361. Exploring Colorado Whiskeys

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 is 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, and with me today in the studio is your cohost, Brian Hyatt.

Brian, welcome back. Hey Jim, happy to be back.

We haven't seen each other now for a couple of weeks. We've been each doing our own thing. I have been on the road to Colorado, drinking a little whiskey while I was out there, but mostly just visiting family. And I love going to Colorado, such a beautiful place.

Yeah, I've always enjoyed Colorado and I'm sure that you're getting a totally different experience than I have in the past because I haven't quite hit any distilleries when I've been out.

Yeah. So, you know, I went out to see my son and grandson and my son's wife and we spent a lot of time together. We did some hiking and certainly visited some distilleries, visited a lot of breweries and a number of distilleries and had a really good time. You know, I really, one thing I got to do was really cool was test out my new knee. So I got to go on some pretty challenging trails out there and really enjoyed myself. It's such a beautiful place. And we were right at the foot of a Pike's peak right there in Colorado Springs and just a beautiful place, but a lot of, you know, a lot of things to do outdoorsy kind of things, hiking and biking and motocrossing. They do it all. I only do the things that I do on my feet. I don't ride anymore, but it was a lot of fun.

Yeah. So how did it hold up? Any swelling, any soreness, anything like that?

No, actually I did a four and a half mile hike through Garden of the Gods. I did about a three mile hike on Rampart Reservoir. Both were pretty You know, pretty good hikes on some very uneven terrain and I was fine. Had no problems at all. I'm so tickled. I'm going to see my doctor on Thursday and I get to tell him how great a job he did. So I'm pretty happy.

That's awesome. That's always really good news. I've had enough surgeries in the past that sometimes they go well. Sometimes you're a little bit more sore and swell a little bit after you start to get active. I'm happy you've had a great experience.

It's been pretty good. And I'll just say to my listeners, if you have a knee replacement surgery looming in your future, don't fret. It's not too bad. And boy, I tell you what, once you get it done and you get recovered, it's so great to be able to walk again without pain. So awesome. All right, so today we've got five different Colorado whiskeys that we brought on the show here today. Brian's got two, I've got three. We're going to kind of walk you through them. These are all really, really good whiskeys. Some of them have been on the show before, some have not. And we've got a little bit to talk about with each one, but I'm going to start today. with a whiskey that has been on the show before. Now it's been a while, and this is not a bourbon, folks. This is a single pot still American whiskey. And it is the first American whiskey made in the style of the Irish single pot still whiskey. It's from Taunua distillery, Arvada, Colorado, which is basically just on the west side of Denver. And those guys are really making some fantastic whiskey. This is a 86 proof single pot still American whiskey that is finished in a white Virgin white oak cask. So they have a number of expressions there. They have a continuum cask, which I drank a whole bottle of that with my son when I was out there. Didn't, wasn't able to bring any of that one back. We finished it off. He really likes that because he's kind of a malt whiskey guy, right? No, he likes bourbon too, but he really, he really likes Japanese whiskeys. He likes malt whiskeys. So that American single pot still was just something that he just really took to. So Brian, cheers buddy. I'm going to sit and talk about it a little bit. Wow. This has a nice, gentle nose on it. And I'm starting kind of with a low proof item today. This isn't say 86. We've got proofs going all the way up to cast strength today. So this one is, uh, it's kind of a light amber color. Uh, it's a, it has a very light nose to it. It definitely has a little bit of like peach and it's cereal notes to it. Very nice. I'm not getting a lot of fruit, but I am getting a nice floral nose from it. I'm gonna take a sip. Boy, that is so nice. It's got a pretty oaky bite to it when you get it into your mouth. It's a nice sweet wash across your tongue, but on the back you get a oaky bite. That's from sitting in that white oak cask. A little bit of a nutty flavor too. It really compliments that stone fruit flavor that it has. It's got like a honey tea to it. I think it's just a great whiskey. Now, single pot still whiskies, Kind of a history behind them. Have you ever heard the story of the single pot still whiskies and why Irish whiskies were made in the single pot still style, Brian? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Kind of a neat story. I mean, you know, Ireland was under English control back in the day and the English king wanted his taxes. So what better way to tax a people than to tax their malted barley, right? You know, they're going to make whiskey no matter what you do. So let's tax their whiskey. Get them where it hurts. Get them where it hurts. But the Irish, there weren't dumb people. They said, well, we'll just cut down on the amount of malted barley that we use and add unmalted barley. So in the case of a single pot still Irish whiskey, it has a portion of malted barley and a portion of unmalted barley or the untaxed barley. which cut the taxes down and they didn't have to pay as much to the king. But at the end of the day, it created a new style for them, became quite popular. Pretty neat story, huh?

