It has been a while since we have had a date night and even longer since we’ve left the house before bedtime. But when we saw that our favorite Stirling Hotel was doing a special event that included a pumpkin carving contest and a tasting flight with Southern Tier — so decided to change that up for one night.
Tasting Flight
There was a representative from Southern Tier, xxx. The flight covered both their beer and their pumpkin whiskey. There is their Pumking and the Warlock, the latter of which is a stout. I skipped the beer though and doubled up on the cocktail thanks to T!
We got to try their Pumking Whiskey, which they describe as having rich aromas of pie spice, buttery cream and pie crust. I see that! They also made a cocktail — the ”Whiskey King” — incorporating in the Pumking Whiskey with maple syrup and orange bitters. I enjoyed all of the above. Often I find flavored whiskey too sugary and over the top but this one for me strikes the balance — and with both pumpkin and maple, the cocktail covers off on a few of my favorite things all in one drink.
Pumpkin Carving Contest
I was admittedly ill-prepared for the focus of the evening — carving. Thursday was a busy day and I forgot to even think about design options. Best laid plans.
I am also an extreme carving novice! I started to frantically scroll through pumpkin ideas — most of which incorporated in multiple pumpkins or extra accessories. This witch design though? Totally doable. Pretty proud of how it turned out!
More fun for me though was watching T in his happy place – carving and creating. He decided his pumpkin was missing a little pizzaz so decided to turn its stem into horns! Somehow he managed with only those cheap $5 or so plastic tools which is so impressive.
We took a photo of the full group — so many fun pumpkins in one tent. Such a fun night.
And the winners! So proud of T for his first place finish. We came home with a bottle of Pumking Whiskey, a collapsible table, a Stirling Hotel gift card and a couple of glasses. Bravo!
Stirling Hotel – 227 Main Street, Stirling, New Jersey – 908.647.6919
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