Shenk's!

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. Alright, Shanks. What uh 2023?

SPEAKER_00 0:33

2023, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Because these are pretty pretty limited bottles, right? Or they're or are only come out certain times.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Only once a year.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

You were there for the Micters Toasted Barrel.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Yeah. I and I know I've had Shanks before. I don't know if it was this one or winner, winner, where or why I had it, but I do remember having a Shanks before.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Because it's uh Shanks and Bromburgers were uh the original two Micters, and so they brought it back.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Bromburgers is not a thing anymore though, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

It is. Still is well Bromburgers, it's it's the same as Shanks, so they they come out once a year, they get released. But both of them are that 80-90 proof. I think well, I think more 90-95. They're specialty bottles that they do. Mictors does not make it, they just bottle it.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

So this is not made by Mectors?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

It's not made by Mecters. Ah, just distilled in Kentucky, but bottled by Mectors. Okay. Distilled and bottled in Kentucky and bottled by Mectors.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

So who do we have any idea?

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Don't know. At least my understanding is Mictors doesn't make it based off of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Which is sad. I would think if the if- I wonder why they even so they just bottle for him, because there's there's no Micters on there.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Micter's is just on the back.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Yeah, it's not like they're promoting themselves.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

So which that's interesting because it's I mean, they're bringing it back because Shanks is the guy that started Micter's, and so to have it not made by them kind of takes away from the whole reason you'd make reason why you didn't do it, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah, because uh does Micr's make any of their own, or they only bottle? No, they make their own.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

They make their own, yeah. Pretty sure they do.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Now, when they first started, I don't think they right. I think they probably sourced the start, but but now it's all their own stuff.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

I remember when Victor's came onto the market, it was kind of like uh not like nobody like really did anything with it, and then all of a sudden they got really popular. Their American, what was the American bourbon bottle, the blue and white, it got really, really popular. And for and for good reason. I don't know if you remember that if you were there, Nick. I had a buddy who gave me a bottle of that. I don't know if you went over that night. Me, he gave me a bottle of that, a bottle of that, and we were going to like a party at Colin's house, and I brought it along with I was like, let's bring it. And we drank the whole thing. Uh, me, Colin, and him, and maybe a guy, another guy or two. Uh, it was so good we finished the the whole bottle. It did not last. It was gone in like two hours. It was that good. And I'd never had a bottle of it since. But I remember like thinking, this is this Micter's is really good stuff. But it was the American New American whiskey. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Okay.

unknown 3:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

So the one that's harder to get now. You can't, I don't see it anymore, but it was on the shelf back in the day. It was like the new thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Because they've got their rye, bourbon, and American whiskey is what Micter's does.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

And now, and now and they also have a sour mash. They they have one they just call a sour mash. Which I saw it yesterday, and it was like sitting with the allocated stuff. So I don't know if it's allocated or maybe just a little bit harder to get. Their rye was hard to get too for a while. I don't know if it still is.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

I haven't had any Mictors in a long time. I've got it sitting on the shelf. I just haven't had any in a while. It's not something you really think you forget about it.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

It's not my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Microse in general, or yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

It's too sweet. It's very sweet. And that's what I I don't love. That's probably why I like them so much.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

I was gonna say this is uh decently sweet. It does say, well, let's see. But it's not Micter's, so it's really hard to find on whether or not they they actually make it themselves.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

I think the fact that they didn't put they put it in general or this bottle.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

This bottle, I mean, I can't really find who distilled. Like you would think if they distilled it, they'd put on there distilled the bottom. They would want to celebrate it. But it doesn't, I I can't I can't seem to find who actually distills it. Says Micter's Shively Distillery is the distillery that I suppose they're doing it. But you would think again, if it's yours, you put it on the bottle. That I have no idea. I distill it. Yeah, and the back it just says distilled in Kentucky. On the front it says distilled and bottled in Kentucky. On the back, it says bottled by.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

But you know, like when you bite into a pit, bite into like a pit of something, that's and you get that earthy, uh dry, bitter type of thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah, yeah, like like the like a peach pit, you mean?