Very cool.

It's a great whiskey. I really enjoy it. I didn't get a chance to visit them on this trip. I really look forward to doing that maybe on my next time out there. I had kind of a busy trip, but I definitely want to get back to Taunua, and I highly recommend if they get a chance to visit the Taunua distillery, they definitely do that. They've got a peated cask whiskey. They've got what they call their heritage cask whiskey, the Continuum cask, which I drank with my son, which is aged in white oak American casks, and then it's also vatted into a continuum cask where you just have this constant volume of whiskey going through the same cask. They've got the Virgin White Oak I'm drinking now, and then they have a bourbon cask and stave series whiskey, which is also good. And most of these can all be ordered online from their website. You can also find these in your favorite liquor store. They've got quite a distribution and they're absolutely delicious. Love it. So Brian, that's what I've been doing the last 10 days. I know you haven't been having the greatest time the last 10 days, but what, other than that, what have you been doing?

Yeah. So, uh, really just a lot of, a lot of work and sports with the kiddos and all that good stuff and thankfully recovered from COVID. I guess we're having another big wave here and. Lots of talks about masks and different things. So we'll see what road we're going to go down here over the next couple of months. But I hope everybody's healthy and safe out there and staying active. So yeah, just really staying super busy and talking to a lot of folks about Bourbon on the Banks coming up. There's a lot of excitement going on there and talking to some of our friends that have distilleries and different things. I'm honestly just counting down the days. Can't wait for that to get here. Of course, you know, our friends at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival as well. So just a lot of conversations going on and a super exciting time as we move towards the fall and all these cool things that happen during that time period. So that's kind of been my main focus.

I guess over the course of the next six weeks, we're going to do two big festivals. We're going to be crazy busy during Bourbon Heritage Month, and then we'll kind of finish it all up in October at Bourbon on the Banks. Really, really looking forward to that. We still got a lot of work to do to get everything set up, but we've got our big 40-foot tent. We've got all our stuff going on. We've got our Bourbon furniture guy lined up. We've got Lawrenceburg Bourbon is going to be pouring in our tent there. Ryan, you and I will be there. We'll be shaking hands and taking pours with people.

The bourbon roadie bar will be full of wonderful, wonderful whiskeys.

If you haven't made your plans yet, there are still tickets. I know you guys heard the show here a couple of weeks ago with bourbon on the banks, and there are still some tickets to get you out there. We're going to have barrel picks in our booth. for purchase from Lawrenceburg-Burman. And there'll be a couple of them there. One in particular that Brian and I had our eye on and we nailed it. I think we nailed it. What do you think, Brian?

I think so too. I can't wait. It's just going to be a fun experience. And of course it'll be my first time, you know, with the Bourbon Road and the roadies. So it's going to be super exciting for me just to finally get to meet a lot more of our listeners and spend some time with everybody and enjoy some nice pours and a fantastic day.

So what Colorado whiskey are you sipping on first tonight?

All right, so I'm going to start with an 86 proof, just as you did Jim. And this is the Breakin' Ridge bourbon whiskey. This one is a little bit lighter, caramel color. So I'm going to give it a shot here, give it a little nose and see what we think.

