Cedar Ridge Double Barrel Rye!

Welcome And The Quintessential Name

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to the Whiskey Chasers, where we talk about our passion for whiskey and its history, either amongst ourselves or while interviewing distilleries. All while enjoying a glass. I'm Steve, I'm Nick, and I'm Chris. Please enjoy responsibly while enjoying this week's episode of the Whiskey Chasers. So the the reason for Quintessential and being called the Quintessential is their last name is Quint. And so it's a play on words that just really works out because Quintessential is a great name for us.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

So here's that reminds me of like the Kaiser original. Okay. The a knife. Okay. So the so you'll you'll get it in a minute. So the Pro Tech Malibu, which is a fantastic knife and sought after. Not as much now as it used to be, but it was the first ever like manual button lock. And a lot of people are like, what the hell is he talking about? But basically it's you you get the it's like a push button auto, but without the spring. So you get the it's it's fun. But it was the first one, and everybody saw you couldn't get it, right? Kaiser came out with a button lock. They were like the second ones to do it, but they named theirs the Kaiser Original. So if you were to type in original button lock, what do you think pops up? Kaiser does. Yeah, not not that not the Protect Mount, which is the original. Yeah, it's Kaiser. Yeah, smart, right? Are they German? Uh yes. Okay. Well, they're Chinese, but I think the name is German. But it's one of those German-Chinese type of deals.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Yeah, because there's so many of those.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Yes, there are. It's it's uh Klein tools, like I mean, you know, at any rate, uh, but you get what I'm saying? The quick quintessential that is that's a great idea. Because if you ever look up like the quintessential uh American single ball, boom, that thing's gonna pop up. That's gonna be the one.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yeah, smart. I thought when we did it, that was like their one and only time of doing it.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

And so when I think it was early on, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

So when I was at Tipsy's and I saw and I sent a picture to Steve, I was like, I I literally thought this was the same one you had because I didn't think they were doing it anymore. Like I thought that was it. One and done, just gonna try it.

The American Single Malt Boom

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Because it was there, if I remember, it was they are Scotch lovers, and they tried an American singamalt, but almost in Scotch way, like Scottish or Scottish traditional ways. And I remember trying it going, this could be for Scotch drinkers, and I remember you trying it going, I hate both of those ideas that this is Scotch or for Scotch drinkers because this sucks.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

I was I was probably really offended about it.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

You were you were very offended about it. I was a lot more close-minded than that was was that the first American single mall that we ever did? Yes, it was for sure the first American single.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

We probably didn't get a lot of hate. Yeah, because I did used to be like yeah, I I said it was my first American single mall. I don't think it was. I think I'd had some previous because I think that's why you told me to get it while I was out there. You dabbled, but it was early, yeah, it was early on. Was that before Beams single mall? Yes, okay. I re I remember Beams. Yeah, Beams came out in 2020. I remember saying I like yeah, really that was just a couple years ago. 2024 was the year of American Singamall. That's when all the big companies came out with their American single mall. 24. And then last year, 25, it kind of it just kind of petered out a little bit. Like a the none of the big guys kept doing it. They all came out with their one and then they were done, mainly because they all overcharged for it.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

They made them a specialty, like $110 kind of 80 was the bare minimum like entry point for American single malt. Yeah, they were really expensive. By the big guy, yeah. Like you, if you saw an American single malt, 80 was going to be their bottom number, yeah, and then it would go from there.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

They became specialty, but the the exception to that was beam. Theirs, I think, was like 50 or something like that. Like it was it was pretty reasonable, but they didn't label it a beam product.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

And they also didn't really label it an American single malt. Like it was something weird that they labeled it as.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

It was an American single malt, but it was I think they added an extra word to it or something. Like uh, yeah, I don't know, it was American malt whiskey or something like that. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Yeah, I feel like they named it something odd where they kind of they tried setting themselves apart with it, yeah. And yeah, they kind of petered out, which is interesting because it never I mean you think about uh Virginia distilling, they do or do American, they start it started with American Single Malts. Then you've got the West Westwood, Westwood that it was or Westworld or Westworld, yeah. And then you got uh Cedar Ridge that Cedar Ridge, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

They've their big start was New American Single World.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Uh what's the one out of Colorado? Oh um uh they they do like uh the Blue Peak, yeah, all those, yeah. They do like the skiing kind of thing. Stranhands, strand hands. There we go. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

So you gotta, I mean, these smaller guys made it big, but so and a lot of companies added it as like one of their first runs or like an early release for a lot of them because it's it's just barley, it's a lot easier to make, and so a lot of people were coming out with that as an early craft thing, which I think may have heard it at the beginning because I think we got some we got a lot of variety and maybe not great variety at the start there, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

But you got some of these craft distilleries like Cedar Rich that started with or did an rendition of it, but they've they kind of added it in. They were at that sweet spot where they had a good following for their bourbon and their rye, and they added in that American single malt that people went, ooh, it's a right around that time where I trust American single malt from craft distilleries. I'll go for it and see what happens. It's very unique for them to do that, like very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

And this bottle, this is their double rye, their double barrel rye, their second batch, I think their second release of it. Batch two, yep. Uh, this came out in 2024, November of 24 was the first release, and then November 25 is when this bottle came out.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Makes sense. Uh yeah, tipsy would have had it in right around December, January.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

So we have a double barrel rye, and the proof point on it is only 105. So it's a semi-low

Opening An Aged Tobacco Bag

SPEAKER_00 6:20

proof point, I would think, a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

What are we smoking with it, Chris? I'm trying to date this bag over here. That's what I'm looking at, and I can't figure out what it's like. It's not one of the new ones that you got. No, this one we I've had for a while.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

I I want to say I feel like I recognize it from the pictures you've sent.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Yeah, no, so he did send a bag, a picture of this bag to us to to see if we wanted to buy it or not. But this particular bag is older.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Was it Dunbar? Was that one of the ones that was on? There was one of them, yep. Uh, I want to say this one I got uh right around 2017 or 2018. So it's actually got some age on it. Okay, I just can't figure out the date on it, but this is a bag, this is a first for the podcast. We've never done a bag. Yeah, I was gonna say, how do how do bags age? I you know, I've had good luck with them, but we're about to find out. Also, esoterica.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Are they vacuum sealed by the way? Yes, okay. Uh, I don't have my knife on me, which is like a I'm sorry, you don't have a knife in this room even?

SPEAKER_03 7:16

I literally just got home. Like, Steve got home. Uh I got here like five minutes after I got home. I had enough time to sit on the couch and turn on the boys, and then and then Steve rang the doorbell. You keep saying the boys, and I keep thinking about your kids. And I got a phone call for my mom. I got I'm good, Steve. I got it. And anyway, what what would you ask me? I can't remember now. How do bags age? I don't know. How old is it? I think it's like from 2017.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

The only bags I've ever seen are for like the the bulk blends. Oh my gosh. And I don't I don't know that I've ever So I've never had this super aged. So this is gonna be a thing. So, question for you. This would this might be the dumbest question. One of the dumber questions I've ever asked. The tins that you guys have, are those vacuum sealed or just sealed? It's all vacuum sealed. They're vacuum sealed, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

Okay, that's why it makes the pssst sound when you open it.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

I just I I think of vacuum-sealed bags, and I don't think tins are the same way. You know what I mean? No, they are. What the crap?

