Little Book Infinite with Chef Prince!

SPEAKER_02 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_03 0:28

We're gonna start trying to kill Prince early. What was it? 116 proof? 119. Oh, 119. Even better. Thank you so much. 119. We're trying to see what we can do here.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

With this quarter of a shot that I have.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

It'll last you a while.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

It'll be okay. You'll be nursing on that one for a minute. Ironically, it takes tastes similar to what we're doing later. I'm curious on that one.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Because I didn't, I I thought they were gonna taste different there, but I guess not. But we got little book infinite, Prince. You're not the only one that wasn't a part of this series. You're you're finishing up the series with us, and Steve is is on for one bottle.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Came back for the last one. I had to make sure I got at least a little bit of a piece of this since you guys decided this was a great time to do this series when I'm out. Had to get in on it.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Screw taxes, screw them. This is what we're doing. Screw the taxes for the day. And we haven't had uh our friend Chef Prince on for a while, so we thought, hey, let's let's get him back on. And what a better bottle than this bottle. Chris, you've been a part of all the little book series so far. This one is probably the most unique one, and I'm excited about this. This is the Little Book Infinite, released 2024. The first release was 2024, and this was done by uh Freddie No, who is the new master distiller. If you didn't know, if you didn't know, yes, Freddie knows, yes, and little book was one of those things that was created because of his grandpa calling him Little Book, his grandpa's bookers. And the idea or the series started because his dad said, Let's try something. Like I trust you, I believe in you, let's see what we can do. So that's how Little Book came to be. Well, at this point in time of Little Book and where we're at, and with him being head distiller, master distiller, he doesn't have as much time just to focus on Little Book. So he's used interns for the last two chapters. This one he kind of took back. This is his reclaim to uh to Little Book, and it's just a one-year release, and it is just that it's an infinite bottle, so it's an infinity bottle.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

So this is one through eight? No, oh okay, that would make you think it wouldn't be.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Exactly. Uh this is where I get excited because again, we got prints on. We normally talk about food. This ties into the club and what we do in my mind. And I'll explain here, right? So there's four components that go into this bottle. We've got one that was laid down by Booker No, his grandpa, aged 20 years, so quite an old guy. We got one that was laid down by his dad that was 14 years old, one that was laid down by him that's seven, and then a shared family one that's eight years. They don't say what any of them are. I know. And to take it even farther, he was like, hey, you know what? I'm going to blend this together. I'm going to take 70% of it, blend it for bottling, and then put 30% of it back into metal tanks so they don't continue aging, but they can kind of meld together and marry together. And from that 30%, I'm then going to continue putting in more. So that's where the infinity comes in. Yep. Okay. So each year he's going to put a little bit more in of something else into this. And that's going to completely change every year. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

And this he's not, this isn't this is going to be an annual release. This is an annual release. Okay. What are they calling the because the other ones are chapters? Is this also a chapter?

SPEAKER_03 4:02

I think it's infinite series one, infinite series two. Infinity or an infinite? Infinite. The whole idea behind this was kind of the idea behind starting little book. Was the idea that my family's played such a big role in this that I don't want to take away from that. I have an opportunity to play into that again. Not only do I get an opportunity to play into that, but I get to see what happens year after year after year of constantly doing this and putting more into the family, putting more into the family. I love that. Again, we got Prince on, so we're I I haven't told the guys I've got more of an interview for all of you. Along with Prince, because of this bottle, right? Prince is a dear friend. I mean, we've just grown to be real good friends. And part of the part of the friendship and the growth of that has been the club, right? This whiskey club that we do that we meet once a month. We got eight guys in it, right? We always around a bottle. And every eight months we we scavenge for food. And then four months out of the year, we actually get like really good food. We don't know what to do with ourselves eight months out of the year.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Don't let them lie to you. Ordering pizza, making pasta, all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

We get great normal food all the other time. Then we get like five-star restaurant food for those other four.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

When Greg was at the club the other month, right? He last just last month, I sat down with him. I was like, hey, hey, I'm glad you're here. Like, glad that you can come visit us and join us for another night. And he was like, Yeah, I've I've really missed you guys. Not so much the food from you guys. I've missed Prince's dinners. I miss you guys, but this food I can do without. I I really want Prince along with this.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Is he coming tonight?

SPEAKER_03 5:48

He's lost.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

That's that's more for us. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

But as I look at the the little book Infinite, right? Um, we've you guys haven't been a part of the series. And so I'm trying to bring you along the way. There's been each chapter something new and something different, and bring something unique to the table that before you're like, I didn't think I could get any better. I don't think I could compete with anything else. In fact, on one of the episodes, we had like a 30-minute, I don't know if you remember this, Chris, like a 30-minute argument. It was chapter four. We had this like 30-minute argument between me, Chris, and Herm about how bad chapter four was compared to the other little books. Not to whiskey in general, but like you're comparing the best of the best to each other, and you're like, someone's got to come in last. Like if we're doing like a competition, like someone's gotta come in last, but even that last place is really freaking good. That's still like someone's best stuff, is our last place. So each chapter kind of built upon it itself to where you're like, I don't know if we can get any better. I don't know if we can get any better. Holy crap, it keeps getting better, it keeps changing my mind, it keeps challenging me to be something else, to be better, or to taste something else, to taste something different. Challenges your idea of whiskey. And then you try this and you're like, holy crap.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

The amount of variation that you can that you can get out of one distillery, especially. I mean, you have so many people that are not into bourbon that'll say all bourbon tastes the same. Okay, we all know that that's not true. But then let's let's look at just one distillery. There's people that are into bourbon that will say, Well, you know, everything from this distillery pretty much tastes the same. You know what I mean? Well, you're talking about even within that, a subset of that distillery, this lineup, and even those all taste different. There's variation. Wow. Like it's how can you do that?

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Then you talk about this bottle alone that I'm like, holy cow. Because you've got that family compound involved with a large distillery. Not only that, but you've got the grandson, son, now that the eighth generation, that has done by himself six chapters. The last two, he had an intern that he oversaw. So he's he's got six chapters under his belt, and his dad sees what he's doing to the point where he gets into little book infinite, and his dad goes, Oh, you want to use that 20-year-old stuff from your grandpa? Go for it. Like, we're not gonna say no. Like, you you know what you're doing, you do it really well, go for it. He's proved himself this right. And you want to use some of my stuff? Here's here's the best stuff that I've done. Use my stuff. So you've got these these greats, is what I would consider, right? Or the the the origin story starting with these guys in this bottle of this is where we came from. Like, this is what I remember growing up for my grandpa. This is what I remember for my dad. Like, this is everything I've learned, I'm putting into this, and we're growing something out of this. And right now in this room, we've got combined with the podcast in the club, we've got the origin story for the club and for the podcast, right? And I tend to nerd out when it comes to the club and the podcast, because I I love it. Like, I'll get to talking to someone, I'm like, 30 minutes later, I'm like, so you want to join? Like, you want to join now, right? Like, you you have to, you have to have by this time, you're like, man, how do I do this? Like, I want to do this. But when we first started, Chris and I were like, How are we gonna find eight guys? How are we gonna do this? And I remember asking friends, like, so do you think you'd be willing to do something like this? Like, I don't know if it's a thing or not. And your response was, Hell yeah, like absolutely, let's do it. In your words, let's make magic happen.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah, that's my thing.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

We're going on four years between the club and the podcast combined. That's a lot, that's a lot of meals that you've prepared for us. Right now, we're three months or three dinners into the fourth year. So you've done almost 16 meals for us.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yes. Just recently, I decided I needed to start writing what I had done for you guys now. And I was like, man, let me go through here and see what I've done. And like, how can I outdo myself? That's gotta be tough. It it is, but it's I mean, that's the challenge of it, and that's why I like doing this. I want to see how I can elevate myself and elevate you guys' palettes and make you think better, right?

