Watershed Rye batch 3 Turns Into A Lesson On Flavor And Patience

Welcome Back And Jersey Banter

Steve 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.

Nick 0:20

I'm Nick.

Chris 0:21

And I'm Chris.

Steve 0:22

Please enjoy responsibly while enjoying this week's episode of The Whiskey Chasers.

Chris 0:29

Hey, do you think New Jersey is named after like the Jersey in Britain?

Steve 0:34

Probably.

Chris 0:35

Probably is, isn't it?

Steve 0:36

Probably.

Chris 0:37

Never thought about that.

Steve 0:38

New York?

Chris 0:38

Because where what else? What's the old jersey? There's no there is no old jersey except for this one.

Steve 0:43

The one in England.

Chris 0:44

Exactly. I always wondered that. Yeah. New York is probably named after York.

Steve 0:50

It is. It's New York news after York.

Chris 0:52

Yeah, because it's new, as in America. New York, New Jersey is named. Wow, that's amazing. This is made in Jersey in the British Isles.

Steve 1:00

Okay. British Jersey.

Chris 1:01

British Jersey.

Steve 1:02

Yeah. Which is, I hear very old

Chris 1:03

Which is different Jersey. Yeah. I think it's very different than New Jersey. New Joysey.

Steve 1:09

Oh, look at that.

Nick 1:10

Yeah. I just shift some things. There we go. I feel like I've got more arm movement. Not like I really need it.

Steve 1:18

Going in for a lot of hugs up there.

Nick 1:20

Doing a lot of hugs over here, you know, just practicing.

Steve 1:22

Yeah.

Chris 1:24

And on that note.

Steve 1:25

The grandfather sit-down hug. Right.

Nick 1:26

Exactly. Yeah.

Chris 1:27

Yeah. Welcome back. I was going to say on that note, welcome back, everybody.

Nick 1:30

Welcome back.

Chris 1:31

And uh welcome to the conversation that we're having.

Nick 1:34

It's it's Steve back with us. Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes, Steve, you're back finally.

Steve 1:39

I am back finally. Yeah. Yeah. I took a little hiatus there. Taxes is officially done. So luckily, this tax season wasn't near as bad as the previous ones in terms of me. You know, previously I took off the whole four months. You know, this time it was only a couple recordings. So that was nice. But and but I know you guys got to meet Bob because of it, so that was good. Yeah.

Chris 2:00

Yeah. Bob was on the on the podcast a few times.

Nick 2:02

I've already met Bob, to be fair. Herm got to be on. Invisible ones we're talking about. That's right. Yes, the invisible ones. Yes.

Chris 2:11

Long time uh fan and sometime guest star. Herm was on. Yes. Um, yeah, but now we're back. We're drinking, we're gonna smoke.

Steve 2:21

It's a good time. It's a good, it's a good time.

Chris 2:24

Yes. What and what are we drinking? Wow.

Nick 2:26

We were thinking to open it. Watershed rye, batch number three. So this is the third batch. Yes, it is the oldest one they've ever done. The oldest released and highest proof, maybe? I think so. Yeah, yeah. It's up there. Uh, we we got a bottle last year, but uh we opened we did a terrible mistake and opened it for the club, thinking that we would open it then and then have it on the podcast, and we had next to nothing left.

Steve 2:56

We didn't make it to the podcast. Yeah, we have the last glass sitting here just in case.

Nick 3:00

This time we decided to hide it and not open it for anyone until we had it on the podcast.

Chris 3:05

So that's kind of telling, yeah, right there.

Steve 3:08

Four foreshadowing the the the eight-year ride, the the two year this batch two that came out was incredibly unique. Oh, cool, quite magnificent, and very, very good. Uh, it was like a surprise that it was watershed, it didn't take it didn't have any of the watershed kind of characteristics that we know and love. Um I remember, in fact, I remember when you brought that bottle to my house. Yep, because uh the day that you brought it over, I think I looked at you and was like, Well, do you want to open it now and see what it tastes like? Yeah, so we actually opened before.

Watershed Rye Batch Three Uncorked

Steve 3:40

And and drank it some. And yeah, yeah.

Chris 3:42

All right, Nick, smell this.

Steve 3:44

Yeah, what's our tobacco?

Chris 3:45

We're gonna smoke something special today.

Steve 3:47

I like special.

Chris 3:48

It even says it's a unique smoking experience right out of the tin. Okay, this is Germaine's. Yeah, the tin says so. Then I it's gotta be. This is Jermaine's mixture, so esoterica. Um, this is plum cake, plum cake, which which there's a few tobaccos out there called plum cake, but this is the one, this is like the one. So I've always wanted to try it. Like every everyone is kind of, and this is made with the 80-year-old recipe of plum cake. And so you've never had this before? Never, I've never ever had this. Um this is made in Jersey and Brit the British Jersey, British Isles. Um, Cavendish, Virginia, air, air cured tobaccos, blended with special black Cavendish, then flavored with wine and spices following our 80-year-old recipe. So they've been making this for 80 years.

Nick 4:37

That makes more sense.

Chris 4:38

Yes.

Nick 4:39

You can really smell the wine.

Chris 4:40

It's actually, and it's from England. So, I mean, this is like it's not artificial. This is made with actual freaking wine.

Nick 4:46

But it smells like dessert wine, like a cherry or like a berry dessert wine. It's plummy. So this is the first thing I thought of when I smelled it before you described it was uh this might be the only tobacco I've smelled that I thought um reminded me of uh German chocolate cake. Yeah, yeah. That's like sweet, but kind of coconutty chocolate.

Chris 5:06

The quality of this tobacco, and um, so this is an aromatic. This is uh, but but like a legit one. So you ready? Yep, there you go. Oh, the fail. It might have been the way through.

Nick 5:17

Did you already pack yours?

Chris 5:18

Yes, I packed it. Okay. Um, and it's it's got that shag esque, shag-esque cut. It's not super shag, but it's kind of shag, which is they're known for esoteric. And uh, has this been aged at all? Or did you just get this? Or that one has been aged a little bit, not super long. Uh, I got that a little while ago. I got two tins. So um, I hope I love it. And so here's the other thing that's hard to get. I mean, all their stuff's hard to get.

Nick 5:43

I just tried this glass. Oh my gosh. I've been waiting for a second.

Chris 5:47

Nick, you got real excited on that first sip. Oh, I'm gonna like this first, and then I'm gonna then I'm gonna drink.

Nick 5:54

There's a lot going on. Like a lot. So the the fun part about this, and I don't those that have been with us from day one may enjoy this fact too and may appreciate this. This bottle, this idea, this concept was actually brought up during our interview with Greg. It was brought up as, hey, are you doing anything? And he said, Well, I don't know if I can really talk much about it, but be on the lookout for a rye break for a water coming out of a watershed. Yeah, coming out of a watershed.

Chris 6:22

And I think it was off off-air. But we were like, I think that was the first thing I said. And when we were done, I was like, So, rye. Like, we want it, you could make it, it'd be great. And he goes, 'Well, funny you say that. We are, you know, so you know, big surprise kind of a thing.' So that was way back when.

