354. Whiskey Thief Distilling Co

All right, so we walked down here for a few minutes and we're going to actually we're going to thief it from the barrel, right?

That's it. So you're at Whiskey Thief. That's where we get our name. We let customers who come here thief straight out of the barrel. We'll pour the tasting for you. But if there's barrels you guys, you know, the customers like, they can fill their own bottles, right? using the thief right out of the barrel. So we've got five barrels here in front of us. This is barrel number three. It is a seven-year-old bourbon distilled here, 80% corn, 8% rye, 12% malted barley at 120.8 proof. So straight at barrel strength, uncut, unfiltered, nothing added, the way nature intended. Barrels are always changing. Flavor, temperature, barometric pressure, humidity is always changing these barrels and changing the flavor. So this barrel has been very, very good. I haven't had it in a while, so I'm excited to see. Now most of these are in the, what, the four to seven year range? Yeah, I don't think we have anything less than five right now. So yeah, we're usually five to seven years. The store has been open for 10, distilling for 10. And so yeah, so. fantastic that space right there all right so using the whiskey thief it's basically like a big soda straw grab some bourbon wow put in the glass here if you can hear that and um

That's pretty. Cheers. So when you're thiefing, how long does it take for that thief to fill up when you stick it down in the barrel?

When you put it back in there, essentially it's just filling like if you put a straw in a cup, but the hole on the end isn't that big. So it takes, I don't know, we wait maybe 30 seconds for it to fill up and only fill up as far as the barrel. fill height, obviously. And at some point they get too low to really mess with. Some point they get too low to mess with. Yeah, so we'll dump those out and probably bottle them up and yeah. Well, cheers. Cheers.

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 as 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. Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon. Today we are on the road. We're not far from home, but we're out in Franklin County, just off I-64, about 20 minutes from Simpsonville. You know where the Bourbon Road Bar is. So today we're at Whiskey Thief Distilling, again, Franklin County. And I've got a guest with me. It's Walter Zausch. Walter, you're the owner. I am, that's right. And we are so excited to be here today. Well, I was excited to get the call and be on the show. So thank you. We actually came here and visited a few days back, my wife and I. We came with some friends, some good friends who highly recommended your facility. And I have to say, you know, we get around a lot. We see a lot of distilleries. We try a lot of whiskeys. but this was something altogether new for us. I mean, we had never seen an operation or a concept like this before. And it really got my attention. I reached out quickly to get you on the show because I want our listeners to know about it.

Yeah. Well, thank you.

But you are distillery and we've got whiskey in our glass.

We do. As we should on this show.

Straight out of the barrel. Straight out of the barrel. We did pick this whiskey out of the barrel before the show, but we recorded a segment that we'll stitch in here in a little bit that talks about how that was done. So on our glass first today, and we'll get straight to the whiskey because that's what they like to hear. We're going to be drinking a kind of a special bourbon, and I'll let you tell our listeners about it as we go through and taste it.

Yeah, so we walked away from the Mash Bill, but it's a five-year bourbon. So everything we have here is five, six, or seven years. It's a five-year bourbon. It's 53% corn, and we can dial back in the mash bill here, but it's using a smoked rye instead of a traditional rye, and then standard multi-barley. So I think it's 53, 15, whatever the math is there. I'm not good at math. So not a crazy mash bill, but the smoked rye is something that really- But the smoked rye is a little bit of a different differentiator on this one. Yeah, I would say so.

And before we get into it, you and I are gonna sip on it and check it out here, but what has been the general consensus of the public as they get to taste this one?

Well, you know, so everything we do is a single barrel. Everything is, you know, I wasn't here as the owner of this place five, six, seven years ago, but at the time, the former owner and our We still have the same master distiller. They were doing a lot of experimentation and trying different things, different grains, different mash bills, different barrel finishes, all that sort of thing. And so in this case, they used a smoke rye instead of a regular rye. And so it kind of changes up the flavor profile. People come here, you know, every barrel is unique and different. And they're kind of like these living, breathing organisms. And so, they're always changing. And it's exciting to let people try something straight out of the barrel, not knowing exactly what they're going to get. And no two experiences are the same. So, you know, if you come here a week from now, these barrels are going to change once again. All right, well, let's check this one out. All right.