SPEAKER_02 10:02

That's right. Four years. That's a long time. That's a long college degree. Exactly. It's amazing how long this has gone. Like, I it doesn't feel like it's been four years.

SPEAKER_03 10:09

Like it's been that long. Yeah, you guys looking at four years. What's been the funnest experience for each of you for cooking? What's been your funnest experience for cooking? Chris and and Steve, your funnest experience for the club aspect.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

The funnest experience with cooking for the club? Okay. Man, that's hard because I have I have a good time every time. I would say with this, with this new challenge that uh Chris has given me with gluten-free. This is this is where I'm like, okay, well, now I gotta get out of my normal wheelhouse and start thinking about how to utilize other ingredients and and make it taste good and and still give that, you know, comfort to it, you know, that you would expect from it being how it's supposed to normally be made, to adjusting it. So it's like, all right. Gluten's pretty heavenly.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

So getting being able to find a way to do gluten-free and still have it be amazing.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Well, and that's it. I remember I told Nick this privately. I was like, I don't know if I should tell anybody that I can't have. I was like, maybe I just don't eat certain things, although that would be obvious because I was like, I don't want to do anything that would change what Prince does because it's amazing. It's like telling Picasso, like, hey Minute, like I don't think you should be using blue. You know what I mean? It's like that's it's tough, you know what I mean? But you like, I don't know, you've been knocking it out of the park within it.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

I haven't tried, I think tonight, I think tonight's gonna knock your socks off a little bit, just a little bit. Not to toot my own horn, but toot away, man. It took me until this Monday to figure out how to tweak what I was doing to to do it right. And then like I I tried it today before I came and I was like, oh, this is fantastic. So I don't like if if there's ever dinner where Chris doesn't, you know, have a clean plate, I know something's wrong. So I gotta make sure my guys got a clean plate. So yeah, that's um man, every everyone is is just fun for me. It's just I feel like a superhero almost like a super saiyan or something. With every meal is like a new fight, and I just level up a little bit. So that's that's what I go for. That's what makes you guys happy.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

I will never forget every guy's first prince dinner, because every guy has a different reaction to it, and it's so fun. Because, like you said, Steve, it you don't realize it's been four years, so like this is normal for us, and it feels like we just got started. But when you add in a new guy, like if we have a spot open and a new guy jumps in to see them, their first prince dinner, they're like, Oh, oh, whoa, wait, there's more. Like this year, Herm was like, I thought the nachos were it.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Yeah, man. There's two more meals, but not like an infomercial.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

But wait, there's more.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Hey, just trying to make magic happen. That's it. That's that's my thing. I need to give me a little a little chef cape to make magic happen.

SPEAKER_04 13:06

With your initials on it, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Yeah, when I tell people that I'm going to club and it's uh it's a prince night, and that you know that we're being we're having it catered, and they're always like, what do you like, what do you like like canes? What do you mean you're having it catered in? It's like no, like a private chef is coming to our house and cooking for us, and you're not a part of it.

SPEAKER_04 13:29

Oh, that's that. I get all snooty about it. I'm like, we have our private chef. We have our private chef.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

See Prince Bald is coming. So, what's been your funnest experience, Steve?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

For me, it's been my expansion of the pipe world, I think. Like, you know, I've I've smoked the pipe a little bit, and then I get in here, and now there's like four or five of us that are pretty regular pipe smokers.

SPEAKER_04 13:58

Avid pipe smokers.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Yeah, and avid pipe smokers that you know I didn't know any personally before then, unless I like ran into one out of smoke shop or something, and then having that join in with the whiskey and and kind of figuring out that out has been really fun getting that other perspective. It's just like one more hobby to join into this hobby that's been really fun. And the wife has been super excited. Yes, yes, right, yeah, one more thing to go spend money on to come home smelling.

SPEAKER_04 14:31

Change your clothes before you spoke in English. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

She did. Yeah. And so, yeah, but uh getting doing that and then having the chance to like sit out in the porch with with Chris and Ryan and now Herm and other ones that have kind of joined in a little bit also. Like it's been a lot of fun to just kind of have that moment to be able to sit and enjoy and have a glass, have a pipe, and do all that. So that's that's been probably the funnest for me. What about you, Chris?

SPEAKER_04 15:00

Man, there's a lot I could say, but I could I'm gonna take a little bit of what Prince said and a little bit of what Steve said because it actually fits in with like part of why we decided to do this from the beginning. When we first like initially sat down and thought about like what would a club be like and what what would we want to get out of it, and podcasts too. It was kind of how part of it was what Steve's bringing up with the pipe stuff, and that's the big part of it is the community, the communion aspect of it we talked about, getting these guys together and getting people from different backgrounds too, and different stages in life and things like that, getting these guys together that may or may not know each other even, and then learning about them and becoming friends and having this common ground to build off of as like a starting point, kind of like a conduit to like, hey, like let's just use bourbon or whiskey, uh, and pipes too, um, and food to like meet people, grow, grow with each other, learn, develop these like super like tense, intense friendships, you know what I mean, which I think is what we have in the club. I mean, that's even the thing with our chef, like Prince. Like, he's he's not just he's not a component, he is a part of. Like he is 100% this club, you know what I mean? And like you get emotional talking about it because it means a lot to us, like, and the fact that we conceptualize this thing, and it's actually become like now it's four years or whatever, it became like a thing, like it's real, like it's and then the other aspect, what Prince was talking about, the challenging, it's like the for us, it was like, what bottles are we gonna use? What can how can we, you know what I mean? Because at the beginning, there was a lot of people that were kind of like new to bourbon. So it was okay, this is what you need to start with. This is how you grow into this, how you build into it. Now we're like, how do we challenge these guys? So you're always texting me, we're always going out looking for bottles. And it's like, what can we bring to the table this time that's either gonna challenge, take somebody who's like Blake, he's only drinking weeded, you know, when we meet, and then now he's like, Oh, this ries pretty good. Wait, hold on. What'd you say? You know what I mean? Ryan to, you know, all these guys. They're just uh challenging them, seeing them grow, their palates growing. So, like Prince was talking about with that challenge aspect of it, trying to find something now trying to find something that's gonna continue that spark, that excitement. That's the other part that that I'm that I'm really enjoying at the moment with the club.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

I think it's it's fun to listen to all this because Mary and I were talking about the club. We were talking about it being four years. We're like, man, that seems wrong. Like I have to count my head, like, really? Have we have we done four years? Like, there's no way that we've done four years. And because I I always remember that very first night. What Chris knows, but you guys don't know. Leading up to it, we were like, we have to have 12 guys. If we have 12 guys, it's two ounces apiece, bottle goes away, perfect number. We struggled to get nine. And I was like, Oh, this isn't gonna work. I remember the first night I took off work so I could smoke some meat. First time smoking brisket and pork. And I'm sitting on uh originally our driveway was black. I don't know if you guys remember this, sitting around, or you weren't there, Steve.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