SPEAKER_03 8:08

No, that's a vapor. That's just Virginian Parik, but done really well and aged for a hot minute.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Esoterica Dunbar.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

Until you smell that, Steve. Esoterica Dunbar, it's a really good vapor, like a really good one. I just I just love that. Uh last time I opened a bag, which was a while ago, I smoked through it in like two weeks. Have you had a tin? Which is a lot. Yeah, I've had a lot of tins of that, but I've only ever had like a couple bags because you don't find the bags that often. And the bags are the way to go because you get a lot more bang for your buck.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Okay, it was a better price when you sent those pictures of stuff, and I opted to go for the tin because I was afraid of the bag.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

Well, the price also that was before the price. Look at the price on the bottom. 40 bucks. Yeah, so that was before inflation. It's closer to 50 or it's over. Yeah, 50, 55 or something. It's over. Still a good deal for the bags, but what do you get on that? What do you guys get on the nose?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

I got peppermint that last time. Thank you. Yeah, I'm getting so I'm getting like uh like the homemade or the the the healthy leather, like yeah, for vapor.

SPEAKER_03 9:11

It smells almost kind of candy corny.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Candy cornish, but pepper, peppery. So I'm getting like the orange or like plummy, um like fruit leather, not like not like fruit by the foot or fruit roll-ups kind of thing, but like actual like homemade fruit leather, like that kind of like tarry kind of feel, but like natural with a bit of like peppermint or like menthol like smell to it too. I'll be interested to see is it what's the uh moisture?

SPEAKER_03 9:35

A little moist, and that's in a bag aged for years. So like they I love that their stuff comes a little moist because you don't ever have to worry about opening up a tin or a bag and it being done, which you do get sometimes if they come a little dry in the tin and you let that age for you know a set number of years. You're gonna smell this at all before the the whiskey before picking this before picking the tobacco? No, no. Oh, well, you had that picked. Yeah, we had this picked before you came. Before you came, based on the fact that it was a rye and a double barreled one at that. That'll is it gonna pair?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

I think it'll be very I think I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that the pipe might pull out more of a stone fruit flavor from this rye, which we've only had one other rye that pulled out stone fruit right away, and that was that Cardinal Spirits rye.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

I do remember that one, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And that was like peach stone fruit, it was very interesting. Yeah, they do a good job with this blend. Oh, by the way, so speaking of pipes and tobacco, the the spice that I have downstairs that has that pipe tobacco in those pipes, I've been sitting over there, even by the couch and by the chairs, and I'm like, man, it smells so good over here. Like, it smells like there's tobacco open somewhere at some point in this this room or this vicinity. I can't figure out why. The uh the pipe that you used down in the basement that one time. Oh, it still has acid, it still has still has stuff in it. I didn't realize that. And I was like, why is it smelling so pipe tobacco?

SPEAKER_03 10:58

It smells smell so good. So I am uh, and that's kind of an old school way to do it. Some some people could call it lazy, and sure, maybe it is. But the old school way of doing that is when you smoke a pipe, you just kind of let it do its thing until the next time you pick it up and smoke it. So, like I almost always clean a pipe out. Uh it's been sitting in there for like weeks sometimes. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

So you don't clean it out after you use it, you wait.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Not always, yeah. Some people would be like, that's heresy, but like that's just the old school way of doing it. Now, often I I go through my pipes enough that it's not sitting in there that long, usually a couple days, but I actually think it cures my bowls better because it allows it to really cool down and it builds that cake up a little bit quicker and everything else.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Have you ever tried blending in that way?

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Doing like half a bowl of whatever's left pressure, and then you put something else on top of it? I have done that um just because I was curious. Or not so much. It's interesting. I don't know. I tried it with I went to the extreme and did like an English on top of like a you know something else. But but no, I haven't really fiddled around with that too much. But I did so I did read about that one time because that's I I learned that from an old old pipe smoker that he was like, just don't clean it. He's like an old codger? Yeah, an old codger, yeah. Because like when you smoke a pipe, you know what I mean? If if there's any daughter or anything left in the bottom, just leave it until the next time you smoke it. Because now, I mean, I'm not being gross, you still stick a pipe cleaner down it if anybody's listening. Like, you don't want spitting stuff sitting in there. So I always run a pipe cleaner down there. But as far as the actual tobacco, and I don't always smoke through a whole bowl, but uh I do leave it. And also, I might end up smoking that later. I might come, I've definitely smoked a bowl the day after, you know. I've come back to it.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Like I don't do that.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Yeah, I mean, that's just the way people used to do it back in the day. I mean, if you ever what if you ever notice, like Ben Crosby, he never being Crosby he walked in the door and picked up his pipe. Yeah, but it was it was probably there from the last time he smoked, and and then until it was empty, he didn't, you know, then at that point you're not really knocking anything out, you're just filling it back up. So anyway, I don't know how I got onto that topic.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

But oh, because I was saying that I smelled it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Yeah, because I left the pipe and it, yeah. No, so that's just what I do.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah, for for the pipe tobacco stuff, let's go on a real quick tangent on this just for a second here. Uh, for that bag that we just opened, what are you gonna leave the tobacco in that bag? Are you gonna tin it?

SPEAKER_03 13:17

Well, so I I do leave it in in my tins, but I won't leave that in the bag.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

I'll put I'll put that in a you'll put that in a mason jar or something. Okay, I figured you that's what I was assuming because there's not a really a real good way of sealing that. If you let it out without it being sealed, does it just dry out over time?

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Yeah, no, it's really ruined, unless you want to rehydrate and do all that stuff, but there's a whole thing into that. But my thing is I do keep an eye on my tins. So like I have a lot open right now, but it's I kind of treat them like I would like an aquarium, where you're like kind of always monitoring the water and like adding chemical or like a pool or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

I I don't do either. So when you said aquarium, I was like, well, watching the fish, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_03 13:58

I mean, where you're monitoring the water and you're adding chemicals if needed, or you're you know, or whatever. So I'm always like monitoring my tobacco, my open tins. And if if it ever gets to a point where I don't like it, then I adjust it. So whether I need to jar it at that point or or add a little humidity to it or whatever I want to do. But typically I have a solid system and I never have an issue. But I already know for a fact because I have done that before where I have left a bag and I was like using it, and uh what I ended up doing was smoking it faster instead of like, you know, but uh I also usually tin those up. And that's why I think when we first started this podcast, if you remember, I had a lot of uh jars of esoterica because I used to buy buy a lot of bags and I realized I gotta jar this shit up, you know what I mean? So I I had a lot of jars. I remember all the jars that you used to have, yeah. Yeah, yeah. We we smoked through them and I gave up, gave a bunch away. I had a buddy that was was uh was uh leaving town and I gave him a bunch and so things like that. Um, but yeah, so I'll probably end up in a jarring that. At a minimum, you gotta put it in like a ziploc or something. For anybody who doesn't want to, I don't know why you wouldn't want to just jar it or I also have some humid, uh humid uh, I don't know what do you call those tablets or whatever, yeah. Yeah, and then you I can always throw those in there if I need to, but but this actually might need a hair of drying time, so it might sit for I might let it sit actually in the bag for a day or two before I actually go ahead and throw that in there.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yeah, because it's still fairly moist.

