Merry Christmas from the Whiskey Chasers!

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Welcome to the Whiskey Chasers, where we talk about our passion for whiskey and its history, either amongst ourselves or while interviewing distilleries. All while enjoying a glass. I'm Steve, I'm Nick, and I'm Chris. Please enjoy responsibly while enjoying this week's episode of The Whiskey Chasers. Merry Christmas, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

We're doing something fun and special like we did for Thanksgiving. And this is the end of the year. This is the last Thursday before New Year's. Before the New Year's. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I mean, think about that for a minute.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah. Like, so if that blows your mind, so the idea was let's do an episode at the end of the year that walked through all not walk through, but we got to pick our favorite bottle from the club. Which was a lot to or the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Or the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Yes. Yes. And so Steve sent me, uh sent us the list, and I literally sat there and was like, holy crap! Like we went through a crap ton of good bottles this year.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

It was really hard to pick a favorite. And so I'm like, obviously, for the podcast, those ones kind of go all over the place. We keep a little bit of a series going kind of throughout the year, but it's it's different kind of all the time. But the club, we we our new year starts in July for the club. So the first half of the year was all of our finished bottles because last year was finishing. And the second half of the year was our current, which is all store picks. So yeah, I mean, we're kind of all over the place on different stuff. And what and what was available to choose from?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Going from a calendar year. So we had all little books except for chapter nine. So uh chapter nine came out after we did all the little books this year.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

Does that mean I'm gonna be able to be on a chapter nine podcast? Oh because I I missed all of Little Book.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

There's a possibility of chapter nine and infinite two. So, like by the time we get around to it, do we just wait for chapter 10 and infinite three?

SPEAKER_03 2:05

I maybe, yeah. I you know, do another little series on that. Uh, as long as I'm on it, I don't really care too much about the timing. What Steve is getting at is he just revealed Yeah, I I I did say I'm not taking a break this year, so I will be here. All I won't be taking my normal tax break. I'm still doing taxes, but I decided I need a touch of sanity in my life.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

It's the only time you're gonna get a tax break. Right. This is it. This is the only time in your life you're gonna get a break on it. And you guys are my sanity break, which maybe says more about my life than which and we'll still have guests and stuff, but Steve will be joining. Yes. So get ready, 2027.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

I might skip a few here and there, but for the most part, I'll be around. We went through all the little books.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Yeah, we went through I was tempted to pick a little book just so I can drink it.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Yeah, something I'll pick a little book uh one through eight.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

This year we also did flavored whiskey out of the random one that Chris wasn't on. Yeah, oh shucks. Sorry. I know that's one of the things that's gonna get flavored. Yeah, I we went through old overhaul, we went through some Jack Daniels.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

I was like, What? Oh I was like, Oh yeah, uh I wasn't on that. I wasn't there for those, right? Thank the Lord. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

So it was hard to pick. Uh no, for me. I literally sat in front of my liquor cabinet there and I was just like, I don't know what to pick. Like, there's so many that we could do. Yeah, like for the best, what does that even mean? Exactly. Yeah, it's it's on top of that, the club, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

So, yeah, I feel like the that could change too, like day to day. Like today, what I picked, maybe tomorrow I would pick something else. I I don't know, but I think we made good picks. We're gonna look at the bottles on the on the table here. We're also gonna go through. So we have pretty much laid out the tobacco that we have smoked throughout the year on the podcast, and we're gonna go through just we're gonna just pick something. We're gonna try a little bit of what we decided on, and we're gonna decide the tobacco based on that, but we're gonna pull from what we smoked. So that'll be interesting. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

So I know Chris and I both picked club bottles. Nick, did you pick a club bottle or a podcast bottle?

SPEAKER_02 4:09

I picked a podcast. Nice. I was telling Steve earlier, Chris, it was really hard for me to decide. Because of A, we have all the little books, and I was like, that's kind of not fair. Like, I have them, so like it's kind of not fair that I'm just gonna bring this and be like, I'm sorry guys, don't get this one. Yeah, a big big DD. Right, exactly. Yeah, and then uh I started looking at like the best ones, like the ones that I was like, man, flavor-wise, just blew us out of the water. And Liberty Pull, of course, came to my mind. Then I had Barker's Mill, While I Run, While I Run, Wake Wiggle was one that was probably uh and then there was um Empire Rye from Empire Rye, and I was like, oh man, like we're talking like that time of year where it's dark, dark flavor, yeah, great. I actually tried Empire Rye, so without trying anything, I decided Barker's Mill or Empire Rye, those are the two.

unknown 5:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

And I decided to try them side by side, and I was like, Barker's Mill once. Barker's Mill.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Barker's Mill was a favorite. Um, not I mean, we loved it on the podcast, but it was also a favorite for one of the one of the club nights. A lot of people got to try it.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

To the point where we actually have this year for the club a store pick of their rye. So, like that that'll be fun.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

I thought maybe a contender for you for me, a contender was gonna be OCD as well. Especially we're still in the holiday season, that kind of works too. But I did really like that bottle and I almost went with it.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Again, there were so many like looking at just the ones we did on the podcast, and I was like, oh man, like how do how do I narrow this down? Like, how do I decide? And then you add on this the club bottles on top of that, and you're like, Well, crap, like yeah, well, and I and I cheated.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Yeah, we're gonna get to your little cheat here in a minute. So, what'd you get there, Steve? Yeah, so uh I also I picked a club bottle, so I went back to our finishing series because I always love a good finish, and I went with Neely Family Distilling, the apricot brandy, which was finish was a good choice, yeah. So uh 112 proof, it's a Turkish apricot brandy finish. And Neely Family Distilling, um, never been there, but Nick, you've been there, and and so I think that's been there. Oh, Chris, you've been there also. Yeah, I know, but Nick's been there twice, yeah. Yeah, so they're another one that's on our list for for possible interviews in the future and everything. So excited to try more of their stuff. But I've decided to go with that one. Those club bottles are always good and finishings are are great. Was that a Princeton night, dude? It was uh it was March, was the one. So yeah, so yeah, that was that was a Princeton as well. Don't remember what we had. I don't know. Uh I have a sample bottle here, which means I wasn't there, so I don't know what the food was. I I didn't remember it being I thought it was chicken.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

I don't know that you missed it. I think that was at the end of the year, the drawing.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Oh, oh, that you know what you're right. I did you go there, you were there when we had it. I definitely was. I was like, why would I miss March? Yeah, I want to say it was a chicken something. It was that sounds right.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

It was a chicken something, I think. It was it was good. I mean, it was always good. Yeah, yeah. But I do remember that pairing being because we talked about the apricot being a very hard thing to pair food with because it actually does come through and it worked out, it worked really well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

I think you did like an apricot, almost like cobbler, I suppose, was like the dessert for it. I think you're right. There was a cobbler for it. He added some of this in with it.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Was that the cornbread cobbl, like the cornbread cobbler?

SPEAKER_03 7:32

No, no, that was for October. Yeah, that was okay. That was just happened.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, yeah, that's why it stuck in your mind.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

I didn't know you could do that with cornbread. Yeah, yeah. Me and uh me and Nick stopped off at Neely for a little potty break. Yeah while we were driving. You didn't get a chance to actually do anything there, but then you went back later on, and yeah. So what what else did you bring? Or I guess I should say, what did you decide for the pipe?

