172. Best Bourbon Festivals of 2021

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts, Jim and Mike. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

We would like to thank our friends at Premium Bar Products for sponsoring this episode. If you're ready to step up your game at your home bar, check out premiumbarproducts.com to choose from their wide selection of glassware, all of which can be custom engraved with your personal message or logo. And there's no minimum order. So after the episode, head over to premiumbarproducts.com and check out everything they have to offer. Now let's get on with the show. Hello everybody, I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyde. And this is The Bourbon Road. And today, Mike, we've got a long episode. We're going to talk about a lot of really, really cool stuff.

Yeah, so everybody knows that everything's opening back up in America, right? Yeah, it is. The floodgates have opened up. and a lot of festivals are planned and we wanted to let everybody know what some of those festivals are for the remainder of 2021. So we've got a whole list put together that'll be on the blog on our website but we're going to go through those and talk about some of those It's not everyone. It'd be hard to put that on our website. It'd be like 10 pages long, I think. It's very extensive. You're just sort of skimming the surface. We are skimming the surface, but we added a bunch in there. But to celebrate the opening of America's Whiskey Trail, we're going to drink two 15-year-old bourbons. today. Oh, I love 15 year old burger. So let's get straight to the whiskey first, right? Let's do it. So the first one I got, you know, this guy right here, he holds a high praise in this old Texas heart, right? Sam Houston. He's 15 years. Um, They're bourbon from Sam Houston. The only thing to knock on this is that it's Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. He's a Texas man. He's a Texas man. I still wish they would pick something from Texas or Tennessee. I'd be fine with Tennessee because he was from Tennessee, you know. But Sam Houston, if people don't know, he's the father of Texas. On the bottle, what he said enlightened by patriotism and guided by wisdom. You know what? I think of wisdom. I think of a 15-year-old bourbon. Me and you were sitting here speculating beforehand about where this comes from. We know it's from Kentucky. We do know it's from Kentucky. You know what the match bill is? The match bill is 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley. That narrows it down just a tad.

distilled and aged in Barstown, Kentucky. So Barstown, Kentucky, 74% match bill. What do you say? I say Barton.

I say Barton. So the other bourbon we're going to drink is Calumet Farms, 15 year. It's the same Asheville. Same age. Same parent company. Same parent company. The parent company is Western Spirits out of Bowling Green, Kentucky. They also own brands like Bird Dog and Lexington that has the horse on it. So we know those bourbons. Yeah, this was laid down in 2006, in April of 2006. So there was only three barrels of this bottle right now. So you could find this bottle for about $144 up to $300. What do you think I paid? 144 less. Yeah. Paid 105 bucks for it. There you go. I stole it.

You stole it. I stole it. S-O-S-T-O-L-E-D. Sold.

We need to probably get some whiskey though. Let's do it.

So you think this is some of them fallen warehouse barrels? I don't, I don't know, but it does. It's oaky. Yes, it is. It's also got that deep, dark fruit nose to it. Kind of a syrupy fruit nose. Plums. Sweden plums. Sugar plums.

Well, I might drink some of that sucker. Pow.

That's got quite a punch to it. Very oaky. Yep. Still have sugar plums you're talking about though. Yep.

They're there.

Yep. Like a granulated sugar on the outside of them.

Yeah. So this is 103 proof.

Not, I was expecting more spice out of this. I'm getting this. I'm getting the, I'm getting the spice though. I'm getting that. It's not a lot of it there, but I'm getting that, uh, that little bit of licorice undertone. Still got those sugar plums. that nice raisin plum sweetness that comes across. A lot of oak, but I'm getting a hint of that licorice from underneath. Yeah, I think it's a mighty fine bourbon. You remember what you were doing in 2006 when this was being made? I do remember what I was doing. Well, not specifically in 2006, but around that time. What was you doing? I was living in Ohio, Northern Ohio.

Yeah.

I had a manufacturing company I owned up there and I was kicking it, kicking it hard until 2008 when the economy kind of crashed.

Well, I was on the Coast Guard cutter Mackinac. In April, it was a heavy freeze that winter, and I still breaking ice in April up in Whitefish Bay, right outside of Sault Ste. Marie, right over, not too far where the Edmund Fitzgerald lays today. Breaking ice up there. I have vivid memories of that thinking, man, I'm ready to go home.

That's a long time ago. I mean, 15 years, you start thinking about it. A lot's happened in the last 15 years. Yeah.

I think modifying expression of whiskey here to honor Sam Houston, I'm fine with them putting this in a bottle for him.

Yeah, absolutely. So we're recording on Sunday, actually. This is Sunday. Tomorrow is National Bourbon Day. There's been some festivities over the last couple of days down in Bardstown to celebrate National Bourbon Day. And I guess this episode will be released two days after National Bourbon Day.

