270. E.J. Curley 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.

Well, you know who likes to give back to their community is one of our sponsors, Jim. Chris Cruz from Cruz Customs Flags. He does custom flags out of bourbon barrels. Not only does that, he do that, but he's also using veterans to build those flags with. I've got one right behind me, Jim. I know you got one on your bar. Beautifully handcrafted, repurposing a bourbon barrel, not throwing it away, not making it into smoking chips, making a piece of Americana, right?

something that'll last probably quite a few years longer than a bourbon barrel would, right?

Not only that, but he's using veterans to build those pieces of art with. You know, you got to love that. But he's also giving back to his community at all times, helping veterans out like ourselves. He is really in tune to that. Go check his site out, uh, cruise customs, flags.com. You can buy his flags on their key holders. Jim's got some, uh, these neat little cups that are chart inside made out of oak that you can put a cocktail in.

They call those the whiskey grail, don't they?

Yeah, that is, it kind of reminds you, you know, when you think of a grail, but truly a whiskey grail right there. Go check those out at Cruz Customs Flags. Purchase from this guy, veteran owned, veteran operated, making a veteran built product.

Hello everybody. I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. And this is the Bourbon Road. And today, Mike, it's another Cram Distillery Monday. We're trying a new bottle from a new distillery. one that we haven't had before, one that one of our very good friends is part of the project.

Yeah, this distillery is actually it's a new distillery, Jim, but it's an old distillery, really. It's the revival of E.J. Curley, which was founded in 1867 here in Kentucky after the Civil War. E.J. Curley was a young man out of Ireland, right?

Got a tool in Ireland. Yeah, that's kind of near Galway on the west coast of Ireland.

Yeah, he came to America, he became a soldier and he was stationed at Camp Nelson, which was famous for having runaway slaves or freemen coming north and they would join the U.S. Army at the time. or the Union Army. And he got to know those soldiers at the time. And then after the Civil War, he started his distillery in 1867, like we'd said. And that's high on the banks overlooking the Kentucky River called the Palisades. If you've ever driven south of Lexington or you're coming north, out of Tennessee and across the Kentucky River, you'll see those Palisades up there, those high limestone cliffs. Very, very beautiful, right?

Yeah, very beautiful. And we already know, uh, that there's a couple of Rick houses there that produce a very fine whiskey.

What's that? What's that whiskey, Jim?

That's that Russell's that Russell's reserve. So, uh, you know, wild turkey, Jimmy Russell, Eddie Russell, They've got a couple of warehouses sitting over there on that property in Camp Nelson and some of the very best of their single barrels come out of there actually. So it's well known by people who appreciate a good wild turkey single barrel. They know to get a Camp Nelson bottle is pretty good.

Yeah. And to say Kentucky is not excited about this brand being brought back to life. E.J. Curley and company, they plan to establish a Camp Nelson facility and they're going to invest $18 million into Kentucky. That's just a little bit of money.

That's quite a bit. And that's really good. I mean, I read somewhere that they were going to have somewhere around a 22,000 square foot distillery facility, which is nothing small plans to produce anywhere between 15 and 20,000 barrels. That's a big operation. Well, that's a substantial operation, I should say.

Yeah, I was reading that too, Jim, and it looked like they were going to have a staff of about 52 there. That's a lot of employees for a distillery. I really, really like it. It looks like they got about a 57 acre facility there that they'll be able to grow on and stuff. They've already started some tours. They got a thing that you can take a tour out there and you can stay in a kind of a tent or a yurt, I guess it would be called. You want to check out their website for that. But what we're here today is to talk about this, this whiskey we got in our hand. Jim, this is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. What's that mean to all of our listeners out there?

Well, that means, first of all, that it was created in Kentucky and that it was barreled in Kentucky. And that it spent at least two years in that barrel before it was bought. So it's at least a two year old whiskey. Now we know EJ Curly is a new operation and they're just starting production in 2022. So in order to produce this whiskey, it was necessary for them to get some single barrels out there in order to do a batch, right?

Yeah, this would be a considered a small batch. And no one actually this is probably I would take a guess at three to four barrels of this right here. And you can find it all over Kentucky right now. Total Wine Liquor Bar and Justin's House of Bourbon has some bottles. Fifty one ninety nine. It's not a stated Uh, we do not know the mash bill. Um, but maybe Jim, you maybe you'll take a stab at it for us today.

Well, we could take a stab at it, but, uh, history shows that, um, blind tasting can definitely set you straight and, uh, make you realize just how uninformed and how, uh, not professional you can be, right?

Yeah. That's why we always say we're just two bourbon bullshit is really, uh, um, the bourbon can put a school in on us. Um, but I'm excited to taste this thing. Um, I, I was over visiting Ashley and, uh, I saw it on a shelf and I said, Hey, what is that? And she was handing me a bottle. I said, Hey, take it home and you and Jim do a review if you want. Um, so it's always nice to see her working with new companies and bring in, um, some money back into Kentucky, uh, and opening up a new disorder. That's, that's a little bit of money. And I'm glad that EJ Curley and company hired our good friend, Ashley. Well, Jim, let's, uh, let's stop talking and let's, let's try this whiskey.