SPEAKER_03 7:55

So as I was looking through everything, I was trying to figure out what to do here. I'm gonna land on cross-eyed cricket. Cross-eyed cricket. I think yeah, and so because it has a touch of an aromatic to it, um, it has a it has a topping of some sort, a light rum punch flavor is what it says on the side here. Because it says aromatic or not, yeah. Yeah, with the finishing, I thought that would go that would go well with that. So so I'm gonna try out some uh some cross-eyed cricket. And I do remember really enjoying cross-eyed cricket.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah, because you've actually, I don't know if you realize this, you've brought that up like three or four times. What's that? The cross-eyed cricket. You've talked about it quite a bit, yeah. Yeah, like it's one that you keep bringing up, and I'm like, he really enjoyed that more than I thought you, I just I bought that tin thinking like it'd be, I don't know, whatever. Yeah, and I remember we popped it, we were both kind of surprised, but then you've you've talked about that quite a bit. I really enjoy it, it's a good one. So that leaves me. And I and you cheated. Cheated, kind of.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

How did you cheat there, Chris?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

We I couldn't even remember if it was this year or not, but it seems like it sounds like it was this year. It was like it was, it was so at least I got that in that parameter. Yeah, uh, but we did have a club meeting at Blake's house. Um you know, it was Blake's house, I believe. And um, we had a bot, a club bottle there, and it was great, it was great. But before we even opened it, Nick was like, Hey, I also brought this thing and you guys should try it. And I don't think at that point, had you tried it.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

I had.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

You had, I had, I was really sure what you guys thought. I think you even said something like, I don't know if I should give this to you guys yet. But we tried it before we ate and before we had the club bottle, and we were all like, like, hold on, this is really, really good. And I even think like Micah maybe thought it was the club bottle for that for that day, but it wasn't. And then, you know, we liked it so much. Then we started drinking the club bottle, which was good, but we were all like going back to this. It kind of got overshadowed, yeah. We were like, this is really kind of ruining the club bottle, like, because it's just so good.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

And how you you asked the question to figure out what bottle it was was hey guys, do you remember that bottle of Blake's house that overshadowed the club bottle? What was that?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

What was that?

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Because I couldn't remember it. I just remember it being really good. To just give you a peek of what club nights are, there's there is one bottle that is the that is broad for the club, but we all have our own bars and we meet once a month. So we all bring stuff we've had over the last. So we're we're sampling like a bunch of different bottles. Almost anytime you find something new or or whatever. So even though this wasn't necessarily a club bottle, we all had it at a club meeting. So therefore, it counts, it counts, it counts, it counts.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

It kind of fits with this year's theme, which is hilarious that we didn't have it this year, but like it it fits.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

But it works, yeah. And what's funny was I couldn't remember what it was, but I remember how much I enjoyed it. It's the coolest bottle ever.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

It is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

It almost could almost fall into the gimmicky category. When you look at this, you think I'm not gonna want to drink it because it's so gimmicky. I even said like I hate the bottle because it is too gimmicky, although it is quality, like when you tap it, it's metal and whatnot, but and you know it's got a cool like six-shooter revolver cylinder with the bullets on top, so it's white herp is what it is, yeah. And it looks like an old you know, dollar bill that's purple or something, but it's an American whiskey, age 13 years, and the proof on it is what is so surprising because it is proofy, but it doesn't taste proofy.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

Yep, it's a surprising, yeah, it's along the edge here, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, uh, yeah, one once what is it, 80%. So 162. Yeah, 162. Holy cow! Like, and no, no wonder I like it, right? But it doesn't but it doesn't taste it, does not taste like you're drinking white lightning.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Yeah, what I remember of that bottle is taking a drink and being like, this is like maybe 80 proof, like this is so light, but then my mouth went numb. So it's it like just sneaks because it just because it snipped up on it.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

It's such a heavy alcohol content. Like, you know, you're drinking something that's you know, you know, it's like not liquidy watery, you know what I mean? But it doesn't taste anywhere near 160 proof.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

You guys might consider this sacrilege, but the other day I actually kind of maybe mixed this with some cherry coke. Oh just it just a very smidge, it wasn't even like an ounce.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

But I'm sure it was all right.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Uh it tasted like coffee. I told Mary it was the only thing that I've ever put together that came out tasting like coffee, and it was cherry cola and 162-proof.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

The best thing about this is I'm borrowing Nick. This is Nick's bottle, so I get to pour however I want. But I would I would not mind getting myself one of these. Oh, this also is a handy spot liquor.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, you're not gonna get one of these, by the way. Did you mind pour it? Have you seen what he called it? I dripped on the sticker. Did you see what he called? Sweet, oh, sweet heat. Sweet heat. Sweet heat.

SPEAKER_04 12:31

Okay, you know, I'll get it in, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Yeah, I'll get that. Yeah, it fits right in with that guy. I mean, when uh when you're talking wings, sweet heat's gonna be something I'm going after. Like that that's right up my alley. Maybe that's why I like it so much. Minds you have a little bit of a sweet, but it's a little hot, you know, it's like mango habanero, my favorite bar, like wing sauce or hot sauce. Yeah, you mix a little mango habanero, you I've got a great combination. So, what are you smoking with? So I've been talking, talking, talking. Well, let me take a sip.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

You want to take a small sip? I gotta take a sip.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Oh, yeah. God, that's so good. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's really good.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

And it like sneaks up on you.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah, I mean, and it's got such a long finish. And again, like you can tell that's got proof to it, but not anywhere near 162 proof or whatever it is. But there is a lot more, it's been a while since I've had this. So sweet heat is such a good description of this. Yeah, it's because it is very sweet. It's almost got some fruity sweet to it, that kind of sweet, not honey sweet, not sugar sweet, but like more fruity sweet. And then it's got a good amount of oak, and I think that's because it is 13 years. So I think what I'm gonna smoke with this is Irish Flake. Irish Flake, that's a good one. Yeah, because Irish Flake is gonna just it's not gonna take away from this. It's which I don't think you can, but it's it's not gonna be pulling away from the flavors either. It's just gonna add like kind of a nice, it's like a sponge, it's gonna kind of soak it up.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

And Irish Flake was a pretty surprising tobacco for us, also, which I think works works well with this. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah, it was, you know, it had some really good like just solid tobacco flavor, but it wasn't over, it wasn't overly spicy, it wasn't overly dull. I just remember it being like really a good solid overall, and look how dark that is, man. It's got some age on it. Yeah, I'm pump, I'm pumped about this combination. So let me load this up.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

So I'm curious because we talked about how many different bottles we've had.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

I mean, we're talking every Thursday we dropped an episode, so that's 52-ish, 50, yeah, about 50 bottles, and then on top of that, club bottles that like so that's another 12.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

So if we did have well, yeah, another 12 if we're doing the full year. So, like 68 bottles? No, 64 bottles.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

64 bottles, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

So I'm curious, how did you guys come to the conclusion, or how did you justify this is my favorite? Like this was the one.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