Cedar Ridge Double Barrel Rye Tasting

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah. So we're doing the Cedar Ridge, we've already talked about Cedar Ridge, we've already had them on. Yeah, but we also just talked about watershed rye, which we've already had watershed on. Yeah, we've already done this stuff. Something that was interesting on that episode that kind of spurred on these next two bottles was the idea of growth, whether that be uh growth in the sense of now being able to put out these things versus too much growth, and now your hand is kind of forced to put out product so that it doesn't sit there for too long and become bad. So it this will be they're all ries that we're having, but it will I think it'll be a very interesting overall perspective and conversation because we did talk about that for Watershed of we're just now at that point we can start putting this out, but what if we did a 10-year? 10 year might be too much. Yeah, so we we kind of went into this idea of too much time in the barrel might be a bad thing for rye, so let's pull it out. Therefore, we might have some that are forced to put things out because it's too old or getting too old, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

And this one, do uh the age on this particular bottle.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Uh Chris, does it say the age on it? Does it give like bottle swisher Iowa?

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Like swisher sweets. Like swisher sweets. I don't know if it's the same composite or not, or city or not. So I'm not sure on the age. I don't know if they're really saying, which is fine with me. But they do take their standard rye whiskey, and then this one is being added to a new char American oak barrel. So it's added to a second bourbon, un unused bourbon barrel.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Does it give the char level by chance?

SPEAKER_03 17:00

It is not. No, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

It doesn't say, it does not have a statement, which I I kind of am starting to like a little bit more than so it doesn't carry a phone little age statement, but they bel it's said to believe or said to be around like five years old.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Yeah. In that kind of range, which that's that's about about normal. These guys are small enough that I don't think that they're gonna need to like force out product or start playing with product in that way, because they're a smaller that's that's the beauty of craft in that way. Um, they are starting to get big enough where they're you know, they're in a few states, you can get you can get them outside of Iowa, but but like I don't think I'm worried about their quality going down. I do always I'm always a little bit leery when something like this comes out where they're like maybe are chasing a hype. So but here's the double, you mean with the double oak? With the double oak, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

But here's the thing so two things. One tipsy of beliefs said this was on his allocated list, so he might have gotten like five or ten bottles out of the limited, so pretty limited. Not to mention, I thought the same thing. Are they jumping on a hype? Because double oaked isn't a unique thing for whiskey, it is different for rye. Yeah, there are only uh 10 to 15 brands that do double barrel uh double oaked, double barreled rye. And still 630 and Cedar Ridge made the list of those 10 to 15. Oh, there's not very many that do high West is on there, Elijah Craig, Jack Daniels, Sagamore, Mikter's, Jefferson's. Like there, there's not a ton. There's there's some big names, but not a ton of big names. And those big names are ones that have come out recently. It's almost like Kraft put this on the map for rye.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Yeah, I mean, I think I think most people don't do a double barrel of rye because it's just like flavor on top of flavor. But I like it.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yeah. Have you tried this?

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Yeah, I'm yeah, I'm I'm giving it a minute to to kind of marry in my with my palate and my tobacco and everything else. But it's only 105 proof. It doesn't drink 105. It drinks actually more than that. I think so.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

But I think I would agree. But I I think it's it for me, it is drinking rye, not necessarily proof in the back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It kind of the the spice lingers. Yeah, for me, there's not much of a finish. Like, I don't have a lot of like flavor lingering, just a spice lingering.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Well, that you hit it. So for me, that's why I'm equating it to proof, because I would say it's more spice, except where there's not a whole lot of depth of flavor there, and then what it there's no finish. So that's why I would think this is more it it hits you in the back third, kind of the way proof does, and then it goes away. You know what I mean? So that's why I think that it's like it's drinking a little hotter than 105. But I but I'm not getting a whole lot of like super deep lasting, mature like flavors of rye, getting a lot of oak, depth, not a whole lot of depth, not a lot of depth, yeah. It's good, it's just not very um long lasting.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

I would agree, it's not very long-lasting. Now, if you take a drink and leave it in your mouth for a minute and I kind of let it coach it for a minute, and I don't know if it's just because you said it earlier, but I'm getting like a stone fruit or like a cherry. Oh, I think I'm getting that from the tobacco, too, though.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

So maybe tobacco with this is kind of bringing a sweetness forward, a fruity sweetness.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

What's interesting is their bourbon and their rye both are the same way in the sense that it's very light and the finish isn't very long. But if I remember the quintessential was very long in finish, it was it it you didn't need very much.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

It had a really long finish, it was very strong stone fruit forward flavor, right? It was it was really pretty heavy on that fruitiness in flavor tones, and it was also I was trying to remember what it was finished in because they they are the coin essential is a finished product, okay, and I'm I I I want to say it was a sherry, but I don't know that for sure. I actually think it was something a little bit more unique than that, but it was it was something very scotch, yeah. So I don't really I don't exactly remember what it was, but I feel like it was some version of it was a wine finish of some sort, but yeah, so it was a really long finish and a very fruity finish, and that was one of the things that I really liked about it. So, yeah, for this one, and are you saying the bourbon and rye that you've had previously also not a big finish?

