367. Wheat Whiskey Exploration

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. Hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon. And today on the show, we also have our cohost, Brian Hyatt. Brian, how are you doing today?

Doing great.

Good day to drink whiskey. Yes, it is. We actually drink whiskey all weekend. So today's, we're not skipping a day. We're not going straight into Monday drinking whiskey. This is great. This last weekend was Bourbon on the Banks and we've done a number of event episodes over the last few weeks and I don't want to wear down our users with another event episode. Let me just say though that it was a spectacular event. It was great to see all the roadies come out. We had a full tent, 50 whiskeys on the roadies bar. Lawrenceburg Bar Room was pouring from theirs. They had our new barrel pick. See if I can summarize this in a minute or less. They sold out of tickets, 2,000 plus people there. An absolute amazing weekend. What was your take?

I thought it was fantastic and it was great to finally meet some folks that listen and we had a good time.

And this is our big event every year and it's a lot of fun. And we talk about it all year long because it's kind of that, that, that show, that event that we kind of hope most of our listeners will try to make and try to attend so that we get a chance to meet them and talk with them and have a pour with them. And we had a lot of pours on Saturday, no doubt. Yes, we did. We introduced our new 100%. Bourbon is 100% American shirt with a flag on it. That was a big success. But the blowout success was the Bourbonista tee, the vintage Bourbonista tee, the ladies tee shirt was just, we sold out. I mean, we sold out probably halfway through the event. And then of course we had some alternative Bourbonista tees, the pink ones, the blue ones. And then we had another single color vintage. And most of those sold, but the vintage Barbenista V-neck was just, it flew off the shelves.

And we took notes. We know what everybody would like. So we know that the pink V-neck was something that we really got a lot of questions about. So we'll be working on that.

Yeah. And all this stuff is going to be on the website. So folks, if you missed it, again, we don't want to turn this into a post-mortem on bourbon on the banks, but if you miss something or showing up and getting something at the event, make sure you go to our website and check it out. But today, Brian, today's show is dedicated to a whiskey we haven't devoted a show to yet. Something that we've probably had on the show at some point. I would have to go back and dig in the 360 some episodes in our past, but today we're drinking wheat whiskeys.

I'm in love. I'm ready to get started.

I am too. So. Just real quick, what's a wheat whiskey? A wheat whiskey is a whiskey whose major grain component is wheat. Now we know bourbon has to have 51% corn, rye has to have 51% rye, wheat has to have 51% wheat. Doesn't mean it doesn't have some other things in there, but wheat whiskeys in general are pretty much all wheat. Pretty much. They're going to have a little bit of a malted grain in there to sort of kick that enzyme process, but And the first one that we're having today is the Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey. This is something you can find on the shelves pretty much anywhere Woodford Reserve is sold. It is a 90 proof wheat whiskey. Uh, in the four to six year old range. And, um, it has a pretty decent color to it. It doesn't look all that different than the weed than the Woodford bourbon color does it.

It really doesn't. I mean, it's, uh, we'll just say a little bit of a darker Amber.

Yeah, kind of a, yeah, dark amber. Now it's a little deceiving because the Woodford bottles are thin front to back. So if you, you want to see them side to side, it gets quite a bit darker, but front to back, they're kind of thin. So it looks like a lighter color whiskey, but in the glass, it's kind of good color to it. But Woodford has recently, well, recently within the past five or six years started to introduce some expansions to the line. One of which was the malt whiskey and then the wheat whiskey. And more to come. And I, I just, we just haven't taken time to have this one on the show. And I think it's what got me to thinking about this. Well, I'll tell you what, let's drink this and then we'll talk about why we're doing it. All right. Cheers. So the nose is, for me is just a teeny little bit of cherry, but a nice oak. It's got a bit of ethanol to it though. Kind of singed my hairs a little bit. I don't know. Might be just that first whiff of the day.

I would agree with that. I definitely think there's a little bit of a singe, but kind of a light, some cinnamon.

Yeah. A little bit of cinnamon, I think almost like cinnamon and light cherry, just, just a hint of cherry.

I mean, it's definitely fruit.

Not a lot of baking spice on that. It's mostly the fruit forward kind of cinnamon, a little bit of cinnamon spice and an Oak note.

I mean, what, just so the listeners, uh, the listeners know, I mean, what, what is kind of that, uh, the fruit that you really pick up in most of the woodfruits? Why I feel like it's always banana for me.

