Brother Bass was an incredibly kind, joyful, and sweet man who was adept at seeing places where he could learn and continually educate and improve himself. I was personally blessed with being able to experience this through work, music, and single malts. He became a member of The KOTQ in 11Q2 and was a fervent member attending virtually every meeting. He understood the spirit of single malt scotch from the very get go and was an extremely valued contributor to our discourse and our overall membership. Bass joined the group for our 2016 trip to Las Vegas and played several jazz songs on bass, accompanying me on piano, during our pre-party event.

Brother Bass attended every single armoire night that I can remember and discovered Oban 18 at Bluff’s armoire night some time in the late 2010s. I believe it to be one of his very favorite single malts. During this past weekend’s KOTQ trip to Vegas, Bluff, Lakeview, Badger, Polo, and I learned of this tragic and horrible event and Bluff found a bottle of Oban 18 at one of the bars at our resort property. In a KOTQ-style tribute to Bass we decided to toast him with his favorite single malt, Oban 18.

Emptied Oban 18 tribute glasses to Brother Bass at KOTQ 22Q4 tasting in Las Vegas, Upside down and on their own black band in display of mourning

I leave this image in its full size to demonstrate the enormity of this loss to everyone who knew Brother Bass, and, quite honestly, the entire world is lessened without him. The emptied glasses are shown upside down, on their own black band, in a display of mourning.

He was a stalwart and a pillar of our group. His affable nature and interesting observations on all expressions will be evident in their absence at every meeting forevermore.

Rest in blessed peace, Brother Bass…