Well, speaking of Barstown, we would be remiss not to start off with that. You got to kind of start off with a granddaddy of all bourbon events, right? Which is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It's the 16th through the 19th of September. If you don't got tickets yet, They're sold out. You might have to go scalp some. Probably you could look on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace and you'd probably find some that people have to. change their schedule or something like that. I had other events that came up, but totally different event this year. Our good buddy, Steve Coombs is involved deeply in that. This is our 30th year. They've been doing it since 1991.

So this year is a little bit more about, well, it's about Bartstown, but it's also more bourbon centric. It's more about the bourbon industry. It's more about, it's not so much the craft fair. that it's been in the past. It's more about bourbon lovers.

Yeah.

It's a 21 year old event, you know. Adult event.

Yeah. We went two years ago and it was like a lot of advertisement down there. Insurance sales and AT&T and stuff like that and a lot of crafts. But I think they're going to be focused more on bourbon crafts, bourbon swag, I guess, in the distilleries and live music. So that's a good thing. Now, you were telling me about they're going to add to that next year though.

Yeah. So 2022, this was just announced during the festivities this weekend, but in 2022, they're going to add a bourbon and barbecue championship down there in June, actually. So expanding the Bourbon Festival to include something in June related to having a big event, a big like judging event for barbecue.

Oh, I thought they were going to have like a bourbon drinking event. I'd go down there.

No, no, there's definitely going to be some bourbon drinking. I'm sure you'll find your, your, your good buddy, uh, Big Mo Kason. Big Mo Kason in there with his barbecue. Yeah.

You'll probably be there cooking up a storm and drinking as well. Or, well, I didn't know if they were going to have a bourbon drinking competition. I'll go down there. We'll take the big chief down there and show them what for. So that's what's going on at Barstown. I think that's kind of neat, but we wanted to kind of showcase what else is going on around the nation too, just in case you can't make it to Kentucky this year or to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

There's other events out there you can go to, right?

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, our good friends, Donnie and Teresa, the Beatyville moonshiners, um, they actually set up their own bourbon event, a bourbon and moonshine event. It's the Beatyville bourbon and moonshine festival in Slade, Kentucky. And that's on the 10th of July. So if you want to go over to Eastern Kentucky and the heels up there.

Um, no, this is, this is actually just not too far from Winchester. This is, this is, um, Just a little outside of Lexington there. Slate Kentucky is right at the natural bridge state park and Red River Gorge. A beautiful place to go spend a weekend camping or staying in the lodge. They've got a really beautiful lodge there. You know, the natural bridges that are formed out of the limestone, you can go hiking up in the trails and hike. It's just a great place. And it's not that far from Lexington. No, that's not that far of a drive.

You know what they say? You can't have bourbon without moonshine. Is that true?

Well, I think it all had to start somewhere, right? Well, yeah, but I mean, it's white dog, right?

Really whiskey. Yeah. But hey, that's an event you should go check out. You can meet Donnie and Teresa over there. They're going to have some other people over there. The Neely family is going to be over there, I believe. Other industry folks. It's really at the foothills of the Appalachia. You want to go over there and check that out. Make a weekend out. Yeah, most definitely. Um, if you, if you, if you bring your Jeep, there's some nice trails. Are there? Yeah. Yeah. I know we always see some friends over there, jeepin and stuff. And that's not too far from the Hatfield McCoy trails. You can go ATV and over there, you can go take a side by side like we have over there, um, and make an entire weekend out of it. Hike Red River Gorge, rock climbing over there. I think you'd have some whitewater rafting over there. There's a lot to do in that area.

Oh yeah, definitely.

The next big event, though, is the 18th through 22nd of August. That's the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. Yeehaw. Big event. That is a big event. Now, that's usually in March. but they changed it because they had to postpone it. You know, they already said, let the good times roll down there. That's that city's motto. That's an event you're not going to want to miss. They always have a theme. You want to check out their website. We put that on our blog. Are we going? Man, I'd like to, Jim. That'd be, we're going a lot this year. We're getting back on the road for sure. So that's a good event right there, right? I might have to get him to pour this Sam Houston. It's tasting so good.

Yeah, it's really good. Now, Mike, I'm going to revisit here for just a second, though. I have to say that the finish on this is is is. And I'm watching my glass go down, but I have to be kind of careful because I've been drinking beer all day. It's 94 degrees outside. It's hot. It's hot. It's hot. So, we went out today and we hit a few of those craft beer breweries. They're sitting heavy on me.

While you sip on that, I'll tell our listeners what else we got for you. So another whiskey event we picked out, it's called Whiskey Business. This is on the 20th of August in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio. Not known as a big whiskey city. Oh, it's getting there, Mike. It is getting there. So, this supports the, I think I'm saying this right, the Witt Museum. All the proceeds from this is going to go to that. You're going to be right on the riverfront. If you haven't been to the Riverwalk in San Antonio, a beautiful place to go and visit, eat, not too far from the Alamo. You can go check that out, but they're going to have industry folks down there too. They're going to have live music. They're going to have craft beer there, wine for the people that don't drink whiskey. They're going to have food, but they're going to have a lot of whiskey. So make sure you check that event out. If you're in Texas area, you can't make it up Kentucky this year. Hey, we understand. They already sold out the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Let's sell these events out too. Absolutely. Spread the love. Heck, let's get another pour this year.