Cheers. Cheers. There's not a lot of smokiness on the nose that I get. No.

but it's kind of a smoother rye. It's not that spicy rye. It's a little bit of a smoother rye finish.

It does have like a little bit of a candy note to it. And again, the smokiness is just not overpowering. It's just a light hint of it. Very tastefully done, I would say. Yeah, I think it's nice. Yeah, kind of nice. I wish we had made more of it, frankly. Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, sometimes when you say smoke, some people think, you know, you know, like a Scotch whiskey or something. Right. And some people love it and some people don't love it. Yeah. It's kind of polarizing. But this is not a polarizing whiskey.

No.

Boy, it's got like a nice fruity note to it, too. a little bit of mint and it's just all together. It's about 108 proof. Yeah. 108.3 I think is what it is. Yeah. So everything is barrel strength. Everything's straight out of the barrel. Everything is single barrel. Exactly. And wow, that's like the best of the best. You can't.

Well, so, and I think we're going into this, but I'll just kind of give you my, what really got me excited about this place when I first learned about it. I'll tell the story very quickly. I am from Kentucky, originally from Henderson, Kentucky, went to the University of Kentucky architecture school, moved to California, out of school, and then decided I didn't love architecture as much as I thought I might, ended up in technology, and then as luck would have it, found a way back to Kentucky. Burden Boom happening. I was a big fan. I think I was a Maker's Mark ambassador from like day one or something, being an ambassador to Maker's Mark on the West Coast. And any case, saw, you know, there's a business in here somewhere. And so I started a little wholesaling company as a kind of non-distilling producer. I was buying some barrels, helping to start some brands, helping people do their thing. And found the former owner of Three Boys, distilling company, which is where we are. His name was Ross Caldwell, and he started this place almost 11 years ago. Found the land, came from Colorado, wanted to get in the burden business, built this property, and started distilling. And so I was his customer. I was doing all my bottling, labeling, barrel storage, et cetera here, and just sort of fell in love with the place. And then at some point, Ross decided that he was ready to retire. And I think, you know, COVID may have helped partially with that decision just because it kind of upended the tourism part of this business. And so, We found ourselves out here one night and he said, hey, I think we should talk about this. I think that most days you like this place better than I do. And I'm thinking about retiring and selling it. That's when we drank more bourbon. And then the deal got better and better. And I got to go home that night and tell my wife that I think I committed to buying a distillery. Which is actually a great discussion. She's a big fan and supporter and a big part of the place. So then I became the owner two and a half years ago. It's been a great transition. Ross is still very involved in the place and helps me. He helped me learn in this industry and he's still helping me learn in this industry because there's so much to learn.

It sounds like it was a deal that was meant to happen. Sometimes when you're drinking bourbon and you're doing deals, they don't always get better. You said it got better and better the more you drank. Yes, that's true.

Sometimes it goes the other direction.

That's right. It's good for you.

His deal, he got a little softer on the deal and I got a little more courage to ask for some things that I might not have. But yeah, it worked out great. And he's been a big supporter and a big fan and I couldn't ask for a better founder, frankly, in the distillery to be part of what we're doing.

Now, the Three Boys operation has been around for a while, like you said, and a lot of people are very familiar with it, but you've taken it in a totally different direction. Well, you've sort of, from that base, you've sort of grown it with a different idea in mind. That's right.

So, first of all, regarding the name.

The original name of the company was Whiskey Thief Distilling Company.