So I definitely have to add the caveat that with all of our club bottles and all of our podcast bottles, we well, for the club in particular, those bottles go with whoever hosts, so we may not have access to them. And so there are definitely a few bottles that even though they were options, we don't really have them as options. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

There were some that were like, I don't think we have any more of that left.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

Yeah, either either it doesn't, it's not around anymore or it's with whoever hosted, and and you know, they couldn't. Most of the club bottles don't go through the night. Yeah, most of those go away before the end of the night.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Or they go away in the guy's collection. Right, there's a few that are two left, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

There's usually not much left. Because we're generous. When we started the club, we measured out a two-inch pore for everybody and all that, and now you just pass the bottle. You're we're gonna honor system. We're almost happy when people get second, you know, exactly seconds on it or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

We nobody ever cares.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Yeah, so the club bottles are a little bit harder because of that, but we always do set back at least a single pour to raffle off at the end of the year, which is which is how I ended up with this. So part of it was that I knew I needed to narrow things down, and I have the serious misfortune of missing like half the year of podcasting and stuff, so that eliminated a lot of bottles at the beginning of the year. Because you didn't try them or well, I wasn't on the shows, and so a lot of them I never did try. Okay, yeah, uh, for various reasons. You know, I've I've had all of the little books and all that, but you know, at least some of those at the beginning just never never had. We either you guys either you killed them or right because there's a few of them there that you you like were ending, yeah. We kind of killed them.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Or we didn't think to just, you know, yeah, have a time where you you tried them, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Yeah, exactly. So they just weren't the memory wasn't there. Now I knew because of all that, I narrowed it down that I wanted I like finishings, I knew that this and I was kind of in the mood for a finishing, and I had I had access to a few of them. I had the Middle West one at home, so I thought about that one, and so I ended up trying them next to each other. All I had was little samples, and so I could only do just like a teeny little bit of both of them, but I landed on this one. I decided I just liked the finish on this a lot a little bit better, and it it had some some more, I guess, sweetness to it that I just was kind of in the mood for today. Yeah, so that's that's how I how I landed on Nealy.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Well, and it that's cool because we've talked about Neely being a brand that maybe we might see a little bit more of. We're definitely gonna have it more on the podcast, but I I think that it's a brand that's pretty up like a up and coming. And they're starting to put out some some more products and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

So it's yeah, they've they definitely are on our radar. I find it interesting that you had the Middle West uh Vino Denraha, and we talk about favorites being very subjective. Yeah, because Herm, that's his bottle. Oh, yeah. Like he really likes it. He got that bottle that night, like we had one for the club, and he got to take that one home and barely pours out of that guy because he's like, I don't I don't want to I don't want to waste it. Like, I don't want to lose it, I don't want to waste it. It's a special bottle for a special time. And I remember this one. So the story behind these bottles, nearly we had we almost had two of them for the club, by the way. Because I was trying to get Chris to go with me, but we got I got down there and they had like six offerings of different finishings, and each finish has its own mash bill. So I believe that one was a higher wheat uh mash bill. They had uh French oak cognac barrels, which that's the one that I have at home that Chris said never to share with anyone, and it's his. That one I think was a higher rye content that they did with that, and then they had like I think it was Ambrano wood, uh, they had like a few different rum finishings, they had so many different, like six different ones that you could try. And so I went down there, sat at the bar, and I was like, I look, here's what I'm here for. I have a club doing finishings. I just want to try what you guys have finished wise to figure out what we are gonna take with us. And the guy goes, Yeah, sure, why not? Uh by the way, if you if you do the tour, then it comes, you know, it's the price, it's it's paid for, it's covered. I was like, that's fine. Like, I gotta go to other places, so I'll just take care of the tastings. He didn't hear that part. Apparently, he heard that's fine and got me in on the tour, which then turned to like an hour-long event of me tasting, then going on the tour, then trying to get back on the road to go find and this is my first stop.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

So it was like great, it was a lot, but they were pretty uh gracious hosts, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah, they were they were great. And I remember trying this one and thinking, holy crap, like this, this is something, this is something different. This is really good. That apricot pulls through, and like we had this we had the barrel seagrass on. We've done that, which is an apricot brandy, but this is something different. That was I remember talking about the seagrass and you guys saying there was a clear definitive line between the whiskey and the the apricot brandy. That's what I like.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Like, yeah, you really dislike that I really dislike that because of it.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

But what I said was I love everything about this except for they didn't use quality whiskey, in my opinion. That's what it tasted like. I said if you had a quality whiskey with the way that they finished this, it'd be so so amazing. And I think that's kind of what Neely's got. Yeah, I would agree.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

It's got that nice quality whiskey, but also nice transition between the two. I don't remember it stopping going, oh, there was the whiskey. Okay, here's the branding.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Yeah, like a like stepping off the cliff. Right, right. Like where one ends and one starts.

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Yeah, this is a much better blend in that way.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

More meshed together.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

Yeah, and the apricot is, I mean, it's kind of all the way through, but it really shows up right in the middle, and but it still has a nice finish to it. And so, yeah, it's a really good, really good bottle. I really enjoyed it. It was a brand that I'd never had before, which is always exciting. To try something new from a from a place you've never had and having it work out. So yeah, it was uh it was a very good bottle.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

You know, and that cross-eyed cricket that you're smoking, it's working out. It smells so great for an English, again, like an English blend, not an English brand, I always call it a crossover. Yeah, but that little bit of, you know, I don't even know if it's I don't think it's a casing, it's probably topping, but they've got stuff in there that makes it almost an aromatic. And it comes through at the nose just enough to still like as a tobacco smoker, it's a pipe smoker, you're still like, I really appreciate this as an aromatic, because really aromatic smokers are not going to call that an aromatic. But somebody who's used to smoking straight tobaccos, you know, that is aromatic in a good way. It was still with a ton of tobacco flavor. And that is what Cornell and Deal does so well. They do have some like more aromatic stuff, but most of their aromatics are for the pipe smoker. Like they're not like junk tobacco, they're not cased in, you know, all this garbage, they're not hot, they don't, they're not hardy, they're not temperamental, you know. They actually do a really good job of it's it's quality leaf, and it's usually their aromatic stuff is just aromatic enough that you still get all the tobacco nuance.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Right. And as I was looking through all this, the other one that I thought about grabbing was Sunbear, which is a which is a honey topping finish, I guess. Or you know, it's kind of aromatic with some honey. Is that the one with the tequila?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Yeah. Yeah. He tequila, and then and then Jeremy Reeves, he puts his own, that's his own honey, which is so cool. That's so cool. Like the dude like keeps bees and then he's like, Yeah, let me throw this in the tobacco. Yeah. So it's very limited. Like it's already a small batch thing. He's using leaf that's not readily available, but then it's like his own honey. Like, it doesn't get any more limited, like small batch than or personal, right? Or personal. Yeah, that's personal. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