Let's do it. You don't got to drive anymore. I don't. While you're pouring, Mike, like I was saying, we went out and hit a few breweries today to have some ice cold ones because it was very hot. And we drove through downtown Louisville, and I have to say there was a lot of activity on Main Street in downtown and Whiskey Road today. A lot of people moving around. We crossed the Second Street Bridge to go over to the Indiana side. And while we were sitting there at the light on Main Street, getting ready to hit the bridge, you could just see all the hustle and bustle on the street of all the new tourists. So it's starting to break free. Yeah.

Like I said, the floodgates are open. So the next big festival, it's here in Kentucky. This is a festival I've wanted to go to ever since I moved here. I'm going to try to go to this one this year. It's the 28th of August. It is the Railbird Festival in Lexington, Kentucky. Now, if you like horse racing, you like music, you like bourbon, This is at Keeneland. Now, Churchill is kind of the granddaddy of racetracks, but Keeneland might be the most beautiful racetrack. The grounds there are just spectacular. Keeneland is the GQ younger brother. Yeah, it's super nice. They've got a lineup of bands, just a mile long. Some bands that are going to be there are Midland, a band of horses. The Dave Matthews band is going to be there. Yeah. Leon Bridges, Marin Morrison, the Revivalists, Jason Isbell. The 400 unit Japanese breakfast. I'm not even sure who that is. Uh, Pine Grove and more. So the first railroad festival was in 2019. Uh, they had a cancel the 2020 and obviously this one right here will be there. So I'm so glad to hear you said Jason is balls there. Oh, that's cool. So so many other bands that I didn't list, but like I said, you can check them out on our website and there's a link in there to that festival. So, man, there's some great festivals right there already that we've named out, right? Well, we're just going to make it even better while we're sipping on this 15-year-old Sam Houston. Oh, you are. Yeah. So 18th of September. Yeah. Wings and Whiskey Craw in Louisville, Kentucky. Yeah. Now, you want to buy your tickets to this. I mean, wings and whiskey, don't they go together? So, you can go around downtown Louisville, Urban Bourbon Trail, different places are going to have wings and those are included in your ticket. I think you get four wings at each stop and a taste of whiskey in your ticket. So, you get drink tickets and stuff. So, you want to make sure you check that out. If you're going to be here at that time, that's a whiskey event you can go to. Kind of, but not of a festival, but a whole little bar crawl with Wings and Whiskey. So, are they going to have the trolleys? I'm not sure about that. On their website, it's the wingsandwhiskeycrawl.com. There's a link in there for Louisville, but if you can't make it to this one, they got several other cities that you could hit, which is nice, right? That they're going to have this whole traveling whiskey thing. I love that kind of stuff. And we got several other like that on our list that we're going to go through. So the last one that I'm going to mention in this half right here. I just know me, you're not going to do this. Maybe you are. You've been back in the gym. So maybe you're up for this. I'm not up for it. I should tell you right now. 24th of September is the fourth annual bourbon burn. What is that? The burn is a part bike tour, part bourbon festival in a three day fully supported bicycle tour of bourbon distilleries and thoroughbred horse farms of Kentucky. Yeah. I won't be doing that one. You sure? I'm sure. I had to hang up my bike.

I raised BMX for so many years and I just broke so much stuff. I just can't get on a bike again. I'm done.

Well, this is a different kind of bicycle, I would think. The price on this is $449 for the event. You want to check out that link in our blog, on our website, check it out. You won't see me and Jim on this event, I guarantee you. We'll be at the finish line. Yeah, we might go to the finish line and say hi to you. Um, still for there, we have many listeners, a lot of our listeners in our private Facebook group that do these kinds of things. Um, for guys like that, Adam, Adam Boothby might, he might be right up for this challenge right here. I know he does kayak and he's the iron man kind of fellow, him and his wife are, uh, Sarah. So make sure you check that event out. And that's what I got for the first half. Now we still got plenty to go for this show, right?

Yeah. So there's a lot more. So I hope everybody's writing this stuff down, right?

It's in the blog. I wrote it down for them. I mean, we compiled it, a little description of each one. And we've got some big surprises on there for you in the second half.

So what do you think, Mike?

What's the final word on this Sam Houston 15?

Man, it's pretty special. It's good. It's really good. So this is 15-year-old Barton juice. Everybody loves Barton. Good stuff. It's not too oaky. It's a bit oaky, but it's not too oaky. Now, we had the 14 or the 13 or what? 12. We did the 14. 14, okay.

