362. Four Great Whiskeys This Week

Welcome to another great episode of The Bourbon Road with your host, Jim O'Brien, 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. Hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road Podcast. I'm your host Jim Shannon and today we are sitting in the Bourbon Road Bar. Brian Hyatt is with us. Co-host, how are you doing Brian? Doing great. So happy to be back down here again. Absolutely. Nice and cool. Pretty hot outside. Not as hot as it is in Georgia though, is it? Oh no. Georgia this time of year. So we're actually going to drink some Georgia whiskey this first half. And it has been a minute since we had a good Georgia whiskey on the show. And this time we've got 13th Colony There's a story that's been on the show before. We had them on in episode 119. We had their rye whiskey on. And then in episode 137, we had their bourbon whiskey on again.

So they had two shows dedicated to their whiskies before.

But this is episode 360 something. We haven't revisited them a while. We have had a number of Georgia whiskies on the show since then. And I thought it was high time we had them on again. specifically because they're getting ready to release in Kentucky. So pretty cool stuff. That's awesome.

This will be a first for me.

Well, you haven't had the 13th Colony. And I think I'm pretty sure that the Bourbon Road Bar has run out of 13th Colony whiskey until they shipped us these latest bottles.

Otherwise, I'm sure you would have had them by now. Oh, yeah, for sure.

But we're going to do the bourbon first and then the rye. Let's talk a little bit about this bourbon. Not too much before we taste it. We'd like to get right to that whiskey. But this is what they call a southern bourbon whiskey. And it is distilled, bottled, and aged right there in Americas, Georgia. And Americas is about, well, I guess you would call it south Western Georgia, about halfway between Atlanta and Tallahassee. Okay. So down near Albany, Georgia, not too far from Albany. Kind of Georgia no man's land, I would think, but a little bit away from the interstate. So I guess size 75 would be the closest one, but they do have a a distillery there and they welcome guests in for tours and tastings and if you're ever down in that area, we highly recommend you give them a look-see. But what do you say, Brian? We get straight to this first pour. Let's do it. Cheers. It's been a long workday.

Been a long workday.

Cheers. Now, that's a nice gentle nose. It does have that nice caramel sweetness to it. A little bit of a corn sweetness too.

I was gonna say definitely sweet. This is the first thing that hit me. Little cherry.

Yeah, definitely some cherry. Little cherry. Actually, you know, that's kind of a prominent note, I would say. I love the oak influence on it. Cherry and oak just play so well together, don't they? Now this is a 70, 21, and 9 mash bill. So 70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley.

And I think all of their bourbon whiskey products all have the same mash bill.

This is a 95 proof. We're drinking for bottle 13 144. It's a 2023 batch. Their bourbon whiskey is anyway, it's always going to be at least four years old. Some of the barrels that go into it might get upwards of six years. So it's fair to say it's a four to six year old bourbon whiskey.

Jim sees me smiling. Yeah. You like, I haven't tasted it yet.

It's sweet. Yeah. It is sweet, but it's also got a really wonderful deep oak influence, doesn't it? It does. Yeah, I think it's got a lot to do with that Georgia heat. You know, one of the things that America's Georgia is known for is their consistent temperature swing on a daily basis. So sort of year round, they have a 20 degree temperature difference between night and day. And that band of 20 degrees holds pretty steady year round. So imagine what that does to the aging process.

Oh yeah. We definitely don't get that here. Just on rare occasion, I feel like. What does this bottle remind you of, by the way? Oh, it's definitely birthday bourbon. All day long.

It is a birthday bourbon bottle, isn't it? Now that's tough to go to market with a bottle like this because you know it takes up a lot of shelf space. So you've got to be some pretty good whiskey to get somebody to dedicate that kind of shelf space.

What's the price point on the bourbon here? Yeah, this is $45 for the bourbon.

And we'll get to the rye here in this half a little bit later and we'll talk about it separately. But their goal is to try and produce kind of a daily drinking whiskey. You know, something that it's craft distillery, you know, it's a lower volume produced product by the same token. You know, they want something that you could consider a daily drinker, a sipper. It's still okay for cocktails. It's sort of an all-around whiskey. Do you think this would punch through in a cocktail?

