288. Ben Holladay Bottled In Bond Bourbon 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.

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

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Hello, everybody. I'm Jim Shannon. And I'm Mike Hyatt. This is The Bourbon Road. And today, Mike, it's another craft distillery Monday. We got ourselves a new bourbon here we haven't had before. It's something that has got a deep, rich history. Well, let's just say that it's something that sort of fills the bill for a distinct and historic distillery.

Well, they got a story for sure. And I mean, you were talking before we started recording and they know a little bit of something about distilling. Even though the brand is not known, the owners of the company, they make a lot of whiskey, they make a lot of spirits. So I'm excited to see them step up their game here and start playing in the bourbon world.

So what are we looking at in our glass today, Mike?

Well, we got the new bottle from Ben Holiday or Holiday Distillery out in Weston, Missouri. Now this is a bottled and bond. So what we know about the old bottled and bond, Jim, is that the act of 1897, right?

Absolutely, which sets some pretty strict standards for bourbons of the time, right? And those standards still Play a big role today. It just gives consumers a bit of a bullet in their gun when they're going shopping for bourbons. They always know they can go for those bottom bonds and have a pretty good chance of getting something pretty good.

Yeah, so the product has to be distilled at a single distillery from a master distiller, aged for a minimum of four years in a federally bonded warehouse and bottled at 100 proof in that same location. Now, they took it a step further and Missouri passed a law in 2019 saying it has to have aged in an oak barrel manufactured in Missouri, and the corn can only be grown in Missouri. So that's something pretty cool they laid down. Now this is a six-year-old bottled and bond gem, which I like. I mean, they show they took some extra time with this, right?

Absolutely. It sounds to me like Missouri has a pretty, uh, one of the more strict requirements for their state's bourbon laws, right? So everything produced in the state bottled distilled, and the corn has to be from there and the barrel. has to be from there. Of course, that's not really a tough thing to do in Missouri, right?

No, they got those arcs down there with plenty of big old trees and stuff. So, um, for people that don't know, Western Missouri is North of Kansas city on the, uh, Missouri river there. I actually have some good friends, Angela and Nick Dunn, that whenever they first released this bourbon, they drove up there from Kansas City, some Coast Guard friends of mine, and they got one of the first bottles. And I thought that was pretty cool because he texted me from that distillery and said, hey, I got a bottle of this. What do you know about it? And it just happened at the same time as we were getting our bottle. So we've had this in the house for a little bit. So I'm excited about, let's talk about Ben Holliday himself real fast, Jim. Do you know anything about him?

I just know that he was one of those, uh, 1800s tycoons. It was sort of at the top of his game, right?

Well, he was, he was at the top of the game. So, um, he was born in Kentucky and he moved out to to that part of Missouri. And what made him kind of settle there was he knew about limestone water and they have a spring on that property. And that's where he knew, hey, I'm going to make me some whiskey with this. But he was also known as a transportation tycoon with steam ships, railroad and stagecoaches. And he also owned the Pony Express for a while while I was operating his stagecoach line turned into Wells Fargo.

That was the Overland line, right? So he owned Overland and he sold that to Wells Fargo. The big money guy, right?

Yeah. So he might've had a penny or two to his name. Um, so pretty famous there with all that stuff. Uh, the distillery changed names several times over the decades and, uh, But today, they're owned by the McCormick Distilling Company since 1942. Now, if you don't know McCormick, McCormick Vodka, McCormick Gin, they got all kinds of value brands. The bottom shelfers, you would say, a lot of blended whiskey, they'll call it reserve whiskey. They sell a lot of it. Probably, probably more than most bourbon. Especially that McCormick vodka. I see a lot of people buying that when I go into a liquor store. But they spent $10 million on the renovation of this distillery. They got two giant rick houses made of, they say they're ironclad. I'd like to see what ironclad Rick house is. And if, or is that just tin? Is that what ironclad is?

Well, I mean, they're metal, they're metal buildings, right? So most of the, most of the Rick houses in Kentucky have a metal skin on them. So I guess that's pretty common. But I get it. You hear the word ironclad and you start thinking about the old civil warships, don't you?

