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8 episodes with william larue weller
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4 episodes with william larue weller
4 episodes with william larue weller
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2 episodes with william larue weller
5 episodes with william larue weller
2 episodes with william larue weller
2 episodes with william larue weller
This week on Chill Filtered, Cole and Bryan crack into one of the most sought-after bourbons around: William Larue Weller from the 2023 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. It's a heavy hitter and a perfect pour for a big episode. Before diving into WLW, Cole finally opens a long-held treasure live on the podcast — EH Taylor Seasoned Wood — and the boys catch up on life, including the joys (and messes) of parenting semi-destructive children. There's also plenty of talk on the background and legacy of the WLW line itself. On Whiskey World News, Bryan reads up on the new Hell Diver release from Found North — and it's sounding epic. And on "What Whiskey Would You Choose?", Bryan poses a fun and dangerous hypothetical: If you had $3,000 to spend on whiskey, what's the first thing you'd buy? Pour something great and join us for another episode filled with top-tier bourbon and the usual chaos.
Send us a textThe Scotchy Bourbon Boys conduct a comprehensive blind tasting of the entire Weller bourbon lineup to determine which expression truly reigns supreme based solely on taste.• Full Weller lineup includes Special Reserve, Antique 107, 12 Year, Full Proof, CYPB, and William LaRue Weller• Tasting conducted completely blind with color-coded samples to eliminate bias• William LaRue Weller unanimously wins first place with its exceptional rich caramel profile• CYPB (Craft Your Perfect Bourbon) surprisingly takes second place overall• Weller Full Proof secures third with its distinctive candy apple and cinnamon notes• Weller Antique 107 lands in fourth place despite its popularity among bourbon enthusiasts• The highly sought-after Weller 12 Year unexpectedly places fifth in the lineup• Weller Special Reserve finishes last but is still acknowledged as a quality bourbon• Price and availability don't necessarily correlate with quality when tasting blind• Super Nash and Tiny experience palate fatigue and use water and other spirits to reset• Even the lowest-ranked Weller expressions are considered excellent bourbonsCheck out our website at www.scotchiebourbonboys.com for merchandise, glassware, and more information about our sponsors Whiskey Thief Distilling Company, Middle West Spirits, Rosewood Bourbon, and Alan Bishop's podcast "If You Have Ghosts, You Have Everything."A heated debate erupts as Super Nash and Tiny embark on a comprehensive blind tasting of the entire Weller bourbon lineup, revealing surprising favorites and challenging preconceptions about these coveted wheated bourbons.The duo meticulously samples six expressions—Weller Special Reserve, Weller 12 Year, Weller Antique 107, Weller Full Proof, Weller CYPB, and the prestigious William LaRue Weller—with no knowledge of which is which. What follows is a genuine, unfiltered evaluation based purely on taste preferences rather than reputation or price tag."Brown sugar, cinnamon bun, and caramel" notes dominate the conversation as they work through uniquely color-coded samples, discovering significant flavor differences despite all expressions sharing the same wheated bourbon DNA. Super Nash and Tiny's palates pick up distinctive profiles ranging from "pure caramel" to "candy apple with cinnamon," highlighting how aging conditions and proof points transform Buffalo Trace's beloved distillate.When the bottles are finally revealed, William LaRue Weller unanimously claims first place, confirming its reputation as an exceptional limited release. However, several rankings prove genuinely surprising, particularly the performance of Weller CYPB and Full Proof compared to the highly allocated Weller 12 Year. These results challenge conventional wisdom about which Weller expressions truly deliver the best drinking experience.Between passionate disagreements about rankings and hilarious confusion during the reveal, the tasting demonstrates why blind evaluation remains the ultimate test of quality. For bourbon enthusiasts chasing allocated Weller bottles, this episode provides valuable insight into which expressions might actually deserve the hunt—and which might be sitting overlooked on shelves.Whether you're a seasoned Weller collector or bourbon curious, join us for this entertaining and informative journey through Buffalo Trace's most celebrated wheated Add for SOFL voice over Whiskey ThiefSupport the showhttps://www.scotchybourbonboys.com The Scotchy bourbon Boys are #3 in Feedspots Top 60 whiskey podcasts in the world https://podcast.feedspot.com/whiskey_podcasts/
Welcome back to the Drinks and a Movie Podcast! In this fifth episode of my James Bond series, I'm reviewing You Only Live Twice (1967), a film that takes 007 to the exotic landscapes of Japan for a thrilling battle against SPECTRE. With one of the most outrageous and memorable Bond plots—including a secret volcano lair—this film pushes Bond into one of his most adventurous missions yet.For this episode, I'm pairing the film with a true bourbon gem: William Larue Weller from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. This uncut, unfiltered bourbon brings a rich, complex flavor profile that perfectly matches the bold, high-stakes action of Bond's mission. Its powerful yet smooth character makes it the ideal drink to accompany this larger-than-life film.Tune in as I break down the film's unique cultural setting, explore some standout moments from You Only Live Twice, and discuss why William Larue Weller is an absolute must-try for any bourbon lover. Grab your drink and join me for another unforgettable Bond adventure!
Best of Season 12 The excellent cast of Season 12 of Sips, Suds, & Smokes #BestOf #gin #rum #coffee #CraftBeer #Cigars #Whiskey #Wine
Happy New Years Eve! In this episode I wrap up the year with a shout out to some of my favorite episodes this year and the folks I've collaborated with. Then I try out the 2024 William Larue Weller from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and share my favorite movies of the year. Cheers!Find Drinks and a Movie Podcasts on your listening platform of choice and follow our socials HERE
On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the 2024 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The collection includes: Eagle Rare 17 Year, William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg, Sazerac Rye 18 Year, and Thomas H. Handy. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $150. What's our favorite this year? Watch to find out. Cheers! DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly.
Tommy & Josh are the co-owners of Watch Hill Proper located in Louisville, Kentucky. Watch Hill Proper is the largest American Whiskey bar in the world. The point of the American Whiskey Show is to have fun with whiskey and to share a little knowledge about it in the process. Grab a pour and join us on our journey. Episode 57: William Larue Weller 2024 www.watchhillproper.com
The Sam's opened with a bad day at the office for the Manchester clubs as both dropped points. The Foxes and the Cherries bit had late match comebacks in matches where Brighton and Ipswich were seemingly in control. Brentford and Chelsea kept scoring goals, while Arsenal and Villa had snoozer matches. The boys enjoy a special bottle, the William Larue Weller edition 2024 from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Palace 2 - Man City 2 Forest 3 - Man U 2 Leicester 2 - Brighton 2 Bournemouth 2 - Ipswich 1 Brentford 4 - Newcastle 2 Fulham 1 - Arsenal 1 Villa 1 - Southampton 0 Chelsea 4 - Tottenham 3 West Ham 2 - Wolverhampton 1 www.Dufootballshow.com Facebook @DUfootballshow Instagram @DUfootballshow TikTok @DUfootballshow YouTube @DUfootballshow Support the show and get extra content: https://www.patreon.com/dufootballshow www.DUdripshack.com
The 2024 release of William Larue Weller Bourbon from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is a tribute to the legacy of wheated bourbon pioneer W.L. Weller. Aged over twelve years on the lower floors of Buffalo Trace's rickhouses, this uncut, unfiltered bourbon is bottled at a bold 125.8 proof. Its wheated mashbill, crafted at a barrel entry proof of 114, reveals rich, layered flavors with an exceptional depth that whiskey enthusiasts cherish. Last year's release earned “Best of Class” for North America at the 2024 Global Whisky Challenge, underscoring this bourbon's standout quality.
On this episode, Dude, Brett, JD, and Jason crack open some 2024 BTAC while discussing some great holiday gift ideas for the bourbon enthusiasts in 2024. Tune in for all the fun.… on this episode of, The Bourbon Hunters. Also, kill two birds with one stone by supporting our podcast and keeping those testes nice and clean. Go to www.manscaped.com and get 20% off your order plus free shipping using the promo code BOURBONHUNTERS. We are pretty excited about this partnership and cannot wait for you to start thinking about us as your are naked and manscaping. Do you like buying bourbon gear? Check out our website at https://www.bourbonhunters.com where you can do both with our latest bourbon shirts and our Bourbon Hunter Kenzie Drams. --Tags-- #punkrockandcocktails #thebourbonenthusiast #bourbonhunters #bourbonlover #breakingbourbon #bourbondrinkers #bourbonporn #kentuckystraightbourbon #kentuckybourbon #thebourbonalliance #bourbon #bourbonlife #bourbonlifestyle #bourbonenthusiast #bourbonwhiskey #bourboncountry #deckpour #bourbongram #instabourbon #yourbourbonyourway #yourbourbonroad #blantons #pappyvanwinkle #vodkasucks #bourbonpodcast #columbuspodcast #bourbonneat #smokewagonbourbon #woodinvillewhiskey -- Tags -- the bourbon enthusiast bourbon hunters bourbon lover breaking bourbon bourbon drinkers bourbon porn kentucky straight bourbon kentucky bourbon the bourbon alliance bourbon bourbon life bourbon lifestyle bourbon enthusiast
Cute new box @Yellowstone @FourRoses @BuffaloTrace @BrownForman #Bourbon #Rye #Whiskey #Podcast #RadioShow #podcast #radioshow #host Co hosts : Good ol Boy Harmeet, Good ol Boy Justin, Made Man Brent, Made Man Bob SIPS – Prepare your taste buds for the ultimate whiskey showdown! In this episode, the Sips, Suds, & Smokes crew dives into the 2024 fall whiskey releases, featuring a lineup that will leave whiskey lovers swooning. This episode is packed with tasting notes, lively banter, and the occasional trip down memory lane. Whether you're a seasoned whiskey aficionado or just starting your journey, this episode is not to be missed. Pour yourself a dram and join us for a sip of the good life. We will be discussing this whiskey and rating them from 1-5 with 5 being the best: 6:15 Yellowstone 2024 Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 4 SIPS 12:02 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2024 5 SIPS 18:39 2024 Thomas H. Handy Kentucky Straight Rye 5 SIPS 24:28 2024 Sazerac 18 Year Old Kentucky Straight Rye 5 SIPS 30:38 2024 Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon 5 SIPS 35:48 2024 William LaRue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon 5 SIPS 40:00 2024 George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon 5 SIPS 44:34 2024 King of Kentucky 5 SIPS info@sipssudsandsmokes.com X- @sipssudssmokes IG/FB - @sipssudsandsmokes Sips, Suds, & Smokes® is produced by One Tan Hand Productions using the power of beer, whiskey, and golf. Available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and nearly anywhere you can find a podcast. Enjoying that cool Outro Music, it's from Woods & Whitehead – Back Roads Download your copy here: https://amzn.to/2Xblorc The easiest way to find this award winning podcast on your phone is ask Alexa, Siri or Google, “Play Podcast , Sips, Suds, & Smokes” Credits: TITLE: Maxwell Swing / Flapperjack PERFORMED BY: Texas Gypsies COMPOSED BY: Steven R Curry (BMI) PUBLISHED BY: Alliance AudioSparx (BMI) COURTESY OF: AudioSparx TITLE: Back Roads PERFORMED BY: Woods & Whitehead COMPOSED BY: Terry Whitehead PUBLISHED BY: Terry Whitehead COURTESY OF: Terry Whitehead Post production services : Pro Podcast Solutions Advertising sales: Contact us directly Content hosting services: Audioport, Earshot, Radio4All, & PodBean Producer: Made Man Bob Yellowstone 2024, Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Four Roses 2024, Thomas H. Handy Rye, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye, Eagle Rare 17 Year Old, William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg, King Of Kentucky 2024, Limestone Branch Distillery, French Brandy Cask, Cognac Barrel Finish, Limited Edition Whiskey, Small Batch Bourbon, Rye Whiskey, Distillery Tasting Notes, Whiskey Evaporation Loss, Oak Barrel Aging, Bourbon Tasting Event https://limestonebranch.com/yellowstone-select/ https://fourrosesbourbon.com/ https://www.brown-forman.com/brands/king-of-kentucky https://www.sazerac.com/our-brands/sazerac.html https://www.eaglerare.com/ https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/brands/antique-collection.html
Send us a textIt's no secret that we, and the bourbon community at large, are massive fans of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. It's not often that we're able to taste expressions from the fabled series, but this year, Perry and Eric were lucky enough to taste not one, but TWO bourbons included in the lineup. Perhaps the two most coveted in BTAC, William Larue Weller and George T. Stagg bourbons are as rare and as coveted as bourbons get these days. But, how do their 2024 iterations hold up? Plus, the boys taste a 2020 Goose Island "Kentucky Fog" Bourbon County Stout and give their thoughts on it. It's a huge, jam-packed episode of This is my Bourbon Podcast that you just simply can't miss. Enjoy.Become a patron of the show at http://www.patreon.com/mybourbonpodcastLeave us a 5 star rating and review on your podcast app of choice!Send us an email with questions or comments to thisismybourbonshop@gmail.comSend us mail to PO Box 22609, Lexington, KY 40522Check out all of our merch and apparel: http://bourbonshop.threadless.com/Leave us a message for Barrel Rings at 859.428.8253Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybourbonpod/Twitter: https://twitter.com/mybourbonpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybourbonpod/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisismybourbonpodcastPayPal, if you feel so inclined: PayPal.me/pritter1492Link to our Barrell Rye Armagnac Finished Pick: https://shop.whiskeyinmyweddingring.com/products/barrell-private-release-rye-1a03Support the show
Send us a textCan a bourbon taste experience be so transformative that it bridges divides and turns ordinary gatherings into unforgettable moments? We promise you'll discover how the rich, caramel-laden essence of a Pappy Van Winkle or a William LaRue Weller can do just that. Together, we'll navigate the complex world of rare bourbons and the thrill of claiming these elusive bottles from Whiskey Thief Distilling Company, both at Frankfort and NULU. As we recount our own memorable tasting experiences, you'll learn about the intricate beauty and history behind these high-demand spirits, including the Van Winkle and the Antique Collection.Join us as we share personal moments and stories that capture the joy of savoring a Van Winkle 12-year with friends at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Our conversations reflect on the legacies of bourbon legends and the challenges of acquiring these treasures, especially amidst the constraints of recent global events. From Ohio's lottery system to our Single Barrel Saturday escapades, we provide insights into the art of whiskey tasting and the subtle nuances that distinguish blends from exquisite barrel picks.Through our discussion, the passion for collecting rare whiskies like E.H. Taylor and Van Winkle becomes evident, as does the deep camaraderie that whiskey can inspire. But it's not all about the high shelf; we also embrace unsung heroes like Canadian Mist, proving that quality exists at every price point. We close with a lighthearted take on how whiskey pairings can be both a gourmet delight and a fun exploration. As always, we cherish responsible enjoyment and look forward to more shared experiences with our listeners and fellow bourbon enthusiasts. ad for Rosewood bourbonSupport the showhttps://www.scotchybourbonboys.com
Recently, we surpassed 100K listens across our entire catalogue of episodes. Steven decided to surprise us by sharing an absolute heavyweight of bottles: William Larue Weller (from 2018). Coming in at 125.7 proof, this release of WLW received excellent reviews and is regarded as one of the better versions of this spirit in recent years. Join us as we taste and review this absolute treat of a bottle and reminisce on the journey thus far. Thank you all for your continued support of the podcast. Cheers. -------------------------- Socials IG: https://www.instagram.com/themashupky FB: https://www.facebook.com/themashupky TW: https://twitter.com/themashupky Partnership(s) Visit Bourbonoutfitter.com and enter code THEMASHUP for a special discount or visit bourbonoutfitter.com/THEMASHUP Visit https://woodworkcollective.shop and enter code MASHUP for a 15% discount on your order Music: All the Fixings by Zachariah Hickman Thank you so much for listening!
Bob and Brad dive into the high-octane world of Ford v Ferrari (2019), exploring the film's portrayal of the legendary Le Mans '66 race and the fierce rivalry between Ford and Ferrari. Directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, Ford v Ferrari is a thrilling tale of perseverance, innovation, and raw competition. But how well does the film stack up in terms of performances, historical accuracy, and visual storytelling? Bob and Brad break down all the key elements. On the whiskey front, they turn their attention to the highly sought-after William Larue Weller Bourbon from Buffalo Trace's Antique Collection. Known for its high-proof kick and complex flavor profile, this bourbon is a must-try for whiskey collectors and enthusiasts alike. They'll share tasting notes, compare it to other bourbons, and explore its legacy within the bourbon community. (0:00) Intro (5:24) Brad Explains (8:10) Performances, Themes (30:41) William Larue Weller review (47:47) Two Facts and a Falsehood (51:40) Final Analysis (1:07:46) Let's Make it a Double and Final Scores Film & Whiskey Instagram Film & Whiskey Facebook Film & Whiskey Twitter Email us! Join our Discord server! For more episodes and engaging content, visit Film & Whiskey's website at www.filmwhiskey.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/filmwhiskey/support
So, not only did we have an amazing time in NYC witnessing the Global Whisky Challenge, we also came away with several spirits that the organizers and judges couldn't take with them (as you may have heard us talk about on June's news episode). And this standard bearer of Buffalo Trace's expensive-on-the-secondary annual Antique Collection was one of those whiskeys. So, is it worth the hype? Is it worth the price? And what they heck does it even taste like? Click play to find out! Music Credits: Freedom courtesy of Choc Mic McNeil | Link: https://soundcloud.com/chocmic/freedom • Porch Blues by Kevin MacLeod | Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4232-porch-blues | License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
The #19 2023 Cigar of the Year is Weller by Cohiba 2022. The cigar comes from General Cigar Company. Over the past few years, Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), General's parent company, has collaborated with the Buffalo Trace Distillery. The brands from Buffalo Trace that STG has worked on include Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Fireball Cinnamon, and Weller. The first collaboration between STG and Weller was the release of the Weller by Cohiba in 2021. The Weller by Cohiba aimed to provide a cigar that could complement Weller Bourbon. For those who don't follow the spirits world, Weller refers to a line of premium bourbons sold under the W.L. Weller brand. W.L. Weller stands for William Larue Weller (1825–1899). The following year, there was another release featuring an all-new blend, appropriately called the Weller by Cohiba 2022. Since then, there has also been a 2023 release. All three differ, but we'll focus on the Weller by Cohiba 2022 release. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-r8L
The #19 2023 Cigar of the Year is Weller by Cohiba 2022. The cigar comes from General Cigar Company. Over the past few years, Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG), General's parent company, has collaborated with the Buffalo Trace Distillery. The brands from Buffalo Trace that STG has worked on include Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Fireball Cinnamon, and Weller. The first collaboration between STG and Weller was the release of the Weller by Cohiba in 2021. The Weller by Cohiba aimed to provide a cigar that could complement Weller Bourbon. For those who don't follow the spirits world, Weller refers to a line of premium bourbons sold under the W.L. Weller brand. W.L. Weller stands for William Larue Weller (1825–1899). The following year, there was another release featuring an all-new blend, appropriately called the Weller by Cohiba 2022. Since then, there has also been a 2023 release. All three differ, but we'll focus on the Weller by Cohiba 2022 release. Full Details: https://wp.me/p6h1n1-r8L
On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the 2023 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The collection includes: Sazerac Rye 18 Year, Thomas H. Handy, Eagle Rare 17 Year, William Larue Weller, and George T. Stagg. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $125. What's our favorite this year? Watch to find out. Cheers!DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly.
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I don't even know where to begin with this week's episode. Eric and I are the most honest and open we've ever been on an episode of This is my Bourbon Podcast. It's hard to understate just how passionate and energetic we are about something that disrupted the bourbon community in the way that Pride of Anderson County did. We also go the express opportunity to drink and review the newest Antique Collection version of William Larue Weller...and it's everything you think it'll be. Enjoy. Link to our Barrell Rye Armagnac Finished Pick: https://stores.mashnetworks.co/product/barrell-private-release-rye-1a03/wimwr-8726123774259-Whiskey%20in%20My%20Wedding%20Ring Become a patron of the show at http://www.patreon.com/mybourbonpodcast Send us an email with questions or comments to thisismybourbonshop@gmail.com Check out all of our merch and apparel: http://bourbonshop.threadless.com/ Leave us a message for Barrel Rings at (859) 428-8253 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybourbonpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mybourbonpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybourbonpod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisismybourbonpodcast Amazon Affiliate Glencairn Link PayPal, if you feel so inclined: PayPal.me/pritter1492
00:00 Intro - THC Brew, Belgian Winners, & Buffalo Trace Antiques 00:18 THC Brew, coming from Harpoon Brewery. The THC-infused NA Hop Forward Beverage is currently Massachusetts only. It's called “Hazed and Infused” on their website & comes from a partnership with Massachusetts based Novel Beverage Company. The cans contain 5 milligrams of THC, passionfruit puree, green tea, and hop oils. The brewery said that with the legalization happening across the northeast there was “High Demand” for the product - their words, not mine! Click for more. https://www.drinkrecweed.com/ 01:09 Belgian Winners! I'm a big fan of Belgian Beers, I recently talked with "Rob From The Internet Talks About Beer" on his podcast about Belgians (at https://youtu.be/XRnfTR-QXyA ) as they hold a special place in my heart. What if you can't find a good Belgian? well here's a list of some great Belgians you probably can find just about anywhere. Check out the list of 8 at the link https://uproxx.com/life/easy-to-find-belgian-beers-ranked/ 02:00 The third story after this - and if you like today's stories, remember to hit that like button and subscribe.- The Boozebuddy Update is brought to you by Green Mountain Payments - helping local business owners save thousands of dollars by providing complimentary credit card processing equipment and zero cost credit card processing. Visit greenmountainpayments.com or posandzero.com today! 02:19 Buffalo Trace Antiques! This is the only Antique Collection I want to take on a Roadshow. Have you collected them all? If you haven't, yet, then you might not realize the collection has gone through some changes. Currently there's Sazerac 18 Year Old (accidentally skipped over this) Thomas H. Handy Sazerac, Eagle Rare 17 Year Old, 19-year-old William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg, To get more on the collection, head to https://vinepair.com/articles/ntk-buffalo-trace-antique-collection/ Buy me a Beer and get merch - https://ko-fi.com/boozebuddy Find all the show notes, links, and suggest a story at https://BoozebuddyUpdate.com *Affiliate links below* El Gato Retractable Green Screen - https://amzn.to/3gKm4jr LED Streaming Key Light Desktop - https://amzn.to/3TYfV10 Canon 80D - https://amzn.to/3JwYpiB MOMAN MA6 Lavalier Mic - https://amzn.to/3ZktFHf #theboozebuddyupdate #boozebuddy #boozebuddyupdate #beerindustry #boozenews #booze #THC #nabeer #nonalcoholic #nonalcoholicbeer #infusion #harpoon #hops #alcoholfree #legalweed #belgianbeer #beer #beersnob #craftbeer #dubble #quad #tripple #buffalotrace #buffalotracedistillery #antiquecollection #whiskey #whiskeylover the boozebuddy update, beer industry, global news, booze news, booze, THC, thc beverage, na beer, session beer, harpoon brewery, Belgian Beer, Orval, Trappist, St Bernardus, Saison DuPont, Dubble, Tripple, quad, Sazerac, Thomas H. Handy, Eagle Rare, William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg, Weller, Buffalo Trace, --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/boozebuddy/support
This week, in what is largely considered to be This is my Bourbon Podcast fashion, Eric and (ME) Perry take a deep dive into their relationship with WL Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and all of its many iterations. After a long conversation and reminiscing, they stroll into the newest release of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection's William Larue Weller, thanks to the one and only Tony Bagadonuts. We hope you enjoy, and please leave us a review! Become a patron of the show at http://www.patreon.com/mybourbonpodcast Send us an email with questions or comments to thisismybourbonshop@gmail.com Check out all of our merch and apparel: http://bourbonshop.threadless.com/ Leave us a message for Barrel Rings at (859)428-8253 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybourbonpod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mybourbonpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybourbonpod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisismybourbonpodcast PayPal, if you feel so inclined: PayPal.me/pritter1492
Most of us know about the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, commonly referred too as BTAC. Another thing most people know is how difficult it can be to get your hand on one, let alone all 5 unique bottles. This episode helps to offer some suggestions for possible replacements of the famous bourbons and ryes that are released only once a year by Buffalo Trace. The whiskies that make up the BTAC line are as fallows. Eagle Rare 17 101 proof. Sazerac Rye 18 Year. Thomas H. Handy Rye. William Larue Weller. George T. Stagg
On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the 2022 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The collection includes: Sazerac Rye 18 Year, Eagle Rare 17 Year, Thomas H. Handy, William Larue Weller, and George T. Stagg. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $99. What's our favorite this year? Watch to find out. Cheers!DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly.