Um, I think you can get a little bit of banana on it. I don't normally pick that one out. What do they say? There's 260 different notes in a Woodford reserve. I can get maybe two or three. I'm thinking about going to the distillery and now when you're at the vats, when you're at the, uh, the fermenters, it's all banana. Oh yeah. No doubt about it. I mean, it certainly is, but in the glass, I'm thinking I'm not, I'm not really getting it. That doesn't mean it isn't there. It's just not, it's not catching my attention.

I mean, for me, it's, it's a lot of cinnamon.

Yeah.

I mean, that, that is the one that jumps out to me quite a bit, but I mean, you get, you get the fruit and I have to say this because I've, I've got some good friends that listen. I always laugh every time I say it, but getting a little hint of vanilla.

Yeah. They shouldn't laugh because I, you know, in bourbon tasting, if, if you want to be, uh, if you want to be right. And then this isn't a bourbon, but typically you say a little bit of Carabella and vanilla, right? And that oak, you know, that's our inside joke.

Cause I always tell them you're always going to hear me say vanilla, but that's okay. Yeah.

All right. Let's taste it. Cheers. Cheers. Yeah. So, uh, on the palette, I'm getting this nice wash of sweetness, very soft upfront. It's got kind of that, uh, that little bit of a cherry note, but like a super light. Kind of hard candy, cherry hard candy note. Like, um, I don't want to say Jolly Ranchers because Jolly Ranchers are all about intense flavor. Right. So it's a little bit more like those flat candy sticks used to get at the store with the apple and cherry and strawberry. And, uh, it does have a nice little, like a little spice, cinnamon spice note on it.

I definitely get the spice. Yeah.

It's not too creamy for me. It's more light and, uh, kind of the washes across kind of, uh, a little bit more watery, I guess a little thinner.

Yeah.

Watery is not the best word to use.

A little bit thinner. I think we're both on the same page. There's definitely a little bit more thin. Uh, there's some spice to it. It's fruity. Um, I feel like I get a little more apple.

Yeah. So I think that's what I was actually getting because I was thinking about those flat hard candy sticks that used to get used to get the apple ones and you get the cherry ones. And I was getting a cherry flavor on the nose and on the palate. But when I started to get that, that note of that kind of like a artificial apple, I was thinking that was the cherry candy, but actually I think it might be the apple green apple candy.

Yeah. Like put the little bit of spice on it and then, you know, on the back end, uh, I feel like I'm getting some, some chocolate.

There's enough Oak there. I mean, it's spent some time in the barrel. There's enough Oak there that, uh, that it gets a little bit dry on the back.

Not too much, but.

And I'm feeling that, that kind of tannic, that little bit of a tannic note in the back. It's a good whiskey. I mean, it's not, not a sweet chocolate. Do you get that at all? I'm not getting anything sweet on the back. I get it up front, but then as it goes back, that fruit notes kind of come across and it gets to the back and it's all barrel. Oh yeah. A little bit of, a little bit of spice, a little drier though.

I mean, you know, it is, I think for me, it's fun. This is different, especially when you think about Woodford and we all love those double doubles and all that fun stuff that they put out. But it is a little bit different. And, and, you know, I love the weeded stuff and this is, I think it's good. Yeah. Jim, I believe the price points around $39, $40. Yeah.

I think a total wine, you can pick this up for about $39. So actually a pretty decent value. Yeah. I mean, Woodford's a great name. They've got good quality. They have a pretty decent selection of, uh, of different expressions that you can pick up. Uh, a favorite of mine is their double double bourbon. I shouldn't say the double double double doubles. Uh, hard to get, but the, the double oak anyway is available everywhere. And it's always going to be to have that nice sweet note with that dark marshmallow on the back end. I love it. I really like it. Have you had their malt whiskey?

I have.

Yeah. What'd you think about that?

I liked it.

Yeah. Me too. I think these are, they're not like outstanding examples of their class, but they're good solid whiskies and they are a good example of their class.

Yeah.

Yeah. And this is just really nice. I wish they would come out with a weeded bourbon. That would be really something, wouldn't it? Oh, that would be really cool. Maybe they're just getting ready for that. Yeah.

Now they always do a great job. And when I think of Woodford, I always think back to when we got to take that nice trip.

We got to drill the barrel and man, that was fun. That was a blast. It's such a beautiful distillery. So folks, if you're listening and you're going to have a trip to the Bourbon Trail anytime in the near future, I highly recommend that Woodford Reserve be one of your stops. It's kind of just a beautiful campus, just flat out gorgeous. It's almost like Castle and Key. It's very, uh, wooded kind of around there, streams, a little secluded, old buildings, old, just old gardens, just really nice. Food was great. Food was fantastic.