Yeah, well, you're doing that. Breckenridge. I was there a couple of years ago. That's a great little town. And the distillery does have a tasting room right downtown Breckenridge. What a nice little town. And it's right up there around 10,000 feet, you know, up where the aspens grow. And, you know, it's a great skiing town. But even I think the last time I was there, I was there for Oktoberfest, which was just tremendous. They go all out for Oktoberfest in September. That would be next month. So if you're in Colorado or heading to Colorado, you can always visit their tasting room for Breckenridge and downtown Breckenridge. But while you're there, man, just enjoy yourself. Drink a lot of beer too.

Oh yeah. Now those are always fun events. I do love Oktoberfest. On the nose here, I hate to be pretty generic, but there's definitely that vanilla that we get. It is a very light nose. There's nothing very overpowering or anything like that. I would say if there's anything a little bit different with this one, apple juice. I think that's probably the number one outlier for me there. A little fruity, but maybe a A sweeter apple juice, not a sour apple or anything like that.

Not a green apple or Granny Smith or anything like that, right?

Right. Not a Granny Smith, just something a little bit more sweet is definitely what I pick up there on the nose. And I'm going to go ahead and give it a taste. So cheers. Cheers. So this one is, it's definitely not overpowering. It's very easy. Uh, I would say dried fruit, herbal, um, those things come out. I feel like I still get some of the apple.

That's kind of a neat nose. I don't always get apple. on whiskeys where other people say they're getting apple on them. So I just wonder, you know, that for me, I might be like tasting a different kind of fruit or something when I get that, but that's kind of neat that you do. And I think that, by the way, what was the price on that, on that bourbon? Just curious. I haven't bought a bottle of that in a while.

Right around $35. Okay.

Well, that's a fair price. I purchased a bottle a few years back after I went to Breckenridge and tasted in their tasting room there, but I couldn't remember how much it was, but $35 for a bottle of whiskey is pretty decent. So what do you think? A fair buy?

Yeah, and even just looking, doing a quick search, you're going to be in the 35 to 45 range. I think it's fair. It's definitely not anything that's going to knock your socks off or anything like that. It is a very light bourbon. And even the finish is going to be short. You're not going to have anything that's going to be long or bold or anything like that. But it is good. It's solid.

So do you think that's more of a sipping bourbon or do you think it's more of a mixing bourbon? Do you think it's good for kind of universal good for both or?

I could definitely see it being something that you could sip on very easily. I feel like this would be, for me personally, something if it's 90 degrees, which we've had some pretty strong heat this summer. It's something I could sip on outside very comfortably in the heat and not have too much problem with it being an 86 proof and so light. But I don't know that it would be necessarily anything that I would use as a mixer. But definitely for me, a hot day, if you want to drop a little drop of water or a small piece of ice in there even to cool it off more, I think you would be very satisfied in the heat.

