Top-shelf everything: The Exchange pub + kitchen's Old Forester Single Barrel Selection dinner.

Let me be the first to thank Steve Coomes for taking a photograph that makes me look so young. It's the auto-airbrush feature, right?

The occasion was The Exchange pub + kitchen's Old Forester Single Barrel Selection dinner on Thursday night, and a better excuse for skipping a city council meeting hasn't come along in quite a while.

Seeing as Steve somehow endures this sort of frivolity while making a living as a food and drink writer, we'll cite his coverage at Insider Louisville.

Thursday: To celebrate being the first Indiana restaurant to receive a private barrel bottling from Old Forester, The Exchange Pub + Kitchen hosted a special dinner for about 50 guests who — again — included some press, fans of the restaurant and fortunate hangers-on. Co-owner Ian Hall said the scramble to reserve those seats was so instant that another Old Forester dinner has been scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. (Call 812-948-6501 if you want to go) ...

... As you’d expect, the four-course menu featured tastes of the Exchange’s private barrel selection, in addition to cocktails and foods flavored with the historic bourbon. Featured guest and Old Forester master distiller Chris Morris talked about the selection process and the flavor individuality of each barrel selection.

Speaking for myself, it was a first-rate experience. The world of spirits remains lesser known territory for me, and although we inhabit a golden age of bourbon, almost all of it slips blissfully past me. Having acknowledged this, if bourbon always tasted as satisfying as Exchange's single barrel cull, I'd sip it more often. Thanks to Ian, Nikki and The Exchange's efficient, professional staff for a great evening.