No, I was the very first one.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

This is part of the story. So, this is what uh the funnest moment for me it makes me laugh at myself of like, you're an idiot. Why didn't you think this would work? So we're we're standing around the smoker, and I think Chris and Blake came first, and then we had Ryan solely come up and Cody and Greg was the last one to show up, I believe. And Greg, you can see him like poking around the corner, like, who's who's there? Like he didn't know any of you guys.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

He was I was his connection, so like I wasn't he wasn't there.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

So that was part of the story because he came walking up and we're like, Hey, like are you you here for the club? He's like, Yeah, I'm like, uh, Greg, right? Because you told me you weren't gonna be there. So I was like, Greg, Greg, right? Steve's friends like, yeah, yeah. He's like, uh, actually, real quick, guys. Uh speaking of which, I know Steve isn't here. He's the one that invited me. Is it still okay that I'm here without him? We were like, Yes. Like, Chris is like, What are you are you kidding me? Like, yeah, yeah, of course. I was like, Come on in. Come on in. Like, that's what this is a part of. And thinking back to that story, I told Mary about it. Mary's like, Greg? Greg said that? You wouldn't expect that. Like, it's it's grown from eight guys, nine originally, that had no idea really who each other were, to now it's like we care. Like, we we get to know each other, we have this communion with each other, this community that we're like, yeah, that's that's great. He's from the club, like he's a good guy, you know? Like we got new guys that show up all the time. We're like, yeah, of course, you're part of it now. Like you, you become part of the family. And the fun for me that I get to watch is you guys bringing that newbie in or bringing that person in and be like, hey, do you like pipes? No, you don't, okay, you can't hang out. No, you like pipes? Okay, we can hang out, you know. Like asking, like, it doesn't work, right? It doesn't smoke. It can't be a part of this. But watching, like, like I said before, the interactions of just the first person or first time that someone gets to try the prince dinners, and they're like, Holy cow, like food can be good. Like this food, this good. Like, I don't like sweet potatoes. I will eat princess sweet potatoes. Like, Blake's wife has constantly told Mary and I, like, I don't know how you get him to eat these things because I've been trying to get him to eat it and he won't touch it, but he'll come home and be like, Babe, you won't guess what we had for the dinner diet from Prince. It was amazing. She'd be like, I've been trying for years to get you to eat this, and you refuse. Like, what is this? What is this magic? Like, this is insane. But being able to watch that, it's just so much fun. When Chris and I talk about, like, we we were like, Oh, should we do this? I don't know what it'll look like. How do we do this? How do we challenge it? To now you're like, Wow, that's I I never expected this. Like, I expected a little bit of this, but not this at its entirety. It's fun to watch that. That's the funnest part for me. What's been the biggest challenge, Steve, about the club for you?

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Biggest challenge for the club, I think, is pretty much the same with with most things. It's it's schedule, it's getting getting everybody together and being able to find the time for it and everything. You know, we all have like the group chat and everything. So, like, we all talk to each other, even if we're not here or you know, during our once a month that we all get together, you know, and we've even tried, you know, it's on a Thursday, so it's like kind of in the middle of the week, it's not gonna interfere with family stuff or whatever else. But still things happen all the time for people. So just trying to make sure to be able to fit it in and get there and everything, it's always a great time. You'd you always hate missing it, but you know, life gets in the way sometimes. So yeah. So that's that's always the biggest challenge. But the flip side of that is because of like the group chat and the podcast and whatever else, we all kind of find a way to stay in touch, even if even if we can't make it for a little while.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

What's been the biggest challenge for cooking outside of trying to? Do gluten-free for this guy because you're not a drinker. So we've we mentioned this before. Prince is a part of this club, not just to cook, but he's a part of it. Part of the cooking aspect that we we give him as a challenge is here's a bottle, make a meal around it. Man, all of it.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

So it's dealing with you, Nick. Not at all. It's 95% of it. I feel like I'm the difficult one. Honestly, I would I would say it's probably just trying to figure out what to put with each different bottle. Trying to figure out if I want to go with like, okay, this tastes like this, so I'm gonna put it with this, or figuring out, okay, it feels like something's missing. So I'll fill in the gaps down to just okay, what kind of notes am I getting off of it when I just smell this? Like, if I just smell this, do I want to go with that? And so sometimes I'll try to combine all of these things, it doesn't work out that well. And I'll I'm scrambling last minute to fix it, or even like when I made that the jerk chicken, and you guys didn't know that I messed it up, but I knew that I messed it up. That jerk chicken was freaking good though. I was like, man, so it's just it's it's a matter of just trying to make sure what I do translates well, you know, even if it's if it's challenging for me, I just want to make sure like it still comes across and I'm able to give you, you know, the components that I wanted to give you in the first place. Even if it doesn't, you know, come out the way that I envisioned it to, I always go back to, okay, well, does it translate well? Can you pick up on on what I'm trying to do here? And so a lot of that I I credit to my partner, Sam, as well, because she is always right there, like, this needs this, this needs that. And like over the four years, you know, I've I've her taste buds have elevated to where she can help me out. She's actually a really good sous chef for me. And I appreciate her, you know, more than I can say. I actually wanted her to come down here and do this. And she was like, nah, nobody wants to. So I try to do the same thing for Mary. She says the same thing. I'm like, all right, I won't force you to do anything.

SPEAKER_03 24:24

I've got to believe I'm not a chef, right? I enjoy cooking, but I find myself often cooking the same thing over and over and over again and being fine with that. I enjoyed it. It's really good, you know. There's nothing wrong with it. But I I as looking at your piece to the puzzle and your piece to the club that we all love and we like look forward to, I gotta believe that part of the challenge for me, if I was in your shoes, would be like, Man, I could just do the same meal over and over. And they would be like, This is the best thing I ever had again. Like, holy cow, how did you how'd you make something different? But it's the same. You ever find yourself in that road of like, how do I do something different, but I could do the same thing?

SPEAKER_00 25:02

So kind of what I find myself doing is I is I try something, and initially my first thought is what is my comfort zone for this? And so then I take note of that, and I usually I'll have a a couple more sips throughout the week and and think about it more and try to be like, well, how can I how can I take something that I know and love and give it a twist? So you know, not only myself, but you guys are like I know this, but I've never had it this way, or I've never had it this way. And so that is that's something that I I try to do a lot with my cooking. I take flavors and just different meals that people have had before and I put a twist to it. Because you know, people people get burned out on the same thing the same way. You can go to any one of these restaurants and get a hamburger, but we'll make sure it's different. So I just try to I try to think about that. And I and I also try to think about not only is it different, but is it good? Does it go well with this? So it's just the the components of that.

SPEAKER_02 26:22

I have to imagine that even though we can taste some differences in in in whiskey in bourbons, I have to imagine that it's kind of like you always have white wine with fish. Like there's probably some sort of a a type of food that tends to go well with bourbon. And you have not had the same type of meal in every time that we've done this. Like there hasn't there, like we've had Caribbean jerk, we've had Italian, we've had Mexican, Asian noodle dishes.