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Yeah, kind of like a pit or like a rind of something where it's kind of bitter, or an unripe fruit where it's like that bitter and it dries your mouth out.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

It does, yeah. I see what you mean now. Yeah, it does dry your mouth out. But I like it. And there's like good, but it's I'm gonna get the last little there.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

It is.

unknown 5:24

There it is.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

There it is. It's good. I like this. Uh, I like this a lot. There's at least three to four variations in here that I'm that I'm picking up on. Like it's kind of got some undulations. Uh undulations.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Undulations.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

It's definitely not a uh one or two or three note thing. There's some some variation in the flavor going on. And it's a mystery. It's a mystery who's making it. It's a mystery who's making it.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Which again, it's it's the original two Mickters. So you would think if Mickers is bringing it back, Mickters would distill it.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

So that does that mean that this is like that guy's that guy's recipe, like the recipe.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

I don't know if they're following recipe or not, but it's the original Mickter's company was started by John Schenck, who was a Swiss Mennonite. He was a farmer in Pennsylvania in 1753 and started the the Schenck distillery then. Mostly a rye product, which I think this has some rye in it. Like I'm getting some spicy notes from it.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

First half of the of the swallow there. It includes malted rye, so yeah. Oh, malted, that makes sense. It is kind of malty a little bit. I could I could see that. Definitely. I was gonna say it had some Scotch-esque qualities without the smoke.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, I could see that.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Shanks started it and then Braunburger bought it from him, and so that's where Braunburger comes out, and then Mickter's comes out with the Shanks and the Braunburger every year as like a specialty thing. And it was just well, that was just started semi-recently, 20 something.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Now, if I remember right, oh no. I was about to say they're their they're the original sour mash, but they're not. Uh they were toasted barrel. Yeah, so Micter's is the original toasted barrel.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yeah, they do, they have a pretty complex process with their with their barrels. Yeah, and that's what people seek out at a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

They're they're like pretty popular with that toasted barrel, yeah. But it's also why explains why it's so sweet. Micter's itself is so sweet. But yeah, sour mash back on the sour mash.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Back on the sour mash, not from Tennessee. This is from Kentucky, from Kentucky, originally from Pennsylvania, but now in Kentucky. So yeah, so Sour Mash is extending out. And this is I don't like we said, we don't see a whole lot of people advertising Sour Mash. The ones that I have seen advertising it have been Tennessee. I don't see a lot of people advertising it that are not from Tennessee.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Mikter's is big on advertising that it's a sour mash. There's very little information out there as far as what the mash bill is, other than it's it's a sour mash.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Other than sour mash, yeah. Well, it sounds like it's keep kept kind of tight-lipped, and this is the only this is you said limited and and everything. So I'm still wondering if this is some sort of special mash bill.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

I don't know. That's that's the thing that I little is known about Shanks, other than it popped up on the market a couple years ago. Guys went crazy for it. It's about 110 bucks a bottle retail like MSRP. Micters brought it, uh, as they say, brought it back, but I don't know if it no one knows if it's the same mash bill, no one knows what's the original. I think it's it's it's like a namesake almost.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

As with most of these people bringing things back, they're not bringing anything back other than the name.

unknown 8:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

And so I think that's all this was. Uh so I don't know that they're trying to copy anything from Shanks other than just paying homage to their to their start.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Well, that makes sense, but whatever they chose is very good. I wonder why they chose what they chose if that's the case. But it's uh I'm still trying to dial into flavors here, but it I I I damn getting a lot of rye, but there's something else going on uh that I haven't quite put my foot down on. And I mean, keep getting back to the Scotch esque. Maybe that is the malt. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