And that's Secretary of State and all that sort of stuff was done that way. And then at some point, Ross changed the name to Three Boys Farm Distillery. And so after I took over, Ross has triplet sons and those are the three boys. But I just felt like that original name really captured who we are and what we do because we do use a whiskey thief to let everybody do the tastings and they can fill bottles with it, etc. So we brought that back. and kind of reverted back to the original company name. And I think it's been a great change. People seem to really like it. So yeah, it's the same Three Boys Distilling Company that it's always been, or Whiskey Thief Distilling Company that it's always been, but we just kind of reverted back to our original brand name.

So Whiskey Thief was the name of the corporation, and then probably Three Boys was a doing business ad kind of thing. Exactly, exactly, I understand. Okay, so when you came in, you had all this aged whiskey that was on an inventory at the time, plus whatever you had as far as your wholesaling business.

That's right. So yeah, I mean, that was the really fortuitous part about this thing was that Ross had been distilling for 10 years. And we are a small craft distillery. We can make about a thousand barrels a year. We have a 650 gallon pot still. So everything is made on a Vindome pot still, you know, mashed here, fermented here, all of those things. And so, you know, people always say, oh, sorry, you know, where are you in distribution? Well, We're pretty well just sold here because I make as much as I can sell basically, or this place has traditionally made as much as it can sell. And that's kind of still where our production levels are. So even though we're growing and there's lots of interest in what we're doing, we're still kind of... I think we like the fact that we sell only here and that you kind of have to come here to get your whiskey thief bourbon. And because we know two flavor profiles of any of the barrels that we're selling are the same, we celebrate that single barrel. You know, if we were in retail, you would go to a place and find a bottle that tastes nothing like the one you had before and, you know, maybe ask questions why that is, et cetera. But here you understand that, I think.

Yeah, I think in retail, you know, companies are trying to maintain a consistent profile. Right. And you're trying not to maintain a consistent profile. So it's totally different objective in mind.

Which goes back to the smoked rye that was chosen almost six years ago for the bourbon we're drinking.

So were you prepared, in addition to, so you had already had experience with barrels, but were you prepared to have a still? Was that kind of in your, what do you think about that? Have you learned in the meantime how to operate it?

Well, okay, so getting into this thing, One of the very first things I did was took the six-day distilling course at Moonshine University. Good course. Great course. Highly recommend. If anybody ever wants to consider going into the distilling business, I would start there for sure. It doesn't really teach you like how to operate things, but it teaches you a lot about what the industry is doing and how it works. And you kind of learn what you don't know. You know what you don't know when you leave that class. But I am fortunate enough to have a great master distiller whose name is Hunter Coffee, who has been here for the duration. He was part of the acquisition and just is very, very talented, makes great whiskey. You know, I always say that my superpower is more of the debt part of the equation, and I keep the distilling to the experts.

You don't play around at all?

Well, you know, I want to. I'm working up to that. You've got ideas. I have ideas. And I get to be the critic at the end of the day who goes, yeah, I don't know if this is all that good or oh, this is spectacular.

And so I like that role. So these five and six year and seven year old whiskeys that we're drinking today, these were put down by Hunter. They were awesome. So that's that's great to have that consistency. Absolutely. And and so he has knowledge of those match bills, knowledge of the process. And you get that you get that carry over. You have a day of downtime. Not a lot, no. So. All right, so let's talk about what, kind of what a customer experience is like when they come in here. And I personally experience it, so I can sit here and tell people about it. But I'd much rather hear it from your perspective. What do you like to have that customer experience be like when they come in?