How's yours going, Chris? I think I'm in a good pairing because this tobacco is just what it is. Good quality tobacco. There's a lot of flavor. But it's not again, it's not adding to and it's not taking away. For me, it's perfect with this bottle because this bottle actually is a ride. You know, I mean, it really is not something that you can. And I actually don't think it's something you can have a whole lot of because, again, it's not for that high a proof, you don't notice it. But I think it it's translating to flavor. Maybe that's what it is. The proof is translating to flavor. So you're not realizing it's proof. It's just so full flavor that it's like really kind of like making my brain fire in all cylinders. Like, and I think there's only so much you can do. It's like a ride in an amusement park. Like you're only gonna go on a roller coaster so long before you need either a break or just you're done for the day, you know? And that's kind of what this is. Like it's a really fun ride. It's got a whole lot of flavor. Like I said, it's sweet, but the sweet notes are a little bit deep. They're not like on the surface, they're like more like a plum. Yeah, yeah, fruity, but it's like the kind that you gotta dig for, you know. Like it's not the stuff that's easily pickable, you know what I mean? It's something that's really you gotta work for it. And then that dark, kind of sweet, matured fruit, stewed fruit, kind of goes along with this good amount of oak. And it's not like an old oak, it's almost like a newer oak, but it still has that age on it, which that's kind of a weird concept, right? It's not like old oak, it's like new oak, but matured. So maybe like an oak in its like mid-20s, you know what I mean? Right? It's like I'm not so young that I'm cocky anymore. However, like I am confident, and and I do have some. I know what it brings to the table, you know, yeah, but I still got a long time to go. But like maybe it's an oak that looks younger than he is, you know what I mean? Does that make sense? So, you know, you add all that up with I don't know what the mash bill is. It does say on the on the bottom. I mean, I've got to think that it's got some rye in there. None, none. No, it's uh it's malted, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

So 79.8% malted barley. Wow, that's a lot. 17.8% malted wheat, malted malted, and I like it.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

2.4% of uh uh torrified wheat.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

There's zero corn in that zero corn. Holy hell, where's all that sweetness coming from? That's amazing. I mean, I knew it wasn't super high corn, but I thought there would be some rye in there. But I mean, yeah, and it's just it just must be all the uh all the other flavors working together to kind of bring out that, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe if you threw if that was any more baking spice, it wouldn't be good, I don't think. I think it'd be just too much. So maybe the leaving the rye out's the way to go, but it does have a lot of spice for something without any rye.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

So the funny thing is with this bottle, it's I do I I really enjoy it, but I don't know, I don't know that I ever consider a favorite, not because I don't like it, but because it is a palette overload.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

It is. I mean, it is like uh you're riding that ride until then you want to get off like after a minute, like it's not an all day, it's not even a two-glass.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

I remember uh doing a barrel pick with Tipsy for makers mark, and he made a comment of like, hey, how many blends can we try before you say we're done? Because you could do like endless amounts of of different combinations and still never go through all the combinations they could do.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

It's taxing.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Yeah, her response was we do 10 max of 10 because it is a it's an overload, it's a palette overload to where like everything starts tasting the same after a while. That's how I feel with this glass. That opened my eyes to what that really meant. I feel like after 10 tries with maker's mark, it's like, okay, I could do it again, but it does taste the same because it's the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

10 glasses of this and be like, I'm this is way overload. You know what's weird is I do get a little bit, and it it's not when I'm drinking it. And I don't know if it's the tobacco, but it's it's lingering on my tongue quite a bit, so I gotta bring it up. But it's you know the mint that they use in mojitos, fresh mint? What is like garden? I think it's just spearmint or something. I don't know. It's usually it's mint leaves. Yeah, it's but it's it's like uh yeah, but maybe it's uh more fresh. I don't know. But not like when I say mint, I'm not thinking like peppermint or things like that, but it's like a mojito mint. There's a little bit of that on this, and I'm like, I keep like not wanting to say mint, like it sounds like Ryan. Ryan, if you're listening, but really is like mint on my tongue. And I again, I don't know if it's the fact that I'm smoking this with this, but there's something about this that is really bringing that, and it's like a mojito, very interesting flavor, along with all the other notes that I've already talked about. It's just a weird combination, but it's nice.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

That's fascinating for me. Like, you know, the smell of Worcester sauce and like the taste of like soy sauce, Worcester Shire. Worcester stuff, yeah. So that's the flavor and smell I get off of that glass, which I love. It's like this deep, like soy sauce. Soy, yeah, like that that fermented like Worcester sauce is like fermented stuff, like yeah, fangs.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

And I get what you're where you come with it. I almost wonder if you're kind of pulling the same flavor I'm talking about. It's a very unique one, yeah. I almost wonder if now if you drank it and thought mojito, you might be thinking, oh yeah. Oh no, again with that sweet and everything else. But yeah, it's very good. And what's crazy is like, dude, I never would have I never looking at that bottle. It's so gimmicky. We'll we'll put a photo. We'll make it, we'll do a photo.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

It'll be in the it'll be uh the the the what you're looking at right now. Yeah, what you're looking at, it'll be staring you in the face. The the crossed guns on the front, the six-shooter cap on the top.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

I mean you can't even read all of it because the crossed guns are in front, but it is so gimmicky looking, like not and then white her. I love white herb. I love which by the way, let's do this Kevin Costner or Kurt Russell, Kurt Russell.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

That's that's tough. Uh, I keep thinking Kevin.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Okay. I'm dude. I'm a big Kurt Russell fan. And and for those two, like Tombstone or White Herp, dude, it's there's only one White Herp, and it is Kurt Russell, in my opinion. I love Kevin Costner most. Kevin Costner is a good one. Right, and that's why I keep struggling with the blade. Kurt Russell, dude, and the guy had the best mustache ever.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

He did.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

That that movie was full of good mustaches. So so many good, yeah. You had Sam Elliott network. Yeah, Sam's a lot of people. And I mean, we don't want to talk about mustache, right? But then, like, when he's got the boomstick and it's raining and he's like, and hell's coming with me. Hell yeah, it is, you know, like God, what a man, dude. Like, your wife's all high high on Laudanum, and you're possibly cheating on her and stuff, but I but you're still cool. You're still a man, I still got it. Like, I don't like that part, but but everything else is great. Yeah, it's a great movie, dude. Well, yeah, there's uh usually people in one camp or the other. I mean, and we're talking white herb now. We gotta talk about it. And then I think Kurt Russell.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

You know what's interesting? So we've had we have had three bottles from this company now. One you weren't not present for World Whiskey Society, right? So we had uh Doc Holiday, which you were not, I think it was Doc Holiday. Doc Holiday, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

Doc Holliday, yeah. Because that he's not all the same brand though. Is it Doc Holiday?

SPEAKER_03 30:01

There's Ben Holiday, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Ben Holiday, and then no, there is a Doctor. There is a Doc Holiday that they do. They kind of they go off of that question. Yeah, it's it is that, yeah. It's but is that the same brand?