Everyone has heard of Pappy Van Winkle, Blanton's, George T. Stagg, William LaRue Weller, and E.H. Taylor. Everyone. These are some of the most hyped bourbons in the world. But are they worth the hype? Do they live up to the buzz? Are they worth the high secondary prices? ******************************************************************* Still Austin Whiskey Co - Order online or find a retailer near you! ******************************************************************* Everyone has heard of Pappy Van Winkle, Blanton's, George T. Stagg, William LaRue Weller, and E.H. Taylor. Everyone. These are some of the most hyped bourbons in the world. But are they worth the hype? Do they live up to the buzz? Are they worth the high secondary prices? ******************************************************************* Still Austin Whiskey Co - Order online or find a retailer near you! ******************************************************************* If you like this content, or even the discussion of this subject, we would like to personally invite you to join our free member community. #whiskey #bourbon #bourbonhype #pappy #papyvanwinkle #blantons #stagg #buffalotrace #ehtaylor #whiskeycollection #bourboncollection #bourbonhunting #whiskeyhunting #allocatedbourbon #allocatedwhiskey #whiskeyadvice #whiskeytips #bourbonlife #bourbondrinking #bourbonlist #bourbonlover #whiskeylife #whiskeybusiness #whiskeycommunity #bourboncommunity #bourbonrealtalkcommunity #expensivebourbon #bourbonshopping #bourbonenthusiast #rarebourbon
To celebrate the 50th episode of the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, I'm reviewing William Larue Weller bourbon, a part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (2021). This epic conclusion to Season 1 of the Bourbon Bytes Podcast is a tribute to the Patreon supporters and listeners of the podcast who have supported me over the past year. Subscribe to Bourbon Bytes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/BourbonBytes Watch us play Dungeons and Drams every Monday: https://www.youtube.com/DungeonsandDrams Support the Channel on Patreon for Exclusive Hangouts and Early Video Access: http://www.Patreon.com/BourbonBytes Follow and Subscribe on Twitch for Gaming Streams: https://www.twitch.tv/bourbonbytes Find the Whiskey & Gaming Lounge Discord Server and other links: http://BourbonBytes.com
On this edition of The Last Drop, JB & Khody kick off Tequila month. We open up talking about how the Assassins Creed games are dog s**t now. Then we get into the UFC Hall of Fame Ceremony along with some recent NBA trade rumors. On to the main event, JB opens up a bottle of Expresiones del Corazon (William Larue Weller) & gives his thoughts on this bourbon barrel aged Tequila. As always, sit back, turn your headphones up & don't stop, keep pouring.
This week we are joined by a friend on the show and food connoisseur Justin Gay. We dive into what foods he's been eating, what drinks are making an appearance this summer, and top places to eat and drink. GayDawg's 2021 Picks: *Don't pay above retail. Some independent liquor stores might try to rip you off, so Google the “retail price” before purchasing* Affordable Bourbon Whiskey: Blanton's Eagle rareBuffalo TraceElmer T LeeEH Taylor Weller Antique 107 (red label)Weller 12 year (black label)Henry McKennaStore picks from reputable stores (various distilleries) Rye Whiskey: WhistlePig Unicorns: Pappy Van Winkle Collection10-year, 12-year, 13-year rye, 15-year, 20-year, 23-yearBuffalo Trace Antique Collection (tall skinny bottle. Retails ~$120-150, secondary $700+)William Larue Weller, George T Stagg, Eagle Rare, Thomas H Handy, Sazerac Rye Irish Whiskey: Middleton (their Barry Crockett bottle is expensive but incredible)RedbreastGreen Spot, Yellow Spot, or Blue Spot Scotch: Lagavulin 16 year (Islay Region)Oban 14 year (West Highland region)Compass Box makes great blended Scotches Japanese Whisky: YamazakiHakushuNikkaHibiki Sipping Tequilas: Don Julio 1942CincoroClase AzulTears of LloronaMezcal if you like smokiness Wine: Amarone (Italian red wine) Cigars: -Anything from Arturo Fuente's Don Carlos collection -Ashton VSG or ESG (virgin sungrown, estate sungrown)
TJ, Brendan, and Ben are back! They're putting William Larue Weller up against Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength. Join the guys as they finish up Wheater month, chat about Pursuits and Purchases, & preview what's on deck for next month!
Mike sits down with Mike from 911 Bourbon to discuss "bourbon scammers" and how to avoid them. Definitely want to check this episode out and be sure to listen in to the end for our give-a-way of some specil swag. Be sure to check out our private Facebook group, "The Bourbon Roadies" for a great group of bourbon loving people. You will be welcomed with open arms!
On this episode of Chill Filtered the boys drink William Larue Weller 2009 (134.8 proof) and talk about sledding accidents, sharing the joys of Chill Filtered, and geeking out over musicians. On Whiskey World News we read an article about what whiskeys brought the fire this year. On What Whiskey Would You Choose they ask the question: What could be the next whiskey in the BTAC lineup?
Today we'll be reviewing the 2018 release of William Larue Weller Bourbon If you have any questions or comments, or simply want to reach out, contact me at bourbonstuff@gmail.com. You can also check me out on Instagram under the username Bourbon_and_Stuff. Any donations (https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/support) to the channel will be put towards improved equipment, new bourbon and stuff, and even the ability to give back to you, our amazing listeners. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/support
On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the 2021 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. The collection includes: Eagle Rare 17 Year, William Larue Weller, Thomas H. Handy, and Sazerac Rye 18 Year. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $99. What's our favorite this year? Watch to find out. Cheers! Whiskey Quickie is brought to you by Barrell Bourbon. Learn more at BarrellBourbon.com. DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly.
We review 2021 William Larue Weller. The 2021 release was distilled in the winter of 2009 and aged in Warehouses C, D, K, L and Q and registers at 125.3 proof. Thank you to Buffalo Trace for sending us a sample! Shop orcacoolers.com and use the code DADSEASON for 20% off your order. ORCA: For All of Life's Adventures. If you're a bourbon group, distillery, or store, get wholesale laser etched products at www.distilleryproducts.com Get in on the action at www.action247.com use code DADS100 for Action 24/7 to match your first deposit up to $400
Something is a bit off this week... Where's D-Rock? Wait... Who drank all of the William Larue Weller??Listen to The Transatlantic Times Wherever You Get Podcasts:Learn More:The Transatlantic Times: https://linktr.ee/lastingmediaBlue Collar Bourbon: https://linktr.ee/bluecollarbourbonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today we'll be reviewing the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC) bottle: William Larue Weller Bourbon. If you have any questions or comments, or simply want to reach out, contact me at bourbonstuff@gmail.com. You can also check me out on Instagram under the username Bourbon_and_Stuff. Any donations (https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/support) to the channel will be put towards improved equipment, new bourbon and stuff, and even the ability to give back to you, our amazing listeners. Note: Since we received this whiskey as a sample from a true BAMF, the thumbnail is of the bottle in our collection. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bourbonstuff/support
Whiskey comes in many forms, but bourbon is America's spirit The origins of bourbon are both known and debated. We know early settlers in Virginia and Kentucky made use of the abundance of corn to distill their whiskey, but there are a variety of stories on who was first to put it in a new, charred oak barrel and to actually call it bourbon. No matter the exact origins of bourbon we now have a spirit that is all American to enjoy. Congress declared so in 1964 stating that bourbon is a "distinctive product of the United States." Score one for America. We're joined this week by Bruce Tierney, all around aficionado and spirit consultant to Dekalb Bottle House. Tierney shares with us the history of bourbon, let's us know what it takes to call a whiskey bourbon, and offers some suggestions on affordable options to test the waters as well as some of the rarer bourbons to seek out. We also discuss what flavors to look for when tasting as well as common off flavors, and a quick course on how to taste your bourbon. There's much more information on bourbon than we could cover in this show so we've included additional information and resources here. Side note, if you're used to sampling beer in 4 oz pours know that 4-5 1 oz pours of bourbon kick harder than you think. Proceed with caution. Copper pot stills at ASW Distillery in Atlanta, GA (Photo: Thechadwix, CC BY-SA 4.0) What makes a whiskey bourbon? Must be produced in the United States Many people mistakenly believe bourbon must be made in Kentucky but it can be made anywhere in the US. Several other countries support the American origin, but some do not. Be careful when purchasing overseas. Must be made from at least 51% corn Has to be aged in new, charred oak barrels Can be distilled to no more than 160 proof. Higher proof distillation begins to strip flavors. Has to be entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof Must be bottled at 80 proof or more There is no minimum age requirement for bourbon as long as it meets the above guidelines Outside of these requirements there are several variations allowed such as wheated and "high rye" bourbons, bottled-in-bond, straight bourbon and blended bourbons. How to begin your bourbon experience Tierney has offered up his very detailed advice on how to get started with bourbon including notes for selecting a bourbon, glassware and tasting. My first recommendation for someone new to bourbon is to start your experience by tasting standard bourbons from the major producers first before deciding if you want to branch out and try other brands. I recommend brands that tend to be between 90-100 proof. Yes, that may seem a bit hotter at first but they also tend to be more flavorful. The minimum permitted proof is 80 proof and at that point you are drinking a good bit more water than bourbon anyway! If it seems intimidating to shell out the money to buy a bunch of different bourbons you are right! Although all of the major bourbon producers have a brand that costs in the $20-35 range it can still be a lot of money. Pick a couple that are of interest or are readily available in your area and start with those first. Don't try too many different brands to start with. Or if you are fortunate enough to live near a bar with a good bourbon selection start by tasting different bourbons a glass at a time if you don't want to commit to buying a full bottle. Any bourbon bar worth its name will have many if not all of the standard brands from the major distilleries. If they don't then you are in the wrong place! Try to learn a bit about the different bourbons you have selected. The internet can be your friend here. I can personally recommend straightbourbon.com as a good source for information about bourbon and many other types of spirits. Remember all bourbon is made from at least 51% corn but what is the rest of recipe of grains, known as the mashbill, that makes up the bourbon? Most bourbon use either rye or wheat as the "flavoring grain" in addition to the corn and a little bit of malted barley when you are buying brands from the major distilleries. Many people think of rye as making bourbon a bit spicier although to meet it seems a bit earthier than spicier. Is it mostly corn with a little bit of rye? Buffalo Trace falls into this category. Or does it have a lot of rye? Four Roses Single Barrel is one of the higher rye content bourbons. Maybe make those two your first choices and see which you like better! Most other brands tend to fall somewhere in between. Or is it a bourbon with wheat as the flavoring grain? This type is a bit less common but still readily available. Basic options include Maker's Mark, Larceny and Weller. Perhaps start your journey with a rye bourbon and a wheated bourbon. After you have tried your choices several times you can decide which one you prefer and then try something more similar to see what appeals to you. Try tasting the bourbon without adding anything at first. That means no ice, no water. Once you find a few you like you can then drink them however you like. But learning how to taste Bourbon is different from drinking Bourbon. Try to acquire a glass made for tasting bourbon and other spirits. A typical rocks glass works fine for drinking but to appreciate the aroma as well as the flavor a glass like a Glencairn that narrows a bit at the top helps hold in the aroma. A small tapered white wine glass can also work well but just be careful how much you pour! What looks like a small pour in a wine glass can be quite large. Have some water available. Water is useful to cleanse your palate between tastes in addition to keeping you well hydrated! It is also useful if you want to add a drop or two to your bourbon but only after first trying it without any water. An eye dropper is useful for adding water a drop or two at a time rather than just trying to pour a small amount in. You can always add more drops but you can't take water back out if you pour too much in. Try to think about what you taste and smell as you drink the bourbon. It is very useful when first starting out to take notes about each bourbon you try. Consider getting a small notebook to take those notes and be able to look at the notes from bourbons you may have tried earlier. Bourbon drinkers tend to refer to the flavors they appreciate when tasting by a variety of names. Does it have caramel or vanilla flavors? Fruity or herbal flavors? Woody or buttery flavors? If you are struggle to come up with descriptions don't panic! Instead, perhaps try looking up a Bourbon Flavor Wheel on line to help you try to determine what you are tasting. Four broad categories to think about when trying a bourbon include Appearance, Aroma, Taste, and Finish. Try not to look at reviews by somebody else before you taste. That will tend to put certain flavors and characteristics in your head. Instead do your own review first and then see what others said afterwards. Also, everyone's palate is different and your own palate can change over time depending on what you have eaten or been doing recently so what somebody else describes may not be what you taste. You may also want to taste the same bourbon several times over a period of days before making a decision on whether you like it or not. Note the color of the bourbon by holding it up to a light or placing a clean white sheet of paper behind the glass. Is it light and amber or dark brown? Is there a reddish hint to the color? Swirl it gently and see how quickly it and slides back down in the glass. The streaks or “legs” that appear may quickly drip down or it may happen a bit slower suggesting a more thick or viscous whiskey. Check the smell or "nose" of the bourbon. Open your mouth slightly and give it a gentle sniff by putting your nose practically in the opening of the glass. Do so gently because initially you make pick up strong scent of alcohol before you get the aroma of the bourbon itself. Don't gulp the bourbon down in a single quick swallow! Instead take a moderate sip and then let the liquid move across your mouth and tongue. Yes, it may burn a bit initially but you will eventually adapt to that. You will pick up different flavors on different parts of your tongue and mouth that you will otherwise miss out on. You can even “chew” on the bourbon gently to let it coat your mouth. Take your time before you swallow! Finally swallow the bourbon and try to appreciate the finish of the bourbon before reaching for the water! Does the taste linger awhile or disappear quickly? Did the flavor change by getting more sweet or bitter or fruity in nature? Pulling barrel samples at the Buffalo Trace Distillery (Photo: Buffalo Trace Distillery) The ten major bourbon distilleries Barton 1792 Distillery Sazerac owned Barton's primary brand is known these days simply as 1792. In the past they made an excellent budget bourbon called Very Old Barton 100 proof, a six-year-old bourbon that delivered great flavor for less than $20. But it was not not widely available and the six-year age statement was eliminated a few years ago. Barton doesn't really have a special limited release but has recently moved to expand their line of whiskeys with several new brands. But for someone new to bourbon the 1792 brand is the place to start. Brown Forman This distillery is primarily known for the brand Old Forester although the also make a brand called Early Times. Old Forrester 100 proof is readily available at a decent price and the recent release of Early Times Bottled in Bond is also well priced if sometimes less readily available. Brown-Forman has an ongoing release of other specialty bourbons and one annual allocated release known as Birthday Bourbon that celebrates the birthday of the founder, George Garvin Brown. It used to be more readily available and decently priced but has more than tripled in price over the last 8 or so years and is as hard to get as any of the special releases. The best place for the new bourbon drinker start is the standard Old Forester 100 proof. Buffalo Trace Buffalo Trace is a distillery with many brands that is owned by the Sazerac company. It has of course become the darling of the bourbon world primarily because of one name and that name, of course, is Pappy Van Winkle. But Pappy is the brand of another company run by the descendants of Pappy Van Winkle. They currently source all of their bourbon from Buffalo Trace using the same mashbill as the Weller line of what is known as “wheated bourbon”. It is different from bourbon made under the various Buffalo Trace brand names because the Van Winkle family chooses bourbon that fits a particular flavor profile that they feel best represents their products. Among the different Buffalo Trace brands that you may be familiar with are Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor and the Weller line of bourbons. Also from Buffalo Trace are several sought after but currently hard to find brands like Blanton's and Elmer T. Lee. The big annual special release from Buffalo Trace is known as the Antique Collection which includes George T Stagg, William Larue Weller and Eagle Rare 17 year-old bourbons along with Thomas H. Handy and Sazerac 18 year-old rye. These have become extremely difficult to find and are usually marked up well above the suggested retail price much like Pappy Van Winkle bourbons. Four Roses There are four standard bottlings - Yellow Label (Which now has a beige label but is still often referred to as yellow label), Small Batch, Small Batch Select and Single Barrel. Yellow label is the lowest proof and least expensive but both small batch and single barrel are excellent bourbons well worth considering when starting your bourbon journey. Heaven Hill This distillery produces several bourbon brands that you may not even know are from Heaven Hill. They include Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Henry McKenna, Fighting Cock and Larceny. Old Fitzgerald and Parker's Heritage Collection are currently two of the primary annual special and allocated releases and periodically they release Elijah Craig 12 and Elijah Craig 18 barrel proof bottlings. Jim Beam Jim Beam is a well know and long-standing bourbon producer of many different brand names. The classic Jim Beam "White label" can be found almost anywhere in the country. Other brands from Beam include, Bookers, Bakers and Knob Creek which tend to be a bit more expensive although Knob Creek can still be a decent value. In addition, Beam makes a second mashbill or style of bourbon that include Basil Hayden's and Old Grandad which has long been regarded as an excellent budget bourbon. It comes in several proofs at 80, 100 and 114. The 114 may be a little strong for the novice bourbon fan but consider the 100-proof version or a Knob Creek 100 proof as examples of Beam bourbon. Maker's Mark Once an independent distillery making a wheated style of bourbon exclusively. It is now part of the Beam family (officially known as Beam-Suntory after they were purchased by the Suntory company of Japan). Maker's Mark used to make only one bourbon for domestic consumption now they have three, having expanded first with Maker's 46, which many think is a bit better than the standard, and the cask strength Maker's Mark bourbon. They don't really do a particular special release each year but have been doing variations on Maker's 46 lately. Midwest Grain Products / MGP MGP is unique in that it was the only major whiskey distillery not located in Kentucky. Instead, it is located just across the Ohio river in Indiana. They are also unusual in that they don't sell their own whiskey save for a few very limited exceptions. They do now have their own brand called Rossville Union which is a rye whiskey but to my knowledge they don't routinely sell their own Bourbon. Instead, they distill and age whiskey for other companies to buy and sell under their own label. As a result, there is tons of it on the market. The best way to tell if you have an MGP whiskey is to look at the label and see if it says "Distilled in Indiana". This most likely means the company either doesn't distill bourbon themselves or have only recently started distilling and need time for their own Bourbon to mature. And while bourbon enthusiasts sometimes make fun of the fakers and schemers who carelessly bottle MGP as if it were their own whiskey, it is important not to forget the great MGP bourbon and rye that has gone into various bottlings of excellent whiskey from places like High West, Smooth Ambler, Willett and others. Wild Turkey Wild Turkey has long had a large and loyal following and is often a spirit that bourbon enthusiasts look for old and rare bottlings from. Brands include the basic Wild Turkey bourbon at both 80 proof and 101 proof along with Russel's Reserve, Rare Breed and Kentucky spirit. They have also started a premium line called Master's Keep which is a unique and different style of whiskey every year. This is a case where I would suggest the Wild Turkey 101 bourbon over the standard 80 proof version as the best place to start. Woodford Reserve Woodford is owned by Brown Forman but made it its own separate distillery. Well sort of! It is unique for being made by using pot stills rather than the more common column style still other major distilleries use. Some people, find the Woodford has a bit of a coppery or metallic component to the taste. In any case, typical Woodford whiskey is reportedly blended with whiskey from Old Forester to create a more balanced flavor. The basic Woodford Reserve is my recommendation to try if you want to compare it to other brands. (Tierney notes this is not one of his favorites.) Newer Distilleries Here are a few new up and coming Kentucky distilleries to look for after you have had time to develop your bourbon preferences: New Riff, Wilderness Trail, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Luxrow Distillery (recently purchased by MGP), Angel's Envy (Port finished Bourbon) Drink Local!In addition to these well-known distilleries many areas have local options for Bourbon. Check and see what's available near you. Still want to learn more? If you've got Hulu check out Neat: The Story of Bourbon, a great documentary featuring many of the master distillers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJHBLEaNZ3c The Beer Bourbon List Elijah Craig Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Four Roses Small Batch Georgia T. Stagg (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection) Old Forester 1910 Old Forester 1920 William Larue Weller (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection) Craft Beer News Hop Growers of American Have Released Their Annual Report For 2020 ABInBev Is Moving Production of Stella Artois To The US By The End of The Year Draft Sales Were Down 46% Nation-Wid During the Super Bowl Check out these other episodes... Beer & Bourbon & BBQ at The Nest | Ep. 254 Kombucha and Fermentation Fun with Cultured South | Ep. 236 Sake Primer with the Taps @ Ph’East | Ep. 214
On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the 2020 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection in five 60 second reviews. The collection includes: Sazerac Rye 18 Year, Thomas H. Handy, Eagle Rare 17 Year, William Larue Weller, and George T. Stagg. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $99. What's our favorite this year? Watch to find out. Cheers! Whiskey Quickie is brought to you by Barrell Bourbon. Learn more at BarrellBourbon.com. DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly. Support this Podcast on Patreon
On this episode of Chill Filtered, Cole and Robby drink the last cask strength whiskey from the 2020 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection: William Larue Weller (2020). They talk dog issues, life, wheated bourbon history, misconceptions about Weller and evaporation loss. On Whiskey World News, Robby brings up why it's so hard to get good whiskey news. And on "What Whiskey Would You Choose?", Robby asks what is a microdistillery and their whiskey that is worth checking out? Join the boys to see if every cask strength BTAC release is all it's cracked up to be on this episode.