Now, we did the 12 of this and we did the 14 of the Caliban. Got it. Your whiskeys all start blending together after a while, don't they? They do. That's what we had was the 12 of this. I still got it on the shelf, which is a spice bomb. and the 14 of the Calumet. And I've had some other Calumet before. So, well, that's the first half listeners.

All right. Well, we'll take a short break here. We'll keep sipping on the same Houston when we come back. We've got another bottle and another list of events. Yeah. All right. But you know, you can't drink whiskey without glassware. And Mike and I are extremely pleased to have a sponsor like premium bar products. Premium bar products offers direct to consumer, the finest whiskey glasses, cocktail glasses, and bar tools with your own personal engraving. I mean, you can write anything you want on these glasses, anything from a company logo to a personal statement. And there are no minimum orders. Their direct consumer platform offers you the opportunity to purchase small quantities of your favorite glass shapes that enhance the pleasure of enjoyment and drinking a whiskey and make it all very positive. They offer the absolute finest trending and handmade glasses as well as a comprehensive range of styles. And all of their items have been designed with purpose, practicality, and longevity in mind. So if you're a bourbon or whiskey group and you need custom logos, you need to reach out to Premium Bar Products. If you're an individual, you just want a few for your bar to impress your friends, to give out as gifts, you need to call Premium Bar Products. They need to be your one and only swords for custom glassware. I can tell you right now, the Bourbon Road, that's who we use. Janie and Carson and the team there at Premium Bar Products will take care of you. They'll treat you like family and they'll take care of you with every order. Hey, listeners. Well, you're back. Mike and I are drinking a couple of 15-year-old bourbons today. We're talking about all the great whiskey events that are playing for this summer, this fall, and into the future. And, uh, Mike, what do we have in our glass? Well, we got that.

I don't know if I'm always saying that Calumet farm 15 year old. Now we're thinking this is the same juice, same barrels. This one's a little bit bigger batch though. This is 19 barrels.

So the same Houston was three barrels. Same match bill on this. Yep.

A little higher proof on this is 105. The same Houston was 103. Still, we nosed it. We sipped on a little bit already. It's pretty close on.

It's similar. The nose is spot on the same, as far as I can tell. Uh, the pallets a little bit different, but let's, let's, let's revisit it again, because, you know, when you're, when you're switching bourbons, you need to give it a fair shot. Now this bourbon is actually named for, uh, world away.

Okay. He was the 1941 horse the year. He also won the triple crown. Um, hell of a horse, right? I mean, he was a legend.

That's a, that's a horse when you went all three. It's been a minute since we had one.

Yeah. Yeah. So the trainer is Ben Jones and you know the jockey. Who was the jockey of this horse?

Eddie Arcaro?

Yeah. Yeah. Super famous.

Oh yeah. Probably the best known jockey of all time. And in that age or? Well, yeah. Well, you know, you've got every age, every age has a jockey, right? And in that time Eddie Arcaro was the guy. Yeah, I had somebody the other day tell me it's Secretariat.

They were trying to explain to me about Secretariat and they were like, yeah, it's a name for this or that. And I was like, no, is it named for really the secretary of the owner? And they were like, I said, I'll tell you something else interesting about Secretariat that you don't know. I don't know if you know this. I might not know. Did you know Ariat Boots? comes from the name Secretariat. No, I had no idea. Yep. And if you look at the label for Ariat, it's three horseshoes.

I had no clue. Ariat, Secretariat. I get it. Okay. Wow.

Mike, you're just a wealth of knowledge. Well, just a little bit. These women got together and they worked for Reebok at the time and they wanted to make a more comfortable cowboy boot. You know, I'm a big, I wear a lot of area boots. I think I have eight or nine pairs of them. And, uh, so to me, uh, they're super comfortable boot. Um, but yeah, secretary at race horse and we're getting sidetracked there.

That's all right. So back to the whiskey. So you and I are going to go ahead and taste through this again, because even though we've had a sip of it before, we need to do it proper. Well, cheers. Cheers. Yeah, for me, Mike, the nose is the same. Maybe a little bit more ethanol on the nose on this one, a little bit more bite to it. But for the most part, it's the same.

A little bit of bitterness on that back end. And I don't know because it's 19 barrels and maybe they picked those three honey barrels to go out into the same Houston.

Yeah, this doesn't have that same sugar plum sweetness. It's got a little bit more spice, a little more spice, a little bit less sweetness. It's got that bitter note to it, like you mentioned. This is not the same bourbon that's in the same Houston bottle. Well, it might be the same distillery. You might put those 19 barrels together. Yeah. The blend of barrels differs.

Now, same price on there. Those are going for $140, all the way up to $300. Depending on where you get it at, what do you think I'll pay for that one?

I don't know. $100 in nickel?

Spot on right there. You know, I wasn't going to buy it and then I saw it at Costco and I was like, how can I walk past that at that price?