Probably, I'm trying to figure out what cocktail I would use this for.

I wouldn't use it in a mule. Definitely not a mule for me. I think I would use it in an old-fashioned. Probably a Manhattan.

I could, I could see the Manhattan for me. Um, I don't, I don't think I would do a sour.

No, I don't think I would either. I don't think I could, I think it would be good with like a peach tea though. Wow. I just, that just came out, but you know, Georgia is known for peaches. I think it probably, I think that would be really good. You know, it's got a nice little hug to it. I think it drinks pretty smooth, but by the same token, it's got a little bit of punch. It punches a little bit above 95, I think. I toured some Georgia distilleries earlier in the year, and I didn't get a chance to get down to Americas, but I think probably maybe my next trip through Georgia, I want to get down and visit these guys.

Jim while we're sitting here actually went to the 13th colony website and so they have some recommendations here on cocktails. One of them, one of the cocktails that they recommend making is a Georgia mint julep.

Wow. So that's not a sour and it's not kind of a ginger like with a mule. I think the mint would go well with it.

And then here's one of the ingredients here is a half ounce of peach schnapps. There's the peach. You talked about sweet tea. I think that would pair really, really well, the peach tea. Absolutely.

You know, I'm really enjoying this because it's been a long, hard day. A lot of thinking going on. I've had my, you know how when you think you get that brow, big W in your forehead with your brow concentrating. And I hadn't had a chance all day to just sit back in the chair and relax, but now is a good time. And I'm really feeling like this one's hitting the spot. $45 daily drinker, a little bit on the pricier side. It's a good looking bottle. It's got a great story. It's a little light on the color compared to the Rye too. And we'll talk about the Rye here in a minute, but it doesn't drink light at all. It drinks very full bodied.

It's kind of a, I don't know, what would you say? Dark rust or rusty color.

Yeah, it's got a little bit of a red hue to it. And you know, when it sits in that birthday bottle, you get to see like four inches of width to it.

So it looks a lot darker, but when you get it in the glass, it's a little bit lighter.

Well, their master distiller is Graham Arthur, and he's actually a cordon bleu chef who's now making whiskey. Pretty cool story, but kind of liquor and bourbon have been his passion since the beginning. It just so happens that 13th Colony is the oldest operating distillery in Georgia since Prohibition. So they have been around a while.

He's also a veteran.

We love our veterans. He served in the Coast Guard. And he takes that great palette of his for making food and makes great whiskey.

Yeah, very cool.

Now they won a couple of gold awards. They've definitely racked up a few awards for the process there. The Rick houses are not temperature controlled. They don't need it. All they do is throw their doors open, let that 20 degree temperature swing, take care of everything else. But I haven't spent a lot of time in South Georgia, Southwestern Georgia anyway. I'm gonna say it still gets pretty chilly in the wintertime.

I would think so. I don't know that I've spent tons of time in that area, but I know it gets hot.

Well, I'm looking at their temperature chart here. Average high and low temperatures in Americas, Georgia. It looks like the average high in the cool time of the season is 60 degrees and the average low in the cool time of the season is around 40 degrees. And then the hottest part of the air, it's 91 and 71. So they got that 20 degree span year round, making those barrels suck that juice in and out past the char. They have an ideal humidity. They say the ideal humidity for bourbon, for aging spirits, is between 60 and 75%. And their average humidity in America's Georgia is 72%. So they're right there in the saddle.

I would definitely recommend if you pick up a bottle of this bourbon or the whiskey, check out their website. They do a good job on there. They have great information. But I'm really kind of pulled into these cocktails, the recipes that they have here. I think they sound very good.

Well, they're distributed in another number of states. You can find them currently in Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and West Virginia. We do know that they're releasing in September in Kentucky and they're expanding their footprint. You can also find their products on Sealbox. So for those of you who can have whiskey shipped in to your location, you can also find them there.

You about ready to move on to some rye whiskey? I think I'm ready.

I'm ready too. But I just don't want to leave any in my glass, so cheers.

I'm the same way.