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Yeah, they've got the Midwestern, like kind of country, Western themed movie kind of feel, but then we also had their bottle from Tipsy, the World Whiskey Society 19-year-old light American light whiskey. There was that like gargoyle looking one that we had at Europe for the Princeton. That that was them too. So, like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That and that's a very gothic looking bottle, not like this. But it's not Western. It's it's super interesting to look at. Like, they they're very they're all about them.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

But it's good, yeah. And we don't know where it this they don't say it's sourced, probably. It's sourced, yeah. Yeah, but but yeah, well, I mean, who cares? It's so great. Yeah, we didn't even talk about Val Kilmer. So interesting thing, I don't know if we talked about this on the podcast or not, but now I'm going back and forth because originally, you know, it's always I'll be your huckle, your huckleberry, right? But then I saw the thing like a couple years ago that said, no, no, no, no, no. A huckle bearer is the huckle is the handle on the casket. So when you say I'll be your hucklebearer, that means you will carry that person and put him in his grave, which was a thing. Like if you carry the kid, you were a hucklebearer. And that is so much more of like a meaningful, I'll be your hucklebearer, you know, like talk about a taunt. But so I'm like, okay, that's what it is. That's cool. It's like a thing that nobody knows. But then I think Thal Kilmer came out with like a book or an autobiography or or something, and either on the page or like on the cover or or one of the chapters, it says, you know, I'll be your hucklebearer. Like, so again, is it Huckleberry or is it Huckleberry? Yeah, the script was Huckleberry. Huckleberry.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Huckleberry. It was never made to be Huckleberry. It was never meant to be Hucklebearer. That's something that people kind of put together for it.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

But that is so much cooler.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

It should have been Huckleberry from the it should have been. Yeah, yeah. It makes sense and it and it fits, and it would be a good taunt. Huckleberry, there is a story on why that is also fruit.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Huckleberry's a fruit. Huckleberry.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Bears like a cartoon. Remember that cartoon dog? No. Did you ever watch that show? Oh, huckle, oh, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh I think it was Huckleberry, right? Yeah, was that his name?

SPEAKER_03 32:17

It was a sheriff or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

It was like a sheriff dog that was blue and he had like a hat and pistols and stuff. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

It's a it's a yeah, it's an old school Looney Tunes. Yeah. Old school cartoon. Yeah, it's a it's a boomerang. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Boomerang for for for the people that grew up in the in the night, you know, late 1990s and early 2000s. The TV Land cartoon channel. TV land cartoon channel.

SPEAKER_04 32:38

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

Boomerang. That boomerang was great growing up. I don't know if it's still a thing. It probably is, but they probably played stuff from like 2010s. Yeah. It's not like the old cartoons like we grew up with. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

But Huckleberry is it's a very big popular berry out in like the West. So we used to eat West, and it was a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Yeah. In the uh the Midwest too. Uh, we because we ate uh Huckleberry pie, like in Missouri.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Okay, yeah, yeah. Missouri would have been there.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Definitely had huckleberry, which is a very sour pie. It's like, and I like it, but it's like sour, sweet, semi-sweet.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

The first time I had anything of that was in it when I was at Yellowstone. Out in Yellowstone, they have they have a lot of stuff with Huckleberry.

SPEAKER_02 33:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 33:15

And uh they try to grow a lot out there.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

Trick the tourist with blackberry. They do like blackberry, blueberry, and it's that's huckleberry.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

It's kind of like gooseberry. Have you ever heard of gooseberry pie? That's another one that's kind of tart or rhubarb. That's another tart one. But yeah, I I want to say that there's some down south, right? Huckberry.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

I know that so when we were in Montana, there was a distillery that had like huckleberry cream, like that was there, and they had like huckleberry flavored whiskey and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Yeah, yeah. It's like whorehound candy. We talked about that a lot.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Well, they talked about like podcast during the huckleberry season when it's ripe, none of the locals go hiking because bears love huckleberries. Well, that makes sense, and so they'll like that's when the bears are out most, is when the huckleberries are ripe. They they try to go and eat them.

SPEAKER_03 34:00

And I think it's kind of early fall, too, is when there is, so that's when they're fattening up and everything.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

I heard that one or the other was named after that. I don't know if that's true. Either berries were named after the fact that bears ate them so much, or that bears were named after the fact that they ate berries. I don't know which one's true, or if either one's true. But I guess that that that fits that which one came first, the hen or the egg, or you know, or the bear the berries, you know, because they that's really what they eat a lot of that. They do, they eat a lot of fruit. They're not like other fish and animals and stuff, but they eat a lot of berries, like they, you know, it's like a thing. It makes you wonder though. It does.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

It makes you wonder how's the Irish flake going with it though? Is it filling in gaps or just is it a bling canvas at this point?

SPEAKER_00 34:42

I think it's almost like a sponge and it's soaking it up, and not in a way that like I'm losing flavor, if that's what the mental picture you're having. It's more like imagine a newly fresh made wooden table. And for the first time you're putting, you want to leave it raw. So the first time you're putting oil on it, land seed oil or whatever it is, the way that that's wood is soaking it up, it's actually adding to, it's not taking away from, but it's not changing what it is, it's maybe enhancing it. It's it's giving, it's making it shine, but it's it's soaking it into the like the oil soaking into the wood, making that wood better. That's kind of what it's doing. I again, I don't think it's like making it different or like adding to it, but it's just kind of working with it, kind of soaking it up like a sponge or like the wood would soak up oil or leather soaks up smoke, you know, just makes it, you know, complete. I think that's what it is. I think I'd be really hard pressed to pick another tobacco. Like it would have to be something like this. You wouldn't want anything too basic that doesn't have enough flavor on its own, but you'd have to be careful not to get anything with too much flavor because then again, I think it'd be hard to pick the right pairing for this. I think you kind of need to go fairly basic, yeah, but still quality and still basic with an edge, depth, depth, yeah, some depth to it, and then and good on its own right, but without being so it doesn't really have its own identity, so to speak. Yeah. All right, Nick, you're up.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Barker's Mill. Barker's Mill. Yes. Uh I've uh this might be my third bottle I've gone through of Barker's Mill. It's not easy to get. And it was a wife pick, actually. Uh Mary found it randomly, and she goes, Haven't you been looking for this bottle? And I said, I don't know what the heck this bottle is. No. She was like, Barker's Mill, you've been looking for Barker's. I was like, Parker's Parker Heritage. Like, that's that's what I've been looking for. I don't think Barker's like, that's not it. But I I think I'm coming to a realization when talking to you guys, asking why you picked the one you picked. We love deep flavor, like long-lasting, deep, yes. And the ones that are they're either gonna last for a while and you don't have to drink that much, be like, I remember what it was. I I have it on the back of my tongue, or to where it's a long-lasting conversation that comes out of that bottle. And this is that like long-lasting flavor that just goes on and on and on. It also reminds me of pizza dough. My my mom used to make like fresh pizza dough, and it would come in on like a Sunday afternoon when it was rising, and it's the whole house smelled like a yeast pizza dough. She was making like eight at a time. Yeah, yep. And that's what this smells like. I don't know how you get that smell or that flavor, but this is one of the few bottles that I've ever had that has that that remnant of that flavor.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Yeah, I totally get that pizza, that yeast kind of homemade pizza dough. And you've mentioned that before. And uh I do think that that is such a great, but see, what you're talking about again, is kind of what I'm always harping on. And I think the podcast at this point, this is something we pick out, but the the the flavors and everything being tied to a memory. And I mean, even the bottle I picked is tied to that memory we had at Blake's. You know, you brought it brought that up, Steve, with yours. You know, I mean, even brought you back to the you were like, oh, you know, is that was that a Prince dinner? Yeah, it had to be. Because I mean, just it brings back these strong memories, the way that sound sounds and and smells do as well. And even that, like, that is such closely tied to that sight sound memory that you have with your mom making pizza, yeah, that all of a sudden you're swept back into this thing when you're a kid and you walk in and the excitement of pizza night, you know, your mom's taking your order. Like, what do you want? What do you want the toppings to be? Right. And then I don't know, for you was it a square pizza or yeah, it was square, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

