Little Book Chapter 8!

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. Oh, 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.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

On the last little book, chapter eight. Chapter. Still no Steve. Oh, we got Cody. Ayo. Cody's back in the house. Cody's back in the house. In the basement. I'm so interested to see on Cody's perspective on this bottle. He hasn't had chapter eight. Chapter eight is the path not taken. Robert Frost. You would think Robert Frost, but not really. It's a combination of uh it's all rye, but it's Pennsylvania, old style Pennsylvania rye. And it's a new like Kentucky rye. It's a mixture of like old and new ryes combined. Of what it's a path that it's not normally taken. And you think about Beam. I can think of old over Holt, maybe a Beam rye that they did long ago. I don't know if they still do it. I I feel like I remember them doing one rye.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

Well, knob creek too. Yeah, I was gonna say on the nose, this isn't very knobby.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Knob Creek doesn't, but beam is not beam is high rye mash bill, but they don't really put out a ton of ryes.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

And they don't really they don't solicit it either.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Right. And for them to be like, hey, this is our last iteration of little book right now, and it's all rye, I'm like, uh so this is the most recent to come out.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

This is 2024, 2024. So there should be they're gonna continue, right? This isn't the last one, but the last one they've come out. Yeah, last one they've come out.

SPEAKER_06 1:49

Most recent one, yeah, yeah. Most recent iteration. At what point in the calendar year did they come out with these typically?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

That's a great question because up until 2024, it was always September. Oh, so Urban Heritage Month was kind of when they came out with it. Now they are what I'm really excited about. They switched up in 2024, they released this mid-year, and then September they released the Little Book Infinite, which is supposed to be a yearly release. And that one is supposedly being released in September.

SPEAKER_06 2:24

Was that what is that? I've never heard of Little Book Infinite.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

They came out with a Booker Infinite and Little Book Infinite.

SPEAKER_06 2:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

And a Booker, so Booker Infinite was it's it's uh Freddie's take on the best bookers in an infinite bottle.

SPEAKER_06 2:42

Meaning wait, you mean like every year it's the same thing? Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

But the best of every year that they've done blended together. That's the Booker Infinite. Little Book Infinite is four separate whiskeys, one laid down by his grandpa. So Booker Note, one laid down by his dad, one laid down by him, and then one that was joined by all of them laid down together.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

That's pretty sweet.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

That is that that's a sweet bottle. Yeah, that was the first one of Little Book Infinite, and each year is supposed to be like a combination of a little bit more and a little bit more.

SPEAKER_06 3:14

Oh, like an infinity bottle. Yes, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I like that. That one's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

That that one's and it's it comes in like a little book box, like a black box, but it doesn't have a back and it doesn't have a front. So it's like completely like you could go open through it. But the thing that keeps in there, the key, the so the two things to keep the bottle in is it's got that plastic insert for it to slide in and no plastic cover. The top is wooden, it's a wooden wedge that says little book, or I think it says little book, and it just slides on the top to hold the front, like to keep it from falling forward.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

It's really an infinite box because it's open on this.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

That's right. The box is really cool. It is really, really cool. So that's that's why this one came out a little earlier. Supposedly, it's gonna be that way from here on out.

SPEAKER_06 4:05

So when you say that like summer, like June, July and situation.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

This one was June, yeah. I think it was June, July, maybe May at the earliest. This one's Path Not Taken, so it is a ton of rye. I was gonna say, spoiler alert, I love this. So it's about reimagining the variety that rye grain has to offer and pushing the limits of what it can be. That was the idea behind this.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Wonder how they're pushing the limits. Uh, although I will say this is a supercharged rye.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Surprisingly, this is one of the least favorites. But you know, that's not surprising to me because people just don't like rye. And I I gotten to the point where I just don't get that because we went from not liking rye to like loving it, to like really loving it, to adoring it. Like, but people really still don't like rye. And I think my palate's gotten to a point where I don't understand that because I enjoy it so much. I mean, I understand that it can be offensive, air quotes offensive. I've just gotten to this point where I just when I drink a rye, I'm just I love the flavor of it. But when people don't, it's like, but I I have to remember, like, I there was a time where I didn't like this either. You know what I mean? But it's this is a this is a full rye, and it's got such a lingering finish. Just like lingers in the and that's what I love about rye too, it lingers in the back of your throat forever.

SPEAKER_06 5:31

Just just what Nick did. Um, he just grabbed the bottle. I uh I drank a couple um sips of it and then grabbed the bottle. And my first thing that I looked at was the proof because interestingly enough, it's the exact same, basically. I think it's like you know, a couple decimals off of number seven. It drinks way less hot, in my opinion. Then number seven. Despite being all rye, which is really interesting, not typical. I mean, obviously, there was some rye in the last one, but there's only you know, a third of it was rye and also a lot of bourbon in there, right? And this is like so much smoother and less hot, yet the exact same proof point. It's just it's just interesting.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

That 18-year-old straight bourbon with a high rye mash burden. I think that that's helping it along as far as the air quote smoothness goes, you know what I mean? The friendliness of it, but then those other ryes just are just forming the skeleton, you know what I mean? Like the foundation of what this thing is, and you've really noticed that in the back end. Yeah, and then they threw some malt in there, some malted rye.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Man, okay, so there's a lot of craziness. Let me read the mash bell. I mean, what what whiskey's in there? Because my mind is going crazy on what this means. So 18-year-old, like you said, 18-year-old straight high rye bourbon, 11-year-old straight rye whiskey from Kentucky, seven-year-old Kentucky straight rye malt whiskey, five-year-old Kentucky straight rye whiskey, Kentucky family style char number four, uh, another five-year straight rye whiskey, uh, Pennsylvania uh family style char number one.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

Different charts too.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Five-year Kentucky straight rye family whiskey, uh Pennsylvania family style char number four, and four-year-old straight rye Kentucky whiskey.

SPEAKER_06 7:34

So the char there was four one four. The family, there's two families, they were both char four, and then Pennsylvania style was the char one, which is like Pennsylvania was char one and four, Kentucky was char four, and uh char one is like basically toasted, toasted, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

So this is so fascinating to me for several reasons. One, uh rye has such a huge uh historical value and impact when it comes to American whiskey because when Irish settled over in Pennsylvania, they wanted to try to create their own their whiskey, but barley did not grow well in America, period. So the one grain that did was rye, so they created rye whiskey in lieu of barley for an Irish whiskey, which created rye whiskey and created Pennsylvania style rye at the same time.

SPEAKER_06 8:32

Rye withstands winters better than other crops. It's more hardy. That's yeah, that's why Pennsylvania rye is so quintessential for rye.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Exactly. Yeah, but then you also take into the fact okay, rye was big, prohibition hit, it really died out because it wasn't friendly, it wasn't friendly enough once once we kind of kick back up. So it's taken a very long, long time for Rye to kind of come back into the game, and it almost took cocktails to get Rye back into the game. And now you've got someone who is around our age, and possibly around Cody's age at the same time as an intern doing little book chapter eight. So you got someone that's overseen it, that's 37, and you're 20.