So, more of the story real fast. So when I, We got back to Kentucky and I sort of set sights on being in this industry. A friend of mine who would help select, do barrel picks for retailers invited me to a barrel pick at Four Roses with the late great Al Young was actually hosting it and got to go down and they're rolling in the barrels and we're tasting straight out of the barrel. And I thought, man, this is the single greatest experience that anybody could have and sadly I learned that you know typically those barrel picks it's changing a little bit but those barrel picks were reserved for sort of people in the industry whether retailers distributors and that sort of thing so when I came down and met Ross he would bring people down here and occasionally would taste out of barrels and I said man that's really awesome what you're doing because To me, that's the greatest experience. That's the real deal. You can't get any more authentic than that. I think that's what we do. So we bring people in, we're out here on a farm, 127 acres, right in the middle of Franklin County. There's cows, there's dogs, there's sheep across the street. And you come out here and we let you taste straight out of the barrel. At Barrel Strength, we tell you the mash bills, we tell you the age, we tell you the proof. And it's a very authentic, I think a very authentic experience in enjoying bourbon. And so, you know, one of the things that Ross taught me early on in this industry, which I didn't know was that barrels are always changing. And so they're subject to, you know, temperature, barometric pressure, humidity affects the taste of the barrel. And if you think about it, I mean, that's why Kentucky bourbon is Kentucky bourbon because we have these great swings in temperature barometric pressure and humidity that are affecting those barrels. And so the barrel that we're tasting from right now, if you were to come back two weeks from now, probably wouldn't taste the same way because that temperature has changed. That oak is like, they're like living organisms as they absorb that whiskey into that wood and push it back into the barrel. They're constantly changing the flavor profile of that bourbon. You know, the big distilleries are, stopping that process at some point and going, okay, we got 10,000 barrels. We're going to blend them together to achieve a certain flavor profile. Frankly, a skill that I am in awe of. I mean, I couldn't do that. And so I think that's a very cool thing.

And we celebrate the single barrel for that reason. Well, that's pretty cool. As we were here, I know we walked in, it was kind of a low key here. Your staff is tremendous. They're right there to help you and talk to you and provide service to you. but they're not on top of you. They let you kind of wander around and enjoy yourself. And one of the things I liked about this place is that you just kind of feel comfortable here. You've got a nice area in the back with a fire pit and a lot of chairs and places to just sort of just hang out, enjoy the country. So some people from the city and they, you know, they get out here and they can just enjoy the country. You're kind of down in a, I think, did they call this a holla? I think it could be called a holler.

Yeah, we've got Benson's Creek running right behind us. And so, yeah, we're kind of in a little bit of a valley.

Yeah. Yeah. And you've got a nice outside bar, an undercover outside bar over here with a bus front on it. Kind of cool looking. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

Tata bus, right?

Yup.

Been a few jokes about that.

But what a great place to just hang out. And so they come in and they get to sign up for a tour and a tasting. Yeah. And it's not kind of a regimented thing. It's more like at your leisure. Yes.

Yeah. So, you know, Buffalo Trace is what I think 10 minutes from us, something like that. And I mean, you know, you can't be in this industry without loving Buffalo Trace, I think, and respecting all of the tradition and everything that comes from them. We are probably a little bit the antithesis to that, so we're small, we're relaxed. Not that they're not relaxed, they are, but we're more, we're less regimented, I would say. They've got such a demand to see that awesome historic campus that They've got to kind of keep the trains on time where we can be a little more like, just come and hang out and sit in the back, talk to friends, have a cocktail, enjoy kind of the Kentucky landscape right here in central Kentucky. And so that's really kind of what we're about. You know, one time somebody described it as saying, you know, it's like a I have a friend who owns a distillery or I, you know, or who's distilling out in his garage and we just kind of go hang out there. And we really, we really like that. You know, that's a, that was a great compliment for me. And we like to kind of maintain that experience.

Well, friend, what do you say we take a short break? Yes, absolutely. Grab ourselves another whiskey.

We're almost finished with this one, aren't we?

I'll pour whiskey just a little bit more in the second half. Perfect. Looking for a unique gift? Blanton's bourbon shop has got you covered. All of their handcrafted 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, let's do some welcome back. We're still at Whiskey Feast. We've got a new whiskey in our glass now.

I think we've departed from the bourbon world, right? We have. We went to our rye whiskey. So this is a 65% rye. It's 115.8 proof.

That's respectable in five years. It is a five year. That's correct. Yes. Well, ryes do age a little bit quicker as we know. Well, they tend to mature in the barrel a little bit faster and they get rid of youthful notes early on. At five years, you're really starting to get some good stuff.