SPEAKER_01 21:41

So I've never had their rye. This is the first rye I've had from them, but their bourbon, from what I remember, wasn't a long finish. There wasn't it was very light, it was very thin. It was uh it was almost like a Woodford in the sense that it wasn't long lasting. Like you knew what you were drinking, but it wasn't like memorable in the sense. That if I if I didn't know the name Woodford, would I really know what that tastes like? You know what I mean? Like it's kind of like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

It but this is definitely like Woodford. No. Yeah, if anybody is hearing double barrel and thinking it's not and it's not thin. It's just not um when you think double barrel, you think a little bit more. Rye, especially.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

And maybe that's why I think it's I I would describe it as thinner because it's it's not it's not what I would expect from the other double barrel ryes that I've had. Yeah, it's not deep. Yes, there's no depth. It's very, it's very surface-y.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Yeah, yeah. I think that comes with like not a very long finish. Now, what is there I like. Yeah, uh, like I do like the flavor of it. I'm glad the proof is where it is because I can like hold it in my mouth and not have it burn and you know that kind of thing. So when did this when did this company get started again? 2005. 2005. It's a family company. That's been around for a minute now. 20, 21 years. Yeah, 21 years. Legal legal age. Man. Uh started by a couple, Jeff and Lori Quaint. And they have distilling in their family going back to Germany. And because it's in Iowa, they went the route of having more of an estate winery-esque setup. So, like it's a venue, it's a it's a you know, they're they're grained glass, all their stuff is made there. Yeah, it's a very small batch, it looks like very small batch. At least this one is. Well, I oh maybe all their stuff is all their stuff really is. Their son is now the master distiller, so Murphy Quaint, Murphy, which I do like that name. I like I like Murphy, and he has been their master distiller since uh January 24. But he's been distilling with them for a lot longer than that. But he he took over the master distiller. Oh, yeah, I'm sure. He's probably not not too much older than 21, you know. 2014 is when he came back as like a head distiller and and joined the family business full time. Oh, he graduated college. Exactly. Yep. Ain't that quaint? Ain't that quaint? And he has a big part in their American single mall portfolio, and so he's he's a big proponent of that. But yeah, they've been around, like I said, 2024, they have bourbons, small batch, they have a bottom bond, rise, known for a more multier, more approachable profile, which is interesting.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Uh approachable, I could agree. Multier. I don't know about multier.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Yeah, I don't know if multi is the right word. Approachable for sure, though.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Well, because this is if I remember right, this is high, high rye, yet high corn. I think it's like 80 some rye and then 20 something.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

It is 85 rye, 12 corn, 3 barley.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

So when I hear multier, I don't think multi-barley like that. Well, they only have three percent, so right. So what's the multi? I don't know. So I I've been across Iowa on a bike twice, and I can tell you shit ton of corn. Yeah, I don't know that I've ever seen rye. Flat? Yeah, I don't know that I've ever seen rye or barley really being grown.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah, well, you were there in the summertime for one. Fair, okay, okay, fair, one of the best movies ever made.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Iowa, Field of Dreams.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

No, no, there you go. I didn't know it was Iowa. In the cornfield.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

In the cornfield, there's the season for that. There's plenty of people that'll say that's not the best baseball movie ever made, but it's the best one out in Iowa. It's the best one in Iowa.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

I like I like I like Field of Dreams.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

So are they big and uh rye in that area? Uh, I mean, I don't know that they're big and rye in that area. I think it is a small batch sort of thing. I think that they've got the corn there.

SPEAKER_03 25:36

They should be any American whiskey. Yeah, really, probably less rye and more bourbon, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

So, but what's interesting is their ry their rye still has a decent amount of corn in it. Yeah, so like that, they're still relying heavily on that corn.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Well, I'm guessing that's what makes them different because they even put on here, you know, our unique rye.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

And I would agree. I I mean, it's unique in the sense that, well, you've got like Rittenhouse rye, and you've got Elijah Craig rye. It's not a this is not a Pennsylvania rye. I can tell you that. No, but those are like barely rye in the sense that they're like just above 50 to 60 percent rye, and then the rest is corn. So, like, those are higher rye content, but a very different flavor from this. Granted, this is double oaked, but I can't imagine that the double oaking changed the original flavor that much.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Well, I bet if you took a written house and double oaked it, it would change it significantly. What would that be like? That'd be amazing, is what it would be. That'd be sweet. You could you could call it you could come up with a really cool name for it. But but anyway, I I think double oaking any spirit actually does you know contribute quite a bit. So actually, I think this non-double oaked would be more potent. No, I uh maybe it'd be longer last. I don't know. It would be different. Whether it'd be good, different, or bad, different, I don't know. But it would be different. I think I think that it would my gut tells me it would not be as good. My gut tells me it would be not good at all. Yeah. The non-double oaked, like where they I I I wouldn't be surprised if they made this and were like, huh. Then they double-oaked it. We're like, hmm.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

You know what I mean? So this is their normal straight rye. So this is the same mash bill they use for their normal straight rye that they have. So they have a version of this that's non-double oaked.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Okay. Yeah, yeah. So they make a non-double-oaked version of this, and they have for a long time. And then two year or in 24 and 20 now in 25, they came out with that.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

When you make a double-oaked version of something, you're usually like, okay, but you know what I mean? That's usually what that is.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Well, it's an okay, but, but it's also I I have enough product to say okay, but and still put out the original.

SPEAKER_03 27:45

Well, I guess what I'm saying is if you were happy with it, would you do it? Perfectly happy with it, would you ever double oak it? Right. Probably not. They might have been like, This this could be improved, but let's try it.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

Do they do it for growth?

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Could you know span their money? Then why pick that? They did it, so they did a double barrel bourbon at the same time. So they did both of those. Are they still doing the double barrel bourbon still? Uh, I think it's also a specialty release that goes along with this. I think they released them at the same time.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

So these they're just specialty runs.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Yeah, they do the double kind of thing. Nothing wrong with that. Now, with that, also though, because they do the American single malt, they also play around a lot with finishings. So they do a lot of different barrel finishes.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Uh, is it just finishings with the single malt or everything else in their portfolio?

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Mainly just the single malts, they don't really finish a whole bunch of different bourbons and rye's and stuff overall. This would this lends itself to finishing. I agree.

SPEAKER_03 28:37

This there's room for finishing in here for the double barrel or just in general? Okay, double double barrel. I think there's room for a triple barrel.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

There's room for a uh finish.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

Yes. Technically, well, it's it's well, not man, I don't know. It it says on the bottle, it says that it was put into a new American oak, taken out, and then put back into new American oak. So two new

What Counts As A Whiskey Finish

SPEAKER_03 29:00

American oaks. Technically, it's a finish. But if if instead maybe you could do a finishing for a shorter amount of time.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Let me ask you this what constitutes as a finish? Is it when you take a final product or a aged product that's been sitting in a new American oak barrel and put it into something new or a different barrel? Or is it when you put it into a barrel that's been used for wine or for rum or you the difference?

SPEAKER_03 29:28

So I think a lot of people would think finished in a sense. What you're saying is like, okay, I took the product and now I finished it. It's done, it's finished. And I did it twice. That's not what I think a finishing is. Finishing is like a polishing, it's like an extra, it's an extra layer that you're putting on. You don't have to do it. So I don't think it's really like because I think a bourbon is finished when it's finished. You know what I mean? I don't think uh putting it into another barrel that's got something in it, and then whether it's a new barrel or whatever, and then it's being like, okay, now it's done. You get what I'm saying? It was already done. You're just putting an extra process into it. So I think a finishing, to me, a finishing is not like another new American oak. It would have to be like an extra, a polish. You know what I mean? But isn't that another coat?

unknown 30:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

I guess it could be another coat.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Are you struggling with the fact that it's could be another coat? So do you struggle with the fact that it's two American oak barrels?