Our buddy Chuck was able to stop by Greeze's whiskey nook to go on a wonderful whiskey journey. Drinking things like our Eagle Rare pick, a 50 year old cognac, a delicious Knob Creek pick, William Larue Weller to cap the night off, and many other whiskeys mixed in. After the 15, we try Horse Soldier Barrel Strength Bourbon. Support the work of the Special Forces Foundation, an organization that provides immediate and ongoing support to the Special Forces community and their families. We believe in their mission! www.specialforcesfoundation.org
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq-0x6oZRFk&w=560&h=315] What can you say, sitting down with the Noe family is always a treat. Fred Noe, Master Distiller at Jim Beam, and Freddie Noe, 8th Generation Distiller, are about as genuine and real as it comes. This show takes a bunch of turns. We talk about the new Fred B. Noe Distillery where new projects and small batch blends will take place, Legent, Little Book, and... we ask Fred Noe if he’s ready to retire. You’ll love his response. Show Partners: You can now buy Barrell Craft Spirits products online and have them shipped right to your door. Visit BarrellBourbon.com and click Buy Now. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Weller. Tell us about the property. What are your plans for growth? What are the plans for the Fred B. Noe Distillery? How did you get interested in blended whiskies? What's the hardest part about blending? Fred, what was your past blending experience? What did you learn when creating Legent? How long was the creation process for Legent? Where did you disagree in the process? What kind of ideas do you have for the new distillery? Do you like focusing on consistency or innovating? Will Little Book always be a blended product? Did you always want to be part of the family business? Fred, are you ready to retire? Talk about the ham house. Any hobbies outside of bourbon? Support this Podcast on Patreon 0:00 So if we're going to do any innovation from was putting knob Creek on it, it needs to be in that knob Creek family you can't go off and have a run punch knob Creek. You know, who knows? 0:27 Welcome back everybody it's Episode 254 of bourbon pursuit. I'm one of your hosts Kenny, and let's talk about some new releases. We have touched down in Texas. Yes, our first release of pursuit series is now available in five different specs retailers across the entire state. Episode 26 is a 15 year old Tennessee bourbon, our tasting notes, our brown sugar churros with a chocolate caramel dipping sauce. It's got me thinking about dessert already. So listen up because there's only five stores carrying Episode 26 across Texas and it's only expected Retailers so you've got Dallas at 9500 North Central expressway in Fort Worth at 2750 South keulen Street, Austin, Texas 4970 West highway 920 San Antonio at 5219 does avala and Houston at 2410 Smith Street. Happy Hunting Texans with more pursuit series news Episode 24 and 25 are now available on seal box comm if you're looking to get your hands on another bourbon with a high h demon, Episode 24 is another 15 year old release that can be shipped nationwide. This one it's all chocolate milk. I know many of you are looking for something super unique and we also have a weeded bourbon from Finger Lakes distilling and which is our episode 25. Our last two barrels from Finger Lakes wet quick so we're excited to bring another one to you. So go to seal box comm search for pursuit or you can go to pursuit spirits calm and click the Buy Now button on Our website we also have some other single barrel picks coming in our 17 men to foolproof and to Buffalo Trace barrels will be landing very soon, so heads up to our Patreon community and pay attention to your emails when they start rolling in. And other release news Wild Turkey has announced that they are releasing a 17 year old bottled in bond under the Masters keep label. The Masters keep bottled and bond will be a limited release with approximately 14,400 bottles with a suggested retail price of $175. On the trade of new releases, the TTB has approved over 180,000 products over the last 12 months through April of 2020 which is about an increase of 5.1% over last year, around 8700 labels in beer there are around 42,000 products that were approved in the last 12 months. Wine 120,000 in spirits 17 point 4000 however, the one that has The biggest gainer is actually spirits because in beer, the last three months there was only 10 and a half thousand which is actually 21% less than last year. And wine there were there almost 30,000 over the last three months with is 22% less than last year, and then spirits by about 4.7 thousand over the last three months, which is an 11.3% increase over last year. Now let's talk about some industry news. Earlier this year the Indiana alcohol and tobacco commission denied total wine a liquor license in the state because it does not meet the state's residency minimum requirements. Under current state law, at least 60% of a company's common stock must be owned by people who have lived in Indiana for five years. In true total wine style. The retailer promptly filed lawsuit against the agency and bit based on the Supreme Court opinions on Granholm and total wine versus Tennessee. The district court's decision will grant to the retailer's preliminary injunction prohibiting state from enforcing its residency requirement. This is again one more Domino to fall where we will soon see more interstate commerce law start lifting. And for today's podcast, what can you say? sitting down with the nose, it's always a treat Fred and Freddy note are about as genuine and as real as it comes in the show. It's gonna take a bunch of turns. We talk about the Fred Dino distillery legend, little book blending. And we asked Fred No, catch this one. If he's ready to retire. I think you might be shocked at his answer, and we're not going to give it away. All right, so Joe from barrel bourbon wants you to know that it's gotten a whole lot easier to get their unique cat strength whiskies from around the world. Just visit barrel bourbon, calm today, and click the Buy Now button. Up next we got Fred minich with above the char, so continue to stay safe and enjoy the show. 4:52 I'm Fred Minnick. And this is above the char Oh, I opened my email with excitement when I saw that headline, new welder single barrel. Oh boy have we been waiting on this one? Have we known about it for so long and wanted to see that press release and see the price on and how it would be distributed and where? how we could get it. Oh, I couldn't wait to read about it. It was a few paragraphs long. And you know it said MSRP of 4999. Now, listen, I love weather. I love weather weather is probably I think the most successful product line and all of bourbon you got a special reserve allocated? Well our 107 antique allocated well a 12 year old allocated well our foolproof allocated, William LaRue Weller super allocated and every single one of those over the course of my career has had 90 points or higher from me and they're all typically quite delicious and those that aren't supremely delicious are better than Pretty much just about everything else in their category. So it's it's a great line of whiskey and Buffalo Trace does such an amazing job there whiskies so good. But the fact of the matter is, as soon as that gets into stores, that MSRP of 4999 will be shot all to hell by household retailers who want to mark it up for 100% by flippers who go in and buy a bottle and find somebody on the internet Who will pay two $300 for it. I know there's no easy way to do this. And I know Buffalo Trace really, really does hope that you you the bourbon fan can be that one person who gets it for 4999 and they think that this is the way to keep everybody engaged and hope that that price keeps them coming back for more. But we got to be realistic. These SRP s For whiskey, that's so great. So great. They're just they're just not. They're just not there. I would love to be able to pay $50 for this whiskey, I really would. But the fact of the matter is, I would be willing to pay far more. And I don't know this. I don't know this. And the reason why I say the reason to say I'd be willing to I'd love to buy it at that SRP. Don't get me wrong. But I wonder if if they raise the SRP, just enough to cartel the retailers from increasing it from 4999 to 100. Or if it was just enough to cut into the profit margins of a flipper. I wonder if that would stop some of it. Now, I don't know it's all based on consumer behavior. And right now we're all acting very differently. So maybe this is the one time because of the virus, maybe this is the one time we will actually see a suggested retail price of a Weller be just that on the shelf. And you know, if there's anything good come from a pandemic, which few and far between, maybe that's at least one positive we can take out of it. Now, not even that it's that positive, because still, we're in a friggin pandemic. And that sucks. But I do hope that you can find it on the shelf at your local retailer for 4999. And if you do find one of those, if there's two bottles there, grab both of them. Call me and I'll get the other one from you. And that's this week's above the char. Hey, I've got some great news. I'm so excited about this while the pandemic has taken away 100% of my live events, I mean, bourbon and beyond gone, all these private tastings I've had gone. I now have a way to book me for private tastings. Go to Fred MiniK Topeka dot live. That's Fred MiniK dot Topeka dot live and you You can book me for a private tasting. I've also got a regular Lecture Series setup, called bourbon revealed. The history myths and scams. So if you wanna learn about bourbon scams, go check it out. But that's this week's above the char Until next week, cheers. 9:21 Welcome back to episode of bourbon pursuit, the official podcast of bourbon. Kinney and Ryan headed down to Claremont, Kentucky today, sitting in an office that we've we've been familiar with before, we had an opportunity to sit with this master distiller one previous time on the podcast, but now we got him and his son on here, the next in line, hopefully to take over the throne. But, you know, this is also an opportunity that first time we've had one of these people on the guests or on on the podcast, but you've also had a history with one of our guests as well, too. 9:51 I guess you said yeah, we were. Well, we play football together basketball. went to the same high school. I'm a little older, he's probably more mature than I 10:01 wouldn't say 10:02 but yeah I was good sharing some funny stories about football and stuff so now I'm happy to see Friday It's been a while so I always forget out great the view as to when we come here like I mean when Do y'all ever just walk out you're like damn you know oh amazing but 10:19 sit on the front porch a lot. Yeah, I just want to get away from emails Squadron sit. Yeah, marinate. I see what's going on. Because when the sun shining and it's 10:27 nice. Yeah, so 10:29 super camera row, you'll see a lot of photos or just random sunsets or sunrises here just because you know, sometimes you come in and you just kind of takes your breath because like you say, sometimes you take it for granted even Oh, now you know being here every day. 10:42 Well, yeah, when I grew up here, you drive to 45 Volvo and you like, Don't even think twice about Bernheim forest or anything now I'm like looking at it's like it's this magical place. Go see the 10:51 giants. 10:55 So you've heard their voices now. So today on the show, we have Fred and Freddie no master distiller And the in training, if you will to be taken over there one day of Jim Beam. So fellas again, Fred, welcome back, Freddie. Glad to have you on back. Yeah. So yeah, I kind of want to talk about that view a little bit more too because I think it's something that is kind of wrong. You kind of put it the best way to kind of like takes your breath away a little bit. You know, you probably it's one of those things that it might be in your backyard. You only think about it, you know, even being in Louisville. everybody's like, Oh, we think a slugger museum and like, I've probably been there since I was to grade school. Almost like you just don't think about it when it's in your backyard. But it's it's awesome to finally like come up here and you said probably after that day, you just kind of go out there. Pour soft glass and kick it in the rock or something like that. 11:43 Absolutely. It's perfect spot and I want to set up my office up here. As I 11:48 hit that watering hole, you know, after hours. 11:51 I used to be in the basement with no windows where 11:54 maybe they figured they'd kept me in jail long enough. It was time to turn me loose. 11:58 Yes. Let you see the light When did when did that happen? One of the we're like we're because so anybody that's unfamiliar with the grounds, the visitor centers. 12:07 The caddy corner to this bigger White House that you see over here. Where was the when did the move happen? Well, in 2012, we opened the steel house, and our Chief Marketing Officer at the time, I thought that I should be closer to the visitors because he'd saw my interaction with people just walking around. And he said, we need to get your work closer to the folks that are coming out of season. Why don't we put your office in the beam house, which is kind of ironic. Baker beam, my cousin gave me a picture of me in the same room where I am where my office is, when I was two years old, sitting in my dad's lap with my mom. So it was kind of he said, You're coming home full circle, and I'll come right back to where I was when I was two years old. And actually my dad sits just about where that easy chair was Booker was sitting in and we have here real close and being Baker actually lived here. This house he was the last beam family member and we turned it into offices and conference room upstairs. So in 2012 mobs came from down below the hill to the top of the hill. So 13:11 my vote would have been the knob Creek house, you know, to like get away from everyone get a 13:16 nice view when they when they redid the house up there. Yeah, I saw be my office. I said we'll never find you. 13:24 You're on down. 13:25 That's the point. Yeah, 13:26 well, so I guess I don't really know about the knob Creek house. So where is the knob Creek couser. I'm assuming it's by knob Creek, but 13:32 no, actually, it's on the property here at Claremont. And it's kind of funny how we acquired it. We went into it. It was owned by the everbank family, which owned the Cadillac Dealer in Louisville back when Jim Beam was was still running the distillery and I guess they had signed a some kind of agreement that we could utilize that water source. There's a lake back there. Use that water source when we needed it for distillation purposes and somewhere that had gotten lost and so in the was it early 90s I think is like 92 or 93. We ended up buying this property to gain access to the water. And then through purchasing it we actually found out that we already had right of use of the water. So we didn't nearly need the property after all, but the knob Creek team put up some money to redo the house. The house was kind of falling down, because like I said, we were there for just the water. And now it's kind of turned into kind of a little getaway place. We've got up on the hillside on the other Hill, we're on one Hill. If you go back down to planting up on the other side, 14:33 on Airbnb 14:40 it was the White House on Yeah, they're on. They're on Airbnb. So it's a pretty cool place. It's got a nice Lake there in the back. It's up, as we say kind of up in the holler. So there's not much. Not much going on up there. Dad's kind of got a little funny story about some people that stayed it's kind of good. I want her to hear this. I want her to complaint, you know and the whole time as we let Customers are coming in to purchase barrels or you know just coming to visit the client to stay there it's a three bedroom house and there was a group from New York bar owners and went up and visited them and they got him settled in and live next morning and came to the office as How was it? I don't know man sir. is too dark and too quiet. I 15:22 guess if you come from man had like good like sound machines have their 15:26 sleep in New York they used to yeah horns and he has a discerns and then up there there's no streetlights Yeah, so I mean you know the dark when the sun goes down, it's dark. I said well, we could had a lot of fun with him. We just snuck up burned picked on the wind. It's funny say the banjo in the background or something. 15:46 Really get them scared, 15:47 right? Fair enough as it was it sounded like but 15:50 you know, I'll have to read the review on Airbnb. Great place Lake but to quiet. 15:56 Three and a half, three and a half star 16:00 So the other thing I want to talk about the property alone, I mean, the bourbon boom is still growing. You all are still building warehouses. I mean, I used to drive by here going to Bardstown quite a bit in the past year, and you would be able to see there was you could see the skeleton growing outside of the warehouse. That was you could just see going down towards Bardstown. What are you all seeing right now with the growth in regards of like, are you able to still acquire more property around you? Or is it just kind of like hey, we've just got to make use of what we have right now. 16:29 We're making use of what we have but we're always looking with burn arm fours burner neighbor we're kind of you know, there's no way we're gonna get put warehouses over there but we're looking for joining property we can find any for possible growth in the future 16:45 with promise there's no flat ground here. There really 16:47 isn't a lot of waiting to get young. 16:49 I saw Yeah, I saw the you know, they're knocking out some limestone up there. Does that for another warehouse sir. 16:56 That's actually where the Fred B no craft distillery is gonna go. That call the new distillery is going to be going there we're getting some dirt work moving. But you know his point of Burnham actually they bought some land behind us here as well. So we're kind of surrounded on on two sides by Burnham which I mean you know all their conservation work so it's great for us as for our watershed to be able to have such great neighbors but it does from time to time kinda with no I mean there's just no land really available around us it's all kind of you know, bought up or housing has kind of come around a little bit as well. But luckily we do have a little bit of space at Boston where we can continue to put some new warehouses so all is good for now it beam we'll see how it goes in the future because you know, land is a very valuable commodity if we need to keep expanding warehouses. 17:43 I know it's harder one of the things to actually plan out if somebody was in the land or like Okay, now we're making pay top dollars, right? 17:49 real bad, right? Yeah. 17:51 Oh, yeah. That's running here. We want it Yeah. 17:54 Nobody cared about this stuff. for 20 years now they want the this land. 17:58 Well, it is funny even you know, we talk About the price of land around here and we're like, oh man, but the people in California, New York, they're like, what you pay? You pay? What? For? What? Yeah. 18:08 13,000 an acre. It sounds 18:11 crazy. Yeah, that sounds it sounds too cheap. They're like, yeah, they pay that in a mortgage for one month or something like that was some of the places some, so it kind of talks about about the Fred Urbino distillery, like what's what's the grand plans for it? You know, what's the what's the idea for it? 18:26 Yeah, I guess I'll kind of start on that one. It was an idea that I had had, I guess really, as as I was working on little book, and really getting into kind of product development. I noticed that you know, with blending, there's so many different aspects that you can go into, and drive different flavor through bringing these different streams together. And so as I was actually sharing the first batch of little book, coincidentally at my grandmother's bereavement, actually, our CEO would come down and we just chat and you know, after it was over, and he says anything on your mind. I said, you know, I'd really like to have a small distillery where we could do some experimentation, whether it be through mash bill through operating parameters, different barrel lengths, things like that on a smaller on a smaller scale. And so I let him taste a little book as kind of a teaser there to say, Hey, you know, this is kind of some of the things we could maybe come up with. And so that's kind of how it got going. And it's kind of evolved over time as it's been probably about a four year process of us getting kind of locked into what a where we want it down there at the bottom of the hill now. And then kind of what what it was going to serve its purpose and so we're going to be pulling into Booker's and bakers production. And kind of basically anything that is in our small batch or super premium category will be made in this distillery once we get it up and going, but it's also going to serve as kind of a playground as he said a couple of times for myself and some of our r&d team to really get in there. And, and for me, it's a lot about Learning about our current whisky even, you know, having the opportunity to get in there and put, you know, new probes and things like that, as you expand distilleries, a lot of times your your app or experimentation kind of goes to the wayside. And it's more about production needs, 20:15 and that and consistency, and I think that 20:17 you're exactly right quality and consistency. And so being able to kind of step back, almost kind of start at a smaller scale and be inefficient on purpose to where we can 20:28 actually screw up. Yes, right. And your work, you know, 20:32 you know, and that's kind of how I pitched it as we kind of got into some of the meetings was Hey, you know, I could make some of these adjustments in the distillery today, but when you all get a phone call and see the amount of gallons that I've, you know, made an adjustment just to see what would happen, whether it'd be a good or a bad thing you know, 20:48 know that all right, this 20:48 one thing quite turn out right? We have to scrap it. What 20:51 exactly so given us a good opportunity to be able to explore a lot further as as we try to look to expand the American whiskey agree 21:00 that was actually just kind of answered my next question because I was about to ask like, Why couldn't you just experiment with something else at this? And then you just said it's basically because of the larger production. So if you want to change a different ratio of the corn to the rye or anything like that, then you're not everything. Oh, yeah, you're kind of stuck with it for the next x to the X amount of years. Right? 21:19 You're exactly right. I think a lot of it comes down to having that smaller batch size to be able to do some of those things, whether it's tweaking the grain, or even, you know, we have a lot of unique vessels in our distillation system. We utilize some of them, we take some of them offline for some of our products. But as you say, it is today's time if I want to do a just that, you know, for Booker's, we bypass a retention tank. If I wanted to bypass the retention take in something else, essentially, I haven't been making Booker's it's an experiment. And we're pretty tight on still time. As you know, bourbon is just can't make enough of it. So really, those experiments can can be counterproductive, even if it do you do. Hit on Something good, you know, because you're missing regular production to do these things. Yeah. 22:03 So Fred, what do you think about that? Are you like, I think it's not broke, don't screw it up. 22:08 What are you doing? Either you have to my dad, he was always tinkering with stuff. Yeah, over to Boston plant over there, you know, in the book or no plant. You know, it was funny watching him, you know, Chicago folks would come down, they always visited Claremont. This is where the conference rooms were, this is where the bottling was. So over there and he always kind of called them in Siberia. I can do whatever I want to do. And the people from the house of knowledge as he used to call it, they didn't know what I was doing so he could he could tweak things and do things like Freddie's talking, and they never knew so he could make something and ease it right in and try different things. And nobody you know, ever knew but now everything is so allocated and steel time is so tight because you know, in the 70s they shut the Boston plan down so you know, they didn't really need the Liquid as much as we do today. Every hour is money big time. We need whatever we're making there. Now Freddie can play and do some stuff and that's when he took the ball and ran with it. There's a lot of people been trying to get this craft distillery for several years. But when he brought it up to Matt Shattuck, our former CEO, Matt jumped on it immediately. Then he goes back to as I called it, the house of knowledge and said, we would like to do this and all of a sudden, all this interest became Okay, we're gonna do it. You know, 23:32 Freddie, where did you get the interest for blended whiskies? What was that? What draw drew you to that? 23:38 It's kind of crazy. I've thought about it probably 1000 over 1000 times with like, when I like it came to me. I don't remember talking about it. Now I don't need I was gonna say I was gonna ask you to blend in but 23:52 we won't talk to one 23:58 whatever. You can find it the Time, right? 24:01 No, you know, I guess in reality just through learning in the distillery, you know, I don't recall if it was even before I came to the distillery, but I know as I had an internship, right as I was probably about a year and a half before I was finishing up College, where I went around to each department in the distillery or in the facility, not just the distillery, they're bottling and everything shipping. And it was kind of during that time that the the idea came to me because you know, I had had a beat in my head we use corn, rye and malted barley for Jim Beam. So from a very young kid, I knew those three grains were what made the liquid of Jim Beam. But so as I got into distilling and learning, I just kind of took me to if you took corn, whiskey rye whiskey and malt whiskey, individually and then blended them to those mash bill percentages. My thoughts were at four years old, what it tastes like Jim Beam or what it tastes like something not even close to bourbon, even though you're utilizing the same grains and so we're That's where it kind of started thing. And so at the end of that internship went back to school. I just remember thinking about that and thinking, I'm not gonna ask anybody this question. So I don't feel like a dumb man. Because I didn't know you know, I mean, I was like, is this a stupid question? The hell? I wouldn't know. Right? So I got a chance later to do an internship with our r&d team. And really, really, it was about me getting in there and learning their processes and how they affect our our day to day business. And they kind of pitched to me to come up with a couple of prototype liquids while I was there. One of them I don't really like to talk about, but it's kind of funny. Let's Let's hear it. Okay. I will go on and bring it out. The best part about it listen to these things are things that just no lighter. Yeah, right. So I tell it from time to time, but not too much. But so they said we want you to before you go back to the plant, I want you to kind of act as an r&d product developer, and pitch to us two different prototype liquids. And they gave me a couple of rules. One of them could be a bourbon or a whiskey. And the other one could not be. So I couldn't just do to you know, I couldn't just go get a six year old and a nine year old and say, Oh, this is two new whiskies that aren't out on the market. And then one of them because I had been working with flavoring, you know, we at Pinnacle vodka was very popular at that time. So we were working on a lot of different flavors in that aspect. So a lot of my time was working with them as well learning what they do. So they had pitched it as one of them could be a bourbon, one of them couldn't. And one of them needed to have some type of flavoring to it. So I went to work on which also makes sense because even like the apple and everything like that they're very popular absolute drinks out there for a lot of the consumers. Absolutely. So I, you know, me being me, I guess I wanted to knock out both of those rules on one so I could focus on the other and do exactly what I wanted. 