Makers Mark 101!

SPEAKER_01 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. Hello 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_00 0:29

Our signature family recipe bottled at a higher proof. So if you're ever wondering, we'll get into it, but I mean that's basically what it is. That's basically what it is. It's makers at a higher proof. And when they came out with this idea, because I don't think it's been that long, right? That they came out with 101. I think it's been since like we were drinking. And I was like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Like that is something I want. I want makers at a higher proof. Yeah. Without changing anything.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Like, um, but then they did cash strength, which is like wild turkey 101.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Like they literally ripped it, and I'm fine with it. I'm totally fine with it. Because wild turkey regular is like what 80 proof, 86 proof, or something like that. And then they went, Well, let's do this at 101 and see where we're at. Yes, good choice. And same thing with this one. I can't remember this age statement.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

It's been around longer. It's it's around five years. So, and apparently they this has changed over time. It started at like four years, and then now it's closer to five years. But they said that in order to keep it kind of the same. So it just it's expanded a little bit just as time has gone on. But this has been around longer than the last couple of years, it's just only been available at the distillery, right? So it was only available. You had to ride it to distillery for quite a while. Is that where you got this? No, no, this is on the shelves now.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

All right.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

So, like it's a limited release kind of deal. Yeah, they don't do it at all the time, they don't do it all the time, but that's how I got it. And like you, I am a baker's mark fan. So it's like, all right, I'll that's worth it.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

And up until this year, they have not changed the recipe or done anything but changed proof point or staves put in for a finishing. But this year they released a new recipe. But it says it says it's new, right? Oh, it's brand new. It's a wheat whiskey. They are releasing a wheat whiskey this year. Really? That is different. Yeah, not a wheat and bourbon. They're doing a whole new wheat whiskey. Okay. Yes. That'll be the first time they do wheat well. Right. They do wheat well. But that'll be so um I've mentioned a few times. We talked about it on the Little Book series about me going through being able to go through uh makers mark for a tour and barrel pick, or stave pick, as they they call it. Um, but talking to them about they don't change the recipe, they they they uh rotate the barrels to make sure that they're all the same. Everything is uh not basic, everything is consistent. They're going for uniformity, yeah. They're going for uniformity. So for them, they have not changed the mash bill or the recipe or what they've done in years. I mean, like since they started, they they don't change it. They they changed the proof to 101 a while back, and then they changed it to cash strength, which is all around 110. Uh and then you even get into their uh barrel picks, and their barrel picks are still cash strength with staves in it, so it's still the 110 plus whatever staves you want within their portfolio of what they offer for staves, but they don't do much outside of that, they don't do much change, they don't need to, which is good.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

They they they know what they have is good, they don't have anything that's not good, and they they don't waste their time on it. And I love that that they don't have too big of a portfolio.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

But what does so? Let me ask you this before we really jump into like history and the idea of makers. Going off of that concept, how do you feel about them changing and doing a wheat whiskey now? An addition of a wheat whiskey.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I won't have to see how it is. I mean, I think that even if they did that, they're still not so we were talking about Woodford last episode, and like even Woodford does Woodford, Woodford Double Oak, Woodford rye, Woodford malt, probably something else. I don't know, probably with five different things, you know what I mean? Makers is always done. Makers as makers is makers and and makers 46 when it finally came, and like like Steve said, what they do is Makers 46 for a long time was only available at the distillery and only on special at like request. They didn't have like bottles of it sitting around, and finally they came out with it. You know what I mean? Uh 101, same kind of a deal, and then they do their specialty stuff. Like, there's not a ton of stuff coming out of Makers.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

So, do you know how Makers 46 came about?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

I remember someone told me that story a long time ago. I can't remember. You tell tell it.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

So uh I found this out when I did the barrel pick. The reason the barrel pick program came about was because of Makers 46. So Makers 46 was the current master distiller. His dad created Makers 46 with the help of the Stave Company, uh Stave Barrel Company or Barrel Stave Company. I forget. It's a massive company there in Kentucky that does barrels, the the Cooper Inch. And so he worked with them to find a unique uh flavor within the the wood, right? Within the staves, and came up with it, it was number 46, is what they gave him. So that's how Makers 46 came about. Was it was the 46th stave that he picked. Then his son came in and took over and said, I need to create something from like my dad did this, I need to do something that's unique to me. And when you're dealing with the same recipe, the same everything, there's not a whole lot of change. There's not this isn't like little book, you know, this isn't like Booker's Bakers, you know, you can't really come up with your own or change what's there. They're very consistent. So he said, Well, let's let's add on to the idea of makers 46 and let's offer a barrel pick program that's actually staves, like my dad did to create 46. And so the whole idea was you get a create your own uh 46 quote unquote. Right, you know what I mean? Which is a good idea, which is great. Now it's let's try to create wheat, let's do something even more unique. If we can get a buy-in for a mash build change, let's do a wheat whiskey. It's not a wheat of bourbon, we're not doing another bourbon. This is whiskey, something different, just purely wheat whiskey.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Well, makers always have a had had a good uh like their their ability to get the customer involved, right? Because like they even let you hand dip the bottles, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah, if you go there, you can dip your own.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Which that's on my list of things to do, like like a like a before I died. Yeah, like I want to some people are like, oh, it's not worth the money or whatever. I I don't care. I want to dip my own makers.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