SPEAKER_03 9:21

20-some-year-old intern.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

24, I guess. 25?

SPEAKER_03 9:25

I think I'm 24.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

You're 23? 20. No, you're 20, you're 20.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Wait, no, he was 21 like when he started the club.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

So he's oh, so four years, so 25, 25.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

He's probably 25, 26. Jeez, getting old on us, Cody.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Spot on. We were spot on. How about Cody? You're getting old on us. You used to be the kid the other directions of Tory Korean, bro. What? I was gonna say, because he was like, Yeah, he was like well, that made me guess. He was like, Are you serious? I was like, your time is flying, that's all. That's it makes us feel older.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

It feels it makes it feel really old. Yeah, I don't like this.

SPEAKER_05 10:00

We'd be 36 in May.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

So, I mean, probably someone around your age, maybe a few years younger, maybe. Yeah, so you're not a big rye guy. Yeah, but you've warmed up to it. You've warmed up to it, yeah. Slowly. But now we're talking to someone probably around your age, probably in your generation, that says, I'm gonna go for rye. Man, that excites me. That excites me so much. Like for the future, I'm like, I could see a lot of good rye. Throw a shot in the dark, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:32

I think warming up, I'm warming up to it. I mean, I I wouldn't say that I'm passionate about rye, but I am getting to the point where I mean, when I first, you know, started drinking and y'all were you know really passionate about rye and just kind of made that switch, you know, a year, maybe year or two before the club and everything. That's the timeline in my head. Like, uh, you know, I tried a few and I was like, this isn't for me, you know. I just don't like the flavor as much as other flavors, you know, like it's it's you know, flavor. I've I've said this before. My my preferred is a weeded bourbon. That's like my favorite, but it has kind of grown on me. And I I mean, I like this one. I mean, you talked about the aftertaste, you know, like the the lingering. It it does stick around a long time, and it's kind of similar to the number six that had the single aftertaste that lasted a long time that you didn't really like. I mean, I think this is my version of that. I'm not saying I I didn't like it. Yeah, yeah. The after yeah, the the aftertaste length um, I think is very similar. It lasts a long time, probably not as long, because it was really strong for a long time with number six, but this is very lengthy. And I think if you love that rye flavor, that's fantastic. For me, like I'm I'm in the middle. Like, I don't, I'm not passionate, I don't love the rye flavor, but I don't dislike it either. I think it's good, you know, it's like good enough for me to enjoy it. So, like if you like rye, this is gonna be great because I mean, and you've already said that, Chris.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

If you like rye, if you like rye, yeah, you're loving it.

SPEAKER_06 12:02

And I'm like, yeah, I can see that because I think you know, this flavor lasts a long time. It's it's it's you know, I mean, uh at this point, I feel like we're kind of a broken record in the sense of like, I just I've really appreciated like the the level of complexity. Like, you know, you can tell it's a blend in like the best way, where it's like there's a lot going on. This is really refined, well balanced, like every single one, and yet they're all unique. And like I've really enjoyed going through each bottle. It's a different experience, and yet at the same time, it's the same level of like complexity and and and like you know, refinement where yeah, there's just that like certain level of quality that's there every time, you know. So it's it is just a great experience going through each one and getting to, you know, have that unique experience that's reminiscent of the last one and in the terms of quality and and everything. So yeah, there's there's it's yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

This is the eighth one, and to go from one through eight, if from one distillery where they make stuff that's very much their own flavor, right? For each one to be different and unique, and like you said, excellent as far as the quality goes, but to be so different that they differentiate with each other, but they are some similarities. To be able to do that eight times. It's impressive. That's impressive. Like, if you want to talk about like, and again, I don't want to be like, oh, Jim Beam, you know what I mean? But to be like, I I I can't think of another distillery that could, I mean, maybe, but I don't I can't think of no nobody else has pulled this off, right? Nobody's pulled this off. Well, no one's even trying. Nobody's even trying to.

SPEAKER_06 13:44

I mean, like, like what Nick brought up earlier with makers and stuff. Like, they're like, What you want to change things?

SPEAKER_04 13:49

Whoa, yeah, how dare you, how dare you even think about this.

SPEAKER_06 13:51

That's the thing, too, is like this is a big distillery where when you think of Jim Beam, 99% of the of the US population or the world population is thinking they're like black label, plastic, yeah, $20 Jim Beam. That's what you think of plain Jane, right? Yeah, and this is the same distillery that makes that, that's making this eight times, eight times, each one's a different experience, it's all excellent, and they're all different.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

Yeah, and they're all building off of each other in different ways. It's just quite extraordinary, I think. I and I think to to not have credence for that, like to not put Jim Beam on a bit of a pedestal for that would be foolish. You have to respect the hell out of that. Like that is just something amazing.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Let's let's put this in a uh same perspective, but slightly different from a for a different distillery kind of view, right? So you talk about one through eight, you've got eight iterations that are not the same from the same distillery. Who could compare to that? Immediately my mind came to Weller. I don't love Weller. It's all we did. Not my favorite, right? It's very friendly. It's good, it's it's really good, very popular, very popular. They max out at six different iterations. That's it. And a lot of people don't even like all those six, they kind of stick with the and it's all the same recipe, it's just different age, it's proof point, proof point.

SPEAKER_06 15:19

Very it's very small differences, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Like I look at them and I'm like, you are a monster compared to Beam, but the one thing I could compare, or one lineup I could compare to is your weller as far as your iterations and of the same thing. I see what you're saying. Yeah, they're not as yeah, like they're they're nowhere compared to this.

SPEAKER_03 15:40

And this came out of a no-namer in the sense that it wasn't like a master distiller, it was a family member, and they were giving him a chance to the whole thing was like we talked about in the first one or two that if this doesn't work out, we're done. Like it was an experimental kind of we'll give you a chance kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

And I'm I'm so excited to see what happens next because you you came out of a no-namer, this is a chance, we'll see what happens. To okay, I've got six different iterations under my belt, six different chapters. Now I'm master distiller. Now I'm gonna find the next generation to try to help part. And you talk about the intern from chapter seven to chapter eight. I have no doubt in my mind uh they were completely different interns because this is nothing like chapter seven. Like, this is like a completely different ball field, like uh just so completely different.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Yeah, same family, but completely different, like like distant cousins kind of it is just, and I think what's interesting is what Cody's saying because I am a rye fan, and so are you, Nick. Fanatic. And for me to be like try this, I'm like, yeah, this is like almost like, oh yeah, like it's earthy, it's bready, it's marshmallowy. Like I'm getting marshmallowy. But for even a non-ry kind of dipping my toes into rye person like you, Cody, and for you to even be like, This is good, like this is if you're especially if you're a rye person, this is amazing. Like you you even see that, like and not even being a rye guy. That means this, like that, that'll show you right there how good this is. And out of eight, this is the first one that's like this.