26:50 Fred is this is this, just another shortcut that he's just taken? Is that what this is I get to go 26:58 back a long road versus Short road he's gonna take it which is that's good. It was much like his grandfather. I see a lot of booger in Freddy. It's a It's amazing. So you know, as a kid I liked Hawaiian Punch juicy red juice. Oh, I think everybody loved 27:12 it. Yeah. 27:14 But so i thought you know, we go to the beach every year for vacation, I thought if I could develop a liquid that I could just sip on the rocks or even if you just put it in a cooler and chilled it and just drink it neat. You know, I like fruity cocktails on the beach from time to time. It's nice and nice and warm out. So I thought I'm going to create this. I called it rum punch and it was going to be juicy red juice flavored 27:37 romaine. I thought you're gonna say push up. 27:40 Close, but not quite. It's a Howard's down drink. Yeah. So I went to work on that. And dad was there. This is where it was interesting. So as I'm getting ready, do my presentation. They're like, Oh, we invited your dad and I think even the plant manager to come see your presentation because I was presenting the sounds like great. Not only did I work on Something with flavors and kind of rum. They invited my dad to taste the same thing. But so that one that one wasn't very good. It didn't taste anything like Hawaiian Punch juicy red juice. And I wouldn't I don't know that anybody's even sipped I've still got the sample bottle at home. I don't know if anybody's even tried it since I 28:19 since I made it. What did it turn out to be like? What did it actually taste like? 28:22 It didn't taste it kind of tastes like fruit punch a little bit. Just a boozy fruit. It was kind of a boozy fruit punch 28:32 wasn't before your time like now the ready to drink category is booming right now so maybe it's just a few years too early 28:38 to revisit exactly one of our marketing guys gives me some some shit I guess he'll say you know because he talks about a little bit he's like your next products going to be that that room punch I promise you we're gonna make sure that's the next probably you and i t shirt. Don't give him any more. I got plenty on his own. But so that's kind of I thought, you know, got that one out of the way. I will Walking around up there to the lab and I seen some samples of four year old corn whiskey. Obviously we had four year old rye whiskey. And that's kind of where that thought really sparked in my head was I'm gonna try this blend that I have been thinking about, that hadn't really talked to anybody about. And so that's kind of how it started. I created what I call it was Jim being blended. And it was a four year old corn whiskey blended with a four year old rye whiskey and a four year old malt whiskey blended back to the percentage, the Jim Beam Asheville. It wasn't very good either. It was very corn forward, you know, it's organic, right? In theory that Yeah, early and today I was excited. And, you know, to be dabbling in blending. I already had a good idea, you know, with the mash bill percentages, that I was going to do the certain percentages. So it was a little bit simpler than that. And then some of my blending has become as I've worked on little book, but it really opened my eyes because that one wasn't that great. But I tweaked it a little bit as I was in the lecture. Just to see if there was any differences as you change and that's really what sparked my interest in blending was getting in there and, and traveling something that I had kind of had in my head and was really honestly a little worried to share it because I thought it might be a stupid question, you know, but I kind of come to learn that there's there's not a lot of stupid questions sometimes. The most simple question can lead you to some great things. What's her 30:21 what's kinda like the hardest part about blending that you've really found out? Like, is it just trying something you're like, it's gonna work I'll get a bunch of wasted product like what's what's the hardest part you figured out about blending so far? 30:31 I guess the for me the hardest part is, or I guess the most challenging would be, you know, if you've got four liquids and you put them at 25% each, by doubling up on one or you know, doubling a little bit, not doubling but adding a little bit more say 10% more of another and dropping percentages. It's not as apples to apples as the flavor being closer to the original one stream. As those liquids kind of mingled together. They really take on different For an identity, and I think that's where I thought blending, you know, if if I like this at 20%, if I add 23%, and I'm looking to get a, say a longer finish, and I know the other two liquids I'm using or three liquids I'm using have a shorter finish. You know, sometimes you think by adding more of the one that is giving the attributes, you think it actually throws the whole blend out of balance, and has negative aspects of it. The one good thing is you get to taste a lot of samples. And when you're blending, as I say, with with straight whiskies or straight spirits that that are phenomenal on their own, it's, it's kind of hard to say that it's a bad blend, it's just maybe not the exact direction you want to go. So I get a taste a lot of good samples. But I think the challenging part is, when you have an idea or you're trying to hit on something, whether it be like I said, a longer finish or maybe a little more aroma on the nose. Getting to those places from where you are is a lot more challenging than just maybe adding a couple more drops of this or that and 31:58 go ahead I was gonna say After you come up with the kind of your blend and it's like nail, you're like this is awesome in the tube. But then like, does that always translate to a bigger batch you know, Are there times when they get bigger like this did not turn out like they always tell us every barrel is a little bit different 32:13 it is you know, and I think we do a really good job after I've gotten to a prototype in my my test tube there, we'll go out and get some more samples of different barrels from the same lots that I'll be utilizing for a little book or whatever we're working on, just to make sure that because when we're doing a small blend, you could go get one barrel of each liquid, and you could blend for months because you know, it's just one barrel. So a lot of liquids there and you're only blending in a lot of times, maybe 3753 or 750 ml sizes, so there's a lot of whiskey. So going back and then picking different barrels from that same area or same date that it was distilled, just to make sure it's hitting those profiles. So before I finalize, we make sure that the liquids are going to be variable Similar. And then of course, at the end, if when we're dumping for bottling knock on wood, it hasn't happened yet. But for the first three little books, each of them was was very similar and aligned with the profile that I was looking for. But we'll see how that continues to go because we do keep reserved barrels just think I never tried to use every single barrel because if you want to make a little tweak, and you've already dumped every barrel, you're kind of kind of pigeon holed there. So hopefully, like I said, knock on wood that our process continues to go as it does. But as you said it every barrel is a little bit different No matter if they're side by Saturday and totally different warehouses. So it's, it's that's kind of where the art comes into it a lot, for sure. And so Fred, part of this is, you know, what was your kind of like past blending experience? I mean, is it if you try to recreate something that Freddie's doing here, have you been focused on like, production operation and stuff like that, rather than sitting here and saying, like, okay, let's start blending a lot of different products to see if we can make something new. Well, we you know, we mingled a lot is funny. We don't blend we mingle when Freddie got into the blending has no that was always a curse word in bourbon. Yes. You know until a little book, you know, he really crawls the path that got people thinking about blending in bourbon because, you know, when you say blended in this state, you start thinking about great neutral spirits and colors and flavors, which that's not bourbon. But when we had the Suntory acquisition, I was tasked and it was actually after Freddie had done his first version of little book to work with Cindy the chief Blender from Suntory to bring east and west together. So we actually blended and created the product Legion, which it was essentially was doing the same thing dad did, we're finishing bourbon in secondary barrels and then taking those fluids and putting them together. So that's where we kind of dip my toes in, in the blending but we were tasked For the from the CEO of Suntory. And that's what they wanted us to do to bring the two cultures together. And it was a learning experience for me. First we had to learn to be able to understand each other are 35:15 very, very different. You have a translator between you too, 35:18 like no, we used to, I guess our eyes when we tasted, you can look at each other's eyes and tell he speaks much better English than I do Japanese. 35:29 So mostly it was Cindy trying to figure out what I was saying. And then sometimes when we get on conference calls, I didn't have a clue what it was okay, whatever you say Sanjay and he was sent samples, and we would get together whenever he was here in the States. or whenever I was in Japan, we would sit and just taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, and it was a it was a learning experience for me, but I kind of saw what Freddie did with his little book because the variant just a little bit more of this and a little bit less than that. It can change it dramatically. Also, the mingling in the tank, just because it tastes like this today, it doesn't mean it's gonna taste like that tomorrow because we did sign with Legion we would taste and then the next day we taste it was wait a minute didn't taste the same. So the mingling together after you blended the fluids, so we've got tanks that we built specially for this product down here and it's got a slow row agitation in it. So that mix it up and we don't just mix it, blend it and bottle it we make sure it sits in this tank in the tank never goes dry. Some of the techniques that Cinzia uses in Japan, which over here for four, we fill the tank with liquid, we ran it dry and then we came back and did it again. We never left heels as we called it in there and dumped it on top of them. 36:52 I mean is that the same thing as considering like the selection method, but usually people call it 36:57 in regards to that maybe a little bit but we don't let it go. Lately driving a little bit left and he's dumping on top, so it's as all new and we had to train our operators here at the plant because they weren't used to that kind of technique on production. So it was a learning curve for all of us here in Kentucky and I know it was a learning curve for Cinzia in Japan because he'd never played with Bourbons before, he was amazed the temperature here and the finishing, how quick bourbon will take on the flavor from say, red wine barrel, or Sherry cask. You know, he was thinking maybe two summers after one, we'd already picked up flavors that he was ready for. So kinda. It was like, a big learning curve just like Freddie's learning with he is, we learned a lot for this Legion. And so it's been it's been fun to watch and to get involved even late in my career to get to do a little blending and play with it. And it makes me appreciate more what Fred has been doing, because I understand it's not just dumping things together. A graduated cylinder and saying, well, I want to 20% of the 30% of that. In loans, your numbers add up to 100. And you're good, not. That's not how it works, you know, it's trial and error. And then what strength Do you bottle at? I mean, there's a lot of variables that you can change a lot by just a little bit of water maybe or your finishing times. It was a, it was a great, 38:24 great experience for me. I just realized, I've been saying it wrong the whole entire time. I always said legend, right. So Legion now now and I believe I'm starting to say, I don't 38:32 know if that's a 38:34 word or not. 38:36 It's coming from the Gospel of you right now. So that's what I'm gonna talk about the 38:40 gospel of Fred. 38:43 I sent you down some dark paths. 38:48 So gonna also talk about the time commitment that went into it, because I mean, you just said that there were times when either you know he was coming here. You're going to Japan your mailing and shipping samples back and forth. Like what was the I'm assuming it was a at least had been over a year or two ago. Somebody said, Hey, we're gonna go ahead and do this. But how long did it really take to actually start from concept to finalization? There are more craft distilleries popping up around the country now more than ever before. So how do you find the best stories and the best flavors? Well, rack house whiskey club is a whiskey of the Month Club, and they're on a mission to uncover the best flavors and stories that craft distilleries across the US have to offer rack houses box shipped out every two months to 39 states across the US and rack houses April box there featuring a distillery that mixes Seattle craft, Texas heritage and Scottish know how rack house whiskey club is shipping out to whiskies from two bar spirits located near downtown Seattle, including their straight bourbon, go to a rack house whiskey club calm to check it out and try some for yourself. Use code pursuit for $25 off your first box. Transcribed by https://otter.ai
We finish the Weller series with the mack daddy of the group, William Larue Weller barrel proof Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Still under the stay at home order and we are really reaching here but the bourbon is strong and packs a punch. Clink or sink? Promo of Food For Our Journey- www.foodforourjourney.org linktr.ee/marriedmashpod
Today’s podcast, as you guessed it, is a reflection on what’s been happening with COVID-19. The whiskey industry is going to see some big changes. We’ve seen legislation pass as it relates to shipping and delivery of alcohol because it’s deemed an essential part of living and our culture. How long will this trend stick around and will we see this continue when the pandemic is over? Do you want to see more relaxed liquor laws? Lets hear it in the comments. Show Partners: The University of Louisville has an online Distilled Spirits Business Certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry. Learn more at uofl.me/bourbonpursuit. Barrell Craft Spirits has won a few medals at some of the most prestigious spirits competitions out there, but don’t take their word for it and find out for yourself. Learn more at BarrellBourbon.com. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about grains. Lots has changed since our last roundtable with COVID-19. Are people actually drinking more? Or are they just hoarding? Is distribution down with distilleries producing hand sanitizer? Will COVID-19 change consumer demand indefinitely with services for shipping and delivery? KY HB415 has passed. What could this mean for the greater United States? Should these large corporations that have donated 50k, 500k, or 1M be donating more? Billions in revenue vs a small donation amount in comparison. When this is all over, what’s the best thing that will come out of COVID-19? 0:00 Are you interested in preparing your expertise on the distilling process with key business knowledge such as finance, marketing and operations, then you need to check out the distilled spirits business certificate from the University of Louisville. It's an online program that can be completed in as little as six courses. The program is taught by both UVL business faculty and corporate fellows. So you are getting real experience from experts at the most renowned distilleries, companies and startups in the distilling industry. We're talking leaders from Brown Forman beam Suntory, jack daniels and more. get enrolled to this online program at U of l.me. Slash bourbon pursuit. So your meetings of the day are Andy, Donald Trump. 0:46 No wonder you drink Jesus. 1:01 This is Episode 249 of bourbon pursuit. And it's another week stuck at home. I don't know about you, but we're party hopping. We're going from the living room to the dining room, the kitchen, all just looking for some entertainment. And as you can guess the industry news has also been pretty slow. So you're in luck. We've got a short intro this week. We all know that restaurants and bars are feeling the pain right now. So one man in Tampa, Florida stepped up with a $40,000 cashier's check to purchase a bottle of the old Rip Van Winkle 25 year decanter that was listed for $20,000 to help save debts one of his favorite restaurants in the area. This bottle was only one of 710 that was released back in 2017. That had an MSRP of around 1800 dollars. In bourbon pursuit news. Our jack daniels barrel proof single barrel went on sale this week. And then it's sold out. Because of COVID-19. We've had to delete three of our barrel selections this year, and we're hoping we will have to reschedule anymore but I hope everyone can 2:00 Be grateful that we've got ourselves a few good bottles that get us through this process. And if you want to see all the barrel selections that we have scheduled, and the ones that we have for the rest of the year, go to patreon.com. Slash bourbon pursuit. During this time when you're hanging out with family or friends on zoom, they might be seeing you there sipping a bourbon neat. While they've got a cold, refreshing beer in their hands. Ask if they want to try some of your bourbon, fill up a sample bottle or to walk it over, drop it in their driveway, put it in their mailbox, take this opportunity to spread the good word of bourbon. And since they're stuck at home, tell them to check out your favorite bourbon podcast so they can binge and catch up as well. You'd be doing both of us a favor, and we'd really appreciate it. As you know, we're pushing out more content on live streams. So make sure that you're following our social media handles. And you may have even seen some bonus episodes this past week as well. Remember to subscribe to the podcast and make sure that you never miss those bonus episodes. today's podcast as you guessed it is a reflection on what's been happening with the Coronavirus 3:00 The whiskey industry is going to see some big changes. Because of this. We've seen an insurmountable push for legislation. And that's been passed because reflects the shipping and delivery of alcohol because it's now deemed an essential part of living in our culture. But how long will this trend stick around? Can we continue to see this as the pandemic is over? Hopefully, we get to see more relaxed laws continue to happen. And if you want to see more relax laws and what you'd like to see changed, let's hear it in the comments. Once again, enjoy this time inside with your family. Have a nice pour bourbon, and now you get to hear Joe from barrel bourbon. And then you've got Fred minich, with above the char. 3:39 I'm Joe Beatrice, founder of barrel craft spirits. Our Bourbons have won a few medals, some of the most prestigious spirits competitions out there, but don't take their word for it. Find out for yourself. Use the store locator at barrel bourbon calm. 3:53 I'm Fred MiniK, and this is above the charm. This week's idea comes from an old email 4:00 Keith Norton wrote on March 3, sorry for the delay Keith wanted to know, what's the difference between bourbon rye bourbon, and a weighted bourbon from a taste perspective? is one sweeter than another? does one have a multi flavor? And, yeah, happy to approach that. It's actually a good good chunk of that information in my book bourbon curious that you can go to and it's a pretty good guide. Look, when it comes to breaking down the flavors of all whiskies, not just bourbon, but scotches. There's so much that goes into it. The mash bill is something that we tend to get 4:42 connected to because we understand it, we really start formulating thoughts about how one profile is different when in fact, a weeded bourbon has is historically going in at lower barrel entry proofs and I would argue that hey, maybe it's 5:00 Not the wheat that's causing it to have that real velvety structure and the deep caramel notes. Maybe it's the barrel entry proof. And then you have 5:10 the high rye Bourbons that tend to be extraordinarily spicy. I've had some of late that tend to be more floral than spicy. And where does that come from? Why it's a matter of fact, the yeast, but talking about the yeast is not necessarily as sexy as as the grain. Now there are definitely those that are more malt forward and heaven Hill is a kind of a like a classic example for me that they tend to a lot of their whiskies will have like a caramel malt flavor to it. Now where's that coming from? ag could very well be their distillation technique or the the way the barrels raging. But when it comes down to it, you do have some generalizations to how these whiskies will taste in nine times out of 10 the higher the right content, the more spicy 6:00 You will find okay so I'm talking about like pepper, cinnamon, cardamom all these like baking spices that you would like have in your your baking spice rack, you know you'll find a lot more of those and the higher right Bourbons, you'll also tend to find like a nugget of herbs from time to time. Now the weeded Bourbons will they tend to be a just a touch sweeter, just a touch softer and they don't have that same kind of vibrant finish on kind of a generalization. Now you give me a William LaRue Weller from the Buffalo Trace antique collection and you're gonna get your socks knocked off, you know, so I mean, it varies but Maker's Mark which is kind of like the everyday standard, you know, we did bourbon, you know, four or five years old we did. recipe, you know, a lot of people will taste that and says it's very wood forward has nothing to do with a wheat 7:00 So more more of the things that we taste in a nose out of whiskies, you know, grains only probably make up 20 to 30% of, of the, of the flavor. Most of it's coming from the barrel and the techniques, if you were really you need to lump the grains into like the fermentation techniques. So if you put that if you put the grains in the same kind of like soup as the fermentation and the yeast, you know, then I think that that 20 to 30% goes up to about 40% it's all about who you talk to, and you know what distillery prioritizes? How, you know how they make it. So is the grain important? Oh, God, absolutely. It all starts with the grain. But is it the end all be all for the taste and flavor that you get? No. But it sure is fun to talk about and it's easy to understand. So that's the 8:00 This week's above the char Hey, if you have an idea for above the char like Keith, why don't you write me an email you can go to my website Fred minik.com that's Fred minich comm click that contact button, and at the very least, maybe we can start a conversation about good bourbon. Until next week. Cheers 8:21 Welcome back to another episode of bourbon pursuit the official podcast of bourbon. This is the 43rd recording of the I know that sounds like a question. It is the 43rd recording of the bourbon Community Roundtable actually to have the second guess myself because it's so many times but Fred Ryan, good to see you all again on this glorious quarantine evening. How are you all? Great. I feel like I see you all more on quarantine virtually in real life. 8:51 No, it's Oh, it's always just good to hang out with my with my fellows. It's good to see you guys. Well, I would say that I'm I'm getting 9:00 Getting a little stir crazy, like I'm ready for this stuff to end. It's that or I'm also getting to the point now where I have to get on like zoom meetings for my daughter, because she has like virtual soccer practice or like classrooms and stuff. And it's killing me because I've been using zoom for three years now. And I know how to press the damn mute button, and you log on and it's just chaos. There's just sound coming from everywhere. 9:26 Well imagine what it's like to be a teacher. You know, I mean, this whole thing has made me realize that we don't pay our teachers enough in and whatever we can do to increase their salaries. Let's do it. Yeah. Yeah, we can pay their salaries. 9:43 Exactly. I'm all about it. I'm all about it. So we've got it. We've got a good lineup of stuff to talk about tonight. But let's go ahead, we'll go around the horn. And you know, because a lot actually changed since we're here at the Ross roundtable with COVID-19 but I was able to just do the regular introductions. 10:00 So we'll start off with Blake Blake, just kind of tell people where you blog at. And, you know, if if you know, where do you think or how do you think Carol Baskins actually killed her husband? 10:11 Yeah. So I'm Blake from bourbon er. You probably know me as the Cal Ripken roundtable still undefeated on the roundtable that you know, if you're undefeated by just showing up that's how that's what I kind of W in this in this world. But no, always fun to be here. So thanks again. Yeah, everyone who watched Tiger King, go back and listen to the podcast. I feel like that's the new debate. It's like, well, was the movie better? Was the book better? You know, our generations debate was was the podcast better? Or was the documentary better on Netflix? So check that out. Definitely more entertaining. So I'll go out and check the podcasts. We actually ended up watching last night the the kind of like after, whatever it is with Joel McHale. And so it kind of talked about, it was just like a one hour series of just you know, interviewing pretty much everybody 11:00 Except the tiger king himself, so it was, it was pretty good. Yeah, check that on Netflix if you haven't yet. Officially on Netflix, I saw everybody complaining on Twitter that Joel was basically just making fun of everyone. 11:14 He made fun of himself too. So, okay, that's what makes a good host. Yeah, he was also tied in so we me and Joel McHale something in common. 