Speaker 5 6:39

That was like, that was our first interview we ever did. Was that our first interview? That was our very first interview that we ever did was with Greg. And the funny thing was that we are just down the road from them and we didn't go, we didn't do in person. We did it on the we did it through uh Zoom.

Speaker 3 6:55

Through Zoom and it the audio qualified was not great.

Speaker 5 7:03

And that was it.

Speaker 3 7:04

But it was fun, it was good memory.

Speaker 5 7:06

It was a lot, yeah. Good memory. I'm sure that Greg was probably like, You guys live where? Well, you didn't come here? Okay, got it.

Speaker 3 7:13

Yeah, I don't think he ever said that, but he was probably thinking it. Probably, you know, but wasn't that right around COVID?

Speaker 5 7:20

Uh, so that would have been right around the time that they were maybe shortly after COVID. Because we were still kind of shy. He brought up the idea that they were doing hand sanitizer

143 Proof Flavor And Long Finish

Speaker 5 7:30

on the interview.

Speaker 3 7:31

Yeah. Yeah, so it was right probably like a year post year post-COVID, 21, maybe. It was probably 21, yeah. Late 20s, 20 late 20s.

Speaker 5 7:40

Because it took us a while to figure out what we wanted to do, like interview-wise, and like could we actually do it and who would want to do that with us, kind of thing. Yeah. Damn it. Now do you understand my excitement? Wow.

Speaker 3 7:55

Oh boy, it's like I never had it before. I know. Why is this vastly different from the other ones? This is vastly different. I mean, taste-wise, it is, but like stats-wise.

Speaker 5 8:05

We're talking a year older and higher proof, possibly. It's gotta be a higher proof, 100%.

Speaker 3 8:09

It's gotta be a higher proof. But the freaking that's rye on steroids. That's a ride concentrate. That's like that's it's like the concentrate that you make other rye from. But this one is a stout drink.

Speaker 5 8:22

This might be the only rye coming out of Ohio that it reminds me. Just briefly reminds me.

Speaker 2 8:29

No, no, Pennsylvania rye. Okay, good. I was gonna say, yeah, you're I'm about to like it's got Pennsylvania esque smacked here.

Speaker 5 8:35

No, it's got Pennsylvania-esque flavors going on in it, where it's not like rye punch in the face, rye bite.

Speaker 3 8:41

It is like it's got uh like, yeah, I get what you're saying. It's not, it doesn't taste exactly like that type of rye, but it's uh distinct, yes, like that type of rye.

Speaker 5 8:52

It's got these undulations and the sweetness and then dryness and like complex to the people.

Speaker 3 8:57

Wonder why we like rye so much. Um this is why it's it's because it's freaking complex. And I think anybody that says it's it's not it's just like pow in the face, it's like, well, that is complexity, just break it up. Like learn to learn to hear the notes, you know what I mean?

Speaker 5 9:10

Yeah, learn to enjoy the notes, so like learn to the listen for them and be like, ah, there it is.

Speaker 3 9:15

This dude, this is con it's concentrated uh ferocity. Like this thing is freaking what's your guess on the proof on this? I'm gonna go with uh I bet it's not as high as you think because it's just rye.

Speaker 5 9:28

It's freaking I'm gonna go with close to 130, 132. I doubt it. I bet it's I bet it's around the 122.

Speaker 4 9:35

So the eight year from like the the two is 129 okay point two. So that was in the 120.

Speaker 3 9:43

What this is I think this is 120 as well. 143.1. Holy cow, I told you. I yeah, oh, that is a lot higher.

Speaker 2 9:52

Yeah, this guy's a punch.

Speaker 3 9:56

I knew it was punching, but man, maybe I need to take a back seat because I thought this is 120.

Speaker 5 10:02

It drinks like that. I mean, it drinks like that.

Speaker 4 10:04

But it is such a pow in the face with all the flavors that I think that I just figured the you guys were talking about, just like rolling with the notes and stuff on things like this. I was I was watching MASH recently, it's one of my favorite TV shows in Winchester on there, which is kind of the your pompous asshole character. He is a record player and he'll play these classical music stuff and he'll like blare it up to a hundred, and everyone just gets annoyed by him uh because of it, and they all like just just don't they don't understand how how impressive it is and how amazing the music is, and that's kind of how I feel about this bottle. Like, this needs to be a 10, like it has to be all the way up like that. It's what makes it what it is, it is, it's what makes it what it is because yeah, this is attacking you.

Speaker 3 10:50

It needs to be played in the best way, yeah, in the best way as possible. Yeah, you you're you're uh you're enjoying you're getting beat up a little bit and you're enjoying it. Because this thing is beating the palate up, just just straight Rocky style, like when he's hitting the meat in the in the f in the freezer.

Speaker 5 11:06

It's been a long time, honestly, probably since Liberty Pole, that I've had a ride that I was like, wow, like this is uh a punch in the face, but also like there's this is a ride. This this is a ride. This but this is a Sunday cruise ride. This is like I'm in an old old car.

Speaker 3 11:28

I was gonna say a Sunday cruise with like something with a massive V8, yeah, like going down a chip road.

Speaker 5 11:35

American, yeah, American muscle car, Sunday cruise, the chip and seal. Yep, where you can feel every bump along the way. Oh, and there's stuff flying up, yeah.

Speaker 3 11:42

Oh, yeah, that's that's this, but this is hardy. Like this is good. I don't know how you can try this and not like rise. I mean, it this is it's uh it's a lot. I'm not gonna say this is not for like somebody who wants an easy time of it for sure. But if you if you're looking to get turned up every now and then, like flavor-wise, oh yeah.

Speaker 4 12:02

If you're a new uh whiskey guy listening to this episode, this is not your bottle.

Speaker 3 12:07

If you yeah, if if you're fine with having like ketchup on hot dogs and that's it, and you don't want to even step outside that realm of like ketchup on your hot dog and that's it, this is not for you. But like if this is like if you're like, I've had a lot of hot dogs, like let's get a little wild with it. Let's put some weird, weird toppings on this bad boy, you know. This is for you.

Speaker 5 12:25

Speak uh speaking of hot dogs, uh, went to Luke Combs concert. You did? Yeah, that was a big combo. It was massive.

Speaker 2 12:32

A lot of people went there.

Speaker 5 12:33

I I thought I knew one song. I didn't know you were in a country. Um, I'm not okay. Uh Matt Matt from College Days.

Speaker 3 12:40

Is that the song you know? No. Uh so that's a good song, though. That is a good song.

Speaker 5 12:44

Again, buddy of mine from college roommate came down with his his girlfriend. Now, Matt. Oh, Matt. And took us to uh Luke Combs or others were supposed to go that fell through, whatever. I knew, I thought I knew one song, Oklahoma. I think it's Oklahoma because afterwards I was like, Yeah, I knew one song because we used to play it in the bar, and he's like, Oh, what song was? I was like, Oklahoma. He's like, That can't be Oklahoma. That just came out and literally comes to the Twister movie. He said that I was like, Oh, that's a song I don't know. I don't know any songs. So it's a very fast song. Oh, is it? I think it's a very like rock, it's a rock hardcore rock country song.

Speaker 3 13:21

I don't know if I've heard that one then.

