369. House of Commons - A Bourbon Library

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. The Bourbon Road is excited to have pintsandbarrels.com as a sponsor of this episode as well as our official custom apparel provider. Be sure to check out pintsandbarrels.com and browse their ultimate online store for bourbon loggers. All right, listeners, welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon, and today we are on the road. We're actually in Frankfurt, Kentucky. We were just here a few weeks ago for Bourbon on the Banks, but we're back once again. We didn't get a chance to stop into where we are today while we were here. They were so busy. I hated that we had to miss it, but we're in a great place today. We've got a wonderful guest, and we've got a great story for you. And we're going to drink through a number of, let's say, fantastic whiskeys. So got a lot in store for you today. But my guest today is Dave Sandlin. Dave is the founder, proprietor of House of Commons. It's a bourbon bar in Frankfort, Kentucky, downtown, corner of St. Clair and Main.

That's correct. Welcome to the Bourbon Road. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here.

Yeah, it's wonderful to have you and I actually spoke. at the event two weeks ago.

That's correct.

And we made a plan that we're going to get together. And it just so happened that today worked out. I'm here. You're here. We've got bourbon in our hand. I'm pretty excited.

I'm very excited.

So we're going to get straight to the whiskey, Dave, and then we'll talk a little bit about you and your establishment here. But what is in our first class? And why did you choose it?

Sounds like a plan, Jim. So the first pour we have is Benchmark Single Barrel. So this is in the Benchmark Expressions line. The reason I chose this is because this is a pour that I love to put in front of our guests. I have a lot of guests that come in and they want to build a flight, and they're looking to build a flight in that $20 range. And with this product coming from Buffalo Trace, I love the quality of the product, the taste of the product. It's a very developed flavor profile. And what I love to tell guests is all too often in the bourbon world, we expect trade-offs. You can either have a great pour, or you can have a good value, or you can get it. It's available. And I love to say that with this product, there are no trade-offs. It's a great pour at a great value. And in a lot of states, it's available. I can go into my local, Kroger store here in Frankfurt, over on the west side by the Walmart. And I can walk in with that crew and I know that it's going to be there on the shelf because those guys keep it on the shelf and it's available. Buffalo Trace puts out a lot of great juice that we don't get to see very often.

Very few of them actually make it to the common folk, right?

Right, right, right. And that's part of what I love about this product. It's a 95 proof product. It's a single barrel. So that you're going to get those nuance differences from bottle to bottle. I always love to say that single barrel life, a lot of times results in studs or duds. It's just part of the game. And I love that I can have those nuances bottle to bottle. But I got to tell you, Jim, I've yet to have a bad one. It's been all studs for me so far with this line. I tell guests all the time, the expressions line is made up of five different expressions. There's the top floor at 86 proof, and then you've got small batch at 90 proof. You've got the I'm sorry, the small batch at 90 proof, then you've got single barrel at 95, bonded at 100, and then you have full proof at 125. To walk into the local store and grab all five of those for run $130, you've got a built-in flight you can put in front of your friends and impress your friends and really sip on some great bourbon without breaking the bank. And that's what I think it's all about with some of these products is empowering people, getting a product in front of them that is within their price range or that they feel good about spending money on and that they enjoy drinking. And that's part of the reason why I love this product right here.

And this is a Rymash bill.

Yes, sir.

All right. What other whiskeys from Buffalo Trace share this particular mashbill?

So if I'm not mistaken, this is going to be same mashbill as Buffalo Trace itself, is EH Taylor, and all the rest that are in that mashbill line.

The Eagle Rare and yeah, right on up the line. Yep. Awesome. You bet. Well, cheers. Cheers. Well, the nose on that was, I would say, very traditional, very, not very ethanol-y, if that's a word, right? We'll make it one. Yeah, it's a word. We'll make it a word. It didn't really singe the nose hairs or anything like that. At 95 proof, you don't often get that, but sometimes with bourbons of a more affordable price range can attack your nostrils just a little bit, can't they?

Absolutely. One of the things I love about this pour is that it's approachable. You know, it can be enjoyed by someone that does very experienced bourbon drinker, but it's also approachable for a novice, someone that's just, I call it onboarding into the bourbon journey. And so, It is a very approachable nose, but it checks a lot of those boxes of those traditional bourbon scents and tastes.

Yeah, it's got plenty of oak character too. So it has spent some time in the barrel. We talked a little bit about this before the show and we're not a hundred percent sure of the age on this, but doing a little bit of guesswork, we're probably figuring it's in the, probably around the five year range.

that tastes consistent to me. Yeah.

It's a good whiskey. And what's the price on this bottle?

And I know I will reference our local Kroger on the west side a lot. Cause that's, I go to those guys a lot, you know, it's, it's my neighborhood store. And, and so they've got this one, uh, south of $25. So, you know, store to store, I see a few stores do market up some, but I've never seen it over 30, $35.

Well, that puts it squarely in the range of where you can sip it neat or you can make a cocktail out of it. You don't feel bad either way, right? Absolutely. It's a good bourbon. And how much variation have you noticed in the barrels, on the single barrel? You said you've never gotten one that you were not pleased with, but is there quite a bit?