11:26 Yeah, just go ahead and just dm each other on Twitter. Yeah, yeah, but the glory days. 11:33 All right, Jordan, what do you think was did she feed into the Tigers are buried in a septic tank? Oh 100% the Tigers quick, easy. They were hungry. Why not? So this is Jordan from breaking bourbon calm and catch us on the socials at breaking bourbon. Make sure to visit this site for our near daily Release Calendar updates. Awesome. And Brian, what are your thoughts? Do you think Carol did it or you think you think you think maybe she's she's clean on this one. 12:00 I mean, you are the wall here. Well, I'm gonna throw you for a loop on this. I haven't seen it. I don't have Netflix. I'm also the person who avoided seeing Titanic and Avatar, so I try not to do those things. Yeah, I'm really exciting like that. Yeah. 12:17 Titanic was it because you like you already knew what the end was gonna have. It was well is knew what was gonna happen and it was it people were too far into it. Well, it was too big. I guess I was contrarians on that. 12:29 But I can't so I can't. I mean, I know from Twitter what's going on, but I'm clueless when it comes to it. 12:36 But if so, if you want boring stuff that's not up to date. Come see Brian here, right. sipping corn mostly on Twitter, sipping corn calm and bourbon justice, calm. Thanks for having me on again, guys. As always, man, always happy to have you here. So I guess the one thing we want to start talking about is because a lot has happened since the last time we talked, I remember it was what three weeks ago 13:00 Go. And it was maybe actually it's probably four weeks ago things were like just starting to snowball, right? Just a little bit. I know Jordan in Pennsylvania like there was talk of like some things happening but they hadn't closed down all the liquor stores yet. And now they now they like reopen them up somewhat like online like a hot mess. Yeah. So yeah, so for those at home that don't know about PA, it's a state run system. And it's beyond sloppily managed on a good day, right? Oh, 13:33 they shut down the liquor stores. But before they did that, they announced that they're gonna shut it down. There is of course, a mad rush and ever ignored social distancing. And they also shut down online delivery. And then they've opened up online delivery maybe like a week or two ago, but I have yet to talk to one person who has figured out a way to get in. And it was really funny. So they did an article, like basically saying the came out touting the success of the online liquor. 14:00 Store and how well it's going right? They basically measured it by saying, Well, on a normal day we get, we processed four orders an hour, but now we're up to like 50 orders an hour. Right? And you think about that, and that's an entire state, right. So like any other private business would go out of business long time ago. And somehow pa spins out for a wind. So it's been a hot mess, the good news, local distilleries around pa or shipping. You know, we've seen a lot of uptick in supporting local, which is great. And I'm a huge advocate, especially during this time supporting local for all businesses. So we've seen a huge influx of people around the state buying from their local distilleries or trying out new distilleries around the state, which is really nice, but point at the state just dropped the ball on this one. And I guess that kind of goes into really like the first subjects when we look at the way that consumer demand has really changed from COVID-19. I mean, let's let's not beat around the bush like we've been touting this for a long time. And you know, Blake's been on the forefront with opening sealed box and trying to get shipping happening in and making that happen. 15:00 And then all of a sudden you see drizzly and instacart and Bart and all these different kind of services like they're gonna meet like five or six x three annual projections now, and you now are also seeing every single liquor store every single restaurant scrambling to get their, their, their online or basically get their store online. And not only that, I mean, we'll talk about how 15 Hospital for 15 and a little bit, but I mean, do we see that after this thing starts ending like after it's over? Are we going to see some of these services start going like back to normal? Or do you think this is this is gonna be the new normal? thing, Pandora's Box been open when it comes to liquor delivery, that's for sure. So, you know, other businesses aside, I think consumers now are realizing Well, we should be able to everything else. When we get to our doorstep, we should, you know, be able to get liquor to our doorstep to and the convenience is just there, right. I mean, if you can avoid a trip to the store, they don't have it in stock, all that stuff. Sure. And I think people are once they once they get used to it. They're going to continue to 16:00 expect that afterwards and I don't blame them. And it's not going to take along the east to this. I mean, if we can get drive up cocktails made ahead of us for the from the restaurant and get that and if we can get curbside service or delivery service from the liquor store. I mean, it's the trains leaving the station already. I hope that's I hope this lasts. One thing that I noticed that after after I wrote that Forbes story, and 16:26 I can't remember what the title was, was something to do with like a pandemic, you know, bring a war between the distillers and wholesalers. I got a lot of feedback from distillers thanking me for this the one thing that I have realized in this in this current state is that the distilleries really really want shipping. I mean, they want they want shipping, probably more than anything that's out there. And 16:55 you know, they don't all come out talking about it, but they all really want it 17:00 Because it's another revenue driver for them. And this has shown that this is where the consumer populace wants to live moving forward because we're not. I don't know where when you know, when we're going to go back to normal. I mean, everyone wants to talk about, you know, when that's going to be a nobody got a crystal ball, but everybody needs a drink. And that drive thru is nice. That delivery is really freakin nice. And so let's I want to talk to the guy a little bit that that actually could show us a graph of sales like Blake, what have you seen in regards of like, just your online sales? I mean, have they increased at all? Or is it kind of status quo? It definitely has, um, it's a little hard because it is a newer company. So like saying that it's up, you know, 90% over last year's is a little bit of a, you know, a false sense of what's actually happening because I don't have a ton of historical data but in general, you know, you have what they call OMD. So October 18:00 November, December, then it slumps. And we still haven't seen that slump yet. You know, it's it's been jumping right up. And, you know, it's funny, you can kind of see as some of these states, certain states in particular will, they'll call for a lockdown, and we'll see an increase in traffic from those states. So it is a really interesting thing because I think a lot of these government officials are having to think about this for the first time whereas before they just had a lobbyist or whoever was saying, nope, we can't do that. It's not safe. And it's like hold on with all this. It's like, what Why is this not safe again, like it's not safe for people to go to a liquor store. So explain to me why it's not safe for them to have it delivered to their home. So you know, you don't want to say like something good comes out of this where we get this push through because it is so minor compared to what we're facing, but it it has a lot of people rethinking it and, you know, just on the steelbook side, we've seen a giant increase in in sales and people interested 19:00 from other states that we can't ship to, and it's like, hey, why can't you ship to me in New York? We're, you know, we're locked down and I'm like, I'd love to, but your state says we can't. So. 19:11 Yeah, a fear I have 19:14 is then that they're going to be so busy trying to rebuild their states and do deal with so much more important issues that's gonna get put on the back burner even more. And so like, I don't know, it's every day It seems like Andy gets at contended our governor gets asked like, so why are liquor stores essential? You know, and like, it's so you know, there's still people trying to like prod that there. You know, because we have some inch, we have an interesting demographic in our state. Well, I think I think we might have talked about that last time picking back on that though, Ryan, so I know. Right? And that's what was surprising for a lot of people in Pennsylvania because there is you know, I've read a lot of articles from just doctors and nurses have the same thing as much as we don't want admit it right like alcohol. 20:00 abuse is a large issue for a large amount of the population and if you don't give them access to alcohol then they're the ones clogging up the hospitals oh yeah right no doubt so and but I think that also should show you like it should be eye opening for a lot of people yeah for sure no doubt i mean i i totally agree and this is kind of broke down that barrier like that distributors could say Oh, it's not safe but now they're like we need this to keep sales going. So it's like you know it's a it's pretty funny but yeah, I hope it all continues on because I mean, it's it's fantastic. We tried the drizzly app and got stuff shipped to our house and now I got all my neighbors doing it for party mark here and like they're like loving it. It's it's pretty sweet. 20:42 You know, there's a there's been another wrinkle that's come up from this and you know, while the the shipping stuff and everything is Come on, I you You always hear me talk about this. But the anti alcohol people have started coming on saying that this is 20:59 they're looking 21:00 To try and ban alcohol and every single state right now. So they're they're taking advantage of this pandemic in a very different way. They're saying that this is going to lead to more abuse in the homes there's going to be more domestic abuse, there's going to be more alcohol related problems, there's going to be more liver failures and stuff. So they're taking this as an opportunity to say, hey, look at all these sales, you know, our country we're going to be hurting from this we need to ban all liquor sales. I mean, that that's some of the stuff that that's also going going on right now back door, and I just with legislators, I feel like we should make an amendment to the Constitution then if that's what it's gonna be to 21:36 try that. 21:40 Yeah, Brian, you're not busy, right? 21:43 Let's do that. Round two. I know there's a surge in sales, but it's more of like a stocking up thing. Like I just don't see it continuing down this path. Like if things kind of slow. Well, I go back open and so like, is this stocking up or have you guys seen those videos of people going on and 22:00 Dog filming their neighbors recycle bins 17 bottles of wine Yeah. And and bourbon bottles all over the place. Yes. I don't know if it's stocking up, you know, in full transparency my my consumption is definitely up because I don't know everyday feels like a Friday and a Saturday kind of so it's like Alright, well it is five o'clock I can go ahead and have a drink and then some days like alright, it's three o'clock I'm not doing anything the rest of the day. You know, I'm not getting drunk or hammered any of the times, but it's definitely more than I normally would during the week. 22:37 So you know that that adds up over time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. My consumptions way up it actually yesterday. I was like, I'm taking a day off yesterday. Yeah, fires me. And I still haven't had a drink yet. And I'm like, I was like, I haven't not drank ever since since it started it. You know, I would usually drink take like three or four days off a week. But now it's like you 23:00 You just do 234 every night because you get off at five o'clock with Andy. And then he cut in President Trump's lawn and then you have dinner. 23:08 And then you put your you have dinner with your kids and you turn on a movie, then you have more drinks. And then next thing you know you're in bed and you wake up, repeat. So so your meetings of the day are Andy, Donald Trump. 23:24 No wonder you, Dre. Jeez. 23:28 I might be the only one like, I feel like I'm still like my, like normal scale like myself. I'm right there with you, Kenny. Yeah, I was like, I don't really think anything's really changed in that regard. However, there were a lot of stats that came out. I mentioned them. I believe last week on the opening of the podcast, talking about really like there has been a spike in alcohol sales like it's there's, there's no you know, there's no hiding it like there has been a surge. But then there was another great article that came out an opinion article by Steve Coombs last week that kind of talks about like are people actually doing 24:00 making more or are they just hoarding? Because if you look at the actual sales of things that are happening, it's a lot of like 1.75 and one liters of stuff. And so that equates to a lot of unfortunately Tito's, but there's also a lot of 1.7 fives of Maker's Mark and other types of, you know, basically bulk whiskey that people are actually purchasing rather than going out and you know, getting this little 750 here or anything like that people actually making these big bulk purchases. However, I think most of us here have enough bourbon in their library or their 24:36 choose any random choose any random closet in your house that could defeat the most general populace out there. So I tell you, I've been doing these nightly tastings and I've been trying to be creative with the stuff I taste and, and 24:52 and that's when you I found that that's, that's the one the one way to like determine how much I really care about a bottle because I'm finding myself 25:00 been very reluctant to go into my stash of like 1930s the 1950s stuff. And 25:09 and I'm like, I, I know it's I know people want to see me drink that, but I can't do it. I can't open it up yet. I don't want to open it up for that I want to open up for something else. So maybe it'll we'll get there. But what I have noticed is that yes, well we have a lot of stuff. It's very interesting to see what I am drinking. Because, you know, when I'm that, you know, live streaming or something, I'm drinking something very different. And it's not stuff that I would know that I wouldn't think I would be drinking. So just Evan Williams bottled and bond 25:41 it's nothing like that. It's mainlining it it's funny you say that phrase because I think you know, mean economic have talked about this a few times. We've almost taken like the opposite approach. In fact, Eric did an opinion piece on the site not too long ago where, you know, the more we The more we know, people are getting impacted especially from economic and being in New York. I think 26:00 Almost switched our mindset to be like you have a special bottles we're holding on to maybe we'll start cracking one or two more of those more often just because you never know. Right? So I think it's interesting you say that and it'll be even more interesting to see how your mentality changes the longer the actual lockdown goes down. Right? Yeah, that'll be truly interesting. Yeah, it's definitely a psychological thing and it's not really it's, it's I'm definitely still drinking the good stuff Don't get me wrong, but I mean, I've got some of those really, really rare bottles that I hunted for worked hard to get and, and, you know, I was looking forward to like cracking them open with friends and like, our night or something nothing and it's like when the hell am I ever going to be around people? Yeah. You know? Yeah. I mean, I'd like to look at the see that that hopefully the lies at the end of the tunnel, but man, I just something tells me it's not though. I really want this to be over soon. But today was pretty. It's pretty grim. So yeah, yeah. How do we how do how do we get to it? 27:00 point where we're not. We talk about it, but not like in the depressing sense. It's like, Oh, yeah, so make sure you wear your new mask out there, by the way, the weather is going to be 55 and sunny today. You know, it's only when you become used to it, and no one no one's bracing for that. Yep. It's a maybe a poor analogy, right. But in terms of so think when the smog index came out, and you know, you go to a polluted city or pluta country stuff like that, and used to be home in the smog, like off the chart now. It's just like, you know, la or, you know, if I go to India or anything like that, it's like, here's a smog for the day. Gonna be bad for your health. Moving on. That's it, and you're like, Oh, okay. normal part of life now. All right. It's just gonna be kind of like that, like, viruses are breaking out. Just be extra productive today. All right. Great. Thanks. So the trash cans, employees, please don't. But it's a good question that came in from Brian here. And he's wondering if, if the distribution from distilleries distributors is way down right now, especially with hand sanitizer production going on. Along with folks being quarantine. I mean, what 28:00 What do you think is the the short term and the long term outcome of what we're going to see here? So I actually talked with a couple people about this from the distributor aspect. And they were saying that basically, their sales numbers were about pretty close to dead on what they were in prior months. And that's 100% because of off premise. So they lost all of the on premise. And we're able to make up the majority of it with off premise sales. 28:29 Now for other distilleries who rely heavily on their tasting room or that's even you know, they lost that part which really hurts but as far as like the big guys go, I don't know that they're that affected because the demand through distribution has been so strong because retail has been so strong. 28:48 So I don't know it'll be interesting to see how that all I think the hand sanitizer thing is great for their, for them just kind of giving back, but it's not really making up 29:00 A huge part of their revenue. And ultimately, I think it's the smaller guys who are going to be affected who, who have a bigger, you know, tasting room and all that kind of all those kind of sales going on. Yeah, I mean, anybody who geared up for tourism is just looking at this scared and glammed up scared, kind of want to get, you know, Brian or Jordans kind of thoughts if we see any kind of short or long term effects of these distilleries haven't been shut down or producing sanitizer. Yeah. So, sanitizer. I think it's great. I'll address that first. I think it's awesome. I think it's great. I have yet to see some hit areas or at least even be available online. I think it's going to first responders, which is the right thing, so that's even better. But I was thinking about this the other day as I was going for a run on the treadmill, right? So all these distilleries the last two years have just dumped money and expanding their visitor centers right Woodford just opened up their new one right buffalo trail. 30:00 was doing a huge expansion. Everyone's that was the whole the whole shtick, right? let's dump more money, let's think big thing, right? But those who have put all this money in there, it's almost a shame because I don't know if it's ever going to go back to the way of having just a crush of people line up at a bar right thing of going to a Woodford for a Buffalo Trace on a Saturday, right, with all the tourists. Everyone's just lined up getting shots and tasting your samples and stuff like that. And that may never go back to the way it was. And, you know, they might be regretting that that influx of cash, they just put in that this your experience now. I mean, I think it'll come back to at least some extent, but that's never where they're making their money. I mean, they have to get the people there in the first place. And there are a lot more people who are drinking Woodford than ever that ever make it to that tour or to any other distilleries. So they've they've got plenty of bourbon that they've distilled in the last few years socked away, that'll still come to the market. 31:00 They just need to find a new way to market it. And instead of trying to bring people to the distillery, which I think is a small percent, I mean, it's a growing percentage, but it's a smaller percentage. So we're taking a hit on the old bourbon trail, as far as that marketing goes, but there's, I think there's plenty more to do and they can recover from that. Yeah, and humans forget things. I mean, it's, yeah, we're I mean, it's easy now to say all we can but it's like even like after the last recession, you know, like and people got in trouble with you know, loans and mortgages or whatever and like a year later, they're doing the exact same damn thing. Yeah, we're still giving like no proof mortgages in like, you know, I AR, whatever you call it, but just alarms and all that. Yeah, arms. Yeah. We just need like two more tweets that says whiskey kills the virus and it'll open. 31:56 Start just spreading the rumors now might as well 32:00 So I guess that kind of makes me want to go into sort of like the next segment here. And that's looking at House Bill 415. So I know that a lot of us have been kind of following this for for quite some time in regards of what this means. And there's this, this great PDF that got sent out by some of the people that were for the bill and making it happen. So just to kind of like digest this down. What this really means is that, and hopefully what this means is a potential domino effect of what we could see for the rest of the United States to hopefully latch on to. And this is the giving the ability for distilleries to now ship direct to consumers, completely bypassing a distributor and bypassing and actually, I guess they function as the retailer in this point, right. And that's what I know that there was a lot of 32:52 commotion, I guess, you could say from distributors and everything like that and retailers that didn't want this. I mean, of course, you don't want this right. I mean, 33:00 Kinda like it pokes a hole in your whole business model. But the the other side of this is that this is now putting spirits and putting Kentucky as one of the first states to now have the same exact law as around what is it like 40 or 42 other states that allows shipping of wine, right i mean shipping and wine from California or anywhere else like that's pretty, pretty standard. 33:25 However, this is now starting to allow this to happen for for greedy spirits. So looking at this now, I'm all for it. I think this is something that we've been offered for a while Blake, I know is he's over the moon for it. But I kind of want to think is there because I know Fred, we had brought this up before and this that you know you you had talked about the warning signs of saying like, well, all it's gonna take is for like, you know, one kid intercept something and then this could all all go under. Has this bill passed like sort of change your mind and regarding 34:00 of of potentially like the shift we're starting to see in in the legal side of things 34:10 What do you get if you mix Seattle craft, Texas heritage and Scottish know how that's to bar spirits to our spirits traces its roots to a ranch in rural Texas run by the founder, Nathan Kaiser his family for six generations. Nathan grew up on the ranch with stories of relatives bootlegging moonshine, and after moving into Seattle, he wanted to keep the family tradition alive and he opened to bar spirits in 2012. They're very traditional distillery making everything from scratch and each day starts by milling 1000 pounds of grain. Their entire product lineup consists of only two whiskies, their moonshine, and the only bourbon made in Seattle. Both bottles are being featured in rack house whiskey clubs next box. rack house whiskey club is a whiskey the Month Club, and they're on a mission to uncover the best flavors and stories that craft distilleries across the US have to offer racquel 35:00 out to have the feature distilleries finest bottles, along with some cool merchandise in a box delivered to your door every two months, go to a rack house whisky club.com to check it out and try some to bar for yourself. Use code pursuit for $25 off your first box 35:19 you had talked about the warning signs of saying like, well, all it's gonna take is for like, you know, one kid intercept something and then this could all all go under. Has this bill passed, like sort of change your mind in regards of of potentially like the, the shift we're starting to see in in the legal side of things. Well, first of all, I've always been for you know, some type of shipping. I've always thought that you know if wine can do it, you know, whiskey should have that same, right. I've always just taken the side of like, taking the kind of devil's advocate side of like, I know like how the wholesalers think and as soon as this bill was passed, they came out against it. 36:00 very heavily. And basically said it was a shame that Kentucky took advantage of a, of a pandemic to get this thing passed. And they called the they called the KDA. And a bunch of people who push for quote bad actors. I they use that a lot in their press releases. I still don't understand what that means. Well, still hasn't like approved or vetoed it right. He's hasn't even like, right. Didn't auto into Milan? Yeah, but not until like June or July, I believe. So there's a 90 day period before it become goes into law. But it's like it was but by him not signing it or vetoing it, it basically passed and that was just the weird provision to it. So it's, it's good. But yeah, I think from a from, 36:50 from an overall perspective of like, people have kind of swung to this pendulum of like, as long as someone is checking the ID 37:00 And oh, by the way, the wholesalers, they own a little piece of a company called drizzly. So they're okay with delivery as long as they are getting, you know, it's as it seems as long as they are, have like a guaranteed structure of someone, you know, being 21. And someone texted me today and said, The wholesalers are okay, as long as they're getting their cut. That's what I was gonna say. I was like, making sure that we're getting there. 25% that's what I was making sure that that's what they're gonna say. And and that's a, I get that. But, look, if wineries can do it distillers should be able to that's it. You just sound like a bad actor. That's all it is. 37:41 But I mean, I mean with this, it's still only two like six reciprocating states, right. So it's, it's more than that. It's like 12, I believe. Yeah, it's a handful. But yeah, it's a handful and it's in that it's in that release. 37:56 But the some of the big wind states are on there. So 38:00 California is not on there. But you know, Rhode Island. What are we going to get from Rhode Island or Hawaii? I mean, hold on the islands get some decent distilleries. How do they do it? 38:11 Alright, so here are the states. Alaska. 38:15 Arizona. I you know what? No, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington DC giddy up. I mean, when I look at this, though, I try to think picture it from. And I think this is one of the things that Chris, one of the people that helped draft this and lobby for it kind of looked at this as really the first domino to fall, right. I mean, this is this is a radical change in consumer demand and the way that laws have to now adapt to what we're going through. I mean, I think john Henderson said it in the YouTube channel, but earlier, like, it only took a global pandemic, for us to finally move the industry forward. Right and 39:00 And if you look at that, I think we are moving in the right direction. Now it's a move in the right direction, but you need you need a legit state to jump on board with this to make it matter. And I think we're the first logistic unit. Well, the thing is the the list of states you just listed off there nothing in the record, you mean like a large long Nabila? gorgeou, Florida, you're nice. No, I like that. And that's when it's gonna make the most difference, like because the no offense the other states, but they're, they're peanuts compared to those and like, I just have a feeling to those states are gonna iron fisted, you know, to keep it in their states as well. So is that right move in the right direction, but it's not there yet. Well, I mean, do you look at this as a move for that? Or is it a move to actually help distilleries? Right, this is this is another another way that we can look at putting more money back into the pocket of the distillers. We've, I don't know how many times we've talked about this on the show that the three tier system has been a problem. 40:00 That's why the secondary market exists because, you know, they it goes off to the distributor and distributor goes, Well, I don't know, like it goes to whatever kind of algorithm that they want to however they want to do it. This now puts a little more power to the distilleries, if they want to do it. Yeah, they are. But they still have to have the distributor to process the tax payments and stuff. So the distributor is going to charge something and get a little bit but it does, it's definitely great for the distiller because they're gonna keep more revenue, but the distributors have, because I doubt each distillery is gonna have their own, you know, maybe they will, but I don't see enough. I just don't see enough shipping demand with those states to justify having a dedicated team to deal with the tax implications of you know, shipping and cutting out the distributor as the current level, not just attacks the right building out three commerce capabilities, building out the team, that shipping everything dealing with the customer experience online and all that stuff. It's it's harder than people realize to just snap your fingers and do those things. I think Transcribed by https://otter.ai