All right, so the 13th Colony Southern Rye Whiskey, and you would think this would have some corn content, but it doesn't. This is a 95-5 rye, and it's also at 95 proof. And the rye whiskey is a Platinum Award winner, and it's also aged in toasted French oak, so it gives it a nice little nutty flavor, I'm sure. But I'm really looking forward to some tasting notes on this with the French oak and the 95-5 I expect to get some pretty nice notes on it.

What do you say the aged years?

I think it's less than four years with them, but sometimes they'll sample individual barrels and choose to allow them to go longer.

So most likely four to six. Four to six.

Yeah. Which is really good for a rye. Ryes tend to age just a little bit faster. And I'm looking forward to some real good spice with this. So, cheers. That does have a nice spice to it, doesn't it? A bit of freshness.

Kind of sweetness, a little bit of candy.

Man, the legs are crazy. This is much darker than the bourbon. Significantly darker than the bourbon. Oh my goodness, that's like drinking silk. That is so viscous and smooth. I swear it tastes like peaches.

Yeah, so I mean, initially for me, it is sweet. Again, I love that. I'm definitely getting a fruit. I can't tell if it's peach or something else.

Maybe... Like a citrusy kind of thing?

Like apricot, peach.

They call those stone fruit, right?

Yeah. There you go.

Let's see. Maybe it'll come through a little bit more clear for us. I got peaches on the brain. Talking about Georgia, but...

Man, that is so silky smooth, so like velvety.

You know, the rye grain is not like taking over on this. I think the, the oak, the French oak is taking over. It's got this nutty, fruity, Silky, just not too sweet, not candy sweet, but just this nice wonderful sweetness. It's got a freshness to it. I'm impressed. I can understand why this is a platinum winner. Oh yeah. Anything that is delicious and surprising at the same time. Anytime you get something that tastes really, really good. So everybody in this world that drinks a whiskey knows, I don't care how much experience you have in tasting, you know when you like it or you don't, right? That's right. So I think people taste this, they're going to like it. Maybe they can't break it down. Maybe they can't tell you all the tasting notes in it, but they can tell you whether they like it or not. It's good. And anytime you like something, and at the same time, you're surprised by it because you haven't really had something like it before, something that in that zone, in that profile, it's a delight. So to be delighted by a whiskey that you like drinking, that can garner a platinum pretty quick. For sure.

No, one of the things that kind of jumped out to me, I was thinking, you know, this would be... I could see myself on a fall day where it's high 70s and then it starts dipping down. Maybe you get in the mid to low 60s, high 50s, start cooling off. You get that cool air rolling in. This would be one of those really nice night caps sitting outside. Cause it's got that spicy, it's warm, but it's also sweet. So you have that nice transition through the day from a little bit warmer to cooler. Yeah.

Yeah, I think anytime you get a rye like this, that can sort of cross the seasonal boundaries. You can have it as a summer sipper later in the evening, definitely into the fall. And even in wintertime, I think it might serve its purpose, you know, for sure. This would punch through in a cocktail.

Oh yeah.

This would be good in a mule. So whereas we didn't feel that the bourbon would be a good choice for a mule or a whiskey sour, I do believe that the rye would be. Now they also have a cast-strength double-oaked bourbon. Of course, we don't have a bottle. I wish we did. But they did announce that it's kind of sold out. So it must be a pretty amazing... Pretty popular. Pretty popular bottle. Maybe when they release up here in Kentucky this month, because it is September folks, we'll be able to get our hands on a bottle of that. That would be awesome.

So I will share. I'm still on their website. And I had to see what the recommended cocktail choices for the rye would be. And we're looking at a peach tree, old fashioned, and a peach Manhattan.

So they're really going the peach direction, aren't they? Yeah, I would say anything, you said apricot, right? I said peach, but anything in that family of fruits would be tremendous for this. Oh, yeah. Really would. A nectarine's another one, right? Nectarine? Oh, yeah. Is a nectarine a cross with citrus? I don't really know.

It is. I believe it is.

Okay.

I hope facts are optional because I think it is. Maybe I'll learn that somewhere along the way.

I think if you say it with authority, people will believe you. That's right. You just have to...