I don't see a lot of variation, which is interesting. From a single barrel offering, I don't know how they achieve that. Buffalo Trace is incredibly impressive at working with ages and proofs to develop products that taste vastly different on the same mash bill. Like we were just talking about the rye mash bill. There's so many products on that mash bill that taste night and day different, but they're just playing with the proof and age. And so with this one, I don't know how they tend to get it so consistent, but I do taste a lot of consistency on it. Whereas like say a Blanton's, that's a product that I wouldn't say inconsistency, but that's a product that I do have markedly different tastes across bottle to bottle, barrel to barrel.

Yep. Well, fantastic. We'll keep sipping on this. I've got some more questions for you. Many of our listeners have not been to Frankfurt. Many of them are, well, they're spread across the country and the world. Absolutely. But they're going to get here sometime. They'll eventually get here. You know, everybody's destined to arrive at Buffalo Trace at one point in their life, I think. That's right. It's like going to Mecca. I'm not sure, but at least the Bourbon Trail. Absolutely. This would be a wonderful stop, so let's tell everybody about your establishment here. Absolutely. What it is, where we're sitting today, and why we're drinking bourbon in this beautiful building.

Absolutely. So as you said before, we're at the corner of St. Clair and Main. This corner and really Main Street is such a has been such a fixture of downtown Frankfurt for a long time. And what I love to tell people about Frankfurt is everywhere you turn in Frankfurt, there's bourbon history. I love to say Frankfurt has a history of bourbon. Because you look a block down this way and there's E.H. Taylor's old house. You go a half mile down the road and there's sites where pre-prohibition distilleries were located. barrels were floated down, barrels floated down the Kentucky River along these banks that we're sitting right next to right now. There is history everywhere you turn in Frankfurt. And so I agree, you know, going to Bourbon Disneyland or whatever you want to call it, whether it be going to Buffalo Trace, but my hope and my wish is that more people that make the trip over to Buffalo Trace that they come downtown. Yes, please come visit us. We would love to meet you. We'd love to have you come in and enjoy up we're here. But there's so much charm in this small town. And there's so much history here that I want to see more people come visit downtown and kind of look around and see. And we're not the only one down here offering some grape pours and the only one that have some hard to find pours. And so I love for people to come down and see what Downtown Frankfurt has to offer. But I do believe that there is a untold story for people about Frankfurt. They think of Frankfurt and they think of Buffalo Trace. They a lot of times don't think about the distilleries of yesteryear that started here, that were thriving here 30 years ago. And it's not that hard to come down to Frankfurt and kick around a little bit and you'll find some of the history.

Yeah. And you know, it's there, there are two types of people that know that Frankfurt is the capital of Kentucky. That's Kentucky people, people who live here and elementary school children who learn it when they have to learn the state maps, right? But they soon forget that. And everybody thinks it's, it's Louisville or Lexington is the capital, which in fact it's not, we're sitting in the state capital right now. That's right. And the capital house is a few blocks from here.

Not very far. That's right.

One of the things I noticed about Frankfurt is that the city embraces bourbon, celebrates bourbon. The way they come out in support of that event we had a couple weeks ago, Bourbon on the Banks, just shows me that the city is fully invested in the future of bourbon as part of the city and part of their people and what they do and they embrace it. There are other places that try to not embrace it let's just say because of you know conflicts or beliefs or other than that but frankfurt fully embraces the bourbon industry so when you come here you see it in the restaurants you see it in the cafes the bars you see it in airbnbs you rent an airbnb here you're probably going to have something hanging on the wall in there that's urban related and all the shops are filled with wonderful things this this town is a place to spend a weekend and enjoy all that all it has to offer not just popping in to go to one distillery that's for sure absolutely and you know you touched on something jim that i love is that um i think

I do agree with you that Frankfurt embraces that. But I believe that Frankfurt being seen as a tourism destination, a place to stay, to go, that's fairly new. And we have accommodations that are attached to the House of Commons in the same building that are just absolutely stunning accommodations. And there's a one bedroom on the back end. There's a five bedroom unit and a six bedroom unit that are just unreal, beautiful places that are super, super conducive to groups coming through. They're connected to our bar here and they're in a beautiful location downtown Frankfurt. And not only do we have that here, but there are other accommodations that are popping up downtown. So I really feel like there's this wave of change coming to downtown Frankfurt that it's going to make it more accessible for individuals to come and stay in downtown Frankfurt and discover what Frankfurt has to offer. And it's just becoming easier and easier for people to do that, which I love.

Yeah. And B&Bs have become the rage here, right? Absolutely. I think that's part of the reason Frankfurt has converted and become more tourist friendly in the last few years is because of the accommodations in downtown, right? I mean, you've always had hotels out by the interstate. You've got a very nice hotel in downtown here, but having all these additional Airbnb's for It really makes a big difference. Absolutely. Well, I really enjoyed that benchmark, but I know we got something else coming up here.

Oh yeah.

