312. Devils River Distillers Select 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 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've 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 gotta 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, cruisecustomsflags.com. You can buy his flags on there, key holders. Heck, Jim's got some of these neat little cups that are charred 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 Cruise 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. This is the Bourbon Road. And today Mike, it's another craft distillery Monday. We definitely have a craft distillery in the house. This is a Texas distillery, somebody we haven't had on in a minute. We have had them on the show before, but you dropped this bottle off to me. No label, no explanation, no forewarning. I just walk out to my kitchen and there's a bottle there with no label on it with some nice brown liquid in it. And I'm like, okay, so he's not going to tell me who this is. So tonight. And I get it up here before the show and I'm waiting for us to get on and start doing our thing. And I sniffed on it. I'm like, Oh my God, I've got my first tasting note or my nosing note. I've got my first nosing note and, uh, well, who do we have on? the show tonight, Mike.

So we got Devil's River out of San Antonio, Texas. You know, I just took a short trip down to Austin, Texas. And, you know, I got to go into a liquor store. I'm down there. Right, Jim? Absolutely. Just had to.

You're trying to find Jim some weller, right?

I actually did look for weller for both of us. I was like, I'm going to have to look for some weller to restock because we've both given away some bottles lately. So it's time to restock our supplies of weller. But what caught my eye, Jim, was Devil River's new Distiller Select. Now this has been released for about six or seven months now. but this ain't the same Devil's River that we've had before.

Now, I remember the last time we had Devil's River on the show and honestly, it was a good whiskey. The only issue I had with it was that it was a bit young and it was a bit overly sweet. But beyond that, it was a quality whiskey. It was just I don't think it was his time yet. I hadn't quite reached maturity.

And that's a weird thing to say about a Texas whiskey. And I think it was like 12 months old or something we tried, but this is a different, this is a different devil right here. Um, um, this one right here is two years old or older. It is a Texas straight bourbon whiskey, meaning this over two years old, all the grain. It's got a Texas mash bill. It is a 120 proof. I'm not sure how many bottles went into the batch, but it, um, it is dark. I mean, when you think Texas whiskey, you think dark, right?

Absolutely. So it's now two years old. It's now 120 proof. This is big daddy devil.

We think so. We haven't, I haven't sipped on it yet. Uh, I do know the mash bill at 71% corn, 21% or I, and 4% malted barley. Now listeners, before you say anything, um, About MGP. This is not an MGP whiskey. This is a Texas whiskey though, sourced out of the state of Texas. We don't know what the celery came from, but I didn't know the mash bill two years old, 120 proof, Jim. It's nice. I don't even dark Amber, right? Is that what you're getting?

Yeah, it's definitely a dark Amber. Now, Mike, you showed me the bottle, but this came in a box as well, didn't it?

Yeah. Nice, beautiful box and listeners. Hey, here's the cool thing. I got this specs in Austin, Texas for $42. Um, nice, nice box that came in. Uh, and when it was hiding the bottle. So when I opened it up, I was like, that is the old wilderness trail bottle right there to the teeth.

So what do you think happens when wilderness trail? Now, let's just get this in perspective here. Wilderness Trail puts up many hundreds of barrels a day of whiskey. So they're bottling a lot. And when Wilderness Trail calls up their bottle supplier and says, we're going to change our design and the bottle supplier has already made a whole bunch of bottles in preparation for future orders. What do you think happens to those bottle prices?

Well, you know, he needed some, you gotta get rid of some bottles. Somebody's going to buy them. Right.

So you think that's what happened in this case? I mean, it's one possible, right?

I would imagine so that. You know, they went to that new bottle style, which it's got a skinnier hips on it. Um, I mean, I'm, I've got a bottle side by side right here. I'm looking at them and as it is the bottle, um, to the tea, I think that is exactly what happened. They got it at a cheaper price. One of the things I forgot to mention, Jim, is this was aged in a new number three Charo barrel.

All right. So number three, char oak, two years in a Texas hot sun, 120 proof. Now, is this barrel strength or is it proof to 120? Does it say?

It doesn't say if it's barrel strength or not. I mean, and I'm assuming, you know, if you get every bottle to 120 proof, it seems like you would maybe, uh, you'd have to get it down to that. Right.

Yeah, I would say it's probably proof to 120. That was their target. Maybe it's a little bit hotter. Great color. Great packaging. Definitely a whiskey we've had on the show before. I would say the first time it was on, I think we both had the same opinion that it was It was okay. Uh, but it was not an impressive whiskey. You didn't get our attention. It was a young, it was sweet. It probably needed to spend a little bit more time in the barrel. Here we are a year later. We got some whiskey. It's been another year in the barrel. It's coming out at a higher proof. Let's check it out. Let's do it. Cheers. So that note that I got when I mentioned earlier in the show that I, I got this and it wasn't labeled. I didn't know anything about it. Had no clue what it was. I opened it up and I took a whiff of it. I got Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. My goodness, Mike, sometimes I just got to have one of those.

