345. 15 Stars Fine Aged Bourbon

Welcome to another great episode of The Bourbon Road with your host, Jim and Brian, where they talk bourbon and of course, drink bourbon. Grab yourself a pour, kick back, and enjoy another trip down the Bourbon Road.

We're very excited to have Blanton's bourbon shop.com is a new sponsor for the bourbon road podcast. In fact, this podcast was brought to you by Blanton's bourbon shop. Blanton's bourbon shop.com is the only official merchandiser for Blanton's original single barrel. Looking for a unique gift. Blanton's bourbon shop has got you covered. Blanton's bourbon shop.com is your home for all Blanton's gifts. You know friends, it's never too early. Start planning your trip to the Bourbon Trail for 2023. We hope you'll join the Bourbon Road crew as we pull out all the stops this year at Bourbon on the Banks. So mark your calendars for October 6th and 7th and we'll plan on seeing you in Frankfort, Kentucky. Be sure to listen in during the halftime break for all the details on Bourbon on the Banks. Welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon, and we are in the Bourbon Road bar today. Brian is with me. Brian, how are you doing?

I'm doing great. It's great to be back.

Great to be back and kind of an exciting week for us here in Kentucky. You did attend the Derby. I did. And you got a pocket of cash now, right?

My wife has more than I do. Let's just leave it at that.

It always works that way because we're trying to figure things out and they're just looking at the color of the jockey silks, right? Give me the pink. The horse, the gray horse, right?

That's right.

All right. We do have guests in the bar today in the Bourbon Road Lounge. Let's just call it that. We've got our friends from 15 Stars Fine Aged Bourbon. We've got Rick and Ricky Johnson, co-founders, right, guys? Co-founders. All right. Well, it's great to have you.

Guess which one's the oldest? Well, I'm struggling here, just a little bit.

But you and I share one thing, Rick, and that's... A little bit of gray hair. A little bit of gray hair, yeah. Well-earned. Well, welcome to the Bourbon Road.

It's so great to have you here. Thank you. Glad to be here.

Well, it's always good to sit down with new friends. And we've been chatting a while back and forth, but this is the first time we've been able to come together and drink a little bit of your whiskey. Actually, we're going to drink a lot of your whiskey today, I think. You brought a fine collection. And our listeners are going to really look forward to that. But Brian, what do you say we start off pretty quick here?

I think so. And I'd also like to throw in, not only did they bring some bourbon for us to taste, but we have some popcorn here. They brought food and drinks.

Good friends, definitely good friends. Well, welcome. So the first whiskey we're going to taste today, and the listeners do like us to get straight to the whiskey, and then we'll talk a little bit about the company and the history behind it. But the first whiskey we've got today in our glass, can you tell me a little bit about that, Ricky?

Yeah, so this is our second release. Our first was our 14 year old timeless reserve, which is now sold out. But our second release still in the market, our seven and 15 year old private stock. And believe it or not, it's a blend of seven and 15 year old bourbons, both from Kentucky, bottled at 107 proof.

107 proof and seven and 15 years, those are significant because first of all, 15 usually represents kind of a, an extra aged bourbon, right? It's kind of an extra aged whiskey, a little bit higher than normal, but it also kind of stands behind those 15 stars a little bit, I would think. And then seven years is kind of in that sweet spot. You know, everybody's looking for those, you know, six to 12 year old bourbons, right? Cause that's kind of the saddle.

Yeah, and you guys will see for yourselves when you try it, but it's an interesting dynamic bringing together two, while they're both pretty mature bourbons, two largely different ages in a blend.

Now, can you tell us any more about the distillate than just the age? Are there mash bills there that are being disclosed?

They're both standard bourbon mash bills, rye flavoring grain.

Okay, so they're both rye bourbons. Okay, good.

Kind of the mid-rise, 20% or so. 70-20-10 average about.

Range up. Okay, so the two bourbons aren't that different from each other, other than age. Not largely, no.

But taste of the two, drastically different.

Given the age difference as well, you can expect that.

Two different distilleries, two different undoubtedly two different places and warehouses, and of course the age, but drastically different bourbons.

All right, we'll talk a little bit more about that after we taste it. So, cheers guys. Thanks. Cheers. Well, you do pick up some of that age on the nose, don't you? It's got a butterscotch, a nice butterscotch to it. So the 15 year old is bringing a little bit of that kind of that, that warehouse, um, Rick house. Intense oak flavor that you get off the older the older whiskey I'm not gonna say I'm getting a lot of tobacco out of it or anything like that But I am getting kind of those leathery notes a little bit.

Yeah, I would agree Yeah, definitely and that that older one is is it definitely brings that some of the tannins forward and not too strongly in here but But enough that you know you've got an age product there.

Gives it a bit of an oak backbone to some of the younger flavors present.

Shall we taste it, Brian?

Let's taste it.

Cheers.

The seven-year-old bourbon that we used in there is On its own, it's got a really fruity, really fruitiness to it. A light, airy, fruity, I would say. Still seven years old, right? Still has, is beginning to get some of that depth that, you know, those middle-aged bourbons get.

Yeah, I'm kind of getting that. You know, it kind of reminds me a little bit. I mean, on first zip, and I'm saying this because I think it's a good thing. It kind of is for roses-esque a little bit on the fruity side. I don't know if it's from the esters, the fruit esters that you get or, you know, wherever it comes from, but it kind of reminds me of that a little bit. That extra age, 15 year bourbon in the back end just gives it that deepness and that richness and that robustness that just carries it over the top. And I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this side by side with like a birthday bourbon or an annual release of a Four Roses edition, special edition or something like that, because it's at that level. It's kind of a really well-crafted, It kind of gives you the best of both worlds. I am missing a little bit of sweetness, I guess, maybe. Not a lot of sweetness there, but I guess a lot of that goes away, right? Between four and six years, that kind of starts to drift a little bit. Yeah.

I guess sweetness in a little bit of a different sense. It's not like as much like bright, like flowers and stuff and that kind of lavender sweetness. I think more of like dried apricots, things like that. Yeah, yeah. Dried fruit sweetness.

I really like the buttery feel on my tongue, on the palate. Jim's heard me say it a hundred times. Like I really, I'm not as much of the dry, you know, and filling their side. For me, this is a buttery filling on the tongue, which I really enjoy.

How do you think this compares to your 14 year?

So between the two are 14 year, as you know, uh, with the lowest age being 14, uh, in that blend, um, carries more oak in it, but not a ridiculously larger amount. The proof difference only being four but the at 103 proof that 14 year old was about as smooth as it gets. As far as the flavor goes you get a little more of that maple kind of the the dark sugary notes in the 14 year old than you do in this accompanied by some as you would expect oak seasoned oak flavors.

Now, there are a little bit of tannins on the back end of this. I mean, you certainly are going to expect a little bit of that, right, with the older whiskey? You're going to want it. Yeah, you're going to want it. It's not overly drying, though. It's still nice. It does settle in. It's got a nice hug to it. It's speaking to me to take another sip, right?

Yeah, it does kind of hang there and make you want to... You're not going to forget. No. It's still hanging there.

I have to be totally honest and full disclosure, I've had this before and thank you for sending me a sample of that. It's been a few months since I've had it, but I do remember this as one of my favorite whiskies of the year so far. And I have to tell our listeners that this is kind of at the top of my list right now for the end of the year. You know, statements that we make, well, all of us make statements at the end of the year. We thought our favorites were right. This one's definitely in the running. Definitely. And I haven't had your 14, so I can't comment on that, but this is.

Well, it's here today in case you want to try it.

Nobody can get their hands on it now, right? It's sold out and it's sold out for a reason. I'm sure.