So for the barrel pick, that was one of their like gifts for us, because uh we went with Tipsy, so of course Tipsy does a lot of work with them and has spent a lot of money there uh at makers. And so they're like, hey, you know, as a as a welcome gift, so to speak, of you doing a barrel pick, you each get your own mini bottle of makers. So it was like the 375 milliliter, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you get a hand dip them. So I have mine sitting back, and Mary's like, You gonna ever open it? It was like, no, makers is makers is makers. Yeah, and that is makers. No, no, no. We're not opening that one. That one is going, that one's going away. That's mine forever. Yeah, yeah. I don't care how small it is, that thing is going away.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, yeah. I uh I think that's cool. It's like kissing the Blarney stone. Yeah, it's something I want to do, you know, like I want to dip my own makers. And it's interesting because makers is owned by Beam.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Beam tries their hand at doing a wax dip like this for their knob creek. Like, if you do a special tour, you can do a knob creek single barrel, nine-year single barrel. You get a dip your own, put your thumbprint on it. The thumbprint is what they're trying to do, is like, this is yours, like very unique. Makers has their own specific wax color, their own, like it's very they have they have spent their time trademarking this.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

I appreciate the knob creek wax dip. But what's funny is like the booker's dip and the and the and the the baker's dip, and all that, like those are like more like the maker's dip, but like the knob dip is not, it's like chalky wax and it's it's brutal and it breaks down into nothing. Like you go to crack it and it comes off in like chunks, and I appreciate that for what it is, but is it pretty? Hell no. But is knob creek like a pretty whiskey? No, it like goes along with it, you know. But makers is smooth and sweet and velvety and everything and everything.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

I found out when we did the barrel pick, we took a tour. The guy from one of the the hosts from Chasing Neat, the husband, was with us on this barrel pick, and he's videoed the whole thing, like he did a vlog of it or whatever. But he, when we got to this part, he made the comment of like, hey, so a buddy of mine actually owns the company that you guys buy your wax from. How about that? And he's like, I at first when he told me that, I was like, that's that's hilarious. Like, that can't be a thing. And he's like, then I got into Burb and I was like, oh no, this is a thing. He's like, it's very like his buddy was telling him it's very specific.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Like their wax gotta have a trademark right now.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Yeah, and they're wax specifications of like what it needs to be, color, style, like uh what it needs to melt at, and temperature-wise, like all of that, yeah. Yeah, it's all trademarked to makers, and no one else can get that same thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

I was gonna say, that is something to illustrate, to highlight is there's a lot of companies that do wax. There was companies that did wax before makers, there's companies that have done it after makers. But when you think of wax on a bottle, gun to your head, jeopardy question, final answer, you think makers. I mean, they are the wax bottle. Like out of all of the bottles that have wax on them, it's makers. So they have done something right.

SPEAKER_02 10:16

Well, they don't uh they don't change and vary in their mash bill and what they offer there.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Uh don't compromise on their wax. They take their wax very seriously, they take it very seriously.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Like, this is ours, this is our trademark. This is even the people that dip for them have to go through courses to be trained and certified to be able to do it, dude.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

If I ever dip, I'm gonna dip it so far. I'm gonna dip like like half the bottle deep because that'd be unique, you know what I mean? Like have it come off the edges. That'd be kind of cool if it came down to like the down to the words, down to the words, wouldn't it? Yeah, that would be kind of cool, wouldn't it? We're gonna dip the whole shoulder. Let me get the shoulders dipped.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Makers has an interesting history of how they got started and Mashville and Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

The Samuels family are the ones that uh started them off. Goes all the way back to the continental uh army. So really Robert Samuel Samuels was uh was a distiller for George Washington during the revolution.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

How about that?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yep, after the war was over, he moved to Central Kentucky, so that's where they got to Lareda there. Which, by the way, it's in the middle of effing nowhere, especially back then, it really was.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

If you say that now, imagine back then. Uh, when I went, I had uh I the closest I could stay was still like 20 to 30 minutes away from the distillery, and it was beside Yellowstone in a motel sex.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

Yellowstone, it was basically like a motel sex, like you had to like buzz in and like was it one of those that have like a line of what do you call those where you drive up and there's like a line and they're all like together, like standalone, free standalone units. You know what do you call them?

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yeah, no, like a motel, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Yeah, like Bates Motel. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Thankfully it wasn't that. It was it was uh this hotel building has been around for a while, and they're like trying to renovate it and keep it like modern, but there's only so much modern that can go in around cornfields and nothing, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:12

They call that's where they're at No Tell Motel, yes, yeah, yes, pay by the hour. Yes. Um but yeah, they are in Loretta, Kentucky.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

So they went all the way back from George, Washington, yeah, yep, and continue to distill all the way through. When did they name the makers? So that came back in the 50s. So yeah, so the 50s, that's when Bill Samuels Sr. Uh took their family recipe, which he believed to be more harsh.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

It was a rye-based whiskey at the time, which is why they used it probably in Manhattan.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Exactly, exactly. Uh supposedly, he he thought it was too uh too harsh, not very friendly. He didn't really like it that much, so he burned it. That's how the story goes. That he burned the recipe and created his own.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

As I like to uh uh hear about it, it it accidentally caught on fire.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Probably drank it too much one night and was like the the fame of the recipe accidentally got too close to a candle.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

So he made his own. So he made his own, which is what we're drinking now, so it's more of a weeded whiskey now.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Do you know how he made his own? The story of how he created it was very interesting. No, was it? So they they did not want to spend the time distilling, so they went for bread. They did different recipes within bread to find which mash bill they wanted to then distill.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

What is a mash bill?