So I mean, we're close enough to like like Detroit, where it was Detroit style, where it was the square, the thick pan.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

Yeah, yeah, yep. Yeah, we did mostly square, and it if it was circle every now and then, but she would, you know, cut it in squares because that's just how we did it, you know. But and we I grew up, there were seven of us, so well, nine of us in the whole house. So it was a lot of pizza, you know, and I would eat my one by myself. So, like what you said, that dough is sitting on the counter all day, and then when the oven gets fired up, like it's the sight, sound, smell kind of memory that's tied to that bottle, it just makes it so much more special.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

It does, and it so the other thing, the other reason why I was like, okay, this is top on the list, Mary got it. That's special. The the smell and flavor reminds me of home memory, but then to bring it on the podcast, I think you had it prior, but CJ was on. I don't for me, you weren't on, it was CJ and Blake. And neither of them had had it yet. And to watch their reaction of like, holy crap, like how do I get my hands on? Like, this is this is wonderful. Like everything you talk about, the memories, the smell, the flavor, it was all there. So when I talk about like my mom making homemade pizza, it was on Sunday evenings. She'd started around like one, two in the afternoon. But we're talking like at this point, high school, and we'd always have a group of guys over to play football. And so we'd go outside and we'd spend the entire afternoon beating each other up and coming in and going, pizza. Like you, as a guy, you beat each other up, you have fun, and you come in, you're like, We can all we can all gather around a table now around something we all enjoy. And there's guys now that that heck, there was a guy that uh a couple months ago went back for a high school reunion and he went to high school with me, and he like came up to me and was like, dude, do you remember playing football at your mom's house and having the pizza? Like that's still a memory for them. And so for me, having all the guys try this and be like, Wow, like there's something tied to this like I never thought of before. That's like for me, it's like starting a whole new football Sunday memory.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Well, and you know, you bring up an interesting point that I I've talked about this before, but there's very few foods other than popcorn is another one I always talk about, but that are as intimate as pizza, which that sounds really weird, right? But when you really think about it, usually a pizza, you know, it is the round one, but usually you're facing the person, your guys are kind of you're really sharing something. Uh, not a whole lot, even if, you know, most people don't use a plate, but even if you use a plate, you're you're reaching in, people or other people are reaching in. There's always that awkward moment when you get down down the last couple slices of who's gonna get it. Who's gonna get it? And you know, people are usually overly nice with it, like, oh no, you have it. No, no, no, you have it. We'll split it. Yeah, we'll split it. Yeah, same thing with popcorn. It's a very intimate food. There's not a whole lot of foods out there where you're really kind of coming that close together to share something, you know, and you get that with bourbon, you get that with whiskey, you get that with foods like pizza and popcorn and that. And again, those things have big smells to them. So, like all of those things that kind of work together to kind of encapsulate something in your brain that kind of it never goes away, you know. And I do think that those kinds of experiences are something that maybe, you know, I know I, but I think other people maybe we need to seek out more for that because I feel like anywhere in today's world, there's a especially since you know COVID stuff, like even going back to that, like the connection we have is not what it used to be. Right, you know, and uh I think that that's something that a lot of people do crave.

SPEAKER_03 42:02

There's a a big a big topic around all of that is the third place. It's you your your first two places is home and work. That's where everyone gets reason. And it used to be there was a third place, whether that be a bar, a church, a bowling league, you know, that kind of thing. And you everyone always had this other thing that they did every week or every day or whatever. And like, you know, watching like an old TV show like Cheers, like Cheers was that third place for them. That was the place that they all went. And so it was this place that you had, and there aren't very many third places anymore. Like that idea is kind of gone. People don't have bowling leagues anymore, you don't have a poker night, and a lot of people don't have a church anymore. So, like, where what is the new what is that thing? And that's the that's the community that you're aching for. And so some people find it online, like doing like video games or whatever else, and doing live gaming. For us, it's become the whiskey club. Like the the club is our way of being able to get out of the house, do stuff, and that's our community aspect that you really people yearn for, but it's also very difficult to do. And so, yeah, that that kind of all feeds into that.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

And you can definitely see it in people that maybe don't have that when they're when you talk, when you bring things like that up, you can see the yearning for something, something that maybe that has gone away in the last couple of years that people are coming out of that a little bit and they're starting to search for it a little bit more.

unknown 43:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

So we we picked our favorite of the year. Yeah, we've been doing this for a while. Can you guys think of another year of the podcast or club where you're like, I I clearly have a favorite?

SPEAKER_03 43:38

Um, I mean, in terms of like sets, like entire years, like for the club, we we we have themes for every year. So for that one, I I think my favorite was the finishing year. Storpics has been a lot of fun, and I'm I think I'm getting a lot of out of those bottles, but they're not quite as reliable as a lot of the finishings are. The source here. Year was definitely a struggle. It was they were all fine, but they were definitely touch and go. That it was that was definitely a working year on purpose. Yeah, yeah. And so, but that's stretches. It was a good time for that because it was after the first year where you're kind of hitting all of the big names and stuff. And so it made sense for that. And around the world was another good one for that year, just as a it's a learning year because you learn learn kind of what you like and what you don't like. But yeah, I think finishing years for sure has been mine for the podcast. A bottle that I I think about a lot and I haven't been able to, I don't, I don't have it anymore. It's long gone, was the Teddy Roosevelt bottle. Oh, you don't have the Rough Rider?

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Yeah, the Rough Rider. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

And so I finished mine long ago. I mean, that was like year one. Yeah, it was a long time. Yeah. And I don't know why. I just I just really like Teddy Roosevelt. So I think that's probably at least part of it. But it was like kind of my first run into New York whiskeys and stuff, and and kind of the New York style of of distilling. So that's a bottle that I always kind of think about a lot that I don't have anymore.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Okay. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

I forgot about the Rough Rider.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

I mean, we forgot that we did it on the podcast. This is Steve's kind of bottle. Every time I see that bottle, because I still have mine. Every time I yeah, yeah. If you want something, every time I um look at it, I'm like, yeah, that's like Steve's bottle. It just reminds me of Steve. Yeah, I don't know. I that for me, that's an impossible thing to answer. I there's just so many bottles in there. And for me, again, I tie them to like who was on the podcast at that time, you know, what did we talk about, or or you know, or whatever. But I that that's so hard for me to say like which which one would be my favorite. I could probably go back through and you know, say favorite episodes or something like that. Uh, you know, but that's tough.