SPEAKER_04 26:56

So, like nothing, there's not even like a line through. It challenges challenges that theory of there would have to be something that would go with bourbon.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

Exactly. And I'm wondering if that if it one, am I right in saying that there probably is something that like just goes well with bourbon? Kind of that like blanket statement. And if that is true, are you fighting that and that's the reason all of your stuff is always different? Or am I just wrong and there isn't a straight line?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

So four years ago when we first started this, I was not familiar with bourbon and and things that pair with it besides working at Bristol. So, like, I would try the different whiskeys, especially, you know, what was made for the company. And I'm like, well, how does this pair with the barbecue that we're serving? And so I I took that thought process, and you know, when we when we started this, I'm like, let me let me Google. Let me use, let me use my best friend Google and see like what a what a basic, you know, combination people pair with this type stuff. And I'm looking at it, I'm like, man, I can make way better stuff than what this is telling me. It's like, oh, you know, you'll get some toasted nuts, you'll have some dry meats, charcuterie. That was the answer. Dried fruits, uh, different types of chicken. And I'm like, okay, that's cool, but like, it's not telling me what I want. So it's like, okay, well, I I gotta find out for myself. So a lot of this has has been that, and I've I've loved the challenge of doing that. And I think for every meal that I've done, I actually tell you guys, before you eat this, take take a sip. Or no, I think I say take a bite and then take a sip and then take another bite.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Or there's some times where you go, have you guys taken a sip yet? Yeah. I know you've eaten it. Well, why you're not taking a sip?

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Because we're just eating.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Well, I think it is important to note that not only does the food go well with the bourbon, that that the food that he makes, but it actually amplifies the bourbon. It compliments it so whiskey. The whiskey that we we drink while we're eating actually is amplified by the food.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

And and it it kind of makes you forget like this is alcohol. You're eating this food, you're taking a sip, eating the food. It's like you're like, man, everybody's like almost different, you know, and that's that's something I've been trying to work on over these last few years is I don't want to give you guys basic anything. And I want to make sure that we hit these changes. And not only in the different types of protein or the different style of cooking that I use, I I want to make sure that you guys always have that in your mind that food can be better than what we're used to.

SPEAKER_03 29:47

You you bring up a good point. You really ruin whiskey and the flavor of whiskey outside of your dishes.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

I apologize, all right.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

Like after you have a meal with a whiskey, you're like, man, this goes down so well and tastes so good. And then after that, you start drinking something really good, and you're like, Man, this just isn't missing something.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Like something's missing. I don't believe that for a second. Something's missing. But thank you. I appreciate that. Um that's that's my goal. I just I don't want to make you guys proud, and I want to make sure that anybody that tries anything that I make, you know, they get that same level of care and comfort, and then a little bit outside of the box.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Has there been a big challenge for you, Chris, in all of this? With what the club specifically?

SPEAKER_04 30:34

I think uh the uh as Steve pointed out, I think the scheduling is the hardest aspect, especially for me, being an afternoon work like shift, and then also my days changing, days off changing. So it's like today I was supposed to be at work and uh I could not get off. Um, but I was like, I'm not missing this. So I use one of my four personal days. You only get four a year. I was like, that's gone, like using it. Yeah, I don't think I've missed a Prince Dinner yet. If I have like, man, that is a travesty. I don't think I would say when the baby was born. Oh, maybe, yeah. I suppose that's a reasonable.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

It was one.

SPEAKER_04 31:14

Yeah, that might have been, yeah, that actually might have been it, but I guess that one's for a decent cause. Yeah, I was like, Why?

SPEAKER_00 31:20

I was like, why is he not here? I was like, uh, he had a baby, and I was like, We did talk about that before.

SPEAKER_04 31:29

I show up, I should have showed up anyway. Hey, I'm here. Laura's still at the hospital. Yeah, yeah, we're just taking it, yeah. But uh, I think that's the hardest thing is scheduling, and that's um no fault to anybody. It's just that's life. That's it's just tough. Because we want everybody to be here, and that's the thing about it is when I mean we've all seen it. When somebody's not here or we get a text, hey, I can't come, we're all like, dang, like we're missing out. You know what I mean? Like, so and I think that that just goes to show like how much fun we have with everybody. When some like especially when Steve's not here or whatever, we're like, oh man, you know what I mean? Like, we we get it, you got stuff going on, but we're missing out, you know what I mean? So I think that that's for me the biggest challenge, I would say, with it. I would I want everybody to come every time. It's not complete without everyone.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Like it kind of there's something like you said, something missing. Everybody brings in a different dynamic. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. There's a lot of challenges, but I would say the the the bottles, picking the bottles has been a fun, big challenge. Because year one, like you said, we're like, okay, everyone, you got some people that are new to whiskey, you got some that aren't. Like, how do you how do you navigate that? And then jump into year two, like, okay, we we kind of have like a good base underneath everyone, and then okay, we'll we'll let's try to expand a little bit more, and then okay, expand it a little bit more, and then now it's like this year is all about the like finished bottles, and it's like, oh, okay, everyone's had Angel's Envy, or like they've they've heard people talk, like it's it's a common bottle, like I don't want to just do common things. So then it was a thing of like how, like, where am I gonna find these? Like, where where am I gonna get these these bottles that are gonna be challenging enough for everyone else to be like, yeah, I've never had this, I want to find it, or you know, worth the price tag. Like, that's the challenge for me. And I enjoy I enjoy that challenge, but it is it is quite a challenge.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

And you get to go travel to find bottles too.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

I I mean, you get a lot of fun and experience with that, but at the same time, you're like, I'll send Chris texts all the time if he can't come, like, hey, what about this bottle? And he's probably working at that time. So, like, I leave and he's like, Oh, that sounds good. I'm like, I get back.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

I left so late.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

I decided not to go back. I'm not going back. We're gonna find something different. So, like the challenge, uh the challenge of trying to figure that out, what that looks like. It's been fun over the years, but it it's it's a big, it's a big challenge. Yeah, it's only gonna get more challenging. Oh, it is, it's just gonna get more challenging. Is there a favorite dish that you have, Prince, that you've made for us? I'm certain that these guys have their favorite dishes that you've made for us.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

I don't know that there's a favorite dish that I've made. I'm gonna say this one tonight is definitely gonna be up there. Uh I'm on the fence about the dessert, but it's still good. It's still regardless. But um I the last one that I did with like the the brunch that I made, like a family style, I think that is definitely up there. There's there's one that I have in my mind that I want to make for you guys, but I gotta I gotta find the right bottle for this. So I think I think once once that's presented to me and I can pull that off, it's gonna be magic for sure. You're gonna have to let me have a bottle of this. I don't know, right? Once hey, once you give it to me, I'll be like, this is the one. This is it. Um but yeah, uh man, that's uh that's a toughie. They're all they're all really, really good. That's not an easy thing to get through my notes and look like like wait a minute, I've I've written these down.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

I think it'd be hard for even us to say which was our favorite because we've we enjoy all of them so much, you know what I mean? It's hard to really rank them.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

I don't think it was the last one. I think it was two of them ago that it was was it seafood based? Did you do a seafood one or maybe a mushroom-based?