SPEAKER_06 17:13

Wow, which is impressive, yeah. And was I mean, there's been a lot of rye and all these other bottles as well, you know.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

But to be this different, you know what I mean, but still distant cousins, kind of a thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Seeing them do Pennsylvania style with Kentucky style, with malted rye all in one, I would love nothing more than to see them put out a bottle like this that's a blend of rice that's Maryland style, Pennsylvania style, Kentucky. I mean, all across the board, across the states of different styles of rye. That would be interesting. That would be so fascinating to me to see.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

But I think they nailed uh, and it's not like whack you in the head, but it's definitely throughout, they nailed this Pennsylvania style rye without it being overpowering or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Now, you're a big Middle West pumpernickel rye guy. Yeah, yeah. How does this compare to Middle West pumpernickel?

SPEAKER_03 18:10

I mean, the Middle West pumpernickel, it's such a unique flavor. Uh I think that there's some similarity similarities as far as when I say bready and some of the earthy con uh like there's some earthy complexity that goes on with the pumpernickel. Not as much as this, I think. But there are similarities. If I were to say they were the same thing, not even close. You know what I mean? But there are some, I get what you're saying. It kind of it kind of carries over a little bit. It's just so much more that that pumpernickel is so much more zingy. You know what I mean? Like it is really a flavor that if you're not used to it, it is like hold on to your horse, you know what I mean? Because you are you are gonna fall off. It is not something for the the faint of heart, you know what I mean? I think. And I think that there should be more done with pumpernickel. That's a whole nother conversation. I've talked about that before. Like, talk about an underrated thing to use, you know. But for me, even if you were like not the biggest rye guy, this has got to be like something you'd be like aspiring to. Like, that is, I I maybe I don't like it that much, but like this, I can tell this is amazing. You know, like what Cody was saying. Like, like, even for a rye person, this has got to be amazing. But for a non-Rye person, like this is something special. This is but without a doubt, beyond a shadow of doubt, this is rye. You know what I mean? Like, this is what I would think of as like one of the better, if not one of the best, iterations of what a rye should be. Better than Rittenhouse? Oh, yeah. This is better than Rittenhouse. But but the thing about Rittenhouse is you can't put it in the same book because of the price and the availability. Right. You can't put it in the same park. I like Rittenhouse for different reasons. Like, but as far as Rittenhouse Ride goes, you would talk about that Pennsylvania style rye, rye's um old overholt's another one you could talk about and talk about like show me a definition of rye, those bottles. You know what I mean? You wouldn't think of this because it's hard to get expensive, all this stuff. But like, if you were to throw this in a $20 bottle of Ritten House, I'd be like, I'm not telling anybody. And I'm buying, I'm buying 80 cases of this. You know what I mean? Like, this is this is what what they do. This is this is magic. But I think this is, it's kind of like what we said last time. This is Rye Plus, dude. This for me, this is like, and I'm starting to realize that's what little book is. There might be some bottles that I I'm not a fan of, but what it is is it's either taking something and it's throwing it into a different direction that's unique and experimental and you appreciate it, or it's taking something and it's making it a that plus. That's what it's doing. One of the two, yeah, and that both of them, like whether you want to try something crazy unique in an experience, go for the little book. You want to try something that's like that but better plus, go for little book. Like, that's that's what I'm starting to get is like you're gonna like it. Even if you don't like appreciate that, like I feel like Cody's not the biggest rye guy, but he would appreciate and he's appreciating the heck out of this, you know what I mean? Like, he's not gonna be like, Yeah, I don't want that. You know what I mean? Like, this is Rye Plus. I'm not a rye guy, but this is Rye Plus. You you can recognize that. That's something that's little book. That's what little book is.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Can you think of any other brand or distillery that does that either line up within a brand?

SPEAKER_03 21:20

I line up. No, no, I can't think of. I can't think of. I mean, there's some things that'll do something better, but they're usually more unique. I mean, like, while Turkey's got some things that are unique. Look, Kentucky Spirit being one of those things that I've always considered to be like one of their not super popular, but like, hey, this is special kind of a thing. But what is what do you compare that to? It's not like it's a that plus, it's its own thing. You know what I mean? There's not many things. Sometimes when when you get like, okay, this is kind of a foolish example, but it's the same kind of a deal, although it's only really age. But if you like take bullet and you take bullet 10, that's bullet plus, right? But that's obvious. Bullet 10 is going to be bullet plus. Plus, you know what I mean? But this is not just throwing an age statement on there. It's a blending aspect of something. And it's, and I wouldn't even say, like, if you tell me a rye that this is a plus of, I can't tell you. I can tell you this is a rye plus. I can't tell you this is a knob plus. I mean, I'm sure it is, but it's not this is unique enough to where I can't say this is like a 100% rye better or uh knob better. You know what I mean? I can't say that. I can't say that. This is its own thing. Now, as far as rye go, this is a rye plus. You get what I'm saying? So there's bourbons out there. I could say this is a bourbon plus or or whatever, but within the same family, it's tough. Like wild turkey, you know what I mean? Wild turkey has its own unique flavors too. That's why I would consider maybe Kentucky Spirit to be like a wild turkey plus. And what that would be saying, like what you think of is wild turkey, but better. Maybe you get what I'm saying? Rare breed is something that's special. I mean, rare breed is definitely a 101 plus. But it's not just a proof point. People think, oh, proof point, but it's not just a proof point, it's more intense flavor. 101 rye plus would be rare breed rye. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_06 23:10

I think in terms of like distilleries that have a lineup that they are like continually building on of this like plus attitude, I think it's difficult to think of. I mean, the one that came to mind was Woodford, which I think you know, we have mixed opinions on and everything, you know. But like their their master distiller um offerings, they have, I mean, they're expensive though. The master key 50 to 200 MSRP, right? And so I don't think there's as much of a passion for that in our club. So we haven't really dabbled in that, to be honest with you. I am a sucker for packaging, I love the way it's look it looks. The Woodford, yeah. Oh, I hate the new ones.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Really? I love them.