Yeah, and as I was talking about before, our barrels swing kind of in flavor. Typically our ryes, in my opinion, go from kind of spear minty to sort of dill on the other extreme. And then they kind of, they're somewhere in between those two extremes. So we'll see what you think.

Where do you like them at? What's your preference?

You know, I kind of like the minty part of it. I think I do too. It's funny. I'm not sure I taste dill as a tasting thing. So.

Yeah, so dill is a spice that I like and we have a big giant bag of dried dill at home because I love to make basmati rice that has dill in it. So a lot of dill. It's just a thing. It's sort of a Middle Eastern kind of dish that I like to make. So dill is definitely on my list of flavors that I like, but I'm not getting it in this. I'm getting more of a little bit of a fresh mini note to it.

One year we were one of these rise, it was in April and I bottled up a little one right before Derby and it was at the extreme mint end of the spectrum and I took it to a Derby party and we were making mint juleps out of them and they said, this is the best mint julep I've ever had. I was like, well, I kind of broke the rules. Rye whiskey and soda bourbon for us. It is great.

Rye makes some fantastic cocktails where bourbons are normally called for. That's right, yeah. And because it really shines through, right? But it's not for everybody. I mean, there are people who are more, who like the softer, sweeter notes in whiskeys and the rice sometimes.

Well, it's funny. The people who come in here all the time are like, eh, I'm not much of a rye guy or a rye girl or whatever. And then they ended up tasting it and they kind of like it. Women are particularly, usually have some sort of perception about rye that is usually different than what they taste when they actually get into it. And usually leave kind of his fans of rye in a new way. Like, hey, you know, I might try more ryes. And I think there's an upsurgence of rye. I mean, I think rye is like coming on and I love ryes.

I do too. So, you know, on our podcast, we have a cohost as well and he's sort of a weeded bourbon guy. And our prior co-host to him was a weeded bourbon guy. I've always been the rye guy. And I just like that spicier note, you know? But honestly, the ryes, as they climb in age, they start to really turn into candy, like candy orange, candy mint. 100% agree, yep. And they get that syrupy aspect to them and just be beautiful and wonderful. This has got a nice, is this got a malted rye in it too? I believe so, yeah. Yeah, so there's both the malted rye and the malted barley, there's a 5% malted barley in here as well? Yep.

Yeah, so we're getting those sort of fruity notes that you get off of that a little bit. Yep, there's definitely like in the second taste now, it's like almost like spearmint, wintergreen lifesavers or I'm getting like a spearmint, strong wintergreen spearmint to it now.

Yeah, it's definitely a nice change from what we had in the first half. And then of course we visited your your barrel and thief, some of your bourbon, your high rye bourbon as well. That's right, yeah. Which was pretty nice as well. So let's talk a little bit about sort of the weekends here. You got music coming in, right?

We do. We typically, we try to have music every Friday and Saturday. We have our food truck open on Friday and Saturday. The bar is open. And you know, by the way, if you're listening to this, You know, Kentucky is becoming harder and harder to get appointments in places. We love walk-ins. We'd love it if you'd call and tell us you're coming, because that way we can make sure we know you're coming. But even if you don't, we're a good place for walk-ins. And then come and hang out, have a cocktail, do the tasting, do the tour, and then stay for the cocktail and maybe grab a bite to eat, hang out, watch the sunset. And it's a good way to kind of spend an afternoon. And then like I said, and like you said, live music, typically on Fridays and Saturdays.

Yeah, so I've been here on a Sunday and now I'm here on a Tuesday. Yeah. And on both days, there's a great flow of guests coming in. So you have constant business here. Constant business. What are your hours?

We open seven days a week. Seven days a week, open at 10 a.m. every day except Sunday at 11. And yeah, it's all five. during the week, six or seven on weekends. And your music plays from? Usually about 1.30, two o'clock on Fridays and Saturdays till about six.