So I'm looking forward to it. And I got a few more questions for you too, but let's get this next class.

All right, sounds great.

So Dave, what do we have in our second class here?

So this is a special one, Jim. This is a 2011 Weller Antique 107. This one has a little bit of a story to it. Part of the reason why I chose this one and part of the reason why I choose this for guests that come in seeking a contemporary, more contemporary bottle, but want one with a story is there was a local couple Pam and Omar Marshall that are big bourbon enthusiasts. They're staples in the local bourbon community. Pam is on the Frankfurt Bourbon Society Board. She's a regular here at the House of Commons. We love Pam and she means a ton to us. And they have been a fixture in our bourbon community. Omar was a collector and they have sought out bottles over the years and like many of us do and became very well known in the local bourbon scene to the point that when Omar would go do a pick with some bourbon groups that he was in, other bourbon groups would want to invite him along because they knew if Omar was on the pig that they were going to get a good one. Sure. He grew up with with local legends and well, I guess not local legends, national bourbon legend like Eddie Russell and He was just super connected and very well known and very highly regarded and very well respected in the community. But unfortunately, Omar passed away three years ago from cancer. So as a newcomer to the Frankfurt community, my wife and I just moved here a little over two years ago. Getting into the bourbon scene locally, I kept hearing about Omar, Omar, Omar, Omar. And when I finally had the opportunity to meet Pam, I approached her and I said, I hear about Omar a lot. Sounds like he was a really great individual and I would love the opportunity to one day purchase a bottle that belonged to you and Omar's collection that you all had acquired, and she said, well, I do have this one bottle that I'd be willing to sell. And so I was ecstatic at the opportunity. I told Pam, I said, it means more to me to be able to tell the story of her and Omar and the fact of what they mean to this local bourbon community, which, you know, it's a great port to begin with. Having the ability to tell a story of a local legend is even better. And it's just to me, it's a reminder that the life's short and we should enjoy what we drink and who we drink it with. And so, I wanted to pick this one because one thing that I think a lot about when I think of Bourbon is the community and who we share our pores with. And so from a local legend to new friends and new community in the Bourbon world, I felt like it was a good reminder.

What a great story. What a great story. Raise the glass to Omar and Pam.

To Omar and Pam.

Well that has a richness that is not like today's 107. Yeah, it's different for sure. Not as much of that cherry sweetness as you'll get out of a bottle today. A little bit more old, silky. It does have that kind of a little bit of a dusty note to it. You know, you get a little bit of that. I'm not sure if that is just the slightest amount of exposure to sunlight or air or something. This was a sealed bottle when you got it.

Oh, absolutely. You know, I've talked to a lot of people about that. And I know the storage of this bottle and how this one had been cared for over the years. Because you do always run that risk with dusties. Was there sunlight? Was it temperature changes? I happen to know how this one was stored. I wonder how much of that a lot, and I question this a lot of times, is this wasn't that long ago, but we all know that the bourbon boom has impacted a lot of things in production. I question a lot of times what in the manufacturing of the product, because that's ultimately what it is, a manufactured product, what in the manufacturing of that product was done differently 12, 13 years ago? than what's done today, but you're right. There is a little bit more of a, I call it the je ne sais quoi. There's just something there. There's something there. It's hard to put your finger on, but I also agree with you. It doesn't smack you in the face as much. It is a little more subtle and it kind of slides in on that cherry note. And it has such a pleasant linger.

It's really good. And I don't know, was it also a seven-year-old bourbon back then?

This is not, it very well could have been, but this is not in the age-stated era of seven years. That would have been in the squat bottle, which was the predecessor to this one.

Okay. So what would this have been?

It was non-age-stated at the time. So, you know, we, I really lean toward bottles that are prior to bourbon boom that the chances of them being aged longer than stated or if they're not stated that there's a good chance that they had more age on them than what we would have expected. But we also know this is the era in which when they came out with this bottle, they didn't have the age statement on it. So it's hard to know did they remove that age statement because they were looking to get closer to the six year mark. And I know that Buffalo Trace a lot of times targets an age profile. So, We know that they use a lot of heat-cycled rick houses that can produce a taste profile that is more developed than, say, counterparts stored in metal-clad rick houses without heat. Because you you're capitalizing on three months out of the year that you would have lost if you didn't have that heat sure So that plays a factor as well.

So what's your general opinion on this? Do you feel like this is superior poor to what you might buy today?

I really struggle with better superior best those words I feel like all too often put us in, in ranking categories. And I know that's a huge, that's a major, that's a major marketing, uh, technique for a lot of people in the bourbon industry. I just think we reduce things to value and, and rank all too often. Um, when people come in and they say, which is better, which is the best, it's, I don't, I don't like using that verbiage because all bourbons bring something to the table.

So if one of our listeners has a neighbor, let's say who has a bottle of this unopened, who's not a bourbon person, just got it from his father or something, would you say approach it and buy it? Or would you say, is it an experience that you would suggest?

A hundred percent. Yeah. A hundred percent. If they have multiple buy as many as you can. Yeah. I tend to agree with you.