I know we had some questions this weekend about food. So, you know, that's one that not really off the beaten path, but if you're there, get something to eat.

Absolutely. Yeah. We need to do a little bit more of that. I think a little bit more food pairing with bourbon and talk a little bit more about restaurants. That's kind of your gig.

I love to eat.

I love to eat. I do too. I just don't have this tremendous, you know, palette for food and I'm not able to talk too intelligently about different kinds of food, but I do know what I like and it usually involves carbohydrates, but.

Oh yeah. Well, and protein. I'm a big, big protein guy. So I made some great chili yesterday. Did you? Fantastic. I put some sausage in there for the first time ever. Wow. What kind of, some of the sausage we picked up that? You know, I didn't. No? I didn't use it because the first one that I tried and then our conversation, you know, I think they grounded up a little too much. I agree with that. So I, um, I didn't use it. I wanted to make sure this was on point. I wanted to make sure it was, was good enough for Ms. Leslie to eat. And, uh, so I went and bought some sausage from the store.

I do think that grind listeners have no idea what we're talking about, but we, we, uh, we stopped at a meat store on the outskirts of Louisville. We won't mention which one it was, but. They had a great deal on house made sausage. And we picked up, I bought 12 pounds. I'm not sure how much you bought. But between the two, it was probably 20 pounds of sausage. And I got Italian and then hot and mild breakfast sausage. So three different types. And you got the chorizo? I did. I think the chorizo was properly ground. They did have a very fine grind on these sausages. So it made a little bit different, but I think it was okay for chorizo.

I haven't tried it yet. I haven't opened it up.

You know, cause Trezo typically has a finer grind. So I think that'll probably be okay. But on the breakfast sausage, it was a little weird.

Oh yeah.

I haven't tried the Italian yet, but. I haven't gotten there either. Hey, the lady said it was the best sausage around, so.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that. She sold us. She got us. We bought it.

She did. Hook line and sinker. All right. Well, Brian, what do you think about the finish on this?

I mean, I agree. You know, like you said a few minutes ago, it's definitely dry. Um, all that sweet from the fruit, you know, the apple, I feel like that does go away.

Yeah.

Um, I said chocolate, maybe cocoa is a better way to describe that.

It's just not hanging around for me. It's gone pretty quick. So the finish on this is medium to short, I would say.

I think if not short, I would say more for me on the short.

Yeah.

I don't know that I would go as far as medium.

And I don't know, you know, you get a little bit higher proof on this. It might stick around a little bit longer, but at 90, it's kinda now it's actually 90.4 because all Woodford reserve products from 90.4.

Yeah. I was going to say they, they have that 0.4 in there.

Yeah. Just to stand out, be different.

We're starting with the higher proof tonight.

So we've had some releases recently, haven't we, that we probably ought to talk about. You've been doing a lot of blogging lately on the Bourbon Road blog.

Been trying to pick that up a little bit, get some more out there. And this is an exciting time of year, especially if you're one of those folks that likes to camp out. I think we both decided we're going to retire from that. We're not going to do that anymore. I know with all my... Good activities and all the fun that I get to do every weekend camping out is just not something that I'm going to do, but we had some great times and I think the first time I ever had the Kentucky Owl ride back however many years ago, we were in line and I had a nice old Dusty and we were all sharing drinks and then we went to Bob Evans and It was fun. It was fun. But I don't think we didn't win anything, did we?

I don't think we won. I think we all walked away empty handed. Yeah. It happens more times than not that you don't get anything. That's right. But I haven't done that in a while either, and it's kind of in my past. I'm not a bottle chaser anymore. I do like it when I find one in the wild. I do like it when I'm given one by a friend. I will pay a little bit more for something if I find it, and it's been You know, if it's something I really want and the price is a little bit higher, you know, if I really want it, I'll buy it. I'll buy it. I think I paid $58 or $60. I think I paid $60 for bottle special reserve. Wow. Yeah. Just a little much. Yeah. It's a little bit too much, but I really wanted a bottle because we were having an event and I wanted to be able to put it out on the table. So we're having a gathering at the house and I really wanted to be able to set it out.

Oh yeah. Right now is the great time, obviously for all these releases and, and Buffalo Trace, you know, the BTAC it's coming and, and we all really enjoy and love that one. And I know we've, we've chased that a few times on our own. And Jim, what would be your favorite BTAC?