Yeah. I had the 14 year. I think I paid $115 for the 14 year. Yeah.

I mean, I feel good that I got both of those prices. I actually bought the Sam Houston Inn right outside of St. Louis, which is a bourbon desert over there. But I walked into the store and I saw it on the top shelf and said, Hey, what are you guys asking for that? They told me and I was like, just go ahead and pull that bottle down.

So how did bourbon and blondes feel about living in a bourbon desert? I don't know if they think it's a bourbon desert.

Like we think it's a bourbon desert because we're kind of spoiled, right? Yeah. You go in a liquor store here and the bourbon aisle is just a mile long. Uh, me and Vivian actually stopped by Total Wine over there in St. Louis and it was like a quarter of what total wine here is, total wine here will have, it's not just one side of an aisle, it's both sides of the aisle are covered up with all kinds of good goodness, right? But there is, you know, maybe we want to know some liquor stores, they might have five or six bottles of bourbon. To me, that's a bourbon desert. But there's not as many people hunting there either. So can you run across a bottle like this where the liquor store owner maybe doesn't really know what he has and... Um, their employees don't know what they have and they just grab it down and say, there you go. Um, this would be in a lot case in some liquor stores here. So I, I felt glad that I, I picked it up. Actually, I felt glad, but both I picked both these up.

So they've got them both right now at Costco in the case one per customer. See, there you go. In a case two though. Yeah. One per customer.

Yeah. So getting back to our festivals and stuff. So I know you love Cincinnati, right? I do. So I got a festival up there starting the first through the second of October. It is in Covington, Kentucky, there at their conference. It is the Kentucky's Edge Bourbon Conference and Festival up there.

You're going to want to check this out. So is this the conference surrounded by the sort of the distilleries in that area?

Well, actually they're going to have keynote speakers like Bill Samuels from Makers Mark, Marcus Nieman from Four Roses, Molly Wellman. She's an author and mixologist. So they're going to have some big names there and stuff. Big chief from the bourbon room. Well, I don't know. I might be on another trip that time of the year. That's, uh, that's getting right around my birthday.

And you know, me and my birthday, I, we, we try to blow these sandwiches in Nashville. I don't know. Well, I don't know. I might be in a Caribbean this year.

I'm being Vivian or try to take as many trips as possible this year. And just, just good for you. We're just trying to have a good time. Days off to me are going to be spent having a good time. Like I'm doing today is. recording an episode with my good buddy. So you want to make sure you check that out right there. They're going to have some bluegrass. They're going to have some beer there. Right there in that area, they got Braxton Brewery too, if you're a beer fan. So I'm sure they're going to be there. Some great food down there.

So this is a Mainstrasse area?

Yep. That area right there. So I got a breakfast place for you to eat there in Covington. You're going to want to hit this place up. Now you got to kind of close your eyes. It's called the Pepper Pod. This is a throwback to a 50s diner. If you order stuff and it looks like it has peppers on it, it might be cigarette ashes. I don't know.

Now, nobody's going to go, Mike. No, no, I'm serious.

It is amazing little place, little hole in the wall place. You want to check it out. Go to the Pepper Pod, hit it up if you're up there at this festival. I love it. Every time we go up there, I go there. Not far from New Riff, right? Not far from New Riff, like right down the road. And then right next to New Riff is Party Source. Pretty good size liquor store.

Probably the best bourbon selection at a liquor store in Northern Kentucky. In Northern Kentucky. I'd say that too. Yeah.

No doubt. So that's another one. 22nd through the 23rd of October, right down the road from us. Now we're probably going to have to hit this one up. This is bourbon on the banks in Frankfort, Kentucky. This is a big deal. It is a big deal. It's right on the Kentucky river. If you haven't been to Frankfurt, the Kentucky river runs through there. Buffalo traces right down the road. Woodford is right down the road. Mike, I think we need a booth at that one. Maybe, maybe we can get this done. Yeah. Castle and keys right down the road are good friends at the stave are there. Um, They're going to have dozens of bourbons. They're ranging from the most popular to the most discreet. They're going to have microbreweries, wineries, good food. Hopefully the bourbon road will be there. You can walk along the banks of the Kentucky River, enjoy acoustic musicians, sample rare and unique bourbon spirits, wine and beer.

Does life get any better? I know. And if your head's spinning right now and you're like, I can't keep track of all this stuff, you know what? You don't have to keep track of all this because Mike, you've written it all down. I did. I want to make your life easy. urbanroad.com. Go to the blogs page articles and episode 171 or so. I think we're in there. 172. I don't know what it is. We're getting close to 200. Yeah.

working poor Jim death. So that's a, that's an event in October, late October. You're not going to want to miss. Um, then we're onto November. So the third to the sixth November, it's nice and cold in here in Kentucky gets a little chilly, right?