SPEAKER_06 23:59

I hate them.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

The problem with Woodford is we've tried them, they are experimental, air quotes experimental. Like, I guess in the same way you could say little books experimental. The problem is they're they're almost gimmicky experimental. They're they're so experimental that they're like, this is a bit much. Like bit much, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Struggled with Woodford. I would agree to an extent. Uh they've had periods of innovation of an experiment. Up until they changed the bottle look, it was experimentation. Then once the bottle changed, it became batch proof. So, what can we get for proof point for what changes flavor without doing very much to anything else? To then very simple. Okay, now we've we've changed a little bit to where it's now it's almost like a new distiller or new person deciding because now you've got Madeira finish, you've got like double double oaked and coming in those, you've got like different things coming up.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

I was gonna say the way that Woodford does their that series is a very similar to how Maker's Mark does their series. They're not really changing up a whole lot of like mash bill stuff, they're changing up finishings and staves and which is okay, which is cool, yeah. But like what we've seen with this little book, chapter one through eight, is they're all different blends of different mash bills, they're not like using the same old stuff and just kind of throwing a finish in here or a stave in there. And you get some of that with Woodford and some of it with makers, but for the most part, they are very they're not distant cousins, they're like the same thing, just with different finishings.

SPEAKER_06 25:32

Right. So, to give you an example, I recently at a liquor store saw a couple of these like new, or like they're they're um what do they call it? Masters collections, masters collection, that's what it's called, yeah, and everything. So they have just a batch proof, which is $150. All they did was just put it at proof, yeah. Maker's market is yeah, more than double.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

No, or not makers, but um Woodford proof.

SPEAKER_06 25:57

And then the other one was just a Madeira cask finish, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:01

$180. Yeah, it's the same match.

SPEAKER_06 26:03

And then they did a double double oaked that I just saw yesterday for $200. And this is in Ohio MSRP, like this is not markup secondary, this is just straight up, and so it's like how much innovation's in there, right? Like, that's the thing, like that's the difference between Little Book and and Woodford in that sense, right? Where it's like, this is there's so much heritage and thought, and like there's seven different barrels in here. Like, that's there's a lot of things going on, a lot of thought it's not their tried and true recipe changed, whereas and it's the same price, if not cheaper, than what Woodford is doing, where they changed one thing, and then now they charge literally double, if not more.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

And that's the thing that's the thing I love about the little book involved with Beam. Okay, I love Little Book for the story, for the the the reason behind it, but you also talk about talk about like oh, we changed the finish, oh, we changed the batch proof, like oh now we upcharge. Little book is like, we changed everything. You changed the batch, you changed the proof, like we we literally changed everything that went into this, like exactly.

SPEAKER_06 27:05

And we're putting almost 20-year-old barrels in this. Like that's that's probably just normal Woodford, the batch proof, probably just their same like six-year-old stuff, batch proof. Now it's $150. This is 18-year, 11-year, seven-year, five-year.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

Does to Woodford, you know what I mean? Like they are so far apart, different, and it's just from the same distillery. You would never get that far of a distance in Magersmark or Woodford, they're never going to be that far different. But little book chapter one and little book chapter eight are so far different, they might as well be from different distilleries, except for they have their distant, distant cousins. You can tell there's some same Jim Beam aspects there. I mean, you can tell, like if you know, but if you didn't know, if you weren't that big of a Jim Beam guy and I poured you these two, you probably think they were just two different distillers, completely different two different things.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

And what's crazy to me is chapter seven and chapter eight is almost a uh hold my beer moment for other distilleries from beam to other distilleries of like we've got an intern, two different interns doing this. Hold my beer, watch, watch this. Like see what happens, see what happens.

SPEAKER_03 28:16

I just don't think there's any other company out there doing anything like this. No, that's not their same ash bill just tweaked.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Like the risk is so extreme for them to be like, okay, yeah, one through six is R. So it's our own blood. It's you know, born and bred. Chapter seven and eight is like he has something to do with it, he oversees it. Yeah, it doesn't go out without his approval, but like it's not our blood that's making this.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Well, you've got to appreciate such a risk. You gotta appreciate some of the business aspect, the marketing aspect to this a little bit because they do know that like we've got people hooked, right? And now we're up to eight, like, people are gonna buy the next one. Now, eventually, those people might be like dissatisfied and quit, but there is some marketing and and business aspect to this that, like, once you get people hooked, okay, we've got them hooked. You know what I mean? Like, so that there is that, and that's smart too.

SPEAKER_06 29:13

But they're not squattering it though, they're not saying, oh, we have a loyal fan base, let's just make whatever, let's just have an intern do it.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

They're not resting on their laurels, like they're not, they're not using that as their end all be all, like some other companies, but there is some of that aspect to it. So, as far as some of the risk, it is mitigated, some of somewhat. And I I guarantee that that is what like Freddie like brought to him. Well, this is a big risk, it'll be mitigated a little bit by this. If we get people that enjoy this series, they're gonna keep coming back for more. And if we keep putting out good products, they're gonna keep buying this stuff. That's true, it's evident. It's it's evident, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 29:49

I I would agree. I'll I'll keep buying it.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

No, the fact that they can keep innovating is what's crazy to me. Like they just keep like what like winter after winter after winter, you know what I mean? And I feel like, and I've seen it because like the first one through four, there was a definite, like boom, boom, boom, boom. Now five through eight, I should have said, or whatever. Uh I you know, there's been some that have been like this is better than the other, but I feel like it's just getting like harder to distinguish. Does it tell a different story?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Yeah, five three tells a different story.

SPEAKER_03 30:17

It does, and I'm like, I'm having a harder time being like, well, this one's better than that one. And because like I want to say, like, this is the best one, but then I'm like remembering two, and I'm remembering the one. What was it? Number five, five. Yeah, and I'm like, man, I really don't know. I'm starting to have a hard time. Like, there's definitely been some that I'm like, these are lower, but and these are higher. But like now, I'm like, this is like the best thing I've ever had.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

You know, back to it is ranking your kids, yeah. Yeah, it's so hard, dude.

SPEAKER_06 30:43

It's ranking your kids, it's so hard. I mean, it is definitely like that. Is the experience, right? You go through all these and you're like, they're all great. Like, then I mean, it's as simple as that.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Now I'm very curious. We have another bottle in the room that wasn't planned. Yeah. Surprise. A little surprise. We're not gonna talk much about it because we may have it on another podcast at some point. But little book chapter eight is ry, rye, rye. Like it's rah, rah, rah. Yeah, so it's the same thing. That's so funny. Yeah, it is a cheer for rye. Now, the club did a barrel pick of a rye. By golly, it's it's fantastic. It's fantastic. I think unanimously by all of us. Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:29

It's the best of the best. Of course, we don't select bad reference.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

It was painstaking too. We didn't just pick one. We thought about it. We thought about it. We brought up good questions to where the guy was like, I've never had anyone ask that before. No one's ever posed that before. Yeah, like, can't we try a fourth one? We need another round. He did give us more of the ones we liked we could try in the game, yeah. So we definitely picked this one. We we went through a lot of painstaking, like trying to figure it out. I am curious what you guys think of little book chapter eight, which is very good. I mean, it's it's it's rye by rye, it's great to our barrel pick. Which is Journeyman last feather, last feather rye, but one that you can't get.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

No, it's gone. It's done.