Speaker 5 13:23

And I was like, Oh, yeah, that that's what we play, and people go riled up. He's like, I think you might be confusing that with something else. I was like, oh, then I'm not sure I knew any songs that were played. But we like that guy.

Speaker 3 13:33

I like his voice. I'm not a huge like I'm not I'm not I wouldn't dislike country, but I'm not like a country fan. Right. But I do like, I not like I do like old country, but I grew up on it. But like the new country, I guess. Uh I do like his stuff.

Speaker 4 13:47

Yeah, yeah. Radio country, I'm not a huge fan of, but Luke Combs, I think.

Speaker 3 13:50

Luke Combs is pretty good.

Speaker 5 13:52

But I I bring up the hot dog because at one point uh back to the hot dogs. So uh if you guys don't know this, uh OSU has a deal with Evan Williams, and they serve their whiskey, their Evan Williams, just probably the black label. And uh so they they have like this it's it's kind of like a curig cocktail mixer.

Speaker 3 14:14

Yeah, they don't let you have it straight though, do they?

Speaker 5 14:16

No, but to get around that, you can order a double of this, which is way less syrup and mixer, and it's just straight Evan Williams as a double in like a smooth yeah with a little topping. So uh my second one into that, Mary's like, we should get hot dogs. And I thought I was going crazy. For four of us, she comes back with eight hot dogs. Wow, that's awesome. And originally was like, I'm just gonna get one. That's all she said is I'm gonna get one hot dog. She got eight hot dogs, and I was like, What? No mustard, no ketchup? Wait, nothing, nothing. And I put mustard on there. She looked at me, she's like, There's nothing on it. I go, that's fine. I don't want to ruin the Evan Williams. I'm drinking it. Oh, yeah, that's true, I guess. So I was like, I'll take a plane just so I don't ruin that.

Speaker 3 14:58

I like my hot dogs wild, but if I can I can have a plain hot dog, I'm fine with that. Actually, when I golf, that's what I want on the turn. But uh for me, a plain hot dog is a hot dog with mustard and onions, white onions.

Speaker 15:11

Oh, perfect.

Speaker 3 15:12

Like that's my favorite. Yeah, and this is just I will go nutso with it. Like, you want to put Chinese food on my hot dog? I'll eat it. Sure. Yeah,

Concert Drinks And Hot Dog Philosophy

Speaker 3 15:20

yeah, load that bad boy up. Peanut butter and jelly. Yeah, I've tried it.

Speaker 4 15:23

Yeah, I've tried, it's actually not bad. I've been. I'm not a big onion fan, so I wouldn't do that, but I do just like a mustard, mustard relish. You don't do ketchup, dude. I'll do ketchup too.

Speaker 3 15:33

I will do ketchup. On a hot dog, I'm kind of anti-ketchup, I'll be honest. But but I have had fries on a hot dog. Oh, that was good. Yeah, I did enjoy that.

Speaker 4 15:44

I used to I used to go to Dirty Franks a lot downtown Columbus.

Speaker 3 15:47

I mean too. Me too.

Speaker 4 15:49

And so they have a lot of weird, weird habitats.

Speaker 3 15:51

That's what's it's really what I'm thinking of. And there's one where I work now, so I do go there sometimes. Do you have gloom rebuns? Uh no. Uh no. I poop my brains out. But that's why I say now and then. Like it's like once or twice a year. But uh, I used to get the Puff the Magic Popper Popper or something like that. Yeah, with the California poppers and cream cheese on a hot dog totally works. But I mean, all of them are great.

Speaker 4 16:17

Oh, yeah, they're all of them great. Yeah, I'm going to the I'm going to the Clippers game here this weekend. And so I'm super excited for a baseball hot dog. You got to get a beer. Oh, yeah. Oh, I will.

Speaker 3 16:26

Dude, have you ever gone with the dime a dog night? I have not been on a dime a dog night. It's nuts. It's wild. Yeah. And you eat a lot.

Speaker 4 16:33

Yeah.

Speaker 3 16:33

I'm trying to lose some weight, so I'm trying to I'm probably gonna avoid that particular day because it's dangerous. Just fast like two days and then go there and just go ham. Just go absolutely hand. Just go crazy with it. That's what I do. I just don't eat for two days and then I'll just eat myself.

Speaker 4 16:46

How do we get on this basic ass food of hot dogs with this crazy amazing rye? With the crazy tacos.

Speaker 3 16:55

If you're really happy about basic ass tacos, I don't know if you're gonna like this.

Speaker 5 17:00

Not tacos, hot dogs.

Speaker 3 17:02

Yes, hot dogs. Yes. But they're similar. They're similar. And a hot dog is an American taco when you think about it.

Speaker 5 17:10

So let's let's bring it back a little bit more. Uh, because Steve mentioned before we started recording, there's a lot that has changed even from when we did the interview about about this potential bottle.

Speaker 4 17:22

Yeah, when we when we first interviewed Greg and did that with him, you know, that was we're thinking 21 or 23. I think it was 21, yeah. Uh you know, right around there. In 23 is when it was acquired. So 23 is when Watershed was acquired by uh Marusha Beverages. It was that long ago, no. It was like it was it was late 23, August of 2013. No, but uh then in 24, uh Marusha moved their headquarters to Watershed. Oh so they they moved and so that their US headquarters is in is at Watershed, so they kind of really took over Watershed at that time. Is that why the restaurant shut down? Like so they can move that over there? That happened all the way back in 24. So no, that yeah, that was a four that okay. Yeah, so the restaurant closed up in 25 last year. I think that was from COVID. I think that's from COVID. It was so it was slowly, it was pretty proven. So also, I don't know if you guys have ever been there before. It's not easy to get to. It's not like you can just wander across.

Speaker 3 18:24

I will say this their food wasn't that good. No, no, it was, but they're pricey, but well, it wasn't that good, but their cocktails were amazing, and that's why I think they've kept their, I think you can still get cocktails right there. You can sometimes, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Their cocktails were quite special, like something special.

Speaker 4 18:40

And they're they're keeping so like the kitchen's still there. Uh, it's just they've closed up the restaurant and everything, and they're they've they're turning it into there's not a real answer yet as certain terms of what they're gonna do with the space, but it's gonna be like an event space. They're probably gonna do some bottlings and stuff there, like bottle program sort of deal.

Speaker 18:59

Okay.

Speaker 4 18:59

Um, so they use it for some of that. They'll do some different things with it. It's it seems to be a pretty it's gonna be a pretty flexible space. Events, okay.

Speaker 5 19:07

I was gonna say they've they've been diving really ever since they were bought out. I feel like they've been diving more and more into the private club sector of doing half barrels, like barrel picks and selling barrel, like so.

Speaker 3 19:21

Like I can get the bottling aspect of like they're catering to uh other brands in a in a way, yes, yeah, yeah, or or or people who want to have their name on a bottle, yeah, which is great.

Speaker 5 19:30

I think which is way more profitable than a restaurant, to be honest.

