Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., poked fun at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Monday when he presented McConnell with a bottle of bourbon whiskey aged at a Brooklyn-based distillery during a joint appearance at a conference in Kentucky.
“Now there’s another thing you might not realize we have in common: bourbon,” Schumer started, referring to some of the similarities he shared with his Senate colleague.
“It turns out that Brooklyn, where I was born, raised and still proudly live, produces some of the best bourbon in the world. I know that’s a contentious thing to say in these parts, but I think it’s true,” the New York Democrat continued to laughs, making light of the fact he was speaking to an audience gathered in a state famous for its whiskey production.
Schumer then gave McConnell a bottle of Widow Jane bourbon to thank him for the invitation to address the crowd as part of a speaking series organized by the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center.
McConnell in response quipped: “There’s no such thing as Brooklyn bourbon.”
Senate Majority Leader #MitchMcConnell & Senate Minority Leader #ChuckSchumer, appeared together in #Louisville @ULmCenter today, discussing a wide range of topics.
Schumer also presented McConnell with a bottle of ‘Brooklyn bourbon,’ called @Widow_Jane. pic.twitter.com/sCssisvVej— Mario Anderson (@MarioAndersonTV) February 12, 2018
Technically “bourbon whiskey” can be distilled anywhere if it is produced at a specific proof with a certain percentage of fermented mash, according to federal regulations. However, Kentucky is the spiritual home of bourbon and contains the famous Bourbon Belt of distilleries.
The exchange, however, was a moment of levity between the pair before they returned to the reality of Washington, D.C., where the Senate on Monday voted to begin a rare, open-ended debate on immigration reform.