Yep, it might still be lingering in some retail stores somewhere. Dusty corners. Yeah, a dusty corner, but as far as more coming into supply, it's over in that sense.

So if you're lucky enough to find it out there, go ahead and grab it. Don't let it sit there.

Yeah, I want to say that right now. If you see the 15 star seven and 15 year old Finest bourbon sitting on the shelf, And it's not a super cheap bottle, right guys? What's the price on it?

139.

It's 139. So this is an exceptional bourbon, but it is at a higher price. So you've got to really consider that purchase when you go to buy it. But you will not be disappointed, not in this one. This is a great whiskey. This is definitely, like I said, probably at this point at the top of my list this year so far.

back and forth with between the things we've put together and and the things that we we are still making and we drift back to this one all the time and say this is a this is a bourbon that we love going back to the 14 we still do have a few bottles down in our basement as you can imagine and we we often go back to that one as well and when you try it you'll see why but But this really, and for the money, even though, again, $139 is real money for a bottle of bourbon, right? And you've got a 7- and 15-year-old blend, which, from a source standpoint, takes real money to get the great ingredients for that. The 14- and 15-year blend, the 14-year is a 14- and 15-year blend. and it was at $279. And again, sold great and is an extraordinary thing, which you'll get to taste. But this one, I think there's a group of people in there that would say, I still lean to the 14, but there's a group of people that would say the 7 and 15 and have told us they take this.

Yeah. I haven't had the other one either, but I can't tell you this much. This is, uh, this is a fairly well balanced whiskey and it's got a lot of what you look for in a bourbon. Uh, and sometimes when you get to the higher age bourbons, you get a lot of what you like. Maybe if you like those older, older whiskies, but you give up a few things too, right? You give up those, uh, those fruitier esternotes that you get in a bourbon. That's not as old. Uh, you lose some of that new wood, right? Right. Which is good. And those, so. I don't know. It's hard sometimes to choose. I mean, you can get a seven-year-old, just a straight seven-year-old that will just knock your socks off, right? Yeah. But we all have different palates and we like different things. So it's good to have variety. It is the spice of life.

Exactly. It's our job in blending really to kind of bring together some great things that come together really, really well. And that's what we think we did here. And that's what we do really with everything we do. It'd be great to be one of the great big distilleries and have 25 giant warehouses and have that richness of inventory. But our inventory I think the richness of our inventory is different. We have a reasonably considerable inventory. And we can go through there and we have things like what you're drinking that are two very different bourbons that come from different places and age differently. And so we have that opportunity to bring some things that are really different together. Not everything really blends well. But we really search for those sweet spots where two or three things brought together really make a whole that you can't really get. It's the extra dimension that you can't really get out of sometimes that single mash bill, even though it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. The ability to twist and turn with different products at different ratios and different proofs is really some fun dials to work with and you can bring out more complexity and more interest in the final drink. Absolutely.

Another thing I guess we haven't mentioned to you guys is how we kind of choose our proofs. You may have noticed going through that some of our proofs or most of them are between that 100 to 110 range. and what we do we call it flavor proofing which is basically we say we don't proof for cost we're not proofing for volume we're simply proofing to get the best flavor out of the the blends that we're making and so in that we've kind of found that we hang around that 100 to 110 area. It allows it to have a full flavor and not be watery, but still let you focus on the flavors and not kind of be overwhelmed by proof at any point. So it's kind of a sweet spot for us.

Yeah. I mean, when you think Brian, seven to 15 years, 100 to 110 proof, I think they're picking the right number.

I think so. And I think it's very apparent that, you know, you're really more focused on the quality. And that stands through.

Yeah, it's not more focused. Let's just say it's singularly focused. That's the only focus we have. As Ricky said, you know, not for any of those other reasons, not to meet a certain market segment that's looking for something. We just put the very best flavor out there we can. And we think that's ultimately what people will like. And there'll be people that drift to that, right? If you want, some people are really into the cast proof, right? A lot of people. And that's great, right? And it's a wonderful thing, but we really like the ability to dial it a little bit.

Now, this is a family business, right? I mean, you guys are obviously related. But where did it come from? Where did this idea come from? How did it start? There's a lot of people who think about starting whiskey companies. There's much fewer people who actually do it. What pushed you guys over the edge?

Ricky ought to really talk about the start. I gave him a job, a summer job.

Starting from there, I worked with my family as my dad worked with his dad in the past and had been working throughout my late high school and early college years on our company, Black Jewel Popcorn, which we'll probably get into a little bit more later, but sells unique colored heirloom popcorns. through that one summer, like my dad said, he came up with an idea to see if we could turn those popcorns into bourbon. So this was between my sophomore and junior year of college and throughout the summer just set out to learn, make relationships, connections, and figure out, one, is it feasible? Can these unique heirloom popcorns turn into bourbon? Does the the chemistry work? Is it possible? As well as does it make sense for us to do that with our time? Does it make sense financially? And so really just kind of put a whole report together, kind of covering all aspects of what we did find.

So did he make you do a book report?

He did. Yeah. Good, good. He did. It's good to have. Very formal, but I was at the business school in IU as well, so it wasn't my first time doing that. So, We then ended up making that summer a connection with Bardstown Bourbon Company, a fantastic group of people who allowed us to experiment and were interested in the project and enthusiastic just like we were. So they let us do a single fermenter of our black heirloom corn and found that the yield was kind of on par with the standard corns. And it was something that could work and had a good white dog flavor, everything lined up well. So we decided that it was something we'd like to move forward with.

The people at Barstown Bourbon Company are well known in the industry for being very professional and knowledgeable in what they do. They have quite a facility there. The staff is the best of the best. When you walked in there with those little ears of corn, did they have any initial comments before giving it a shot? Did they say, I don't know about that or anything, or were they just completely open to it?

I think they're pretty excited about the opportunity, right? I mean, again, the team at Bartsdale Bourbon Company could not be better for us, so we unequivocally say that. They have been extremely helpful. They want us to think of it as our distillery and they want a real partnership there and that's been since the very beginning. They're also interested in exploring and trying new things and so when we brought that corn down they were really excited and In fact, when the first distilling happened, Peter Lofton, who's no longer with us, was at the distillery, and they really made a big event internally, really. Not necessarily externally, but internally, about the opportunity to distill some really unique and different corn. And that black corn that we distilled first, we're distilling white corns, white edamame corns, red corns, blue corns, black corns. So we've got a number of different corns that we grow for our Black Jewel Popcorn Company, but this little black one is the most unique. And it really looks different in the process. I mean, when you see that, for a matter, boiling, it's a witch's brew. You're familiar with the normal look where you've got kind of a yellow cap on that thing. And that thing bubbles and roils black and purple and really strange. It really looks like a witch's brew. It looks exactly like that. Very dark and it caps over, you know, grayish black. Very different product. Tastes very different.

So are you a farm?

We do operate some farms. We contract grow the corns. So some of it's grown on our property. We're not farmers, but we do own some farm ground. And we do have some great farmers that we partner with.

So you're really, well, you started as a popcorn company.

That was one of our businesses. We've been in a number of businesses over time, but that's one business that we had, and that's where the idea of making a crap bourbon.

So I'm kind of hearing serial entrepreneur here, right? I think so. He's a hobbyist. Did you inherit that?

Seeming like it. One of my degrees is in entrepreneurship, so... That's awesome. One of your degrees.

Okay. We're well-educated in that house. That's right. Well, gents, this is some really, really fine whiskey. I definitely am going to put it into the fine category. I hope we have a bottle of this at Bourbon on the Banks. Let's say it's done. It's done. In October, folks, when you come to Bourbon on the Banks in Frankfort, Kentucky, definitely come down and visit us. There'll be a bottle of the 7-in-15, 15-star. On the bourbon road bar, courtesy of 15 stars, find each bourbon. Well, thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate that. That would be awesome.