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Was it the Asian?

SPEAKER_02 35:18

The the noodles?

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Oh, the with the noodles, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Was it the noodles? Yeah, yeah. Was it a lot of mushrooms and stuff? Yeah, it was that that was mushrooms, yeah. That was definitely yeah, and and I think the reason it was my favorite is because we we talked about this, I think, right before we cut this on. That mushrooms, I really like mushrooms, and my wife doesn't, so I never get to cook with them, so I don't get to eat them very often. So, because of that, I enjoy cooking, so I've kind of experimented a little bit, but I can never do anything with mushrooms, so it was great to have something that like I've I would have never even considered.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

So something like I often make her something with mushrooms, and it doesn't exactly mushrooms and seafood, anything that she can ate.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_04 36:00

Both of those things are hard to cook, right? Yeah, they're not easy. You can mess that up.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

That was good, and then uh the brunch or the the the breakfast one that was man, you can never go wrong with the breakfast food. But I I I can't think of any meal that was bad, and so there was the one that was really hot, seeing the jerk chicken that wasn't supposed to be that hot. I I love that though, but I'm a spice guy, but the flavor was fantastic, it was heavenly. That's the reason it hurts so bad, right?

SPEAKER_01 36:29

So keep Johnny Cougar Mount Cam said it hurt so good, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:33

Right. I want to say it's probably the funnest night to just sit and watch. Mary was like watching everyone, it was like tears and sweat coming down, and everyone just still eating. Like it's so good. Like, no one was like sarcastic. It's really good. Like, I I need to eat it, I need to finish it. I'm just sorry.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

I'm gonna run that back and I'm gonna make it the right way at some point. I promise. I promise. I thought it was perfect the way it was. I loved it, but uh, but I do like spicy. Oh, good.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

Besides the salmon. Oh, so the salmon was Mary's favorite. She will she will never stop talking about salmon. Yeah, I have a I have a place deep inside my heart and body for Nokia. Oh, yeah, the Nokia. I could just eat Nokia all day. It's the heaviest thing. I'm like, it's just so good. And you made this homemade Nokia. I think it was with Johnny Walker. I was like Johnny Walker because that one gave me some trouble. I was like, I don't know that I could eat Nokia again without a glass of Johnny Walker now. That is a good point. That was a great combination. One you would never think that these two are gonna go together. Yeah, it's the one thing that I keep looking back. I'm like, I gotta, I can't I I'm not gonna make Nokia. I gotta find good Nokia, you know. I gotta have Prince over and be a chef for me and just make Nokia.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

You gotta you got a wife that loves to make pasta. She got you. We'll see if she can do Nokia.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

I don't know if she can.

SPEAKER_03 37:53

I don't know. She hasn't made no, she hasn't made Nokia. That's crazy. Yeah, I know. Someone do better.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

I trust say it just like that. You're gonna be down here in the man cave. Don't listen to me. Let us know how that goes.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

Do you have a favorite, or is it just really hard for you to find out? Oh, favorite dish. Yeah, favorite dish. No, I I cannot, I couldn't say um anything 100% specific because they have all been like he's not like Prince is not exaggerating. I'm licking my plate by the end of every meal. So I didn't want to call him out like that. I'm like to set a clean plate. I'm like, if somebody gets a like gets up from the table and there's food on their plate and they're gone for like an extended period of time, that is getting eaten. Like I'm going to take it. So don't even worry about that anymore. Yeah, I'm like, that is mine, dude. That's what we're doing. Okay. It's tough. That would be that would be a tough thing to say. The ones some of the ones we mentioned mentioned for sure.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

But but it again, it's like trying to decide which what's the best.

SPEAKER_04 39:01

And it was salmon. Yeah, like I'm like, I want to lay on a pillow of this salmon, take a nap. You know what I mean? That's how good it was.

SPEAKER_03 39:07

Like, so yeah. Hard to say. Hard to say. So uh four years, right? I talked about the challenge of the bottles. I wrote down, I went through and tried to write down what bottles we've had. Because I can't remember meals as much as bottles, right? So there's been four years, so 16 bottles that we've gone through for Prince dinners. So year number one was kind of like basic, right? So we it was Blayton's, uh, Elijah Craig Toasted, Dad just come out, so we did that. Henry McKenna tenure, and then Booker's, right? Year number two, it was like world or whiskey. We're gonna go kind of around the world, see what happens, try different ones. So we started off real simple with a Tennessee whiskey, Sweeten's Cove. And then we had Johnny Walker Blue, got a nice little Scotch introduction. Then we went to Irishman cash drink, so a nice little Irish whiskey, and then we went Canadian Club 42 years. So we we kind of dove into that and then we went into sourced. Like, is there good sourced whiskey out there? What is your opinion? Well, how does that go? And we had uh a barrel company barrel pick, we had uh old elk double wheat, we had a Kentucky Owl uh St. Patrick's edition, four-gate Brazilian Umbrana wood finish, right? And then this year's the year of finishings. We had Bardstown, Amroot, Yellowstone, Marsala Superior finish. I don't even know how to pronounce that. We're gonna go with that. Uh Neely Distillery, which is a small distillery out of Kentucky. They uh the bottle we're having tonight is a Turkish apricot brandy finish. And then sign me.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

You're starting with the dessert, it's good, right? It's good because I wanted I wanted to do different, and I also had to make it going free. Uh-huh. So I think I did all right.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

Last one we're gonna go with is uh Second Glance, which is an American whiskey store pick, because it leads into the next year's store picks, but that one's all wine barrel finish. So out of those four years, has there been like a year looking back, or even this year, Prince, you're like, this is my this has been my favorite year for creating dishes around, or this has been my year because of how much it's challenged me and I enjoy that.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Um once I would say probably this this year because of the challenge of just having to think outside my norm, like even more so than I was already doing. And so this has just brought a new side to me, and I'm like, cool. Like I said, it just it helps me level up, and so I just feel like every year I'm able to bring you guys something a little bit different, a little bit better, and I love it.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

Chris, has there been a year out of the four years that you're like, this has been my favorite? Easy, based solely on the bourbon or LKF.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Oh, sure. So that would be really easy. It's for it'd be no surprise for anybody. It's the finished this year. This year. Um, because we haven't had a year of like rye yet, right? So um we're we're trying to work our way ease into a year of fully rye. Someday, someday. But I I am uh anybody that knows me knows I love uh good finished whiskey and especially specific finishes. Um, but finished whiskey done well, done right, my jam. The other ones have been great. I mean, we've had some really great bottles, but most of them I've had before too. This year with the finished stuff, I'm trying to think. No, no, all that stuff was new. Looking at that list right there. I don't think it was anything that we hadn't tried before, either saying, like, yeah, we should have this on the for the club or whatever, but it was is something that we hadn't had before this year, for sure. So that's for me, that's been fun and more exciting because a lot of the the other years we've had those things before. Right. You know what I mean? We're like, yeah, it'll be great for the club, but for us, like personally, okay, you know, like we've had it, you know what I mean? But so yeah, I would say this year, the finished year so far.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

Steve, you have a you have a year that's like this has been my year.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

I'm gonna say uh world whiskies only because it kind of opened my eyes to all the different different types and everything. It's what really got me introduced to scotch and stuff, which I I which I really enjoy. I kind of had it before, but like one or two. It was it's it was too expensive for me at the time, so I just didn't really play with it. And then also just getting to know a little bit more about like Irish and Canadian and and just world whiskies in general. But the real introduction to Scotch for me was a was a really cool experience. I didn't realize that was your uh your introduction to Scotch. I had had it once before, or like once or twice before, and I did enjoy it. Like I we said before, like uh LaFroy 10 was my first one. I I loved it. But I didn't get a chance to like really get into it.

