189. Off Hours Bourbon Whiskey Review

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.

Hello, everybody. I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. This is the Bourbon Road. And today, Mike, it's Craft Distillery Monday. Yeah. And we've got a bourbon that, quite honestly, you have to admit, I've never heard of before.

I hadn't either. And when we got the bottle, it was just like a... Remember that was when you'd walk down the... I'd call it the poor man aisle. Yeah. In a garage store. Yeah. And everything was the black and white labels.

Oh, like the, not the store brands, but like the basics.

Yeah. But you can get soup in there, you can get bread in there. Black and white labels.

I don't know what else to call it.

I mean, white and black labels, black and white labels, that's what it was, right?

It was kind of basic stuff. I mean, there's no branding to it.

There was no branding at all to it. But you can almost guarantee it was made by a company.

Yeah.

And the prices were cheap. They don't have that really anymore, do they? No, I haven't seen it in a while. I do remember it. I mean the clearest day I can remember shopping and seeing those things on the shelves Well, we must be dating ourselves a little I think it's probably I'll be I'll be honest with you It's probably been 20 years since I saw something like it on the show. I know he that's that makes it sound old Well, this is from off hours spirits and uh, I This place has got some super transparency to it. Yeah. I'm just amazed at how much information they did put out there about their bourbon. There's no secret to it. So it is sourced. It is a sourced bourbon from, no doubt. They even put it on their bottle where they source it from. Some people don't do that. They say distilled in Tennessee or Indiana. Well, this one says distilled by MGP.

Which, you know, honestly, nowadays, if you say my bourbon came from MGP, that's not a bad thing.

No, I don't think that's a bad thing. They make some good bourbon. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. And I know you're going to like this, I think, because this is a high rye. 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley.

That is a high percentage of rye in that one, no doubt about it.

It says that they're $47 MSRP, but we founded it total wine for 37. Now the company provided us this bottle to do this review or just to taste really mean you said, Hey, let's do this one.

It's a very plain Jane, black and white label. Um, clearly a bourbon product, but they've, they've trimmed the label in such a way that the words are kind of cut off halfway.

Yeah. But on the back, they put their, I would call their company statement, right? The company statement says we believe a great bourbon is for every occasion. It's for celebrating life's small wins. for hitting pause or for creating memories together. Off Hours Bourbon made for the moments in between. Okay.

So, I mean, I've read some reviews on this and, you know, some of the things that I see is that this is kind of a Gen X bourbon or a Gen, what is it, a Gen Z or what generation are we in now, Mike?

I'm not sure. I mean, you're from that old school bourbon. Obviously if we, uh, old school, me and you were from the old school generation, obviously because we can still remember the black and white aisle in the grocery store.

I think it's Gen Z. So these are the up and comers. These are the guys that are the guys and gals who are, um, poised to replace us in the bourbon drinking world. You know, they're going to take, they're going to take the torch and they're going to run with it. And, uh, this is, this bourbon is kind of meant for them, right?

Yeah, I mean, if you want to, like I said, drink it on, drink it straight like we like to do, drink it on the rocks. If you want to pour it in some Coke and let a riptator chip have at it.

Well, we've always believed that it doesn't matter how you drink bourbon, just drink bourbon, right? It lifts the industry up. We've had some dark times in our past. When I say we, I'm talking about the bourbon industry, it's had some dark times in the past where kind of clear spirits kind of took over a little bit. Gin and vodka kind of came to the forefront and brown liquors like bourbon kind of got squashed a little bit. We all know we're in a bit of a, a rise right now, a resurgence in bourbon. It's been going on for a few years and it's, it's actually, it's quite welcome as far as I'm concerned.

Well, it's nice to see, especially living here in Kentucky, see that resurgence, get to see those bourbon barrels aging. Rick houses are flying up as fast as they can build them. You know, you talk to distillers and they're saying, Hey, We can't even find somebody to build us a Rick house right now. Yeah. There's only a couple of countries.

Well, we can't even find somebody to cook a burger at McDonald's right now.

Well, that's true too. That's definitely true. That's a whole different subject though. Oh man, we're talking a lot. Um, this is a four year old bourbon, uh, from the MGP. I just want to remember everybody to remember that.

What's the proof again?

This is 95 proof. 95 proof.

Well, let's check it out. Let's do it. That's got a good nose on it.

I mean, a little bit of, uh, just a henna medicinal note there, but I guess that's more ethanol than anything.

I'm getting a little bit of big league chewing gum on this.

There is a, there is a chewing gum note on this. Yeah. You're darn right, Mike. You hit it right on the nose.

You know that, that he always say Necco candies, but I think this is that big league chewing gum. It still has that white powder.