Uh, well, I do love the William LaRue Weller. But a lot of people don't like the heat off the George T stack. I kind of do like it. So I like it. I like that. Um, uh, the 17 year Eagle rare, you know, I mean, love that. I think they're all good. I've got a bottle of handy up there that I hit every now and then. Uh, I haven't had, I haven't had the 18 says rec and that's what I'd really like to try.

I bet that was, I haven't had that either.

Yeah, we saw it on the bar at the Bourbon on Maine. I could have got a pour of it, but I didn't. Okay.

I didn't even catch that.

Yeah, it was up there. It was up there, but no, I didn't do it. I mean, there were a number of bottles on the shelves at the various establishments we frequented during our weekend in Frankfurt. And it was very nice to see that those places went out and went the extra mile to make sure stuff was on the shelf. But the BTAC, as you're saying, the BTAC collection is releasing. That's right.

And they mentioned in the release that they sent us that it's releasing soon.

Just soon.

Same.

Yeah. They're not going to, they're not going to give you the exact day. Well, we did request a sample, many samples of the, of the Buffalo Trace antique collection so that we can do proper reviews on each one and let you folks know what we think about them. They don't send them to everyone, but let's see if they send them to us this year. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not, but if we get them, we'll make sure we review each and every one for you folks so that you can make, make up your mind if you want to chase it or not. That's right.

And so they have another pretty cool release coming out or a collection. limited edition set of bottles that are going to be released. And that's the old stag, the golden wedding, the three feathers, the Walnut Hill, the George T stag spiritus. Um, so those are all cool. Now this is part of a collection that's what it's, it's pricey. It's a, it's a thousand dollars. Yeah. Uh, but man, it looks good. If I had the thousand and I could find it, I'd probably purchase it, uh, Don't know that I'm going to be able to find it, but hopefully I can. Uh, the one that jumps out to me though, is the golden wedding.

Yeah.

You and I have actually shared a bottle from, what was it? 1976, I believe. Uh, something that I could be saying that wrong. Maybe it's 1946. It's one of the two. Uh, but that one jumped out because I thought the golden wedding, the old dusty that we had was very good.

Yeah, it was really good. I remember that. In fact, I had never heard of it before, and you turned me on to it. Yeah.

So I doubt that this one is going to be similar to what we had, but the Golden Wedding that they're releasing is a 107 proof rye whiskey. So it'd be pretty cool to see what that looks like when it comes out.

Absolutely.

And the pictures are on the website. They look good. They look very good. It would look good on somebody's shelf, but you know how we would do it? We would open them up and we would drink them.

And if you're a friend of the show and you end up with that collection and you'd like to actually appear on a show.

We'll have you on to share it with us.

All right. Well, Brian, let's keep sipping on this wheat whiskey. We're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we've got another wheat whiskey and we'll tell y'all why. 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. All right, folks, we're back and today is wheat whiskey day. In the first half, we had the Woodford Reserve straight wheat whiskey. I think for me overall, a decent pour right around $39. Finishes a bit short, a little disappointed, but I think we kind of lends it to that a little bit maybe. Don't know that if that's a fact or not, but it, I would think that, uh, that not having the, you know, the heavier, more full body grain in there might affect that a little bit. But before we tell everybody what the next wheat whiskey is, let's talk about, uh, maybe why we're doing a wheat whiskey show. Well, uh, three weeks ago we were at the Bardstown bourbon festival and a good friend of ours from broken barrel. called us into his tent, Seth. He said, hey, I want you to try something here. And he handed us his recent wheat whiskey release. And it, flat out, got my attention.

Fantastic.

It was our best of show, right?

It was. Yeah.

I think we both agreed that it was the number one whiskey we tasted at that event. And it got me to thinking that we didn't get a bottle, by the way, because Seth was selling out of everything he had. Maybe we'll get our hands on something in the near future, but it got me to thinking that we had never had, really had a wheat whiskey show and we never really talked in depth about wheat whiskies. And it was high time that we did that. We are the bourbon road. Bourbon's kind of the majority of what we do, but we do have malt whiskies on the show. We do have rye whiskies on the show. Why not a weeded whiskey? So. But anyway, so we picked a couple of what we thought were good representations of the category of wheat whiskey. In the first half, we did have the Woodford Reserve straight wheat whiskey. And now in the second half, we have the Bernheim-wheated whiskey. And I want to say, I'm not 100% sure if I'm correcting this, but this is the OG, right? It's been around for a while.

Been around for a while and out of Heaven Hill, which to me, that means it's probably going to be really good.