SPEAKER_04 43:56

Yeah, I remember you saying that you were kind of like I'm not really having had too much scotch. I really don't know. And then we started getting into it. And you were you were picking it up like the way you've picked up uh single malls. Yeah, exactly. You're like, this is good. I like it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:11

I was a big fan right away. I look at all of these and looking for uh the idea of looking from the outside in, if you could, and from my perspective, I look at these and I go, these are all prince dinner bottles, which have been a fantastic. But I think the most exciting thing and the thing that I enjoy the most isn't a specific year for a bottle, as much as watching the Prince Dinners change. Like the very first night we the we had blends. I remember this is still COVID. Mary was sick or had COVID, I don't know which. And I was like, I called up Chris. I was like, hey, we can't do it at our house. Like, can we can we do it at yours? Prince can come over and take care of it. And Chris is like, absolutely, man. I love your house, by the way. But I remember it was uh we had uh some kind of chicken. I I knew it was there was chicken. It was the apricot chicken. Apricot chicken. Yeah, uh asparagus. Yeah, yeah, we had apricot chicken, we had asparagus, yes. We had uh dates, but it was goat cheese, goat cheese, but it was jalapeno. There was like jalapeno or like a bacon jalapeno dates with a bacon jam. Yeah, but a spice jam. And then we had cookies. And I remember bringing that home to Mary, and Mary was like, Man, this is really good, but and I was like, No, no, no, no, there's no butt. Like this went really, really well with the meal. Like, this paired so well with the meal. You gotta keep in mind it's blatant. So, like I look at blatons compared to everything else we've had after blatant's, and it's like, why why did why do people go after blantons?

SPEAKER_00 45:41

It's like that was right. It was like, yeah, you know, because it was hot, because it was it was what was going on at the time, and everybody wanted to collect the top absolutely and then like you you look at that, and like people the the first year was basic, and everyone's like blantons?

SPEAKER_03 45:54

You we we got blintons? Like, this is amazing, and like we had the dinner, and everyone's like, That's good. And then every dinner after that, they're like, Oh my gosh, shows the progression. Like, there's there's been a progression ever since, and it wasn't a progression of like, man, Prince was really bad the first time, right? Prince Prince did terrible the first time, and now he's amazing. I think it goes to show your talent, his pairing, his pairing skills, the the skills and the talent of being able to take something that's so basic, but flare it up even more. Where people like, you had chicken and an asparagus, you're like, but you don't understand. You you really don't understand. Chicken and asparagus, like you really don't understand, and I remember that and then you go on past that and you're like, holy cow, like the the toasted, the Lydic toasted. I don't know if you guys know this. That was the salmon night. So, like you jump from like, okay, we had basic because of basic. It wasn't like basic because you didn't know what you're doing, or basic because you didn't have a challenge, or you didn't have the experience. It was clearly this goes well with this because this bottle is good, but it's hum ho. Like it's an everyday drinker, no thinker, like literally no thought process. And then you get an Elijah Craig toast, and you're like, you saw this jump of like, I'm gonna tweak it just a bit more to where there's a little bit more thought what you're drinking, and I'm gonna give you something that you're gonna eat, that you're gonna go, oh crap, like I would never pick this up and eat this. I don't go for salmon. I want to have a salmon, I hate sweet potatoes, and there was a sweet potato agrotten that I dream of. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's sweet potato agrotten, man. Like, I didn't know about the duplicate that I didn't know you could do the little grotten and sweet potatoes, and it was god heaven, and you look at the first year, and then you look at this year, and you're like, Holy cow, watching the challenge, watching you being challenged and me going, we got him, we got him with his bottle, like he I don't know what he's gonna do, and then you present it, and I'm like, Oh crap.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

Like, I thought we had you, like I thought we got you, man.

SPEAKER_00 47:53

But give me sometimes, it's like it's it's there's been a lot of bottles, I would say at least half because I don't drink, that it's like, Fudge am I gonna do with this? It's like this is strong, I can't taste it, but then it's like, okay, well, then you learn, you know, drink some water, you know, let it open up a little bit, let it sit in there, see what lingers after after that burn, what flavors you can get, and just reimagining what you can do with the flavors or or even like the aromas. Like, sometimes I can't do anything with the flavor in my mind. Like, I I want to say it was that the cash strength, uh, the Irishman. Oh, yeah. That was a tough one. Oh man, that I think that was until like two days before. Like, I was sweating. I was like, I don't know what I'm gonna do with the pizza. I'm bringing pizza. And and then I had to just think outside the box. I'm like, I'll use Sam and I'll be like, tell me what you think. Like, I need to know. And Sam also doesn't drink, so so it's like you asking me for. I don't even I don't even make her drink like try it or anything like that. It's just like, just try the food, tell me what you think. Like, does it need something? And if it needs something, how does it fit in with that bottle? Like, I just take what she tells me and I and I think about that. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:26

We don't make it easy on you either because me and Nick will try something and we're like, oh, let's see what he's gonna do with this one, you know? Like that was my thought with this bottle.

SPEAKER_03 49:35

You you keep bringing up you don't drink four years of doing this, not drinking, just cooking, but you've been you've been watching the club grow, right? You've been watching us kind of grow together, you've been watching us sit at the dinner table together. You've joined in on the barrel pick that we did. You joined in on Which is delicious, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

That's fantastic for someone that doesn't drink. I mean, I actually opened that for for my brother the other day for him to try, and he was like, This is really good. And he tried to take my bottle, and I was like, I'm gonna fight you right now.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

Um, you know, you've been a part of the club outside of the dinners, like just being a part of it. So for a guy that doesn't drink, but you've watched us grow from the outside looking in. What's been your favorite thing to see or witness amongst the club?

SPEAKER_00 50:24

That's a tough question. Man, that is a tough question. Honestly, it's it's turned less of a club, more into like a brotherhood. And so it's just watching, you know, everybody come in and we sit down in one big family and we we talk about life, man. And it's not just about, you know, the bourbon or the food or whatever, it's it's everything, and it's that is how it's supposed to be. And I think that is what makes this different than everything else, is because yes, we focus on, you know, these things, but like we get to know each other and and each other's likes, dislikes, and what's going on in their life, like, and it it makes it that much more special when we all get together and like we can have this meal. I think I think of this meal like a family Sunday dinner, and so I always try to bring it with that kind of love and that kind of energy. And I feel like you guys, you know, y'all give it back tenfold, and uh I think that's what keeps people and that's what brings people in. And that's it's not necessarily like, oh, we can tell off facts about the club all day long, but like when people come in and they see how well we all mesh and we all come from different backgrounds and stuff, like they're just like, you know, this feels right.