Not too chilly. Yeah. So our, our winners don't really start until December here. So good chance you get good weather in November. But this is the Bourbon Classic.

Okay. Big deal. Another big deal. Another big deal. This is more of a dress up. The Bourbon Classic is the Holy Trinity for experiencing the best in a culinary cocktail and bourbon arts through a collection of rare and interactive events. A lot of speaking engagements there. A lot of chefs. A lot of bourbon food pairings. Yup. Yeah. Guarantee our good buddy Steve Coombs will be there. Josh Moore has competed there. I think David Danielson has competed there too. So, some of our guests that we've had on are going to be there at that event. Probably Peggy Ngo is going to be there, I would imagine. Probably judging, right? Yeah. So, you're definitely going to want to be there at that event. I think it'll be an amazing event. This is a little, like I said, a little bit more dressy, a little bit more business casual.

It's great that all of you listeners have been able to pack away those vacation days while during COVID. I got some packed away.

You got them in the store, now you can use them up. Yeah. The next event, which is several events, Jim. Now, I couldn't do all the dates for these because there's so many. This next two events. So the first one is called Beer, Bourbon and Barbecue Festival 2021. They've got it in Tampa, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, New York, New York.

Kerry, North Carolina. You know where that's at? I do. I know where Kerry's at. Research Triangle area, Raleigh Durham, Chapel Hill. Why are they just going to say that?

Atlanta, Georgia.

Well, because Kerry's Kerry.

Kerry's Kerry? Yeah. All right. All right.

All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. Duke basketball and North Carolina basketball. Yeah. I mean, it's called the triangle, right? You know, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, but Kerry's right there. You know, this is Kerry. They're doing their thing.

Well, they definitely bringing some bourbon there. Barbecue and beer. Atlanta, Georgia and Oxon Hill, Maryland. You know where that's at? I don't. I don't know where it's either, but they're going to have, like I said, beer, bourbon and barbecue. They're going to stop several cities across the US. It's a one day event at each place. Over 60 micro brews on tap. 40 barrel aged bourbons and succulent mouth-watering barbecue. Yeah, Big Mo' Cason might be at some of these.

And you share the link to that site and all the events.

Every event has a link to it. Awesome. So you want to make sure you check this out. They're going to have bluegrass. They're going to have blues, rock music. They're going to have a cigar tent there. They're going to have tasting seminars led by pit masters, head distillers, and brew masters. Definitely a monster event across the United States. I told you we were going to hit it, right? We're going to, we're going to take you across America's whiskey trail. Me and Jim are going to own that.

So America's whiskey trail.

So make sure you check that out. Um, so the, so the last event I got for you, these guys are, they're, they're, There's something in the whiskey world. I guarantee you. There's something in the whiskey world. Whenever they give somebody an award, you know it. It's a statement when you get an award from these guys. And this is whiskies of the world's events. You know, when they give somebody an award, you think, okay, that's a good bourbon. Sure. Absolutely. Whenever they say this is the bourbon of the year, this is, most people say, okay, that's the bourbon of the year. Um, so they're going to be in cities like San Francisco, California, San Jose, California, New York, New York, Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Seattle, Washington. What about Louisville? Well, I named a whole bunch of Louisville stuff off, Jim. I mean, the only thing I could add in here is if we had our own event, Yep. The bourbon road classic, the bourbon road classic. Well, you know what? Kentucky doesn't have, right? Well, let me finish this up and I'm going to tell you what Kentucky doesn't have. And I'm going to shock some listeners here because they're going to think about it. They're going to be like, Oh, you're right. So imagine having a world's worth of whiskey under one roof, right? I'm not just talking about bourbon now. I'm talking about all whiskies. Whiskeys from around the world, over 200.

So Scotches, Irish whiskies, Japanese, maybe some from Mexico. Who knows?

India is getting big in the whiskey world now too.

Yeah.

So that'll be right at your fingertips. You're going to be able to meet the makers and brand ambassadors from each distillery. They're going to be there present to help you make the most of your experience. That's a pretty big event across the United States. So we've went all the way from the East coast all the way out to the West coast. We've been down South. We've been up to the Northeast and we've hit the mid It's us. The flyover states as we would call it. So back to what I'm saying, Jim, there's something that Louisville and Lexington and Frankfurt and Barstown doesn't have. And that's, they don't have a whiskey judging competition here.

No? I didn't, I didn't know that we don't. Now, Fred Mannix got his, his award.

Fred's picks, right? His Fred's picks, but they don't have a panel of whiskey judges here in Kentucky. Truly the home of bourbon. Um, I still think that's something that I've talked about this with several people and they're like, that's too big of a thing to put on and there's like goes into it. That'd be a dream of mine one day that, you know, me and you get to be part of that and be judges on a panel like that here in Kentucky. maybe with some other podcasters and we do our own judging of whiskeys and give it out an award. So hopefully something in the future we might see from us. That's a big event that I think we could probably do with help from others.