It's that white powder. I think that's the key here. So we're talking about that. Uh, is that a cornstarch kind of? Yeah.

Yeah.

Sweet cornstarch powder that's on those. but I'm not getting any like youthful notes here. It doesn't, it doesn't nose like anything that's young. It has a nice nose on it. A little bit floral, a bit fruity.

I was going to say that either honeysuckle. I always say honeysuckle, I guess. Um, but some floral notes, like you said, some light fruit, like a, uh, mixed fruit, like you got chopped up peaches and some grapes in there with a little bit of juice, maybe some cherries.

Yeah. I'm getting a little bit of a, like a fruity sugar, maybe even a date. Um, but just a hint of mint spearmint, maybe not, not too much, but I think the rise coming across on the nose as a little bit of spearmint, but it's very light, but kind of a date sugar, like a, I don't know. Hard to explain. I think I'm ready to taste it though.

Let's do it. Cheers. Cheers. Little sweet, little aromatic.

Again, I think the ethanol plays a big part here. So it is a little ethanol-y, I would say, for me. But I like it. I think it's, this would be an easy drinker. Very easy. not attacking my palate in any way. Kind of smooth.

If that's the word we're going to use, I get that, uh, sweetness right on the front end. Um, can rolls off the tongue a little bit there. I wouldn't call it smooth for me. It's just different. You know, that's what we've got two different pallets. I do get a big kick of spice on that backend though. I could taste that ride. This it's a, I get a little bit of spicy honey on this. I guess I would.

I think the, I think the honey is, uh, is a clear note for me. Um, I think it for me, this is a, uh, this is an easy drinker. This is something that I would call, um, it doesn't make you think too much. It's just, um, Got the little bit of floral note, that little bit of sweetness, kind of a date sweetness to it for me. A touch of spearmint coming across on the palate too, honey. But you're right. It does finish a little spicy.

Well, you'd expect that with that much rye in there, right? 21% rye. And we've, we've got that from MGP before was that, that rye spice. kind of known for that maybe a little bit. Not a bad bourbon, nice little sipper. Probably would stand up really good in a cocktail.

Yeah, I think this is a good cocktail whiskey. I think it, you're right, it would stand up well. I think it would shine through in a cocktail. Because of that rice spice, it would definitely show up and shine through. But I think you can sip it too if you want. I think it's an easy sipper. I don't think it's going to, um, it's not going to ruin your evening after a couple. It's a nice and gentle and, uh,

Yeah, I'm not getting that, you know, a couple nights ago, me and you drank some bourbon and I said, man, it's like a wildcat was on that glass.

Yeah.

And this doesn't have that kind of spice. It does have a little bit of spice in the back end. Like I said, maybe some hot honey that's jalapeno honey, you know, if you've ever had that kind of honey or not, but something like that, that's got that sweet spiciness to it. A little bit of oak on the back end on this. But not a lot. Nope, not a lot at all. A nice Kentucky hug to this or a nice Indiana hug, right? It does. It absolutely does. It's going on there. I would call this a medium finish lingering to long. Kind of surprised by it.

Yeah, I think that I would say it's a medium finish. And so for me, let's just say upfront, decent nose. nice kind of a sweet floral note to it. A little bit of spearmint on the palate. It kind of reproduces that. It's pretty consistent between the nose and the palate. I think that it's got that honey to it, Mike, that sweetness of that honey. I said dates, kind of a date sweetness, but honey can work too. It kind of finishes a little bit spicier and has got that medium finish, which impresses me for this.

For a four-year-old, that should be pretty impressive.

Well, I'm looking at the bottle and I'm thinking, hey, this stuff's got some pretty dark color, right?

Yeah, because there's really no label on here at all. If you're a bourbon drinker that's looking for that story, looking for that history, that lineage, it's not here. This ain't for you. That's not what they're after. No, this is for the person that doesn't want to think about it, just wants to sit down and have a drink and relax and for those moments in between, like they said. Yeah. Don't this is great.

Don't tell me a story. Just give me a drink.

Yeah. Sometimes after, you know, I remember at your house tonight and it has been a long weekend for me. I worked all weekend and uh, sometimes you need a drink just like this. I didn't have to think about it. We just, open it up and let's have a drink together. Right. Um, and that's what this is for $37. Is that too high, too low? Um, well we see that price come down even more as their brand goes on. I don't know. But I, I'd say this is a buy for me, uh, for a young bourbon. I know there's more expensive bourbon out there that are four years old.

