This story comes from my home state of Wyoming, where men are men, and men are outnumbered by dangerous creatures. That being said this is, flat out, one of the most testosterone drenched, badass stories I’ve ever come across. To be half as brutally manly as C. Dale Petersen is a noble goal to be sure.

First of all let me say that drinking has never and will never be, the basis of being a real man. That being said, a man who drinks has to consider what his drink says about him. You can be completely comfortable with who you are, but if you’re holding a cranberry and vodka at a bar where frat boys are shooting whiskey… the comparison is less than flattering. A man should have a hard drink that he loves and that expresses his tastes. I love and appreciate most types of liquor but gin is my first love and is just an exceptional, versatile liquid that brings warmth to my heart (and throat). Gin is basically a kind of flavored vodka, (but so much better because vodka is weak) it’s flavored with botanicals, or spices, like coriander, angelica, cloves, liquorice, but mainly juniper. Juniper is what accounts for the main flavor in London Dry Gin. London Dry is the quintessential flavor of gin and if you’ve had it, you know that it is both strong in flavor and proof because of the way it’s distilled. Of all the many gins I’ve tried Tanqueray is by far my favorite London dry. It’s classic, imported and makes a perfect Gin & Tonic or Martini (cocktails are better left for another day). Gin was the preferred drink of Humphrey Bogart, FDR, and Winston Churchill, all very manly men if I do say so myself. Gin straight or in a cocktail is a mans drink plain and simple. From a Negroni before dinner or a Tom Collins on a hot day gin is a good , lighter, change of pace from whiskey or beer. The next time you reach for a coolaid flavored vodka drink consider something more classic.