Um, but I'd like to see it. Yeah. Sounds like an interesting idea. No doubt about it. Well, Mike, any last words on the Calumet 15? I like it. I'm still glad I bought the bottle.

A little bitter on that back end. Um, still very complex. Both of these whiskies at Sam Houston, it just. It just coated your mouth. Yeah. Um, this little less little higher proof. Yeah.

I think for me side by side, they don't compare. I think standing alone, the Calumet would be just fine. It is a little bitter on the back end for me. It doesn't have that level of sweetness that the Sam Houston has. When you're trying to compare the two, I think it falls short. The Calumet does. Yeah. Um, but they're both great whiskeys. They're both great expressions that represent an extra age bourbon. Extra H Kentucky bourbon. Yeah. So for me, if I had to choose, I'd buy the same Houston.

Well, I would, obviously I bought both of them. I'm not ashamed that I bought either one of these bottles by any means. And we're not saying, Hey, you have to go out and buy these things, you know, We both are at a point in our life we've told many a people, we're definitely not whiskey snobs. And I always say the best bourbon is free bourbon. But I did go out and buy these myself. I'm not ashamed to say that. I had a little extra pocket change that I saved up. I said, hey, I want to get these bottles for myself. And I'd actually bought One of the Coast Guard guys I work with, he was leaving here and his wife said, Hey, I want to get that Sam Houston 15 year old. She told me what she found it for. I think it was like $300. And I said, don't buy it. Do not buy it at that price. And I'd found her to the 15 year old. Okay. But it, the paradise liquor and wine. And I got it forward and Vivian took it over there for her, but so I didn't mind that. But when I found it for the price he got it for, I was like, Hey, Oh yeah. For a 15 year old bourbon, you know, there's people that have less than 15 year old bourbon out there that probably not as good as this for $200. So, you know, I'm, I'm with you. I love it. I love that. Even though it's not a Texas bourbon or a Tennessee whiskey in here, I still think it's good. It represents the man, the myth, the legend, Sam Houston, the father of Texas.

You know? Yeah. Yeah. So Mike, I really appreciate you bringing these bottles today. I think that they're a fine representation of, uh, you know, extra age, Kentucky bourbon, bourbons that have gone the extra mile in the barrel. And, uh, they're different. They're definitely two different whiskeys. They're not the same. They might have the same match bill. They might be from the same distillery, but they're definitely not the same when you taste them.

No, that is definitely true. Now. Hey, just one more point of news for all of our listeners out there. So when I came over here tonight at five o'clock, Fred Minnick was on, on the show and he was naming his weeded bourbon of the year. What do you think you picked? Well, you already told me. And I'm sure it's out there by the time everybody's listening to this, but he picked, um, legends, their weeded bourbon, their 115, which mean you're, you already told everybody how damn good it was.

We already had this on the show. It's been, it's been a few weeks, but you were comparing it to Weller and I'm telling you what, am I right or am I right? You're right. It was a good bourbon and we had the cast rate. There was a hundred and what was it? A hundred and fourteen. A hundred and fifteen. A hundred and fifteen proof. And I came over here today. I saw it.

I left it over here for you. There's a little bit missing. And I was thinking, man, Jim, Jim, thanks. I'm gonna come over here. Guess what? He's trying to get that one down, but that's how good it is. I know it's good because you're drinking it, you know, and your shelves are lined with some amazing bottles up there. And that's the one you're picking a drink from. So we know it's a good bourbon. I just thought I'd tell everybody that real fast. Yeah. Well, Mike, where can everybody find us on the internet? Well, you can find us at TikTok. You can find us at Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, wherever you can get social media at. We're going to be there. We're going to be in your face. Put barbecue on the internet, right? Put bourbon on the internet. We're going to be talking to people. Put my big old mug out there. You're going to see our face a lot more. We're going to be a lot louder.

We're just going to let, let it roll.

Yeah.

So, um, it's, it's time to, to unchain. It's going to crank it up, free big chief. There's a lot of saying, unchain, unloose, leash it, unleash it, let him lose, let the big chief loose, open that cage door, let him out.

So we're also on Facebook. We have a private Facebook group. It is growing. We're at 1970 right now, I think is the number I saw tonight. Get in there and join that group. You got to be 21. You got to like bourbon and you got to agree to play nice. That's the rules me and Jim aren't going to change. We're not going to tolerate any rudeness in there, right Jim?

Right. I mean, you still have a good time and it's not a good time when you tell somebody that you had a really good bourbon from Jim Beam today and somebody jumps all over you and said, that's not good bourbon.