But there's some uh I actually think it tastes a little bit like an American single malt.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Oh, okay. Which would make sense with some of the Scotch esque quality.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah, exactly. Um, and it has kind of a stone fruit sort of thing to it. It doesn't have whatever that flavor is you don't like.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Crappy aftertaste, yeah. Which is why I'm liking it. Yeah, it's got legs for like look at the legs on that bad boy, but it's it does, it's oily, it's good stuff. I'm liking it a lot. Uh the proof point is 90? 90 punching above its weight. I would I thought it was gonna be over 100, 122, 123, like below 100s, something like that. It's good.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

You're bringing something back from history. I I would really like it to be the exact same, you know, mash build process. Well, otherwise, why put the name on it? Right, you know, other than that, you're just doing it for marketing.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah, you're just doing it for the marketing for the the even marketing happening though. Like, is there anything on the back of that to say what it's named after?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Oh, yeah, uh just under after um Shank, John Shank?

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Very little bit though. You'd really have to know because this could be an unassuming bottle if you didn't know anything.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

And Mickter's doesn't celebrate Shanks uh like normally or anything, so it is it's bringing back a name, but it it kind of sounds like there's not a whole lot of effort involved in it.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Because if I remember right, did they buy out did Micrus end up buying out the name and everything recently so that they could bring it back?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

When they bought the place, they they got the name. Uh, but I just don't think they brought this back until they could do all their own stuff and everything.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Uh something else to take note of is it's very clearly a whiskey. So I'm not sure what they're doing or not doing. Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey, it says on top, and then at the bottom, small batch Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey. So for something that's made in Kentucky, it's definitely not a bourbon. They're being very clear about that. It's not a bourbon, which is very interesting. Because it also says Kentucky whiskey here. It's got like four or five different places where it says whiskey, but it's made in Kentucky and it's coming from a distillery that's based in Louisville, Kentucky. So what are they doing or not doing that makes it whiskey?

SPEAKER_03 11:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Not bourbon.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

So I'm wondering if it is a rye content thing where it's actually a rye.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

I'm wondering if that's what we're where it's getting at. Yeah. But if this is a rye, this is uh it's in there. It's not just it's just not super high rye.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Like if it was if this was a rye whiskey, this would be a really poor rye whiskey. Yeah, like a low, like a 52 or whatever, you know, like barely a rye kind of.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Well, I guess what, yeah, because otherwise it'd be a high rye bourbon. You know what I mean? Like how much rye is in it, I don't know. But it doesn't taste like it's got a ton in. I could see it being a high rye bourbon, but it's also not very sweet.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

It's a no, like there are sweet notes to it, but it has a lot. The the spice overtakes the sweet. It's got a great flavor profile, though. Yeah, but I get like a like a pear apricot kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Bit of a metallic finish at the end, too.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, how does it go with your pipes? It's going really well.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

I think uh I think a uh English blend was a good choice, Steve.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

I never had this before, but just thought it might be might work and it did.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yeah, I think it's good.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

It's like the paper plate for the hot dog. Yeah, exactly. Like we're really selling this $110 bottle.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Oh, right. That's what I keep trying to figure out. Is it worth $110? No, I'm not saying hot dog in a bad way. I'm just it's uh a paper plate is not really needed for the hot dog, but isn't it nice to have it's a nice accoutrement? Yeah, it's a nice thing. It's a nice thing to have. I can hold on. I guess that's where I'm getting at. Like, we is it needed? No. Is it necessary? No. Is it appreciated? Bet your sweet ass it is. Just made that up here. A paper plate for the hot dog, but it makes sense. It's a good uh it's a good analogy.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

It's a good good way of thinking about it. Now I I get that we had Jack Daniels now moving into Shanks. Yeah, Jack Daniels is pushing to 100. This is 110. Is it worth it?