Speaker 3 19:34

I think I have kind of changed my mind about like restaurants in general, like for the most part, like with these as being a good option, yeah. Yeah, so I think the whole and I think Prince would probably appreciate this too, but the whole um not doing food yourself because hey, we're a distillery and that's not what we do. We'd have to bring on some amazing person and then they might leave or get fired or what whatever. I think the idea of these food trucks is the future, like and it's totally the way to go because it brings in variety, and these food trucks are high end and they're and they're so good. And um very quickly you can find out which ones work and which ones don't, or maybe which ones are good quality, like prince level food, right? And which which ones you're like, yeah, we're not gonna invite you back to the lot, you know. And I think that that's a great option to have. It's variety, you know.

Speaker 5 20:23

The number of like food truck owners that they're if they are true to the the art, right? If they're they're true to the art of cooking, like actually being a chef, then they could get to know the whiskey and pair things with that that they only do there.

Speaker 3 20:37

Dude, I love the idea of that. So it's like taking something super high-end and putting in a very everyday ordinary container. I love that idea. I've always been a fan of that. So you're basically taking these artist and level chefs, and they're and a lot of them are doing this, and they're putting themselves in this like freaking food truck, and the the mixture between the two is amazing to me. Because food truck, you think crap, you know, basic hot dog, but then you get these like excellent level, like prince level chefs that are making food out of these little trucks. And to me, that combination freaking works. Yeah, it works so hard, like it's awesome.

Speaker 4 21:15

Yeah, yeah. Up in Delaware, there's a food truck depot, so there's a an old train station that they've turned into. Oh, that's what they do with it. Yeah, okay. I love that. I want to go there. So there's just sand volleyball courts outside, beer, a bunch of beers on top, and then a rotating list of uh food trucks.

Speaker 5 21:31

Was that the one that was on for sale?

Speaker 4 21:33

Like when we started the club, it's right next to it. Okay, okay. Okay, so the the one that was for sale way back when is still for sale, yeah. Uh, because it needs an insane amount of work done to it to get that up and running. What whoever does it and makes it something is gonna be it's gonna be really cool. Um, profit for a while, yeah. No, yeah, it's gonna be a labor of love, yeah. And that area can't can't handle like an upscale sort of thing right now. Um, they're working on it, but not. Yet. And so if that were to happen, if that area kind of beefs itself up a little bit, then maybe a good barbecue joint could go. It would make a great barbecue joint. Okay. Space. It would make it make a really good barbecue space. There's a Mexican place right next door and a biker bar, and then and then this place. So uh a barbecue place would actually go really well. Great outdoor seating for it, too. But back to this. Yeah, but uh for these guys, uh August of 25. So the end of last year

Watershed Sale And Greg’s Exit

Speaker 4 22:30

is when Greg announced that he's leaving. And so watershed he's talking about watershed.

Speaker 5 22:34

Wait, he was still there. I thought he departed. No, he he stayed on on AZ and kind of still rent the AZ. They when did they buy him out? 23. And he stayed on until 25.

Speaker 3 22:47

Yeah, I think I think it was in the condition of the say sale that he would that he was gonna stay on and kind of helped the process.

Speaker 4 22:55

Conveniently August of 23 and August of 25. I think so. It was two years later. What's fascinating to me is probably the contract. It probably is, yeah.

Speaker 5 23:02

Having coming from experience of something like that, yeah, to have the even part owners stay on that long with as many changes as they've made, that's impressive. I mean, that that says something about Greg wanting to still play a role. Well, he wasn't just looking for money and getting out, yeah. No, but even even to put up with the quote unquote bullshit of changes, that he would probably like he would probably look at him be like, this is not something that I would do. Right, this is not something I would condone.

Speaker 3 23:33

But but I mean it's it's always been an easier pill to swallow. Because when I heard that it was changing hands, I was upset. Right. Um, but the fact that he stayed on and he's kind of fostered the transition, that's been an easier pill for me to swallow for sure. Right.

Speaker 4 23:49

For sure. And I'm I'm curious on what's gonna happen with Watershed now that he's gone. I'm curious how how corporate's gonna go. I I still consider Watershed maybe a little bit more corporate than some of the other craft components. You know, uh, I think that they have kind of kind of done some more of that sort of stuff.

Speaker 5 24:07

It'll be interesting to see how much they stick to their roots because when we interviewed Greg, they had just released their bottled and bond and they had uh dove kind of into changing the four-year bottle to include MGP so that they could do the bottle to bond brand.

unknown 24:24

Yep.

Speaker 5 24:25

And his response was they were phasing out of that, out of the MGP. Or are they still moving towards that? Or is the company now going, it's cheaper for us to do this? Yeah.

Speaker 4 24:36

And you know the four-year, they've continued to use the MGP, but the the reason for that was that they could keep their own juice for their Balban Bond for all their uncut and filters that they're doing. Um, I don't know what batch they're up to now uh of the uncut unfiltered. I have up to seven for sure. The last time when I was still doing tastings and stuff for them, we had sevens on the on the shelf. I would assume that there's probably an eight, maybe even a nine out there now. They've they're kind of ramped up, they haven't stopped those. They're yeah, the the uncut unfilter, I think, is fascinating. I would like to talk to Watershed again, mainly to talk about that particular bottle because they don't advertise at all their different batches.

Speaker 3 25:16

And they used to at something special, it is, and they are different, and people associate it's very similar, very similar to uh freaking bookers when they come out. Yeah, I don't mean flavor-wise, I just mean like the whole idea and everything else.

Speaker 5 25:28

Yeah, are they not advertising now because they can put it out as much? Because it was lottery that when they first started doing it, it was lottery. The first one was lottery, this bottle's lottery. I don't even know how we got this.

Speaker 4 25:39

Yeah, the ride we got because I worked there, right?

Speaker 5 25:42

So so this is lottery. I know the maple finishes lottery. Uh their Nochino is no longer lottery, but they advertise it as it is.

Speaker 4 25:54

The Nochino one, I think the Nochino one was a lottery, and then there's the Apple. They did a wine one too, right? They did, they did a Pinot Noir. They did like four different fall releases. Yeah, they do their fall releases every year. There's about five of them usually. So this year there was a Nochino, there was the Apple Brandy finish, there was the maple syrup finish, um, and a I feel like I'm missing something, but at least those, and then a wine. There was a wine finish. Maybe there's a fifth, maybe there wasn't. Maybe there's a few.

Speaker 3 26:22

I think that's the idea. And and maybe I'm maybe I'm don't know because I'm not a business person. But I think the idea that these these places, and watershed being the main one we're talking about, but uh other distilleries too, the lottery is stupid and nobody likes it, and I think it's retarded. But if you were to, and here's the other thing, especially local stuff, selling in stores is great and all, but like people will come. I don't know why they don't, when they have a product, they tease it out, then they finally release it with like not a whole lot of notice, but a little bit of notice, they will have a freaking line, okay, and then limit, limit like three per or two per, however you want to do it, but sell it at the freaking place. They'll have a line out the freaking door, and they're gonna have secondary and tertiary sales based on the fact that they're releasing them there and people can look around and then limit it. But this whole lottery stuff, like people put in for it, so but I think it's I think it's ultimately stupid.

Speaker 5 27:16

What if they're doing the lottery? So let's say they keep the four-year MGP blend, but they're doing lottery picks to limit how many bottles they actually put out so that they can keep more of their product back to reserve so that one day they don't have to do lotteries.