I have to give a shout out to Hannah, one of your people that, well, one of your great staff that works here. She was so welcoming and very communicative to set this up and everything. One of the things that I would say reflects well on an owner is the staff he's got in here. And all of the people that you've got working for you are just standing by to do whatever you need and help you out.

Yes, I am blessed with a great team. I mean, especially at a time post-COVID, tough to hire, all of those things. We've got a great group here. Hannah is a superstar and yeah, connected us and here we are doing this. I've got awesome people on our distilling team. So I recently hired a girl named Kelly Tenille, who's kind of associate distiller for us. She's doing our gins and any other spirits that we want to kind of to play around with, so she's very, very talented. She was on the Moonshiner Master Distiller TV show on Discovery this past season and won that competition. And so she's great. She's doing gins. She's done some limoncelloes. We did a peach brandy last year with Peaches Grown in Western Kentucky, kind of where I'm from. A friend of mine who has peach orchards in Western Kentucky, we brought peaches in. That's our first time we had ever done a brandy. Won some awards with it. And so yeah, so we're toying around with some kind of other spirits, but I mean bourbon and whiskeys are our thing. So do you keep your stills running as much as possible? As much as possible, yeah.

Well, a thousand barrels a year is not a joke. That's a pretty decent little clip.

But considering the, you know, heritage facilities are doing a thousand barrels a day or, you know, but I just... But you don't have distribution. That's just for you. We have distribution. And we're, you know, Kraft and the heritage stuff, it's two separate businesses. It just really is very, very, in my opinion, very different businesses. I'm not in the same business as Heaven Hill and Makers Mark and Wild Turkey.

I mean, do you have that you want to talk about? Do you have like future plans? What's going on in the brain? What are you thinking?

Well, so my standard response to that question when people ask, as they always ask here, what's the plan, is the question I'm asking myself every day is how do we grow without changing? Why we stay the same? And meaning, we definitely want to grow production. As more and more people are coming and doing tastings and all that kind of stuff, we got to be producing whiskey that will satisfy the demand of the growth. But at the same time, kind of like the way you described your experience to me when you and your wife came is we still want to, we want to stay the same enough that when you come here, you feel at home, you feel relaxed, you don't feel like you're being rushed through anything. and that you can stay and kind of enjoy the whiskey or enjoy the landscape or enjoy a cocktail whatever it is and so that's the balance is how do we grow while we stay the same and so that's those are the things that i'm dealing with every single day down here trying to make sure we don't we don't change and um yeah so so you have a pretty decent waiting area here and it's just like

Very welcoming. And I guess, you know, when I think about who else does that? Who else does that? I think about Woodford Reserve and the big lobby waiting room they have with all the soft couches and everything. And how comfortable and relaxing it is to go to Woodford. I feel like it's kind of the same thing here. Thank you. That's a compliment for sure. I appreciate it. Find your corner, get your whiskey, just relax, talk to your friends. hang out, listen to some music, cornhole boards. We have cornhole.

And we grow corn right next to the cornhole boards. So that's the other cool part is, you know, this barn is surrounded not this year because we're, we're rotating our crops this year so we're we've grown we're planting beans soybeans and uh but next year the corn will be back and then we use that corn in our bourbons and whiskies but so we got corn and cornhole right next to one another well fantastic and and so do you are you able to produce enough corn for your operation no we use more than we can produce here but but it's fun but it's still fun and you know a couple years ago we did some um non-GMO sort of heirloom varieties that are kind of designed for distillings with, you know, distilling with sort of a high starch content and that sort of thing. So while those bourbons are still aging, it'll be interesting four or five years from now and be able to pull those out and see kind of what we came up with using this. It's called Amanda Palmer and then another corn called Dublin. And so, We're back to Yellow Dent number two probably next year, but who knows? Every year we can... Oh, and then we're also doing a kind of interesting partnership with the University of Kentucky, the Jim Beam Institute at the University of Kentucky to do some rye this winter as the plan. So once we get these... the beans out and all that, then we're going to come in with some rye this winter and try rye in Kentucky. So the Beeman Institute is trying rye in various parts of Kentucky. And so we kind of offered up our little farm for that. And so I think we're going to do some ryes this year and see what happens. Do you think you'll be doing any finishing? You know, never say never. I think our Focus has always been what I call bourbon flavored bourbon. And so staying in kind of the more traditional bourbon. We've got customers, we've got wholesale customers that are doing a lot of finishing type stuff. So we kind of live vicariously through them from time to time. But you know, I don't know, never say never. I mean, the great place, the great thing about a place like this when you're doing single barrel stuff is that you can go, hey, let's experiment with that and try something. And so, but right now I'd say we're gonna stay to the bourbons. So there's a big construction project out here going on right now.

