Welcome to the Whisk(e)y Warrior Award!
On the first of every month, someone is awarded the prodigious title of Whisk(e)y Warrior. A question and answer interview with the valiant warrior is then distributed to the world. What is a Whisk(e)y Warrior? Find out more by clicking here.
And now, we proudly present your Whisk(e)y Warrior.
He is the king of kitchen cutlery, wielding deadly sharp knives and glass bottle cudgels. He’s a bourbon balls toting Baron. A sauced sauce maker. But primarily he’s just an epic dad. He is…
Scott Anders, Whisk(e)y Warrior!
Interview:
Zac: Where in the world do you live right now?
Scott: I’m in Fallbrook, California. It’s a Northern San Diego county.
Zac: What’s your day job?
Scott: I’m a waiter for a big corporate restaurant. I’ve been in restaurants for twenty-five years. I’ve done every position from dishwasher from district manager to part owner.
Zac: Where do you mostly do your whiskey drinking?
Scott: At home which is where I tend to drink nowadays. I don’t go out as much as I used to, getting old. And honestly, I like to drink cheaper stuff when I’m at home. If I have some friends over or have a steak or something then I’ll get out something nicer. I go to the whiskey meet up because we have that whiskey group here in Fallbrook, me and Dave and some other guys. That’s when I really enjoy drinking things I probably couldn’t afford to drink everyday if I wanted to.
Zac: Tell me a little bit about the whiskey meet up.
Scott: There’s not that much formality of it. We have a local community Facebook page. So Dave saw that and said, “I want to do a whiskey meet for guys in Fallbrook.” And I was the first one to respond, “I’m in.” And so, we got together. I hosted the first one out of my house. What’s most interesting to me about it is, even more than the whiskey, was meeting new people and friends.
Zac: I would tend to agree with you, but why do you say that?
Scott: I think when you get in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s it becomes harder to meet new friends and make friends if you’re not, like I don’t play sports. I don’t go to church. Where am I gonna meet anybody? Everyone at work is younger than me. So, for me it was just meeting other guys who were regular guys. There’s no snobbery about it. It was just getting together and talking and hear the stories. That’s what I enjoy the most. The whiskey is just kind of the catalyst to the friendships.
Zac: Well said. Any rules to running the meetup?
Scott: Our only couple of rules are everyone brings a bottle and no religion or politics. ‘Cause you don’t want to get a bunch of strangers drinking and talking religion and politics. But it has been really cool and everybody gets a long, all walks of life. It’s about the whiskey and just life in general.
Zac: That’s awesome. So you’ve got a YouTube channel called Drunk Cooking with Scott. How did that get started?
Scott: That started with my oldest child, who is now an adult and gone off to college and moved away. He was having some psychiatric issues, like depression and anxiety, really severely in high school and lived with his mom. She couldn’t handle it and it was getting really bad and dangerous so I had him live with me and put him in therapy and got involved in volunteer activity with animals and did home schooling, which is very popular in California online and it’s all accredited. I had to spend so much time with him because there was high risk of self-harm. The kids were always trying to get me to do a YouTube channel and I was like, “No no no.” And eventually I realized I have to do something with my kid that we can do together. I want to make it so that I don’t get bored with it so I have to make it fun for myself as well. So, I was like, “Alright let’s do it.” And so, we came up with doing a cooking show. And then I was like alright I’m going to make it so that I’m extreme version of myself. And so, it’s Drunk Cooking with Scott. Sometimes there’s booze sometimes there’s not, but I always say there is. And you know I act more outlandish and actually really came to life doing the show. When my kid moved out, I only did a handful of them but built up a little bit of an Instagram and I have a Facebook page. It’s something I just enjoy doing.
Zac: I love how you got your start! I noticed you have a bourbon ball recipe on there.
Scott: Yeah, it’s basically rum balls but you’re substituting bourbon. I did a bourbon glazed donut, I have my version of sloppy joes is sloppy Scotties. And I have bourbon in that as well and I made a BBQ sauce episode.
Zac: If you were going to give a new whiskey drinker some advice, what would it be?
Scott: Don’t be afraid to try anything new. For a long time I just drank your standard rail stuff, you know 7 & 7, Even Williams, or a Jack and Coke, or something. Don’t be afraid to step outside of that, explore, try things neat, try things on ice, try things with a cocktail, find where your lane is.
Zac: Do you have a top 3 budget or best value for the money whiskies?
Scott: Under $20, probably Evan Williams. Right around $50 maybe a little under if you’re lucky I would go with that Glen Moray 12 year. And then going up just a little higher $50 or $60 the Highland Park 12. But I do like the Laphroaig 10 year as well.
Zac: If people want to connect with you how can they do that?
Scott: Drunk Cooking with Scott on Youtube if they want to laugh at me. And then @Drunkcookingwithscott on Instagram and I have my Drunk Cooking With Scott Facebook as well.
Zac: Scott, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me and I look forward to many more recipes from you in the future.
A HUGE thank you to the Patreon supporters of this award! You can find all of their names on our Wall of Whisk(e)y Warrior Shield Bearers.
And an extra big thank you to our Pirate Level supporter, Ernest Poe, and our War Council member Don Ruger!
Remember to nominate your favorite Whisk(e)y Warriors by clicking here. The next award will be released June 1st. We’ll see you then.
— Zac Smith