Speaker 4 27:33

They they've played, they play around a lot with this. So, like uh the maple finish was only available at distillery. So you had to go there to get it.

Speaker 3 27:42

Make make people want it, make people work for it, exactly. Like, like even that way you're saying is say, okay, we're gonna have 200 bottles, we're gonna sell to the public. First come, first serve, limit one. You're gonna have a line, they're gonna sell, you're gonna make your revenue, people will be happy, and then you still, but you don't need a freaking lottery. But do you think it's about revenue at this point? What means more? You you put yourself in for the lottery because you put in yourself for every lottery, and you you decide to get the bottle, or you get out there and you wait in line for three or four or five hours, and then you get yourself a bottle. See, that's a fan. That's a fan. Then I can understand.

Speaker 4 28:21

Because, like the like the No Gino we mentioned, you know, or any of those fall finishings, they do the lottery. And with pretty much all of their lotteries, if you enter, you're you're gonna get a win for the most part. But this way they can get out of state. So with lotteries can buy it.

Speaker 5 28:36

With a lot of uh lotteries, they can out of state people can like get in and they can get there and go.

Speaker 3 28:41

Yeah, I like to see the numbers.

Speaker 4 28:42

What has happened though is that I like I enter two or three times because I have two or three different emails, yeah. And I'll win or win all of them. I'm only gonna go buy one.

Speaker 3 28:51

I think that that is extra, and then there's extra that they're selling more than they're worried about, yeah. And then the extra now becomes in-store, right? And then all of a sudden you feel like the lottery was BS, which is what it comes down to, which lottery is BS. So, like, why do it? I think it makes it look stupid. It's it's it's it's it's uh cheap, it's it's chintzy, it's stupid.

Speaker 5 29:10

But here's the thing this bottle, uh, there is nothing left over.

Speaker 4 29:14

Yeah, there is nothing this this bottle truly is lottery. Like, there was less than 100 bottles of this. There was like 89 bottles, I think is what they said in the end.

Speaker 3 29:25

I don't know if we're what conveying that enough, but like you cannot take more than a small sip with this at a time. And we are like uh, we are veteran, like especially me and Nick are veteran rye drinkers, and Steve, you're no slouch yourself. And this stuff, I'm telling you, this thing is you can't, you gotta take your time with this. But why? This thing is a uh flavor-wise, I don't mean like proof-wise or whatever. No, no, flavor, yeah. Flavor-wise, this thing will gut punch you if you don't take a small sip, like it's just so much, you're overwhelmed. And it's and for that, yeah. I love it for that. It is amazing for that, but this bottle will last you, yeah. Sure. I mean, we could drink this whole bottle, but it would take a lot longer than that.

Speaker 5 30:08

I think it would take the whole club and sitting at a campfire, we can drink it.

Speaker 3 30:12

People will want to go through this, but I'm just saying it's gonna take a long time.

Speaker 4 30:15

Yeah, yeah. This is not one that you're gonna sit. We like sometimes we're we'll be in here like, oh, I've had two or three glasses of this. We couldn't do that with that.

Speaker 3 30:23

Two or three like half glasses, yeah, like big pores. Yeah. This this is like I love it. I want to keep drinking it, but I'm taking my time with it.

Speaker 5 30:30

Yeah, what's crazy is normally. So uh uh, we just got done with the interview, previous episode interview with four branches, where like I'm I'm a I'm a sniffer, right? I every time I drink, I have to sniff it, I have to get the aromas. This might be one of the few, if not only, ries I've ever had that I don't have to sniff it to get the aromas, I just take a sip of it and all of a sudden I have it in my nostrils.

Speaker 4 30:55

This is a it comes right up the nose.

Speaker 5 30:57

Like you have, but it's not like alcohol y up the nose, it's like what you would normally smell goes up the nose, and you're like, oh my gosh, that's right. This, yeah, it smells like rye.

Speaker 3 31:06

This is just such full flavored, it's so full flavored, but proof-wise, too, it's up there, dude. This is dude, this is um freaking uh whatchamacallit for watershed. This is um junior stag. Oh, this is stag junior for freaking watershed the original stag flavor, but like the fact that how how that is such a freaking like pow right in your face. Like this thing is not to be played around with, like stout, stout beverage, you know. That's what this is for watershed. This has gotta be the most hardcore bottle I've had from Watershed. Period.

Speaker 4 31:41

DNS they they do a lot of high proof stuff in like the 130s and stuff. This is 100, what did I say? 143.

Speaker 3 31:48

143, but it's not just the proof, it's the flavor along with it.

Speaker 4 31:52

Yeah, it is it is incredibly flavorful, yeah. Which it's it is kind of a double-edged sword because I absolutely adore this, but I would like more rye bottles out of Watershed. There's that, so it's the frustrating thing.

Speaker 3 32:11

Why can't we get this all the time?

Speaker 4 32:13

This is round number three of rye from Wat, and they only had 80 bottles.

Speaker 3 32:19

They could, in my opinion, stop making like I love all their other stuff too. But a company like when you come up with a bottle like this, this could be its own company, like with its oh, we only put out one thing, this is it. But for now, it would sell, it would sell, like but you should not have to be able to do that. Someone to focus on, well, yeah, but over time, like it's gonna take a minute. Over time, over time, if you keep making it, you're always gonna have a nine-year, it's gonna take a minute, but like they need to somebody needs to focus on the fact that we have this line all the time available. Yeah, people will buy it.

Speaker 4 32:48

Yeah, I I am I am very happy to know that last year's batch two was an eight-year, it was an incredible bottle. Yeah, uh, we have it here to try again if we wanted to, but we will.

Speaker 33:00

It is, it's not if we will.

Speaker 4 33:03

It is a very, very good bottle. I am really glad that somebody there was like, wait a minute, see what happens. We need one we let's get one more year out of this.

Speaker 3 33:12

Yeah, hold the phone and see what we can get. This is better than that. I mean, I'm gonna try it again here in a minute, but we've had we had a lot of that, we had a good amount of that. You know what's this is like that better, yes, which wow it's well, and it's it's not that I think it's different, it's very different.

Speaker 4 33:26

Well, it's different than that for me. It's a better experience. It is so like the last the the batch two what was so unique and so different from what we were used to from watershed, and it had these really uh I and it tried again

Lottery Bottles And Ohio Rye Bite

Speaker 4 33:40

to know what really were, but there were lots of like stuff going on with it that you weren't used to. It did punch you, yeah, but again, I'm used to a high-proof watershed. Like well, they do a lot of high-proof stuff, but it was very unique in what they did. This is also incredibly unique, but it it it's just a whole nother level in terms of what it is.

Speaker 3 34:02

And I get what you're saying, going back to what you're saying, Nick, about this reminds you of a Pennsylvania ride, but it's not Pennsylvania ride. But what I'm saying is this is unlike any Ohio ride.