On this episode, we discuss two topics that are top of mind. First, is the Coronavirus and how it's impacting the bourbon industry. Then we take a look at the hype and hysteria that surrounds Blanton's. We dive into the recent news of Blanton's Gold making its way to the US and if we think $120 SRP is a deal you should jump on. You will hear a new voice for a few minutes and that is Aaron Goldfarb. You may have seen his work on various publications around the web. He wasn’t able to stay on due to some technical difficulties, but we hope to have him on again soon. Show Partners: The University of Louisville has an online Distilled Spirits Business Certificate that focuses on the business side of the spirits industry. Learn more at uofl.me/bourbonpursuit. Barrell Craft Spirits has a national single barrel program. Ask your local retailer or bourbon club about selecting your own private barrel. Find out more at BarrellBourbon.com. Receive $25 off your first order at RackHouse Whiskey Club with code "Pursuit". Visit RackhouseWhiskeyClub.com. Show Notes: Barrel Shortage: https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-there-a-bourbon-barrel-shortage-on-the-horizon This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about taxes. What are distilleries doing for coronavirus? History of Blanton's. How did Blanton's become so popular? Will limiting the purchases of allocated items work? Why don't distilleries use technology to manage this problem? Blanton's Gold coming to the US. Is it because of tariffs? Are they taking away from the European allocation? How can you make more product with only one warehouse? Will quality suffer with increased production? What other companies have a similar strategy to Blanton's? What do you think of the price point? Will Straight from the Barrel ever come to the U.S.? Thanks to Blake from bourbonr.com, Jordan from BreakingBourbon.com , Brian from sippncorn.com, and Aaron Goldfarb for joining. 0:00 Have you ever thought about a career in the whiskey industry? I'm not talking about being the next master distiller. But if you want a leg up on the competition, you need to take a look at the distilled spirits business certificate from the University of Louisville. This six course program will prepare you for the business side of the spirits industry like finance, marketing and operations. This is 100% online, meaning that you can access the classes at anytime, anywhere. So what are you waiting for? all that's required is a bachelor's degree, go to U of l.me. Slash bourbon pursuit. 0:35 So if you think back in the 1980s it was a bleak period for bourbon. 0:39 Thanks, thanks, Ryan. 0:43 Is poppin bottles they don't their shit what's going on around here? I'm listening really. I thought it was a good timing. 1:01 This is Episode 245 of bourbon pursuit. I'm one of your hosts Kenny. We've got a lot of news to cover. So let's hit it. Cova 19 are the corona virus is hitting everyone extremely hard. Now, I'm not sure why people are stocking up on toilet paper like they don't plan on leaving the bathroom anytime soon. But I'm sure most of us have enough bourbon to get us through this time. At this point, every major distillery has shut down tours. So if you had plans to visit the bourbon trail, please make sure you do your research before coming to see what is and what is not open. likely it's going to be nothing because even at this time, all bars and restaurants in the city of Louisville are admitted to shut down in person patrons. And in more coronavirus news. We've talked about this before about one of the benefits of having a state run liquor is that the product is always sold at SRP. Well, who could have predicted this but Pennsylvania one of those states where all spirits are government sanctioned and controlled have closed 2:00 All liquor stores in the state in definitely on Tuesday this past week. This also includes all online orders. So that means the entire state of Pennsylvania has literally zero access to bourbon. I guess after all this time we call them bourbon bunkers for a reason. 2:17 In a shocking vote, a bill is passed by the House licensing and occupations committee that allows Kentucky residents to get alcohol shipped to their door, but get this directly from the producer and wait for it without going through a distributor or retailer. This is a huge modernization and reform that could lead to a larger domino effect across the nation. Now this bill would require alcohol shipments meet very clearly labeled and an ID check and signature upon delivery. The producer would still have to pay the excise tax on all inbound shipments coming to Kentucky. However, retailers testified in front of the committee to express concerns about how the bill would negatively impact their businesses because people would be able to 3:00 for alcohol from their homes, and have it shipped to their door instead of going to the local retailer. In my head, I'm thinking, Well, yeah, that's kind of the whole point, right? However, that didn't matter. And now this amended House Bill 415 is going to the full house. We're going to keep you updated as this progresses. Is there a barrel shortage on the horizon? Well, Lou Bryson over the Daily Beast wrote an article where he interviews everyone from Cooper's to loggers and Miller's themselves. The loggers fear a shortage of white oak while the Cooper's really don't. Wood scientists see wetter conditions now than they have in previous years. And the increased deer populations actually eating acorns, which means less trees, and at this time, there's no plan to actually manage oak populations so it could lead to more maple and pure white oaks. However, independent Steve company says that they are coming off to rainy years where prices for logs were high, but now they see plenty of oak across 20 different states. Brown Forman cooperage says that they see more white oak now. 4:00 They have in the past 40 years, and the industry is doing better sustainability by harvesting oak at the right time to allow newer growth to form loosens up the pose talking about the coop urges only using about 2% of the hardwood industry. But he reflected upon his time spent with the logger. And he said that there is a lot of oak out there, but it's actually impossible to mill it because there's no Mills around and it's hard to get it out of the forest as well. So bourbon is gonna continue to be produced, but we'll have to see what the future entails. For the barrels themselves. You can read this story over the daily beast with the link in our show notes. Can bourbon be made in US territories like Puerto Rico and Guam? Well, Josh Peters over at the whiskey jug took this question to the TTB regulations division to see if it actually still would be legally called bourbon. Sure enough, they confirmed it that bourbon whiskey can be produced in Puerto Rico and Guam with reference to 27 CFR five dot 11 where the USA is defined 5:00 As the United States, the several states and territories and the District of Columbia, and the term state includes a territory and the District of Columbia, and the term territory means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. So there you have it. 5:15 Booker's bourbon batch 2020 dash one also known as Granny's batch will be released at 63.2% ABV or 126.4 proof. It is named after the sixth generation master distiller Booker knows mom, Margaret beam note. Although she never worked in the bourbon business herself, she certainly played an important role in keeping the bourbon family tradition alive, carrying the legacy on from the fifth to the sixth generation. She was very close with her oldest son Booker, who was instrumental in getting him his first job at the distillery where he would eventually go to become the master distiller. This bourbon is be released at six years, four months and 21 days in age. It would be available sometime around this month for around $90 for real 6:00 is setting aside six barrels to be chosen for and exclusively sold to the four roses mellow moments members. mellow moments is a special club organized by four roses that allows members of the general public to be a part of special gatherings, tastings. And you can stay up to date on for roses news. Plus get some cool trinkets sent in the mail every once in a while. new members can apply at select times during the year when the window opens, and the window to join when that membership does open is only for a handful of minutes so you better at quick. You can see their website for more details at mellow moments club.com. Now some pursuit series news episodes 22 and 23 are now available on sale box comm so if you're looking to get some killer bourbon shipped to your door during this time, head on over there and get stocked up. Episode 23 I'm super excited about because it's our oldest release ever at 15 years old. 6:57 Now today's show, we talk about two things 7:00 Things that are top of mind. First, it's that Corona virus, we had to talk about it. But we decided to change topics up a little bit because you've been hearing all about it on the news. So we got to kind of break away from it. And what are the bourbon is out there that can be just as argumentative. It's got to be bland. So we take the whole entire episode and talk about it. We take a look at the hype and the hysteria that surrounds it. we dive into the recent news of Blanton's gold making its way to the US and it do we think of $120 SRP, there's a deal that you should be jumping on. You're also going to hear a new voice for a few minutes when we start this. And that's Aaron Goldfarb. Now, you may have seen his work on various publications around the web, but due to some technical difficulties, he wasn't able to stay on for the entire podcast, but we hope to have him on again once in the future. All right, it's show time. Here's Joe from barrel bourbon. And then you've got Fred minich, with above the char, and remember, Go wash your hands. 7:58 Hey everyone, Joe here again. 8:00 I know I talk a lot about blending here. But we also have a national single barrel program, ask you a local retailer or bourbon club about selecting your own private barrel. Find out more at barrel bourbon calm. 8:12 I'm Fred MiniK. And this is above the char, death and taxes. So those are the two things that we are guaranteed in life to have to do taxes. April 15 comes around and every year I'm like son of beep, beep beep, had a night not remember to put all this together. And every year from a business perspective, I tell myself, I'm going to do a better job of keeping my books. And I never do. I never do I just focus on what I do. And then toward the end of the year, I rush and do all my books and well, I'm a procrastinator, if you will when it comes to the accounting side of my world. I need to get better at it. I will. But you know what, at least I don't have to pay 60 to 80% 9:00 Have taxes on everything that I do. And that, my friends is what Kentucky distillers have to pay about 60% of every bottle of bourbon that you buy, if you tally up all of the 60% of that goes to taxes. What's interesting about this is that Kentucky bourbon gets taxed six to six different times off the still in the barrel in the case in the bottom, and then the consumers pay a sales tax and in Kentucky, they have to pay a wholesale tax as well. So you have all these different taxes that they have to pay, that leads to leads to basically more more and more money that has to go to the government just for them to produce whiskey. Now, here's what's messed really, really messed up is that the distillers don't mind paying the taxes necessarily. They actually look at it as like hey, you know what? 10:00 This is not necessarily a bad thing. All that money a lot of that money gets earmarked to go to roads and schools of Kentucky. So like in Anderson County, you drive through there, and you see the nice roads and schools. Those were basically built by wild turkey and for roses, which puts a lot of money into that government infrastructure. Also Kentucky bourbon, the taxes are specifically earmarked for education. I think a couple years ago, when when things started, you know riling up with the teachers here, it became public that bourbon pumped $30 million into the education system. So I've always said like, if you want to, if you want to improve the Kentucky education system, buy more Kentucky bourbon. In fact, when you buy Kentucky bourbon no matter where you are, you are actually helping the roads, the schools, the children, the teachers, you're helping our entire state. So thank you 11:00 Because we have pretty nice roads out in the rural areas because people buy a lot of bourbon. But here's another fun fact, it wasn't until 2011 that the distillers were even allowed to write off their, the fact that they were paying these taxes, they would have to wait too until they bottled it and put it in the market before they could write off the expense of the the out of alarm tax that they were facing. So American whiskey has all these weird, awkward tax laws, that every time I start complaining about having to do taxes or do my books, I kind of look at myself in the mirror and say, Well, at least I'm not a distiller. So remember that this year, as you're going to put your taxes together, however you do it. At least you're not having to do 60 to 80% on the taxes and you get to write everything off when it's time to write it off. And that's this week's above 12:00 The char Hey, if you have an idea for above the char hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, until next week, cheers 12:11 Welcome back to another episode of bourbon pursuit the official podcast of bourbon Kinney and Fred here tonight people's champ isn't able to make it because of Corona virus things that are happening. So we'll go ahead and, you know, we'll send our best wishes to Ryan, he doesn't have a Corona virus. I don't want to make that make that clear. The way I said that probably sounded like really dire. No, he's actually trying to do some things for his for his job and set up daycare because we've got a lot of things happening where schools can be shut down for the next few weeks here in Kentucky. So he's got to make sure that he's taking care of his employees tonight. So we're gonna miss Ryan tonight, but we will go on without him. So before we kind of introduce everybody here, I kind of want to talk to Fred Are you are you Doomsday prepared? You guys got enough bourbon and toilet paper to get you through for the next month? Well, you know, 13:00 Like today was you know, I wasn't supposed to be on today because I'm supposed to be in San Francisco for the competition but last minute 13:08 you know we had a scare ourselves and my wife she's the on the committee for like getting the Louisville VA hospital prepared for the coronavirus. So we've been getting prepared I think for the last three months in fact, we we thought there's a tornado coming. Yeah, there might be a tornado coming. So we had a little tornado drill with a family. We all went down to the basement and I was really proud. We brought chips and toilet paper and you know, the baby had something to play with. So we got this. You Baby could play with toilet paper too. Well, he went he went down there and he went straight for the bourbon. I'm like, this is my kid. 13:48 It's in the DNA. Yeah. Alright, so let's go ahead. Let's go around the horn real quick. And but first before we hit some of our regulars, I want to introduce somebody that's new to the podcast and we have a special 14:00 And tonight so Aaron Goldfarb, who you will have probably seen from a lot of articles out there online. So Aaron, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me even though I don't know how to use a computer apparently so 14:14 it's okay. Well let it slide this time. We'll we'll do some tech support next time when you do calling a pinch hitter here. Absolutely. So just kind of give everybody a quick recap or kind of summary of like, who you are, where you write and everything like that. Yeah, I'm a, you know, accidentally fell into becoming a blues writer. I write a lot of whiskey articles, but I write cocktail articles, beer articles and food articles for places like Esquire punch, fine pair whiskey advocate, bourbon, plus my favorite place to write. 14:48 I've written a few books to hacking whiskey, most notably for your audience. Gather around cocktails was my most recent book and 14:57 just learned that my kid has been 15:00 next two weeks off school. So I think this is the end of my writing career for a while, at least. 15:05 We're all trying to set up some sort of daycares at home or, I don't know, maybe we should just like go out and like, buy the like 5000 piece puzzles off of Amazon and be like, here you go. This is your next two weeks. Exactly. 15:18 Alright, so, Blake, how you doing tonight? Doing well? Yeah, always good to be back. Just straight into my intro. I feel like we're kind of changing things up. So, you know, do I give the regular Hey, I'm Blake from bourbon or do I just talk about coronavirus or, I mean, you can talk about what's happened in your area. I mean, it's ya know, our craziness happening. No, it's well, I had the flu last week. So I feel like I was out and wasn't the corona virus was just the flu. So we're not we're not born. Yeah, yeah, I got tested. I got tested. I tested positive for the flu. So I decided, I guess I didn't test negative for Corona. But there's been no cases in Florida that I'm aware of. But no, it's just it's crazy. I mean, 16:00 The TPC, that's a huge thing in this area. And so they actually announced today that they're suspending all all fans from the tournament. And you know, this golf tournament will bring in over 100,000 people to come and watch it. So it was pretty disappointing. You know, I was supposed to be 16:21 I was supposed to be going out to a tournament with my son tomorrow. So that's a little disappointing. And it's spring break for us. And as you can see, my daughter's like in the background. So they're talking about extending spring break here as well. 16:39 But yeah, yeah, this should be interesting. I don't know. I'm, I'm one who, I just think you've got like a 1% chance of actually hitting and being devastated. So I'm like, I'll just be unprepared and 99% of the time, I'd be correct. So it's just that 1% gets me But no, so 17:00 lost interest for the longest episode we're about to get into. 17:04 You're right on point there. So So Jordan, what's happening? You're part of the world. Well, the Quran hasn't been declared so Western Eastern pa right. There's a bunch of cases nothing in Pittsburgh. So Pittsburgh's I wouldn't say naive, but like right around today was the first time a little bit of unease and unsettledness kind of kicked in. Right? And now that the NHL canceled the penguins, right, people are super upset. But I'm sure we'll be seeing cases pop up super soon. I don't really even know if they're testing or if they have test kits here in Pittsburgh yet so I'm sure there's cases that we don't know about. So I don't know. Thankfully, it's a state run liquor system. So there's tons of tons of bottles still on the shelves. I think people want to buy that one. But it's there slowly. And Brian in our part of the world Yeah, you're part of the world. Thanks for having me again, Brian with sipping corn Find me a bourbon justice calm. And I my only effect so far is tonight. Instead of doing this, I was going to be 18:00 Drinking an Evan Williams 23 year old old fish Gen 15 in the in the 101 12 year Evan Williams with a client and client had travel restrictions and wasn't supposed to go anywhere and so got my thing cancelled so now it's personal because it kept me from ever. But other than that, it's it's hasn't really affected me. I've got my daughter home from Dayton. They kick them out early. They won't be going back 18:28 to just I've got my bourbon Splott I'll be alright. And at one point for Aaron Aaron, I have to tell you this before I forget I tried to do from hacking whiskey the the bacon infused bourbon. It was probably the biggest flop that I have ever created in my life. I will need to talk offline. I need to know the secret because theoretically, everything about that I should just love and I ruined both urban and bacon doing. That's funny. I always tell people it sounds harder to do. 19:00 Fat washing that it is and it's almost impossible to screw up. But I guess 19:06 I've actually had a very similar experience, Brian, so I have a few minutes. You don't you want to slowly render the bacon made the mistake of like, crispy and I think just the brightness came through so that's what I yeah, yeah. Can't get black. Yeah, absolutely no Okay, good bacon pursuit come and say, 19:29 Hey, I'd go for I'd listen to that it sounds delicious peppercorn all over. So Fred, you've been kind of close to this, because I know at least with the corona stuff, you've been actually reaching out for distilleries kind of give us the latest on what's been happening with what the Steelers are doing for preparing for this? Well, I mean, you ask them personally, a lot of them will say it's all bullshit. And then when it comes to like a corporate message, they'll come out and say, 19:56 well, we're closing visitations starting 20:00 Monday so beam has closed visitations for you know Maker's Mark and the other properties. Starting on Monday, 20:11 brown Forman announced the closures of their Kentucky facilities for visitations on Sunday. And jack daniels on Monday. New rep has made similar announcements I have not heard yet back from heaven Hill. I've reached out to them a couple times. I've not heard back from them yet. Interestingly, places like the smaller distillers seem to be the ones that are kind of like, you know what, we're still doing tours like NB Rolen 20:40 in Western Kentucky was very proud to say that, you know what, we're still doing this. And, you know, so a lot of them have these kinds of plans in place, or for the visitor side, and they're all continuing production. I think production is like I think that's one of the 21:00 The hardest questions answers like what if one of the workers gets test test positive? what's what's the protocol? They're like? I mean, I really don't know what the manufacturing protocol is for when you have a pandemic and someone tests positive for something that gets out into the market. You know, do you have a recall? I mean, 21:19 I mean, those are the kinds of questions that they have to be taking. But at the same time, the Kentucky distillers association is meeting with the governor's office who has been meeting with the vice president. So I mean, we're like three degrees away from, you know, the highest office in the land here, when it comes to what can affect the Kentucky distilleries. So I'm not a I'm not an expert. And I'm not going to claim to be but from what I understand is that this is all basically through respiratory and oral is kind of how it gets transferred really easily. So unless people were like spitting in the mash tubs, I'm not too sure exactly. Even that it's probably because he's in a hallway. Yeah, and so I'm not too sure. Honestly, if even if 22:00 worker does, you know, come in and it actually is affected. I think the only thing that it might actually affect is just the production. Probably just send everybody home do shut down production for X amount of days, come back, do a deep clean, you know, go back, go back to work. Yeah, but there is this whole thing where you have to 22:19 the government's issue, like, where people had it, what would what they touched where they went, you know, I was, you know, I was somewhere and got it in and someone was there the day after me and I got an email about it. And, you know, that was kind of one of the personal scare for me, but, you know, I don't know, like, if somebody works in a factory, you know, does the government then require the that factory to issue a statement to its consumers, and I just don't know it. There's not really a precedent for any of this. 22:54 It's very, very scary. And I think it's more so right as much as they might want to keep many 23:00 fracturing right there just one part of the manufacturing puzzle. So if a farmer who distills the grains and drops them off, right not to sales, I'm sorry for the farmer harvests the grains and drops them off for the trucking company, he drops them off, or they can't drop them off because they have the colonel virus. Got any random ash, you're not doing much, right? Same with barrel, stuff like that. So I think it goes the whole or friends point, maybe you don't have to notify consumers, but then you got to notify your whole manufacturing chain, right. And maybe folks then don't want to drop off supplies because they're afraid that they're going to catch it for their employees. So I think it's just not as simple as you know, the virus doesn't survive much longer. You know, once it's out of somebody's system in the air wasn't just something for more than a few hours. So consumers should be safe, but it's more How does it impact everyone they interact with up and down the whole supply chain? Yeah, I think probably the biggest issue that's really is facing right now is the tourism aspect, which has been really it's been what the industry has been hanging his hat on, you know, with the with the rise of these like, the trade wars, you know, 24:00 This was the one thing that everyone said, Well, we still got like, domestic growth and we got tourism. And so you know, this is you take out the more than 2 million people coming here to visit Kentucky distilleries. I mean, my god there, there are talks in town about impacting the derby. I mean, I can't even imagine not having the derby. Brian, can you? I mean, I just can't I can't, I can't envision it. Now. I heard that today, too. They're talking about maybe postponing and it's, you know, they're still looking at it. No decisions made yet but that's, it's just crazy talk. I mean, let's face it, Churchill. I mean, there'll be like, I just bet from home. Oh, 24:44 yeah. Where's that from all right, no, fancy sign up for twin spires club and they'll give you you know, $50 free or whatever, and they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. 