It all started with Deadwood

Charlie

The Ahwahnee Hotel ~ Yosemite National Park

October 2012

The Basil Hayden Story

It was a rainy morning and rather than hunker down in our cabin, we decided to take a little walk…it wasn’t raining very hard and we did have our jackets!

Yosemite Falls had water again. North Dome was shrouded in strips of puffy clouds. Rain drops danced in the puddles along the road. Soon, it was lunch time. We were near the Ahwahnee Hotel and decided to head on over.

We put our names in and were told it would be about 15 minutes. Charlie suggested that we wait in the bar. The dining room host handed Charlie one of those automated reservation pagers and we walked to the other side of the lobby.  The tables were full but there were several seats at the bar.

I had just decided on the house chardonnay (of course!). Suddenly, Charlie blurted out “Basil Hayden!” in a rather loud voice. I looked at him and said, “What?” “Basil Hayden!!” Charlie replied. “Who is Basil Hayden?” I asked. “Deadwood!!! It’s from the Deadwood series!” Still puzzled, I looked at him, waiting for more info. “They drank Basil Hayden in the series! I thought they made it up! But, it’s right there on the shelf!” he said, pointing to the bottle.  Well, now! He must order up a Basil Hayden on the rocks! (You think?). And he did.  Shortly after the drinks were served, our mystic pager went off and we left for the dining room.

We waited at the desk to be seated. Charlie was beside himself having found this new whiskey. He was so enjoying it. We were escorted to our table. We settled in after peeling off our soggy jackets. We had just finished our drinks when our server appeared. “Do you want another drink?” he asked, rather annoyed that he had to serve two slightly wet and messy guests. We looked at each other and I asked for another wine. “I’ll have a Basil Hayden on the rocks, please.” Charlie replied. A pregnant pause ensued ~ the server stared at Charlie in disbelief and then responded with a rambunctious (and an obvious shift in attitude). “Yes, sir! Another Basil Hayden on the rocks!!! Will this be a room charge, sir?” Charlie said no, that we would be paying cash. The server then scurried off to get our drinks.

And so began the exploration of whiskies and bourbons.....more to follow, 

I'm willing to bet!