All right, so we've had one from down near Denver. We've had one out near Breckenridge. Now we've got another one here that I'm going to taste, which is from the Denver area. This is near Aurora, which is closer to the airport. This is something that I've talked about on the show before, but I haven't had this particular one. This is the Leopold Brothers straight bourbon whiskey. And I've had the Leopold Three Chamber Rye on the show before, and I think I told all the listeners that probably one of the finest whiskies that ever crossed my lips. And would probably rate it in my top two or three whiskies of all times. Just an absolutely phenomenal whiskey. It's one of those that you either love it or you don't love it, right? So it's not like, it's kind of a polarizing whiskey. In fact, I got that bottle from Todd Ritter who paid a pretty penny for it, but didn't care for the whiskey, right? This didn't match his palate. So he gave the bottle to me and then here I am tasting this going, oh my goodness, this is whiskey of the year. This is probably one of the better whiskies I've ever had in my life. And Todd, being the veteran whiskey drinker that he is, didn't take that the wrong way because he knows that people's palates are very individual and just love the whiskey. So when I went to Colorado this time, I said, okay, I'm going to go out and I'm going to see Leopold brothers, I'm going to travel up and see Todd up there. And so I was shooting an email, trying to get that all arranged and he was on travel and he just didn't get back from his two week trip and time for me to go there. So I did not get to meet Todd and do an episode while I was in Colorado, but we'll make that happen another time in the future. But I did get a bottle of his bourbon whiskey and we're having it on the show today. So cheers, Todd. Sorry, I missed you this time and next time around we'll get you on the bourbon road. So. Leopold Brothers, 90 proof, straight bourbon whiskey, four years old. Actually, this was probably a little bit closer to five. This is 64% corn, 17% malted barley. Hear that again, 17% malted barley and 15% of bruisey hair to dry. So it's got an heirloom rye in it. Got a really high content of malted barley. This particular whiskey is open fermented in wooden tanks. We'll always love when we go into the distillery and we see the wooden tanks. That's awesome. But they also use indigenous yeast strains to ferment this whiskey. They do have some in-house cultured yeast strains as well. But this is pot-stilled. It's unfiltered. It's at least four years old. And I have never had it before, so I just opened this bottle. Cheers, roadies. I'm going to taste it. I hope it blows my socks off. Wow, I'm definitely getting the malted barley on the nose. It does have a little bit of a minty note to it. I wonder if that's a bruisey rye. Little sweet, not too much. Cheers. Gonna take a taste. Cheers. Wow. That has a wonderful flavor to it. That rye has an amazing impact of flavor to this whiskey. Kind of a sort of a licorice note, but not too much licorice, more of a, like a, an anise spice. Not very sweet at all, but smooth, very smooth. That malted barley, I've got a little bit of a nutty flavor to it. The oak is coming through. I think it's well aged. Uh, it's not real dark. It's kind of a light amber.

Delicious whiskey though.

One more sip. Yeah, that's really good. It's almost a little dry on the back end, but I like that. That has a very unique and different flavor. I've not had that kind of, that kind of an interesting rye note before. I'm assuming that's coming from that rye. You know, one of the neat things about Leopold Brothers, is that they are very committed to like having a waste free facility, generating net zero waste. So they use or reuse everything that they use in the distilling process. They even recycle their water. Yeah, it's a pretty cool concept. They are very environment conscious. The distillery is absolutely gorgeous. Todd and his brother Scott started it back like in the 2005 timeframe. And I think it's been in full operation since 2014. Just a gorgeous facility. They actually use Dunnage style warehouses there. I don't know if you're familiar with those, Brian, but they're kind of, you only stack about three barrels high. They're very low ceiling warehouses. Typically they have earthen floors and skylights that let the light in. So it's a very kind of natural with a lot of airflow. They don't do any temperature control on or anything like that. Very cool. They also malt their own grains there, which is kind of cool. I don't think anybody else that I know of does that. I've been to a lot of distilleries and I haven't seen anyone malting their own grains. So they've got a malting floor there where they actually sprout their barley and then they've got a kiln where they toast it and then they basically kill the sprout and turn it into malted barley and then they use that in their distilling process.

That's awesome. So what's the price point?

Yeah, I think the price point on that's around $50. I bought this at 21st Street Liquors in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I brought it back with me. That's my little go-to liquor store when I'm in Colorado Springs, right on the corner of 24th and 21st Street. And boy, it's a messy place. I wish they'd get it organized, but they've got so much stuff in there. So many bottles. They've got cases stacked up everywhere. One time I walked into this place and, uh, there were like three cases stacked up of wild Turkey diamond. And they also had the decades, several cases of it stacked up and they were on clearance. They were selling them for like 70 bucks a piece. I bought what I could. I had to fly back.

I bet you bought a few of those, didn't you?

I did. I've been in there a few times since, haven't come across anything really cool. They did have the Leopold Brothers three chamber rye collaboration with Dickel, but I didn't get that one because I'm not a super big fan of the Dickel flavor profile. But you never know, that could really be awesome with that marriage between Leopold Brothers and Dickel. I probably should have picked it up anyway. But I've seen that a few times before and I felt pretty comfortable. If I did want to pick it up again in the future, I could find it. So, Brian, you've got another whiskey. I've got another whiskey. I want to sit here and sip on this Leopold Brothers, get us out of the first half and we'll come back. We'll take a short break. And when we get back, we've got two more whiskies and a lot more cool talk. 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's bourbon shop dot 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 will 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're back. We just had our little break there. I finished off that last little bit of my Leopold Brothers straight bourbon whiskey. Brian was drinking on some Breckenridge there. We managed to empty our glasses, didn't we, Brian?