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Worth it as in price, yes, or as in availability. Uh I mean availability. Is it available? No, it's really hard to find. Well, that's stupid. Uh and the price was around 100-110 bucks. I don't think price is awful. I think the price is fine. I don't know why it's limited.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

I'd like them to bump up the proof a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

If it's limited, I need to know why. There's nothing, there's no information, there's not enough information on it to be like this is special.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

There's really like no information on this bottle, which is special. Yeah. Yeah. Because I I you would think that again, if this if this is that big of a deal to bring the name back, tell me why.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Because I mean, what Mickters says is that they're essentially the first distillery in the country. Uh, and Shanks is the start of that. So Shanks would be the first distillery. You're bringing back that legacy, but you're not talking at all about it. And so, because and if you're not, if I didn't do the research on Mickters, I would have never known that Shanks was the start of Mickters.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah, 99% of people walking in, even people that know bourbon, are not gonna understand anything about why is this bottle $110 and why should I buy it?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, and so you would almost think that Shanks was just a like a like a niche distillery, just like a small distillery.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

It looks kind of like a like a book boutique distillery, yeah. The way it's the bottle, it's a great yeah, it's a classic looking color scheme and bottle shape. Very Willet-esque, yeah. And it keeps it says Homestead on there a few times. Shanks Homestead. Shanks apostrophe homestead. What does that have to do with anything?

SPEAKER_00 14:48

What's his last name was Homestead?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

So no, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Well, his last name is Shanks.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Like, is this his homestead? Uh like is this like where he was at? Like, this was is this the type of whiskey they drank or what's the case? Like Shanks was in Pennsylvania, right? Yeah, is this a Pennsylvania recipe?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Is this yeah, so there's the high rye makes sense, Pennsylvania? Exactly. So I think it's uh I think it's a a lost opportunity to talk about how Micters may have gotten their start. And also sounds like Mickters is is not trying to take credit for the bottle. Almost like they don't want that much to do with it, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

And that's so that's my question. Why? Why why don't they it seems like they don't want to be associated with this? Why are you are you ashamed about it? Is it not yours?

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Oh, a small batch you know stuff there, you know, 2023, and it's explaining like where it came from and the number of bottles, all that kind of fun stuff. I mean, it's got all the limited release stuff on it, but there's not any information to say why it's limited release or where it's freaking from. It's just weird.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

It is strange. Like I the deception Microsoft does a decent job with marketing, right? I feel like so. Having this bottle come out and them not really talking about it at all, like you said, it's a bottle in the back, so it may not even be theirs. And they've been around long enough that they could be releasing a six or seven-year-old uh whiskey, so like like they could release a specialty bottle and call it theirs. So yeah, it's just it's very confusing on on why they're separating themselves from it. And I don't know if they're trying to do it because maybe when this when the first bottle of this came out, Micter's still wasn't known, and so they were trying to like essentially create a high-level brand versus their mid-level normal brand. Yeah, and so they're just separating themselves because of that. But you would still think that they would talk about the history of it or something.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

You would think. I mean, again, you would think if this matters that much to bring it back, you'd explain why.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

I'm almost wondering if maybe there was a switch up in like like this was some master distiller's plan that they really wanted to do this, and then they cut ties with that master distiller.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

It almost seems like that, like all of a sudden they're just putting it out there without like they're they're leaving out the marketing that they were planning on going with it.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

It's uh it almost seems like something like that happened, like something happened different in like administrative structure at Micros Change, and they're selling it for at least what they can get out of it, like they're not trying to bump up the price, right? Like maybe it was maybe it was supposed to be more than what they're even selling it for, but they're just trying to get break even on it or something.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Does the bottle say how many uh which one this is? It's 2023, but when when did they start doing the Shanks Bibles?