You knew exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking, well, they got cannons sticking out of that sucker. No, they got them filled up with bourbon in there now, which I like to see. And the impressive thing on this is that it's six years old. It just shows, like I said, that they took their time. Now, they're in transparency. The one hit I would have on them, Jim, they don't name their match bill on this. It's non-disclosed. I'd like to see that because they say they are transparency, but they do tell you what Rick House it comes out of, which floor, number three char. I mean, it tells you a lot. Distilled in 2016, the spring of 2016, and this was bottled in the spring of 22, actually on, this one right here is bottled on May 27th. 2022. So I like that transparency and stuff. It shows a lot. This did come from warehouse C and 21% of it came from the first floor and then 79% came from the fifth floor. So they're, they're trying to tell you a lot about it. Um, I like it. I like the bottle. Uh, other problem I'd have with a gym is it has a screw top lid on it, uh, which you don't see in a $60 bottle very often these days.

Yeah, that is kind of unusual. Uh, but one thing we do know about the screw top lids are, is they're an absolute seal, right?

Yeah, this is not a plastic one either, Jim. It's a little metal cap, which I thought was kind of neat. You don't see that usually either. You usually see the little plastic ones and then over time they'll crack on you. But those little metal ones won't crack on you, will they?

No, I don't think they will. I don't think they will. I think if you find one of these bottles stuck away in somebody's cellar 50 years from now, it'll probably still have good liquid in it.

Now this does has a really cool label and has old stagecoach with some barrels beside it. Kind of a standard bottle. It doesn't, it has a straight neck on it. It's about a two and a half inch neck. So for a long pour, that's, that's not bad. I don't think it's just a standard whiskey bottle.

Yeah. I'm always pretty excited to see a bottle and bond bourbon coming out of a distillery from outside the state of Kentucky. We have a lot of bottling bonds here. Uh, but a lot of distilleries outside of Kentucky are really stepping up their game and getting into the bottle and bond, uh, category. And I'm ready to drink this thing, Mike. Let's check it out. What do you say? Let's do it. Cheers. It's got a really good nose on it. A little bit of spice in there. I get. Yeah. Yeah. Like I might even say a lot of spice. It has got a bit of caramel to it. No cinnamon.

Yeah. Maybe some of the cinnamon raisin toast. I get that fruit on there. That's what makes me give you that raisin. Plus that cinnamon, a little bit of toast on there. I get a little bit of oak in there.

Yeah. The oak is apparent. The cinnamon's pretty apparent. I think the, uh, the spice, not just from the cinnamon, but the actual barrel spice that's coming through pretty nice. It seems like it might be a little dry though. You never know until you actually get it on your palate, but just seems like it might be a bit dry. Well, heck we'll stop talking about it and drink it, Jim.

All right.

Wow. That's really good. Definitely got the spice, the Oak and the spice are like upfront serious.

I think you ride with the dryness. It's got a little tannic and maybe that's from that Oak leaving it in there for six years. Um, it's got that sweetness though. Um, it coats the tongue. Well, um, it dries it on the backend, I guess is what I'm saying. Um, Very nice. I get that raisin on there, Jim. I get that, you know, that cinnamon toast on there, that spice that we're looking for the, not very often does the nose match the palette, right?

That's true. That is so true, Mike. Um, I, I'm getting, I'm getting a little bit of, um, like a mineral note, uh, to it. I won't say it's to the level of, uh, dickle. But I am getting a little bit of a kind of a minerally note to it, but it's, it's very delicious whiskey. Uh, it's actually got a pretty good mouthfeel too.

Yeah, for a hundred proofer, uh, I don't think this, uh, needs any water or anything to it. I'd probably take away for it or dry it out even more. Um, I like the mouth feeling this. Um, it's always nice to, you know, what you're getting in a bottle and bond almost when you're drinking it. I'd say this is a drink some better than some large distilleries out there that are putting out bottle and bonds, Jim.

Yeah, this is a, this is a really good whiskey. And I would say a very fine representation of a Missouri bourbon whiskey, right?

