Pairing Larceny Barrel Proof With Thunder Road Vendetta

The Whiskey: Larceny Barrel Proof 

Larceny Barrel Proof is consistently an absolute gem of a bottle. Released three times a year by Heaven Hill, it’s consistently a bottle I look for. Not only is it delicious, it’s affordable and available, which means a lot these days.

This specific batch, C923, comes in at 126.4 proof. On the nose, the fist note I find is strong vanilla, but there are other delicious notes too. Interestingly, I clearly get a peanut brittle note that I haven’t before on a Larceny bottle. It’s really pleasant and unique. There’s a cola note present, some cinnamon spice, and interestingly, some faint banana as well. That’s another note I don’t get often. Finally, the proof is certainly evident, but isn’t overwhelming by any means.

On the palate, the texture can be described as almost syrupy, which is really nice. This whiskey really coats your mouth and has an amazing viscosity. The peanut brittle note continues to be present, along with the cola. The clearest flavor, and the one I find the most delectable, is one I can only describe as charred brown sugar, like on the bottom of cinnamon rolls. I love this and can’t get enough of it. 

The finish goes on for a beautifully long time, and man, that peanut brittle note really sticks around. There’s a little bit of the cola note as well, but ultimately the finish belongs to the peanut brittle. Your mileage may vary, but for me, it’s super interesting and tasty. All around, an utterly delicious bourbon.  

The Game: Thunder Road Vendetta

Thunder Road Vendetta, published by Restoration Games, is a redesign of the classic game from the 80’s. In Thunder Road, you play as a roving car gang in a death race against other gangs in a desert apocalypse. You win by either being the last player standing, or one of your cars being the first to cross the finish line. If it isn’t obvious from that description, the game is heavily inspired by Mad Max – sharing the same DNA except the name. As a lover of those movies, I have to give full credit to Thunder Road – it captures the road warfare of Mad Max perfectly. The best way to describe the feeling of the game is to go watch the chase sequences of Mad Max: Fury Road. Chaos, insanity, and adrenaline.

Mechanically, the game is simple. At the start of the game, each player has three cars. You roll four dice and assign three of them to the cars as the round progresses – that will be how far the car can move. There are also special abilities that you trigger with the fourth die. The spice is added with the terrain pieces on the board – as you race your cars, different terrain tiles appear, and these affect the vehicles in different ways, such as boosting speed, sending the car flying, or destroying the car completely. The heart of the game is what happens when you collide with other players’ cars (whether intentionally or not). One car will always be moved when a collision occurs, and these often cause a chain reaction of collisions amongst other cars. One crash leads to another, which leads to the final car being spun off into a mountain and exploding in a glorious death – that’s Thunder Road in a nutshell.