Well, you got one of those places right next to your house. That's, that's dangerous, Jim. It's dangerous. It's real close to the house.

But I get the Cinnabon and I get a nice mixture of both the cinnamon roll and the creamy, the cream cheese topping that goes on it. Very sweet, very cinnamon-y. It's got a deep, rich flavor, almost a little bit of butterscotch underneath. What do you think?

Yeah, I'm getting those notes. I also get a little bit of cherry twizzler on this for some reason. That sweetness in this nose and a little bit of cherry.

It's a different animal than we tasted a year ago. So these are the same barrels that have just been aging for another year. Great job, Devil's River, because it definitely improved a great deal. Now, this might be a new acquisition for them. These might be some new barrels that they picked up and not part of that original selection of barrels that made last year's release.

But I like it. Yeah, I'm still getting those, like you said, that vanilla, is that vanilla cream on top of those cinnamon buns?

I thought it was like cream cheese, but it might just be like powdered sugar and. and milk or, I honestly don't know, Mike, I've never made anything like that before, but.

I'm getting a little bit of Oak on this. Obviously with that Texas hot sun, you're going to get some Oak in Texas whiskeys, which is super beautiful. Not overpowering notes at 120 proof though, right Jim?

No, not at all. I think it's just right. I think it, uh, you said 40, like $42, $44.

$42. That's that was all.

Yeah. 120 proof whiskey, two years old out of Texas, deep and dark on the color. Um, cut that Cinnabon nose on it. I'm ready to dive in and take a big old swig of this. What do you say? Let's do it. Cheers. Cheers. Yeah, it's a match. The nose and the palette are a match for me.

Yeah, I'd say you're, you're spot on. You talked about though. Yeah, I get that. It's, uh, it's very viscous, super oily. Uh, I'd almost say this is like a Texas oil rig exploded in this sucker. Cause it's so viscous, not overly sweet. It is sweet. Um, That cinnamon bun just is coating the tongue though. That, that stickiness, Jim. Um, I can't explain it any better than that right there.

Yeah. I mean the, the glass, we call them legs on the glass, right? This looks like a bunch of vertical ribs that run right down the side of the glass. halfway around it, where it took a sip. It's got some nice texture to it, some good viscosity. This is a whiskey that, if this is two years old, it's drinking well beyond its age, like Texas whiskeys tend to do, right?

Yeah, it's not, you know, I'd say if they left it in any longer, it'd be a lot different, but this might be the, it's a perfect age for this whiskey right here. Uh, that rice spice, it's grabbing that tongue, Jim. It's sitting there. It's got that spice that it's 120 proof all day long, every day. Um, it's everything that devil's river. When I think of the name is supposed to be, this has got that little devil in the bottle right now, trying to jump out. Um, it's good.

Yeah. Hats off to these guys. Uh, last year's review that we did was, um, so, so, um, this year's review, what's the name of it?

So this is the devil's river distillers select straight bourbon whiskey, 100% Texas mash bill. So this is a limited selection. We actually got bottle 10,131. That's a bunch of bottles.

They're putting out a few bottles of this. So, uh, yeah, definitely a, an improvement over last year. Definitely something that's, uh, at $42, 120 proof, uh, getting that Cinnabon, that butterscotch, a bit of cherry, some nice dark color, a lot of texture to the whiskey. I would say this is a, this is kind of a win here. If you, if you see this bottle on the shelf, I would say. 42 bucks, you better grab it.

Yeah, I'm totally shocked. If I would have known the match bill, Jim, I would have swore that this was a weeder. Yeah. All day long. I would have swore that this was a weeder. I'm not going to put it in the same category as Feo II, but if I got to go for a rye whiskey, a rye bourbon, I'll probably reach for that. I'll probably buy a couple more of these. The price, the proof, the sweetness on it, the viscosity. I can't say enough about this little bottle right here. I'm totally blown away by it. Um, it's got a long finish for me. It, it's sticking around, right?

Yeah, I think it is. I would love to know where this is being distilled. I mean, I would really like to know that for right now. We're just going to have to be satisfied that we don't know. We get to drink the whiskey, but maybe someday we'll figure it out.

Yeah, I probably should have did a little bit more research. That's a little press for time on that. And maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow and say, hey, we need to talk to you, you fellas and gals, whoever's there a little bit more. Yeah, for $42, Jim. I mean, it is impressive. Like I said, there's a little devil in that bottle. This bottle would get you in trouble if you sit down and try to drink it all. I didn't know what to expect from it though. I, you know, when you, when you're kind of disappointed, a little bit disappointed in a bottle or brand, you know, when you bought it and you're always scared to go back to that brand. Um, and I was kind of that way with this bottle, but I was, I was like, I'm gonna take a chance on this. This thing does have a, almost like Kentucky Wildcat, but it's from Texas. So I'd say there's a big old Texas Longhorn in there trying to fight his way out of my chest right now, Jim.

you know, this is one of those bottles that comes in a box. Do you think the box had anything to do with it?