SPEAKER_00 17:41

That's what I'm trying to figure out when they when they first decided to release it.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

Well, it doesn't even say how old it is. So I mean you'd have to go back however many years this is even age, too. You know what I mean? Really? Unless they got it from is this like an orphan barrel type situation, you know? Yeah who knows, like there's no age on it.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

So so I mean it is on their website. There they are doing they did a 2024 release of it. Uh it looks like they started this in 2018, was the first Shanks release. Each year looks to be different.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Is the label different each year? Because I'm trying to figure out what the point of these hands holding the quills are.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Oh, they're the same. Okay, so uh there's a heavy rye in this, just a substantial amount of rye. There's rye in it. They utilize two different and quite special barrel profiles. Portion of it was aged 18 months and naturally air-dried and seasoned wood with their signature toast and char profile, and a portion of it was aged in special toasted French oak barrels that were made from 24-month air-dried wood sourced from France.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

So that's why it's a whiskey, is because it's a blend. It's a blend, yeah. Which and also not char. It sounds like they're not the charing may or may not be basically suspect. They didn't say anything about the char new American oak charred, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Yeah, well, they they do toasted and then char.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Yeah, I don't think it can be a bourbon if they're farting around with the new American oak chart. And they're using old French barrels that definitely can't be a bourbon.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

So and and in past releases they haven't used oak barrels. So it looks like in 2019 and 2020 they were using uh chinkwaken oak barrels. I like that pronunciation.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Better than what I could have done. Chinkwatkin? Yeah, I don't I just I feel like they're they didn't market it the way they were like they were planning or something. Like they're definitely not pushing it.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

They're not pushing it. Guy, I mean, I they're relying on the population to no and research it.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

What so where'd you find this? Why'd you pick it up?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Tipsy had it for me.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Okay, and he said X, Y, and Z, or do you find it?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

So this is after this is after we had the uh Micter's toasted barrel. Okay. And we talked about Shanks, and so I said, Well, here's a bottle. Let's let's see what it's like and if it's worth it. So you just brought up Shanks and that was that. Shanks was brought up, and a couple weeks later after he had it, I bought it. Restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

So you said this was a toasted French oak barrel, right? You saw that? It was a mix of the two, yeah. Mix of the two.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

There's nothing on there to say that it was a mix of two different like they they just have not explained anything, they have marketed it. There's no transparency here. Like, what are they trying to keep hidden?

SPEAKER_00 20:24

You know, that's the thing, and I feel like they're maybe they're banking on the fact that a mystery is good and people will say it's a mystery, but they would say it's a mystery.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

It's it seems a little if you're hiding how you did it, I struggle to believe you did it.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

I would have if you're gonna leave it a mystery, I wouldn't have put anything on the back. Yeah, I would have left it the because this little blurb on the back is not enough to do. I would have left it just this, like Oshanks, like they're all you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

They're not changing things a lot. No, so like I I'm just looking at their website here. The 2024 one says that there's a substantial amount of rye, and they're also gonna be using the French oak, sourced in the same area. Unique grain selection for the Philippe's includes malted rye and caramel malt. Caramel malt, that's different.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

It is very malty, it is very, very malty. I'm actually picking up some of those dragon dragon smoke vibes.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Oh, like the stout finish one? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

I could see that a little bit like on the finish, like on the after-after, after after taste, like in the like because this lingers on your palate quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

It very much lingers, like a a ton.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Uh yeah, it's like just coats your tongue and stays there in a good way. It's kind of not like it's almost like uh like lubricates your mouth a little bit. You know what I mean? Like it's not as far as like it does have some drying aspects on the flavor, but it's not doesn't dry your mouth out. It almost like coats it and stays there and hangs out.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Is this kind of oily?