Yeah, I mean, it's nice to see they did that Missouri straight bourbon whiskey. I get a little bit of fig. I'm getting a little bit of that. a fig Newton on this gym. Maybe that's that raisin I'm thinking of, but figs too. Um, you know, I like those Turkey figs, Brown Turkey fig. It, it's got a certain character to it. Maybe that's, I'm not getting so much mineral, but that fig has a mineral taste to it.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is not a sweet bourbon by any means. This is more of a spicy bourbon with a little bit of an oaky dry, uh, character to it. Um, the, the cinnamon is there on the palette as well. Um, almost, almost a pepper actually, maybe like a Dr. Pepper.

Uh, I don't know. You know, when you drink a Dr. Pepper, you get that little bit of a spice to it. Um, little, little tingle on your tongue. It's been a minute since I had a Dr. Pepper though. Trust me. I haven't had a soda since May 22nd, Jim. That's good for you. I'm trying.

You were either giving up sodas or bourbon and the bourbon wasn't going anywhere, right? Nope. I got a, you got to give up some things in life and the bourbon had to stay.

Yeah, Jim, this is a nice finish on this. Uh, I'd still call it medium finish. Uh, it does sit on the pile a little bit. The only thing I, the tannic in this is a little bit drying for me. Um, you know, we've said it before, you kind of wonder what this would be like at 110 or what this would look like in a sing as a single barrel. Um, like 120 proof. I bet it is just some magic in a bottle.

Yeah, I bet it gets pretty, uh, I would say this probably gets pretty hot as far as like spikes goes, especially when you start taking some of that proofing water out of it and just letting it be what it was coming out of the barrel. This has got a great character to it. It's got a good profile. Mike, I would drink this thing on a regular basis. It's that good.

Yeah. I think it is a very good drinker. It'd be about 60 bucks is not bad. You know, we've seen other distilleries release their bottled bonds at about that price range. I think it's very fair. The color on this is nice and dark, like a dark, dark warm penny, maybe. Overall, it's a great little bottle. Like I said, the only thing I can knock on a gym was that it's got that metal cap on there. That was, it was the strangest thing because I thought it was a cork at first. I'm trying to pull that sucker off of there and it wasn't coming.

Well, I think it's a good looking label. It's a good looking bottle. $60. Where did you find this one, Mike?

Well, they were kind enough. They sought us out, Jim, and they knew about us. And they called me and said, hey, would you guys mind doing a review on it? So Holiday Distillery, thank you for reaching out to Bourbon Road, taking a chance on us. We try to give it a fair review. Like we both said, this is a buy for both of us, even though we got this bottle for free. But I would guarantee you there's nothing going to get wasted or poured out on this. I won't even mix this in a cocktail, Jim.

It might even show up on the, on the roadie bar. If I don't drink it all.

Well, you, you could come over and drink it too, or I might just bring it over and drop it off your house. Uh, when we're recording other stuff, but, uh, Yeah, I think this will be one of the bottles we'll take to the, uh, bourbon on the bank. So we're going to be on October 1st. We'll have the bourbon road and lounge there. We'll have, uh, our friends from Lepre fort distillery there, but we'll also have, I don't know how many bottles we're going to bring Jim, but we'll have a plethora of bourbon with us, uh, and rye whiskies.

And yeah. And I mean, we might even have somebody attend in the roadie bar this year.

make sure you go ahead and buy your tickets from Bourbon on the Bank's website. I think they're $65, folks. You can also buy a VIP ticket for the night before. There is a dinner. There's some great ladies will be speaking there. Almost every one of them has been a guest on the Bourbon Road. You don't want to miss that. I think that ticket's $100. You get dinner. You get a private auction of some amazing bottles, right, Jim?

That's right. So, I mean, there, there aren't just everyday bottles in this auction. There are some, but there are usually quite a few unicorns, like a lot.

Yeah. So if you want to come hang out with us, what we would like you to do though, is go ahead and go to our website and pick up one of those bourbon road t-shirts or a bourbon bullshitter t-shirt. So we can know who you are when you walk up to the bourbon road lounge. That's an easy way to identify somebody. Right, Jim?