And folks, there's a, there's a lot of wheat whiskies out there. We'll kind of mention a few of them as we, as we go through the rest of the show, we're only going to do two whiskies on the show, but we are going to drink the Bernheim now. It's widely available. It's a Heaven Hill product. It's a seven year, 90 proof wheat whiskey. from heaven hill and, uh, it's got a pretty good reputation, but it's, I think it might be the first time on the show on the bourbon road. Wow. Yeah. So what do you say we check it out? Cheers. Cheers. Okay. The nose on this is definitely not as ethanol forward as the. No, no. But it's very similar.

It is. I mean, it's definitely sweet.

Yeah.

Uh, fruity, but I'm not getting that kind of what we later determined to be that kind of green apple note, the green apple. I don't get it really the sentiment either.

No, it's a little bit more kind of, uh, almost a burnt caramel, but it is a little fruity and I, I don't know what that is, but I want to say it's probably, uh, a stone fruit. What do you think about toffee? Yeah. It could be toffee toffee is like burnt caramel. Isn't it? Yeah. Is that what it is? Yeah. All right. I'm going to taste it. Cheers. Cheers. Okay. That is definitely got some more oak on it. Quite a bit more, a little bit more viscous too. Not as, not as thin as the Woodford, but there's not that same rush of sweetness across the front.

No, but you know, it's kind of surprising cause on the nose, I don't really get any cinnamon or spice, but I definitely get it on the palate.

This has got a little bit more of like a sweet cream flavor to it. Like a, Like a meringue or a cream or creme brulee.

Yeah, I agree with that. You know, the last one we were kind of, it's definitely different than this one, you know, for sure, because no spice on the nose. Definitely some spice. You've got that more, uh,

Definitely viscous. It reminds me of those, uh, those cow tail candies, you know, the, the, the caramel with the cream center. Yeah. Oh yeah. I'm talking about that cream center on it. This has got a cream, definitely got a creamy note to it. It's a little more viscous, a little silkier on the tongue. Uh, it just seems like it's more full bodied.

The more, you know, I'm, I'm going to go ahead and jump forward to, uh, to the finish, but it's more, uh, warmer. You know, it's definitely, you can feel the more of that hug, if you will. Um, But that oak, I mean, the oak is there.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's the seven years, right? I think that this one is a little bit more mature, a little bit more full bodied. Uh, it definitely has a sort of a broader range of flavor to it. I would say this is just a, in general, uh, just, and I love Woodford. Don't get me wrong. This is just a little more, a little bit more at my alley. I think I like this a little bit better than the Woodford.

Just personally, nothing wrong with the Woodford. I think I'm, I'm right on there with you. Cause I do. I like that hug. Uh, if you can hear me smacking over here, it's just. I've got a lot of salvation going like it, there's a lot more going on with it that, uh, brings it out, but I think I like the Oak.

Yeah. You know, just being a little bit more Oak forward and the Oak hangs on a little bit longer in the finish. I don't know that in general, if the finish is that much longer, a little bit, maybe, maybe a medium finish. But that oak tends to hang around a little bit longer. You get that, um, that barrel, that little bit of that oaky barrel effect on the, on the back end that kind of just hangs around. And it does, that chest warms up a little bit more on this one. And, um, just in general, this is a little bit more of a porch zipper for me. I would be, I would wouldn't mind putting away a bottle with you some night on this.

I could drink it.

Oh yeah. Now I've owned a bottle of this before, but I, I'm surprised that we haven't had on the show listeners, if I'm wrong, send me a note, let me know what episodes so I can go back and re-listen to it. But, uh, I think it's a quality wheat whiskey. It's definitely something that if you see it on the shelf, don't be afraid of it. If you haven't had a wheat whiskey before, this would be a good candidate. Grab one, put it on your bar. It's a talking point, you know, expand your horizons a little bit. It doesn't all have to be bourbon. Have a few ryes, have a few wheat whiskies, have a few malt whiskies.

I have a question because I could probably look it up right now on my phone, but I'm not going to. Maybe you know the answer. Is this part of the build your own bottle experience? Can you get this bottle in that?

I'm not, I'm not sure. I don't, I don't know the answer to that.

It's, it's worth a look because you know, anyway, that's done that experience. I mean, it's, it's super cool. Uh, I got a fantastic, fantastic bottle of Elijah Craig last time. It, I'm going to hate to see that thing go, but it's going fast.