Yeah. It's hard sometimes to rank things, especially when you're not sipping on them side by side. Absolutely. But anytime you can get yourself on a piece, a little piece of history and try it, it's always good.

Absolutely. And now one word that I do or one verbiage that I do kind of lean toward, Jim, is I will say, okay, you put this up and you put a contemporary example of this product up side by side and you ask me, You can only get one, which one are you gonna grab? I'm gonna go for this one. I mean, because the reality is, while I believe all bourbons bring something to the table, this is one that I'm gonna reach for more often. It's not to say that I won't reach for the contemporary one if this one's available, but this is the one that I'm gonna probably reach for more often. Just because I believe it's, it's more full-bodied. It's a little more well-rounded. There's a little bit more complexity going on than the contemporary example. And again, I'll attribute a lot of that to how things were made 12 years ago.

Sure. Processes do change. Sometimes even accountants get involved a little bit, right?

Sometimes they do. Yeah. Unfortunately.

Well, you mentioned that you were originally from Tennessee. How did you find your way to Frankfurt?

Great question, Jim. I am originally from East Tennessee. I grew up about 45 minutes from the Smoky Mountains, about 25 minutes from Knoxville, a town called Maryville. If you're from Kentucky, chances are you have been to Gatlinburg multiple times, because I saw all of your license plates in the parking lots growing up when I would go to the mountains. You've probably driven through Maryville, but I had the great privilege of after finishing college of settling back into the town that I grew up in and I found myself working at a luxury resort called Blackberry Farm. And while I had a back a house position at this luxury resort, They do such a phenomenal job there of creating such a culture of hospitality that I just fell in love with what they had to offer and the culture that they provided for team and for guests. And so I had the privilege of working there for almost eight years. And let me just say real quick, while you're there, they had, or at least while I was there, they had these great amenities. And so guests or team members could dine where guests dine, you know, once a quarter at a reduced rate. And so it was like, that was a perk of working there. So I would go in and I would eat phenomenal food and see an amazing wine selection. And what happens when you have such an amazing wine selection? You have a really impressive bourbon selection as well. And so I would look at these bourbon selections. And I was practicing years ago, looking at the sommelier. And I would say, what would you recommend? What would you recommend? And they would tell me these stories. And this is where I was really first introduced to premium bourbons and things that weren't on the shelf everywhere I went. And I really kind of fell in love with that idea. And then a little over two years ago, my best friend, who's also a Shelbyville native, Forrest Coleman. Go Shelbyville. Go Shelbyville. I'm a big fan of Shelbyville. Yeah. He and his wife, Emily, they called me and my wife, Sally, and said, hey, we just want you all to know we're moving from Charleston, South Carolina. We're going to plant a church plant in Frankfort, Kentucky. And we said, All right, which we were ecstatic because they were going to be a little closer to us. But there was something that my wife and I said, we need to pray about this. And we were praying about overseas missions at the time. And so we prayed about it. And we called them up shortly thereafter and said, hey, we're praying about coming. And they looked at us and they said, don't you play with me. They said, don't you play with me. And we prayed about it. And we really felt like God was saying, I want you to go be a part of this. Go help this get off the ground. And so we did. I put in my two months notice with Blackberry Farm, a company that I thought I would work for the rest of my life that I dearly love and to this day keep in contact with people there. We packed up our two girls. I have five and seven year old girls. and we left my family who we dearly love that are all back in Tennessee and we moved to Frankfurt knowing two people. Now the story really got interesting as far as where we are today when we moved to Frankfurt. I tell people all the time it's people ask me, where did you learn your knowledge of bourbon? And most of it was self-taught. I got to tell you, Jim, I would go into the store on my lunch break and I would study bottles. I would look, is there an age statement? Is there not an age statement? Is there a mash bill or is there not a mash bill? What distillery does it say produced the product? Where is it coming from? What's the price point? And then I really familiarized myself with who's producing what and where and how are they doing it? I was in East Tennessee. We were one income. It was really important to me and my wife that she stay home with our girls. And so we were one income, we made it work. And so I didn't have the bourbon collection that I have at home today. I had not anywhere, it was a drop in the bucket to what we have here at the House of Commons. But I had a bottle of Evan Williams' Bottle and Bond, under proof. I kept it in the cabinet. That was the only bourbon that I kept in the cabinet. Good choice, though.

That's the one in your pantry. That's a good one to choose.

Right. Had I known what I know today, it probably would have been Benchmarks and Barrel. But at that time, it was Evan Williams' Bottle and Bond. It was a great pour for a great value. And it was something that I felt really confident having. And that's what I poured because we were one income. And when we would go to Blackberry, I would get nicer pours. We went out on a nice dinner. I would try new things. And I kept this log of things that I liked and didn't like. And I encourage people to do that all the time. Like go try things, mark down what you like and don't like, and you'd be surprised about what you can learn about yourself and what you like in bourbon because it's your bourbon, it's your money. you drink what you like and drink it the way you like. Absolutely. Firm believer in that. I'm a firm believer in that. And so here we are, we are leaving East Tennessee where I've got one bottle in my cabinet because we're fixed income. And we moved to Kentucky and we were very blessed to find an amazing home in Kentucky. And we move up here, my wife for my first birthday, she buys me all five bottles that are on the allocation list at Buffalo Trace. Wow. For my birthday. What a birthday present, right? Yeah. All five bottles that they put out. And my parents come up and, you know, I was raised in a church environment where they did not consume alcohol. OK. My parents come up.

