432. Bourbon BarrALZ - ENDALZ

Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon, and I'm your host, Todd Ritter.

We've got a great show for you today. So grab your favorite pour and join us.

Todd and I are proud to have Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars as a sponsor of this episode and as the official cigar of the Bourbon Road podcast. Our hosts and listeners alike enjoy the ultimate experience of premium cigars. Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at Smokey's Lifestyle Cigar dot com. The Surgeon General warns that cigar smoking can cause lung cancer and heart disease and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The Hill House Bed and Breakfast, located in Loretto, Kentucky, is ready to be your bourbon country home away from home. Located less than three miles from Maker's Mark, the Hill House is convenient to Bardstown and the rest of the Bourbon Trail. The next time you visit bourbon country, choose comfort and convenience. Choose the Hill House Bed and Breakfast. Listen in at the break for more details or visit their website at thehillhousekentucky.com. All right, roadies, welcome back. We've got a great show for you today. Todd and I are in stream yard. We've got a guest on the show today. Todd, why don't you let everybody know who's joining us tonight?

So today we've got Wes Milligan. He's a good friend. You know, one of those kind of random meetings you meet added to the story, no less. So the story goes, we were, my Bourbon Society was picking our Russell's pick. I guess this was back in August, like late August, I think. And, you know, it was a lot of fun. And I think there was about a, I think we had about seven or eight folks with us. And so, you know, as some of us, since we had some of the day off anyway, some of us decided to go to the, the gift shop and the bar there and have a few pours. As usual, it was a nice little day and there were some people in the actual gift shop and then a few people upstairs at the tasting area. With bourbon, sometimes you get a little friendly. There were some other people and you start talking. Wes and I believe a friend of his were sitting there and we got to talking like, hey, did you guys do a barrel pick? We're like, yeah. you know, come to find out they chose a barrel, but he and his buddy that were there that day really liked the barrel we ended up choosing. So it was kind of like this, yeah, they're like, wait, I guess we got there sloppy seconds, but in a way it was also a good day. But yeah, he had brought like an old Russell's that he was sharing and you know, it's just, you know, bourbon has a really, nice way of like kind of melting the ice sometimes for conversation. And we had a great day. I mean, we end up talking and, you know, he and I have texted back and forth a little bit. And we just met a couple of weeks ago at at Whiskey Thief, no less. He was there to pick up some bottles from another pick that he had done recently. So, Wes, it's good to see you. Welcome to the Burton Road.

Oh, it's good to see you again, Todd. And nice to meet you, Jim. And I got to tell you, your story version is a little different than ours because, you know, that buddy, Jason Ashford and I were sitting at the Generations bar and, you know, we see these group of guys that are laughing and you could tell they were super happy and they walked in and we just had a very contentious barrel pick it. We were You know, it was fighting over which one we thought was better, a Tyrone F or a CNF. And, you know, it came down to the final vote, which is the store owner. So we're very split. So as soon as I saw this group come in that was very happy, I'm like, I guarantee those guys pick that Camp Nelson F. I will put money on it. And Jason asked, we're like, well, let's go talk to them. And that's exactly what happened. And when you guys say you picked a barrel, I was like, the first words out of my mouth was, did you pick a CNF? And Todd was like, yeah, yeah, we did. It was really good. And I was like, yeah, I know. I know it was. And like Todd said, I mean, like he was just, you know, bourbon brings people together. And immediately I was like, Hey, listen, we picked a really great Tyrone F. Would you want to trade bottles? I would love to revisit that one day. And just so you can try ours as well. And, you know, one thing led to another. And as we all know, and whether it's, you know, trading bourbon or supporting each other, and we're standing out in the rain at Whiskey Thief, and I'm picking up some Bender Stash bottles for our next upcoming bourbon barrels pick, benefiting the Alzheimer's Association. And Todd's like, hey, you want to be on a podcast? And here we are. So it's funny how these things work out, but, you know, who doesn't like to talk about whiskey and bourbon and support a good cause? So appreciate you guys having me again.