Oh yeah, that's where you came in from when I arrived on site. I guess you were out there inspecting the work, right?

That's it. Yeah, building our first barrel warehouse. Very excited about that. It'll hold about 4,300 barrels. Should be open, ready to go kind of late August. And man, that is going to be, I think, a real game changer for this place. And we've kind of designed it. We have this incredible prevailing wind that we're only about half a mile north of I-64. And we have this incredible prevailing wind that comes through this property, which keeps it cool, which is nice. Even though it's hot, this barn is always a little bit on the cool side, so it's comfortable. But that prevailing wind, we've designed that barn to where we can really open up the walls and there's lots of vents and ridge vents so that the heat can escape. And so we really want to see how that will kind of impact the aging process.

Well, in addition to being a warehouse for barrels of whiskey, will it also become part of your experience?

We're figuring out how we do that. Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, no news to share just yet, but because It's not like it's a big secret, we don't know, but just getting the thing built has been, you know, one of those kind of a labor of love. And so, but yeah, you know, we would love for people to take people over there and show them what's going on and smell the smells of the aging maturation warehouse, you know, and you've experienced that and it's a unique thing. Absolutely is, yeah. So yeah.

So, you know, And thinking about all the things people can do when they come here and how close you are to the, we call it the Bourbon Trail, but literally I-64 is a big part of the Bourbon Trail, right? Yes. You're half a mile from I-64. If they're turning off the interstate to go to Wild Turkey or Fort Roses or Buffalo Trace or any number of other places that are nearby, Castle and Key is very close. Woodford's very close. I mean, you're right here. You're right in the center of it all. And what a shame it would be for somebody not to take the opportunity to come here. I even noticed that on the entrance up here, to your property, you've got a place for campers or motorhomes to park overnight.

That's pretty cool. Yeah, there's this thing called the Harvest Host. We learned about it, right? As I was kind of taking ownership, I discovered this thing called the Harvest Host. And essentially it allows people, you know, there were a tremendous amount of RVs purchased during COVID. So people found that as a thing. And so you can sign up with this website called the Harvest Host. and they celebrate breweries, wineries, distilleries across the country and essentially it's a free place to park overnight. Their code is that you patronize those businesses and our Harvest Host Guests are always awesome. I mean they always come in they want to taste things and hang out and be part of the experience and and then we give them a cool place to Stop and stay and I think we're the only distillery that I'm aware of kind of between Lexington and Louisville where there's that Opportunity to do that.

So I know a couple breweries that do it. You know, the idea is phenomenal. Just think about it let's say you want to take a month off and you Yeah. Hit the road with your RV. You can pop to place to place to place. Absolutely. And yeah, patronize the facilities that you stop at, but just enjoy your time. So that's really cool. So you've got a cocktail bar outside. They come here, they can hang out, bonfires, music, tours, tastings, all of those kind of things. You also have an outside bar with cocktails. So if somebody comes and they don't drink straight bourbon, what can they expect?