No, absolutely not.

When you were shopping, what do you think?

Um, I don't think so. You know, me and you are so trained not to look at that kind of stuff in the packaging anymore. Um, I picked it up and I pulled the bottle out and I started reading, you know, I w we want to do so much research on these bottles. I wanted to find out about it and the color of this thing. Um, I really wanted to look at it, you know, and I got a couple of wilderness trail bottles on my desk right here. Um, and I'm sitting beside the eight year old wilderness trail gym and it's darker than the wilderness trail. And I know that about Texas whiskeys. Yeah, they're going to be a little bit darker. Um, but I felt, that, I don't know, I just had this feeling. I was like, I think this is going to be a winner for us. Um, so I went ahead and grabbed it, but there was a devil's river, regular bottles had in there and the difference in the two and color was just night and day, night and day.

Well, the devil's in the details, Mike, no doubt about it. Yeah. Yeah. It's nice to be able to come back and revisit an expression that we've had before. Maybe this is an extended line from the expression we tried before. Certainly it's a higher proof bottle. But I think it's nice to always give these distilleries another chance when you've tasted something that they've offered and they've come out with a new expression. because everybody's growing in this business. Everybody's trying to improve on what they did in the year before. In this particular case, I think they have knocked it out of the park. It's really easy. Well, I won't say it's easy. It's really, um, different in Texas when a year of aging could do this amazing things to whiskey, you know, that the rest of the country has to wait two or three or four years to get. But I'm impressed with it. I think it's a good whiskey. I think it's something that $42 that, uh, I'm definitely going to add to my bar. I can't wait to get out to my local liquor store and see if it's on the shelf because this is one that I really like. I don't get Cinnabon very often. And when I do, it's kind of a, it's one of those notes that I really like.

Well, another great review, Jim. I think this is a buy for both of us. Yeah, listeners, if you see one of these on the shelf, don't pass it up for that $42. I think it was probably on sale. I've seen it online for up to $55, I think. But even at $55, I would still buy this. It's just a great little bottle. Yeah, another great review, Jim.

Absolutely. So Mike, one more time, what's the whiskey we're talking about?

We're talking about Devil's River Distiller Select. This has a mash bill of 71% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. It's 120 proof. It's also two years old. Great little bottle.

Absolutely. Well, Mike, where can people find us on the internet?

where you can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. You can find us all over the place. Make sure you check us out. The main place you can find us is on Facebook, our private Facebook group, The Bourbon Roadies. Three easy questions, get in there. Are you 21? Do you like bourbon? And do you agree to play nice? Cause we don't tolerate any rudeness inside that group.

And every single week we do two episodes. Every Monday we'll do a craft distillery episode. of where we focus in on a single craft distillery doing good work. We'll taste a single expression from that distillery and we'll let you know what we think about it, whether or not you should add it to your bar. And this week, the Devil's River Distiller Select at 120 Proof was right on spot for us. Mike and I really enjoyed it. Every Wednesday, we do a full-length episode. We'll dive into a subject. We'll get into some conversation. We'll have a couple of expressions. Maybe we'll have a guest on. So every Wednesday, we have that longer episode of about an hour, 30 minutes to work, 30 minutes home, two episodes every single week. Mike, what do they have to do to make sure they don't miss one?

Well listeners, you need to just scroll on up to the top of that app, hit that check sign, that plus sign, that subscribe sign, the app will let you know, hey, these two jokers got that show coming out today and you need to listen. Then you need to scroll on down, hit that five star review, leave us some of those beautiful comments that we always get. You know what's going to happen if you don't, the big bad booty daddy is going to come to your house, dragging this Devil's River distiller select with him. You'll drink it all night long. By the end of the night, you're going to give us that five star review and believe us those comments, I guarantee. But seriously, those comments, those five star reviews, they open up distilleries to us. They get great whiskey in our hands like this Devil's River distiller select. We'd really appreciate it.

So I'm not going to are very approachable. You'll see us in a liquor store at a, at a tour at a distillery. You'll see us at an event. Uh, when you do make sure you walk up to us, introduce yourself. We'd love to meet you. We'd love to hear your bourbon story. We love to meet our listeners. We love to meet our roadies. So don't hesitate and come up and introduce yourself to us. If you've got an idea for a show, if you've got an idea for a bottle that we should review, make sure you let us know. You can always hop onto our website, the bourbonroad.com. We've got a contact us page on there. Fill it out. Send us a message. Let us know what you think. We'll get right on it. You can always send us an email. I'm Jim at the bourbon road.com. He's Mike at the bourbon road.com. But like we always say, probably the best way, hit up our DMS on Instagram. I'm Jay Shannon 63.

I'm big bourbon chief and we'll see you down the bourbon road.