SPEAKER_01 13:39

What is the original mash bill or the new mash bill? Do you know? Uh high wheat. Um it is a high wheat.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

So before they became makers, they were called what Samuels?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Uh, so it was it was actually a different last name at the time. So it was uh TW TW Samuels is the guy found out I guess I don't really have a name for it. Nope.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

So the I found this out. Uh do you guys have you guys ever noticed the He was also the Nelson County Sheriff when he started it. You guys ever noticed the star and the S and the V? Yeah, so Star Hill Farms.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Oh, okay. That was uh they originally named it.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Star, uh yeah, so uh Star Hill Farms. But it's S I V, what five? S five? So it's a fifth generation. Samuel's Star? Star Hill Farms is where so uh as as the story as I understand the story, his wife had a huge she had a huge voice and opinion on starting this distillery, but changing the name. So it wasn't Samuel's, it was Star Hill, Makers Mark, right? So but Star Hill Farms is the farm that they owned. Yeah, so that was the farm that they owned. If you go to Maker, have you ever been to Makers?

SPEAKER_01 14:49

No, no, I want to go, but it's on on the back of the bottle there. It says it's at Star Hill Farm.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

They have their own farm there, and like when I say they have their own farm, they have goats and sheep and cows and their their own chickens and bears, yeah. They have they have their own farm there, um, and they have their own restaurant in which they use from the farm for the restaurant. Um, so they're very big on the Star Hill farms, but it's the fifth generation that started this.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

So, who who came up with Maker's Mark? Where did it come from? Why do we do we know any of these things?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Samuel Sr. uh and his wife, and they came up with the name Maker's Mark. Maker's Mark.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

And uh she also did a lot of um copper, they did a lot of copper, I think it was copper, uh like copperware or like uh bowls and stuff. Um so that was their emblem on the bottom of all their stuff.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

It just clicked. That just clicked. That star with the that's the maker's mark.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Yeah, yeah. I get that, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the maker's mark. Yeah, yep. And so she had a huge, like I said, she had a huge saying push of like we're going to be doing this. And she was also making that helped push for the the wax. She was the one that was like, This is the color, this is the style, this is she was your marketer. Yeah, she's your wife.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

I never got that, but that's the maker's mark.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

You ever you ever hear uh the Mary loves to quote this from um the big fat Greek wedding? Which the husband is the head of the family, but the wife is the neck that turns the head where turns the head where it needs to go. This is his wife. She was the neck that turned him where it needed to go. She had a lot more say than what people understand and realize.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

That's so interesting. But like, um, you know, if you're a pipe guy, you'll know like makers marks and and and actually you, Nick, with like your background in like machine work and everything else. Like, I you that's kind of a big deal. And I just never put two and two together. When I think of maker's mark, I always thought of like a wax seal for some reason. But no, it's more of that symbol right there. That's why it's all over the freaking place. I never caught that before.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

The uh mash bill is 70% corn, okay, 16% red winter wheat, okay, and 14% multiple.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

I was gonna say that's it's more corn than wheat than people realize, but there's a good amount of wheat in there.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

But they're also one of the first ones, I believe, to use red winter wheat. That softer, yeah, that softer feel.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

What goes with the color of the wax and everything? But 70% corn gives it that American sweetness, you know what I mean? Um and a little bit of wheat, and a little bit of barley. I and the thing is, and I love rye, and I love rye manhattans, but if you ask me, I've always said uh for me, a maker's manhattan is where it's at, and I've ever do with that, or maybe it's old-fashioned.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

No, they get so extreme. You know how we we've talked about bullet being scientific. They might be bullet before bullet was bullet every day, even their ambassadors. So the the uh every staff member there has a day that they go into the tasting room and it's laid out this barrel, this barrel, this barrel, and the blend, blend, blend, and they have to taste it and go, This is the notes I'm getting. This is the notes. They have to match in order for them to move forward with bottling that barrel. Because they want every single one to taste the exact same every time. They they are Woodford times 10 when it comes to consistency. This this is our bottle. We want you, Steve, as a new bourbon drinker. Every time you pick up Maker's mark, this has to be the flavor that you're getting out of it every time. No matter where you go, no matter if it's in a different state, you know, different store within the state, they all have to taste the exact same. And they are good at that. They're really, really good at that.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

I've never had a bad bottle of makers.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

I've never had a makers that taste different uh except the private select. I've never heard of makers that taste different from each other. Other than the variation of the proof and and well, even with the proof point, you still get that same kind of oh, yeah. It's makers flavor with a little bit more. Yeah, that's all that is.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

This makers 101 is just regular makers with a little more depth. This is makers plus like the the what we talked about with Brian. Makers 46 is my favorite makers. Makers 46 is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

I also have a makers cask strength out there, which is the tits.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Okay, makers 46 cast strength or just the cast strength? Um, I I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

I think they do the makers regularly.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

I think it's regular makers cast strength, but I don't think they do a 46 cast strength, but if they started doing it because a lot of people went after that for the private barrel pick. How about that? So now they do a makers cast strength 46 because it was so popular. Yeah, I'd be up for trying that. But they're fat they they fascinate me when it comes to consistency.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

The Samuels family is actually the longest running family in the distillery in the in the uh as far as generations go in the world. Yeah, even more than beam, even more than beam. This is eight generations down now.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

Beam's at eight. Yeah, beam just got to eight this year, maybe last year. Eight? Eight. If you ask uh eight eight generations of the no family, there were different generations before. That's where it gets really funky with beam. Beam's a whole nother's wide.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

There's there's lots of cousins and stuff that take over.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