SPEAKER_05 32:15

So if you want it, you gotta you gotta ask us.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Yeah, you gotta go through us. But it it is quite amazing. Uh, I it'll be interesting to try these side by side because this little book is Ry Plus, and then this journeyman is ride to your face, right to your soul. Like it's it's right to your face. Yeah, it is it is right.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

But we're also talking different mash bills, but we're also talking this might be smaller distillery. Smaller distillery, this might be when we're talking craft innovation. Journeyman is craft innovation because we're talking this is a 15-gallon barrel, so it's not big.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

Journeyman is the picture in the dictionary next to craft, 100%.

SPEAKER_06 32:53

Ride by the mac and cheese.

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Right by the mac and cheese, yes. I learned it by watching you.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

But we're talking again, different match barrel. We're talking 60 rye, 40 winter wheat.

SPEAKER_06 33:06

Uh so very soft. No wonder I like the last feather rye. It's very soft, but when you're talking to a column or like an afterwave, I'd be like, oh, what is that?

SPEAKER_03 33:17

What is that formidable scent? That's last feather, baby.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

15 gallon barrels, three, I think almost three and a half years. Three years, three and a half years, and 15 gallon. Yeah, at least three. I thought it was closer to four. That was the oldest one. This is the middle, but this is 120 point something proof. I just get I get excited smelling. I know, like we're talking completely different ryes, but rye done very, very well straight rye, and rye. There's no better craft rye out there. Smell alone is like night and day, it's not even the same.

SPEAKER_06 33:51

This is just so I mean, this is a treat for you guys listening here. I mean, just a surprise new bottle, our own pick. I mean, you can't ask for more.

SPEAKER_04 34:03

This is just the best. This is a two for two for one. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

Now we do need to talk about make let's make sure the proof point I think it's 120.

SPEAKER_03 34:12

Just so just so people know. So the last feather is 120.7. Man, I think this is probably what, around 118. 118.7. 118.2. I was close. So ours is uh the bear pick is proofier, but it doesn't taste any more proofy. I don't think.

SPEAKER_06 34:27

So, I mean, uh, you know, I'm curious to hear what you guys have to have to say about this, but I feel like one thing that is just uh really interesting to me throughout this whole little book series has been that my experience tasting it is that I just feel like I can tell it's blended.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Yeah, you know, I've been thinking about that this whole time. And I think that that is a very good point to put to pick out. It does taste blended.

SPEAKER_06 34:51

Right. And there's such a distinction between, like, you know, I I mentioned, I think in Little Book Seven, that it's different from just Eliza Craig. You just walk up, you know, to the liquor store, you buy normal Elizabeth Craig. This is like bourbon on steroids or bourbon plus, like we were saying, right? I think that difference is like, okay, there's there's just the blending of a bunch of bourbon, and you know, you add water to get, you know, to not be barrel-proof and stuff like that, right? But that that blending is different from this blending, right? Like there is so much intentionality behind it, the different years, the different types of barrels, the different types of whiskeys. That blend is just so unique and it's not very American. American is we're gonna blend it to taste the exact same every time, right? And I mean, almost similar to Scotch, right? I mean, this is kind of a unique way to do blending.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

The way Johnny Walker's blended. You can tell there's different whiskies that are made to they're put together to make this overall experience. Yeah, you can almost taste that when you drink Johnny Walker's.

SPEAKER_06 35:59

I mean, that's what I'm experiencing between these two, right? And that's been my whole experience. Like, as I drink all four of these, I'm just experiencing like I can just taste the blendedness. Like, I can just tell in a good way. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

It's like a culinary chef, like would would put things together. Right.

SPEAKER_06 36:15

All the different flavors, the different spices and seasonings and stuff. You can just tell. I don't know. It's it's such a unique palette.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

Whereas this last feather is not that, but it is so good the way it is. But you can tell it there's almost like the difference between one note and a melody.

SPEAKER_06 36:32

Right. Yes, yeah, exactly. That's I that's a great way to put it because think about most of the things that you buy on the shelf. It's either single barrel, like especially like that's like what we prioritize a lot of times is in our Burber Club at this point, single barrel, barrel proof, right? Like, obviously, there's still complexity in there, but it's just a it's it's different. It's it's a different level of complexity, it's a different experience than the blended experience that you're getting in this kind of little book mindset of when we have all these different offerings and everything, and we're gonna, you know, do these different age points and this and that, right? Very different. And it's such a unique experience.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

It's curated to be this way versus this is like made to like last feather's made, like the way it is. But but the the little book is curated. Yeah, it's like they've gone around and they've picked the best, they've they've gone to a local food market and they've picked out the best things and they've made a dish with it. Whereas like The Last Feather is just like grandma's freaking kitchen. I'm gonna open up the fridge and make the best meal you've ever had. They're both fantastic in their own right. But you're right, one is a blend and you can taste that blend, and the other one is just the way it is. And I mean, last feather packs a freaking wallop, you know what I mean? A flavor. Yeah, but it's just different from that curated blending aspect. And you you can, it's such a weird thing. It's hard to describe in a word that is. There is a difference between the two.

SPEAKER_06 38:00

I'm thinking of a museum. Yeah, there's a curator that like Journey Last Feather Eye is one piece of art that is fantastic. You walk up there and it's inspiring. It's yeah, it's it's it's well done, well executed. It's inspiring, it's a great experience. You're standing there, you're learning a lot, you're thinking, it's you know, whatever. But drinking it in, but going to Little Book is the museum. It's it's curated. There's multiple pieces. You go to one piece, you stand there, think about it, then you go to the next piece.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

And without one of those pieces, it falls short. It needs all those pieces to work together. Exactly. That's a good piece.

SPEAKER_06 38:39

That's a good room. Like you walk into it's not at the museum, dude. Yeah. With Ben Stiller.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

What Cody's saying is uh, and correct me if I'm wrong. The last feather is Tiger Woods playing golf. And the uh little book is whatever team you want, the Cubs winning the World Series. You got all these players on the field together, they did it. Together, they did it, right? You got nine men out there working together. Tiger Woods is out there by himself. I don't know. He has his caddy, you know what I mean? But he's playing by himself. Still amazing to watch. But it's the team aspect, all these parts working together to accomplish the goal versus like the man, Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. You can take your pick, the goat, the goat by himself. Right? Like that's what you're like with the museum, same thing. You got one piece of art, you got all the art.

SPEAKER_06 39:36

Right? It's not just a piece of art versus a creation.

SPEAKER_03 39:39

It's the right amount put in the right way that you have an overall fantastic experience at the museum.