Let's check it out. That kind of a light fresh nose on it.

I get a peach on this. Yeah.

Yeah. Light fruit. Definitely not. It's nothing deep or bold or dark. It's definitely light and airy. A little bit of ethanol on it. Not too much. A little bit of vanilla.

They make these, uh, Twizzlers that are, uh, I mean, you've talked about Twizzlers before, but they make some sour Twizzlers that are like tropical fruit ones. Um, and I get a little bit of those on there. Maybe it was that peach or that, uh, nectarine, maybe a little bit of mango in there.

Well, I could go with a, like a tropical fruit, not a lot of citrus, but a little bit. And it wouldn't be like an orange or a lemon or a lime citrus would be a little bit more like a citrus. You might get out of a. out of a tropical fruit, right?

Yeah, I'm also getting a little bit of spice on that. Maybe I would even put some Caribbean spice to that just because it has that sweet tropical feel to it.

Well, already, Mike, we're calling out the notes one after another on the nose. So that's that's a good sign, right?

Heck, yeah, it is. It's always when the nose doesn't when nose smells good, you're hoping the bourbon tastes good.

All right. Let's check it out.

Cheers. Yes, sir. Cheers.

Sweet vanilla. Get a little bit of that oak, though. Wow. Kind of sweet, sugary, sweet.

Yeah. It's almost like that. Uh, whenever you get peaches in those little fruit cups and it's, it's not water. It's got that syrupy taste to it. Um, the peaches are in there.

Yeah.

I don't know. I keep getting that. Um, but it's got a nice little spice to it. That hug started to run down a little bit.

Yes. It's got a little bit of a bite on the, uh, on the sides and the back of the tongue. So, um, I'm going to say, uh, that this definitely has a pretty decent, um, bulk content to it. But at the same time, I feel like there's, uh, there's a better ride or, or at least a pronounced barrel influence on it. It gives it that spice.

Yeah, that spice is really beautiful. You know what I'm getting out of this, Jim, is sweet tart candies. That's, you know, they do have that not bitter, but a little bit of tannic and maybe that's that oak, but that sweetness that comes with those.

Yeah, so I mentioned earlier that sugary sweetness, but do you know those Duncan sticks? I'm kind of getting a little bit of that kind of a, like a clear white icing, kind of a white vanilla, clear white icing. Really good. I would say that this is, uh, and hugs build Mike, by the way. I mean, I'm starting to get a little bit of build up back there. Now, the finish is not super long on it. I would say it's a, it's a kind of a medium finish, maybe a little bit shorter than medium. But the hug is not a bear hug, kind of a gentle Kentucky hug, kind of a Southern Belle hug.

I'll tell you what, it's perfect for this time of year. It's still spring. It's about 68 here in Kentucky today where we live at. It's drizzling rain outside and this fits perfect with that gym. It's 95 proof. Like you said, probably a soft medium on this right here with just that light Kentucky hug. I really like that. The other thing I want to point out to our listeners, Jim, is this bottle, I'm digging it. It's got a really nice, beautiful embossed label on it. I love their EJ Curly. I don't even know what you would call that.

Uh, what is that?

Um, emblem or, uh, their emblem. Yeah, it's got the, uh, the E and the J and the C in there. Um, I'm not sure what runs through there. I might have to, maybe we can get these guys on and talk to them. And then on there, it says courage and integrity. And I think from what I understand, and that came from EJ Curly himself, um, he kind of lived by those.

I think we need one of those that says TBR. You know, and it's got, it says something, you know, in, in, uh, uh, Latin.

Gaelic. It would have to be Gaelic and not, uh, not, not Latin, I think. Could you, can you write Gaelic, Jim?

Uh, just, just what I learned watching Outlander.

I was going to say, if I get enough whiskey in you, I bet you'll be like, man, I got this, Mike, I got it. Yeah, I like the bottle. It tells the story on back here about a civil war and where he was born. I just can't. get enough of that. Now this county was dry. Um, this company kind of went to Fonkton in 1960s. Um, and now they're coming back so much so there wasn't even an ordinance for a distillery there in, uh, what county is it? Jasmine?

Jessamine. Yes. So if you're, if you're familiar with Kentucky and you know, kind of Lexington sits mid state and this is for our listeners. If you go south out of Lexington, you'll pass through a town called Nicholasville. That's Jessamine County down there. It's heading south out of Lexington. It's not a far drive, but I would say with while Turkey not too far away, Woodford's not all that far away from there. Hey, if you take a jaunt just a little bit the other direction, you're at Wilderness Trail. Yeah, it's kind of sitting right in the heart of things down there.

It's nice to see a distillery go in that area because there was just this big bear area without a distillery. So between Lexington and Danville, there was really not a distillery thing. Now they're going to, you know, revive one there. And I just love it. I can't wait to get for us to get down there. and see that history, uh, as they, they bring it back to life. Um, and how much better could they have started than with this, uh, small batch right here, Jim?

Yeah, I agree. And I just want to give a shout out to Ashley. Um, this is the first craft distillery Monday episode, I think, where I've poured three times in a 15 minute episode. So this is my third, uh, Glen Karen pour since we've been recording this, it's going down really easy.