I've listened to this one show. It's a sports show and they always say facts are optional. you know, 90% of everything they say, it's pretty factual. It's, you know, but then they have that other 10% where you have to toss up.

Well, I love this stuff. Folks, I'm going to highly suggest that 13th Colony be on your lookout for list, you know.

So just to clear there, nectarines, they are a stone fruit. They're identical to peaches except for one gene which makes them different and the nectarine has a smooth skin rather than a fuzzy skin that a peach has.

So yeah, I remember that nectarines have kind of a leathery kind of skin.

Almost like a plum skin on it. I don't know that there's any citrus in there, but definitely from the same family as a peach.

I want to make a correction to earlier in the show. We called out the price of the bourbon at $45, and that is correct for the Sealbox Special Release, but typically you're going to find it on the shelf around $35. and the same for the rye, right around $35. So we're really talking about two whiskies here that are very approachable, very affordable, definitely in that price range where you can sip on them, you can mix them, you can use them in a highball. I have no problem putting a $35 bottle of whiskey into a cocktail. I've done it on many occasions and sometimes I'm quite surprised by the combination. A plus B doesn't always equal C. Sometimes when you take a really good bourbon and you add it to a cocktail, you get an amazing cocktail and sometimes not so much. I don't know, folks, if you remember, we've had a couple of shows about making mules with different bourbons. We lined them up and we tried different bourbons and mules. And then we had another show where we said what bourbon makes Coke taste the best. And we were surprised by the fact that it was larceny. I thought, oh, it's going to be Wild Turkey 101 because it can really punch it out there. But no, it was larceny.

Well, if you go to Caneland, To watch the ponies, they say it's Makers and Coke is the number one choice.

Well, I think they're probably pretty close because I do believe that weeded bourbons tend to match up with Coke a little bit better. So Makers and Larseny are both weeded bourbons. And we were surprised that we even tried some a little bit nicer bourbons with that. We didn't use any allocated bottles because we didn't want the blowback from that, of course, but we did try some... I think we used Weller Standard Special Reserve.

But yeah, I think it did well, but Larsonie went out with Coke. So since we're on the topic, I know this is a little bit off from 13th Colony, but I have a friend that always uses Coke Zero and Diet Coke. Yeah. And I just have never been able to get on that train, regardless of the whiskey that's being used.

I think you have to be committed to the soda or Coke or Cola before you mix it.

If you're not committed to Diet Coke. I can drink Diet Coke all day.

You do.

I just can't mix it. I can't mix it. It has to be regular Coca-Cola classic.

Wow. See, I can do Diet Coke. Not that it means a whole lot because I'm eating bacon and brownies and everything else. I'm not exactly dieting, but I think the idea is that if you drink sugar-free sodas on a regular basis, you'll You'll have a better chance of not bloating up like a big boy, right? I don't know. Wow. This is, so my personal preference is the rye. I do like their bourbon. I think it's solid. There's no doubt about it. They've been making bourbon now for about 15 years. I have to say that the bourbon is really good, but the rye has a special place in my heart. 95.5 rye out of Georgia. I think that stuff ages down there, just something special. And I like that toasted French oak finish to it.

You know, and everybody knows you're always trying to convert me over. to be a rye guy, but I'm still a straight bourbon whiskey. I like the finished stuff. Ryes are still not my number one. This is very silky. I think you said that. That was a great way to describe the Paladon. It's definitely silky. I like it. For a rye, I like it better than other ryes, but I'm still going to lean towards the southern bourbon.

You know, some like it hot, some like it sweet, right? I like it sweet. All right. Well, Brian, it's been a great first half. In the second half, folks, don't go away. We've got two more pretty exciting whiskeys for you. Both of the whiskeys in the second half are tied to famous individuals in one way or another. They're both rice, but they're both pretty exciting and they're much higher proof than what we've been drinking on in the first half. So stick around, we'll be right back. 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 pores. But if you always like that VIP access, this year they're bringing in the VIP access tickets. We'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. Alright listeners, so we are back in the second half now.

We have got some amazing rye whiskies for you.

We've got two of them here. Like we said in the first half, they're tied to famous individuals. But first in our glass, Brian, what do we have?

We have the Hemingway Signature Edition Rye.