It would be great to be there.

So we're going to move on to another whiskey now. And what do we have in our second glass?

So the second glass is a newer product of ours. It was released a couple of months ago. It is our triple cask bourbon. So this is a blend of two Kentucky bourbons aged 16 and 8 years that was taken and cut into thirds, put in port, cognac, and rum casks, aged for about eight months, and then blended back together to create this bottle to add 105 proof.

But this is a finished bourbon. Yeah. But you did it in three stages. So you actually didn't, the whiskey didn't travel from one to the next to the next. It was done three ways and then combined.

Yeah. And maybe we ought to talk about that process a little, because I think it goes back to that thing about flavor first. Nothing else counts. And what we really started out to do was to put two great whiskies together and have it in these three different casts. and have three releases at the same time, right? Release those three expressions. So people would really say, here's the same bourbon in three different expressions. We have labels made up. We have everything ready to go. And we made that up. And we thought, we tasted through it all. We got it kind of dialed in. And we thought, OK, we got it. This is going to be great. And then while we're playing with it, We threw all the remainders into a glass and took a zip and we said, whoa, that's better than any of the three. And so we actually did throw all the labels away that we had made, ordered new labels quickly, because we had a date to meet for bottling, ordered new labels, just turned it into a triple gas. And the TTB complied, huh? And the TTB, we were able to get that turned around pretty quick.

Yeah, I'm hearing more and more these days that the TTB has become very super helpful and is actually come a long way and moving things along more quickly.

We've had good luck. And again, the team at Birdstown, a bourbon company, submits those for us. Obviously, we do work on our own, but they know a guy that knows a guy. But honestly, we've been really, really fortunate there. But that is, certainly, when you're trying to do a quick turn, you never really know. I can't remember how many days it took to get that, but we've had them turn around as closely as three or four days.

However many that one was, it felt like too many at that time, for sure. That's amazing.

But I mean, typically for us, a couple of weeks.

All right, then. Well, let's go ahead and try this whiskey and see what we think about it. Sure. Cheers. Cheers. Now, as I know this, could you repeat the three barrel types that it was finished in?

Port, cognac, and rum.

Port, cognac, and rum. Okay. I think the port is most evident, at least to me. Are you picking up the rum or the cognac?

I feel like I am picking up the rum.

Okay. On the nose?

Yep.

It's quite a blend. Yeah. We've had, obviously the tasting notes, everybody's got different opinions. And the interesting thing is we've had people say, I agree with you that the port is kind of the most dominant. Well, you can get the others. I get the rum a lot too, but we've had other people say that the cognac pokes out a lot to them. So it's, it's interesting to hear.

I'm searching for it. I'm trying to find it because I'm interested in that because I had a cognac finished whiskey. It's been a while. We had it at Woodford Reserve when Elizabeth tapped that cognac barrel. And I was so impressed by it. I was like, oh, somebody needs to do more of these cognac barrels. So I was really searching for that here. But I don't have the most sensitive nose and palate in the world. I wasn't blessed with that.

One thing we tried to do with this one, too, is accent the bourbon, not cover it up.

So how long did they spend in those barrels? About eight months. Okay.

Interestingly enough, this bourbon went through two rounds of blending basically because the 16 and eight year old, we blended, figured out the percentage on what we wanted that to be. And then at the end, we actually didn't end up putting all of the barrels we put it back, put it into to finish back into the final blend. So we, blended those out, those final barrels to get the flavors that we wanted out of those going into the bottling blend.

And these are the same Kentucky rye bourbons that we were using before or are these different?

These are the same two bourbons that went into the 7 and 15, just slightly older now.

Yeah, that's very cool. I love, I love that you had that plan and you said, no, we need to, we need to change this up. Cause it's so much better this way.

Just kind of what we do as well out of curiosity, whatever we're drinking, whether it's our product of ours or other people's products, we just end up blending them out of curiosity. And we didn't start playing. It's one of those moments where you'd blend it. We both taste it, look at each other and go, Oh my goodness, we might need to bottle it like this.

It's kind of a lesson, I think. We have tasted an awful lot of whiskeys. We have had thousands of whiskeys on the show, but we get sent an awful lot that don't make it on the show as well. There can be certain reasons for that. Most of them have to do with the fact that this is not ready yet. Maybe we sense something in the distillate that just doesn't seem right and we don't want to ruin somebody's reputation over an early mistake in their business, right? So we're very careful about that. We try to bring whiskeys on the show that we feel good about talking about.

We feel like these are good examples of what you should be drinking.

And a lot of times we've, we kind of, you know, amongst ourselves, we're talking about this saying, you know, some of these whiskeys would be perfectly fine if they spent just a little more time in the barrel. Not much more, just a little more time in the barrel, because it's okay to drink a two-year-old whiskey or three-year-old whiskey. Some of them can be fantastic, but some of them are just not ready yet, so when you make those choices. But some of them have had something go wrong, either the grain came in tainted or something went wrong in the process. And a decision was made to put it in the bottle rather than turning it into vodka or something else. So I guess the point I'm trying to make here is you guys were aware enough and conscious enough about quality to make a decision to change direction and change it quickly when you had to because you're making the right choice. And what I'm saying to those other distilleries is do the same thing. If you've got something that's just not quite what you think it ought to be, don't look at your wallet. If you can help it in any way, look at the quality and what the consumer is going to think when they taste it, because that's the most important thing.

Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt. And we just kind of said from the very beginning, that's just our commitment, no question about it. It was several thousand dollars worth of labels that went in the trash. And so it's a costly thing, but really producing a great bourbon is what it's all about. And we love that.

Brian, I'm getting a buttered rum now. I'm getting the cognac now. Are you? I am. Oh, you just need to sit here and have a taste of yet. This is all like on the nose, right?

It does open up a bit. It kind of evolves as you drink. And we've had other people say the same for their experience as well.

Well, I am ready to taste it, though. Cheers. Oh, wow. Is there something going on in there? There is. Sorry folks for the mouth noises. I apologize. If I didn't cut them all out, I'm sorry, but I just want to let you know that every gland in my palate, salivating gland just turned on all at once when this dripped down the sides of my tongue. Oh my goodness. That's got gobs and gobs of flavor.

Really, really good. Yeah, really rich, really complex. Um, really, really just a wide variety of flavor in there.

You know, every now and then when you drink that, when you drink a whiskey, it does that on the sides and of your palate. It just drips down the side of your tongue and it hits something down there and it just turns everything on all at once. And, uh, you get that in about, I don't know. Two out of 10, one out of 10 whiskies. I'd say one out of 10. One out of 10.

That's pretty darn good stuff. It's very good. Ricky, what are the awards this one's got?

Yeah, so just recently, IWSC, the International Wine and Spirits Competition from London, awarded our triple cask a 95 rating, a gold medal, as well as our first West Bourbon, which is a future release that I think you guys will enjoy, and our platinum series, which we have here if you guys would like to taste today.

In the second half, we're going to try those.

Yeah, yeah.

