dylan wannabe performing under a stage tarp that may soon be blowin’ in the wind Seelbach snaps an iPhone picture of the flapping menace and whisks it off with a note to alert the assistant city manager Because maybe the untethered tent is a genuine danger To find a Seelbach detractor you could follow the trail of city hall showdowns to Mary Kuhl The 54-year-old Westwood community activist sees Seelbach’s passion for the urban core as pandering to hipster voters “If you live downtown or you’re one of the urban twixsters with skinny jeans and big black glasses you probably think he’s doing a great job,” Kuhl says “But the wake-up call comes from the middle-class traditional communities.” Kuhl insists that she’s not talking about “traditional” in the sense of two-parent “I mean like you live in a normal family environment with a yard Your reality is not the reality of the urban twixster and their skinny jeans.” Kuhl blasts Seelbach for backing the “streetcar to nowhere” project and urban core development in general and for taking the time to address on the city council floor the suicide of Leelah Alcorn the transgender youth who “with his 16-year-old brain thought the only way he could solve his problem was to step…in front of a semi,” Kuhl says my part of town and others like it are under siege from crime and low-income housing and lack of city services.” has heard this sort of complaint so many times from his critics that he is beyond rolling his eyes he ticks off a list of diverse accomplishments where he led the way Like balancing the budget without laying off police or firefighters; tracking veterans’ employment in city contracts to help them land jobs; increasing funding to human services; investing in homeless shelters he says he cast the deciding vote for the new Westwood police station and backed $4.2 million in spending for the new Warsaw Federal Incline Theater and recreation center in Price Hill and $500,000 for renovating Westwood’s historic business district Seelbach doesn’t apologize for supporting urban redevelopment he argues that the $148 million streetcar project and other amenities he has pushed for—commuter bikes pay station parking—ultimately benefit outlying neighborhoods the rest of the apple doesn’t matter,” he says He traces the transformation in the city from the $90 million GE building at The Banks to the $9 million Taft’s Ale House in Over-the-Rhine “Over-the-Rhine was one of the most unsafe and unsightly places in the country,” Seelbach says We know now how to change one neighborhood and we’re trying to do that in other neighborhoods as well he says that almost 80 percent of the city’s revenue for police protection and other neighborhood services comes from the city income tax “And most of that income is coming from jobs in either downtown or uptown,” he notes “If you’re worried about your police officers on the west side you ought to be worried as well by what’s driving the tax revenues.” He lives in Over-the-Rhine and he’s a millennial so—skinny jeans or not—he fits Kuhl’s description And if he wants to be more than the face of Cincinnati’s urban young professionals he will have to prove himself an effective leader to the Mary Kuhls of Ohio director of Cedarville University’s Center for Political Studies being openly gay will no longer be an issue,” Smith contends the most important factor is still whether this person is perceived as a good politician and a good leader.” You’re more likely to say “bad” if you live on the city’s more Catholic The irony is that Seelbach grew up middle class and Catholic in a “traditional community” very much like the one Kuhl describes The main difference being that he grew up gay moved into a house in the post-war neighborhood of Pleasure Ridge Park in Louisville with then 4-year-old Christopher Judy was working at a bank and Steve was starting in the construction equipment rental business Louisville’s historic Seelbach Hotel was founded by his great-great uncles; his own family wasn’t part of the windfall when Sheraton bought the hotel in 1956 It was a cozy world where service to others was a central part of faith and where God was “this person who was all about love and loving other people,” he says “And I was happy knowing in my heart that I was trying to live up to those standards.” Judy Seelbach says her son was an “easy kid,” albeit with an independent streak and a weakness for bringing home stray dogs Seelbach describes himself as an average student and a mediocre athlete although his father insists he shined in high school volleyball after a teacher told him that meat came from killing animals Seelbach became a vegetarian and has been one ever since His parents got their first inkling he was gay when the friends they had never met before showed up for his graduation party When Judy and Steve asked him outright the day after Their response—pleas for counseling and “corrective” treatment—led to more than a decade of strained relations “We didn’t understand it,” says his father “Judy and I have always been the type of people who fix things The pain of those years became “the propelling force for what I would become,” their son says “I could either take my life into my own hands and make something of myself I was determined from then on to fight for the underdog.” where he formed the school’s first gay-straight alliance He followed his degree in business administration with law school at the University of Dayton and an internship on the staff of then-Vice Mayor David Crowley The first time Crowley saw Seelbach speak as a student at Xavier University ‘I really like this young man,’” says his widow Sherri Crowley “He was so sure he was going to make the world a better place for people.” Crowley asked his wife to do all she could to help Seelbach’s campaign and made a political ad for him—support that was no doubt crucial in Seelbach’s winning the ninth and last spot for city council that year Seelbach’s six and half years as chief financial officer and head of the political consulting unit for The Seidewitz Group “People don’t understand that probably 80 percent of what you do on city council is dealing with the budget,” says the firm’s founder “We really helped Chris in an area where he has excelled on council.” His entrance into civic life has coincided with the city’s remarkable decade-long transition from one of the worst ratings to a perfect score last year from the Human Rights Campaign Seelbach had a personal hand in making it so leading efforts to extend city health benefits to gay couples creating a domestic partner registry and an LGBT liaison to city government and requiring city contractors to adhere to the city’s non-discriminatory policies the White House awarded Seelbach the Harvey Milk Champion of Change award In 2014 he was one of seven Bohnett Fellows chosen to study at the Harvard Kennedy School And recently he was named “Elected Official of the Year” by the National Association of Social Workers he helped spark a national conversation on the challenges faced by transgender youth His emotional speech about Alcorn on the council floor was quoted