If you're in another group, those big giant groups, and you feel like there's a lot of that going on, or if you don't want to look at politics all the time, people get tired of that. We're not a news channel. We're a whiskey guys. You want to see that kind of stuff. You want to see good stuff. You want to post retirements, birthdays, even deaths of family members or good friends in there. You want to raise a glass to somebody like that. say I want to celebrate their life. We're all about that. You'll see us in there and the bourbon roadies get in there and join. There's angel shares going out. There's all kinds of stuff going out. We got a giveaway that's going to be going on this week with Old Salt Coffee Company where we're sending out two of their cups, two bags of bean coffee, and a bottle of buffalo trace bourbon cream. Yeah. If you haven't had it, that's some stuff right there. So I'm giving you the whole package.

Yeah.

I'm going to send that out and stuff. You never can tell what else I might throw up in there. There might be some bourbon samples.

Hell, I might even throw in some of those 15 year old samples in there. And just a reminder, we are going to have a bourbon blending challenge. It's coming. Yeah. So be practicing, be picking out your component bourbons that are going to go into your blend and the percentages and work on that blend. Get it just right because this is a real deal.

I expect everybody to play along too. Even our moderators. I want people to send, put me and Jim to work. Yeah. Make us, make us work for this. I expect some, some great blends out there. Hopefully some people send us some weeded blends. You know, don't be shy. Don't be shy.

I will say this. Let's try to keep them between 95 and 105 proof, just so that we're comparing apples to apples. You think so? Yeah. I think it's probably not a bad idea.

Well, if you know how to proof it down or something like that, I guess, you know, it's, it's called adding water, Mike and water. I mean, if you've seen a high proof one, I'm not going to kick.

Well, the thing is, if we allow the proof range to go too wide, it won't be a fair contest.

That's true. That's true.

That's fair. So 95 to 105, that kind of keeps everybody in that at around 100 proof range. Yeah. And the math's not that hard. If you have questions about the math, maybe I'll put out a blog on how to figure out the proof. Well, you heard it. Jim's going to write a blog. You don't need something to measure. You just do some calculations.

So Jim, speaking of that, you know, contact us on stuff. We have our website. We've mentioned it several times. This blog will be on there. It's a quite lengthy blog. Uh, search through that, that blog and stuff. I'm sure Jim will do it up nice in there. Um, all the links are there for you. Make sure you read those blogs. Um, There's also our whiskey reviews on there. Adam does a great job of putting those up there. We put a lot of effort in those for you. So if you're out of the store, you could read through our tasting notes. You can see what the MSRP is to make sure you're not getting ripped off. Right. First, making sure something's fit your palate and stuff. Maybe you haven't been too wrong. People say, hey, we're you guys are spot on usually. And that's because there's two of us and we Meet in the middle of the bourbon road.

I just think we probably have really raised the sales of sugar smackums.

Fruit loops, whatever else you want to call it. When you're not listening to us, hey, give some of them other podcasters out there a listen. I put a couple of those guys up to give them some love and stuff, but there's so many good podcasts out there right now that you give them a listen. You know, we got bourbon with friends. We got Perry over there. This is my bourbon podcast. This is my bourbon podcast. You got a bourbon hunters. You got a cast chasers. You got so many different out there. Bourbon and Blas, if you wanted to listen to funny girls that cut up all the time and you could tell they're drinking a little bit of whiskey, they're great to listen to. Dad's drinking bourbon. Big John, he's always off the chain down there. The podcast with the grease, right? Down there. Lots of fun. Oh, you want to listen about bottom shelf stuff under 50 bucks. Blue collar bourbon is another one. I could keep going and going and going about these bourbon lens guys. pretty straight cut on their reviews. Let's do them. Everybody is in the business of raising each other up. We talk to each other more than people think and helping each other out. You know, Jim's, I got to say, you're always great about giving information about our editing and what sound quality we have and stuff. And I'm always grateful that I don't have to do that.

Well, we both do our things, Mike. You're a magician in the part that you do, no doubt about it, and I really appreciate everything you do. Like Mike said, we do a couple of these shows a week. We'd love for you to listen to both shows. We do a short episode every Monday. We do a long version every Wednesday. If there's something you would like to hear, a person you'd like to see on the show, a bottle you'd like to review, if you live in a small town in USA and there's a local distillery and we haven't heard about it yet, let us know. We'll review it. We'll talk about it. We'll reach out to them when we might.

And I all the time trying to reach out to distilleries. People say, hey, you need to try this or you try that. Or even if I'm on the road, I'm looking for something new. I'm looking for that next big thing, that next secret, that next whiskey that me and Jim just flip our minds about like, oh my God, this is good. Do it. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button up top so you can keep listening to us every week. We're going to come at you two times that week with our whiskey review and our long episode. Then scrolling down, give us that five star review or I'm going to come to your house and I'm going to get you. I'm going to bring my box of cereal with me too and a bottle of whiskey. Give us that five star review. We will appreciate the hell out of it. So please help us out.

Yeah. So definitely reach out to Mike and I. You can always find me on Instagram at jshan63. I'm one big chief. And we'll see you down the bourbon road.