That's right. So normally we have to verify before you get the belly up to the bourbon road bar and And pick your poison. We have to verify that you're a roadie. A lot of times we just know you as though it's not a problem. But, uh, if you're wearing, uh, either a bourbon road T-shirt or a bourbon bullshitter T-shirt or bourbon road hat, there's, there'll be no questions asked, you know, just belly up.

Right. Yeah. Just come, come up there and, um, get yourself poor. We're going to have some pretty amazing bottles there. Our beautiful wives will obviously be there, Jim, um, with us. They'll be enjoying some bourbon this year. If you would like to help us out with the Bourbon Road Lounge, if you would like to work our t-shirt sales, or if you would like to help us pour our bar, reach out to Jim and I. We'd really appreciate the help.

Well, Mike, uh, it's a big thumbs up for me, uh, for the Ben holiday bourbon, the bottled in bond six year Ben holiday bourbon. I would say this is definitely on my radar now. I'm not going to miss it. When I see it on the shelf, I would suggest that our listeners pay close attention to this review and make up their own mind, uh, either by purchasing a bottle themselves or by having it at your, at your local establishment. I think you'll be surprised.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I totally agree with it, Jim. Well, listeners, you know where you can find us. You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Man, we're all over the place these days, right, Jim?

That's right. We are very, very busy guys. We actually have a private Facebook group called the bourbon roadies. And that's kind of where all our, that's where our peeps hang out. Right, Mike.

Yeah. You got to answer three questions, get in and belong pretty simple. Are you 21? Uh, do you like bourbon? Hell, I think everybody likes bourbon, Jim, or we could talk them into liking bourbon.

I think they won't take long with it. Once they come in that bourbon road tent, we got them.

Yeah.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And you got to agree to play nice, because we don't tolerate any rudeness in there. Like we always say, whether you drink from the very bottom of the shelf, that old tin high, like I used to like to sip on a little bit, or all the way to the top of the shelf, that George T. Stag, the Jim just covets. Anywhere you're in there, we don't care. We just want you to have fun in there. Celebrate life, celebrate birthdays, celebrate And Jim, you just had a grandson. Um, we want to celebrate that kind of stuff right there.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So we do two shows every single week on Mondays. We do a show like today's. We call it the craft distillery Monday episode. We'll have a single expression on we'll try it. Mike and I'll have our opinions on it. We'll let you know what we think. Heck, we'll tell you if we think you ought to add it to your bar or not. Every Wednesday we'll do a full length episode. For about an hour, two 30 minute has we'll deep dive a subject. We'll have a guest on. We'll drink several expressions. We'll get you to work and get you home. You definitely want to catch both those episodes every week, but there is a way that you can make sure that you don't miss a single one. And what is that Mike?

Well, you want to scroll on up the top of that app, hit that check sign, that plus sign, that subscribe sign. That app will let you know, hey, these two jokers have a show that's out today for you to listen to. And what we need you to do is scroll on down to the bottom of that app, hit that five star review, leave us some comments. It's pretty easy to do on almost all apps, all platforms. But you know what's going to happen if you don't. The big bad booty daddy of bourbon is going to come riding up on a stagecoach pulled by a buffalo carrying some Ben Holiday Missouri straight bourbon. You'll drink it all night long. By the end of the night, you'll definitely leave us some comments. A five-star review, I guarantee. But seriously, folks, those reviews, those comments, Get great whiskey in our hands. Like this Ben holiday gets us into distilleries, gets great guests on the show. We really appreciate it.

Now, Mike and I are very approachable. If you see us in town, you see us at a liquor store, you see us at one of these big bourbon events, make sure you stop by and say, Hey to us, we'd love to meet you, share poor with you. If you've got an idea for a show, if you've got a guest, you think it'd be a good fit for the bourbon road. If you've got a bottle. Or a distillery in your hometown that you think would be a good fit as well. We'd love to know about it. Just hop onto our website, our contact us page, fill it out, send it in. Mike and I'll respond to you. You can always send us an email. I'm Jim at the bourbon road.com. He's Mike at the bourbon road.com. Like we always say, probably the best way just hit up our DMS on Instagram. I'm Jay Shannon 63. I'm big bourbon chief. And we'll see you down the bourbon room.

The world is very strange.