Alright, so we've had the Hemingway Rye on the show once before. We had their first edition on the show. And I tell you, it was an amazing shipment we received in. They're very meticulous in telling a story with their bottles, with their accessories that come with it. And with the first shipment, we had a personal journal notebook from Hemingway, a pen, and just an amazing little bottle. We had it on the show, we tasted it, and we told our listeners what we thought about it. This is their signature edition, though. They've completely sold out a first edition. It's gone. You can't get it anymore. But this one is available now. has been available during the month of August, so we're a little late getting this out. We apologize folks, but this particular rye whiskey is a blend of two, right? That's right.

So you're looking at a six-year-old Indiana straight rye whiskey and a four-year-old Kentucky straight rye whiskey. And the combined proof? The combined proof is 102.

And these are actually finished with rye whiskey, so they've been treated in...

So it's in a rum-seasoned Oloroso sherry cask.

A rum-seasoned Oloroso... So in order to have a rum-seasoned Oloroso sherry cask, I imagine you take an Oloroso sherry cask and you introduce a rum into it and give a nice little gentle flavoring to the rum. You dump it And then you use it for your rye whiskey.

Sounds good to me. Wow. So let me go back to the blend real quick. So this is 90% of the six-year-old Indiana straight rye whiskey and 10% of the four-year-old Kentucky straight rye whiskey.

OK, but they're both 95-5 ryes.

That's correct. OK. Both 95-5 ryes. All right.

Well, I'm excited to try this. All right. The first one was a real surprise, very delightful.

This one I hope to be the same. Cheers. Cheers.

Wow, that nose is gentle.

Raisin.

That's coming from those sherry casks. It must be.

Now I'm going to take a peek at their website and see if I picked up something that they actually have on their tasting notes.

Is that like confirmation that you know what you're doing?

Well, I just, I'd like to see if I can figure it out, you know, cause when we, when we have, uh, master distillers and different folks on the show, like I'm always interested to see if I can at least guess one that they say, Oh yeah. Like you're on the right track. Yeah. Sometimes you've heard me. I totally miss it. I'm not even in the same ballpark of where their brand is.

Something where we're sitting there, tasting a whiskey across from, uh, the master distiller. And we say something like, uh, cherry blossoms and one of his eyebrows goes up. Never heard that one before.

So this actually, that is on their website raisin. So I feel pretty good, but that jumped out to me. It was more powerful than anything else.

Yeah. I mean, I agree with you completely. I'm getting at it as well. But you know, it's not like this big rye waft in your face, is it? No, it's not.

Cheers. Cheers.

Oh, that is really nice. That is definitely.

The sherry really. Yeah. comes out on the back part of the palate for me as you get towards the finish.

Yeah, the raisin comes through on the palate as well, but kind of a nutty grape flavor to it. Almost like a cashew or something not very peanutty is what I mean. Right.

You know, on the website it talks about hints of chocolate. I don't get so much of the chocolate. Really, to be honest, I don't pick up on that. For me, it's a lot of the sherry really jumps out.

Yeah. I'm not getting the rum influence though, are you? I like it. I think it's a nice rounded flavor profile. I think it has extra hints from the sherry barrel. It tamed the ride down a little bit. very drinkable, very enjoyable, but not like, this is not like, I mean, it doesn't scream rye.

Yeah, it's not as rye forward at all.

It's almost like you tame the rye too much.

You still get the On the finish, you still get that spice. My tongue still tingles a little bit from the heat. Definitely one of those drinks that really makes me salivate. It's bringing out a lot of flavor, but just not as heavy on the rye.

It's a little buttery too. It's got just a little bit of an oily butter note to it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I like it a lot. Again, here we've got something that's very different. They've managed to create a profile and a flavor that's not traditional. I'm not getting the rum. I'm getting a lot of the sherry. I think it has tamed the rye down quite a bit. You know, it kind of reminds me a little bit of an Angel's Envy finished dry. Do you agree?

I do. And I can still remember when they came out with their very first Oloroso barrel. So yeah, I do. I agree with that.

None of these are bad things, folks. These are just us dissecting this and trying to figure it out.

And this is a $80 price point.

Okay.