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Yeah, it lets you let you like keep tasting it even after you swallowed it for a while. It's good. I would think it's very good. I just don't think that we have any information on it.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Right. I like it. Uh, I'm not mad about the price point of 110.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

I think 110 is fine. I just want to know more about it.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

It's worth the liquid.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Yeah. Might be actually under touch. Yeah. Because this is you could tell this is good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Yeah, I I wish they would do a better job of explaining what it is. Even the blurb on their website doesn't tell you much. And to your point about them not making it, the blurb on their website is talking a lot about the barrels. It's not talking a lot about the liquid.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

And I would think if it's like a part of your again, a part of your distillery's history, you would be proud to say, we we brought this back, we distilled this. You know what I mean? You would think that would be maybe it's just me, but I feel like that'd be a pride aspect of like this is the original. This is this is what we can do.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

I think naming it Shanks and then not talk, like not following up with like anything is kind of disrespectful to like what you're even trying to say.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Like, you can't honor somebody nobody knows, right? And so you have to explain who the person is in order to honor them. It's really weird, but very good. Very, very good. Yeah, I like it. I do really like the I do really like the the the liquid, the drink.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

I do wish it was uh higher proof, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

I could see bumping it up to like a hundred would be a good thing it is punching a little bit above its weight.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

It is flavorable. But I wonder if that's because of the the barrels, yeah, and the rye.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

The French oak. There's not enough rye in there to be like, ooh, this is rye, but I think there's enough rye in there to fool you into thinking this is higher proof than it is.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

But I also think that that the French oak that they use, or whatever kind of you know, barrel, French barrel they got, I think is imparting some of that dry oh yeah, why which gives it almost like uh uh feel like a higher proof for that dryness, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 23:54

More aged than it is. Yeah, I don't know. It is very it's very oily, kind of viscous.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Yeah, I like that. So we've we've killed two of your bottles now during all this. So for this one, would you buy it again? No, you're not a big fan of it. I could tell you you haven't talked much at all. So I I like I didn't think you were a big fan of the liquid.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

No, um the liquid's good. It's a it's a good bottle. I don't think it's 110 bucks worth. Yeah, I struggle, uh, even if that's the minimum price, and you know, just the the base MSRP, I struggle with that because I'm just what what am I paying for? Because the the liquid's good, but like I yeah, I pay I paid close to $200 for the Jack Daniels, but there was more to the Jack Daniels one. There's more to that bottle. There was more understanding of what it was, there was more what feels like effort put into that than this bottle. This very much seems like we don't talk about distilling it, we don't talk about the process of any of that mash mill, nothing. We tell you that there's a substantial amount of rye. Chris said, What does that mean? Yeah, what's substantial? So what's substantial? You know, if we're if we're considering blatants to be high rye bourbon and it's 18, you know, percent rye, what's a substantial amount of rye? Like, let's be honest here. Like, what is that? It feels very much like they're they're trying to hide something, but then they want to hang their head on, but we used two different barrels and we blended. That that to me, I'll I'll pay 75 bucks for it, but I don't know about it. 110.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

See, I'm I kind of agree with you and I kind of don't because uh uh for the same reasons why I wouldn't pay $110 for it, I wouldn't pay $75 for it. Because I think the liquid itself could be worth even more. I think this could be a very uh underpriced bottle. The problem is there's just not enough information for me to just buy this on the liquid alone. I need, I do need, I do need some marketing and I do need uh uh some more transparency. We've talked about it before, like it's not all marketing, but some of it goes into it. Um, and I like the transparency. I I think if you did your due diligence on the other part of it, you could probably sell this for even more than 110. Um it's very good liquid. I just there's nothing I could say about it. If I were to pour this for somebody, I could say this is very good. Supposedly has a substantial amount of rye. It's a blend of two barrel. That's it. I can't say anything more about it. So why would I pour this for somebody? I wouldn't, because I can't say anything more about it.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

That's it's whiskey is really interesting right now, I feel like, for people that are in it, like we are, where the story is just as important as the liquid. For what you just said, like I'm not pouring you a glass, I'm pouring you a story. Yeah, and then I'm once I'm gonna tell you the story, and then I want to drink something good afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Well, especially for that price. Like, if I'm paying that price, I want a store to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Otherwise, you're pouring you know Jack Daniels, which everybody has their own story. But I just feel like for this, when you get up to that price point, I think it's worth that price point. I just don't think it's missing something, it's lacking. Yeah, there's nothing, there's not even I can't say anything about it to anybody.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Let me ask you this. If you you walk into a store and you see this on the shelf, you're gonna pay 110 bucks? No, probably not.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Yeah, if if I had never tried it, there's there's not a there's no way for me to ever try it.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

