This week, our Whiskey Community lost an amazing soul. "The Mayor", as his friends and family knew him was a true global whiskey ambassador and a dear friend. They just don't make them like this anymore. A Patriot, a loving husband and one of the most genuine folks I ever had the pleasure of meeting in person. Rod was someone who was more than a friend, he was a brother.
I first met The Mayor back in 2020 when The Bourbon Thieves were just starting out. We would jump on Live calls that would last throughout the night. Some mornings I'd wake up in the Library after not knowing what the heck happened the night before. This was during the first few months of quarantine so it really didn't matter how late we all stayed up partying it up. The relationship continued on and each day we would swap memes back and forth. He had me cracking up most days.
Andrea and I had the honor of meeting Rod and Marge in person back in October when we were in Chicago. We were immediately welcomed with open arms, smiles, food and of course, bourbon. Our good friend Louis was with us for this visit and he warned us to be sure to take things slow because drinking in the Garage was no joke. Louis had been to the Garage before and fell victim to the "only one more" statement.
The Mayor certainly had a very fond appreciation for Whiskey and you could tell by all the empty bottles on his shelves. Just like my story, he had a memory associated with each of those bottles. We did jump on an Instagram Live for a few minutes which was a nice treat. As expected, the four hours we spent together really flew by, but I'm still so thankful for the hospitality Marge and Rod showed us.
Mayor, you are already missed. This Community was in no way ready for this news.
If you fee like contributing to help Marge and the rest of the family through these tough times, please click on the Go Fund Me link. No amount is too small and the appreciation is limitless. https://www.gofundme.com/f/memorial-for-rod-johnson?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1