So yeah. We've been focused on trying to be sure we get our product to a lot of influencers that taste a lot of different things to get their thoughts and opinions, and this one has been a hands-down winner. We've done really well with all of them, but this has really been a favorite. And then the competitions is another thing. our bourbon into as many third-party authoritative reviews really as we can. We feel good about them but we want to make sure we're testing the bourbons and we're testing ourselves to be honest. Sure. You know to say okay how does this really work and we've been We've been extraordinarily fortunate. We've got over 30 awards already. And we're a year into it. And most of those gold, double gold, platinum. We had our first bourbon out, the 14 and 15 year old blend was one of three finalists for best bourbon in San Francisco. It's a San Francisco World Spirits Competition for 2022. And then last week we were just announced for our entries at IWSC of which Ricky just kind of reviewed. We've been nominated as one of four finalists for Worldwide Whiskey Producer. for 2023. So that will be awarded in October. But if you can imagine coming out with things, again, part of our commitment to the flavor, the taste, making sure that we do the very, very best we can. And starting with age spirits, Blending them to add that complexity and interest. Doing things like a barrel finish here that adds additional complexity of interest and interest. And then that flavor proofing that Ricky talked about to kind of dial that in. So we're looking for multiple dials that we can twist to kind of narrow in on something good. So far it's been really good. And most of it's probably attributable. My taste buds are still really good. My nose is still really good. But Ricky's a little younger and maybe a little even, he's pretty tuned up in that regard. So it's been fun working with it and we've been really lucky. And this one has been one that's really just gotten a lot of climbing.

Well, we know how it goes with age, right? The older you get, those things kind of, it loses a little bit there, you know? I mean, I don't have quite the palette I used to have. But you look at old Mr. Jimmy Russell and he's still kicking, right?

I don't know how much he really still tastes, but his nose is probably still working pretty good. And we argue these. I mean, every one of them. And maybe that's a balance, too, between youth and age that comes together. I would say in these, you've got a balance between youth and age that comes together in there. that really we argue back and forth in every regard while we're doing it. We push and pull each other and we end up in a pretty good spot, but there's definitely opinions. We come together on it. We're never really, I think Ricky's fair to say, I don't think we're ever on separate parts of the planet, right? We're always in the range, but we really are focused on the nuance of it. And so we spend a lot of time about one or two proof. It's not something we just go, okay, that's good, that's close. And good doesn't really do it. We're trying to go back and forth and dial it in.

I have a question for you. Obviously, father, son, what has this journey been like for you, sitting down and blending and tasting? I mean, it's got to be a lot of fun to share that.

Yeah, it's been neat. It's cool because it creates, I guess, a little bit of a relaxed atmosphere with the blending and stuff. I mean, we're literally doing it on the kitchen counter. It's not in a lab, in an office somewhere or anything like that where we're seeing each other at work and then going home and blending and tasting bourbons. It's been a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah, very cool.

It's definitely a lot of fun, and it is fun, but it's also work, right? I mean, people, when they think of you tasting all these and sampling and having a room full of samples, and we've got a room that is really full of samples out of our inventory, we own a pretty significant inventory, and so we've We've got a lot of those ages that we're trying to work with. While it's super fun, it takes time. It's not an overnight thing.

Let's talk a little bit about your inventory because that's at the heart of what you do. You're blenders. You're craftsmen that put together blends of whiskeys. You finish them. So that inventory is ultimately important. You're sourcing your own barrels. Even though Bardstown Bourbon Company is your production facility, you guys are still the ones out searching for the good stuff, right?

Yeah, we've been distilling for three and a half years. So that's our inventory of distilled product is three and a half years and under. That's going to be the good stuff in a few years.

You've been tasting this stuff along the way, right?

Absolutely. How's it going? It's going awesome. We are really excited about it, to be honest.

This is the popcorn whiskey, right?

We have traditional mashvilles with traditional corn, as well as those heirloom corns that we talked about, black, red, blue. So we've got those. We've also, just to give an idea, we're blending some of those together as well. So some of them we're doing individually. We are running a red, white, and blue mash together. And then probably the most unique thing that we've done that we are loving, and we think is gonna age wonderfully, is a rye whiskey, a 51% rye. but with 44% corn with a blend of black and white corn. So a rye whiskey, 51% rye, 44% corn, probably we know of no other. heirloom corn based rye whiskey. So it's going to be something that is unique in the market and we think just has an outstanding flavor in it. And we love the 95.5 ryes and we have one here that we're going to taste. But we also love that kind of Kentucky rye, that 51% and the blend of those corns that we kind of dialed in for that produces produce a flavor that we think is going to be very different and we're excited. It's our favorite white dog. It's my favorite white dog. I don't know, Ricky.

I still wish David brought some of that white dog, Brian.

He should have brought some of that.

All right. Well, we're going to continue sipping on this and we're going to go into the half. When we come back, you've got I think three more whiskeys for us to try. And we're going to talk a little bit more about what you guys have planned for the future. Kind of what's coming down the pike and you've gotten some releases that have not gone out yet. We're going to talk about those. Sure. So, all right, let's take a short break. When we come back, more stuff. Looking for a unique gift? Blanton's bourbon shop has got you covered. All of their hand-crafted wood products are made in their in-house wood shop with authentic bourbon barrels. Specializing in barrel-age potent treats, they use Blanton's barrels to age their own maple syrup, honey, and coffee. Find the most unique gift ideas for your golf lover, cigar connoisseur, avid coffee drinker, and Blanton's fan. Want to win an authentic Blanton's barrel head? Make sure you sign up for the giveaway on the home page of their website. Blanton'sBourbonShop.com is your home for all Blanton's gifts. As we mentioned earlier in the show, we hope you'll join us this fall on October 6th and 7th for Bourbon on the Banks. The festival itself is from 2 to 6 p.m. on October 7th and you can pick those tickets up at bourbononthebanks.org for $65. They also have an early access ticket for $75. It'll get you in an hour early and definitely get you access to some special pours. But if you always like that VIP access, this year they're bringing in the VIP access tickets. They'll give you access to their VIP tent and all the great things that go along with that for $175. Be sure to check out bourbononthebanks.org. You'll get all the details on this year's event. All right, so we are back. It was a great break, actually. We had a nice session up at the bar talking about all things whiskey. We ate some black cambozole cheese, Ryan. That's my jam.

I love it.

Yeah.

Sit back down, have some popcorn.

And Rick, you're no stranger to that, right?

It's a family favorite. Yeah. Years long.

You give me a few nuts and some black canvas oil cheese and some, uh, I think I can't remember what that is up there. I think that's kind of spice salami or something. I don't know, but quite nice. I like, I like, I like munching a little bit with my whiskey and that's always good. The popcorn was extra special though. I have to say, and I'm probably going to hit that again here in a moment, but it's not an on air snack.

No, it's got a little crunch to it. A little bit of crunch to it. A little crunch, which makes it special.

That's right. I'm snaking them in every now and then. Are you, really?

I am. Maybe we'll come back sometime when you can drink that crunch.

That's right.

Well, here's a good opportunity for us. Rick, where can they find your popcorn?

Well, you can look at specialty stores. It's probably the best thing to do. And of course, Amazon, online, easy to find. But specialty stores would carry it. And across, I don't know, you probably got podcast listeners everywhere, right?

They're everywhere. All 50 states and 40 countries.

Okay, well, in 50 states you can find it at specialty stores, although, you know, there's some traditional groceries that would carry it. Publix in Florida, so 1,300 Publix stores, or Albertson Safeway carries it, so some of the big chains, but largely specialty-type stores.

So when they, let's just say they go onto Amazon and they're trying to find your black popcorn, what do they type into the search bar?

I think if you type black popcorn, you're going to find it because it is really the only black popcorn. And what's the brand name? It's the only black corn. Black Jewel. Black Jewel. So typing in Black Jewel for sure lands on it. And ready to eat, pre-popped, microwave, or just kernels for those that like to pop it themselves.

That's awesome. Well, I'm a big fan of popcorn. I'm also a big fan of Publix. That's kind of my favorite sandwich shop in the whole world.

So I always go to Publix. They're a great operation. Being in Florida is not bad.

Yeah. I have to agree with you there.

You spend some time there. We do. We got a home in St. Pete and it's a great community and we love it down there. Awesome.