Well, let's, let's talk about a few other whiskey's that are out there. Notables, you know. Definitely one that we would have liked to have had, but we didn't have a bottle of it available to us was the old elk, wheat whiskey. Uh, they make a great wheat whiskey. So if, uh, if in your part of the world, uh, old elk is more prominent on the shelf, then I would say grab that because it's going to be a good one. I know Midwest spirits out of Columbus makes a wheat whiskey and it's fairly priced around 30, $35. So you can pick that one up. Traverse city has one for you guys up in the UP. Uh, you know, they make a good wheat whiskey and I have had that one and let's not forget 1792 sweet wheat.

Oh, that is a good one.

That is a very good one. And you know, I went over to check to see if I had a bottle of it and I don't, I don't, I've got the bottle and bond. I've got the 12 year. Uh, let's see, I had the high rye, but I didn't have the sweet wheat.

Yeah. If you see that one out, you should grab it. You won't be disappointed.

That one's a little more pricey. That one's around 50 bucks a bottle, but I'd say it's definitely worth picking up. Oh, it's worth it.

Yeah. 50 bucks for a bottle that good. Absolutely.

You know, Brian, one of the things, and again, I, I, like I said earlier, I don't want to turn this into a sort of a post-mortem on the bourbon on the banks event, but one of the things that surprised me was, is, you know, we, we put out the bourbon roadie bar like we do every year at bourbon on the bank. So we had 50. different whiskies on the bourbon roadie bar they were always keys that had been on one episode or another during the year. And i think we're only missing a couple of whiskies that were on the show that we didn't take down there for the most part we were completely represented. And we had, I mean, we had pretty much, we had Blanton's cause they were on the show. We had the H Taylor cause it was on the show. We had equal rare cause it had been on the show. We had a number of Buffalo trace items up there that, uh, very recognizable that people could come up and try. And I was absolutely blown away that nobody was asking for any of those when they came up to the roadie bar.

Yeah, I noticed that as well on it. You know, for the Blanton's, it took a little while for people to get that one cracked. I think I actually had to ask someone if they wanted to have it and had a conversation with a husband and a wife. And she said, well, he hates it. And he was like, I don't hate it. And she's like, I've never had it because he hates it. And I was like, well, here, I'm not trying to cause any marital issues here, but I think you should try it. She said, Oh, I love that. And he was like, well, I don't hate it. I just can't get it.

I think that a lot of times when somebody says they hate something, it's not that they hate the whiskey. So they hate the fact that they can't get it. So they just translate that into, I hate that whiskey. I hate that stuff because they can't get it. But yeah. So really, I mean, we brought back. most of the bottle of Blanton's, most of the bottle of VH Taylor, probably half the Eagle Rare, and a number of other bottles we had there that were well known, Weller and other things like that. They just didn't get hit. Everybody wanted to try legends and ASW and 15 stars and, you know, uh, Jay Mattingly and all the other things we had there from all the craft distilleries that we had had on the show during the year. Those were the ones that were getting requested.

And I think that's so cool. Cause we had a lot of folks come through that were not roadies. Right. And they were still opting to go towards the craft distilleries and the ones that we've had on the show. And they were all very impressed. So I think it says a lot about. You know, all these great relationships that we've been able to make over the years, you know, and, and, and the things that they're doing, you know, broken barrel, huge hit, huge hit 291, huge hit 291, huge hit Jay Mattingly, huge hit. Of course, Lawrenceburg bourbon company, huge hit.

15 stars was over and over again, people were wanting to try the 15 stars.

The platinum was kind of the one that everybody drifted towards.

I was a little sad because we didn't get to bring much of that home, but that's all right. That's all right. That's why we had them. We had them there to share. I think we had four different expressions of 15 stars on the roadie bar. And let's see, what else? What else was really?

The seven and 15 actually got finished off.

It did. That's right. Absolutely. We've got a little bit of the platinum left so you and I can enjoy that. Oh yeah. Uh, let's see, what else was really big?

Uh, the one that looks like the birthday bourbon.

I don't know. Oh, 13th colony. Man.

Everybody was going for the 13th colony. We actually had somebody begging to take the bottle home. Yeah. Asked if they could buy it and all that good stuff.

And that's the last thing in the world we're going to do is sell a bottle of whiskey. That's right. That is not going to happen. But no, we just brought it back. We brought everything back with us that didn't get consumed, but we shared as much as we could. Trying to think of the others that were super, super popular. Oh yeah. The, uh, uh, the film land spirits, the mayhem extended cut. That was a big hit. Gone. Yeah. It's gone, right? It's gone. Yeah. We've, they finished that one off and, uh, I mean, we had chicken cock was chicken cock. The double oak chicken cock was probably the most popular.