SPEAKER_03 30:22

No, I struggle with the fact that calling a finished, like the idea of like it needs two barrels to be done. It's like finished. You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Well kind of like that idea. I don't know that this needs two, so I don't know that a finishing is the sense that it needs two barrels to be done. I think it's an addition of the original.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Yeah, no, and I get that. But I mean, so that means like, but if you were thinking of it that way, then you could say, well, if we miss the double barreling, it's unfinished. You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 30:50

So you're saying that a normal bourbon is an unfinished bourbon or could be considered an unfinished bourbon because it never went into something else.

SPEAKER_03 30:59

You thought of it that way. I don't think of it that way. I think a normal normal barrel, a normal bourbon is done when it's done. Same here. But what I'm saying is like a finishing to me does not mean it's like, okay, this is gonna finish the product.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Right.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

It's for me, it's a polishing, it's an addition of, it's uh, it's it's something else. It's the white walls on a on a car. Right. You don't need them, you don't have to have them, but it does kind of pop, make it pop a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

You bring up an interesting idea in the sense that American bourbon, American whiskey, might be the only uh type that uses the definition of a finishing. Because Scotch, Scotch doesn't call it a finishing, Irish whiskey property. Exactly. It's just part of the process, but American whiskey on a Scotch, doesn't it say that it's it's aged in or aged in cherry carrots? It never says finished in. Yeah, it's always aged in this, it's always aged in that or blended together from well.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Here's the thing, though, you can't say an American bourbon is is aged in cherry carrots.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Right, but but why didn't we pick finishing? Because it does to Chris's point, it does sound like if we say it's finished in something, it was unfinished to begin with.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

Right. I I think where it really came from, and now it's become this different thing. But I think the idea of it is we started in these new barrels and we ended up or finished in these barrels. Yes. But now we're thinking of a finishing as like a a whole nother process. Whereas what it used to be was kind of like just the ending of the process. I really didn't. You know what I mean? We kind of screwed ourselves. Yeah, we it was started here and finished here. It was finalized. Doesn't mean like now it's finished. You know what I mean? It was like it's just part of the process. Kind of you're saying with Scotch, it's part of the process versus like an extra process that this bourbon needed. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 32:47

It's almost like saying that uh brandy is finished wine. No, it's just fortified, it's just wine in a different presentation. Yeah, yeah. I think we really if we talk about we've not I don't think we've ever really talked about this for finishings. We kind of screwed ourselves as an American culture by saying it has to be new American oak. By using that definition new American oak, we can't age it in anything else. Therefore, if we put it in something else, what do we call that?

SPEAKER_03 33:13

Well, you can as long as you and that's why we finish it, right? Because you have to start it in and then finish it in that. But so that's the whole reason why we did it. But I think if you were to take a new bourbon and throw it into we we've had it, it's whiskey. But I mean, right, most of the time when you take a new bourbon and you throw it in like a cask that had something else in it, it's a little too much, and you don't get enough of the oak and stuff, which is what makes bourbon bourbon versus a whiskey. The oak flavor is a is a main part of the flavor. We've talked to people before that have said, look, uh, really uh a lot of bourbon, like ingredients are ingredients, the flavor comes from the oak and the way that it interacts with the oak. Without the oak, the the the barrel, we really don't have bourbon at all. Like, you know what I mean? And it it's true, like it that really is what makes the the the bourbon. Like it's like a gun is pointless without the magazine. People always think about a gun. If you don't have a magazine, it's pointless. Like the magazine's actually the most important thing. So it's like the barrel. The barrel really is the most important thing when it comes to bourbon. Think about it, because it makes the most impact.

unknown 34:17

Why?

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Without it, you don't have it at all.

America’s Love Of Oak And Wood

SPEAKER_01 34:19

As Americans, why are we why are we fixed on this idea of oak as a flavor? We like wood. We American barbecue. American barbecue is very different. No one, no one else does American barbecue. In fact, there's places overseas that do American, quote unquote, American barbecue to taste like ours because it's very different from them. But why why did we pick oak and wood as our like flavor of choice? We like it. We like that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

It tastes good. Yeah, it tastes good, and we had a lot of oak. We have a lot of woods. Europe and other countries, they had a lot of woods, they got rid of them a lot earlier than we did. For homes and stuff, or why? There's yeah, they have they had thousands of years, we have 250.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Ah, fair. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Yeah, think about it. We burn it, we live in it, we sit on it. And and another part of it is we have things called national forests and national parks where we continue to grow those trees. We have the space for woods. Europe doesn't have the space for woods, it's not big enough to keep just spots for woods. That's the reason our national parks and stuff is is so important. Yeah, they use a lot more bricks in Europe because the wood is a renewable resource. You can cut down a tree, it's gonna come back in 20 years. As long as you plant it, but as long as you plant it and everything, but you need the space to put it and not put something else there.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah, not put something on top of that wood.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

We have space to put woods, yeah. Whereas maybe that's where we doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

We should we should absorb Canada. We'll we'll take Canada over, clear everyone out, and then just plant there.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Well, they have all the wood. We can we don't need to move them out. Yeah, they've got the they've got the wood.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

We're still we're buying it off of them right now. I'm not gonna we we can't clear that wood out because we wouldn't have any maple syrup. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, they'd be finishing in maple uh barrels. Have they ever done that?

SPEAKER_01 36:07

Finished in maple barrel? Yeah, who did that?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

A maple barrel.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Someone recently did one.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Well, no, it wasn't a water, it wasn't a maple barrel, though, but it was maple. Yeah, I don't mean syrup.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

I don't mean a maple syrup, I mean like the maple wood barrel. Do they even do that? Can you even make one? I mean they do, yeah. That'd be interesting. We've talked about using different woods for aging whiskey before. It'd be interesting to see what that would be.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

I am very interested in that, in using different types of wood and changing it from new American oak to just new wood, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:40

Especially when you're talking about charring the barrel, because it's like smoking pipes with different types of wood. You've smoked like uh have you ever smoked a cherry wood pipe? I'm sure you have.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

I haven't actually. I've only ever smoked briar or like clay or things like that, but it's different, it does change the flavor.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Yeah, but because you're burning it and everything else too and charring it.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

So there's a few different companies that have done it, uh, but it's maplewood finish. Yes. So Jack Daniels uh number 27 gold is finished in maplewood barrels. Woodford Reserve did a maple finished, maplewood finished Urban in their masters collection. That's right, and I've had that. Dickle apparently did one, Widow Jane did one, and Chattanooga Whiskey did one, which is already charcoal filtered. This double barrel. This okay, if we jump on this idea of finishings or talk about this idea of finishings, is double barrel a toasted barrel for the second one because you've got Woodford double oaked, Old Forester 1910, I believe, is uh double barreled. You've got this one that's double barreled, and then uh still 630. We've had their rally point rye that's double barreled. Is the second barrel a toasted finish? Is it a toasted barrel, or what char level do you think we're we're looking at for these?