All right, so we've got a number of whiskies to get through and we ran a little long in the first half. I'm not going to say we won't run a little long in the second half because we are having a really good time here. But what is in our first class?

So first glass of the second half is our First West Rye. So this is our first rye release, came out at the same time the triple cask did about two months ago. The name First West comes from Kentucky, which I guess we haven't mentioned so far for the listeners that 15 Star's brand names derived from the 15 Star flag, which was the second US flag. represented Kentucky as the 15th state, and we're celebrating that early craftsmanship present in Kentucky with their bourbons today. And Kentucky was the first state west of the Appalachians, was surrounded by the Northwest Territory and the Southwest Territory, the Southwest Territory being Tennessee, the Northwest being Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, So these first west series whiskies that the first west rye is number one of and there will continue to be more have juice or bourbon or rye whiskies from that region.

Okay so really if somebody sees first west on one of your bottles they can expect to find Whiskeys from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, or Tennessee, not all of them, but some part of one of the, or more of those, right?

They will always have Kentucky in it. All of our products will always have Kentucky. And then for the first West series, this rye has Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee, but some may just have Kentucky, Tennessee, some Kentucky, Indiana. but we can guarantee Kentucky. But for this rye, as I said a second ago, a blend of Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee rye whiskies, aged six, seven, and eight years old, bottled at 105 proof.

I'm going to put a plug in for one of my friends here. He's a flag collector. He's got flags going back to the beginning of the country. I'm not sure that he has a 15-star flag. If you guys ever search one out and find one or have one already,

there are about a dozen 15 star flags known extraordinarily expensive depends how much we would like to buy one if one ever came available but they are really really Very tough to get. Of course, the most famous 15-star flag is in Washington, D.C. It's a Smithsonian, and the Star-Spangled Banner was written under it. The Fort McHenry and the Baltimore Harbor, the battle against the British, where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner was under a 15-star, 15-stripe flag celebrating Kentucky as a 15th state.

Well, I'll make sure I let him know because he's a huge flag. His entire bar area is covered with old tattered flags from.

Yeah.

It's a really cool hobby. It's a really cool hobby. But I think he would be tickled just to take a picture with one. So if you ever find one, let me know and I'll make sure to let him know if he ever runs across one to give you guys a holler. That'd be great. Yeah. Well, that's a great bit of history there. I love to hear that. 15 Stars is a Kentucky company. You guys are based out of Bardstown, but you understand that there's a lot of history around Kentucky as well and that there's some good whiskey being made in adjacent states and they can become part of your blends in the future, but those blends will say First West on them.

Yeah, they'll always say First West series. First West on the front or First West series on the top, on the back label, so always identified as First West. If they don't have that, 100% Kentucky.

All right. So this has, again, let's recap. This has a Kentucky rye in it. It has a Tennessee rye and an Indiana rye.

Yep.

Three 95, five rye. These are all 95, five ryes. Yep. Aged six, seven, and eight years old.

Which is darn good for a rye. That's a good age for a rye. It is a nice age. Cheers y'all. Cheers. Oh, wow. Yeah, that has got a great nose on it. Follows with a really good palette. It's very candy-like. It's got a good bit of citrus note to it, but it is kind of a, almost want to say like candy orange, but it's more of a, maybe a, not a super sweet orange though. I don't know.

I can see all that. Yeah, I think that's just in general pretty sweet forward rather than a spicy like you get out of some 95 fives. Yeah. One thing I always get that I think is somewhat unique to me, maybe, maybe not. I'll see what you guys think. But I get on the nose a lot of like honey and honeycomb and a bit still on the palette, not as much towards the finish, but I get really strong honey and I've thought that since the start, but he has yet to agree with me. So. I get the more honeycomb. Yeah.

Yeah. And it is a sweet, the sweet flavor, right? And I pull off the, you know, off the palate, the, you know, kind of a nectarine, uh, uh, nectarine apricot.

Those are the kinds of flavors that I, you know, if you were to take a rye muffin and, uh, put orange marmalade on it,

I get the orange marmalade. I like that. A little bit of butter. Orange marmalade for sure.

Yeah. For sure. Very nice. Very, very... Yeah, it's that 95.5 rye that you hope to get that's got that nice candy-like sweetness to it, but it still maintains that rye bread-y character that you kind of like. Not too much in the, not too much in like the, the like cedar juniper area, you know, kind of more, uh, hot buttered orange marmalade. Yeah.

I'm going to go with Ricky.

Yeah.

You're getting the honey. I've got some honey.

Yeah.

I, when you were first talking about the, the, the bread, the muffin, I was like, you're going to say honey.

Well, you can't have honey and marmalade. You got to pick one of the two.

I'm picking both.

Yeah. Yeah, it's very nice. And, um, it's definitely a mid palette bourbon for me. It does finish nicely, but it really leaves a big impression on the middle. And, uh, I'd say this is a medium to medium long finish on it. It does finish a little lighter on the back end there for me. It's really mid palette sweet and kind of sticky syrupy.

We love the nose on this one. I do too. We love the nose on all of them, really. In some ways, we love to drink them, but we can just sit there and nose these things forever. But we really, really think there's some interesting complex notes in there.

So I'm sure you guys, as whiskey makers, want people to drink your whiskey any way they like it. Absolutely. How do you guys like it?

Depends, I guess. It depends. Normally, if I'm just pre-dinner enjoying a bourbon with friends like now, I'll drink it neat. But sometimes later in the evening or on a hot day, I like it with a big rock.

I think that's right. We can go a lot of ways. I mean, I don't think there is, as we all know, there's no one way to do it. And any way you like it's great, but we We have a little variety we end up we end up drinking neat a lot just because that's where we get A lot of the ability to kind of pull out the real nuances to it But boy you put that on a rock and you take that journey right from from when it starts out through You know when you've got those last little bits of water and it's really diluted down and I'd say There's not a bad spot in that journey. So we love that.

You do get to taste sort of the spectrum of the whiskey when you do that, right? And when you put the ice cube in there, it does kind of close it down a little bit for the nose. Definitely. But it does give you a new experience on the palate. And it does change over time. And that's kind of nice. I do enjoy that.

That's what bourbon's about in a lot of ways is variety, right? A variety of experience and to be able to pull out some different interesting notes. If it was all the same, it just wouldn't be any fun. But what's fun is you can find some things that are really different and interesting and compare and contrast and that's kind of what makes the world better when you can do that. But bourbon drinkers are pros at that.

So what about cocktails?

I dabble into cocktails. I'm not a big cocktail guy, because I usually find out the ones I don't make aren't as good as I thought they were going to be. But I do like to make an old-fashioned. Do you? I like to make an old-fashioned.

He makes a mean old-fashioned. Let's just say that.

And which one of your whiskeys do you prefer in your old-fashioned?

If I had to choose, it would probably be 7 and 15. Yeah. Kind of that straightforward bourbon profile as compared to the other ones. I like to do smoked old fashions too. So I'll torch a piece of oak wood, put the frosted glass upside down on it, let it get some of the smoky notes in there, do it up a little bit, some party tricks, but it's a good time. That's about as far as my talent goes though.

What about high balls? You guys ever drink any like, uh, I, uh, yeah, high balls.

I'd like, I like, uh, Canadian whiskey and ginger ale as far as bourbon drinks go. It's really just an old fashioned for me.

Is it any mules? You like mules? Nah, not your thing.

They're fine. I'm not against it.

Arrive goes good in a meal, right? I'm pretty much a neat and a rock guy. There you go.

Jim, I think I'm done with cocktails after the Derby. I had a few cocktails at Derby. I think I'm going to stick to straight for a while.