So yeah, I mean, I think from the bottling, the care that they put into that, the care that they put into the process and the finishing and everything, I think it's well worth the $80 price point.

It was really surprising to open the package from Hemingway and find a bottle in there that was personalized to me. It had my name on it, had a nice little brass nameplate on it. And, you know, they really, really are focusing on the details. I love it. I love this kind of stuff. It just makes it so much more enjoyable when you can connect with a product.

Well, the first time, you know, the pen and the little notebook, I mean, it's just It is super cool what they do.

Yep, absolutely. Well, Brian, this is a great rye. I guess I'm missing the rum influence on it, but it's probably down deep in that complexity somewhere, and I'm just not pulling it out.

Well, then we could sit somewhere else down here with this, and I could say, oh, I get that rum all day long.

Plantation. That's right. You're a big Plantation fan, aren't you?

I am a, I do like Plantation. I'm actually a huge fan of Zacapa. Oh, Zacapa. Ron Zacapa, actually. That's actually my favorite rom, one that I fell in love with years ago. And every chance I get it, get to have it, I'm going to grab a bottle and I'm going to drink it. That's one that I always think is really fun too. You, you put it in front of folks and they're kind of mesmerized like, Oh, what is this?

It's a little bit different. Cool bottle, cool packaging.

Um, but I do like plantation as well.

I think you, did you get me a bottle of that or do you just turn me on? I think you just turned me onto a bottle of that. I honestly can't remember, but I've had one bottle of the 20. Okay. Maybe you did give me a bottle of that.

I may. I feel like we've had, we have been so fortunate to share a lot of different bottles of whiskey and bourbon and tequila. We've had some great tequilas together. We need a Plaza Azul, right? Yes, we do. Uh, we need to have lunch somewhere together or dinner. I've got a great spot that has all of them. Yeah. And it's, it's a treat. It's not cheap to go through all those. Yeah. Like our wives would not be happy with the built in and the night if we were to taste each one.

Well, folks, it's, you're not, uh, you're not the enemy if you drink tequila or rum or gin. I'm going to say it, or even vodka, right? You're not the enemy. You're just exploring the world of spirits.

Well, if I shared what I drank over the weekend, which was a plethora of options available, people may be shocked at the different things that came into play. I had my very first seltzer. I'd never had a seltzer. Which ones did you have? was at high noon. Very first time I've ever had a seltzer. Somebody handed it to me and I said, I gotta be honest, I don't really drink this stuff. But I give it a shot. And after you drink so much bourbon, there's not a lot to it. You're like, so I get why people drink it, but it was not my cup of tea.

It's light. You can pound a large number of them before having any serious effects. They do tend to hydrate you and refresh you through the day. So if it's hot out, it's not a bad thing. But don't analyze the flavor because it's not there at all. Oh, well.

I'm a flavor guy, so I'm a flavor guy too. I got to have my flavor.

All right, Brian, we have enjoyed the Hemingway. And now we're drinking from a bottle that was gifted to us from a distillery who put an embargo on it.

They told us we couldn't talk about it until after the release.

It has been released, but timing's not everything, you know? I mean it's been released for a couple of weeks now. What do we have in our glass?

So we are very fortunate to have the hard truth Harvest Rye, which is a collaboration between John Cougar Mellencamp, his son's distillery and Hard Truth. And so just another one of those with the famous connection. I grew up listening to John Cougar Mellencamp and had family from up in that area of Indiana where He was a big star everywhere, but he was a very, very big star in that part of the country where they're like, wow, somebody made it. Somebody did something amazing. So super cool to have this one on. And I know, like you said, a nice gift that something was

Yeah, Brian Smith gave it to us. He's the master stiller at Hard Truth, and he gave us his bottle, and he just said, hey, just hold off talking about it until after the release. We do want to make it clear that this is not John Mellencamp's whiskey. He is not endorsing this in any way other than the fact that this is his son's whiskey company, Mellencamp Whiskey Company. But the artwork on the front of the bottle is something that John did. That's his, he's pretty talented. Yeah.

Yeah. And I mean, it looks great. It is a beautiful bottle. You can tell someone put effort and time into it. But I would say if you see this out, you'll notice right away that the label was done with some care.