And there's lots of like deep and wide, and they go different companies.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, yeah, Booker No and Jim Beam.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Why it's not not beam instead of no, you know, because some female married in. Some female, so it was the son-in-law that married in, and the sons with the beam family name moved on, so it's split.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

If you only have daughters, maybe, you know, or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

But yeah, but when you talk about generations like Makers Mark, this is the deepest generation, like it doesn't split from the same.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

I was gonna say, uh, if you look at the front of the Wathins bottle, that's eight generations deep.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

I know, but they're not popular. I mean, I know I'm right there. That's actually eight years.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I it used to be eight years, then they changed it to eight generations. It kind of makes you wonder. Like, I don't know. Eight years, eight generations, you know. We're gonna get there. Yeah. But yeah, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

I've I have always liked makers. Makers was my first real whiskey, like that that I really that I really enjoyed and started getting. Just regular makers. It was cheap enough.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Did you you had makers over before Weller? Yes. Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

We had makers early on the podcast at one point.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Makers with a specialty.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

And you really liked it. I did. I remember you being like, I really like this. I like this a lot. And I was like, yeah. Yeah, it's because it's makers. I like makersmark. Anybody shits on makers mark? I'm like, how dare you? You know, like I do like it. And you know what? Let's talk about price for a minute. Like, they're the prices of their products are good too. Like, they're not crazy expensive. And other than their very specialty stuff, they can be had. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Even their very specialty stuff isn't that expensive.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Or that that hard to find. You know, uh, and again, you're talking about something that could be put in a price-wise and everything else, could be put in a cocktail, and you're not gonna gripe about it.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Could be wrong, but I think the most expensive makers that I've seen on the shelf is gonna be their private select, like store pick, like stave pick, and that's even around the 70 some 75 range.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I've seen some I want to say I've seen some makers, some specialty makers go up around over 100, under 120, over 100.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

What they were?

SPEAKER_00 23:03

I thought they were specialty stuff, like not just their stave pick stuff.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

They've come out with their seller collections, yeah. That's what it is. They sell collections, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Specialty stuff's up there around the hundred, hundred and something dollar mark. But they're they're you're right, they're and they've done a lot, they do a lot with staves, which is another thing to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

You don't know why. Okay, this is I ironically. I I asked the question of why don't you do something different? Like, have you tried a different proof point? Have you tried not moving the barrels in the same place? Like, have you tried this? They tried it once with the seller collection and they sold the only at the distillery. And if I remember right, if I remember right, she said that is the only seller collection that we sold that didn't do well. We changed where it was at, we changed the like the the the proof point of it. We changed it just enough that it was something different, and people went, eh, this isn't makers, like this is not what I'm used to.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

So regular makers is $26.99. Yeah, what a great effing deal.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Yeah, this bottle is 40. Yeah, and this is the 101. This is the 101. I mean, you can't get anything cheaper for that quality and that good of it, and honestly, like God, I hate to compare it because there's they're they're different, but like you're talking about Woodford prices, you know what I mean? Like, and this is the 101. So compare the 101 to the Woodford, which was 92, and it's just for me, like clear.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

And here's 26 is 35.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

You gotta throw in this because this adds to the value. This is a longer lasting, longer. This is not a one and done kind of you sip it and it's gone. It does linger with you a good amount of time. It's got great sweetness, it's got good oak, it's got good um bourbon, like classic bourbon flavors. It's just all around a great bottle. And you're talking for this one, you're talking around that 40-50 dollar mark. Like, come on, dude. Like, it doesn't get much better than this. And the regular makers is great too. For under 30 bucks, yeah, under 30 bucks. Yeah, you really can't go wrong. And at that price, you can put it in a cocktail, which goes great in cocktail. You can drink it straight. You can do dude. If you ever had makers and cherry uh cherry coke, it's just a fantastic little beverage. I mean, just some ice, a couple of cherries, some coke, maybe your own grenadine, or just use cherry coke. That's fine too. And that's a good little cocktail. It's great.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

I mean, you know, it's funny. I don't own any makers outside of a private select.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

We've talked about this before because you're not a big makers fan. He's deep down, Nick is not a big makers fan. I because he doesn't think about it.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

I have become more of a maker, I have found that I have more of an appreciation for makers after touring their place.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

You just had to go talk to them. You just had to, you just had to spend some time with them.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

You know, the story without going to the distillery and seeing what they do and the the time that they put into it, you hear the story, you look at the bottle, and you go, golly, this is a freaking gimmick. Yeah, right? This is a craft distillery or this is a sourced bottle trying to be a gimmick. You got the wax, you got the the this the look of the bottle, like all of that was very specific to uh to Samuel's wife of this is the marketing. This this will draw the attention, this will draw people's eyes in. Has to be very specific on the color of the wax, how it's dipped, how it runs down, all of that. And if you hear the story and you're a big bourbon drinker, and you've seen a lot of people that do gimmicks, you look at this and go, This has got to be another gimmick. And you try it, and if you're not a weed guy, you go, Buffalo Trace is not this gimmicky, and this is this is about the same. After going to the the distillery and doing the tour and seeing everything that they do and put in, I mean, to the to the extent of even their water that they pull from is from a this huge pond or lake that they have that is just theirs. They've cornered it off as theirs, and every time it fills up with rainwater, that's what they use. Like the the the the attention to that much detail, you look at this bottle and you go, okay. I've got a different appreciation for this now. Like I I appreciate what they do. It's not just red wax. It's not just a gimmick, it's not just a gimmick, that's just them being the owners.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