Further south you go more.

That's right. That's right. And so Here we are. I've got five bottles. The bottles don't fit in the cabin anymore, Jim. They don't. So mom and dad come up, they get up here and they say, mom's like, oh, you're a bourbon drinker. I'm 32 years old.

Yeah. Okay.

At this point, I'm 32 years old and mom says, hey, oh, you're a bourbon drinker. And I was like, yes, ma'am, I am. And she's like, I didn't know that. And of course, I had been bourbon drinker for years and years. Mom and dad just didn't know.

They didn't have the need to know.

They didn't have the need to know, right? That's the thing. They didn't need to know. But it's upon that time that mom learns that, that she decides to tell me, she says, well, it makes sense. You got bourbon in your blood. That's a really weird thing to say, mom. What does that mean? And then she then went on to explain to me that my great grandmother, Martha Thomas Tandy, on September 26th of 1901, was born at the OFC distillery.

Wow.

And I said, why have you never told me this? She said, I didn't think you needed to know. Now the devils have turned, right? Yeah. Which is all I think you need to know. So it was upon that that it kind of set off this passion. I was already into bourbon. I was already really interested in what different distilleries had to offer and different bourbons were out there. It really ignited this passion for bourbon history. And then there were just so many things that fell into place that we learned as time went on that were connections to bourbon history. And this is a little bit of foreshadowing that we'll talk about a little later. But there were so many things that I had learned that there were connections because my mom grew up in Frankfurt. Even though I spent my entire life in East Tennessee that were Connections to bourbon history and Frankfurt, I feel like, is super conducive to that. And that's why I say in Frankfurt, you learn that there's bourbon history everywhere you go.

Absolutely. All right, listen, we're going to take a short break. When we come back, we're going to continue this story. I want to know how it went from that to this. We got two more whiskeys to try.

Oh, right. I can't wait. Yes. Awesome.

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Yeah.

So what do we have in our glass this time?

So this is a single barrel rye release from Luca Mariano. It's called Gianna Loren. In bourbon and rye game, you're kind of new to the game if you've been operating for less than 10 years. And this is kind of a newcomer, freshman class, if you will, of our local bourbon scene here in Kentucky. And this is, I got to tell you, Jim, this is a rye that my team and I have been very impressed with. I'm just going to shoot you straight. Luca is a product that I slept on for a long time.

Yeah.

I really, and no slight against the guys out there that are sourcing. But I have known that I was going to do this for the last year and a half. And the scope of Bourbon and Rye is so broad that I was really trying to focus on guys that were making product in Kentucky, because that's what I want to represent was Kentucky Bourbon. And I slept on Nuka for far too long, even though I knew it was good product. And I heard tons of great product, because I didn't think that they were making their own stuff. So I'm glad to tell you that they are building their own distillery in Danville, that they started with Rick Houses first so that they could work on distillate with a local distiller and fill those Rick Houses with that distillate to age. So we've got a brand that the distillery is now producing their own distillate. but they have a six-year product. So this is six-year and they've got some seven-year products as well. But this one in particular is a six-year, 97 proof, single barrel rye. It's named Gianna Loren because it's named after the owner his daughter. So Francisco Viola's daughter, Gianna Loren, which as a father, you know, kind of resonates, father of girls, it resonates with me. But it's a 56 rye, 33 corn, 11 malted barley mashbill. It's something that- So it's a Kentucky rye. It's a Kentucky rye.

Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, a lower rye content on that mash bill, but I'm just super impressed with the balance that it puts out. You know, I look for all things. I try to have different products on the shelf that are standout. I don't want two bottles that taste the same in here. So this is one when we are walking through the experience with our guests, And we asked them what they like and they say, I like rot. This is one that all too often, unfortunately, people are not familiar with. And we're glad to introduce them to Gianna Loren, because it's one that it's not, it's, it's not too overly expensive where it's available. It's available consistently. And it's just a really impressive product.

Yeah. Cheers. Cheers. Oh, it has a nice sweet note. You think this is six or seven years old?

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it's starting to get that candy sweet nose on it. But it does have a nice caramel off to it. Absolutely. Oh, that is wonderful. That's a that's a bourbon drinkers, right? No doubt. And that's not finished. That's just a single barrel, right?

Right. Yeah, that's really good. There is no finish on this one. Single barrel rye, 97 proof. That's the other thing.

That's wonderful.

It's high enough on the proof. It's low enough on the proof that I feel like it really opens up. It's not screaming down your throat. Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love some barrel strength ryes, but this is one that I could drink. more than a half ounce of. There's some out there that I drink and it's just, it's palate fatigue once you get an ounce and a half in. But it's complex enough that I can pick apart different flavors. But it's drinkable enough that I don't have to stop at one and a half ounces.