Now listeners, if you see the photo of this, I actually shared this with some good friends that Ashley blends for too. I shared it with some folks down at Leapers Fork Distillery. Lee Kennedy and Matt King both got a little sample of it besides Jim getting a sample. There's not much left in the bottle now. But both of those guys, a master distiller down there and their lead distiller, they both just love it. They thought it was really good. A nice Semper at 95 proof. It's pretty perfect. That proof's spot on, I think. It doesn't drink hotter than that or doesn't drink lower than that.

Yeah, I feel pretty confident that a couple of good friends sitting down with this bottle to get themselves into trouble really quick because it does drink really easy.

I like that sweetness too, Jim. It's not that, it's not so sweet that if you're a Scotch drinker, you're like, Oh, this is bourbon. It's too sweet for me. The sweetness is there though. If you are a pure bourbon drinker, you're going to love this bottle right here. I, you know, I just, I say for $51.99, you know, if you can get your hands on it, this is going to go fast. It's got that tall, you know, old school whiskey bottle style on it. A little bit of a tulip neck. Yeah, I like it, Jim.

So this is the EJ curly, um, straight bourbon whiskey. It's their, uh, initial release from the new distillery there in Jessamine County. Um, I would say definitely keep an eye on this place. They're going to have the equipment and staff to produce an awful lot of whiskey. I know they're in Kentucky only now, but it'll The standard first attack of a whiskey is to start moving out. I would say it won't take too long to be in most states.

And now that companies can ship out and stuff, look for that. Check out E.J. Curley. Check out our friends over there at the Spirits Group, Monica Wolf and Ashley Barnes. Give them a follow. Give E.J. Curley a follow on social media, if you would. Excellent review, Jim. Once again, my fine friend, it's a pleasure to drink whiskey with you.

Yeah, you too, my friend. Well, people can also find us. You can find us on all the social medias, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok. I think Mike just had a new TikTok video where he's drinking straight from the barrel.

That wasn't me. That wasn't Jim. Jim, that was the big bad booty daddy made it an appearance. He made an appearance down there drinking straight from the barrel.

Well, be looking for, uh, uh, be looking for a lot of great content from us and all the social media outlets. Also check out our website, the bourbon road.com. Every single episode we put out. is on the bourbonroad.com. We've got a new audio player on there. It's real easy to use. You can listen to the episode straight from there. We also have our articles on there where you can go in and read what we think about the bourbons that we review. We try to get as many of them on there as possible so that when you're out shopping, you can look something up and see if it's worth picking up. Mike, we do two shows every single week. We do this short episode, like today, We call it a craft distillery Monday episode. And today is a fine example of us lifting up a brand new craft distillery. We try to tell you whether or not we think you ought to have a new whiskey on your bar. But every Wednesday we do a full-length episode. We do a deep dive on the subject. We'll drink several expressions. We'll have a guest on. We'll travel around the distilleries. All kinds of good stuff happens on Wednesdays. But Mike, how can they be sure that every single week they won't miss an episode that we put out?

Well, listeners, you know what I'm going to say on your app. You're listening to us right now. You want to scroll on up to the top. You're going to hit that check sign, that plus sign, that subscribe button. Add this podcast or whatever player listen to us on that app will let you know, hey, these two guys got a new episode coming out. Also, if you would scroll on down, hit that five star review and leave us some comments, we would appreciate it. But you know what I'm going to say? As I mentioned before, the big bad booty daddy of bourbon will come to your house, drag in a bottle of this EJ Curly with him. You guys will drink it all night long. You end up giving us that five star review with some comments. I guarantee you. But seriously, those comments, those five star reviews opens up doors. two distilleries for Jim and I. It gets great whiskey like E.J. Curly in our hands to do great reviews, so you'll know what to pick out when you go to the store. If you see it on our show, more than likely we'd like it because we drank it. They just don't sit on the shelf and look pretty, right, Jim?

That's absolutely true. You know, as we're doing our episodes, we're always looking for new content. We love to get feedback from our listeners. If you've got an idea for a show, if you've got a bottle that you think needs to make it into one of our reviews, you've got a small distillery in your town that's doing it right. And you want to give it a little bit of light on them. Or you've got an idea for a great guest for the show. Make sure you let us know. Mike and I will do the work. We'll do the footwork. We'll get the bottle on. We'll get the person on. We'll make a great show out of it. We love feedback from our listeners. We're very approachable. Mike can contest to that as he walks into a liquor barn. He's very approachable, aren't you, Mike?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You want to walk up to me? Just don't give me a hug. I'm shy sometimes. No, I'm not a hugger. Unless I know you really well and I think you're a brother or sister, just come up and put your hand out and I'll shake your hand most definitely.

All right. Well, make sure you reach out to us. There's many ways to do it. Go on our website. We've got a contact us page. You can go on there and leave us a message. You can also send us an email. I'm Jim at the bourbonroad.com. He's Mike at the bourbonroad.com. I might be always say probably the best way. Hit up our DMs on Instagram. I'm jshannon63. I'm Big Bourbon Chief. And we'll see you down.

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