There will I gravitate towards this? Not very often. Will I have a much bigger appreciation of this than I do of Woodford? Absolutely. You know, and that's I think that's the biggest thing for me is I have a bigger appreciation for who they are, what they've done.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

That brings me to the point. The point is we're talking about 101, right? Whiskey 101. And you just you kind of hit it. And I think what's funny is this flies under the radar for people because it's available, it's there, they've had it. And it does look gimmicky. You buy it on the bottle, you or you buy it and you put it on the shelf and you don't touch it because you forget about whatever it can fly under the radar. But when you're talking about like must try, must have, must shelf bourbons, this is one of those.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

I'd rather have this for Woodford.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Yeah, yeah. For all those reasons, this is definitely if if you went to somebody's bar and they didn't have a maker's mark of some kind, do they have a bar? I would argue you don't even have one of those. You gotta have a maker's mark of some kind, if not multiple. You know, I just I just think um it's a staple.

SPEAKER_02 28:50

Before being bought them out, as I look at the very first uh going back to the very first bottle we had today, we talked about this idea of craft distilleries have this unique way of pulling you in with a memory without trying to get you into that memory, like they they're just pulling from what they know, and they're not trying to be something they aren't, but they're trying to be something they're good at, right? Before Beam bought makers, makers was probably that crafty story that they're not trying to be something they're not, but they're trying to be something they're really good at. And what they're really good at is what they still do, which is their weeded bourbon. That that is what they do. This is the the Wopsy bourbon, you know what I mean? This is the the unique we do red winter wheat. No one else did red winter wheat until they came around, and now everyone else is like, whoa, so if I add red winter wheat, this kind of like makes it creamier. This kind of smooths it out a little bit more, makes it less harsh, makes it more friendlier. Everyone else up until that point was like we got yellow dent corn and we got wheat, just normal wheat, and we got malted barley, like this is what it is, and then they came in with this creamy, smooth. I prefer this over weller. Like this is a weeded bourbon that I prefer over weller because this is not nondescript. This has a little bit more oomph to it. This has a little bit more of a story that goes into it, other than we were the first weeded bourbon.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Well, and for the proof, even this is yeah, right. But even regular makers is just fantastic. But this 101 truly is um 101 series and 101 bottles, though the the bottle, yeah, 101 proof. It's just um such a damn good when I think of like there are certain, and again, I'm a I'm a rye guy, and I'm talking about a wheated, uh high high wheat bourbon. Um, but when I think of like certain tobacco that if I only had one for the rest of my life on a desert island, I would, you know, these are contenders. Not I think of knives that everybody thinks of different things, music, you could movies, whatever it is. Yeah, but when I think of like certain bottles or brands that like could be mine, right? Like we were talking about last episode, like I could be a Woodford guy, you know what I mean? I I couldn't, but people could be a Woodford guy. I could be a makers guy, and makers is my brand, and that's what I try. And maybe I would you know try this makers or that makers, but I would be a makers guy. I could you could you could make an argument for like if you had to pick one, that would be a good brand to go after. And I and I personally would be fine with that, and that's how good they do. And again, I'm a weed, I'm a more of a rye guy. This is a weeded verb, but I'm not even a weeded guy, but this is still so good that I could pledge my loyalty to this brand. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Here's the crazy thing is at this proof point, you're talking we're we we have that spice, we uh it's proof, but we kind of have that spice you're right.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

I think the proof is acting as as the rye agent.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

The fact that they are so here's the crazy thing. Think about this. You keep saying, I'm not a weeded, I'm a rye, I'm not a weeded, I'm a rye.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Well, because I used to be a weeded um, right?

SPEAKER_02 32:12

I used to love weeded. But for you to say this, this is still kind of hits that mark. Yeah, name another bottle that's a weeded bourbon that still kind of hits that rye spice kind of feel.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

I can't think of one right now. Any rye, I can't think of one right now. I mean, I can't think of any if if there was one, it'd be so obscure.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

I can think of a rye that drinks more like a weeded. Yeah, yeah. I can't think of a weeded bourbon that drinks like a rye other than this guy.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Especially you're talking about this is unfinished of any kind, like it's not a finishing of any kind, it's just what it is. Now on the box it says limited release. Do they limit these? No. I don't know. They used to at the store there.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

You could only get it, but it may be limited in the sense that they don't put out many barrels of this, right? Like how many what's the number of barrels that they put out?

SPEAKER_00 33:05

And I will say you don't find 101 all the time on the shelf, but it's not like it's next to the Jamesons, you know what I mean? But how limited is it?