It is so good. So this is funny because it's got that rye muffin, just a little bit of rye muffin to it, that bready rye muffin. And then it's like it's drizzled caramel over it. And then a little bit of nuttiness from that extra, little extra amount of malted barley. Kind of a, it's almost like a rye muffin with caramel and, and, and chopped pecans. It's really good.

Yeah, it really is. And one thing that I love too is there's, there's just enough of that corn sweetness that, that shines through.

Yeah.

You can pick up on some of those traditional rye flavors, but it's not too overpowering. And I don't know if you get this, but something I love when I drink a rye and I get this, there's a little bit of the dance on the tip of the tongue. But then it also kind of drips from the sides, wraps around your tongue. And I just think it creates such a pleasant experience without drying out my mouth.

Yeah, so rice, good rice, can tend to get that way right before they turn candy orange sweet, you know, they just get that wonderful, it triggers something in your palate that causes the, it just drips off the side of your tongue like it's amazing. This is really good dry whiskey. I like it a lot.

I love this product.

This is definitely, if you're a high-end bourbon drinker and you haven't quite found the rye you like yet. Maybe they're too spicy for you. Maybe they're too much cedar or clove or whatever it might be. You want something that's a little more bourbon-like. This is it. This is really good. And Lucca Mariano has been in Danville now since they started, at least the production operation, right?

That's correct.

So they partnered with somebody very early on and they've got some of those older barrels now that are just performing for them. And they made a great partnership in the beginning.

Absolutely, they did. And you know, the thing that I love is that And again, this isn't a slight toward any of the guys that are doing this. You got to choose your own path. It's your own business model and you got to choose your own path to put product out there. But in a world where so many choose to put out clear spirits, in order to pay the bills until they can put the product down or they're sourcing barrels from other individuals. And they almost build a brand with the name that isn't consistent. Again, not a qualm, but as a consumer, I associate the quality of the product with the name. As a consumer, I don't want a brand to be flipping with their name where they're throwing a 13-year product at me that they source from someone with a completely different match bill, and then tomorrow they're putting out their own product that's four-year that's going to be markedly different. They didn't do that. They developed

This was a story in contract distilling.

Yes. So this is this is the thing that's interesting about their story is. They worked with a distillery that was established, produced a product on an 18-inch column still, had the product stored at their facility in their rick houses, and then as they were building their distillery, what did they do? They built a distillery with an 18-inch column still that is going to produce you know, as consistent as possible of a product as what they were producing before.

And then those, those barrels went to the same Rick houses that the ones prior to their original supplier are consulting with them to help them produce the same match bill.

Exactly. And so that to me, it's not, again, we're not trying to throw shade on anybody or talk about anyone. Oh, they did it better or this person did it best, but I just think it's a very intentional approach. They focused on the bourbon. Don't get me wrong. I love, clear spirits as much as the next guy. But I just think that there's something very remarkable about their intentionality to how they produce this product. And I think it shows in the product that's in the glass right now.

Absolutely. Well, let me have you continue your story. In the last half, you had moved north out of East Tennessee into Kentucky, settled here in the Frankfort area. And you kind of left it at that. You come up with some friends who were planning a church up here.

That's correct.

How did you get from there to here?

Yeah, that's a great question. Moving up here to a place we did not know and only having known two people, I was looking for a soft place to land and man did I find a great position. I was working in a tile factory over in Lawrenceburg and it was a great job, worked with some great people and I had I ended up working there just over two years before we were able to get this project up off the ground. But about six months into working there and living here in Frankfurt, one of our friends at church, I found out that his uncle had acquired a building here in downtown Frankfurt and that he had this vision for a bourbon bar that was right next to the post, this famous post here in downtown Frankfurt that has all the bourbon distilleries listed and the distance and direction in which they are to this spot downtown. He saw that was inspired and he said, there needs to be a bourbon bar on this corner. and then he wanted to have Airbnbs that the bourbon bar could service on the top floors of the building. So when I learned this from my friend, I said, hey man, so Jordan, I gotta meet your uncle. And I said, I want to cheer him on because I'm a big bourbon enthusiast, and Frankfurt needs this. I was like, Frankfurt has so much potential. We've got some great spots already, but we have so much potential for people to see Frankfurt as a destination. And so I said, I got to meet him, just if nothing else to cheer him on. So I met Ben. Ben Harden is his name. He's a Shelbyville native. Go Shelbyville.

Go Shelbyville.

