One of the bartenders at the bar in Grapevine where I accidentally ended up in that movie had a weird nickname. Toad. He spelled it “tode” but it’s pronounced like the frog. I don’t even pretend to understand people, so don’t ask me. But I do get kind of chummy with bartenders from time to time. Trade emails and such. Sometimes it pays off. It certainly did this time.
About a week ago Tode contacted me and told me they found the empty Diamondback bottle from the movie in the back of the bar. He wondered if I wanted it.
Hell yes I wanted it.
I drove up there a few days later and got it. Gave me a chance to get a better look at it. And boy did I ever come up with something interesting.
Cool looking label. Kind of badass and scary. But it was the back label that caught my attention.
Daniel Fucking Whittington. The wizard of whiskey himself. Let me tell you something. If there’s anything going on in the whiskey world in Texas, Daniel knows about it. And if it’s at all shady, he’s mixed up in it. You bet your ass he is.
“Peat from Scotland. Venom from Texas.” That’s got Daniel written all over it.
I drove straight to Austin, to that damn tower of his with the whiskey vault in it. I banged on the door with the empty bottle in my hand. It was after dark though, and I got run off by security. But I’m going back next week.
And I’m going to get the dope on this whiskey from Daniel even if I have to beat it out of him.