No problem. Yeah. So, I mean, that's more the reason. I mean, you're a whiskey friend and all, but like what I wanted to bring you on for us to talk about bourbon barrels. And you can explain the spelling behind that and what it's about.

Sure. So, uh, I mean, I've, I've been a volunteer for the Alzheimer's association for almost 20 years. And, uh, when I was a journalist back in Louisiana, many years ago, I was asked to write a story about Alzheimer's and I didn't know much about the disease then, but after researching, I felt the best way to tell the story was to interview people who were suffering from it. And the caregivers who were with them every step of the way, the experience was heart wrenching. Those I interviewed were forgetting their loved ones and most cherished memories, everything they were as each day went by. The toll on their caregivers was immense too. And quite frankly, I've always thought it wasn't fair. So ever since then, I've tried to align my passions with fundraising for the Alzheimer's Association. And I got into bourbon a few years ago, coincidentally, because I love beer. I was drinking a lot of barrel age beer and i was like what is this will it barrel or what is this you know rustles was i was very unfamiliar with the bourbon community but i knew i love barrel-aged stouts and at the time i'd come up with ales for alzheimer's which was a beer event in the memphis area with a buddy of mine named ryan guess and Brian Beretta and Jesse Laura and a bunch of guys here. And next thing you know, someone says, Well, should you just actually try the bourbon and the whiskey that it actually comes in originally? I was like, All right, well, sure. And here we are. And ever since then, you know, we've been raising money through bourbon whiskey charity picks. And we've been really blessed in how many we've got to do and the people we've met and i'm sure we'll talk about that some more but you know i kind of really truly stumbled in this and now it's one of my favorite things to do is whether it's the people we meet just like we met Todd or. hearing people's stories and being able to raise awareness for the Alzheimer's Association and raise as much money as we can, it's been awesome. And any chance I get to tell my story or to tell what we're doing, no problem. So your question was, of course, how does bourbon barrels work? Well, we go to the distilleries and whether it's through their charity arm or through the marketing department or even the masters distillers themselves and say, hey, listen, We're, you know, we only pick barrels for the Alzheimer's Association. I think we're super unique in that. I mean, there's a lot out there for a lot of other great causes, but rarely do you see about the Alzheimer's Association. And I was a chairman of the board for Tennessee at the time. And coincidentally, and very luckily, one of our board members was Larry Combs, the general manager of Jack Daniels. And he has been supporting the Alzheimer's Association for more than 10 years. Amazing partner. Thank you. Through the idea of my friends on the board, Neiman Rossi and some others, we are like, hey, listen, can we pick a barrel for the Alzheimer's Association and maybe raise some money? Thinking this is a one-time thing, right? We weren't thinking about this being a big endeavor. And he said, sure, no problem. Let me make a call. We're like, sure, just let us know, Larry. Well, the next day, here we are. And we're getting in touch with the barrel manager. Come on down to Lynchburg. And it was such a great experience. I had never picked a barrel before. And to be able to try different things, you know with buddies and other board members all wearing our end ALC shirts it was it was you know the fellowship was fantastic and that's all she wrote and then ever since then the doors opened we started meeting with you know the other distilleries once we had a portfolio of bourbon and whiskeys that we had done And so we created bourbon barrels were B-A-R-A-L-Z, of course, for end Alzheimer's. And now you can see us wearing the purple and taking photos and you can follow us on social media. And I was sitting here looking at all the bourbons we're about to taste tonight and looking at the screen, I'm like, how the heck did I get here? And I mean that in the best of ways that suddenly for took from one barrel pick and us partnering with other organizations and other people in the industry. And now we've raised more than $200,000 through bourbon barrels. in the past two years, which I think is incredible. The first year I ever fundraised by myself, I raised $520, and I thought that was awesome, right? I mean, I was super happy. And it snowballed in such an endeavor that we're trying to reach $1 million here in the next four or five years. And I think we can do it. So just taking that whole story of showing that, you know, we're not here to make money. This isn't a membership club for dues or something. We're just here for the Alzheimer's Association. And because of that, we've had a lot of distilleries and mass distillers and companies join on and we're super thankful for it.