And I met Ben and I said, hey, Ben. I started on us. I want to cheer you on. I want to be involved. If nothing else to cheer you on. Anything I can do to help, please let me know. I want to be in your corner because Frankfurt needs this. And he says, well, this is what I'm thinking. He gives me all these ideas and what he's looking to do. And he's like, and I'm looking for somebody to run the bar. I was like, oh, like I'm like a manager. He's like, no, I'm looking for a business owner to run this bar. And I was like, oh. That escalated quickly. But, you know, we talked and my wife and I, we said, yeah, this makes sense. This is something I've been wanting to get back into the hospitality industry and Ben seems like a great fit. I trust his vision and I knew his work in Shelbyville. The Hardens just have an impeccable offer design and ability to create beautiful spaces. And so they really, they created a space that was super conducive to creating quality guest experiences. And so it was a no-brainer. And here we are, a little over a year and a half later, we're sitting in the House of Commons that he had this vision four years ago prior to COVID when they bought this building. And it just feels surreal. It's like sometimes, you know, just pinch me because it's like the fact that I get to interact with guests on a daily basis in the space and create bourbon experiences that people will look back on for some a lifetime. And that's what that's what it's all about for us.

Yeah. Well, great job. This is a beautiful place. It has that right feel. It has that sort of a Gatsby look to it. Just a little bit, you know, that it's a little bit of a throwback to the days of what the twenties, but it's also modern as well. So it's got kind of a hint of the past, but it's beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous. What an amazing space.

Thank you very much.

All right. So let's move on to our next whiskey here. I've been waiting for this one. I'm excited. Oh my goodness, this is a real treat, Dave. It's an honor to have this in my glass and to try something I've never had before.

Yeah, this one's pretty special. So I got to tell you, there's another story. I told you a story about how my great grandmother was born at OFC. There's these things that just kind of haven't just kind of developed this time has gone on. There was a house that my wife and I were looking at in December of 2021. We loved the house. We knew it was old, but we didn't know anything about it. And so we bought this house and we We learned a year ago that this house was actually built in 1888. We thought maybe early 1900s, but we learned that our house was built in 1888. Fantastic. And that it was built for a master distiller at the Hermitage distillery. Oh my goodness. Which was a distillery that was built in mid to late 1800s. E.H. Heller was at the helm of helping with building of that distillery. which is ironic because he started OFC where my great-grandmother was born. And it would have been catty corner to the house that we live in that this gentleman had this house commission to be built, lived in it for 20 years or so. And when I learned this, Jim, I was just elated. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. We live in an old master stillers house. Are you kidding me? And so then I was like, there's not anything else I could possibly learn about my history that could top this. I got a great grandmother that was born out of sea distillery. We live in a master stiller's house from late 1800s. Just before I opened this project, or just before we opened, I found a glass whiskey stopper in my yard.

Oh, no. How about that?

Yeah. It was glass, and it wasn't the typical Bud Light bottle glass that I find in my yard. It was an actual whiskey stopper. quite possibly get pre-prohibition and be from a hermitage bottle. And I was like, man, I'm just over the moon. So I'm showing this in the copy of the birth certificate that my great uncle Jack had sent me. I'm showing him these things when he's in here in the bar. And then he's 92, by the way. And I'm showing him this. I'm like, Grand Uncle Jack, you sent me this birth certificate two years ago. And I show this to people all the time. Talk about bourbon history and how it's just a fabric of the way of life here. And I was like, I think you might find this interesting too. So I would climb up the ladder here. grabbed this bottle in 1957, James Pepper, bottled in Bond, six year age stated product, pull it down, I'll show it to him. And he's like studying this bottle. I'm like, what's he thinking? What's he thinking? He said, my grandfather worked here. I was like, what? He's like, my grandfather worked here. I was like, at Pepper in Lexington? He said, yeah. I said, when was this? And he was like, early 1900s, he was a night watchman. He worked there for a long time. So, you know, one, this bottle is very rare. From 57, it's bottled 10 years before Shinley closed the distillery and transferred the remaining barrels over to George C. Stagg. It's a six-year age-stated product, all of them bond from the 50s, but it has so much significance. I'll talk about stories and personal significance. It has so much significance to me because, again, it's that tie back to I've got blood in this warehouse. I've got a great, great grandfather that worked at this warehouse over a hundred years ago. Fantastic. And so that's just, it's really significant to me. There's memories, there's memories that we're making and there's memories that we can recollect on when we share bourbon and community. And I highly suggest we do both and often. Absolutely. This one is just outside of the story. The bourbon itself speaks for itself. When people come into me and they say, hey, what's the best thing you have? Again, I don't use the word best, but this is one of the rarest opportunities I can provide for people to taste something that's exceptional. And this is one that I go to when people do have that question, and that's what they're looking for.

Well, I'm honored that you poured it for me today. Glad to do so, Jim. Awesome. Shall we?

We shall. Cheers.

Oh my goodness. That has a wonderful nose on it. Just an amazing nose.

Yeah. You know, when we talk about Dusty Bottles, this is what I think of. This is kind of the epitome of what I think of when there's that funk and there's this crazy caramel nose. It's like true caramel candy nose, not Werther's Caramels, but like soft caramel nose on it that just melts beautifully with this funk. And that funk is what I love. That's a characteristic that I love in Dusty Bottles. I tell people all the time, we want that funk. We love the funk. You gotta have the funk. You gotta have the funk.

What is the funk? We don't know what it is, but it's there.

It's consistent with older bottles. And you know, maybe it's that it's been bottled up for so long. I don't know. But we don't know. But we know, I know that I love it.