Speaker 5 34:12

I was just about ready to ask that. So, what the hell is this? There, so there's so many things going on in my head. So, we the the clubs went to uh Iron Vault uh a couple weeks ago, tour there, which again he mentioned they talked about maturation, there it's not age they're looking for if it's mature or not. But they also talk about how many barrels they have sitting up there. I don't know if you guys remember this, that are in the like in their distillery like area. They're like, we test these every like day or every week, and it changes to make sure it's when to pull, yeah. And there was moments both in the interview tour and this one that he mentioned, and the owner was there too. So they mentioned we could taste it one day and it's amazing, and the next day we come in and it tastes like crap, like something happened. And then it's kind of that's kind of it's kind of ruined at that point. This is the same matchbow. And the whole time I'm thinking, like, how does that work? How does that work? These are two years just a year apart from each other, and the the the drastic change between the years and what that did for flavor-wise. I now understand what they were saying. Not that it's shit whiskey, but it changes it so much that way, like you come in, you try like this is amazing, and the next day you try like what happened?

Speaker 3 35:22

It's a gamble, it could be better than it's a gamble. What you don't want is to come in and have like something that was promising, now isn't is now owned, undrinkable. That's gotta be a nightmare. But like, but you also like in the back of your mind, you're like, it's kind of like an investment. You're like, Do if I pull it, is it gonna be as mature as it could be? I don't know. Like, I hate I hate, but but I want to play it safe, you know what I mean? Like, it's literally very, very similar to investment. It is, yeah. And for them, it is an investment, so it it makes sense.

Speaker 5 35:50

But prior to this, your go-to Ohio rye was the pumper nickel rye out of Middlewest. Now, would you it's so hard to compare?

Speaker 3 36:00

You can't compare them because they're completely different. There are times that I'm gonna want to reach for that pumper nickel and not for this. But what have you ever had a rye like this? But I think what you could ask me is, is this the most um mind-blowing rye that you've had from Ohio? And I would say yes. Yes. Because is this more mind-blowing than pumpernickel? You bet you you better believe it. But I feel like we This is the most mind-blowing rye I've had in a minute. Ohio sits here in this weird pocket. Or otherwise.

Speaker 5 36:26

Ohio sits in this weird pocket where we've got Indiana Rye just north of us, yeah, right? We got Kentucky Rye just below us, but then we got Pennsylvania rye just beside us. What do we do? Like, we we can't it we've talked about or we've heard Iron Vault talk about like Ohio rye is rough.

Speaker 3 36:44

Well, should we do should we talk to could should we speak on that? Do for the people that are listening, they're like, oh man, I don't know what what is Ohio rye. Should does somebody have uh Steve, do you have an answer for that? Or what are we doing different as Ohio?

Speaker 4 36:58

I don't, I know uh Iron Vault had mentioned that Ohio rye tends to be bitey, right? It tends to just have a lot more of that peppery note, a lot more of a traditional rye kind of bite, and it struggles a bit. It does, yeah.

Speaker 5 37:11

It makes it hard for younger versions of that, yes.

Speaker 4 37:14

So maybe that's why they waited. Whereas Pennsylvania rye is a little bit more mellow, you know, it has more of a mellowness to it that allows it to blend in and mix and exactly in a way that wheat does. And so when you have it more mellow like that, it has that that bitiness, but it's it's more like a it's more like a sniper shot. You can you can pick a spot for it, you know. You can say that I I want a bite in the back of the palate, and you can adjust your rye content and kind of make that happen. Whereas it seems like Ohio rye is more like buckshot. This is just it just it it bites everywhere, so it just makes it kind of more finicky with that. I don't know why. Like, I don't know what the are what the agricultural answer is in terms of why maybe that's what it is.

Speaker 3 37:58

Maybe that's the cheat here. Maybe the fact that it's so high proof you miss the bite. Yeah, maybe it's melt because it's you're just like this is a freaking double barrel to the mouth. It's a it's it's a weird sensation that I want to basically like bathe in this stuff, but I it's like link lasting in my glass because it's just so potent that um it's taking a while to drink through.

Speaker 4 38:21

Yeah, because with this, the the bite and everything really is more at the end. If you just let it sit in your mouth for a minute, it's not attacking you, but it is incredibly flavorful. There is flavor, dude. This is last, yeah.

Speaker 3 38:37

This is filling your senses up and sticking with you.

Speaker 4 38:40

This is the octumor for rye. This is it, this isn't like I said, this is a rye concentrate. When I was doing the tastings for watershed, you know, I I really loved tasting those uncut unfiltered, but they were different ones, and so batch five, I think, is the one that was it was another distillery exclusive, you could only get it at the distillery. And I went in there to try it one day, and I had the option, I was like, do I want that or do I want the maple finish? And I went with the maple finish that day after I tried them both. And the reason why is because I felt like five didn't have that long finish, and that long finish is really when I when it comes to a high proof whiskey, what I want more than anything else is a finish. I want a finish and a high proof, and so when it got to like batches six and seven, you got that back. It was just like the there's a couple there in the middle that don't don't have that long finish, but most of them have it, and it it's what makes them so good is that long finish to that. So this is like a mile long finish. I mean, this is just yeah, like I'll be tasting this when I get home, you know, like it'll still be there.

Speaker 3 39:48

Yeah, it's like a lingering, like it stays with you for like like the rest of the night, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 39:54

And so it is such a long finish. Uh, but like I said, if you hold it in your mouth, it kind of has some more of those creamy notes to it. Exactly. Uh that's what she's saying. Yeah.

Speaker 3 40:11

Anyway, yeah, it bites at the end. Uh the uh let's speak on the tobacco. What do you think about the the tobacco?

Speaker 4 40:18

The tobacco is very good. I'm having a hard time keeping it lit.

Speaker 3 40:21

Me too. It is it's it's it's a moist tobacco. It needs uh, I bet when we were if I leave this on the like I do, if I leave this in the pipe room for a week, yeah, in the tin sealed, we if we try this in a week, it's gonna smoke beautifully.

Speaker 4 40:36

Yeah.

Speaker 3 40:37

But um uh in a lot of esoteric is that way. They put a little bit more uh PG in there, uh propylene glycol, just to keep it for aging for overtime. So when you crack it, it's usually like not great. Yeah, well moisture. People are kind of like, you know, I hate it. And then they're like, Oh, I've heard all this good stuff about esoterica. Why do people rave about it? Well, it's because you need to look like when you are a mature pipe, you know. Like I know what like I typically, if we weren't smoking and talking on this podcast, if I had popped this tin, I would have felt it and be like, not smoking this today. Yeah, I know the moisture just by the feel of me specifically what I'm gonna, yeah, what I'm gonna smoke and what I'm not. This will sit and and it won't dry out the way that I do it, but it'll sit for a week. I'll smoke it, it's gonna be amazing. I'll bring it to the next club or whatever, it'll be amazing. I and I can already pick up the flavors and stuff because it's just not standing lit, but the flavors are fantastic. I don't know what the room note is, but it's a very tobacco forward, natural, kind of plummy kind of yeah, not as strong as the last one, honestly.

Speaker 5 41:46

Yeah, like it's not tobacco forward, it's it's a very faint nuance, yeah.

Speaker 3 41:52

Yeah, but it's an aromatic, yeah.

Speaker 5 41:54

It should be a little bit, should be a little bit friendlier to the I I wouldn't say that I'm getting like plum or fruity or anything, it's just it's it's faint. Like it's it's friendly.