That's an awesome story. You know, I don't, there's a saying about this. I don't remember what it is, but a lot of times, you know, the, the things that you do come out of, don't come out of a plan, but they come out of happenstance. They come out of a, you know, you just fall into a situation. It turns out to be something great. And, uh, it's pretty amazing. We have four different single barrels to try today. Right. Right. Todd.

Yep. Um, let's, uh, let's get into theirs. Uh, this is their. This is our Russell's pick. Like he said, we just met at Whiskey Thief recently and we swapped bottles. I wasn't too sure. I was kind of scared that I wasn't going to be able to get any one of ours because I think, I mean, how many bottles did you guys get out of yours? Do you remember?

Oh man, it's, I think we got actually a pretty decent yield around the one eighties. So we were, yeah, we were very happy with that yield.

And I think ours ended up being about 162. So, I mean, we've got, our Barber Society has got about 200 members. So I was a little like scared. I was like, I don't know, but you know, worse comes to worse. You'll at least get a healthy pour of one. So, but as luck would have it, yeah, we got to meet and we swapped bottles. And like he said, his is a, their pick was a Tyrone F floor four. And let's see, bottled.

Odd, did you see that they're bottled on the same day?

Yeah. Yeah. You guys got yours like three months before we did too.

I know, which is crazy, right? And like when you said that you finally got it and I saw there on the same day, I was like, well, that's, that's how it happens sometimes. Yeah.

It's all about the distributor. Yeah. Distilled 1028, 2015. And like you said, bottled on 820 to 2024. So yeah, let's, let's check this out.

Cheers y'all. Cheers. Cheers.

It's got that classic, uh, just Russell's like a little bit of that turkey font, cherry slice. For sure.

Yeah. It does have like a spicy fruit note on it, doesn't it? The cherry note. Yep.

You know, uh, David Jennings over at rare bird 101, when he, uh, tried it, he said he, he tastes like this great note, almost like great fundip. And I've never heard anybody kind of give that tasting note before, but I mean, everybody that knows David Jennings, I mean, when he talks Turkey, you listen. And, um, you know, so when he said that I was like tasting, I was like, I love, I love fundip back in the day. And I kind of, I kind of get it.

And, uh, so I thought that was where you took the little stick and you stick it down in the. Yeah. So I'm a little too old for that to be one of the people who actually did it, but I remember seeing the kids do it. They sort of stick the little sugar on sugar. Yeah.

Sugar on sugar.

The best guide. Yeah. Oh, okay. Now I get that. I totally get that. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, the Tyrone F's as you probably read a lot and Ryan Alves over at Justin's House Suburban and Bourbon Outfitter and DJ has talked about this. I mean, this really has been the year of the Tyrone. I mean, there's so many great things that are coming out of the warehouses there. I mean, I'm a huge Camp Nelson fan, which obviously I've already talked about that. But I mean, it's really these Tyrones that are coming out are awesome. I've had a few other Tyrone F's recently on another pick. They're fantastic. So this is very indicative. Jimmy, you're talking about the fruit notes, but still the spice. I mean, it's just classic. And while Turkey, I will say, I've never been ashamed to say it is my favorite. I mean, it has been my favorite urban when I started just a few years ago. And I don't see that ending anytime soon. It's just classic, you know, Turkey.

Well, Jimmy prefers Tyrone. So you're in good company. Yeah, that's good. Now. Oh, that is really good.

Now this one, you guys went. through a store, right? So this Kirby Wine and Liquors, I assume is a store based in the Memphis area?

