Elios, Hogs for the Cause (Team Swineaux) and a 25 year Van Winkle

This bottle came from Tim at Elios. I can't tell you enough how good these people are. If you live here or coming into town and don't go into their store, please do.

Great story, and very much appreciate what these guys are doing to help the kids out. They raffled it off and raised $37k at the event.

Now this one would not be an old fashioned.





Jerry Smith knows his bourbon. He knows the huge sums a rare bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old can command.

And, sadly, he knows a taste of that sweet nectar of the bourbon gods might never pass over his lips. After all, if you can even find a bottle of the stuff the price can climb to five figures.

So it will be with more than a little sadness - and a little jealousy, perhaps? - that he participates in an upcoming ceremony to pass a precious bottle to its new owner.

Smith, a prosecutor in North Shore District Attorney Warren Montgomery's office in Covington, has been a bourbon lover dating back to his college days in the 1990s. In the passing years, his tastes have become more refined and his collection has grown, he said.

Smith, along with a group of others (some of whom are like-mind about their bourbon), also helps raise money for the fight against children's cancer through the Hogs for the Cause festival and barbecue competition. In addition to cooking hog, their team, "Swineaux,'' raffled off a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old that had been donated by team member Tim Todaro of Elio's Wine Warehouse in New Orleans.

nola.com