SPEAKER_00 37:59

Well, if it was a toasted barrel, wouldn't they call it a toasted?

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Woodford double oaked doesn't, and neither does Old Forrester, but those are toasted. Yeah, they are toasted.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

We actually talked about that. They're not like because you could say it's a double oaked toasted barrel, but nobody's ever too. Nobody's ever said that.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

It's just different char levels. Is a toasted barrel the same thing? Is that a double barrel no, but toasted?

SPEAKER_03 38:22

A toasted barrel is just the level of char on the an initial barrel that they use. It's the initial throwing it into another barrel is a is a whole nother barrel. So is Elijah Craig toasted a double barrel? I don't think so. I think what they did was they put it in a brand new charred oak barrel that was toasted instead of charred. Got it. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, gotcha. Yeah, it's just a different level of char that you initially use on the initial thing. Although I feel like I have seen toasted finish. Yep, you have. There's toasted finished barrels. So that brings up the question is a double barrel. I think that that's a double barrel, but now it's a finished because they're it's a specialty barrel. Again, it goes back to like it's not just a barrel. They've used a specialty. A toasted barrel is a specialty barrel, I guess. You know what I mean? Because otherwise, why would you even say toasted barrel instead of bourbon? So you you know what I mean? They they they equate toasted barrels to specialty barrels because that's why they put on there. This is a toasted barrel. Really, it's no different than any other bourbon, it's just it's a different char level. Yeah, so now it's a special barrel. So now if you're throwing it into a secondy, secondary specialty barrel, it's finished.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

So that's your hang up for this. Is the fact that it doesn't say the char level if it's toaster, it's just a double barrel. It doesn't smell.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

I don't have a hang up for any of that.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

But is this a is this a finish?

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Is this a finish?

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Yeah, well, I think is double barrel a finish.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

I don't think so. But if it's toasted, if the second barrel says it's toasted, then you are. I need a specialty barrel. I think that that is the hang up. Yeah, I get what you're saying, Nick. I I need there to be I need the second barrel to be special in some way, shape, or form. But if you uh if I have two glasses and I pour liquid into one glass, and then I pour that glass into another glass, it's just been poured in two separate glasses, double barreled. You get what I'm saying? But if I pour the liquid into one glass and then I pour it into this really fancy glass, that's a finished glass because yeah, it's double glass. That's finished glass. I poured a new crystalline, yeah. So something like that. You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 40:21

I think that I was trying to think. So my original argument when I when I was thinking this through in my head over here to counter you, I was gonna say just a second barrel is all I need for a finish, just whatever the second barrel is. I it is this is done, and now I'm putting it into something else and making it do more. I'm I'm adding a step. And bourbon is made in a new American oak barrel. So therefore, if you put it into another barrel, it's it that's why you have to you have to say finished because it's no longer bourbon. But a double barrel is still a new American oak barrel, just double barrel, so now it's still bourbon, it's not, it doesn't need to say it's finished.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

So we're gonna get into a very interesting conversation and possible weird tangent here.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Okay. Wait, this wasn't the tangent? No, we're going deeper into this rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

I like it. So I just looked it up. The second barrel that's used in the Cedar Ridge double barrel rye. The specific one. The specific one is a number three char. Okay, so it might be the exact same thing that they use for the original rye. It should be.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

That's what most double barrels are. Yeah, just double doubled up, like a double stuffed stuffed Oreo.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

So let's dive into the idea of finishings versus double barrels because finishings we've got flavors that come into play, right? We got we're we're uh mixing with rum or we're mixing flavors of rum, wine, toasted, right? Here we've got a brand new barrel, exact same char, untouched, they would use to begin the maturation with. It's already matured. Now they're gonna throw it back into the exact same barrel they would have used, type of barrel they would have used to let it sit for a year.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

Yeah. So for that, think of coffee, right? Because if you were to make a pot of coffee and then just finish that pot and then just add water and run it through the same grounds, it's a lot weaker. You would instead replace the grounds. Yes, that start is where all the flavor is, and that's what the double barreling is. You're getting all that oak flavor, the fresh oak. You're beginning.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

You're kind of uh crossing out or mixing out the the the flavor of the the mash bill, and you're wanting your intention is to get more oak, it's to get more wood, yeah, it's to become more intensified in that. Is that a waste? Is it a waste? Yeah, no, because we can only use it once, now we're done.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

I mean, no, we can finish it in something else, give it just give it to give it to uh scourge.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

We have to give it to someone else, right? But is that a waste? I mean, so here's what's interested interesting to me is we're talking you mean what why it wasn't everything double barreled? No, I was gonna say because there's a reason why. Yeah, if we go off this idea of my my thought process and an idea behind these barrel, these bottles we take it and we look at water should we've already done, but this is another, this is a max level. This is something we talked about way back when they finally released. Now we're looking at nine years, it's increased a year each time. We looked at that, we tried it, we're like, holy crap, don't do any longer in this. This is amazing. You got a craft distillery that's grown over ages, right? I mean uh for watershed. We're talking 16 years, and they finally put out a rye that's worth raving and craving about. It took them 14 years to even come out with a rye to be. With right. Now you've got a company that's been around since 2005. They have the capacity to uh experiment and this is their second batch of experimenting. But when most craft distilleries begin experimenting, they begin experimenting with uh barrels that they buy from other countries or other whiskies, other wine, other spirits to finish. They have uh placed the finishing for their American single malt, and instead of doing that, they've picked brand new barrels that they can't use again themselves unless they decide to use it as a finishing for the American single malt, they can't use it again to double barrel for a year on a rye they've already been putting out for a while.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

They can use it on their original run of their American single malt. Also, American Single Malt doesn't have to be new, but new. Okay, so so why there's other things you can use it for? Yeah, you got you got uses. And a lot of and a lot of people do. A lot of distillers do. I would assume that that new barrel is more expensive than any use.

SPEAKER_01 45:12

What would be the mentality of we could grow and try finishings, but no, we're gonna back up, we're gonna use a new barrel instead.

SPEAKER_00 45:19

Well, this is a limited release, right? So it's not like they're doing this every single day or whatever else. Um, but also because we're talking about craft, they're looking for a flavor. If they achieve the flavor, whatever flavor that is, then it's not a waste. So do you think they didn't find the flavor until now? Right. Because you're doing this specialty by all though when you couldn't use anything else. Um, so I don't think it's a waste in that way. You're you're achieving the flavor you're looking for.

SPEAKER_03 45:49

I think the other thing to remember here uh is that you strip the barrel when you use it. So using a new barrel, you get a certain amount of flavor. When you use another new barrel, you're getting that certain amount of flavor. Now it's doubled, it's compounded. But if you use a finished barrel instead of that new barrel for the second dairy, you're not gonna get it that flavor profile.