I know I spent a little time behind the bar pouring and I have to say, I really, really enjoyed that. I felt like I was in my element. I could really kind of guide folks to, well, if you've had this one, you know, give it a shot and, uh,

If you had to, if he had to pick one whiskey you thought was, um, kind of the fan favorite, what would you say from, from you? Because you would walk people to the bar too. Yeah.

So I honestly, I think it was 13th column at 13 colonies. So, you know, I brought the bottle of a Jay Mattingly, a big bad wolf. And I think that one's pretty low because I, I encouraged folks to try that one, um, a little bit more, you know, if they were looking for something hot, but, uh, you know, the, the 13th colony, a lot of people pick up that bottle. Looks like birthday birthday bourbon. Can I have that? But that's not what it was. But when they tried it, they were, they were very, very happy.

Yeah. Yeah, I think, uh, and you know, I had a little bit to do with this, but I think that, uh, for me, it was more the legends legends was being poured a lot because I was guiding people towards that, uh, 100 proof legends and the one 15, uh, the weeded, the weeded bourbons, just fantastic stuff. And, uh, but we each, as we're pouring from the roadie bar, people are asking us what, what do you recommend? And of course we each have our personal. ones that we recommend, and I would have two or three. I'd love telling people about the Georgia Heartwood from ASW and the legends. And then you got 13 colleagues right there. We're just talking about three different Georgia distilleries. How about that? So cool. Georgia's hot. Oh yeah. They're killing it. But such a great time, such a great event. Uh, one of the things that Melanie and I talked about was that, um, personally us, we'd like to do more events next year, smaller events, get into, uh, some of these smaller events where we can get in with a 10 foot tent rather than a 30 foot tent. We had a 30 by 20 tent. So, and it was packed.

I mean. I guess, wall-to-wall, side-to-side, whatever you want to say. It was packed. People came in waves.

We told Diane at Bourbon on the Banks, we needed basically 10 passes for workers to work in our tent. She just kind of looked at us like, well, she remembers years past. She's like, okay, nobody's supposed to really walk around the show. You guys are supposed to be working. I'm like, okay, but we'll take breaks. Right. Well, we ended up, I don't think, I think only Randy was able to take about a 15 minute break. The rest of us worked solid the whole time and just didn't have a chance to get around and really do anything.

And, you know, I think it was so cool because I think it says a lot about, uh, what the Bourbon Road is about and who we are, that this is not about us. Like this is about the distilleries and all these amazing folks that listen to the Bourbon Road and that we get an opportunity to actually serve them and be there for them and to help them have this great experience when they're at Bourbon on the banks. And that's really what it's all about.

Yeah, this year the actual vendors didn't get sampling glasses like they had in the past, but I think this year they didn't get them. So we had vendors come into our booth because they wanted to see what's going on. When you're at a distance, you can see the bourbon road lounge and you can tell there's like a huge gathering over there and people are just hanging around in that area. So we had vendors coming through and they would come in and, and, uh, I think like Aaron Mulally from, uh, bourbon 30 came in, right? And he wanted to try some things, but he didn't have a sampling glass cause he's a vendor. Well, we're handing, handing out Glen Care installed the vendors so that they can drink out of bourbon road Glen Care.

And he's an awesome guy. I mean, just so much fun and puts out some great stuff. He said he sold out, right?

Yeah, he sold out 90 bottles. He went through with that. So anyway, we said we weren't going to turn this into a post-mortem on the bourbon on the banks, but I'm still fired up from this weekend. Oh, I am too. So definitely folks next year, uh, don't waste any time planning to be down. Once they release the dates and everything for the event, get, get on the books for it.

You'll have your hotel room or your, your bed and breakfast, whatever, whatever you choose.

Yeah. Or get there at the Capitol plaza hotel. Cause that's the most convenient place I think. Right. Oh yeah. Next year we'll try. Oh yeah.

That, that is, I mean, that's a fantastic spot. Yeah.

Yeah, I think, uh, Jordan Lester and his wife stayed there this year. Last year they were staying out at the Hampton in, but this year they were able to stay down at, you know, right there. And it's, it's walking distance from everything from the event to the parties, the after party and everything else. You just, yeah, stay down in town.