What do you what do you think of what are your first reactions when you see this? What are your first thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 27:26

I don't know. It just looks like a you know, ordinary bottle. That's the thing. And actually, it looks really nice, but that orange color actually makes it look even more of a sourced bottle, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 27:37

It feels very much like a show. Yeah, it's just like we'll put it on the show.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Look at the the back is very much like generic to a point where I'd be like, this is just overpriced garbage. Now, the liquid on the inside is very, very, very good. I if you poured this liquid into certain bottles, people would be blown away. Blown away, I think. Because you're now you're adding the liquid with the all the other stuff, with all the other stuff. This does not have all the other stuff to go along with it.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

And I I struggle. The the the back doesn't have to tell me a story, right? Just looks cheap. I would love for the back. We had to go on their website to see what was special about the barrel. Right. Put that on the bottle.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Like if it's that special, put that on the bottle. It's got that generic back that you see on a lot of like air quotes local distilleries. I just don't like it. Or I shouldn't say local, I should say like small, generic, mass-producing, sourced distilleries.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Am I disappointed that I got the bottle? No. I I think the one time of trying it was good. I don't know that I'll go seek it out again. Yeah, it's one of the hard part.

SPEAKER_02 28:41

That's tough. I think if I were to pour you a blind thing and be like, tell me what this is, it's a mystery. You guys would be like, This is amazing. This is really good. And you would be racking your brains trying to figure out what it is. Then I wouldn't have anything to follow up with. Well, it's Shanks. Oh, okay, cool. That was really good. Yeah, but I think if I were to pour you this and be like, what do you think? You'd be like blown away. I just have nothing else to go with it. That's what's weird. You don't get that most of the time, it's the other way around. Story's really good, bottles really good, you all this stuff. Then uh juice is just okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

The problem with this drink is you're gonna end up drinking it in silence. Yeah, you got nothing to talk about, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Other than it's good, it's it's good. I like it for these reasons. That's about it. It's the grunting conversation. It's good. I could see drinking it all, like drinking it down pretty, but then not buying it again. Right. And for that price, especially not buying it again, but it is good. Yeah, it's good they're missing, they're missing out on something, a lot of things, but whatever they're doing, the liquid is good.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

If they would have added a a paragraph burb on the back of that about who Shanks was, and then their process of these two separate barrels. And why? I mean, even even if they just did a paragraph on who Shanks was and he was the one that started our company. Yeah, that's enough of the wine. That that's enough. Like, we don't you don't need to go into great detail, but just something that I can talk about, and then a little bit about the and also either make barrels.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

Like, if you're gonna do that, you gotta make it. Yeah, I mean, I guess there's that. Like, we make everything but the stuff that made us, you know what I mean? Like, it kind of doesn't make sense, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:18

It feels like they're not being honest about something. That's that's how I feel about this. The fact that you want to put on the front distilled and bottled in Kentucky, but then on the back, put bottled by, yeah, and then you'll put your name on there. That that seems a little that seems weird.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

It feels shady 100 plus dollars for it. You're kind of like, ooh, yeah, ooh, brother.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Yeah, anytime they're not making their own and it's over a hundred bucks, I get real iffy on it. I mean, even like barrel that the one that we had, and I loved that bottle.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

The seagrass, the salt grass. I always call I always call it seagrass.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

I loved that bottle, uh, but it's a 90 bottle of source product, and that's really hard.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