SPEAKER_02 46:12

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

Because that other barrel, that finished barrel, has already been stripped.

unknown 46:16

Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

So it's something to remember. So like that's why, again, uh to me, a double barrel is different than a finished barrel. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 46:24

I would agree now, yeah. Yeah, it's the exact same thing, just in a just compounded, like like squared or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

Whatever. Yeah, it's like you know, versus a finished is like it's less about the wood and more about what else is going on in the barrel. Yeah. So and I think that that's why they wouldn't just keep using their old their old barrels, you know what I mean, over and over again. I think there's a time and a place for a finishing, but there's I think there's probably more of a time, like for this, I could see a company having a double barreled or double-oaked always, and then doing finishings now and then, kind of a thing. You know what I mean? More than doing double barreled every now and then and having a finishing always.

unknown 47:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

So you you go you end up going through new barrels more than you would finish barrels.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

I do find it interesting we've we've seen a lot of companies that craft distilleries that grow, and when they get that growth, they they've got that the capacity to try something new. It's normally for finishings. Not very many that we've seen have gone for the double barrel of our product is good. It's it is in in a sense in my mind, the idea that I trust that our product is I believe in our product so much that I don't need another flavor involved. I'm gonna throw it back into a same uh an American oak barrel and pull out more of that oak or pull out more of that rye. I don't need to rely on uh rum or uh wine or any kind of finishing, yeah, which is interesting.

SPEAKER_00 48:03

It is relying more on your grain because it is you're not tainting it with another flavor. That's true. Um, but you sort of are. You're adding more oak. You're like oak is a flavor that is a part of this, and you're you know, adjust your char level to change that and everything else. So you are changing flavors a little bit, but oak goes with that grain. Like that is you're you're right in that sense, it's kind of the same flavor, just maybe enhanced with whatever it is. I think most craft doesn't go for double barrel because I think it's too basic. I think it's what everyone everyone does it. If you are a craft, you're looking to do unique things. So having a double barrel is not a very unique thing, and I already have a really good bourbon. Why would I taint it by adding another run of of of oak to add to it? So why not play with the flavor instead of just enhancing the flavor? But I think also that when it comes to craft in general, there's not like the goal is you have a limited release sort of deal like this, you know, you have 200 bottles, you know, 500 bottles, maybe. Your goal is to sell all 500 of them and probably leave them wanting more. So whereas Jim Beam not looking to leave you wanting more, they would like you to buy every single one of their bottles. A craft distillery wants you to buy all their barrels, all their bottles, but they want you to look for something else from you, some sort of a unique thing, whatever it may be. So that's why these limited runs come out, because it means I'm a big fan of Cedar Ridge. Right. So when this new thing comes out, I want to try it. Whereas if Jim Beam comes out with something new, I may want it. You know, it may be specialty enough that I that I want it. I I like their flavor profile, I know what I'm getting, so I'm gonna go for it. With Cedar Ridge, I know what I'm getting, but also I might not. They do enough random little things that I know what they're I know what their core tastes like, but these finishings, these, you know, whatever the things are that they're playing with, change it enough that not everything is a home run.

SPEAKER_03 50:26

Well, and finally, like small batch actually means small batch, and craft means craft. So, like and Jim Beam, when they come out of the specialty bottle, there's that thing in the back of your mind that you're like, eh, I could probably this probably can be around. Yeah, but these kind of places, when you see like their limited release come out, you're like, if I don't get it, it's gone. It's like what you're saying, right? Yeah, it really is something you gotta jump on.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

That watershed rye that we tried, there were 80 bottles of them in existence. That's it, yeah. That's and they're they're gone now. So, and like you'll never have them again. So, unless for one asshole that has them on a shelf, it doesn't do 80 bottles of anything, yeah. Whereas these little guys, like it is kind of a if I want it, I kind of gotta get it. You better get it before it's gone.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:11

How's the pipe?

SPEAKER_02 51:12

I was just left there, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

This pipe is amazing. This is really good. Yeah, um, it is still moist, a little wet. I'm having a little bit of I'm struggling keeping it lit because of that. It's a little moist, but flavor-wise, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

It's so good, isn't it? It's so different than other vapors.

SPEAKER_00 51:29

It is, it is sweeter. Like I do get like a sweet note off of it. Um, I do not get any kind of peppermint or anything like that. I know we just smelled like that a little bit, but I didn't get any of those flavors at least.

SPEAKER_01 51:43

Even when you guys lit it up, it didn't smell like peppermint.

SPEAKER_03 51:45

Yeah, it's kind of less hay and more like corn. Yeah, I would go with that. On the flavor.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

Normally you get a lot more grass and hay, kind of, on the on like the Virginias. This one's got like more like agricultural, like, like kind of like more like I guess hay's agricultural too, but you know what I mean? Like more like corn.

unknown 52:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:06

Like more grain, I guess, is what I'm getting at. Yeah. Yeah, I would go with that. Yeah, and it doesn't have the freaking it's good, but it's not like overpowering. Yeah, the freak's not.

SPEAKER_00 52:14

Yeah, I think it went well with this bottle.

SPEAKER_01 52:17

I was wondering if it kind of made it sweeter, maybe stone fruity.

SPEAKER_00 52:21

Maybe. Like I said, I do get a stone fruit in this in this bottle. Um, and I don't know if that's the combination of the of the tobacco or if it's on its own.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

Doesn't it kind of remind you of something they'd smoke in like the 1700s in like New Orleans?

SPEAKER_02 52:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

Doesn't it? It does, yeah, yeah. Which I always think about that with vapors, but the Preek, because it's Louisiana, you know. But I just think this is the type of tobacco, like that if I was rolling around with the in like in like Louisiana, like New Orleans, you know. That's what you roll around.

SPEAKER_01 52:53

A vapor. Yeah. You'd roll around the hay with that. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:56

Oh yeah. Walking down the streets of uh, you know. Down bourbon street. Down bourbon street, yeah. I don't know with a pipe and some bourbon? It's gonna be better when it dries out a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 53:06

Yeah, yeah. It'll be able to, you'll have a uh a more enjoyable smoke that way. That's the thing when it's wet like this. Flavor is still good, but it's not as enjoyable of a smoke because you have to kind of play with it a lot.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

Yeah, and it'll bite you if you're not careful. Yep, and then you end up being a little bit cautious, so then it goes out and all that other stuff. But it is good, it's really good. Flavorized, it's really good.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

Yeah, and a bourbon's good. I like it.

Price, Would We Rebuy, Closing

SPEAKER_00 53:31

Yep. Uh, price on this bottle. I saw the sticker on top of it. It's 55 bucks for this bottle, is what you paid for.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

I thought it'd be more than that. That's a good deal. Yeah, that's a good deal for any craft specialty bottle, but but for this, I would I think that's worth it.