I've only got one more comment to make about the weekend and I'll just say the food vendors. Great job. Great job guys. I mean, the, the waffles were amazing and the barbecue and, uh, the, uh, I wish I could remember the name of the lady that was selling the cupcakes because she had such a cool name. And I just remember the phone number ended in lush.

It was something about an inebriated Baker.

Yes. I don't remember the whole phone number, but I was like, wow, she, she really thought this through and she did a good job of marketing, making sure that people were going to remember. And those cupcakes were good. I got three of them.

All right, folks. Well, if you haven't had a weeded whiskey, I'm going to highly recommend you pick one up from today's show. You probably could tell I leaned a little bit more towards the Bernheim. I think you did too. But if you haven't had the old elk or the middle West or the sweet weed from 1792, these are all great choices. Um, Traverse City's got a good one. There's a number of them out there. It's a different category. It's not as popular as rye and bourbon, but they are out there and they are tasty. You definitely want to give them a try. Uh, every now and then we'll take one of these little side roads where we try a different, uh, kind of category of spirit. And, uh, we've never had vodka on the show and we probably never will. But, uh, every now and then we might have a rum or a tequila or something like that, because I do respect the other spirits, particularly Jen. I love my Jen's. You're not a Jen guy though, are you?

Uh, I mean, it, it depends. You're more of a tequila guy.

Yeah.

I feel like they do a really good job with Jen, so I can, I can get down with those guys for sure. But, uh, yeah, I do. I like tequila.

Yeah. I'm happy with clear spirits as long as they don't push our bourbons off the shelf.

Right? That's right.

Stay in your zone. All right, Brian. Well, it's been a fun show. I've really enjoyed this. We did spend a little more time talking about the event that I'd like to, but at least we did a short recap. Got to try some weeded whiskey. Next show back on bourbon for sure. Guarantee it. And, uh, it's, it's another year in the books. Wow. Went fast. It did. All right. Well, you can find The Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube. You can find us on threads. You can find us basically on our Facebook group, our private Facebook group called The Bourbon Roadies. And Brian, what do they have to do to be a member?

You're just going to answer three questions. Are you over the age of 21? Do you agree to play nice and do you enjoy bourbon?

Right. And the answer to two of those questions ought to be pretty easy. Are you over 21? That's right. And, uh, and do you like bourbon playing nice? You got to think about that one. Cause I mean, so many people get out of control of these groups, you know, And we just want you to come in and just be a good neighbor.

That's right. And we lose folks every now and then, and that's okay. We want to make sure that the regulars, the people that are really committed to being a part of that group can continue to enjoy it for what it is.

And by lose, you mean you kick them out.

That's right.

That's right.

A very nice way of saying that, yeah, we kick them out. And then the other thing is, Don't sell anything.

Just don't do it. Just don't do it. Share your bourbon. Talk about your bourbon. Take pictures of your bourbon. Don't sell your bourbon on the road.

Be like Rob Carter. Share your bourbon.

Absolutely. Well, we do a show every single week. Every Wednesday we'll have an episode like today's where maybe it's just Brian and I sitting down having a chit chat, drinking some good whiskey like we did with this weeded whiskey today. Sometimes we'll have a guest, an author, a musician, you know, all kinds of different people. We're going to have a few more distilleries on here really soon because we've, well, we've been to a few events and we've talked to a few, so we're going to be having a few coming up. But we hope you listen to us every week. And Brian, what do they have to do to make sure they don't miss an episode?

Just going to click subscribe on each one of those channels, whether it's YouTube or Apple podcast or Google podcast. any of them out there, Spotify. And each time that a new episode is released, you're going to get a notification and we hope you listen and enjoy.

Yeah. So you can reach out to us. Brian and I are very accessible. You can hit us up on the bourbonroad.com, our website. That's where you'll find our swag. You'll find our articles that Brian's been putting out kind of regular lately. You'll find our episodes to listen to on there. You also find our store where we sell our t-shirts. Bourbon is a hundred percent American t-shirt, the Bourbon Road t-shirt, the Bourbonista t-shirt. Bourbonista. It's hot. It's hot. All of our glasses and barware, all the things that we have with our logo on them, our flasks, all those things are available on there. We'd really appreciate if you'd come and check us out and purchase a little something that helps us get down the road. But while you're on the website, we have a contact us page. We'd love to hear from you. Just go on there and shoot us a quick message. Let us know what you're drinking, what you're thinking, maybe something we ought to try that we haven't tried yet. We'd love to hear about it, but you can always send us an email to team at the bourbon road.com. We'll be sure to get back with you, but until the next time we'll see you down the bourbon road.

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