Yeah, so Harp Truth, Fantastic Distillery, Brown County, Indiana, actually just outside of Nashville, Indiana. Great place to visit. A couple episodes back, if you listen in, you'll hear we were visiting there. Just tremendous. It just so happens that John Mellicamp is kind of his hometown area up there. And the fact that his son has decided to start a whiskey company and you know, what father wouldn't support their son, right? Oh yeah. I think it's cool. I think it's great.

And we see that, you know, in the whiskey industry. We really do, you know, you think about some of the other folks that we've had on and the father son combos and the work that they do together. I always find those stories a lot of fun to keep up with and see how they're doing and how they work together as a family to put something out that takes so much time and effort and thought. So very cool there.

Brian, tell us a little bit more about this particular whiskey.

Yeah, so this one, this is a small batch, 30 barrels, I believe, and it's 106 proof. We're peaking, it's 106 today. That's right. Typically we get up into the 120s and on up there, so it's kind of nice to keep it tamed down today just a little bit, tamp it down and stay closer to 100.

Yeah, man, I love the nose on this. This is so fruity, so super fruity to me. Yeah, it's like jam and preserves and wow, apple butter and just all those good things that come in the jars.

Now that you said apple butter, I was really trying to put my finger on you said apple butter. I get that.

I do. Yeah. All those wonderful things that you spread on toast after you put the butter on, right? Whatever it might be, you know, I mean, not super like red fruits, like strawberries and cherries and stuff like that, but definitely like, uh, plums and apple butter and just the darker stuff. Little bit of I mean I'm getting the butter too, you know, just a little bit of the This one's throwing me for a curveball a little bit more than Than the previous three Yeah, this this has a Tremendous nose on it. It's definitely butter and fruit Compote, you know, whatever you want to call it you take those those fruits and you put them in a pot, you add butter to it, you let them simmer and they create this wonderful buttery, fruity.

It's still sweet to me. You know, I pick up a decent amount of sweetness on the nose. I don't get a lot of spice on the nose.

No, here's another one. It's not screaming right, right?

No, I mean it's, you know, it almost, this one for me leans, and I'm sure once we get into tasting, it's going to take us down that right road. But initially it's more of a, almost what I would think is something that's finished, you know, finished bourbon or finished whiskey.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure, Brian, that this is a unique mash build that they put together specifically for this particular collaboration. And of course, you know, this is all Indiana, right? This is 100% Indiana. 100%. And it's, most of the stuff is harvested near the area where Hard Truth is. They're really about, you know, investing in Indiana and using the resources of Indiana to produce their whiskeys. And it's great that they were able to partner with, you know, John Mellicamp's son and the Mellicamp Whiskey Company to produce something that's so unique. I wish I could nail the There's something really super good about this. I just keep going back to this jam toast peanut butter, not peanut butter, this jam toast butter.

So I just went to their website, pulled up a little information here and one of the cool things with this collaboration and everything is that they're really focused on supporting the Heartland farmers. So you have Grounded in Truth, which is Hard Truth's cause platform where they raise money for agriculture and all that good stuff, nonprofit organizations. So this is part of the the Farm Aid 2023 for Noblesville, Indiana. So just, you know, a great cause. Obviously, we love our farmers and the farmland and all that good stuff. And this is an opportunity for folks for hard truth to help raise money for those people that sometimes desperately need it. But while on here, just going in and taking a peek at what they say. I know what we've said, it's sweet and jam and all those things. They say spiced pear, toffee, and rich caramel.

Yeah, so toffee has got that butter aspect to it, caramel, spiced jam. I mean, this is all about, if this were on a bagel, I would eat it all day long. This is a fantastic whiskey. This is a, a phenomenal whiskey folks. I'm, I'm glad we're finishing up with this one this evening because Brian, I'm going to, I'm going to highly suggest that our listeners get their hand on this because my goodness, it really does bring home that kind of country farmhouse flavor, doesn't it? Oh yeah. Yeah. So Brian, what's the price point on this whiskey now?