The only thing that's holding them up is the fact that they're finishing it. That's it. I always go back to that.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Yeah, and I mean they're doing a good job of it, they're honest about it. They you know, they don't lie to you and tell you they're making it or anything. But even with all that, I'm still like, ah, I like that. That price is top a lot to swallow. Yeah. And so for these guys, uh, if they're sourcing it and they're using their namesake uh to do it, like it just seems really odd. Seems odd. There's just something wrong. Yeah, seems off.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

By the way, Beryl just released uh 33-year-old American whiskey, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

There would be nothing left in a 33-year-old cask.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Finished in French oak and olorosa sherry casks, aged 33 years.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

We we we squeezed a bottle out of a bottle out of the barrel.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

You brought a barrel. I was like, I knew that they came out with a high age one, which cracks me up. That's the only one I've had was that one we had there for the podcast, because I won't spend the money on them.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

They're they're overpriced for what they are. Yeah, but I think Chris Chris and I said, and I I think it still stands. If you're sourcing your stuff, be honest. I I don't care. Like, that's fine. Be just be honest with me. Right. I'll I'll pay the price tag, I'll I'll like it, I'll enjoy it. Like Chris said, This is good.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

Especially if you're doing something else that you're blending it, you're you're finishing it, you're doing something with it. Yeah, or there better be a god dang good story. I mean, a real good story if you're not doing any of that stuff and you're sourcing, like give me something. Like, but it to nothing.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

If it's nothing and it makes it seem like it's sourced, but you don't want to admit to the fact that it's not yours. Man, right. You you've already started off on a a really shaky limb there. Of like, uh we might be ours.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Yeah. If you're looking, if you're buying a hundred dollar bottle, then that means you're kind of in the whiskey world. Like you're you're you kind of like it, you're you're looking at stuff. So you're gonna turn that thing around, and the first thing you're gonna see is bottled by and you're gonna know at that point that this is not theirs. So then you have to figure out okay, why is this special? And if I have to switch to my phone to Google it, because there's nothing on the bottle, then why would I pick it up? Right, and expect you know, if I've never tried the what the liquid inside, I don't know anything about it. I don't even know who I now don't know who makes it. Right. Somebody in Kentucky, and yeah, there's good brands in Kentucky, but they're not all good. So liquid aside, I would never pick that bottle up for 110 bucks. Now, trying it, I really like it. The flavor is very good, and I might pay 110 bucks for it if I could try it first, right? But like, I'm not gonna go look for 2024, like I'm not gonna go search for this bottle for the reasons we said that there's nothing to talk about, and so I mean, this is a short episode, and the reason why is because there's nothing to talk about, there's just nothing to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

We could go off on different tangents, but other than me, and that's the thing, I keep getting coming back to if I pour this for somebody, I'd be like, it's good. Yeah, that's it. Like, there's nothing else I can say.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

This bottle is perfect for the Midwestern goodbye. Yes, this is a good one to sit around and say whelp a lot to.

SPEAKER_02 34:35

Well, well, I suppose. Or get or or give it the old Irish goodbye where you leave without saying anything. Don't even say goodbye, you just leave. Yeah, I don't know. It's uh it's very good liquid. Yeah, that's it, and that is all. Yeah, that is all I can say about it. It's it's a good we could go on and on about the taste profile, but we don't do that on here, really. Other than uh, it's very good. I like it. There's undulations, it goes we've already talked about all the different feelings and and thoughts, and well, it's to your point, we we can go on about the profile.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

That's all you have to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

All you can talk about. That's literally all you have to talk about, and make guesswork about why those flavors are there, because we have no effing idea other than a substantial amount of rye.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

And the problem though, the real problem is that since they have since you have absolutely nothing, there's no opportunity for a tangent.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

There's no tangents, and so which is the key to any conversation, it leaves very little room for possibilities, is what this does. Yes. It was good.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

I drank it all. Yep, yep. Yeah, I drank it. See you on the next one next week. Hopefully, next time hopefully we'll have something to talk about. 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 tasterspum.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.