All right. Well, this is a fine rye, guys. I really enjoyed it. What's the price point on this particular rye? This is $89. $89 rye. And what was the proof again? $105. OK. And when they're looking for it on the shelf, this is called the... First West Rye. First West Rye from 15 Stars. I'd say search it out. It's a good rye. It definitely represents a 95.5 really well. And the fact that it brings Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana rise together, it's kind of special, I think. And they all bring something a little different to the, did you notice when you were tasting them before the blend that they were all very different or? Definitely. Yeah.

Definitely. Yeah. All very different. Um, the Tennessee especially, it was a really interesting rye.

I mean, Indiana kind of set the bar for 95 fives a long time ago, right? But, uh, some of the Kentucky rise and Tennessee rise are right up there.

Yeah. Very good. Very unique in their own ways.

I really liked the sweetness on this one. You love the sweetness on everything. I have a love hate with Ry and this one's, this is in my sweet spot because it's sweet. Jim will tell you, I do love everything that's sweet. So.

What stage are you guys in? Where can people find you guys on the shelves right now? I know you're probably expanding as fast as your inventory will allow.

Well, we really haven't tried to expand too fast. But we did start in Kentucky only. And so we were really in Kentucky for probably six months only. And we thought, where else would we start? And we added Indiana and Tennessee after that. So we've been in those states. I think we did that back in October, added Indiana and Tennessee. We're getting ready to expand into Missouri. We've got a great distributor there, Smart, in Missouri that we're going to run with, and they're going to do a great job for us in that market. We're working with Wines Unlimited in Louisiana, have just entered that. Great team there that's helping us out, and then Empire in Georgia.

I was hoping you were going to say Georgia, because Georgia, we've got a huge listenership down there.

Yeah, so we're entering those three states as we speak. And then we're looking at four or five others. So we have an ambition that we're really kind of honing in on that really says we think we're ready to shoot for a 30, 35-state distribution over the next 24 months.

And online?

and online at our website at Sealbox and other online providers, Mash and Grape.

So our friends can find you on Sealbox now? Yes. And which expressions can they find on Sealbox?

I think on our website and on Sealbox, you'd find the first West Rye, the triple cask, and the 7 and 15. So all three of those you'd be able to find. So really anywhere. So that's covering 45 states or something between most of the states. Yeah.

So Ricky, when are you going to start letting us come pick some single barrels? You notice I went to Ricky for that question.

Something we're still toying with about us being blenders and using source materials. How do we navigate that? Because it's not something we're really interested in to release single source barrels.

We're almost thinking we wouldn't do a single barrel, we'd do double barrels. What could we do that puts our hands on it, rather than just sell that single barrel, especially when we're talking about source barrel? I'm not sure that we got something that we feel like we want to we want to have our hands on it We want to have our input We want to be able to dial it in you have not tapped a barrel yet that you went.

Oh my gosh This is amazing yet. You haven't had any of those you got to be kidding me, right?

We have and we thought we could improve it with blending really

Okay, well, fair enough. Your business, your barrels, you do what you like, but if you ever decide that you want to, you know, part with a single barrel and you want somebody to come help you taste the rum, just let us know.

It'd be fun to do. Yeah, it would be fun to do.

Well, everybody's got to find their way in this business, and we appreciate what you guys have done, because it definitely represents an eye on quality. And everything we've had today so far has been really darn good. Oh, it's been great. You know, you can't do everything. Sometimes you want to do everything, but you can't. And I think you guys have chosen the things to do very carefully and you do them well.

Yeah, I think that's right. We've got a niche and we're not trying to do everything. And we know there's a lot of pressure to do single barrels and there's a lot of pressure to do cast strength. Right. And by pressure, I just say there's a lot of demand. But we really feel like this is a niche where we think we can excel and produce something that's really unique and special.

Well, blends and finishes do well today, so you guys are in the right business.

Well, Brian, what do you think about this rye? I love it.

Yeah, me too.

I love it. I'm actually saving just a little bit. Oh, yeah? So when we finish up, I'm going to go back and get another little nose to it, taste it again, wrap up the night.

Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and finish mine. And then when we finish up, I might go pour just a little bit more or so. All right. So we're trying to get through two more whiskies here. And the next one on our list.

The next whiskey on the list is currently unreleased. We've exhausted our whiskies in the market so far. So up next is the platinum, which is another from the first West series, a blend of 10, 15 and 18 year old bourbons from Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee bottled at 98 proof.

All right. So in 98 proof, three bourbon blend.

What were the ages again? 10, 15 and 18. Oh my gosh.

You guys have some great inventory.

Wow.

Fantastic. Well, I'm looking forward to this. Cheers. Cheers. Oh wow. That nose on that is really good.

I was going to say, I really pick up the age on that. I mean, more so than anything we've had, you know, the, I feel like you get that, uh, you know, the, the, the musty, the, I mean, it, it.

Yeah, that's good. Kind of the first floor Rick house and a woodworking shop smell. It's, it's wonderful.

Yeah, we love this one. This is a little lower proof on this one, so I thought this one deserved that. That's where it kind of came in.

So yeah, the proof is lower on this. You would expect it to be a little bit thinner. It's not. It actually has a nice velvety character to it. It has a decent viscosity for being 98 proof. It's still got a pretty darn good color to it. I would call that a medium amber color.

What's interesting with the age in this one, not too oaky.

Not at all.

And it's got a kind of a nutmeg. You getting that?

Oh, I get it. Yeah. Oh yeah.

Yeah. It's got, at first I was like, is that cinnamon? I'm like, no, that's, That's nutmeg. That's mace. Yeah. Yeah. And there's something else going on there. Um, like one of the, one of those fig Newton, the figs, it's figs. I was trying to, at first it was like fig Newtons and I was like, Oh, that's figs. Yep.

Yeah. I can see that. I like figs.

Well, that is really tasty. Thank you.

Yeah. And it's, uh, we, we tried to, with all our blend, as we said, we're going with for flavor primarily. Um, it's always our first thought and the, the 18 is a, pretty large portion of this blend. That's something we're not, we don't focus on putting more of the younger in there to save in cost. It's purely about what created the best blend.

I want to put you guys on the spot here just a little bit. We've got a lot of people listening and certainly anybody who is willing to walk over to the shelf, grab your bottle and go to the counter as your customer. But in your mind, who is your customer? Who's your target market?

I think when we think about our target, it's going to be those bourbon drinkers that really love the nuance, that are really looking for some special flavor, something different, something unique, that appreciate the age in it. appreciate the nuance that the age brings in those barrel flavors as they really get mature. So it's going to be that group. It's also You gotta say this will be a $279 bottle. So when you're talking about, again, $100 to $200 to the $300 bottle, you're talking about a group of drinkers that are gonna be pretty discriminating. I mean, for any bourbon buyer, and we never thought really we would be releasing a bottle at those kind of prices. Never crossed our mind initially. But as we got into understanding those bourbons better and then saying, okay, that's really where we like it and started sourcing the really old product, it really gets to be when you've got the cost in it, it's where it lands. But it's going to be somebody that really, really appreciates the nuance in there and is willing to fork out a few bucks to taste it.

bourbon tasting bars, places that have finer whiskies. Absolutely.

Definitely should make sure they have your stuff on the shelf. For the on-premise side.

Yeah, because a lot of our listeners aren't going to go and drop 280, 300, 380 for a bottle. They just, honestly, they're working hard to pay the bills and they just can't do it. Absolutely. But they can have a pour.