SPEAKER_03 51:46

That's a beautiful thing, man. I I love what you said there. The meshing, right? We all mesh going back, bringing back to this bottle, the infinite, right? You've got this this blending, this meshing of heritage and family. You think about Booker, his claim to fame was Booker's, but he also started Knob Creek, he also did Basil Hayden, he also did Baker's. So, like he had these four under his belt. And if you try those, you're like, wow, like these are like a punch in the face, really good, extreme, like nutty. I love it, it's fantastic. And then you got Fred, Freddie's dad, so the next generation that didn't really start anything new, but took after his dad and was like, This is my dad's passion. I loved it, let's do something too with it. And then you got Freddie that came in and was like, haha, hold hold your horses, man. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna do something different. I'm gonna use what we have, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna challenge people at the same time. I'm gonna bring that kind of next generation vibe in all of this. But somehow you get a bottle like this that has all three of stuff that they've done and it meshes so well together. I mean, you got four guys that were like, Steve, I remember Steve coming to Kristen and I was like, Hey, um, so I want to start a podcast. I don't know what about you guys know a lot about whiskey and you drink. You want to do a whiskey podcast? And we're like, Yeah, sure, why not? So, like in this room, you got guys that started the podcast in the club, and all of this meshing and blending together that you're like, this shouldn't work. Really? I mean, from the outside looking in, you're like, I'm I'm sorry, how the hell did you find eight random guys that that were willing to come to your house? Did you like bribe them? Did you were you like, here, I'll give you a bottle of whiskey. If you come, I'll give you a bottle of whiskey.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 53:35

How did you make this happen? Like, it shouldn't happen. Like, these things shouldn't happen. And by the world standards, they look at it and like, that's different. That's weird. And then you add in food, and they're like, All right, like this, this wouldn't evolve. Like, okay, I could do that, I could do that. But like you said, Prince, it just it's what it should be. Like, this is what it should be is just having conversations, just growing together and seeing each other grow and getting excited for what's next. Steve, you're going, you're looking at adopting your wife, and the club has been like, This is awesome! Like, super excited. Well, I think the last meeting you had like a a a meeting or like a zoom, and yeah, yeah, I couldn't be there, or yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:15

Uh, it was at my house, and then so I had some uh well, luckily she wasn't there, it was like over the over the phone or whatever. But I was like, everyone's gonna wait outside till I finish this phone call.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

And I I jumped around with Greg and I was like, This is perfect. Like, we should all show up. And he's like, No. And I was like, Yeah, because we can show whoever he's talking to that he Steve has what it takes to raise kids because he has a club where he kind of babysits a bunch of kids. Like, we all kind of take turns babysitting a bunch of kids. We can walk that in there. We can we can walk that in there, you know. We can walk in and be all records.

SPEAKER_04 54:50

It's not just me, I promise. We're all acting like idiots, and you're like, shut up.

SPEAKER_03 54:56

See, I can deal with kids.

SPEAKER_04 54:57

I can deal with it, shut up.

SPEAKER_03 54:58

But it's so fun, and I think that's why I got so excited about this bottle for this episode and having you on, Prince. Is this bottle is it's it is an infinite, like an infinity bottle of continually growing and continually putting something new in it.

SPEAKER_00 55:12

I'm excited to try one installment of this bottle too when it comes out. Right. Like, I'm gonna see what's different.

SPEAKER_04 55:16

It gets you hooked, right? Because you're like, man, I want to see how this is gonna progress, right? And you're not a drinker, but what did you think?

SPEAKER_02 55:23

Um, yeah, the tree we're drinking.

SPEAKER_03 55:25

Well, I know, right?

SPEAKER_00 55:28

Let me take another sip real quick. Let me okay, Chris. I I don't know about you guys. I finished mine a long time ago. Yeah, I was thinking this is good.

SPEAKER_02 55:35

I bet savoring so I can remember what I'm talking about. What I really enjoy about this whole idea of this infinite bottle is the idea of this melding of past, present, and future. Like every time you're talking about any of the any kind of whiskey stuff, we're all talking about, you know, Freddie and Fred and Booker and talking about his dad and his grandpa, but this bottle is going to become his son's. Like, this is a future thing that's gonna continue to grow, and so it's not always not only representing and appreciating the past, but also laying something down for the future and having it continue to grow, and it's a cool little combination of the three.

SPEAKER_00 56:15

And so just took another sip, and on the nose, you can smell it as sweet. We got you into drinking now, right? Yeah, it's from this one. Right. Do you smell the sweetness? You smell the caramel, but you you take a sip and it and it hits, and like at first, it's it it catches you because it's smooth, and then it opens up and you're like, oh, this is this is spicy. It's got a little heat behind it. But like what I like about this, because it is a blend, it doesn't taste like multiple different components. It actually goes really like it is well blended, and you're like, This is this is nice, this is smooth, like this is this is something that you can sip and cherish. And like, I like that. I like that a lot. You just described your meals for us. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Poor blended. Take your time with right. I know you're finished, Chris. I'm finished, yes.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

Poor more if you want. I had I might. You can have the last of my swig over here. You're all done with it? That's I can I'm not gonna drink no more. And it's 119 proof, so we we warned him beforehand. I would be laying in somebody's corner a little.

SPEAKER_03 57:30

Might be the first time we ever warned him.

SPEAKER_02 57:32

Yeah, we've done this before or we haven't.

SPEAKER_04 57:35

Something I was gonna, I had it in my head earlier, but taking another sip now. I think some of it's coming back. But what's interesting is like he like like Prince said, when you first take a sip, it is it is overly friendly, overly smooth, almost to a watered down aspect, and not in a bad way. Right. That sounds terrible, but it almost has this like watery kind of uh normal gym bean kind of feel. And then all and you're almost like, man, there's no way this is almost 120 for one thing. And then all of a sudden it starts blooming and blossoming and opening up. That's when you start getting hit with some of this rye, dusty rye kind of spice that you get from your bookers, you know what I mean? And you get from the little book, some of the little books, definitely from the bookers, and and um and knob creek, that those typical aspects, and then it starts sweetening out, and that sweetness really is it's a little peppery, but towards the end, I think it almost leaves you with this like praline type of coating on your on your tongue, which is very interesting for Jim Beam, I think, because I don't typically get that kind of a flavor, and I love the finish, like it just lingers in on your palate. The one interesting thing though is after you swallow it, this is where you feel the proof. Because in your throat, if you've ever had like white dog, if you drink something that's like 150 proof, you get this like throat fatigue a little bit when you've been drinking something super heavy proof and it's like in the middle of your throat. It's not a burning, it's almost like a sore muscle. And you get that after a while, sitting after you've you've had a sip, and that's where you're like, oh, that was full of full of proof. You know what I mean? But the other than that, you would not know, even as it's blooming and blossoming the flavor and strengthening and building, you wouldn't realize this is 120, almost 120 proof leg, which is amazing. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 59:30

The crazy thing for me is I agree 100% with what you guys said. I drink this and uh in my mind, I listen to what you guys say, and I go, Man, if I have a glass of what you guys are describing just by the description, it leaves me wanting more. Like I want, I want another sip, I want another sip. I drink this, I'm like, it doesn't leave me wanting more, not because it's bad, it leaves me almost satisfied of like that that flavor is just there, and you're like, that's warm. That's a warm hug that just it's never ending, it just stays there, and the flavors just stay there, and you're like, wow, like that. How? Why what did you do? It really does linger for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:13