SPEAKER_02 45:48

Do you do you have anything in your mind or are you kind of like me where you so what's interesting is the reason I bring this up, we've been doing the podcast for five years now because 2020 we started it in 2020, September of 2020.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

We didn't even do anything special for the five years.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

We didn't we didn't, but that's so that's what I'm getting at. We we talk about 10 years.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

We'll have to do it for the 10 years.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

If you look at going in five years and you look at like whiskey podcasts, by like year one or two, they're like, Oh, we got this. Well, they're foolproof. Oh, we got papys, oh we got this, we got I look at us and I look at what we've all done, and I look at this year alone. I'm like, holy crap! Like, we we jumped a milestone this year of all the bottles that we got on, but it was five years worth of trying to build up to that. And it wasn't a build up, it wasn't a it was like using a stick shift car. Like we just slowly got into the right gear.

SPEAKER_00 46:39

Well, it's like looking in the mirror, you don't see yourself growing or aging, but it, you know, like before you know it, you're 18 years old going off to college. Like it's you don't see it happening, right? You know, that's kind of how the podcast is.

SPEAKER_02 46:49

I think for me, that's the favorite part. It's not a bottle, it's more of looking at what we've done and where we come. Because if we had Little Book right aways, I don't think we would have all appreciated what it was. This sounds weird. Even if we had the flavored whiskey that you weren't a part of year one, I don't think that we would have appreciated it for what it was.

SPEAKER_03 47:07

I think we would have appreciated more.

unknown 47:08

Really?

SPEAKER_03 47:09

Maybe just no, I think we would have liked it more. We would have liked it. Yeah, we would have liked the flavor a whole lot more. Disgusting. Right.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

And look at all the bottles we've done this year alone. I'm like, I don't know that we would have had the appreciation for what they were the worth of what they actually were worth, not dollar amount, but what they were comprised of and what they meant. I don't know that we would have had that a year or two years in. And so for me, the looking back, and I think one of the reasons why I was like, dang, it was so hard to pick one was because I saw that that that image of we really took our time, like we just kind of slowly went through it, and now we're like, okay, we we can appreciate this. Yeah, we're gonna have it on, we're gonna appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

We're gonna that's it's just like it's just like growing. I mean, there's things that happen at the time you don't appreciate it, and then later on, the the older you get, the more you look back and you appreciate it even more. Sometimes you appreciate it even way more. I think that that's just what it is. It's just growing, we're growing as a you know, not just like our palettes or or whatever, but the podcast itself, we're we're we're kind of getting to this point where we're starting to kind of maybe get a momentum. We're hitting our stride.

SPEAKER_03 48:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of that is that we at the beginning, we you there were certain things you kind of have to do if you're gonna be a whiskey podcast. You have to talk about market maker's mark, you have to talk about Jim Beam, you have to do that at the start. And you and like and those are important things to to learn about and do. But when we decided, you know, we're not really reviewing bottles, we're really talking about distilleries and where they came from and their story, then that kind of means we can kind of only do one maker's mark. Like we can't do a whole bunch of different, like a special release version of that or whatever. You know, we break that a little bit when it comes to like the the little books, but that's because of kind of the cool story behind how they got going and and that section of Jim Beam.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

Well, we would have we would have been done. I I think that if if we were only talking about like the the the nose and the in the and which we you know we don't hit on a ton, and we could more, but the thing is we don't want to. Like, I just it would be so boring for us and not just the people listening. I don't know, maybe I don't know, but for us, it would be five or ten minutes, we'd be done talking about it. Then every time we come in here, it would be the same kind of crud. And it's like, okay, well, there are some variations here. There's a lot of variations, but at the end of the day, like it's just so like the same thing over and over again. You know, like you need it. Here's the thing when you go to a museum and you look at art, it's never about the components that, and I've I've harp on this, right? It's never about the components that make up the artwork. It's not about the clay that was used, it's not about the paint that was used. It's I mean, that might come in a little bit, right? A little bit. And it's not even really what the artist was going through at the time that he did it or what inspired him even. That might be part of it too. But the what it really is, and this is where I get kind of passionate and excited. It's what the art does to you. It's what it brings out in you, it's what it makes you feel think and feel and remember and look forward to. That's what our podcast is. Yeah, it's really not about what goes into the art, it's about what the art does to us, right? And we're not, I'm not saying 100% what I say is what it is. And you know, and that's what it is. Like that's what art is. It's different for every person.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

And since we decided we were going to talk more about the distilleries and stuff, we've gone down the craft distilleries route. And so, which is they're very art, exactly. They're they're all very different. They don't there really isn't a a set line on how a craft distillery gets started. We've found a few things that like kind of have you know that there's this section of people that are techies that ended up is somehow doing distilling and kind of we tried to avoid them so kind of what happens with our stuff. Okay, okay, yeah. Then you have a lot of cool, yeah. Then you have your scientists and and that kind of stuff, a lot of engineers and stuff that end up doing it, so you have a lot of that, and then you have the people that just buy brands, you have the financiers and things, so like you have the people that just fall into it, and it becomes a family thing, exactly learn as they go, so like all those things kind of happen and they all have their own unique story, but also because of they're they're all so unique and so from all over the place, there's there's not really a solid through line between any of them. Whereas if we were just going after the big names, they all are pretty similar. There's there's variations, but there's no story behind it. There's no, I mean, you know, there's not a lot of that. So when we decide to go down the craft distillery route, it really leaves a lot of room to experiment and do more, whether it's with them or on our own, you know, whatever it is. So I'm excited for for where that goes. And now that we've really decided that and like really landed into it and everything, it's been meaning it's been a lot of fun. We're the craft guys, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

That's just what what we've got. I mean, we still we love the big names and we love the history, and and and uh, you know, they've earned it and we appreciate that. And I mean, hell, like I'm still like in awe, you know, with the the big names, you know what I mean? But but we get excited, you know. It's kind of like my dad was a big fan of minor league baseball, yeah, and I never I didn't get it for a long time. Like, and we I grew up going to minor league games, we went to major league games too, but my dad got very excited about minor league baseball, not so much about major league baseball. And again, we lived in St. Louis, we went to the Cardinals, like like we've gone to other ones, like you know, he grew up in California, so we to the Dodgers all the time, so things things like this. But he always got very excited about minor league baseball. And I never understood, like these guys, you know, but he would always say, like, these guys move up, they move down. You could be looking at the next, you know, at the time, Mark McGuire, you know what I mean? Now, like whatever. But he was like, you know, and that he loved the fact that, oh, this is the underclub for these guys, and this is the underclub for these guys, and these guys move up and they move down, and sometimes they move back. But at the end of the day, these guys are wanting it, they work for it. They're not resting on, you know, their stats or what they've done already. Right. They haven't made it yet, a lot of them. So they're working, they're working hard and they love it, right? You can see it. Like, if you ever go into a minor league baseball game, you can tell these guys actually love the fans still. They love, and I think that part of that gets taken away when you get to the major leagues, you're almost so intimidated that you have to put on this air of nonchalance. Don't look at the crowd, don't think about it, right? But that eventually will translate to I don't look at the crowd, I don't think about it, I don't care about the fans. But when you're in minor league and it's a lot more intimate, again, you know, smaller stains and everything else, it's like these guys really get it. Like, and that makes me feel the same way about craft distilleries. Like a lot more you can go in and talk to these guys, are actually putting these bottles together. And I mean, anybody can. And these guys are passionate, and not saying that you know the Jim Beam's not, but like, because they are, those guys are too, but they have so much more. They're you know, they're the major league. They're not a major league story. Yeah, they already have built up, like they they never have to talk to another fan again. They're still gonna be Jim Beam. Yeah, whereas like these other ones, they're still working, they're grinding, they're trying to figure out they're innovating. That's a big thing. They're innovating, right? And I just find that so much. So I guess I'm a minor league baseball guy, is what I'm getting at, you know. And I'm and I'm a craft guy. You know, I've I've just gotten to that point. And in uh, you know, maybe my son will be like, oh, what's dad likes minor league baseball? What's the deal with that? That's that's weird, you know. But maybe when he's older, he'll get it. Yeah, clippers game again. Clippers game again. Start my dog night. So excited.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