And we definitely want to be in those spots and want people to have the opportunity to try it. But I will say, we've been surprised with the people, the aficionados that are really into it. There's a lot of people that are buying these bottles that we're a little surprised. I mean, we've got to say, would we be buying it? Five years ago, they've said we'd buy a $279 bottle of whiskey and the answer is no. We would have thought that is crazy. But as we've tried a lot of competitive whiskies and understood how you build that up, it's been more normal to us and we will say there's a lot of our friends and family that that really appreciate it and they want something special and you got to say when you can really get something special when you have those occasions right that you're bringing friends and family together and you really share something that's unique and different and special Is there anything worth any more than that? And I think my answer would be no. It helps those kind of occasions when you've got something really nuanced, really interesting, really special, and you've got your family together for a holiday or there's a special day coming up, a wedding or whatever it might be. Maybe it's just a family. gathering or family get-together or a good group of friends. That's really what we think we're selling to be honest. We're selling some honestly great bourbon, but what we're really selling is an opportunity to share something super special with family and friends and that's what it's about.

I think that's what bourbon and whiskey is to me. 100% across the board. I mean, it's fun to taste different things, but when you get to share it with people and you get to share that experience and you create that memory, it's so special. So I really love to hear you say that because that's what it truly means to me.

And the reality of having really special whiskeys on your bar, a few, you don't have to have a lot, but just a few really special whiskeys on your bar that maybe cost you more than you like to spend, is they really do last a long time if you treat them the way they're supposed to be treated. you introduce them to your friends on special occasions, you let them have a small pour and you savor it with them and you talk about it and you enjoy it. Those bottles, and I have a dozen or so of those kind of bottles on my bar, they tend to last a very long time and you don't visit them very often, right?

Yeah, that's the thing. The expensive or nice bottles on my bar, I won't touch them by myself. I only bring them out to pour somebody some, say, hey, check this out. I love this one. I think you'll like it a lot.

Yeah, absolutely. It's a great thing about bourbon and spirits over a wine. And I will say that my wife and I have had a little a little journey across burgundy wines, which are extraordinary wines. But you open a wine, you can open a wine that's a $300 bottle of wine, which is kind of typical for a burgundy wine. And that thing is not, first of all, you're gonna end up having a pretty big glass compared to what you're gonna enjoy in a bourbon, but then it just doesn't last, right? You can put the cork in it maybe the next day, but you're really connoisseur. even the next day, that flavor is totally different. So the ability to buy a great whiskey and as you said, have that on your shelf for a good long period of time to share with people, that's a pretty darn good value.

So if you're a bourbon enthusiast and you've got a bar at home that is You know, it's a starter bar. You've got, you know, you've got 20 bottles maybe on it or so and you, you don't really have any like really centerpieces. I would suggest maybe one of the 15 star bottles is a centerpiece that you would introduce somebody to and just let them taste a little bit of it. You know, there's a number of bottles out there that come up to that. I mean, if you're able to stand in line and get something special once in a while, definitely do it. Because those bottles, I've got 134 roses over there I showed you a few minutes ago, and I've had that bottle for four years, I think. My wife bought it for me for my birthday, and I visit it every now and then. It's a wonderful whiskey. And it's just as good every time I revisit the bottle.

And it becomes an old friend. It does.

It really does become an old friend. All right, guys. Well, that was a fantastic whiskey. I can't wait for it to hit the shelves. I'm going to be first in line, I think.

That's really good. July. July. July.

July. OK. And again, what's the label?

Platinum.

15 stars platinum. 15 stars platinum. Keep your eyes out for it. This one is really special. I know I've said that before on the show, but they're all a little special. This one is really special. Any more notes on her, Brian?

I agree with that. As soon as I took a nose to it, I was like, oh, this is going to be good. And then as we've worked through it, I may be number two in line.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's great.

Yeah. You know, I did say that your seven and 15 was probably one of the finest whiskeys I had in a while. And it was at the top of my list this year. I won't say it yet on this one because it hasn't released yet, but I'm going to put them side by side and we'll talk again here in a couple of months.

That'll be a good evening.

It will be a good evening. All right. So what do we have next?

Next up, I believe last up now, is the 14-year-old Timeless Reserve. All right. Brought along just to let you guys have a taste. No longer available unless you manage to find one of the stragglers in a retail location or a bar.

Well, we saved it for last because it's very likely our listeners can't get this one, but it is your first release. Right.

It's almost biblical. It's biblical. The first shall be last.

Yeah, the first shall be last.

Last shall be first.

I love it. All right, so our glasses are full of this 14 year. This was your first release. And when was this? When did this happen?

So this would have been released in March of last year. I believe it was mid-March it came out.

Wow, you guys are really like killing it because you It's just like May of this year. So this is like 14 months since your first release.

Yeah. I really think it came out in April. By the time it got out, it was April to May.

Yeah.

So it's about, we're about a year into it. Wow. Now we, but let's just say we had three years before that, right? Get three years of prep, you know, for a, but one year in the market.

Well, you picked some good partners. Definitely Barstown Bourbon Company is the elite in this area. And to have them as your partner in production is just amazing. And not only are they bottling and helping you deal with all the things production-wise, but they're also distilling your own stuff, which will become available soon. When can we expect to see your new distillate actually hit the market? I know it's when it's ready, but what do you think it's going to be?

when it's five and a half to six years old, we'll blend it into something, whether we blend it into something older or find something interesting around those ages. But I can't see, you know, we're not thinking about a four-year-old whiskey.

And along those lines, another thing we don't want to do is age it too long because we really want to let people see the uniqueness of these corns. And it's something we don't want the barrel flavors to mask up over time.

So, yeah, you do have that compromise between the grains and the barrel. Yeah. And they really both come together to produce produce something really special. And so as Ricky said, at 14 or 15 years old, how is that grain expressed in there? Some will probably get that old. Some will get that old.

Yeah, but those grains are going to really be more prevalent in their younger years, right? And you'll get to express those in blends or... Yeah. All right, so we've got your 14-year-old in our glass. This was your first release. Pretty much sold out. There may be a few stragglers out there on the shelf, but we wanted to hold it till last because people are probably unlikely to get their hands on this.

So at this point, it's tough. You've put a few bottles back. We have a few bottles back. Right. Yeah. And Ricky, even every time we pour one at home, we say, okay, how many we got?

How much are we going to drink? How many people are you having over here? Yeah, maybe we hold that one back and try the other one.

Actually, we do share them pretty generously because, again, that's what it's about. And there will be a day, there's probably going to be bottle number one, bottle number two, bottle number three. I don't think those are ever going to be drank.

Ricky, do you have children? No. You don't, but you will. At some point. And when you do, they'll probably be looking forward to tasting that 14. Right. So be careful. You need to preserve that legacy.

Yeah. We're going to have to keep number four and five because I'm not opening one. I don't know about one.

Yeah.

So this one's been through a lot of the competitions. Yeah.

What kind of awards, Ricky? The 14. So we mentioned earlier, the one we're most proud of is what the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2022. It was one of three finalists for best straight bourbon. Um, along with that, it's gotten a 92 rating at the ultimate story on the best straight bourbon. Yep. Go for it.

So one of three finalists, right? So I'm sitting in my office doing work. Ricky walks in and says, Hey, Got an email from the San Francisco world's first competition that says we're a finalist and wants to know, do we want to go to this banquet out there and where they'll announce the finalists? And here's what you do. And I said, Ricky, thinking, you know, I'm experienced, right? And he's a little more useful. So I said, Ricky, they send that letter to everybody. They want everybody to come out there. That's probably another 500 bucks or a thousand bucks. That's just part of the program. And he goes, okay, so he goes back and then it was probably three weeks later we read a Forbes article that says 15 stars, 14 year timeless reserve is one of three finalists for best straight bourbon at San Francisco. And so I thought, okay, I gotta come clean with Ricky. So I called Ricky and said, hey, maybe we actually did get, you know, the first release. I mean, it really was in our minds. impossible that we could add that recognition on a first release.

The first thing you do right in the whiskey business is you choose the correct barrels, right?