SPEAKER_06 39:45

Think about a curator in a museum, they do different rooms, right? Right? Like, you know, Ken and I went to the Chicago Museum of Art uh when we were in college, and they had rooms based on um from memory, this was like eight years ago, they did um a lot of geographical rooms. So you walk in, and I was in uh modern history of Japan class at the time, um, which is really cool. So we went into a Southeast Asia or an uh, you know, an Asia room, and I remember like that experience. And you're like, we walk into that room. That curator chose all of those pieces for a single experience. You see all of those different pieces, they add up into one experience. When you leave that room, you experience Southeast Asia or East Asia, right? Right? That's what little book is. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Whereas if you go into a room and there's the Mona Lisa and that's all that's in that room, that's what Last Forever is.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

You explained exactly what I meant by that. Yeah, that's exactly what I was talking about. It's like an interior designer that picks out every aspect to make the overall experience what it is. Without one of those aspects, you have a hole, you have an empty sp an empty spot. It's not the overall experience.

SPEAKER_06 40:57

But exactly hit it in the head. But in a museum, like little book one through eight is like going into eight different rooms. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

Yeah, we got Africa here, and you got you know Australia here and East Asia, you got Mesopotamia. Exactly. Can't forget about that one. That's right. Ancient civilization. The bedrock of civilization path for civilization. That's right. Then you got the Romans.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

So let me play Devil's Advocate. Without going too far into detail, one of the other barrels that we debated on for a very long time with the club was a lot like Little Book Chapter Eight. So, yes, single barrel blended. You could there's a difference between the two. Is one better than the other?

SPEAKER_06 41:42

Well, I mean, we talk about this often. I think different types of whiskey have different purposes.

SPEAKER_07 41:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 41:49

You know, you have your everyday drinker, you have your special occasion, you have something that you drink and you sit and think on, and it's a one and done. You have your your whiskey that you can drink a whole bottle, you know, you just keep coming back from war, right? There's there's different purposes behind each one.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

Absolutely. You talk about the difference differences between uh and then you have to throw memories in there and stuff too, Wathins, right? Right. Um, and then you have Rittenhouse or whatever, you have bookers, you have Little Booker, what do you you have Blanton's? What like there are times we're not in the wheat anymore. Sometimes we throw one, it's like a throwback for us, you know what I mean? We throw one in the mix and we're like, yeah, this is you remember what it was like to drink Buffalo Trace and be like all about it? Yeah, you know what I mean? So like I think what Cody's saying, like you do have different bourbons for different times. And if you're so stuck in your ways that you only like if we only drank why rye, would we appreciate it? I think not. We drink a good amount, but like like I don't think if we only drank rye, would we appreciate it? And that comes back to like what you were saying like a while ago about like the palate. You've got to keep experiencing new things. The people that only eat the same food every time, do they know how good other food is? No. So if you're like, hey, have you tried, you know, this? No, what's so good? Sure. You know what I mean? In their mind, they're like, Yeah, I don't believe you. You know what I mean? I eat chicken wings all the time. Like, until they try it, they're not gonna know. You gotta you gotta be willing to experience new things. And there's times we've experienced something that we were like, yeah, I don't like this. And then I think of Highland Park, right? Right when we revisited it later. Oh, this is amazing. This is amazing, you know what I mean? But if we were so closed off, like never trying Highland Park again, we wouldn't have had that experience. So I think like what you're saying, you can't look at whiskey, bourbon, whatever you want to call it, rye, whatever you want to call it, through like this very small, like, I only drink these things. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Because then you're really like limiting yourself, you're limiting your palate, and eventually you are gonna. Get burned out. You are gonna get burned out. Where do we go after we're burned out from Ryan, Nick? I don't know. I have no idea. So you're maybe we do a circle back around. Yeah, I don't know what it is, but right now we're into rise. We weren't into rise. Now we're into rise. You know what I mean? But like eventually, I could see that becoming kind of like okay. Oh, I mean, this one's really this is Rye Plus. But like when we get to the point where like, okay, like I haven't had anything rye that's been challenging lately. You know, that's the thing about humans. Like, we were always reaching, we're always aspiring. We're we're made that way. God made us that way. You know what I mean? We're we're trying to get the most out of things and and uh and everything else, and that's not gonna not gonna stop even after you know we get to heaven and everything else. We we we want to know, right? And when we get to heaven, that's like the first thing everybody thinks of. Well, when I get to heaven, I'm gonna ask some questions. I'm gonna know. I'm gonna know what's going on. We can't wait to know. But what happens when we know everything? You know what I mean? Tell me more. That's the way God made us. So same thing with burp, I think that uh or or whiskey or whatever you want to call it. There's just there's always the search for something else. But if you put yourself into these pegs, these little bitty spots, and you're like, Well, I'm never drinking rye because I don't like it, and I like weed it only. Like, okay, that's fine, man. But eventually you're gonna want to come come to the dark side.

SPEAKER_06 45:20

Yeah, I mean, I mean, look at me, for example. Like when I first started, I didn't like rice. Yeah, and everything. I mean, here I am enjoying a rye. Two ries. You love it, yeah. Yeah, two rye.

SPEAKER_05 45:33

Not only is it rye, it's the last better rye. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

You bring up a good point. You weren't into this, so so this Little Book bottles 160 MSRP. Little books have gone from 80 to double in eight years.

SPEAKER_06 45:47

I mean, pretty much everything else has, so everything else.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

There is inflation, there is inflation booking.

SPEAKER_05 45:52

There's also supply and demand.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

Let's say everything else has, and this is a really good bottle. Everything we've had from Little Book, fantastic. And you talked about the price tag is kind of dependent on the person buying it for the reason why they're buying it. Fair, right? We also have a comparison that we've tried against flavor-wise, which is our journeyman barrel pick 65 a bottle. It's a single barrel, slightly higher proof. How do you justify price tag between the two?

SPEAKER_03 46:23

I think the same. I I bet they have an algorithm, right? Like they've got a uh rubric or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

I'm not I'm not asking how do they justify how do you as the buyer. I thought you were setting the price. How do you, as the buyer, justify this one is just as good.