24:56 The other the other component of this, that 25:00 should be getting Blake excited, actually because a sale box is that this is going to be one of the moments where we see an enormous increase of shipments and people don't want to get out of their house. So they're not going to go to a liquor store. What are they gonna do? They're gonna buy, like, going to visit seal box calm or wherever. And 25:25 go Fred. Yeah. 25:29 It's 40 like 40 25:33 but uh, you know, that's that's what's going to happen. Is there going to get deliveries? I mean, we're all right. We're getting deliveries from, from Whole Foods and Kroger right now. So it's crazy. Yeah, I think there was somebody had actually talked about on our discord chat a little bit earlier through Patreon. And they were saying, Well, what happens if Corona gets spread into Amazon into these delivery services? And it was like, yeah, it's 26:00 It's a true concern. The other part of this is thank god they're heavily automated, right? There's robots that basically pack those boxes for everybody. But when someone sneezes on a robot, 26:11 what 26:14 are they ended to? Whatever this was all just a way for the robots to take control, actually run a virus. I'm with you on that. Now. I mean, everyone's talking about walking dead. But what if this is really Terminator about to happen? 26:29 They planted the seed. 26:32 conspiracies, Fred. What? 26:35 Surprise now pushing back in conspiracies speaking of vodka conspiracy, Jordan was today's email like a backhanded compliment to 26:44 Tito's yesterday What are we taught Hey, hold on. Let's let's set the stage here because I have no idea what 26:51 newsletter right for whiskey Wednesday, I went out and it was a PSA on how to make your own hand sanitizer. So he did give Tito's the nod and the fact that they are 27:00 aggressively letting consumers know whenever they tweet or interact with them on social media that no you cannot use Tito's for hand sanitizer because it's not 60% alcohol right so we did harm we do give them credit on that one right but I mean, let's be real if you're going to use hand sanitizer and you must use bourbon we prefer you drink it, but at least use 120 proof bourbon to do something right. But there's a comment in there too. Tito's about like, well, at least they're clearing some of the facts up and 27:27 crafted you know, made in Texas kinda 27:31 just made sure wasn't reading into it. But once again vodka fails. I mean, you look at it it's like everyone's like starting to champion it for something that it can make me be valuable for and again even do handsome. 27:46 That's that's a perfect way to end this. I don't really talk about coronavirus anymore, do you? Oh, yeah. No, no, no, that was much hysteria. Yeah, that was a nine. All right, good. So let's move on to the kind of the meat of the show here. Let's Shall we 28:00 Wait for Blake to open his bottle here because we can all hear it all that loud. 28:06 He had the mute control to hear it immediately. It's like gay. There we go. I'll mute him. Alright, perfect. 28:15 before the show started, you know, Aaron, you would think 42 times into this he would have figured it out. 28:23 But this is this is just like it's everything about get sanctioned. Yeah, it's it's either that his Wi Fi dies. I mean, it's, it keeps going. So, Alright, so let's kind of get into the meat of the show. Because the one thing that we've all kind of seen is just the hysteria that is surrounded Blanton's. And to kind of just give a little bit of background and context there is a great article that was posted by Chuck Cowdery back in 2013. And he gave a history of bland so I'm just gonna go ahead and just take like a minute or two just to read this just so everybody kind of gets up to speed on it because I know we've had people requests 29:00 Like, Hey, why don't you do an episode on the history of blends? Come to find out. There's probably not a whole lot that we could do a whole episode about. So this is gonna be it right here. So if you think back in the 1980s it was a bleak period for bourbon. thankthank Ryan 29:18 is poppin bottles they don't. They're shit what's going on around here? I'm listening Really? I thought it was a good timing. See, Aaron? This is what I'm talking about. Nobody, nobody's learned the proper or how to pour their PR, or I've got my mute button. I'll use camera but I pre poured everything and sure your next go. I've already popped a bottle or two on the show. So I think we're good. All right. I think everybody's got their bottle pops out of the way. Alright, so in the 90 or sorry, in the 80s. sales were down. inventories were high profits were under intense pressure and whiskey assets were changing hands. Most large producers were no longer independent. Instead they were part of conglomerates and with a portfolio of a household names back then. 30:00 Back then F Ross Johnson was the powerful CEO of Nabisco. Nabisco had a subsidiary called standard brands that included fleshman distilling. 30 Falk was the CEO of Fleischmanns and Bob Brandt and this guest Moran discuss my I'm gonna screw that up was the president. In 1983, Johnson decided to sell standard brands to Grand Metropolitan. A few years later, green Metro Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form biagio. Green Metropolitan already had a thriving drinks business that included JMP scotch and Smirnoff vodka, assuming they would be replaced after the sale folk and burnt Miranda's kiss. I know that's bad, resigned and started to start their own company. fulke was previously an executive with schenley. So he approached Muslim reckless, whose conglomerate own schenley about selling some assets Falk and Baranski has originally tried to acquire old charter, but reckless always needed money, so he agreed to sell ancient age bourbon brand and the distillery that produced 31:00 It then it was called the Albert B Blanton distillery. Today's Buffalo Trace folk and Baranski is called the new company h International. As the name suggests, they believe Bourbons future was outside of the US. One of the first moves was to enlist the master distiller at the time Elmer T. Lee with the creation of Blanton's single barrel bourbon to appeal to the Japanese market, but with multiple extensions in Japan and the US in 1991, fulke and Burns has sold 22 and a half percent interest in Asia international to Japan's to current shoes a with the right of first refusal to purchase the remaining shares in 1992, Fulk and Burns has sold their shares to Tucker for $20 million to car immediately sold the distillery to Sazerac but retain the corporate entity and brand trademark. Today Sazerac still owns Buffalo Trace and Buffalo Trace still produces all the whiskey for agent age, Blanton's and other age international products and brands using Nashville number two, which is also being used for Bourbons like Rock Hill farms as well. 32:00 Well, Chris Phalke commented on the article, and he said that that was his father ferdie had passed away from cancer in 2000. But Blanton's was the original super premium brand. And he said he can remember watching him draw the packaging idea on a napkin back in 1983. So follow all of that. Very. So. Yeah, I'd like to add, I'd like to add to that, because this is something that gets really lost in the history of that brand. And I would argue we could have a whole show on the history of it. 32:31 But in the 90s, basically, when the Albert Blanton was was head of the distillery he used to, 32:42 he used to take people out, and he used to pick barrels for him. And then he would actually put that into the Kentucky retail market, effectively making it like a single barrel asset, but they weren't really calling him single barrels back then. And so people you know, Sazerac were always you to use 33:00 It in their marketing that it was the first commercially available single barrel that often got pushback by people. But indeed, it was, but that brand had a huge impact on the world. You know, in my book bourbon I wrote about like how important it was for Japan and how it kind of opened that market up. Another thing that Blanton's did that was really important is it pissed off Maker's Mark and it started making fun of Maker's Mark and advertisements for the saying like, Oh, you have to talk about your wax because your whiskey isn't any good. So they kind of like you know, played with Maker's Mark in their own game and they went back and fourth. And so they had like this state, but blends created this statewide tasting competition, in which they selected tasers and Lexington and Louisville to to have a taste up between makers and blends. Blanton's one Lexington and makers one Louisville so plans is a really really important brand. 34:00 The return of bourbon and this Return of the the introduction of the gold. Blanton's is like For God's sake, it's about time. You know, it's about I want to want to get to that, because that's a that's a big part of today's show. But what I want to do is I kind of want to just trace this back about two years. And I want anybody that has a theory on why the hell did Blanton's just skyrocket in popularity? I know that we've seen it on some TV shows and everything like that, but was there was there something that happened that I missed that all of a sudden this round bottle the horse on top just just went crazy? I have a theory. So I want to jump in, but I guess I will. So I think it's and I wish I had notes because I talked to Chris Comstock about this the other day about 35:00 There's supply the supplies, not 35:04 the supplies, basically, I think it's like five x of what it was a few years ago, is what they're producing now. So it's not nearly as bad as people think. But in my opinion, what started to happen was a lot of these distributors in the store started seeing what was happening with Pappy and you know, the antique collection. And so they started allocating on the distribution side. So then instead of stores just like yeah, or whenever you want, they'd say, Oh, we can only give you two bottles. Well, then the stores start telling the customers Hey, look, I'm only getting two bottles of this. It's at that price point that makes it you know, the high end the bottles cool, it's it's, it tastes good. And so then as you know, that started building, you go into a store and see two bottles, you grab them and then there's an empty shelf. So then the I think the hype just started building and scarcity sells. So now every time people see it on the 36:00 shelf, it's like, oh, I've got to grab as many bottles as I can find or as I can get, because who knows when I'll see it again. 36:07 And that all seems to be happening happening over the last two to three years. I tell the story of that blanes was actually the first barrel pick I ever did for bourbon er, and that was back in 2015. And I remember the the retailer marked it up to I think it was $64. And I lost, you know, so many people saying that they're not going to work with a retailer that was trying to gouge like, I bought five cases, I had a few friends buy a bunch of cases. And now if I got a Blaine's barrel, you know, it'll be gone in a day and you could probably sell for 100 bucks a bottle or something crazy like that. But I still think it's all kind of like a an artificial demand or artificial shortage created by that middle tier. But that's just my opinion. I think it also has to do with the fact that right, so around that time, and don't get me wrong. We've been fans of Blanton's I think back in 2014 we caught 37:00 Call it out on the site that we weren't sure why people were overlooking up. But then is Buffalo Trace in general, right? So all their Bourbons started becoming more known to folks people started realizing Oh, pet Van Winkle comes from Buffalo Trace. Oh BTC What's that? Okay. And then Elmer got really big, right? And then others started getting big. So especially if they wanted a single barrel, right, they go in Hey, can I get an armor? Oh, you can't get an armor. But look at this cool bottle. You get this little horse top or his little wax on little bags, and I'm just finding the box. Why don't you go for that instead? Right? And it was just one of the it's just one of those things where people just want the next thing right so all right, so I can't get any other Buffalo Trace product. What else you got? You got plans, you can get that pretty easy. I'll take one of those. Right and then people start doing a little research, especially if people are really into bourbon. They realize that there's Blanton's gold, there's plans straight from the barrel, which used to be again, easy to find. So two years ago, it was what around two years ago I think master mouth stop shipping right and a lot of store shop stopped shipping from over in Europe. And it was just that snowball effect, right? There's no rhyme or reason to a lot of stuff. It's just people like to hoard people like to know what's cool. 38:00 Blanton's cannon right? Everyone, I'm sure has friends who asks, What should I buy in the store used to be really simple to say, Oh, just pick up a bottle of blends. It's great bourbon, reasonably priced. Just go for it. Right. I still say that. And then I catch myself going, except you're not gonna be able to find anymore, which stinks. But I think a lot of it is just that snowball effect that took place with consumers, especially around Buffalo Trace products. You brought up something very important. Jordan, as you brought up, Elmer T. Lee, and I've been thinking about this a lot since Kenny posed the question to us before the show about why did planes take off and I remember specifically after Elmer died, you could not find a martini you could not find it. And the one bottle that everybody recommended after that, because it was accessible was Blanton's, you know, it was a Rock Hill farms. It was always Blanton's was the was the bourbon that people recommended after Elmer T. Lee passed away. There couldn't be a more fitting bourbon to recommend since that was the 39:00 One that he brought, you know, he brought to life. And, you know, Elmer kinda gets forgotten. You know, Elmer doesn't get talked about as much as you know, some of the other deceased distillers like Booker know and Parker beam. And it's a real shame because he was a Titan of a distiller and I think that he would be, you know, smiling quite happily to know that his stuff was being It was very difficult to get he wouldn't be very happy with the price gouging. But I do believe that that is when it all started was in the in the quest to find Elmer. They got Blanton's and liked it. Fred, I kind of remember a little there was a at least a couple year time period where to me it was the opposite of that. People wanted Blanton's and and Elmer was aged couple of years more than Blanton's and I couldn't figure out why people wanted Blanton's instead of Elmer. I mean they're 40:00 is a time period where it over took Elmer. And I don't know anything about the production. I don't know anything about what's being withheld. But it it to Blake's point, it sure looks that way. So there's another thing that's sort of happening right now. And that is Buffalo Trace and heaven Hill are implementing new systems where you can only purchase allocated items that haven't healed sometimes it's once a month. And in the case of Blanton's at Buffalo Trace, they're now doing this once every three months of actually scanning your driver's license and turning people away. And this is because if anybody is unaware, the line that has been growing for Blanton's at the distillery has just gotten chaotic. I'm talking like two to 300 people that are waiting at six o'clock in the morning to get a bottle of regular Blanton's at the distillery. And so, you know, Aaron, kinda want to pose this question to you and get you get you involved here. Do you think this new system has a chance to actually succeed and work 41:00 Well, I was gonna 41:03 Aaron, you're cutting out, buddy. I think we lost him. Yeah, he and Blake or Sharon schleifer. 41:10 Want to bring them on camera? Yeah. 41:15 Yeah. Try to try to drop and come back on and come back if you can like maybe plug in or something. I'm not too sure. We'll, we'll get you. We'll get you in here. 41:26 All right, so so we'll take that in a different direction. So, Blake, do you think that has an actual chance to succeed with this particular kind of system? So what's the actual system again, sorry, I was typing whatever you know. 41:43 Loud they're only allowed how many bottles like one a month or something? It's this is what happens when like the teacher calls in you and you weren't paying attention. 41:53 Helen has placed they've had an in place for like two years they haven't held where they scan your license when you buy. Like buffalo grease implemented the same 42:00 Yeah, I mean you know you think about will it did that for a while and then they had their their do not sell to lists and everything, it'll, it'll definitely slow things down but I don't know. I mean, I think that's good because 42:15 ultimately you want some bottles at the distillery whenever people come and visit you. I had this experience a few weeks ago and we're up there and a friend of mines like, man, none of these, you know, these distilleries have any bottles like I thought it'd be able to get something cool. You know, heaven Hill, at least had. I remember what we got. I think that William heaven hill there. So at least there was something but that's the hard part is you don't want just the locals to come grab everything that is available. Turn around and throw it up on Craigslist or wherever people are selling these days. We don't do that in Kentucky man. Yeah, it's never happened. Right? Yeah. But you know, so you kind of want to spread it out a little bit. So I think that'll help. Um, but you know, it's 43:00 Like anything else, people are going to do what they want to do, they're going to send their sister they're going to send their cousin they're going to send, if they really want it that bad, but overall, hopefully it kind of spreads the allocation a little bit further. And I'll say, since I'm not located in Kentucky, right, I, at least from heaven Hill standpoint, I actually appreciate that they do that now, because it seems more often than not, whenever I go down to Heaven, Hell, and I always stop by when I'm in town, these tend to have a few bottles, right? That's, I think, based on the fact that they're helping to limit people from buying them. So from that standpoint, I think it's fantastic, right, especially being somebody who's visiting Kentucky and wanting to go I make sure to stop by the distilleries and buy stuff, but now they have stuff to buy, which I'm super appreciative. Yeah, and that's actually part of the reason this was actually implemented was Freddy Johnson was on the stage with Fred at legend series recently, and he talked exactly about this that this is all because of just trying to counteract the flipping game. And if you can limit of what people can get, then you can do that. And plus, they want to 44:00 Word people that are traveling from all around the country to go and visit the distillery and they want to get something unique while they're there. And this is an opportunity to actually make that happen. It's you know, they could release a lot more bottles to 44:15 we'll get to that option. Yeah. It's a difficult it's difficult, you know, I look at it, I look at it from the perspective of like, every time, you know, they, they, the distillers, like, wish for something and then they get it. And then like, five years later, they're like, Oh, shit. Yeah, like net. Like, I remember when they were lobbying for this. They were like, begging to have special bottles. They were begging to have this attention and this FaceTime with the consumers. And now you hear them and they're like, crap, what are we going to do? You know, like now they're facing some of the same problems at their retailer partners have so a lot more headaches for them for sure. 45:00 him personally, you know, three months is, I think a little bit generous. I would have rather seen a year. Because if there's two to 300 people lining up to do this, and they're bringing their brothers, their sisters, their cousins or aunts and their uncles to get a bottle of Blanton's. Like, let's just nip this, like it's Blanton's after all right, like it is it's good whiskey. But let's let's try to let's try to curb this because I don't see a reason why people should be going this nuts over and if they have a bottle of bourbon. And I think I remember seeing a lot of comments when people announced that this system is getting put in place. They're like, Oh, like why are you gonna hurt your you know, your biggest consumers and your cheerleaders and I'm like, they make a lot of different whiskey. There's a lot of different bourbon out there on the market. Like don't pin yourself into just like that one bottle. You know like that Nashville makes a lot of different stuff, right? So like you don't you don't need to be pigeon holing yourself and it just one particular kind of whiskey for everything. 46:00 You drink? Yeah, I was at a store one time and a guy was asking the clerk for it he's like you guys got any Blanton's as a total wine and and so everyone having plantains and I was like hey man like actually they've got a Hancock single barrel pick that they've done and it was like I think seven years old or something 46:20 the exact same mash bill you know, maybe it wasn't in warehouse H or whatever it is, but pretty much the exact same thing is like I don't want that crap. I'm like, Okay, nevermind. No, I mean why bother? No, you bring up a really good point though Brian right? The whole point the whole reason they had the horse in the first place right and way back when wanted spelled lens which is cool, but to entice people to keep buying it. So then you do find people who actually you know, for multitude of reasons right and I'm not judging whatsoever who once they find something and they do want to collect it just for that purpose. I realized you can buy the stopper from Buffalo Trace itself right? But they actually didn't want to start collecting the bottles just to get the topper so not only do they like up and other like corn 47:00 I need to get all the rest of them. Right. So now their demand is well, I just don't need one or two. Now I got to find all I got to the letters, I got to fill it out. Exactly. Right. So it's it's, they've kind of created a little bit of a headache in that sense for themselves. If there was no letters on the bottle, that would definitely eliminate a little bit of that from some well, and a lot of people in the comments have said that the dump date being on every bottle, you know, how many posts have you seen, you know, oh, my kid was born or you know, oh, I'm looking for this dump date. Yeah, work on whatever they want. Yeah, whatever it is, they they want that data on there. I mean, it's it's marketing genius is what it is. It's a product of success. You know, I think Fred alluded to this a little bit of they worked really hard to make these things popular and, you know, get special releases out of the distillery. And then I don't want to say it backfire, but I think it caused them more headaches, and they probably they were thinking it would but it's a product of success. So at the end of the day, I don't think they mind it. 48:00 No no no one thing that none of these companies are doing is they're not utilizing technology you know and Kenny I'd like to get your your thoughts on this because you're the tech guy but How hard would it be for them to like create like an order and hold or some some kind of system for online to connect with a point of sale where someone could plan their trip and then come pick up a bottle I just I just feel like there's so many opportunities to alleviate these problems that they never seem to explore they they're stuck in these inundated antiquated stand in line look at an ID kind of crap. I think it's just simple ecommerce is that a lot of and I think we've touched on a lot of times, even just retailers and everybody else in general, like this type of market is is behind the curve of what we see in every other type of industry. And so if they don't take the initiative to try to figure out like, how do we get our hands in the how do we get our product into the hands of consumers faster, easier, and less friction and make them 49:00 A happy consumer. If you don't take that into account, then they're not gonna do anything about it. You know, the other thing is, is that if you look at what the SAS rack is building with blends and Buffalo Trace and everything, like, they don't really, I mean, they're gonna sell out no matter what. So do they need to go through all that extra effort to invest in an e commerce platform to invest in something where like, I don't know whether they have their own online, put your email in a database and come and pick your bottle up on this date kind of thing? I don't know if they really need to. So it kind of like I said, there's there's, it's a double edged sword from there. And you do actually so Fred, I mean, that's a great point that you make both Kenny and Fred but you do see some distilleries doing that, right. So look at new ref. Look at angels MD with their main club, right? They both do that when they have special releases come out, you can pre buy and they give you a 30 days to pick them up or X number of days to pick up. I think that's it's great. And it's also great for again, if somebody is out in town to be like, Alright, I got a month to go pick this up. I'll plant quickly. 50:00 trip around this or something like that, right? And it drives people there. And then I'm sure once they're there, they're like, Well, shit, I'm here by some other stuff, whether it's from that distillery or local store around there, whatever. But it's just great for the local economy in general. And I wish more distilleries did that. He was envies absolutely crushing their special bottles. People make events out of that. And I have never talked to one unhappy person out of there. I mean, I hear I hear so many unhappy people coming out of heaven Hill, there's so many people, unhappy people coming out of out of SAS, right. Really no one from being but I don't think anyone's necessarily going there for special releases. But the key distilleries that have special releases of all them angels envy is crushing it by far that program that they have people love it. Yep. And plus, it's an easy way for you to kind of like allocate these things online. And not only that is you basically sell it before anybody actually picks it up. So it's, it's, it's instead of like putting it out there and hoping people come like, it's all online if you make it easy and frictionless 51:00 Then you're gonna have a much better way to you don't have that kind of like cash flow in that pipeline coming into man. What if they did like bourbon futures where you could like, you know, buy like a case of Blanton's five years from now. So technically that's kind of what Bardstown bourbon company is doing. So they their barrel pick now is you pay $1,000 deposit to get it, and then which I guess not technically futures, but then you let it age as long as you want. And essentially you just pay the same price for whatever the standard bottling is whether you let it go to 10 years or you let it go six months. 