by the The New York Times His 30th birthday party was his parents’ “light bulb moment,” Seelbach says Chris asked each of his friends to tell a story about how they knew him What his parents heard that night thawed their hearts “When I met the people he surrounded himself with—very good people and all of them truly valuing Chris in their lives—that really helped turn us around,” his father says Steve and Judy no longer introduce Craig Schultz as just “Craig” but as their son’s partner “We just made a decision to make it work for all of us.” Seelbach and Schultz have been together since 2005 12 years Seelbach’s senior—is the more laid-back of the two While Seelbach tools around town in his Smart car on official business Schultz tends to his businesses (he’s a landscaper and a salesman for a startup) in an aging Chevy Silverado “Craig is such a good balance for him,” says Pope Coleman former interim director of the Contemporary Arts Center and long-time community volunteer Coleman and his artist wife Constance became close friends of both men after Schultz began doing their landscaping “Craig keeps Chris under control so he doesn’t get over-excited [about issues.] He reminds him that he’s a public figure he reported in a late-night 911 call that he had been assaulted outside a downtown bar—telling the dispatcher four times that he was a city councilmember He took a beating on talk radio and on social media especially by members of the anti-tax group COAST But Seelbach is not apologizing for what his critics are calling his biggest political blunder: the Responsible Bidder Ordinance—a city law that would have required larger contractors who wanted a share of the $2 billion that the city and county will spend upgrading the sewer system to hire local residents and provide job training “everyone was talking about only two things back then—jobs and job training,” Seelbach says “What I realized is that we have this $2 billion project [and] we have to make sure these jobs not only go to people in this region but that they get the training so that they have the skills to get other jobs—pipefitters The RBO infuriated the non-union construction industry the two Republicans on the Hamilton County Commission and the conservative wags on talk radio and at The Cincinnati Enquirer The law was roundly criticized as being a costly gimme to the unions since most unionized construction firms have apprenticeship programs already in place and Seelbach was accused of being a puppet of organized labor and a lower court struck down the law on the grounds that the county sets the bidding rules for sewer contracts Seelbach says furthering economic equality is part of his political agenda “If you’re a member of a wealthy corporation you’re moved to the front of the line in City Hall,” he says “But if you’re a low-income person struggling to survive Politically, Seelbach’s next step depends a lot on how things shape up for the 2017 mayoral race. The animosity between Seelbach and Cranley stops just short of council chamber doors. Seelbach says the air has been particularly frosty since August 2014, when Cranley got ticked off by Seelbach’s comments about him in a story in this magazine (Cranley declined to comment for this story.) Their battle lines have been drawn primarily over the streetcar project but there is a deep personality conflict between the two both of whom are being considered for statewide office Seelbach says he can work with everyone else on council regardless of political differences As evidence he mentions Republican Amy Murray with whom he has forged an alliance on several issues the two approached Cranley with a proposal to forgive parking fines in exchange for donations to the Freestore “screaming at us and telling us we were horrible people to even think of the idea,” Seelbach says “This is something that happens every day with him.” (Murray said she would describe the meeting with Cranley as “a lively discussion.”) Seelbach says he has been asked by several African-American Democrats considering runs for mayor in 2017 to partner with them on council if they can unseat Cranley he doesn’t rule out the possibility of a statewide run in 2018 would be happy to see him make the leap to a “down-ballot” office like secretary of state “We’ve got a strong field of progressive officeholders especially when he’s been a leader on so many issues of social equality.” whose friendship with Seelbach cuts across three generations And he’s as clean as any politician can possibly be he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time if you told people where Cincinnati would stand on gay rights today Classification: Straight Bourbon Finished in Triple Sec and Sparkling Wine Barrels Distillery: Sourced from an Undisclosed Distillery in Bardstown Official Website Orange marmalade | White grape | Caramel | Vanilla wafer | Rice pudding | Sweet & unique Orange marmalade | White grape | Salt water taffy | Oak | Sweetness grows stronger over time | To the point flavor profile Spice | Cinnamon | Oak | A fleeting sweet orange aftertaste | Proof most noticeable on finish Seelbach’s Private Reserve Batch 3 is proof not to ever let an unproven and potentially crazy idea deter you It may have unexpected and electrifying results As Blake Riber purveyor of Seelbach’s likes to say “Seelbach’s brings you the barrel finishes no one asks for or knew they wanted.” it's a statement that hits the nail squarely on its head regarding their latest release The idea for Batch 3 of Seelbach’s Private Reserve came from the company’s namesake is a flat out batty idea for a finished bourbon Yet it's hard not to appreciate such a creative concept in a space that is seemingly running out of them  The first sip of Batch 3 will be the most disorienting part of your time with it It will be unfamiliar and even a bit confusing It’s unique but not so far out there it feels foreign but the conjoining of them will be what sets off your “spidey sense.” Triple Sec is an orange based liqueur and while orange is certainly present throughout The sparkling wine aspect adds an additional layer of sweetness providing depth in the form of white grape The base bourbon blend provides structure throughout but comes roaring out during the finish with strong spice and oak components A total of 16% of the blend is 15 year-old-bourbon which does its job grounding this whiskey As you sip and become more familiar with what this whiskey is offering The palate’s sweetness is instantly cut by the finish creating a dynamic pour Given the work that must have gone into sourcing Triple Sec and sparkling wine barrels it's somewhat unlikely to be reproduced by other producers and depending on consumers' appetite for such an adventitious product The price is high for such an unproven concept but I’d have to think it was due to the sourcing of the barrels and the decision to include 15-year-old bourbon in its blend Seelbach’s Private Reserve Straight Bourbon Finished in Triple Sec and Sparkling Wine Barrels is an immensely fun sip and above all else shows that thinking outside of the box can have surprising results