That's right. It's always good to get to the bottom and go to the next one.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, hopefully we got the prices out to everybody so they know where these bottles sit. Most of these bottles that we've talked about here, the Townua, the 291, and the Leopold Brothers Bourbon are all going to be available in your local markets for the most part. They have wide distribution, so keep your eyes open for them. If you're in Colorado, you know you can get them, but most of the rest of the country can either find them online or in your local liquor store. I'm going to start out this half, Brian, and let you finish up, I guess. I actually visited this story while I was out there. I was in the Southern part of Colorado Springs, very close to Cheyenne Mountain. Everybody's heard of the Cheyenne Mountain. What is that? An underground facility where the commanders go and everything whenever the world's under nuclear attack. I don't know. You've seen that big old iron door in the movies, you know, they close on the mountain. But I was there and right near the foot of Pike's Peak and just down the street from my son's house is 291 Distillery. We've had them on the show a couple of times. Michael has been on the show at least twice, maybe three times. We actually had him on the show and recorded at Westport Whiskey here in Louisville, Kentucky. But we've been out to his facility a number of times. This time we chatted with Emily Rhodes and she had us in and we toured their new facility and it's just a beautiful place they have now. They've got a lot going on. It was a little bit small the last time around. This new building they've got is pretty amazing and they're growing leaps and bounds and definitely a place you want to visit when you go out. My son and I went in, we sat in their big leather couches and had some pours of their single barrel proof 291 Colorado whiskey and that's what I've got on my glass right now. And it's always high proof and it's always finished with Aspen stays. And for those who don't know what Aspen is, it's a tree that grows at or around nine to 10,000 feet. And it's kind of this tree of Colorado, right? I mean, when you get up to the, right before you hit the break where no trees and no grass grow, you'll find the Aspens. But Michael takes those Aspens and he makes a charred stave and he uses that to finish his whiskeys to make them truly a unique Colorado Whiskey. And this is their Colorado whiskey.

It's not a bourbon. It's just a Colorado whiskey.

129.1 proof. Yeehaw. Cheers.

Here we go.

Man, her stuff is always like just sniffing a big candy bar. You know, it's just so nice. Little spicy candy bar, right? Deep caramel, rich notes, a little bit of chocolate. It's got that, uh, that aromatics from the, from the Aspen. You just get it. It's so nice. Just a whiff of freshness too. You almost feel like you're in the mountain air, I guess, a little bit. I'll take a taste. Oh boy. You better have your big boy pants on when you drink that. That is, uh, that's some powerful whiskey. You know, the nose. doesn't give it away. The nose does not say 129.1 proof, but the palate is just phenomenal. So good. Michael, sign this bottle. I've still got about two thirds of it left. So, Brian, you're going to have to have a little bit more of this when you come over.

I can't wait. You know, 291 is definitely one of those whiskies that I really do enjoy quite a bit. It's one that I would encourage everybody that's listening, if you haven't had it, pick up a bottle of it. I don't think you're really going to be disappointed with anything that they release. For me, it really is a phenomenal whiskey.

Yeah, I think I said before it wasn't a rye and it wasn't a bourbon, but it is in fact a rye, but it's a rye malt mash. So this is a malted rye and just tremendous, just tremendous flavor. I mean, he packs so much flavor in these things. You can't miss them on the shelf. Super tall bottle, square shoulders, like a, what are those things called? The English soldiers that stand there, the, you know what I'm talking about with their black hat and the red outfit. Like one of those standing on the shelf and it's got so many awards on it. It's one, two, three, four, five, six awards on it. This guy has been killing it now for a number of years and really racks up the awards on his whiskies and make sure he shows them off on the front of the bottle.

Yeah. The bottles are definitely unique.