SPEAKER_03 46:38

The other thing is you haven't tried it right yet, right? So right. So you haven't tried it. If you haven't tried this, there's a certain uh amount of risk gamble in there. Uh, you have to account for inflation, you have to account for availability at this point. Like it might have been like, say you're the little book guy when it came out. You're like, this was available because it was a nobody knew if they were gonna pull the trade. It was available, and then I missed out a few years, and it was hard to get. You walk in the store, oh, they got little book chapter eight. That is not something I've seen in a while because it's gotten popular. Then you start going down the list of like inflation, price, availability. You read it, oh man, I'm a rye guy. This has got rye in it, right? Not a rye guy, this has got rye in it. Those are things to consider, right? So I think there's a whole list of things that we do mentally to get down to like, am I gonna pick this up or not? Right. And uh I I think that to quantify that into words would be tough because there's so many things we do as human beings. And then you also have the guys that have like X amount of money to spend, and you have guys that have no like no amount, or you have the guys that buy all the time versus guys that don't buy often. Like if you're the kind of guy that doesn't buy a bottle every month, you know what I mean? Like, I haven't bought one in three months, I can buy this, versus like I just bought like two last week. Man, I don't know if I can justify that. You know what I mean? I I think that's so hard to kind of put into words like would you buy this or not, based on all those different aspects. Comes down to the situation, the moment, the person, everything.

SPEAKER_06 48:11

Yeah, I think for me, honestly, like I'm really glad that you brought in the last further rye into this because uh I've been trying to put my finger, I feel like all four of these, I've been trying to put my finger on what is different about these bottles with everything else that we try.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

Yeah, and we finally got to it with our ample analogies about about the amount of analogies and everything, you know.

SPEAKER_06 48:37

Like I think that's finally it. This was honestly like a really eye-opening experience for me. Like having all of these and like you know, five through eight, I've been like, something is different about these bottles. That it's so that that's the one similarity. It finally hit me was like, this is so like intentionally blended and so well blended that this is such a different experience than like basically every other bottle that I've had. You know what I mean? Like, there's just something so unique about it where like this bottle, you know, our bread and butter in the Bourbon Club is single barrel, barrel proof. That's it, you know, and like great bottles. Like, you know, we we we appreciate that and prioritize that for a reason, right?

SPEAKER_03 49:24

And I think that's the first time anybody's ever said that out loud, but I think that you're 100% right.

SPEAKER_06 49:29

Right, that's that's the go-to, that's the priority, that's what we know and love, yeah, right. And for for good reason, those are great bottles. This has been such a unique experience for me, and I didn't realize it until I paired it with a single barrel bearer proof, and then it like it was like eye-opening experience. I tried that and immediately I knew I was like, that's the difference.

SPEAKER_03 49:50

And that's like besides like the Jim Beam-esque flavors, that's the one thing that's holding these together. That is really like the thing that's like the same DNA, they're blended.

SPEAKER_06 50:00

Exactly. Because if they're all curated if Freddie know, okay, in the last, I think three out of four, there was an 18-year in it. If he had just taken that one barrel and just bottled it, sent it out, it'd be great. Obviously, it would be great. Yeah, but it would be different. It would be different, different, it would be exactly not exactly like, but it would be the similar experience, maybe better, but a similar experience to what we're having with this last for the rye. That's the difference.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

And the fact that this can tell your difference by taste without being able to really explain into words what that is, right? Other than what we've already done with our amaz an amazing amount of ex examples, which people love to hear, to be honest. But we like the examples, right?

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:44

But but that's that's you hit it on the head, dude. That's exactly what it is. Like it's it's that's what's but it's what's holding them together, but also making them different, but also making them different from other things.

SPEAKER_06 50:55

Yes. So for me, I think you're talking about your question 15 minutes later, addressing your question. How do you justify the price? Right, the price point, right? Right. For me, it's that especially after this experience of going, you know, five through eight. I trust Freddie No and whoever he delegates to, because apparently he's got some you know, no name apprentices doing this. I trust him and his stewardship and his leadership to put out a perfectly curated product that I will enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 51:31

You can't say it any better than that.

SPEAKER_06 51:34

Not a right guy.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

You would appreciate it for the single mole guy, you liked it. The curate itself is the art itself, and that's worth the price point. That has its own value, it's worth it. The curation has its own value, dude. Nice, you teased it out. Let's go.

SPEAKER_04 51:52

I like that. You're completely right. I trust them here. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 51:57

And that's what they've done over eight and they've I'm like, they've developed me a good buy. Trust. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:03

So you trust him to blindly pay the price without tasting. Fair. That's what I was getting at.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

That's that that's trust, right? Going without the without the knowledge of what it's gonna happen, right? Without sight or or scene, or that's that's faith. Yeah, it's that's faith, dude. That's leaping off the edge. They expect him to be, you know, caught or or or or or or taking a step off, even though you can't see, like, I'm gonna land on something solid.

SPEAKER_06 52:30

I mean, we talk okay, you know, blind faith. People like to throw that phrase out a lot. Okay, well, you do blind faith a lot in your life, right? When you sit in a chair, you don't you don't look underneath to make sure every bolt is is fastened. You don't you don't call IKEA and ask them about the quality of their this or that. So, what I'm getting at is like you're not calling the manufacturer. Like, if this is an IKEA chair, I'm not asking you like, well, did you make sure you use the X amount of screws or whatever? Like, you just sit in the chair, you put your weight onto the chair.

SPEAKER_03 52:58

Well, if it's IKEA, you made it yourself, right?

SPEAKER_06 53:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:01

Well, you trust you.

SPEAKER_06 53:02

You made the IKEA chair and I come over to your house. I'm not asking you how you made the chair. You're sitting there. I'm just sitting in there. I just put it in the chair. You are sitting in an IKEA chair that I made. That's crazy. See, that's right there. That's that's you put your faith in me. You put your faith in me. Exactly. I walked in here, I just sat, I didn't test it, I looked underneath the chair. So, what I'm getting at is blind faith doesn't have to be unreasonable, right? So I walked in here, I sat in this chair. That is a reasonable thing to do. Yeah, it's unreasonable for me to go look under the chair, grill you about how you put it together. Exactly, right? Yeah, that's a great point. So, what I'm getting at is with little book one through eight, they have established that to where with number nine, we can go out there. You're willing to spend the cash. Because one through eight has shown me that I can have faith in them. But what's interesting about trust is you can lose it.

SPEAKER_03 54:03

Very easily lost. So you can buy number nine, you spend $200 on it, right? And it tanks. It tanks for you. Are you buying a number 10? Trust is so easily lost, so hard gained, so hard gained, so easily lost. I think that they are taking this lineup seriously enough. Yeah, I think so too. I think for we can think of from we've tried eight. And there's been some we didn't like, you know, but I didn't like that. That like I liked them enough. You know what I mean? Like there's been some I've been like really love, but like I haven't had any that I was like, I felt betrayed. I didn't they did not lose my trust in eight times, to the point that I think if I had number 10 and it sucked, I'd still buy number 11 because they still won my trust. That is saying something.

