It’s Sunday night and Kate and I just got home after an 11-hour drive from Louisville. I’m tired, probably a touch dehydrated, yet I’m still feeling a sense of euphoria from the time we spent in Kentucky. Bourbon country is amazing this time of year, and on top of that we had the opportunity this weekend to do something I never expected we would do.

We met up with a group of complete strangers that we talk to online.

Kate and I have been posting on Instagram about our growing obsession with Bourbon for a little more than 2 years now, and we aren’t the only ones. Much like any interest these days, the internet contains huge pockets full of like-minded individuals who dedicate their time, disposable income, and social media accounts to American Whiskey. Well, over the last couple of years we’ve had the chance to interact with quite a few of these people, connecting via hashtags and suggested accounts. We’ve liked each others pictures, left jealous comments on pictures of rare bottles, traded samples, and generally just nerded out together over things for which many of our real-life friends may not share the same passion.

One Sunday afternoon back in June my first online whiskey pen-pal, Steve (aka fletcher_whiskeydog), posted a picture of a recently emptied 2015 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch along with a comment stating that he wished he had some local whiskey friends to help him finish off some more bottles. Well a bunch of us chimed in, obviously offering our services, and before you know it a comment Steve made in passing quickly transformed into real plans to meet in Louisville in October. An email chain was fired up, a joke about all of us “catfishing” each other inspired the name of our “society”, a date was set, and shit got real.

The Whiskey Catfish Society was born.

I had no idea what to expect from this group of internet strangers. With the exception of Steve and Cas from Hearts2Tails who have had us on their podcast, we had never even spoken to any of them in any other format other than comments or email. What if they were all super weird? What if it’s like that Bob’s Burgers episode and Kate and I show up and everybody hates our shit? What if nobody actually shows up at all? These were all questions I asked (or was asked) at some point or another before our trip, and to be honest they had me a bit stressed.

With plenty of questions in tow, Kate and I packed up the car, loaded up Okra and Tofu (our dogs) and hit the road at 4am last Thursday. What awaited us in Kentucky? Stay tuned for Part 2.