Speaker 3 42:04

This is a true aromatic, yeah. So it's tobacco, you know what I mean with with some natural like wine and stuff. Like it's not like a fake. If I were to light up lane one Q, you'd be like, that's the best smelling stuff in the world, but it's all chemically like topped, you know. It's good. I mean, get it, but it doesn't taste very good.

Speaker 4 42:19

And I will say, as an aromatic, I was you know, I'm always a little hesitant when it comes to an aromatic. You know, you gotta kind of watch those. They tend to burn a little bit, they bite. Uh, but this doesn't have that. This is not burning hot. Um, now maybe it might burn more so when it when I can keep it lit, but it'll burn better. Uh but I still don't think it's gonna burn necessarily hot. If it was gonna burn you, it'd burn you now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 42:43

And actually, I really pop an edit to get it, keep it lit. I've noticed a ton of moisture in the bowl. I've already used a pipe cleaner once or twice, but that is from the the tobacco. Yeah, so it just needs to dry out a bit, but it is good.

Speaker 4 42:56

Yeah, flavor-wise is good. Um, it's a good balance to this, to the rye, because it does add a little bit of a sweetness to it. It does add a little sweetness, and so that and I think that helps with that punch in the face.

Speaker 5 43:09

You guys talk about how this this tobacco might do well with more age on it. Any tobacco, really, yeah. Just try your eight match number two, and you you are gonna say the same thing. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 43:23

Age. Oh, that the that this the so the new whiskey versus the old one is night and day.

Speaker 5 43:28

You talk about Indiana rye versus Pennsylvania rye, and that is what you will get on this guy. You will be able to people listening, are like, what does that mean? What are you talking about? You will notice a there's a major difference between rye and rye flavor, like incredibly like I this can't be the same.

Speaker 4 43:49

I know I almost wish I would have done this in reverse. Yeah, I wish I would have had this for and then went back to the nine because this it's it's tasting almost watered down, but I think that's a little. Little bit because I'm now used to the nine year. Yeah, but it still has, like you said, it has a lot of those flavors of it, but this has a bit more mellowness to it. Um, the eight-year has a little bit more mellowness to it. I think I said this when we talked, I think it's kind of lemony, it's kind of like citrusy a little bit, which I feel like is normal for like uh in uh 95 and 5 MGP one is lemony, yeah.

Speaker 5 44:29

Yeah, okay, because the new one I did not get.

Speaker 4 44:31

No, no, no, not the new one, the eight-year, the batch two eight year one I just poured. Yeah, the one you just poured. I bet get kind of a lemony, citrusy kind of feel to it, which you do get with some rice.

Speaker 5 44:42

Yep, like a bright yeah, some bright three, right? Yeah, no, it's batch two. That's batch two. Says batch number three on it.

Speaker 4 44:49

Oh, does it? Oh, is this I thought that was batch number two. Oh no, this is batch four. Oh, okay.

Speaker 3 44:55

Yeah, so the entire podcast probably strike that reverse. Okay, we're back at strike it. This is batch three. I'm reading it. Uh, you know what's an interesting thing? And are the bottles the same? And the corks don't seem to be the same. Well, maybe the corks, but they used a cool blue, they did make a it's a very nice navy blue, but you never get blue with a rye, it's green. It's usually a green. Blue is American single ball. Everybody knows that. Bright blue. Yeah, but I do love this blue

Plum Cake Pipe Notes And Final Takeaways

Speaker 3 45:20

color. It's a very nice blue color. The label on the front is like a darker blue, but the label on the neck is like a lighter blue. It's really cool. I like it with the gold and everything.

Speaker 4 45:29

Is that is on the neck there? Is it green? From here, it kind of looked like it was greenish.

Speaker 3 45:34

It's very, just it's very blue. It's like uh ocean, like an ocean blue almost. Yeah, yeah. No, I love it. I love the bottle. I mean, they do a good job with their bottles. They do, yeah. They're really when they went to real corks, you know. A while back they were using synthetic synthetic.

Speaker 2 45:47

I think that one's synthetic. That one's real. Really? Yeah, that does look synthetic. So they kind of go back and forth on that.

Speaker 5 45:52

Is that so on the top of that? Does it say watershed on the top? Just has that W on it, right? No, okay.

Speaker 4 45:57

Maybe there's nothing on that one.

Speaker 5 45:59

Maybe mine broke.

Speaker 4 46:00

Did you put you put a fake cork on here?

Speaker 5 46:02

Maybe you had to replace it. Maybe it broke and I had to replace it. Oh, Lord almighty.

Speaker 4 46:05

Yeah, because this has that watershed.

Speaker 3 46:07

Yeah, because this is a this is a real cork. And I will say, watershed, I've never seen a real cork. I don't think.

Speaker 5 46:11

Maybe you had to replace it.

Speaker 3 46:12

So I think you're I think this is a fake cork. It's counterfeit.

Speaker 5 46:15

Well, it's it's a different cork from a different bottle, but it's fine. Counterfeit.

Speaker 4 46:19

But yeah, give that a try. Because yeah, that is you're right. It is um a more mellowed out version. It has a lot of those citrus notes to it. And it does wow, it almost seems like watered down at the moment.

Speaker 3 46:32

But I think it's because but but but I don't want people to think that this is not this is not. No, no, no. Holy cow, this is actually what's interesting is going from that to this. This is so much more friendly. But it's what it's uh this is more this is more friendly than the other. Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah. Eight year is more friendly than I absolutely freaking lully. Yeah, like you'd be crazy to think otherwise. Okay. Over here, but one year and 20 proof, 20 proof. Yeah, I will say that it's the it's not as concentrated rye flavors. This is more flavorful, non-ry flavorful. And I totally get what you're saying, lemons. So, what I'm getting is, and I think it's more picking, I'm picking way more up on it because I went from that to this. Yeah, it's lemon and graham cracker. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, yeah. So almost like a lemon meringue, where when you eat the uh the the graham cracker along with the with the bite, you know. I mean, you got a good amount of that base um with the lemon and then the thing on top, the meringue on top. That that's very much what this is. Almost like lemon forward, which is weird to say for a rye. I mean, citrus, sure, but like lemon, but God, I do appreciate the hell out of this. This is really good. I mean, it's hard to compare the two. Like, I I actually can't believe that they're the same th thing, just well, obviously, one's more proofed and one's a year older, but it's the same ingredients. Yeah, that's almost impossible to imagine. Yeah, because I appreciate this so much, and I appreciate the other one, but in their own ways, not as like this is this is that, but aged and an uncut kind of a thing. Yeah, and this one's been kind of cut in like this one was circumcised in a year younger. Right. Sounds weird, but you know what I mean? Yeah, uh, but yeah, this is really good too. But this one, I could we could this one you could drink through. I could drink very quickly, yes.

Speaker 4 48:24

Yeah, that one you can't. This is much brighter, yeah. This is much much easier to drink, whereas the new nine-year, it is just so bold and so complex, uh, and so in your face. You just cannot like sit and drink multiple glasses at a time like that.

Speaker 3 48:42

This one feels like uh like cut, like like filtered, you know what I mean? Uh the other one just feels like freaking wild, like like we did not filter in anything, like this. We put the we put this straight from the barrel in there. That's what that feels like. And I appreciate them both in their own ways. Yeah, I want like it's like I want both bottles, and I don't want this to be obsolete, the eight-year, the eight year I mean.