SPEAKER_02 33:13

I think the limited aspect is this is not their normal process or their everyday bottle. Yeah. When I say they've got it down to a scientific, they are the bullet before being bullet. They go to the extent of saying, okay, in Rick House four and five, we just put barrels on the top shelf. Now we're lowing, you know, two months in. Let's say we barreled another barrel, right? We filled another barrel. Now we move the next ones down to four, right? Put those at five. Now we move down to three, four, and five. They keep moving and moving and moving until it's down at the bottom. And once it's at the bottom, they go, Done. That's ready to be pulled. Like it is so scientific for them to decide, even with the temperature change, they still know, okay, we have to move this down to this, down to this, down to this, and we get the same result every time, right? Which is insane to me. Like it's not temperature controlled, it's not like for for perspective, their cellar series, they literally put it in a mountain, like carved out in a mountain to where it's all rock and they have a rick house in there that's literally in the mountain. That is pretty cool, and you do like the barrel pick there, and you can see into the the the cellar, but that's where they put their cellar series, and then so they age longer, but at a cooler temperature to not get any farther into the wood. So they they've gone to the scientific point of saying everything is the same. So a limited release, I would yes, the 101 is not the normal. This is not this is a limited release in their mind of this is not what we normally do. Now we put might put out enough barrels to service the entire US. Yeah, yeah, that people wouldn't consider it limited, or right, but for us, this is very limited, this is not what we normally do, which is fascinating to me. Um, they're they're also uh going to the distillery idea, they are so craft without being craft to the point where when we went for our pick with Tipsy, it was around Christmas break, and their bottling line was completely shut down because the town they they pretty much employ the entire city of Loretta. And so everyone is has kids, schools, all these things. So they the bottling line itself has I wouldn't even say contract, they have the the uh ability to we have 150 barrels that we have to fill or have to uh put into bottles. If we get those done within the next 24 hours, we're off for the next amount of time.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

What a cool thing, and you know, I grew up in some small towns. Uh I know you kind of did, Nick, too. I I don't Steve, yeah. And um, that's just one of the aspects you get at and small towns where kind of the whole community works at the same place. I I think of like when I lived in uh Boonville and stuff like there were Alcoa. So if you think of the cans that Pepsi and and Mountain Dew come, they come out of Alcoa. Yeah, so like everybody worked for Alcoa, you know what I mean? Uh and it it's kind of like this whole like, and then imagine like the kids going to school and interacting at baseball and stuff. Like, we all like everybody works with each other, like they're all co-workers, and then all of a sudden now your friends are hanging out and they're going to school. What a it's the closest thing you can get to a family community that you can get to. Like when you have a small town and one big corporation or business or whatever, like what a cool way to grow up. You know, I feel like maybe there's still people doing that.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

I mean, our town, the town I grew up in, has it's uh the town has one factory, but close by there's another town that has three or four. So they're they're all factory workers, but they work in one of like three places, four places.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Even then it's kind of a shared identity kind of a thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:23

It used there was a furniture place that that factory is shut down, yeah. But there's still there's Berry Plastics, that's the one that's in our town. Like my dad worked at Donley's works at Barry Plastics? Where is this at? Monroville, Northern Ohio. But in Willard, Ohio is where Peppridge Farm is. So the Peppridge Farm is there, and Donleys, which makes books, that's where my dad worked, and uh, and then uh Midwest that makes a whole bunch of uh engines and stuff. They make a lot of uh um uh what's the name of the the engine, the small engine deal? Myers Briggs, Myers Briggs, yeah. They make a lot of those.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

I think my brother lives there in Willard? I think Ohio? Yeah, I think so. I think he just moved there like a year ago because he he's been he's a he works in a factory all the time, and he used to work for Barry Plastics. Uh, but now I I think he works for one of those factories. Yeah, yeah, it could be pepperage farms, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Donnelly's is no longer named Don Lee's, it's named something else, but that's how I'll always call it. But dad still works there, but they've changed names a couple different times. Find that out. That'd be interesting. I haven't visited him yet, but we could all make a trip there, yeah. Go to the Peppridge Farm store that's only available for the workers there. Pepperage Farm remembers. That's right. So, but yeah, and so it was just everyone worked, everyone was a factory worker, and there was a little bit of a like, I work for berries, I worked for Domilies, like there was a little bit of a divide there, like your group all worked in the world. That's your time of all in it together, but there was no like animosity between that and it's like that's shared, shared identity, shared value factory workers of some form, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

That's so cool. I think the thing I appreciated the most about uh going there, hearing that they pretty much employ the whole town, yeah, but then driving through Loretta. It's not Dublin, it's not New Albany, no, it's it's not a small little town, probably. It's a small little town, but there's not these uh there is a under uh not an understanding. There is a respect, I I feel like within the community that we we're a small community and we're not gonna try to fight for more money. We're not gonna be like we have to. They're comfortable in their in their identity. There's they're comfortable, but they also appreciate what they do. They appreciate the business that they're given, they appreciate the they're all mom and pop.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

There is no like there's a few chains, but they're all mom and pop. I remember like growing up, if something big happened in the town, you would walk up to a store and they would have closed for today. Yeah, people shut down for that stuff. If it was Friday night, everybody was at the football game. Yeah, everybody. And if you went like into town for something, unless you were pumping gas, they weren't there. Yeah, you couldn't buy stuff, stores weren't open, like they went to the football game. Everybody knew that's just how it was, you know.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

Like whole town shuts down at fire.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

There was like two bars, and you, if you were like a bar fly, you went to one of them, and like there was regulars, but like that was it. Like, if you wanted to drink, you went to one or two, one of two bars, you know. Like it just that there was one gym, you know, like one big gym, and it was a local gym. It was not a chain, you know. Things like that, you know. The library was a big place to go to because that's what you had. You had one movie theater, like I don't know, small town America still has its appeal.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

I love it, yeah. Because you talk about like it's makers is huge. Makers is all over the place, yeah. They're they're but it's made in capital area, but it's made in this little little Loretta, Kentucky that is in the middle of nowhere, yeah, and uh he'll billy out the wazoo. Yeah, but it's owned by this conglomerate, huge company, and yet they still say we respect the crap out of what you do as a community, and we respect what you give to us. So if you need the time off, let's figure it out. You need to go to that football, the whole town needs to go to that football game, we're gonna figure it out. You know what I mean? Like, that's not normal in corporate America, that's not seen in corporate America.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