Memphis, Tennessee. Yes, Kirby is in Memphis, Tennessee. Normally we get our allocations directly from the distilleries, but you know, this time around, We were actually at Warehouse A picking a Russell's for the store. And we, you know, the intention was not for it to be a bourbon barrels pick. We had actually been at Jim Beam selecting a Knob Creek bourbon the day before. And so he had set up his annual Russell's pick and we went there, had a great time. I mean, as you all know, Warehouse A is such a great experience. And after we were done and it was shipped and arrived at the store and we were excited, Phil, who's the manager of Kirby, said, hey, by the way, it's going to be a bourbon barrels. And it floored us because we had never actually had a store gift us. Not so much an allocation. But hey, by the way, this is going to raise money for the association. And then Kirby, when wine and liquor over in Memphis has been one of our best partners out of the two years we've done this. I mean, the amount of barrels they take it on because if we do get a Tennessee allocation, we have to clear it through a store just like anyone else does. But sometimes we get DC allocations that we run through Bourbon Outfitter or SharePoor. It just really depends on what the distillery or company has to give us. Matter of fact, just a few weeks ago, we picked our first ever Jack Daniel's barrel proof rye for a Mississippi store because they had an allocation. And of course, that is an ABC state. So sometimes we know exactly where it's coming from. Sometimes we have to get a little creative. But just working with them saying hey west we've got an old forster pick out of dc would you like it of course i'm you know. 99 times out of a hundred i'm gonna say yes but there are also times we have all the flexibility in the world like you can take it wherever you want and that's always fantastic too so. just depending on what it is, what's the yield, how far do we want to go? And we've really been moving more towards national audiences, right? I mean, so that's why you've seen more of our picks on Bourbon Outfitter or with, you know, Jay West, you know, with SharePort, otherwise known as Take. I mean, those relationships are so important to us because we're not only trying to raise funds, but we're also trying to raise awareness about how we're, you know, trying to end Alzheimer's. I mean, I've been a volunteer for more than 20 years and I've never had... I can never say comfortably that I would see a cure in my lifetime until 2 years ago, when the first ever FDA approved drugs that treats Alzheimer's has now started to enter the pipeline. And now more than ever, once they've... Now that they found this path of research that works and drugs that are actually helping treat the disease rather than just the symptoms, we've been kind of flooring it and trying to do as many picks as we can to raise as much money as we can to help them out. So it's been very rewarding, but it's also been crazy at the same time.

So I had heard that there had been some significant advances in Alzheimer's research in the past couple of years. And so do you feel like things are on a very solid and fast moving path to finding some real advancements?

Absolutely, Jim. You know, two years ago in January 2003, excuse me, January 2023, it was the first ever drug approved to treat the disease, not just the symptoms. And that's kind of interesting to hear, right? You think that we've treated the disease in some ways, but never, never have we had an FDA approved drug. So that alone was groundbreaking in some of the biggest breakthroughs in the past 20, 25 years. And every year I go to a summit in January called the Community Leaders Summit where they have a research luncheon where they tell you about the new advances, the new things that are happening. So there are so many new drugs in the pipeline that are in several stages of FDA approval that are coming very soon. But what I'm super excited about is What are the biggest things that needs to happen is early detection right so you know if you can detect the disease early you can start treating it as soon as possible so you can have more time and with that it's really hard to get diagnosed right now you have to take a. A PET scan and all these things is expensive. They are less than two years away from actually having a blood test that will detect Alzheimer's, which is very inexpensive. And they've lined it up the results with PET scans. And it's about 90, 95% as accurate as those PET scans. Wow. I mean, it's incredible. And with that, knowing that people can go into their doctor's office and get a blood test, which is very inexpensive, very easy to do. Don't have to go to somewhere else to get that PET scan. And then having that early detection will allow those drugs that are being approved to have a better chance of, you know, giving people more time to be with their loved ones, you know, to experience new things, drink more bourbon, you know, and all the things they may love to do. So it's such an exciting time. In fact, they're now calling this the era of treatment because now we actually are treating the disease. And I have never seen more hope in the thousands of volunteers, the staff members. I mean, I think that's why they're kind of pressing the accelerator so hard because they realize, wait, we found a path of research that works and let's do everything we can to put more money into this because you know, who knows? I mean, one day we could have, you know, another treatment and then another. And the next thing you know, we have a cure and that's the ultimate goal. And, uh, so that's why we're so energetic to try to do as much as we can through bourbon barrels is because we can see the end. We can see that cure for the first time in ever.

