OLD NUMBER SIX

As whiskey ages, there is always an amount that evaporates from within the barrel, referred to by those who produce it as "the angel's share." Despite the beverage’s association with sin, its manufacturing is one path by which mankind can barter with the heavens; a large enough tithe of fine Bourbon can bring with it returns of divine favor and forgiveness.

Now, it is an empirically verified fact that cellars in Tennessee are nine inches closer to hell than the national average. While this anomaly has prevented the Volunteer State’s distilleries from achieving the same fortunes as those to the north in Kentucky, a handful of bold producers have found ways to take advantage of their lower theological altitude.

There is one particular distillery within whose barrels are sealed in more ways than one. Not a single drop of their sixth recipe is lost to evaporation- the few angels who come to stake their claim rarely ever leave. The seventh recipe is more famous, of course, but this is the one that put them on the map. Aficionados note that its strong charcoal tones are complemented by mild hints of chokecherry and sulfur. Critics tend to focus on it having a somewhat metallic aftertaste.

The bones and feathers that sink to the bottom are typically discarded with the rest of the barrel. When buried in fertile soil together, they eventually grow into a dead tree: a sign of the deal that’s been done.


Covenants with the devil can show up in surprising places.

Devils are zoologically diverse.

Hell itself isn't so bad when you have a decent mortgage.


THE SHELL OF THE BLACK CONCH

LONG IN THE TOOTH