It does like even now, it's about yeah, and during that blooming that you're talking about where it gets like kind of deeper. I was at first, like the my first sip, I thought I got like apricot kind of flavor, and that like that's the sweet, like that's what I said.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:27

It tasted like, yeah, at first, like the one we're about to have tonight.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:30

I'm like, it tastes very silly.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

It does.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

I just switched it up the bottles. I was like, but you know what? It's a little bit deeper than that. So I think it's more like plum almost, like a like some sort of a deep fruit to get that sweetness in there. Because there, you know, anytime you have a bourbon, there is always a sweetness to it. And I always try to figure out what fruit it is, because it's almost always something like or or caramel, but praline is a good thing too, because you still get that peanut from the gym bean.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Yeah. Now, on the close of this uh wonderful series, the little book series, the bottles have not jumped above 150 msrp, right? So about 150. This guy jumped at 200 MSRP. Worth it?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:16

I I I think so. I I think also you do have to realize that that was a 20-year-old barrel that was pulled down by Booker. And I gotta think that that's gotta be one of the last barrels he pulled down, right? Yeah. I mean, 20 years, you know, and this came out this year. So I'm thinking that very well could have been. So for that aspect alone, you know, they're not like we we're not giving this stuff away. You know what I mean? So, like, but but not only what's in it makes it expensive, like Prince said, it is so well blended with four different components, it is so well blended together that there's just no way this thing would would be anything less than that. Like, there's just no way, like there's bottles that are that price or more that are not even close in quality and flavor to to what this is. And then you add in the the special aspects of of what what all this I mean of the shared family component. What the hell is that? They know how special that is. We might even be getting a deal for all that, for all we know. I know, I don't know what price, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

What is the shared family component?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:18

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:19

Like talking about some limited, limited stuff. I mean, for me it for sure is. And the only bottle of this that I own is chapter six. I wasn't there for any of the recordings. I've already heard some some talk about my favorite bottle that I know is not the favorite of everybody's, but I paid $250 for that bottle. So and I do it again. And so this one I think for sure I would pay $200 for. I think in today's world, we we're no longer able to buy these off the shelves, with the exception of eight. But any of them I would pay over $200 for.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

Prince, majority of the bottles that you've cooked with that we've given to you to pair with, you've hit some of that close to $200, $300 bottle. How does this compare to the ones that you've worked with? Because I don't know that it's fair to ask you, is worth a price, but you've worked with several that are around that price tag. How does that compare? I'm very curious.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:12

I believe that it was this old elk double week. I don't know what the price tag on that is, but I would say that would be something that I would say is is close to how this makes me feel. Something that was that was smooth, it was still you know strong, but it it did its job and it it made it feel complete. But this is definitely they did a great job. They know they did a great job with this one. This is this is top tier for sure. I I can't think of anything besides that that that really you know stands out to me like that. So okay. I obviously bought it, I would buy it again.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:50

I wish I could have doubles of everything, you know. Once you try this, if you you saw it for 200, you'd that'd be obvious. Like, yeah, and there's a lot of bottles out there for $200 that are not anywhere close, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:03

Uh final question to end the podcast, it's kind of a twofold, right? A would you recommend this bottle to someone? And kind of why. And that leads into my next question, like, and it's kind of twofold is out of that, this is expensive, right? This is a $200 bottle. The club, as you guys have talked about, like the the frustrating parts are the hard parts, the challenging parts is that the it trying to create a space that everyone wants to be a part of, but knowing schedules don't always line up, and how do you create that? And there's a price tag to it too. Like, how do you build on all of those components with all those challenges, right? Would you recommend the club and why?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:46

Both, yes. So honestly, they they kind of go hand in hand. So, like, we we already talked about how we mesh and how we're a brotherhood, and and this bottle showcases that too, with you know, that family component, and how I talked about these dinners being like Sunday dinners to me. And so even though I'm I'm not always there for the other club meetings, I have no doubt that it still is that same brotherhood when when I'm absent, you can walk in the room and you feel that love, and it's it's unmatched. So I I have not, you know, I've not been a part of anything like it. So I can't imagine that most people have, but also I'm I'm kind of like a recluse. You know, people people see me and they hear me and they think I'm all out going and I'm out doing something. No, I'm in the house, man. Or I'm somewhere just chilling. I really don't, I don't like a lot of people besides family. So it's like, man, when when I'm out doing stuff, you know, I I try to be a little more lively, you know, than just me being at home, relaxing. So yes, I. 10,000% would recommend both of these things, the bottle and the club. And not just because I'm a part of it, just you know, because it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:11

For me, the the bottle is a yes, but with a caveat, uh, it's a yes, I'd recommend it, but I'd only recommend it to people that have kind of been in the hobby for a while. Um, that higher proof and stuff, even though it's as mellow as it is, it still is a bold bottle. Like there's lots of flavors, there's lots going on with that. Whereas if you've tried and like fell in love with blends for the very first time, the jump to this is probably not gonna be your your your bag right away. But unless it would come down your life, easy jump. So that's the only caveat with that is that this is four season drinkers, and they're that's who's gonna really appreciate and enjoy it for the club. C'est no matter what your level is. So no no change there. The club is, as we talked about a little bit, like we've all kind of gotten closer on on a deeper level than just whiskey. And so, like, I mean, we've we've had long conversations on religion, on politics, on but adoption, and really get to know each other on like a deeper level that you don't get to do a lot of times with a lot of people. Today's world, you it's not very often where you go to somebody's house once a month for like a club kind of thing, like that's kind of an old idea, and it's not around as much to like do things in person like that and get that in, but it just helps you really connect with more people and people that you wouldn't have connected with outside of that.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:44

I think for the bottle, for sure, like in and seasoned uh whiskey drinkers would not only enjoy this, they'd love this bottle. Uh, even if you were not seasoned, if you were willing to drop some money on something, uh you you're gonna know this is special, right? Um, I just think that would be a travesty because it would sit. You wouldn't drink it, right? You know what I mean? And this bottle needs to be opened and drank. Like this is not something. I mean, yeah, you you could put on your shelf and and now and then, but as long as it's now and then, you can't let it sit. This this is not something you park in a garage and put under a tarp, you know. You gotta you gotta enjoy something like that's this quality, that's this good. That was this much stuff was put into it to make this to be enjoyed. Um, and that is the pod uh the podcast in the club as well. It's gotta be something that brings people together, and it does. And whiskey brings people together. And that's what this club has done. It's been, I said it before, it's been the catalyst, the the conduit, whatever. Uh it's it's the lubrication that gets the the wheels going, you know. And he said lubrication. I said lubrication. It's the grease, right? Uh it's the butter in the pan. And it's special. Something special happens every time we we get together. Um, and we open a bottle, that is just like it's it's how it flows out. You know what I mean? So I think I easily recommend both the bottle and the club. But if you can't afford the bottle, the club is the way to go.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:16

Get you a nice little sample.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:19

That's right. Yeah, I mean, I would agree with with both Prince and Steve. I there's not a whole lot more you can add, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:25

There we go. There we go. We'll see you guys next time then. See you then. Cheers. 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 tasterspuma.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.