We're looking at $69. Okay. I mean, not bad.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, no. I mean, I'm all in. I know I own a bottle of this now because I was gifted it, but we own a bottle of it. But I think I'm going to try and find another one and buy it because this is fan-astic. $70. Great purchase.

And again, you know, I go back to the, be able to raise money for these, uh, the farmers and the agriculture, the folks that are so important to this industry that are sometimes the unsung heroes behind the scenes that we don't really think about and what they need to be able to continue to produce the corn and all the things that we use.

Well, Brian, I have to say. So we've had some great whiskeys this evening, but this hard truth, Mellacamp collaboration, what do they call it? The Harvest Rye? The Harvest Rye.

Takes the cake. Wow. So good. So good. And I think we had, you know, across the board, we had some fantastic pours and 13th colony.

Yeah.

Great job. I'm surprised with it. I didn't know what to expect going into it. I should have known, you know, if you speak highly of it, I should expect for it to be something that's very good. But they did a great job. Hemingway. just like the last time, fantastic job, great presentation.

Yeah, the Kahl family knows how to make whiskey, no doubt about it. And that rye is just super good. So yeah, I mean, three home runs.

Oh yeah, I think so. And I'll tell you, I actually saved a little bit of the Hemingway in my glass so I could revisit once this is all said and done, get my second. second thought on it there.

Well, I wish I could figure a way to take this hard truth harvest rye and turn it into a spreadable kind of thing to put on some country biscuits because it just seems like the perfect flavor for Yeah, I would love it. It's so awesome. Brian, thank you so much for hanging out with me tonight. It's been a great night in the bourbon bar. You and I have gone through a number of pours here tonight.

Kind of forgot about the day. Oh, I'll tell you what, these are always the best days when we get to hang out, slip on some fantastic expressions and just take a break from all the madness out there and all the hard work that we all do.

Absolutely. Well folks, you can find The Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. You can find us on Threads, believe it or not. You can find us on Twitter. We're on all social media outlets. We're not the greatest at it, but we do. We do okay.

We get there every now and then, and we're gonna get better. We are going to get better. Absolutely.

We have a lot of fun. We have a show every single week. Every Wednesday, you'll hear an episode from us. We're going to have somebody on the show. Brian and I are going to hang out in the Bourbon Road Bar and drink some good whiskeys. We've always got something great. This is September, folks. Bourbon Heritage Month. It's definitely the time to migrate towards Kentucky and enjoy visiting some distilleries, going to some events, having a great time. Kentucky Bourbon Festival here in a couple weeks. Brian, you ready? I am counting down the days. Me too. And then early October, Bourbon on the Banks, Frankfort, Kentucky, just up the river, just a tad from Buffalo Trace. We're going to have such a great time there too. Our booth is, I mean, this is going to be the best year yet.

We're going to have Mike Romance in there with his

Bourbon barrel furniture. We're going to have Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company there with all their wares. We're going to be selling barrel pick bottles from the Bourbon Road out of the booth. That's right. The Bourbon Road bar is going to be full of every single expression that's been on the show this year. We're going to have our t-shirts, our glasses, our decanters, our Bourbonista shirts.

Bourbonista shirts.

The ladies are going to come out and force this year. It's going to be such a blast. It's going to be so much fun. Folks, we hope you come this month and next month into the Louisville, Frankfurt, Bardstown, area, Lexington area, and just hang out with us. We're going to have such a great time. Oh, yeah. But it's always a blast, and we'd love to see you.

Make sure you come out and shake our hands.

If you've got an idea for a show, if you've got an idea for a guest, somebody to be on the show, we'd love to have you. Hop onto our website, TheBurmanRoad.com. Go to that Contact Us page and send us a note. We'd be happy to reach out to that distillery and get them on the show.

We hope you listen to us every week. Brian, what do they have to do to make sure they don't miss one? Well, you just want to click on the subscribe button on really anywhere. I mean, you can go to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts. You can go to any of those places. And if you click subscribe, you're going to be notified each time that a new podcast comes out.

Absolutely. Well, make sure if you see Brian and I in town, if you see us at a liquor store, if you see us at an event, you can walk up and introduce yourself and hang out with us. We'd love to meet you. We'd love to hang out and have a pour with you. It's always great. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

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