Now these are, these bottles are not, um, These are not $50, they're not $60, they're not $70. These are $80 plus bottles, so they're an exceptional whiskey. They're all finished with Aspen Staves. They're all pretty much barrel-proof. They do sell their Rye White Dog. They have another one called All Rye, All Rye, All Rye. which is just phenomenal. Kind of a play on Matthew McConaughey there. They've got Colorado bourbon whiskey. They've got their single barrel Colorado whiskey itself. They've got their rye whiskies. Just phenomenal. They do sell their white dog and it's really good. Makes a great margarita. And I think they won a lot of awards on that one too. Good people. Emily, thank you so much for being the great hostess you are and inviting us into your new distillery. We had a wonderful time. We do enjoy drinking your whiskey. We're sorry we missed Michael on this last trip out, but we'll catch him the next time around. Cheers, Michael. Great job. All right, Brian.

What do you got for us? All right. So I've got the 5 Prell barrel proof. So this one is stepping up a little bit in proof, obviously. Not quite where Jim was with the 291, but we're sitting at 119. I'm excited to go ahead and jump into this one. I like the higher proofs and a little bit more bold. So we'll see how this one goes.

All right. Well, we have had the, the five trail on before a couple of times we had David cores on, he was a guest on the show. What a great, what a great thing to have cores behind whiskey now, right? How awesome is that?

Very, very cool. So this one, obviously you can tell it's a higher proof and packs a little bit more of a punch than, than where we started earlier with the breaking ridge. Um, I would say citrusy and some cracked pepper, touch of milk chocolate, chocolatey. Maybe it's because I had a buckeye earlier, chocolate's coming out. Milk chocolate buckeye for dessert at 4.30 this afternoon. But yeah, I mean, it's definitely more there with it. But I'm going to go ahead and jump in, give it a taste, see what happens.

Cheers.

So it's definitely 119. Yeah.

Drinks its proof.

No doubt about it. It is every bit of that 119. I would say there's some cinnamon on it. Get a little bit of cinnamon there. It's spicy, but it's sweet. I can't believe I'm going to say this. I feel like this is totally a gem comment. And I don't know that I've ever said this when I've tasted something, but a little bit of bread pudding. Oh, wow. Cool. So, uh, that, that's definitely something that I've heard you say multiple times, Jim. I can honestly say, I don't think that I've ever picked that up before. So a little different for me.

That's pretty awesome. Yeah. Bread pudding. If I hear bread pudding, I could, I start getting hungry. So that's, that's good stuff. Yeah. If I remember there and it's been a minute since I had their, uh, their other whiskeys, the, the more. lower proof versions of them, but they were very well balanced, very well crafted, rounded, nice flavor profile, easy to drink porch whiskies. You can just sort of just enjoy them almost sessionable. Um, but this is a high proof release. This is something that's supposed to take you by surprise a little bit. And, uh, it sounds like it has taken a little bit by surprise.

It has. And the finishes it's, uh, It's a good finish. I don't know that I would say long. I guess it's teetering on a longer finish, but it's definitely bold. It feels good. I really do. I enjoy it quite a bit. And with it being 119, I would expect to enjoy it. I don't feel like the alcohol or that. I don't feel like it's too overpowering. It's just a really good, strong finish that sticks around for a little bit.

Now Mohsen Kors, the company behind Five Trail and David Kors, they do work closely with Bardstown Bourbon Company and their products are their own design, but of course they hire Bardstown Bourbon Company to craft that whiskey for them. I think it's really cool. A lot of whiskeys coming out of Bardstown Bourbon Company and they're all really good. They do such a great job down there, not only in fermentation and cooking up the whiskeys, but they also have a tremendous aging process down there and barrel warehouses that just really put together some fine whiskeys and they're at the top of their game, no doubt about it.

They take care of their people. They take care of their partners. They do it the right way for sure. And you can tell that they put a lot of thought and care into everything that they're putting out. And what's the price of the Cast Strength 5 Trail? So the barrel proof is going to be in the 70 to 80 range, depending on where you're looking.

And where did you pick that up? You picked it up here in Louisville at one of the liquor stores?

I did. I believe it was Total Wine. It's been just a little bit since I grabbed that one.