And you guys chose some really, really good barrels. Extraordinary.

Beyond that, if there's blending involved, you blend them correctly and then you release them carefully. Absolutely. So, I mean, it is an art. There's no doubt about it. It's not going and buying a whiskey barrel and putting it in a bottle. I mean, it really is about the art starts in choosing the barrels in the first place. Yeah.

Always fine aged whiskey for us. Always blended for that extra complexity. always flavor-proofed and those are kind of our our mottos to get to something really extraordinary and the good news though is that while bottles of these are out of the inventory unless you find a dusty one somewhere we do have a 13 and 15 this is a 14 and 15 year old blend we have a 13 and 15 year old blend of the same material that will be released late in this year So we have a 13 year version of that timeless reserve and then we have the product to do a 14 another 14 year version of that same. same release next year, which we'll put in next fall. So we'll have a little continuity with this, but again, these are small batch bourbons, right? And they're done at different times and those barrels are alive, right? I mean, those barrels are moving all the time. You don't, while it's in the barrel, its activity hasn't stopped, it's alive. And so that 13 year, while it is a cousin of this and a close cousin, You know, it's got a little different flavor, which again, we think is awesome. And we assume when we use the 14-year version of that the next year, it's going to have, again, some nuanced difference to it.

And you're seeing a lot of that in your tastings of these barrels as they age, right? You taste this continued change. Absolutely.

It's a wonderful thing. It gives us that diversity and the difference in the products that gives us the ability to dial something in. We're in the lucky position in some ways. Again, it would be great to have 25 warehouses full of some wonderful stuff. But in some ways, when you get to the quantity side, you're about delivering the same experience in every bottle, right? Consistency. But we're about nuanced variation. So if we could do that, that'd be wonderful. But really, as a newer brand with inventory like what we have, which is extraordinary, but it's still different than one inventory of the same mash bill. So really our ability here is to dial in smaller batches and produce some nuanced and different flavors.

Well, this is a phenomenal whiskey. It's really, really good. It doesn't have the wide balance that we have in the 715 because the 715 brings a lot to the table.

This thing has been described. It's got those aged flavors, but not not over. Okay, right. Very, very balanced. And in some ways, An easy drinker, right? It's got a comfortable, it's got a comfortable feel to it while you drink it. And it's not, it's still 103 proof. So it's got some, it's got some punch to it, but it's not, it doesn't come through in your mouth that way. It really comes through as a balanced, even, rich flavor.

It's kind of nutty and just on the verge of a little bit of leathery, but, um, I get dark chocolate as well.

It does have a little chocolate to it. Yeah.

So this one is clearly in the extra aged range. It doesn't have those notes that we got from the seven year olds, right. And the eight year olds and the six year olds, it's clearly in that extra aged range. It's got more of the, Little bit of leather chocolate.

You get a little bit of smoke to it. Yeah, I definitely get the chocolate. Not as much on the smoke, uh, leather for me, leathery.

Kind of reminds me a little bit of like a, uh, a s'more. a little bit of a s'more, like you get a little bit of the campfire in the s'more. When you make like a graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate s'more like in the bonfire in the backyard, you obviously get the sweetness of the chocolate and the marshmallow and all of that, but you get just that hint of campfire on it, right? Just that hint of smoke.

I like your description. This might be the perfect bourbon that while the kids are making the s'mores, the dads and moms are sippin' on this thing. There you go.

I might need, yeah. There you go. We do that a lot, so. Yeah. The kids have no clue. They have no idea.

Well, gentlemen, it's been an absolute blast to have you on the Bourbon Road today. We thank you so much for bringing your whiskey and sharing it with us. We're super excited that some of these whiskeys are going to be available to our listeners at Bourbon on the Banks, at the Bourbon Road eBar. They will definitely appreciate that. And we hope you're able to come down for the event as well.

We'll plan on it. Yeah, it'll be a great time.

It's just that quintessential Kentucky bourbon drinker event that is, you know, it's kind of. 60% Kentucky people, 40% people from outside maybe, and it's good solid Kentucky whiskey. You guys certainly make some good solid Kentucky whiskey. That's great. It'll be a great event. It'll be a lot of fun. I hope you guys can make it, but we certainly appreciate you guys offering to donate a few bottles to that event for our bourbon roadie bar. There'll definitely be some very happy roadies at that bar. What do you think, Brian? 100%.

Well, we've had a lot of fun with you today. We appreciate the opportunity to share what we're doing, and we'll look forward to seeing you at your event. Absolutely. Definitely.

Well, thank you, gentlemen. It's been a blast. We've had a great time. Five whiskeys on the show today, all of them exceptional examples of kind of how you ought to do it right. What do you think, Brian?

I agree. I'm very impressed just tasting through everything and then learning more about why you do what you do. And I think it, it all comes together and makes a lot of sense.

So Ricky, where can, where can our listeners find you guys on like the internet website, social media, all that kind of stuff?

Yeah, so online at 15stars.com or Sealbox, Mash and Grape, any of those outlets are good. And then we're in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, about to be in Missouri 15th of this month, I think. And then also in Louisiana and soon to be Georgia.

Awesome. Are you guys doing like the father son dance on TikTok yet? Haven't started that yet. But it's coming. Possibly.

Possibly. All right.

Well, you can find the Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. We've got a private Facebook group called the Bourbon Roadies, right, Brian? That's right. What do they have to do to be a member?

Well, you're going to go, you're going to answer a few questions, but let me just say we're watching it a little bit closer. We've been seeing a lot of folks come on there, try to sell some bottles, solicit some things and we just, we don't do that.

That's absolutely correct. It's, it's a great place for our listeners to gather and discuss whiskey and talk about the shows and have just a general good time, share pictures of what they're drinking. Uh, but we don't want people coming on there and, uh, and trying to sell whiskey. If you do, we'll kind of kick you out. We've got 3000 plus members on there, but you know what? They'd probably 30,000. If we weren't kicking people out. 20 a day, right?

I mean, my finger has been busy lately clicking.

It's a good clean group. You can come in and drink what you like. If you're drinking from the bottom shelf or the top shelf, it doesn't matter. Nobody's going to jump on you for what you're drinking. If you love to drink some 15 star fine East bourbon, everybody's going to be happy to, uh, to salute you and maybe come over to your house and join you in a pour. But, uh, we don't care if you're drinking 10 high off the bottom shelf or old crow. It doesn't really matter. It's all whiskey. And you know what? It's your bourbon. You drink it your way. Uh, we hope that you listen to every single show every single week. Sometimes we'll do one or two. It's usually on Wednesdays. We'll come out with an episode like this week. We've got 15 stars on. Glad to have them here. They're hanging out in the bourbon roadie bar. I think last week, I don't remember, who did we have last week, Brian? I think we had a music artist on and we went to a couple of concerts. Sometimes we'll have chefs on and, you know, music artists and authors. It's always something fun. Anybody who'll drink whiskey with us, it's always a blast.

Sometimes it's just the two of us and we, we have to get back to that center point, right?

Oh yeah. That's, that's, that's called leveling out or level it out. Yeah. Bring it back once in a while. We have to do that. And I think we did that last week. We did absolutely fun. Always great to have good friends in the house. We had a great time today. Uh, make sure you check out 15 stars, uh, find their whiskey on the shelves in the States that they mentioned. We hope to have them on again here real soon. Thank you for listening to the bourbon road. If you've got an idea for a show, if you've got an idea for a guest or a bottle, let us know about it. Get to the bourbon road.com, fill out that contact us page, send us an email. I'm Jim at the bourbon road.com. He's Brian at the bourbon road.com. Hey, together we're team at the bourbon road.com. We're the team until then we'll see you down the bourbon road.

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