Speaker 4 49:05

And that's the thing. Unfortunately, it is like it's it's no more. Um, it is one of those unfortunate things and fortunate things about whiskey in that uh when you have that bottle and it's gone, that is that is kind of the end of it. Makes it makes you appreciate that you're in the moment. Yeah, yeah. This is not a shelter because it's not possible to be a shelter. That doesn't mean you shouldn't open it and enjoy it. Exactly. Yeah, that's what it's all about. Yeah, what I can say for certain is that if there is ever a a rye put up by Watershed, I'll be period the putting into it. I gotta try it. I mean, yeah, I have to try it just to see what it's gonna be like. I'm actually a little bit afraid of a 10-year rye. Like if they continued this on, like I don't even know if they'd be able to.

Speaker 3 49:52

I don't know if they'd I don't know how much more you could think they should. I was gonna say, I don't know how much more you could fit into a bottle. It's kind of like Frankenstein's monster. Yeah, like, oh, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, you know. Like, like, whoops, what another leash on the world, yeah.

Speaker 5 50:06

Yeah, 10, 11 is that oh shit, it's alive.

Speaker 2 50:08

Yeah, drunk. It's uh oh, whoops, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is fire. Oh god, what are you stuck there?

Speaker 5 50:16

All of their if I remember right, all of their rice have been the same price tag. I think so. I think they're 100 bucks. About 100, 110.

Speaker 3 50:24

Yeah, I love that. There's specialty stuff that write at 100. That's uh that's so swap. Like you just want to be. But do you think this is worth that?

Speaker 4 50:31

Oh, absolutely. Both of these bottles are well worth $100. Absolutely. And I don't want anyone to listen to this and hear me say it, but they could charge more for it. Don't say that. So, but cut that, cut, cut. This only because of the market the way it is.

Speaker 3 50:47

120. 120. Yeah, for you could you could squeeze it. Yeah, you. I mean, I put this up there with uh specialty bottles like yeah, like bookers or whatever else, which is actually right around 100. Yep, unless you get scalped, unless you get scalped with 90 something or whatever. But um, it's I don't mean flavor, I don't mean it's like the same flavor-wise if people are thinking that, but I mean like quality of product and intensity of product. Intensity, yeah. Uh, I put this up there with like bookers, things like that.

Speaker 4 51:18

Yeah, I don't know what the future holds for watershed now that they've been sold out, now that Greg is leaving. I don't know what that means, like in terms of how they're gonna do it. Their masters still are staying the same, he's still there.

Speaker 3 51:29

Uh I hope it's gonna be like a Budweiser type situation with Ambev when they took over. Nothing really changed. Yeah, they did put out one commercial, it was weird, you know, like and there was a thing, a fallout or whatever. But as far as their product goes, it's still good. And I kept buying it. I don't care. I'm not one of those people that are like, I'm not buying Budweiser, I don't care. It's good. I liked it before, I like it, it hasn't changed. Now, if the product changes, I might change my mind. But the product, the quality has been the same, the owners are different.

Speaker 4 51:56

Yep, I'm hoping that's what we get with Watershed. I hope so. The fact that the master is still there is still there, he's still continuing on. So, so I hope that that means the product is gonna change the stay the same. Uh, as long as the company doesn't try to try to sway him one direction or another. Um, but overall, I'm really impressed with them. I actually think there will be some changes in terms of product, but it'll be more of good changes. Uh, I think it'll be good things. I like, and this is not inside information or anything, it's just like I hope that like the uncut unfiltered will become more of a thing, they'll continue that on. And and hopefully maybe their their marketing or the way that they do their their lotteries or their specialty bottles will change. I think now that that bourbon is kind of dying off a little bit, like there the the hunt is not in a good way. Exactly. Yeah, it's a good thing. Um, but that you're not gonna have maybe as much of the specialty bottles and the specialty hype stuff, which is good because I don't know.

Speaker 3 52:57

I think when people want shelfers, yeah. We're starting to come back around to this is my brand. This is my brand, like like our grandfathers did. I wouldn't say our dads, our grandfathers kind of had their brands, yeah. Uh, and we're we're coming back. I don't know about you guys, but I'm totally coming back to around like I look, I like variety and I've had a lot of variety, but I'm starting to realize that like there are certain things that I'm reaching for more often than not.

Speaker 4 53:21

Yeah. Um, something I haven't pitched, you guys have no idea what I'm about to say. So we'll we'll talk more about it later. But uh a future episode I'd like to do is on some of these these brands that have come out with their own clubs, where like you get a bottle that's like especially bottled just for club members, sort of thing. And yeah, and I could see watershed coming out with something like that in the future. I think that's definitely something that they would do, and I think they do well with it. Yeah. Um, the one I had, um it's still in the air on whether or not we're gonna do it because I wasn't a huge fan of the bottle, but uh, but the conversation still might be good. I think you know what you're talking about, yeah. But uh yeah, so like those that type of thing is I think it's coming out around conversation for the conversation, yeah. I think watershed would do really well with something like that, with their like a like a club type subscription sort of thing.

Speaker 3 54:13

If they didn't ship out, it'd be perfect. That is something that is becoming more of a thing. Yeah, we'll we won't talk more about it now. I think that that would be a good future episode.

Speaker 4 54:23

I could see that being a direction that they go, and I could see it working well for them. But for now, what I want to say is watershed rye next year when it comes out again. Hopefully, guy willingly put as many emails as I can. Yes, put if you have the ability to put out for it, do it. They're all good. Um, and honestly, most watershed products is that way. I mean, there are a couple of duds out there, but they do finishings really well, they do high proof really well. So, you know, it's a it's a good thing to do.

Speaker 3 54:50

I mean, eight eight was amazing. Uh, nine is the never-ending story.

Speaker 54:54

Yes.

Speaker 3 54:55

So, um what's 10 gonna be?

Speaker 54:57

We'll see what they do.

Speaker 4 54:58

Yeah, if they I I almost don't want the next one to be a 10-year, I almost, or at least not from this same batch. 10, 10 year, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it'll be 160 proof, and I don't do all that. Yeah, hazmat ride?

Speaker 3 55:11

350 bottles. I don't think they can do hazmat ride.

Speaker 5 55:14

People will yeah, they're gonna have like a the world is not ready for a hazmat ride.

Speaker 3 55:19

They're gonna have to put some sort of you have to sign a thing, right? A waiver before you sign it. Like a hot wing challenge, like have to sign a waiver. I mean, that this one that that one's already uh as far as a full on flavor goes, it's a 10 out of 10. Oh yeah, it's a it's a great bottle. Oh, it's it's it's a 10 out of 10 flavor. I don't I really don't think you can get much more uh without like being straight up dragon's blood. Yeah, I I enjoyed it. I had a good time. Go out and get it if you can. They can't.

Speaker 4 55:49

So well, yeah. I kind of hope it's not in the secondary. So I hope you can't get it. I'm sure hopefully someone of your friends did. Yes, and then you can drive that way. Yeah, so uh we'll have this at the next club meeting. All right, until the next turn, gents. 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 tasterspama.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.