Okay. Well, great. Well, it sounds to me like that's one that I'm going to want to try the next time I'm over at your place. So I'm looking forward to that, folks. We're actually online today. Brian's recovering. Brian and his family are recovering from COVID. So we're just being good stewards of our bodies here and taking care of ourselves. But no reason you can't get together with your good friends and have a pour. even if you can't see them face to face, right?

That's right. Hopefully we'll find some time this holiday weekend to hang out and enjoy some pours together.

That would be amazing. That would be so much fun. Well, folks, we had five whiskies on the show today, all from Colorado, and not just all, not just bourbons, but ryes and bourbons and single-pastel American whiskies. We've had Tal Nua, an 86 proof single pot still American whiskey out of Arvada, Colorado. Wonderful, gentle, floral, just a great, great Irish style whiskey. We had Breckenridge whiskey. Brian brought Breckenridge's bourbon whiskey. I think your comment on that was that it checks all the boxes. It's nothing that is gonna blow you away, but it's something that's a good solid bourbon.

That's right. Good for me, good for a hot day outside. Just light enough to sip on it.

All right. We had Leopold Brothers straight bourbon whiskey aged four years old. I think this one's a little bit closer to five and it has that unique heirloom rye in it that gives it that spicy note that's kind of out of the box a little bit. It's got an exceptional amount of malted barley in it and it drinks really good at 90 proof. Then we had the Colorado 291 single barrel, barrel proof Colorado whiskey. It's a Rymalt mash whiskey, finished at Aspen Staves, 129.1 proof. Absolutely wonderful whiskey, long finish, tons of flavor. wards all day long, got to visit that distillery and it's just a great place. And then Brian, you had the five trail full strength, right? What do they call it? The barrel proof.

Barrel proof.

All these whiskeys are pretty available. They're out there. They are on the shelves at your local retailers. There are, there are going to be some states that they're not in, but these are widely distributed whiskeys. So my guess is you'll be able to find them out there.

The price points aren't too bad either. There's nothing that jumps up into the $100, $130, $150 price range or anything like that.

I think everything we had on the show today was somewhere between $30 and $85 or so. You know what? These whiskeys with secondary finishes that are coming out at barrel proof near $130, they're just going to cost you a little bit more. Especially when you're buying from small craft distilleries, they can't quite do the volume that the bigger distilleries can do. So Brian, it was awesome to sit back down with you again.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to get together and have another pour and. have the next, uh, get the next show scheduled here and let's see, see what we have planned for these folks.

All right. Well, you can find the bourbon road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. You can find us on tech talk. You can even find us on threads. Now we do one show every single week and every week on a Wednesday, we'll be releasing a show. You know, sometimes it's just Brian and I chit-chat and having a good time, drinking through some pours like we did today, introducing you to Colorado whiskeys, a wide range of Colorado whiskeys. Other times we'll have guests on the show. We'll travel out to a distillery. We'll have a chef or an author or a musician on. We're always going to drink whiskeys. We're always going to tell you what we think about them. If you want to find out more about the Bourbon Road, our podcasts, our blogs, where do they go, Brian?

You just go to the bourbon road.com. We also have our Facebook page, the bourbon roadies.

And the bourbon roadies are about 3000 members strong. We love our roadies. They're kind of our family. They're our friends. That's who we chit chat in between shows with. They're going to come out in strength this fall to bourbon on the banks. We're going to have the roadie bar there. And if you're a roadie, make sure you show up. It's going to be a great time. You can belly up to that bar and just enjoy some whiskeys that you've heard on the show this year. Go to our website, hit us up with questions. We have a contact us page on the website. You can ask us a question, suggest a distillery, tell us about your hometown and what's going on there. Just in general, just chat with Brian and I, we're happy to get back with you. Go to the bourbon roadies, join up, chat with all our friends there. You can always send us an email team at the bourbonroad.com. That'll come to Brian and I. One of us will get back with you. It's always fun. And we'd love having you on the show every single week, but until the next time we'll see you down the bourbon road.

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