SPEAKER_00 53:46

Yeah, it's kind of missing its craft tax a little bit, which is which I'm good.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

Which is new because it's also missing a finish. I am gonna knock it. I'm gonna knock it a little bit there. I paid for what I got. I'm like, where's the finish? It's not there. So $50 uh in that $50 to $60 range. I'm very happy with that. Yeah. This was trying to be a little bit more like the $80. I'd be like, hmm, I hate to say it, but like, uh I don't know if that's something I'd want to revisit.

SPEAKER_01 54:10

Yeah, I could see $75.80. Like I could see it, but I wouldn't see it. I wouldn't pay for it. Just because you're the price for that.

SPEAKER_03 54:16

Yeah. The experience is short-lived, which is not always a bad thing, but sometimes it is.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Yeah, yeah. I care a lot about a finish on the on a whiskey. I think that that really makes or breaks a bottle for me. It lingers. Is I I want that that flavor to last instead of be able to think about it for a while. This kind of goes away pretty quick.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

This this would be a bottle that Chris and I could probably open and finish in a day and be fine. I don't know that we would be. Yeah. After after the whole bottle be like, oh yeah, it's got this finish. Finally, it's got this finish.

SPEAKER_03 54:46

For a double barrel, yeah, for a double barreled whiskey, it's um surprisingly easy to drink. Yeah, yeah. And not in a good way. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, not a good thing. I mean, the oak is there, but not like the hints of there in the flavor. It just doesn't last. It's just it's like a bottle rocket instead of like a string of firecrackers or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

Now, one thing I will say about Cedar Ridge is that two of us in this room have a some sort of a story about their first bottle of Cedar Ridge, and it's not sold in Ohio. It's a pretty specialty, kind of a niche, middle of nowhere sort of company, but they're out there enough, and enough people are talking about them that we both ended up with a bottle at some point and and like really enjoy it uh and have some sort of a story or memory around it.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

It's like the only distillery in Iowa, even though it may not be the only, it feels like it's the only one. Like they're they're the loner in Iowa. I don't know who else is out there, but they do a great job of like we're Iowa and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:45

I think we've tried a few things from Iowa, but not many.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

Not many. I yeah, I this is the only brand that I can think of. From off the top of my head. I I do think there are more than this, but there's not many.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

It wasn't from Iowa, I don't think, but didn't we try some? Wasn't that Peyton Manning's? Didn't it have something to do with Iowa? No, uh Tennessee. I remember something about Iowa with that bottle, but not that that was anything to but I just remember something about Iowa. Sweeten's Cove.

SPEAKER_00 56:09

Sweeten's Cove. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:11

Maybe I'm wrong about that.

SPEAKER_01 56:13

So would you buy this? Would you guys get this again? Would you try it again? Would you would you seek after this idea of this double-oaked rye or Cedar Ridge?

SPEAKER_03 56:21

I'll tell you what, I don't I wouldn't get this again, but I do want to try more things from Cedar Ridge. Does that make sense? So it was good. It was a good experience. I'm glad I had it. If I got a bottle, I'd be fine with it, I'd be happy with it. Uh, I don't know if I'd replace it, is what I'm getting at. I wouldn't be disappointed with it by any means. Right. I just don't know if it would be, it's not a shelfer. Right. But it does make me want to try more of their stuff, which I think is kind of a win.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Yeah, it kind of scratches the nature.

SPEAKER_03 56:47

Yeah, yeah. Because I I have a feeling I will find something in there that I would want to that would be a shelter. It means I like them enough. I don't think I've found it yet. But I like them enough.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

Yeah. Based on this one. Right. Yeah. What about you, Steve?

SPEAKER_00 57:04

Uh, I would not buy it again. Okay. I similar to you, I would be very happy if I bought it. Like, I'm I I would be, I think I would get my money's worth out of 55 bucks or whatever. Like, that's a good good price. It's a good bottle for that. No, I don't need it again because again, finish matters a lot to me. And this doesn't have a lot of finish. Uh, but I am a big fan of Cedar Rich. I like the company. Um, they were uh they were at that music fest when I was out there, and so I got to meet them a little bit and talk to them. This was way early in the I don't even know if the podcast had started yet. If it had, just barely. Right. You might have gone 2021, maybe, because it was outdoors. It was outdoors, but there was no precautions in any way, and and a Amy cared though, then so uh so it would have been at least 22. 22 would have been the earliest because she wouldn't have gone in 21. And Republican, so um, yeah, right. So my wife cared more about COVID, so I I don't think that we wouldn't have gone in 21. It was it was too fresh at that point, I think. But 22 is my guess on when we probably went. And it was a great music festival. We saw some super amazing bands out there that we still follow to this day. You're definitely doing the podcast then. We were doing the podcast then, yeah. So yeah, but it was early days, early days. Uh, but yeah, that they were there. We talked to them, and yeah, I uh I I I'm a big fan. I would like to go out to Cedar Ridge and actually see their place because they've got a winery on site and everything else. How far is Iowa? Um, probably about eight-ish hours, nine hours. Not as bad as I thought. No. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 58:41

What were you thinking? 14. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

No, I don't think it's that far. I could be that's like California. No, that's not California.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

That's like Hilton Head, Denver, Colorado. It's like South Carolina is like almost 14 hours. Seriously, yeah, it's like a little over 12.

SPEAKER_00 58:54

Well, how far is how far is Florida?

SPEAKER_03 58:57

Dude, we we drove, it was like over 15 hours for us to drive the floor. It was like forever, dude.

SPEAKER_00 59:01

Was it really? Yeah. Iowa City, Iowa is eight hours away. Eight hours and three months. Type in Florida. Any particular part or 30 30A?

SPEAKER_03 59:12

I want to say that was like 14 hours, dude. Where at Florida, uh, 30A. Uh what's it called? Um, what's that called? Uh what's the area called? Santa Rosa Beach, maybe Santa Rosa. It's uh it was a minute, dude. It was like a 15-hour trip.

SPEAKER_00 59:26

Santa Rosa Beach. That is 12 almost 13 hours. Oh, okay. That's not that far.

SPEAKER_03 59:31

Oh, that's not that far.

SPEAKER_00 59:32

Is that where it was at? Is that 30A?

SPEAKER_01 59:34

That's 30A. Santa Rosa Beach is on 38. Oh, well, yeah 30A is just a main highway in Florida, by the way. I'm finding out. Oh, it is. It totally is.

SPEAKER_03 59:41

Uh, but what's the small little uh city that everybody goes to that's not actually very nice, Panama? But no, no, no, no, no. No, it's next to 30A. Everybody goes there. Not Panama, so Destin? Destin. That's it. How far is Destin? Same, same distance. They're pretty close to each other. Yeah. It's about 14 hours with stops and sh and stuff. Yeah. And anyway, thanks for listening. We had a great time.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

Uh, until next time, we will have another another ride. Sounds great. Thank you for listening to the podcast. If you want more great content and other perks, be sure to support the show by clicking the link in the show notes. We can be reached on our website, whiskey tasterspa.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.