You talk about the craft world compared to minor leagues. You talk about guys appreciating the fans. So this is not a knock on you, Chris, that you're gonna make the interview. But if you think about the interviews that we've done, right? The the ones that come to my mind Journey Men, still 630, Wiggle, and Liberty Pull.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

So the only one I haven't been to is still 630. Yeah, for anybody wondering, so which I do wish I had been there.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

If you guys look at all of those, what was the thing that like you could look at all four and be like, this was the same for all four?

SPEAKER_00 55:24

I think that that's we've probably come up with a few different that for me. Passion's the big thing.

SPEAKER_03 55:29

Yeah, the passion, the heart. Yeah, it's the the the drive that they're still having.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

I didn't realize it for me until Liberty Pull. There was a moment where uh Ellen came on. He said, Oh mom, we got mom on Ellen, right? Do you remember what she said? It's an honor to be here, it's an honor to be here. I respect the crap out of you guys. So that was like the the eye-opener for me of like looking back of all of them. That idea of respecting what we're doing, why we came, why we want to be a part of this. That was resounding for what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 56:02

The respect for the fans breeds admiration for the fans. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was like, and when you lose that, then you kind of you're disconnected.

SPEAKER_02 56:10

Yep. And at first it was almost like when we reached out to him, it was like, Yeah, I mean, come on down and like do this. And then they started talking. It was like, Oh, do you guys want to own this too? Like, you everything is yours. What do you guys want? Like, let's just throw it at you guys. Like, try this. I know it's not that I know that you'll be like, Oh, you're great at what you do. You're gonna challenge me, be like, Man, that's really good, but have you thought about this? Or like, man, I don't know about that one. Have you tried letting it age a little bit longer? Or uh tried letting it finish a little bit more? Like it's almost there, it's not quite there yet.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

They they are fans of fans. And to me, that is like the ultimate win. Like, like you completely figured it out. Like for me, like, because you'll never, if you if you are that way, you're never gonna lose what makes you special. And you're gonna constantly be doing stuff that's gonna make you better and better and better and better. And that's true with not only bourbon and distilleries and whiskey and everything, but that's true with like anybody's job, you know, and and and or you know, family or friends or whatever, whatever relationships you have. Like once once you lose that, you you either need to like figure it out or stop.

SPEAKER_02 57:17

And we're we're kind of ending the month of well, the month and year, the month of December and the year with this episode coming off of really great interviews to then spirits of past, present, future to now. And I think about Christmas and I think about gifts, right? And there's gifts that you get, you're like, man, did you really think that one through? Like, I guess I'll take it. Like the obligatory, like, okay, you heard yeah, thank you. Like that, that's great. Thanks. Uh, but it's probably gonna sit somewhere and probably go to goodwill or might find the trash. But I think about that idea with the podcast, where we come in five years. And I don't know that I realized it until now, but the gift of being able to at first share the experience with people, right? But now I feel like the gift after five years for me selfishly has been watching people want to be a part of it. The watching people say, I respect what you guys are doing and I want to play a part of it. I want to be a part of the episode, I want to be a part of drinking, right? I want to be a part of this, sitting in a pipe room and having a glass and smoking a pipe along with you guys. I want to have my whole family on the on the podcast recording with you guys and not complain once of how we have to like scream and yell over each other. Like to me, that's the gift for this year of like looking back and be like, man, at first it was eh, who will listen? We don't really care. And now it's like people actually believe what like not just believe what we're saying, but like people actually want to do what we're doing, like people actually want to share in that memory, they want to open a bottle and talk about what's going on in life or talk about a memory, and they in a world where that third that third piece is missing, it's fun to watch, it's a gift to watch. People want to be a part of that for me.

SPEAKER_03 59:06

And I'm really thankful that we get a chance to share the stories of all these distilleries and kind of let people know about them because you know that I mean if you're not from that area and you don't go seeking out them, they're not usually on your shelves if you're in for other states or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 59:23

Like Neal, like like a lot of people have never ever heard of Neely, and there's a lot, there's a lot of distilleries out there that are like that. Like maybe in that area, people know, but a lot of them haven't gotten into other states or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

I mean, Wiggle and Liberty Pole, neither of those are in Ohio. And so if you're in Ohio, you've probably never heard of them, and they're not in a lot of I mean, they're not in most states, so lots of our listeners have never heard of them before.

SPEAKER_00 59:46

It does make it hard when you're singing their praises, and people are like, Whoo? What well they're not here in Ohio, but someday one trust me, they're awesome. I swear they're good. Like, where'd you go? Oh, yeah, yeah. And I tell them about it, oh yeah, I know. I was like, I don't think you do because they're not actually here, but someday you will know, and then you'll be like, Oh, yeah, yeah. So luckily you can't get most things via mail.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:09

You can't travel, you can travel, travel around. Life is short. Get in the car. Exactly. Yeah, and then these places are cool, they're cool cities and stuff. St. Louis had some amazing barbecue, dude. I never thought I'd like Pennsylvania so much. Yeah, Pittsburgh's a great city.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:25

Pittsburgh, pick Pittsburgh was nice. I liked it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:28

Well, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, yeah, or whatever it is you celebrate. Happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, the Blake. Yeah, Blake.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:37

Yeah, shout out to Blake, yep. Lakhayam, happy Hanukkah. We love you, dude. Kwanza, don't forget that one. What are the other ones? There's there's some more.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

There's just pagan holidays. So yeah. Well, you said Christmas. It's kind of kind of pagan. Yule Yule is the is the pre-Christ version of it. So that's still being celebrated by Roman?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

Roman? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:03

Scandinavian, I think. Scandinavian. Yeah, I think they're the ones they mark. I think they're the ones that do Yule mostly. But Vikings and such. All those guys. Greenland. I think. Vikings around? I mean, if you're if you're like Swedish or whatever, I think your ancestry is Viking.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:16

Yeah. Swedish people are Swedish people are really cool, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:19

Yeah, that's why I can't picture them as Vikings. I know. They seem so nice. They will pillage your town. They will pillage you to death.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

They are nice, but but they carry a big stick. Who is it that said that? Be nice, but carry a big stick. Uh that's Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt, yeah. What a man. What a freaking man. Was he Scandinavian? Probably partly. Probably. Yeah. He was uh I think it comes from Leaving uh Leaving England line. Yeah, that's that's what it is, sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:51

But anyway, happy holidays, Merry Christmas, all that fun jazz. And uh till the next, we'll see you next week. 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.