Well, if you don't drink at all, first of all, and we try to make sure everybody knows this, that our tours and hanging out here and all of that, we don't charge people to do that kind of stuff. So we're really charging for the tasting part of the deal. And so if you have a designated driver, et cetera, they can come. And then, yeah, but lots of people come in and they're maybe not, Maybe not ready for bourbon and rice, maybe not ready for barrel-proof bourbons and rice. Or a spouse. Or a spouse, et cetera. Like you said, we do have a bar. We have beer and seltzer drinks and all those kinds of things. But our specialty, the specialty of the house is our bourbon slushie. We're building a little bit of a reputation for a really good bourbon slushie. Decent amount of bourbon, not to be, you know, there's some bourbon in it. I'm just gonna warn everybody. But a little bit of lemonade, a little bit of limeade, a little iced tea, some water. And especially on a warm July, August, September day in Kentucky, it's a nice, you know, either as a drink after your tasting or if you didn't do the tasting, a nice way to kind of cool down. And we're pretty proud of those, so. And what about for vets and first responders? We have a tremendous following of vets and first responders and we have, so there was a guy who shared a challenge coin with us a couple of years ago and gave it to our master distiller and then came back a year later and my master distiller still had it in his wallet and the guy was so impressed and so moved. We've made that kind of part of who we are. So we actively, it seems like we've taken on this community and they bring us challenge coins and they leave them here in patches from different assignments and police and military and secret service and all kinds of things. And so we offer discounts for those people and just appreciate all they do.

Well, it's been a blast. It's such a great time I've had here. And I can assure you one thing, my wife Melody and I will be back at every opportunity just to come and relax and have a few pours and enjoy the countryside here. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me. Oh, my pleasure. I think you've got a real gem here. Thank you. I hope that our listeners, when they come to the Bourbon Trail, whether they be local to Kentucky already or coming from outside, kind of plan a few hours to stop in at Whiskey Thief Distilling here and just take it all in. You won't find anything like this. I don't think you'll find an experience that matches this in the same way that you guys do it. So you do it well and it's a lot of fun and you can walk away with a bottle that you fill yourself.

That you fill yourself, label it yourself, do the whole thing. I don't know if anybody else really does it the same way. Using a whiskey thief straight out of the barrel. It's kind of a unique experience.

So where can people find you on the Internet, on social media, those kind of places?

Uh, best is go to whiskey thief.com. Um, and then we're on all the socials, whiskey thief, KY, I think on Facebook. Um, and, uh, we're on the Instagrams and all of those things. So, and Hannah kind of takes care of a lot is the pro on that. Um, some of, you know, what, I feel like maybe I'm starting to get a little bit old, but my team understands those things maybe better than I do. Some of it bounces off my brain, but they've got it and are doing a good job. I would also mention, if you're coming back, because you're close, September and October we typically are doing, we kind of roll out some special barrels for our anniversary. So that's a good time to come. kind of hold back some eight, nine, 10 year old stuff that we'll bring out at that period of time. So that's a little secret for you. Yes, a little insider info there for your listeners. Call before you come just to make sure we have it because it does sell out fairly quickly. But yeah.

We usually have a large number of listeners that come in during the months of September and October for all the events that are coming, particularly Bargain on the Banks here in Frankfurt. Oh, yeah.

We're a sponsor of that this year, so we'll be out there. Fantastic. I heard that.

You are sponsoring Friday night, right? That's correct.

Yep.

Fantastic. Thank you for doing that, by the way.

Oh, my pleasure. Absolutely.

All right. Well, thanks again. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you. Well, you can find The Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. My goodness, even threads now. There's getting to be too many and it's a lot of work. But folks, you'll find us on all of them at The Bourbon Road. We do an episode every single week on Wednesdays. Be looking out for it. Go to the top of that app you're on. Hit that subscribe button. Make sure you get that bell notification to let you know that another show is getting ready to post. And we'll love to have you listen to us every single week. If you've got an idea for the show, if you've got a bottle, if you've got a hometown distillery that you'd like to shine a little light on, make sure you let us know. We'll get in touch with them. We'll make it happen. It's always a lot of fun. We love having you here. But until the next time, we'll see you down the bourbon road.

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