So do you think we'll see soon, uh, like, uh, standard, that, that test be part of a standard panel for patients 50 and older, where you just go in and get your blood drawn every year with your, uh, annual checkup. And that's part of the panel.

Well, they kind of do that a lot with cancer, right? I mean, there's a lot of cancers you can do right now through blood tests and that's the goal. I mean, so that maybe, you know, you know, that you have to have, you know, you know, at 45, you have to have a colonoscopy or you have to have, you know, all those things that we, you know, not obviously look forward to, but one of those things where it's part of early detection, right? That we know that we can catch these things beforehand and things. And so, yeah, you'd hope that, especially those that may be genetically dispositioned or exposed to having the disease, you know, because it does run in families. It is genetic. It does affect women more than men. There's so many other things they can line up to show when they could have that blood test. Or if someone is showing symptoms, you know, maybe they're being forgetful or becoming agitated or things just don't seem right. Wouldn't you want to take a blood test? I mean, you know, that would be amazing to be able to get those results back. I mean, even when you get your physical, usually you get those results back within 24 to 48 hours. What kind of peace of mind that would be to know that, hey, listen, if this is Alzheimer's? And if you catch it early, how much more of these drugs will then work? Because if it goes too far, as we know, I mean, there's not a lot you can do. So early detection is huge. And I do really think once doctors are educated on this new blood test, and they see the results, that it will be a part of everyday care for someone as they get older. That, hey, let's have that blood panel. Let's do that. That's why that is so incredible and is just as early detection, just as important as the treatment itself. Yeah.

So I was going to ask you a little bit about your pick. What was the proof on your guys pick? All rustles are cut to 110, but what would your guys come in at? Do you remember?

Oh, man, you're really, really, you know, ironically, I think it was still in the it was below 120. And I want to think it was either I think it was around 116 or 117. Surprisingly, it wasn't that high, right? Over the 110. And as we remember that correctly, Um, which is kind of surprising, right? Cause we kept a little bit of the, a little bit of the, uh, you know, as we know a little bit of that, and there's definitely a difference between the barrel strength and the one 10, but, uh, not that much. I mean, I think it, you know, it tastes very familiar as we say, like, Oh yeah, I remember this for sure. Um, but we all know, I always say, and I know many people do if wild Turkey release barrel strength. Russell's all the time they would rule the world because of how good it tastes. I mean, there's no doubt about it. I had the opportunity with David Jennings and some others to go. pick a Pride of Anderson County, if you all are a member of those bottles that came out. And yeah, we, uh, Pride of Anderson County M is the one we helped pick for the Russell's Renegades group. And, you know, you drink those and you're like, oh my gosh, you know, you don't want it to touch water. You don't want it to, you know, go proof down to one. But then again, how amazing does Russell's Reserve taste at 110? I mean, like, you know, there, there are no losers. And, uh, but I remember that it was being, it was just a few points above 110.

Yeah. The reason I asked, ours came in like 114.7, I think. So again, like you said, not a whole lot of water needed to go in that to cut it to 110. So.

Well, you're just always happy when it comes in above 110. That way you don't have to make a tough choice, right?

Yeah. Yeah, I've heard, I've had friends have done a pick that it came in under 110 and they had to get a, you know, they had to cut it to 101 for like either. Well, it was the Kentucky spirit picks, but now it's just the wild turkey 101 picks is what they call them now, I believe. But, uh, hey, are we, do we want to get into the second Russell's?

Let's do that. And I've been really looking forward to this because I don't know if I'm going to be super happy or if I'm going to be in super regret. So either way, I'm sure they're going to be fantastic.