It's always interesting when you pull back the curtain a little bit and you find it's not as big or as crazy as so like I think about like when I went to DC and I and I got to go into the like the uh where they hold Congress and stuff, and it was I was like, this is so much smaller than I thought. I'm talking like congressmen, and I'm like, this is just not as elaborate as I thought. It was awesome. It was awesome, but you're just maybe I'm a I'm a bigger guy now, you know, like I'm older, like I'm not a kid. So like I'm just looking around, like this is just and like, and then we went to the old rooms, and I was like, This, so this is like where this happened, and this is like where that happened. I'm like, this is just like these desks are tiny, you know, like, or like Marzettes. I grew up like like you've seen Marzetti salad dressings in the store, right? Like the factory for Marzettes is in Clintonville. Like, so like I drive by it all the time, I hang out there. I've to I've I've I've gone there a bunch of times. Um, I've seen it. Like it's not what you it's not as big as you'd think for like when you go to the store and you see that on the shelf, you're like, this is probably a massive, and it is big, but like it's not when you pull the curtain back on something. Now, sometimes you do that and you're like, this is bigger than it should be, or bigger than I thought, or this is beyond like comfortable for me, you know what I mean. But when you find out like something like Maker's Mark, see it everywhere, storied, legendary at this point, small little town, not that big of a place, you know what I mean? Like, it's still kind of like there's something special about that, but it's still out there, you know what I mean? There's people in China that will talk about Maker's Mark, you know what I mean? Like, that's crazy. Um, and I think that that kind of because there's always that kind of bit of disconnect or or a lure, like when you haven't, like if you've never gone to Washington, DC, and then you know, you have a certain idea, like because I was like that, I never went there. So I had a certain idea of what things were. And then when I went there, I was like, as an adult, you know what I mean? Like, I was like, this this isn't as big as I thought it would be, or this is crazy, you know, and I'm sure it's like that with a lot of things, but then there's some things that you go to and it it you're overwhelmed. Yeah. And it makes you feel small, but then there's some things you go to and you feel. You know, your size are bigger. You know what I mean? Like the world just got a little smaller. You know what I mean? And it's just interesting that those um how those things impact impact us. Maker's Mark being one of those things that, like, I think of it as larger than life. And then the way you guys are describing it is like makes the world a little smaller. And I like that because there's a comfort, there's a comforting aspect to that. It's very comfortable. Like maybe this world isn't as big and as scary. Right. You know what I mean? The what's unknown is scary, and what's known is is is comfortable. And I think that that makes the world a little smaller. And anytime you can do that, go for it. Right. Like I think that's a cool thing. I want to go there. I want to I want to go dip my own bottle. Well, I want to. I just haven't had a chance. We've only really gone, you know, down there a couple times. You know what I mean? Uh we had that trip. We haven't gone there in a while, you know. Uh, even me and you going bourbon hunting. We need to do is is plan a trip and um hell I bet the whole club would want to go down. Oh, yeah. Anybody wants to dip a bottle, job, you know, climb, climb on board. But uh, we ought to make a trip down there and um and dip a bottle, and then you know, we need to plan a weekend trip and do some other things. Um, but yeah, I would love to go there. I love this. I love makers, Mark. I love that they took something good and they made it better by proof proofing it up 101. I I think this is one of those you got must have, must try. I I don't even think I could trust somebody who's into bourbon who hasn't had makers.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

Period.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

Period. You know what I mean? Like, what do you what are you doing? You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of things that you could probably get away with not trying yet, but like makers, gotta have. Gotta have it, gotta have it.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

How's uh how's the tobacco going?

SPEAKER_00 45:49

What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 45:50

I'm very curious. I think so. I was gonna ask you, Nick, while you're drinking this, and you I think you're the first one that mentioned it that said that you're getting kind of the rye-esqueness, and it's just because of the proof point being up. Is that true? Is that is that something that you are really feeling a little bit of that?

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Or when you drink a rye, uh, especially for like newbies, right? Yeah, it's like in the back like the itch in the back of the throat. That's what I get off of this. That's what the the rye-esque feel is like it has those it doesn't have like the the the the burn at the and like the the coming back up kind of warming chest feel of a rye. Yeah, but it has in the throat and back of the uh the mouth, the back of the tongue kind of feel of a rye. Oh god that you you you feel kind of that what people consider punch, but it's not a punch, it's just a it's just an itch almost kind of feel.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

But that could be, I think, where Steve's going with this.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

Yeah, it was I was like that what we're smoking now is a heavy pareek. I yeah, I forgot to warn you. I was like, man, that is this is this making this stronger than it actually is.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

Could be, could be, could it be even stronger than usual? Yeah, I and I should have probably warned you. Uh you you said it was a heavy pariek, which is normal. It's a stout blend, and it's got a punch, as far as especially like as far as the nicotine goes. Yeah, yeah. We don't talk a lot about that on the podcast, but there that is a natural aspect to tobacco. Yeah, it's not a bad thing, it's been demonized. Uh, it's a natural aspect. Um it's no different than talking about the proof of something, right? But uh that kick in the back of your throat, Nick, yeah, could very well be the punch from this tobacco. Yeah, but I'm not I'm not smoking the tobacco, no, but you're around it, you know what I mean? Like you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 47:41

So smoke, yeah. But that's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Yeah, it is a st it is a stout and I I forget that because it uh it has no bearing on me anymore at this point. But there's people I bet there's people that if we had given this pipe tobacco to that weren't like avid pipe smokers, that would probably be they would probably lay them down, yeah. Lay them down, lay them right down for a nap, you know.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