SPEAKER_06 54:48

Well, and also you have to think about the level of innovation that they're going through. We're all different. You know, you don't like American single balls. Steve probably would have loved number six. He would have been giving school boy number eight, and I think it's good, but I'm not a huge rye guy. There's difference there, yeah, right. So it's like you can't also fault them for that. With innovation and curation, they might be curating a different audience. Every room in a museum that you go to won't speak to you the same, but it'll be quality stuff. Dude, you're describing what art is exactly. You're describing what art. And this is art. Some art speaks to you, and some art doesn't speak to you. You pay $20 to go into a certain exhibit and you don't like it. Yep. So you got to respect you. But we have to respect the art.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Not everybody's like that. Right. But that's it, you're hitting the nail on the head. That is what the the definition of what art is, right? There's so many people that say, Oh, you paid 20 million for that painting, that's a piece of junk. It's like, well, but for somebody, yeah, that's more than a piece of junk.

SPEAKER_06 55:52

But I think they've they put out quality products enough to where I think you can justify the decision.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

Absolutely. I think that they have one out of eight times spin on it, and that for me is better than what I can do, right? Two out of three ain't bad, as as uh Meatloaf said, you know what I mean? So they didn't even do that. They didn't, you know, eight out of eight, in my opinion. Like there's some I didn't like, but I still enjoyed them. Two out of three ain't bad.

SPEAKER_01 56:16

So, biased question here. We've tried our barrel pick of rye compared to little book chapter eight, which is rye. Should our bottle have been priced more than what it was?

SPEAKER_06 56:30

Well, based on the market, and maybe this is you know a question for the last feather rye episode, but a little sneak peek for you guys, I guess. I'm just curious. I think for the market, I think it's a steal. Single barrel, barrel proof, those are favorite adjectives. Typically, you're at least on the cheap end 80 to 90 bucks. I mean, look at like Elijah Craig, Larceny, right? Like Heaven Hill products, they do a great job of appropriately pricing their products, right? I mean, barrel proof Elijah Craig and Larsene, 80 to 90 bucks, typically, right? Uh, sometimes you can get lucky and find a little cheaper. I mean, we got it for 65. That's a steal.

SPEAKER_03 57:13

So I think so much that we don't want to say it out loud too many times.

SPEAKER_06 57:17

Or I am kind of embarrassed of like six. Don't tell anybody.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

Last feather rye is is is is the atlas of rye. Like it is holding up the world of rye. Like, you can't say last feather, the one the single barrel we picked. Right. That is rye through and through and through. And Cody's loving it. I still like it. Cody's like it. Well, okay. That's it.

SPEAKER_06 57:38

I had three different ryes to choose from. So it was it was rye on rye. So I do enjoy it. It is good.

SPEAKER_03 57:46

It's so good. From a rye guy, it is like sweet mana from heaven. It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_07 57:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:52

This is this is the water from the rock after Moses struck it.

SPEAKER_05 57:56

You know what I mean? I'm like, I've been thirsty for a few days. Let me lap this bad boy up. Oh, this is gonna cost you. This is gonna cost you you getting into the promised land for 40 years. I'm okay with it. I mean, like, it's good. Like, maybe maybe Moses, you should have taken a chill pill. You know what I mean? Like, this is some good, this is some good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 58:17

Chris is like, anyone got extra bottles?

SPEAKER_05 58:19

Yeah, that's right. I'm filling up my own, man. Give them sheepskins over here. I'm gonna fill up this water.

SPEAKER_03 58:25

It's good. I I love, I love the last forever ride pick that we did. Love it. And for the price, oh my god, yeah. I mean, but I got love in this little book, chapter eight. Man, it's so good. It's so hard to pick between the two because there's nothing else you can say besides what you you nailed it, dude. You nailed it, and I've been I was thinking that the whole time going through these iterations, um, and you you vo you vocalized it, but it's the blending, dude. And something about it, it's so interesting that I would never equate this to Johnny Walker in flavor, but I would equate it to Johnny Walker in like experience. Yeah, where you'll get that same kind of a thing. This is a blended thing. This is a blended thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:06

What's so interesting to me is we as Americans we have this bias or belief that we're better, right? Our our bourbon is better, and and people are like, Oh, it's blended, but it's not, you know, it's it's it's blended American whiskey, but at least it's not Canadian. You know, it's blended American whiskey, but at least it's not Scotch. It's all blended. It's it's blended. It's it's at the core blended. But when you take into account the idea of a little book and the art of blending, like you said, you take it a step further and you're like, oh crap, this is this is American blended, this is Canadian blended, this is Scotch blended, this is so well blended that I'm like, I don't I can tell, but I can't. Like there's there's a line that you're like, it's there. But I I don't necessarily would say it's a bad line at all. Like this is really, really good. And I think that's what Little Book has going for it in the whole whiskey community. Because as novices, you're like, oh, blended is bad, and you're just like, oh gosh, that's that's that's not that's not bad. And then as uh you know, someone that's had a lot of bourbon, your your connoisseur, you're like, I've had a lot of oh, but this is not like a lot of blended whiskey that I've that I've had. This is this is something different.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:30

It's curation, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

Right.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:32

It's curation.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

There's no other way to describe it. I get so excited because of what they've done, but I get excited about the way you put it because it's curation of like what's next. Like, I'm really interested in what's next. I know what they do next for the infinite, but that's that's that's like a departure of what they're doing now, and I'm excited to see what's next for little book in this because it's a curation, it's someone different curating along with someone supervising. It's like, oh my gosh, like this could be so cool. Like, just beyond excited.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:07

This definitely has opened my eyes and really like I already appreciated little book enough to buy one, right? But now I mean, like, I'm like, each one of these has been such a unique and excellent experience going through these four. And I'm like, man, I'm excited for it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:22

Well, and going back to what we said before, you know, do you tell me another company I can do this with this much variation? With this much variation, there isn't one. Yeah, so we we can't name one. If you're wondering, if you're on the fence, if you're like little book, I don't know, like if you got the money and you're willing to, I mean you can find it. Even the ones that I was like not a huge fan of after one through eight, I would still say they're worth the they're worth the money. They are just I don't think they're overblown for retail, uh you know, MSRP. Right, I I don't know. The secondary market gets a little weird, but they are just doing something that you gotta hand out to the Jim Beam. They're doing something that nobody's doing in a way that nobody can do it. And kudos, like one through eight, fantastic. Cody, you joined us for four. I'm so glad, dude. And he will be back for the listeners that were like, Cody's my dude. He's gonna be back. He's gonna be back.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:16

I guarantee there's people that are like, Cody, we need more Cody.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:20

Cody. He's the best. Yes, you want more Cody, let us know.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:22

Eventually, I'll be back on.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

Uh exciting part is we will have Little Book Infinite up next to finish the entire series. Okay, I'll be back. Sounds good about that, dude. Cody's like, I'll be back. Steve will be back for that one, and Prince, our chef, will be back for that one. Hey yo. Hey yo. Good episode. Excited to see where that one goes. Interesting. Till next time. Cool.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:47

Look forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:53

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 tasterspomma.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.