That is really, really delicious. That is so good. It's got a nice spicy note to it, but it's just a deep, rich caramel. What was the proof? 100 proof, bottle and bond. 100 proof. Six year bottle and bond.

It's not one of the most viscous bourbons. I tend to lean toward bourbons with a lot of viscosity. But the flavor, there's just so much there. That again, it's all subtle hints. If you haven't noticed, I really gravitate toward bourbons and rice that have complexity and subtleness. I'm a firm believer that anyone can go find something that's going to scream flavor at you. I really like these. I have to work to unpack them.

Yeah, I haven't had a Dusty that is this, with this profile, exactly this profile. This is very, it's its own pour. And you know, I've had a number of, you know, some of the older old charters, some old crows, I've had some E.H. Taylors from back in the 40s. And the good bottles are wonderful, but this is so well balanced, so rounded. It's really good. You're right. The texture, it's a little on the thin side, but it's got a great caramel to it. Just a really wonderful caramel to it. Almost a butterscotch.

I would even argue that it, it goes from caramel to butterscotch. I get both of those in this one. And that lingering spice is just, it's good.

I'd love to run across one of these someday.

Well, folks, if you're in a year in Frankfurt, I definitely recommend you stop in here. And if it's within your means, have a pour of this James E. Pepper bottled in bond from 1957, six-year bottled in bond. It's absolutely delightful. It's really good. If they're looking for a Dusty, because they're not all what you hope, right?

That's right. Yeah, you know, it's, Just because it's old doesn't mean it's better. Now, I will say the caveat to that, Jim, is that I have had several Dusties that I have walked away saying, I prefer, I would reach to that Dusty versus the contemporary example. Case in point, we have a 1980 Kentucky gentleman.

Good stuff.

I prefer it over the contemporary example. It's different. That's my whole analogy and vision behind things. Regardless of price point, I want people to come in and see that they have the opportunity to taste things that are new or interesting or different. And that's one that I really love. Somebody's like, hey, I'd love to have a Dusty and try it next to a contemporary example. But I'm looking for something in the price point of $15 or less. I'm sure you don't have anything. I'm like, actually, we do. Oh, that's awesome. And it's a lot of fun because it's very approachable. Is it going to knock your socks off? Chances are, no. But it's something that's a lot of fun to do.

David, I want to thank you. Did I say David? Is it David sometimes? I go by both.

Yeah? I go by both.

I want to thank you for coming on the show today and sharing your whiskey with me. It's been a great opportunity for me to sit down with you and pick your brain about your whiskies and sort of hear the story behind the House of Commons and your journey that got you here. I think this is a place that I will frequent when I'm in Frankfurt. I'm looking forward to the next time I have an opportunity to bring my wife in here. I think she'll really enjoy it. I highly recommend to our listeners that if you're in the Frankfurt area, or heck, if you're in the Lowell area or the Lexington area, find your way to Frankfurt and visit the House of Commons. Meet Dave and have him pour you something he wants to introduce you to, because that's a great way to try whiskey by someone else's recommendations. Don't you think?

I do. I do. You know, we call ourselves a bourbon library. And so our whole mentality is, is you go to a library of books, you go to the librarian to ask for recommendations. We call our team bourbon librarians and we would love, we would be honored to make recommendations.

Oh, fantastic. Well, how can our listeners find you on the internet, on social media? We've already told them where your, where your shop is located here, but how do they find you online?

Absolutely. Great question. We do have a website. It's h o c bourbonlibrary.com. They can find us on Facebook at h o c colon a bourbon library. And they can find us on Instagram at the underscore bourbon underscore library.

OK, fantastic. So you're on all those things. And do you have like a newsletter that comes out once in a while or once they come in here, they just won't forget you, right?

Well, that's what we hope that no one forgets us. But we are active in our social media. Facebook and Instagram are probably the best way to to keep up with us. And, you know, we are those are means that we look to communicate to our guests what's coming up.

Well, fantastic. Thank you once again. I really appreciate it.

It's been an honor. Thank you, Jim.

Well, you can find the Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, threads. Oh, there's probably others. I'm forgetting them all, but we're out. We're everywhere. You can find our website at thebourbonroad.com. We also ask you to check out our Facebook, private Facebook group, the Bourbon Roadies. That's where our 3,200 members like to hang out, chit chat and share stories. And they even share whiskey sometimes. No selling it. You got to give it away. That's right. But we'd love to have you come in and join our family and and and talk Berman with us. You can also as you're listening to our show, if you've got an idea for a show of your own and maybe somebody in your town has is doing it right. A little distillery in your neck of the woods that has impressed you and you want us to know about it. Up onto our website, go to the contact us page, send us a quick note. We will reach out to them. We'll talk him into sending us a bottle. We'll give it a review. We might even have him on the show sometime. It's a lot of fun. We do this every single week on Wednesday. We'll have a guest on. Sometimes it's a music artist or an author. Sometimes it's just Brian and I chit chatting and drinking through a few whiskies, but it's always fun. We hope you'll join us every single week. But until then, we'll see you down the perfect road.

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