Like so, but I'm wondering if that's affecting the flavor, and I don't think it's affecting the flavor, but affecting the the strength or complimenting it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

I think it's going in a good way.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Well, yeah, it's a good thing. It's it's working out for it. I'm curious to try this without the tobacco to see if it is as punchy or as as if that proof point bump bumping up a little bit is as strong as it feels like it is.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Well, and that begs the question is bourbon always better with the pipe, right? I'd argue yes. I would yeah, which is fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 48:36

Good thing that it's there. I'm wondering if it's not as strong as maybe I think it is.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

Yeah, it is very good. I think with this tobacco, and that this tobacco is very uh very good burning for something that's just been cracked open. Um, it behaves well, smokes well. That's a it's got rum-esque qualities without being overly rum. It is an interesting thing. If you've never smoked high Parik before, which I have and I love uh some people find off-putting or hard to uh if you like this, you should try exclusive. It's like this without different flavors, but it's got again like 75% pareek in it, and it is quite uh hardy. Yeah, but it is this is something uh what's funny because this came out uh small batch, Cornell and Deal. It sells up, sold out, sells out. Um people go nuts for it, whether it's good or not. And then you will hear the reviews later on with all their stuff that they've done. It's been that way. So The Beast comes out, it came out. This is not the first time they've done it, but they've changed it up. But this time it comes out, sells up, people start kind of crapping on it a little bit, some people, and you know what's funny is sometimes I agree with that stuff and sometimes I don't, but a lot of times what I get is people praising something, and I'm like, it's not that good. Yeah, what's funny was this time this comes out and kind of people are kind of crapping on it. And I'm like, this is for me, this is quite good. Yeah, quite good. Is it anything like you know, is it overly rum? No, is it overly preek? No, but it burns well, it behaves well, it's got a great flavor, it's got a good punch, um, it's got some depth to it. I think this will age really well too. And I got a few tins of it, so we will find out. But I I think it's great. I think it's really great. Uh, you know, again, I'm I'm getting it's so funny. The older and older I get, the more and more into burlies I get. And I think that that's just your natural progression as a pipe smoker. I remember when I first started smoking pipe, there were some guys that were talking about burly blends, and I was like, what the heck are they talking about? Because, like, that's kind of what you like, it's kind of a basic American tobacco. There's not a whole lot of flavor going on. Most people try them, they're like, oh, this tastes like this or tastes like that, it's harsh, whatever. You know, people really kind of start off with aromatics. The normal, like anybody smoking a pipe listening right now, will agree with this. You start off with aromatics, and if you stick with it, because a lot of people will quit with the aromatics because they're so temperamental, but if you stick with it, you end up going straight into English.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

And you hang out in English for years, and you might dabble into some straight Virginias and then be like, that's not for me. You might get into some blends of things. Um, but what you will become if you stick with it long enough, what you will start gravitating to is more Virginias, Virginia Preeks, Virginia Burley. You're doing these blends, right? Then I think you start getting more and more and more into burly tobacco. And because it's just a good quality, basic tobacco, which is kind of what we're talking about with this series, whiskey 101. Like we're kind of coming full circle, coming right back around to like what makes bourbon bourbon, or what makes whiskey whiskey, backing, going back to the basics. And there's nothing wrong with that. And I think the older I get, I appreciate stuff that is more, and you know, this this whole series, we kind of smoked some basic tobaccos. Um, but like we're talking about Carter Hall or Prince Albert, like there's really not only is there nothing wrong with it, there are times where I get so much better of a smoking experience out of a Prince Albert or a Carter Hall or a basic American Burley than I do out of some of the high-end stuff I've got. You know, I got some really high-end pipe tobacco, and it's good, but like sometimes I just really get much. You know, it's the mean potatoes, dude. It's fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It's it's the comfort, it's comfort food. That's what it is. And I think the older I get or the longer I go on this pipe smoking. I've been smoking a pipe for God, I don't know how many years now, 20 years now, or whatever it is, probably, uh, almost 20 years. And the thing is, like, after all that time, I still keep getting back to like pure natural tobaccos, American tobaccos, like the burlies, burley blends, Virginia's Virginia blends. Uh, and I'm moving more and more away from I do appreciate Englishes, but I'm moving more and more away from it. So when I do have an English, I appreciate it again.

SPEAKER_03 53:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:15

But you can really get burned out on that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 53:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

And I really have not found, I have not gotten burned out on something basic. That's what it comes down to. That's what's so interesting is something basic you don't really get burned out on. And that's something you think you would get burned out on. But it's the kind of the flair for the dramatic, the crazy flavors that you can sometimes get a little burned out on. Like, I'm just tired of this. It's like when I went to rum finishes for a long time there. Right. Remember, I was into rum finishes. I got burned out on rum. I can't have rum anymore, like that. You know what I mean? Like I just got over it.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 53:50

But I think it's because it was one of those flavors that's so pungent that you can get burned out. Whereas, like a basic tobacco or basic whiskey or basic bourbon will always, always, always have its place. And you're never gonna get tired of it. Right. Because what it is is the thing. Unless you get burnt out on the whole thing, you're not gonna get burned out on it. You know what I mean? It's interesting, but yeah. This, I think all that all that to say that this Cornell and Deal never disappoints. But this the beast, I think it went well with this maker's mark. I'm glad we tried it with this. I think if we had tried it with some of the other ones, maybe not so much.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

All right. Till next time. Till next time. Okay, do it again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

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