So this is off hours bourbon. It is a, I mean, you could find, you find out more about it at drink off hours.com. Yeah. It's available on Total Wine and many other places, I'm sure. $37 is the total wine price, but you know, the MSRP is around 40 something, right? Yeah. So you're going to get a good deal. Sounds like it. I would say it's a respectable bourbon. It's got a great profile, easy drinker, a little spicy on the end, a little bit of a long finish on it and a little bit of a hug. I think you'll enjoy it. Stand out in a cocktail. My recommendation is if you see it on the shelf, give it a shot. I think it's well worth it. Well, Jim, where can people find us on the good old interweb? All right. Well, you can find us at all the social medias at The Bourbon Road. When I say all the social medias, I mean Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube. Are there any others? I don't know. We're on them guys. I'm just telling you.

We're not on Twitch.

No, we're not on discord either, but, uh, you know, who knows, you know, if we get a little extra time, there ain't no extra time in our lives. All right. Well, you, you, we also have a website called the bourbon road.com and on the bourbon road.com, you will find our. blog articles, you'll find our podcast episodes, you'll find our swag. It's kind of bourbon road central, right?

Yeah.

I mean, that's where you go. If you just want to find out more about the bourbon road, it's a great place to connect with us. There's there's all the information you need in order to reach out to Mike and I is on there. Mike, we also have a private Facebook group for really core people, right?

Yeah, the bourbon roadies is on Facebook. Got to answer three questions to get in a be a roadie. Are you a 21? Do you like bourbon? Yeah, everybody likes bourbon. Come on out. Don't fool yourself. If you don't like it, we'll get you to like it. You just got to listen to us for a little bit. And do you agree to play nice because we don't tolerate any rudeness, meaning that we want to celebrate bourbon. We want to celebrate life, celebrate those births, celebrate weddings, all kinds of good stuff. Even the life of a loved one that's passed away. We had a roadie that did that other day in there and you know, how many roadies that came in there and so cheers to him and his dad. And, um, he had bought a bottle, um, that mean you had reviewed three cord bourbon that supported Parkinson's disease. And he found that bottle and that's what his dad passed away for him.

Oh, that's, that's awesome that he shared that with, uh, with the core followers of the bourbon road. It was really nice. And, uh, cheers, uh, in that situation, it's always tough, but you know what? Um, raising a glass to somebody in remembrance is a good toast.

Celebration of life, you know, you want to, especially if somebody's lived a long life, celebrate that life. And that's what that roadies is about. Check us out in there. We're in there all the time. Um, I guarantee you'll have some great conversation. The other thing I'd like to bring up about roadies is if there's a whiskey out there that you are looking for, you want to try and you can't find it. The roadie might just send you an angel share of their bottle so that you can try it. So, um, that's a great benefit to our group. We'd love if you'd check it out. The other thing I'd like to mention, Jim is, Hey listeners, scroll on up top. hit that subscribe button. Apple podcast has just changed their stuff. So if you look up at the top on the Apple podcast app, there's a plus sign. That's where you're going to add that subscribe at hit that plus sign up at the very top and then scroll on down. You know what's going to happen, right? If you don't give us a five star, the big bad booty daddy of bourbon is going to come to your house. Heck, I might even bring two bottles. And now that's an entire weekend we're going to have to spend together. And if the big chiefs at your house all weekend, that means I'm going to eat all your food. I'm probably going to drink all your liquor and I'm going to leave a happy man.

Yeah. So it's a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, depends on how much food and beer or whiskey you got.

Right. Well, we do two shows a week. We do a short episode every Monday, like this one. We'll take a look at a single expression, kind of dive into it and tell you what we think about it. Make our recommendation. Of course, you know, that's just Mike and I, that's our palettes. You might find you like it or you don't like it differently than us, but you know what, at least you'll get a first look at it, right? We also do a long episode every Wednesday where we dive deeper. We go for an hour, we have a guest on, we explore a subject, or we dive into a series of bottles where we can spend a good hour talking to you guys, building a show up. It gives you an opportunity to drive to work and home from work, And, uh, let's assume you've got about a 30 minute drive. You'll, you'll, you'll, we'll take care of you all day long, right? All day. All day.

Most people drive 30 minutes to work anyways and drive on 30 minutes. Least I do. Jim makes his, uh, 32nd commute every day.

So walking upstairs to my bedroom. All right. So we definitely want to know what you think about the bourbon road. Mike told you how to let us know. You know, you can always reach out to us. I'm Jim at the bourbon road.com. He's Mike at the bourbon road.com. We're happy to have your emails. You can go on the website. There's a contact us page. You can reach us there. Please reach out to us. We want to know what you think. Probably the best way though, Mike, right? Is Instagram.

Yeah. You can find me at one big chief.

I'm Jay Shannon, 63, and we'll see you on down the Bourbon Road.