51:39 Yeah, yeah, I'm familiar with that. It's just not it's not proven, but like Blanton not nearly as exciting to Yeah, I mean, that it is it is a concept for sure. But like, I mean, imagine like if you could, if you could buy a futures, Pappy 23 right now when your child is born, 52:00 or something like that. You do it in a heartbeat. Yeah. Now, right now I would nobody would want to track that accountant. Somebody put in the or Aaron put in the chats about basically that's how Bordeaux works and yeah, you know the it's not like a Pappy 23 where you're waiting 23 years but there is some time there and it is interesting to see how that whole market works and I mean, it's pretty crazy. We may get there one day, the ghosts Yes, that's the one thing that we don't that we don't have that the wine world has is like these really high level business people call negotiators who basically broker every single thing. And I think that's why angels envy so successful with that program as West Henderson is kind of like a hybrid, you know, in this world. He's such a business forward leaning mind and you know, it has his dad's DNA. Anyway. All right, I want to shift topic a little bit because this is still gonna be Blanton's, but the biggest news 53:00 That happened last week or was it two weeks ago whatever it was was the idea and the announcement of Blanton's gold coming to the US 53:11 What do you get if you mix Seattle craft, Texas heritage and Scottish know how that's to bar spirits to bar spirits traces its roots to a ranch in rural Texas run by the founder, Nathan kaisers family for six generations. Nathan grew up on the ranch with stories of relatives bootlegging moonshine, and after moving into Seattle, he wanted to keep the family tradition alive any open to bar spirits in 2012. They're very traditional distillery making everything from scratch and each day starts by milling 1000 pounds of grain. Their entire product lineup consists of only two whiskies, their moonshine, and the only bourbon made in Seattle. Both bottles are being featured in rack house whiskey clubs. Next box, rack house whiskey club is a whiskey of the Month Club. And they're on a mission to uncover the best flavors and stories that craft distilleries across the US. 54:00 Have to offer rack house ships out to have the feature distilleries finest bottles, along with some cool merchandise in a box delivered to your door every two months. Go to a rack house whiskey club comm to check it out and try some to bar for yourself. Use code pursuit for $25 off your first box. 54:21 The biggest news that happened last week or was it two weeks ago, whatever it was, was the idea and the announcement of Blanton's gold coming to the US. And for anybody that has been a bottle chaser or you've been into bourbon for a little bit. We've all known that. Blanton's gold and Blanton straight from the barrel are something that we gravitate towards because you like oh, it's higher proof and, and now we're all like oh, and it's got a shiny gold horse. So of course I want all these. As Ryan said earlier, I want the I want the ski with all the gold letters on it now. So the there's a few questions that arise with this and the first one. I'm going to 55:00 Come to his tariffs, because one thing that we've seen is that tariffs are being it's being catastrophic to the whiskey industry in regards of just it's both sides of the coin here. Now, there is the idea that people are saying, Okay, well, if we are going to have to pay tariffs, then let's go ahead and hold more whiskey back that we know that we can sell to our existing consumer base here in the US. Do you all think that this is a reaction to that? Or do you think this was planned out a little bit further in advance? And they said, You know what, we're going to just do this because we're, let's go ahead and make some more headlines. I'll go first, right. I think 100% has to do with tariffs, right? I think they are looking in real time and how to react. I think they saw a business opportunity. And they're going for it right. They don't want to have products sitting there, or they don't want to overcharge consumers, 55:55 to needlessly sell to no one in Europe, if no one's gonna be paying that price. 56:00 They saw Hey, Blanton's is hot, let's make it happen. And 100% that played into it, whether there's a little pre work behind the scenes going into it potentially. But don't get me wrong, that current tariff situation 100% played into this. I also want to mention that in the press release, they also said that this is going to be an SRP of $120 for this particular bottle too. So don't forget that. 56:21 I like to say that at the top of Buffalo Trace is probably the single smartest person in the entire spirits industry, Mark Brown. That man had this plan probably five years ago and had a rollout leading up to it. And this year is probably going to be like, like some additional Weller products, maybe a single barrel or something like that. I mean, you're going to start seeing like Buffalo Trace, kind of like, take their super premiums and dice them up into more limited edition releases. And it's it's all about getting another skew getting another press release at another company. 57:01 They they own a lot of the conversation market, they own a lot of the store they own almost all the skews that all the retailers want. And if they every time they add one, they've got another one. So they have another reason to have a meeting with a retailer they have another meeting to have a meeting. Another reason to have a meeting with a an on premise person plans goal, in my opinion, is probably just one of the actually well they're foolproof last year was the beginning of the rollout of seeing the kind of evolution of what Buffalo Trace is planning to do with their premium product. They're dicing them up gradually raising those price raising the prices up a little bit more and making them even more valuable. Yeah, and I don't know that's a it's looking at it from a marketing standpoint. Genius. Yeah. 57:57 I don't know there's there's a lot better 58:00 Values out there in my book and I just I I try to resist so much of the hype and I I like the ancient age products probably better than than their other mash bill and and other than some Weller 12 or the the B tech, William LaRue Weller the ancient age math is my favorite Mossville. 58:25 But the marketing just it rubs me the wrong way. I get it. And I wish Aaron was able to stay on because he could speak very highly to this with his experience at Esquire and some of the other more industry facing publications. I'm just telling you, man, you could just throw you could you could dangle any Weller Blanton's, even Buffalo Trace, you know outside of a Manhattan window and you'll have like 50 bro dudes chasing it down. It's the stuff is crazy. And it's genius. And congratulations to them for doing it. It's absolute genius. 59:00 But there's so much for roses and wild turkey out there that that in other brands that are so much better and so much more of a value, I just don't get it personally. So so then that then that then that that's not really a knock on them. That's basically that's our job to say, hey guys can't get this, you know, try this and i and i think Jordan does a great job of that. I think Blake does a great job of that. Kenny, you really just drink it all. So 59:30 Equal Opportunity drinker. That's right. 59:33 And so Fred, I kind of want to like take a counter argument to kind of what you said a little bit, because there was something that came up in the chat by Dave Preston. And he had mentioned that, you know, he thinks that this has to do with like, increased stock that's resulting from ramped up production. However, I kind of look at it and think like, well, maybe they're just taking and to take Jordan's side of this. Maybe they're taking away from the European allocation now and just shifting to the United States, because we've all been 1:00:00 on tours here, right. And we all know we've been in the Blanton's bottling Hall, every day you're in there. They were bottling plants, and they're doing it around the clock every single day. And it doesn't seem that they can keep up with the demand. So where is all this extra inventory coming from? If you don't think it's just like taking away from European allocation and from tariffs, if, like how to keep pumping out more product. So again, this is my opinion, this is all been planned. These are not knee jerk business people. These are very smart strategic, especially when it comes to marketing, and they happen to have great whiskey. And I just think this was a part of it. Did they change their European allocation? Hey, maybe they did, but I think this product was always planned. Maybe Maybe it got bumped up a little bit for for anticipation of more terrorists or continued tariffs. But I think this has always been in, in creation. And I think we're going to see a lot more 1:01:00 from, from that distillery with new products coming out of their heavyweight prop brands like Weller and Blanton's, and, you know, I don't think we'll see anything added to the Buffalo Trace antique collection. But I think you'll start seeing more limited releases. I got to push back just a little bit on that too, though, Fred. So I think, don't get me wrong. I think it's super smart if they were planning this for a few years, right. But I think I would categorize them just as smart for being a very smart businessman. If they read the current situation. They read the current landscape, the current tariffs and said, Alright, how can we capitalize this? Right? How can we turn this around and make it so that it works in our favor? Right, I'd say that'd be a just a smart individual and just a smart move. So while it may be planned, right, I got to give them I hope I'd give them credit for reading the current landscape and saying, what can we do to make this work in our favor? And hey, maybe both are Right, exactly. You know, so like, what I know is I'm not running a billion dollars. 1:01:56 I'm sitting here. So I am, this isn't 1:02:00 Confirm, but it was basically like kind of backdoor confirmed of Buffalo Trace production. So they were producing about 12,000 barrels a year in 95 by 2010, that was around 100,000 barrels. And by 2018, it was 250,000 barrels. 1:02:17 So may not be exact, but gives you an idea of the ramp up. They've been doing over the last, you know, two decades. So when you talk about they may not have had to steal from the European allocation. That's where I think there is more barrels that are going around now whether or not it's just a you know if it's really because of tariffs or is just because, you know, take advantage of the US market a little more. I think it could be a little bit of both, maybe it turned out to be good timing. But at the end of the day, I think they love the new press releases, they love the new brand extensions. You know, what was it 1:02:54 is it benchmark that's getting the next redo You know, we've seen them do it with well are now the 17 1:03:00 to benchmark and I think well, you know, they've kind of evolved the H Taylor brand to have a new release every year. I think we'll just like Fred said, we'll just keep seeing new bit several new releases each year because they want to be able to go back to t
Introductions to who we are, and what this podcast is about! We drink 2019's William Larue Weller from Buffalo Trace, and talk about what things a new Dad should consider. Also, no Chipotle baby jokes. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/100proofpapas/support
In this episode, the ladies invite fellow ABV Network personality, Susie Youngson from Birmingham, Alabama on the show. The stories she has are enough to confirm this place is HAUNTED. Not only do they discuss some of Susie's closest friends and family's encounters, but they talk about the Sloss Furnace and it's terrifying history. A former worker's spirit who was responsible for 47 deaths while he was alive (the man, nicknamed Slagg) seems to still hang around the area and give some unsuspecting visitors a slap, right across the face! Also discussed are the stories of Father Coyle and his gruesome murder, Harry the Hacker and some Civil War ghosts too. The ladies choose William Larue Weller bourbon, part of the 2019 BTAC release.
Our all-star panel is back recording with us on a Saturday night from the Whiskey House in Nashville. Join the Dads and their friends Chris, Gideon, John, and Sasha as they review 2019 William Laure Weller, and give each other a lot of hell in the process. Get your 10% off Nose Your Bourbon kit by using DDB10 at https://www.etsy.com/shop/NoseYourBourbon Get your liquor shipped to your door at www.caskcartel.com All glassware provided by www.distilleryproducts.com
After a 2+ month break, we are back in studio (kitchen) to spin gold for the masses (dozens). We sip on some 2017 William LaRue Weller while listening to Dillon spit knowledge he gained during his whisky-centric trip to Ireland and Scotland, upcoming New Year's resolutions, our largest-scale tour and tasting yet, and various other nonsense sprinkled in between. Also you'll get to hear us gracefully work through some technical difficulties. Give us a break! It’s been a long hiatus and we’re knocking off the rust.
The Fine and Rare series is back, this time tasting some of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Tonight we have a taste of the 2008 and 2018 Releases of the Wheated William Larue Weller. Welcome back to the Secret Speakeasy as Brandt and Scott find out just how much of a difference 10 years in the bottle makes. “If you came here to learn, drink what you have learned. If you came here to share, share what you drink. If you came here a stranger, may you exit as a friend; and if you came here for and adventure, drink up!” Facebook Group The B-S.E.A. Whiskey Glass
Such a massively good wheater. Best of all time? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stu-swenson/support
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OakQcL3RA_o] On this special edition of Whiskey Quickie by Bourbon Pursuit, we review the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection in five 60 second reviews. The collection includes: Sazerac Rye 18 Year, Eagle Rare 17 Year, George T. Stagg, Thomas H. Handy, and William Larue Weller. Each bottle has a suggested retail price of $99. Which is going to be our favorite this year? Watch and find out. Cheers! Whiskey Quickie is brought to you by Barrell Bourbon. Learn more at BarrellBourbon.com. DISCLAIMER: The whiskey in this review was provided to us at no cost courtesy of the spirit producer. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is our honest opinion based on what we tasted. Please drink responsibly.
Hosts Samara and Armond talk about the bourbon lifestyle, review a bourbon from both a female and male perspective and talk about upcoming bourbon events. On this episode, Samara and Armond rate the 2018 William Larue Weller from Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection. Learn more about Samara and Armond via their website: blackbourbonsociety.com. Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the ABV Network Revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.
Matt and Scott take a break from programming to revisit a cherished subject -- whiskey. Frequent guest and fellow whiskey connoisseur Robert Santana returns to offer his opinions. We'll be hearing more from "Bobtana" in the future on training supplements, but today we turn to the more universal supplement of whiskey. The group discusses their current favorite whiskeys, old standbys, and which bottles have stood the test of time after years of exploration and experimentation. The Go-To Whiskeys Santana: Rhetoric, McKenna 10yr, Woodford Double Oaked, Little Book Reynolds: Elijah Craig Barrel-Proof, Weller 12 (or Weller 107), Rhetoric, Willett (for rye) Hambrick: Weller Antique 107, McKenna 10, Elijah Craig Barrel-Proof, Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye (115 proof) Many of these bottles can be had fairly cheap, under $50. These bottles have stood the test of time and consistently deliver a good experience, even after tasting the top shelf stuff. Hambrick notes that you'll see a couple different versions of Elijah Craig that look very similar. You want the "barrel-proof," NOT the small batch. For rye whiskey, Reynolds also likes anything by High West: Midwinter Night's Dram, Rendezvouz Rye, Double Rye!, Bourye. The Affordable Whiskeys If the $50 price point is too much, these are some good bottles to get you started on a budget: Old Grandad 114 (make sure it's the 114) McKenna 10 Weller Special Reserve Eagle Rare Sazerac Rye Hambrick has recommended Buffalo Trace in the past, but nowadays leans toward any of the above bottles instead. The #1 Whiskey Santana: Pappy 23 -- the 23yr is unique among the Pappy family being sweet and oaky at the same time Reynolds: Black Maple Hill 23 (with Heaven Hill 27 a close second and honorable mention to Pappy 15) Hambrick: 2015 William Larue Weller -- super high proof (nearly 70% ABV), no surface tension, an experience, not a flavor Reynolds and Hambrick agree that the alcohol in high proof whiskeys pull flavor out of the barrel in a way that lower proof distills cannot. As always, according to Hambrick's rule just about anything over 120 proof is worth buying. If it's 140 proof or over, Reynolds says you HAVE to buy it. It's not a guarantee, but it might as well be. What about Scotch? Hambrick would "kick over a bottle of scotch" to get to any of the above whiskeys, but he does have some scotches they like. Reynolds points out that the low-end scotches are generally better than low-end bourbons. Some affordable scotches worth mentioning: Macallan 12 Lagavulin Oban Producer Trent likes Balvenie Doublewood 12 or Springbank 10 for an inexpensive bottle Discounts Save 5% off any order at Dominion Belts with the discount code fahveoff. Connect With Matt Matt on Instagram Starting Strength Online Coaching — Matt’s website Matt on Facebook Matt on Twitter Connect With Scott Scott on Instagram Silver Strength – Scott’s website Scott on Facebook Scott on Twitter Connect With the Show Barbell Logic on Twitter Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook barbelllogicpodcast@gmail.com
Today I taste both the 2017 and 2018 WLW from the BTAC collection and pick the best!!! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stu-swenson/support
On this episode of Chill Filtered, Adam and Cole try one of the most award winning bourbons of all time, William Larue Weller (2015 vintage). They talk about moving cities, rough Madison weather changes, and three huge names in whiskey (Stitzel-Weller, Van Winkle, and Jim Murray). And on Whiskey World News, Adam reads an article about the American whiskey boom compared to that of other whiskies around the world. Have a listen to find out what makes a lauded wheated bourbon and find out if both the boys rate this whiskey as great as the Whiskey Bible would. Music by Larry Hill www.chillfiltered.com www.patreon.com/chillfiltered www.whiskeygoals.com
Best ever? Maybe? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stu-swenson/support
Cole is back from vacation in Colorado and he came back with gifts like William Larue Weller and Thomas H Handy Sazerac. We'll be tasting those on the podcast soon, so keep an eye out for those episodes. Cole also brought Adam a Pliny the Elder, which is a beer brewed by Russian River that Adam has always wanted to try. Cole even packed the bottle in ice on his checked baggage so the beer would stay cold. Adam is excited about big things happening on his other podcast, Madison Story Slam. On this episode, Adam is providing a whiskey he fell in love with: Knob Creek's Cask Strength Rye. Adam loves this so much that he has declared it his sharing whiskey, and has so far bought 3 bottles of it. Tune in to hear thoughts on this pour and more from the boys. www.chillfiltered.com www.patreon.com/chillfiltered www.whiskeygoals.com www.madisonstoryslam.com
First, Greeze thinks he can stump Will by blinding him with George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, and Lincoln Road's Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select. He was wrong, for obvious reasons. Then we have some delightful samples from our buddy Jon (@j5bourbons on Instagram). It includes JPS 25, Dusty 8yr 101 Wild Turkey, Old Rip Van Winkle from the 70s, and some Eagle Rare. Then, after the 15, we try "Not Your Father's Bourbon" that was sent by our listener Matt. It receives the buy, bar, pass treatment. Get tickets to the premiere whiskey event of the south: Southern Whiskey Society -- www.southernwhiskeysociety.com We will be there podcasting and drinking with you fine folks, so you won't want to miss this on Aug. 25, 2018.
Today's #boozysnack is William Larue Weller BTAC 2017 a gracious gift from Stu @bonkers4bourbon it's delicious thanks Stu! Follow the #bourbonandbranchpodcast on Twitter @bourbnbranchpod, cheers! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bourbonandbranch/support
Today I do a second installment of my blind flight taste test Barrel strength. I do a taste test of William LaRue Weller from the Buffalo Trace antique collection, Elijah Craig Barrel proof, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, and Stagg jr. Which one will come on top? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stu-swenson/support
The recipe a bourbon starts with during fermentation is the DNA of the whisky, but it's not everything that goes into the whisky. We discuss the most famous bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle, and the other whiskies that share its recipe and have likewise enjoyed fame and inflated prices! In this episode, we drink Old Rip Van Winkle, William Larue Weller, and Weller Antique 107.
The recipe a bourbon starts with during fermentation is the DNA of the whisky, but it's not everything that goes into the whisky. We discuss the most famous bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle, and the other whiskies that share its recipe and have likewise enjoyed fame and inflated prices! In this episode, we drink Old Rip Van Winkle, William Larue Weller, and Weller Antique 107. Subscribe to the podcast via: iTunes - http://apple.co/1EXyF6j Google Play - https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.... Follow Jamie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bourbonthin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bourbonthing Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markbylok Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markbylok Shout-out to Char No 5 for providing us the space, a great place to get a drink (75 Lower Simcoe St, Toronto) The theme song is licensed in thanks to Alan Doyle! It's available on iTunes.
Today is day 9 of our 12 bourbon reviews for Christmas. Today is a very special day as I review William LaRue Weller part of the 2017 Buffalo Trace antique collection or btac. Is this bottle overhyped? Let's find out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/stu-swenson/support
The 2nd Annual ChristmasBourbonPaloozaExtravaganza happened this week. It's our Christmas tasting we through for our buddies with Chris from Made South and Joe Bourbon. This year we went crazy and did 16+ whiskeys in the tasting. It was an epic night, and a feat most mere mortals couldn't handle. Here is the list: Old Taylor 6 Year (pre-game) Kentucky Owl Rye Whiskey Batch 1 Kentucky Owl Bourbon Batch 7 Evan Williams 23 Year Dusty Wild Turkey (1993) 1969 Old Crow Chessmen 10 Year Four Roses Al Young 2017 Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2017 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon E.H. Taylor Four Grain Belle Meade Bourbon “Carother’s” Store Pick Joseph Magnus “NASA” Store Pick 2017 George T. Stagg 2017 Thomas H. Handy 2017 William Larue Weller 2017 Parker’s Heritage Plus, Chris threw in a brown bag. Listen along with our night and hear how crazy it got. Hope you all have a great week preparing for Christmas, because it may take you a while to get through all this!
Episode 2! This week, we dive into some of our favorite and least liked bourbon packaging and review something real special. Please give us a rate and review! Check out the shop at http://bourbonshop.threadless.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybourbonshop/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mybourbonshop Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybourbonshop/
Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2017 @buffalotrace @TheBourbonMafia @flaviar_com @SazeracCompany Co hosts : Made Man Maury, Made Man Brent, and Made Man Bob SIPS Episode – The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is one of the most coveted whiskey product lines every year. The 2017 collection is no exception and each year brings both subtle and vast differences. Our expert cast breaks down each product to see if the effort to find these are worth the chase. We cover the lineup of products: 2017 William Larue Weller 128.2 Proof SIPS-5 2017 Thomas Handy 127.2 SIPS-5 2017 Sazerac 90 proof SIPS-5 2017 George T. Stagg 129.2 Proof SIPS-5 2017 Eagle Rare 90 Proof SIPS-5 You can check out all the details on this release from our friends at The Bourbon Review Buffalo Trace Announces the Release of the 2017 Antique Collection Whiskeys (http://www.gobourbon.com/buffalo-trace-announces-release-2017-antique-collection-whiskeys/) This is the best reference we use for tracking down the BTAC release 2017 BTAC Release Map (http://bourbonr.com/blog/2017-btac-release-map/) Sips, Suds, & Smokes info@sipssudsandsmokes.com @sipssudssmoke Sips, Suds, & Smokes is produced by One Tan Hand Productions using the power of beer, whiskey, and golf. Hosted online at Spreaker and available on iTunes, Google Play, PRX, TuneIn, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and YouTube. Our thanks to Sazerac for providing the product samples for this episode. This episode is presented by: Flaviar, it’s an online whiskey club for spirits enthusiast. Join the club and get your quarterly tasting boxes, free shipping on full size bottles, invitations to tasting events, and exclusive access to rare and vintage editions. http://Flaviar.com/sips More information on the Bourbon Mafia, a fraternal organization of whiskey aficionados. https://www.facebook.com/thebourbonmafia/ Enjoying that cool new Outro Music, it’s from Woods & Whitehead – Back Roads Download your copy here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/woodswhitehead2 The best way to find this show on your phone is just ask Siri or Google – “Play Sips, Suds, & Smokes Podcast”
Steve, Evan and Alicia talk about the life of William Larue Weller on the anniversary of his death. The Bourbon Daily intro music (Welcome to the Show) and outro music (That’s A Wrap) are both by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).
Paul Steele of the Steele Speakeasy (sometimes called the Patron Saint of Bourbon by the PodCask) had Will and the Greeze back over for some good bourbon. As you'll hear, we planned on drinking 6 whiskies and ended up drinking 9. Two bourbons we drank were dusties bottled in the 60s: Austin Nichols Wild Turkey and Ezra Brooks 12 year. Among other things tasted: 4 from the Parker's Heritage collection, Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond, William Larue Weller 2016, 1792 Port Finish. ALSO -- the great Brita experiment with Wild Turkey happens in this... don't miss it!
Steve Ausburne breaks out the closet booze on a special Labor Day Episode. Casey Williams opens the show by bringing up cinema masterpiece, One Crazy Summer which of course requires an exploration of the career of Mr. John Cusack. William Larue Weller - Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2014 is eventually poured over discussion of Australian megastars like Yahoo Serious. The guys break down their recent Dads on The Rocks show at Hopmonk in Sebastopol and Steve gives a brief review of Herman Mellville's Moby Dick, because that makes sense. Then, magically Danny Theriot appears to save the day along with controversial reports regarding Merv Griffin. Hangover remedies are explored and future shows are announced. This episode is nothing short of a Labor Day Miracle. Contact: Twitter: @barrelproofpod Facebook: www.facebook.com/barrelproofcomedy Email: barrelproofcomedy@gmail.com
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