So this is the perfect urban society did distilled nine thirty two thousand fourteen. Also, and we talked about the following day being the same. So that was eight twenty twenty four. So this one was If they'd let it go another month and 10 days, it would have been 10 years. So this is about nine, nine years, 10 months, and I guess 20 days or so. But this is a Camp Nelson F off of floor four.

The nose is already incredible. I mean, like it really does that have that Camp Nelson funk. Uh, exactly what I remember.

Yeah. It's different from the one we just had.

Yeah. I think we're down to, I think we have 14 bottles left available.

And Wes, how many bottles do you have of yours left or is it all gone? Oh, it's all gone.

Yeah. I mean, yeah, one of the things we do as part of urban barrels, we tell, you know, as we work with these online retailers and stores, I mean, they really. front the cost for these barrels. We don't have any money exchange in this. And when we partner with them, they take it on, they bring it in, and then we help sell it through our social media channels, through our groups, and really doing those types of things. And then once the barrel sells out, And say, for example, just for easy math, if the bottle costs $75, we would either charge $100 or $90, anywhere from $15 to $25 on top of it. Once that sells out, then the store or the online retailer then takes all that money and then makes one massive donation online to the Alzheimer's Association through the link that we give them. So they actually get the tax deduction as well. We don't handle the money. We don't even want to touch the money. Yeah we don't even want to touch any of that stuff we want to make sure that everyone wins in this i mean we're in it just to raise money for the association as part of our mission and alzheimer's and all other dementia so it's just another benefit as obviously since they're taking on the risk of the cost of the barrel we help them sell it. They get the tax deduction, then we take pictures with the checks and on social media for full transparency. And then they can see the progress bar go up as we try to raise $100,000 every year. So we're always super transparent of how that happens. And so everybody wins.

Okay. I love this. I love it. It's so different. Yeah.

It's like, it's very different. Yeah.

Biscuits like it's got this, you know, yours had this nice spicy finish, but this is just like oily and. Like I think we call it like a black cherry soda. There's almost like a little bit like, you know, when you go, when you were a kid, you'd go to the fountain thing and like put a little root beer and a little cherry beer is exactly what I was thinking, Todd. It's just all over the place. It's really unique.

Yeah. And it's really a very unique spicy note.

Yeah, you really can't compare these two, right? I mean, like, I mean, the Tyrone F, and by the way, I love our Tyrone F, I've probably drank more bottles than I care to admit, you know, but like, that classic, you know, Tyrone, like you said, Jimmy loves Tyrone. And, you know, it's got that spice, it's got a little bit of that oak, you know, and that turkey, but that classic profile, but this is, but your pick for the Frankfurt Bourbon Society That is classic Camp Nelson F. I mean, it's got that funk and all those notes. I mean, so if you're a huge Camp Nelson fan, this is it. I mean, like especially like you said, it was almost 10 years. But all the great Tyrone F's that are coming out, I mean, both are winners. I mean, I think that's why we had such a hard time our group to pick, you know, between these two. They were both great, just depending on what you liked more. So I think we all won.

Yeah, there's no, there's no losers when you do a Russell's pick.

Yeah. The nice thing about it is, is you really do get two different profiles here, but they're both fantastic, but they're, they appeal to different people, right? Like one person might go, wow, that's, that's my jam. You know, and the other guys know I like that spicy cherry on the other one.

So now the cool thing for this one was, um, we had a board member pass away from colon cancer. I guess it's been about four years ago now. And actually, we usually, we try to keep it just above cost when we sell Ball Star members. So we have a store we go through and we make a few bucks and that kind of thing. But this one we upcharged about 20 bucks and that'll be... go into colon cancer research. So, you know, that's, that's fantastic. Yeah.

So, I mean, I'm sorry to hear about, sorry to hear about your member, of course. Um, but it's amazing as we like to joke around and say, it's amazing what Brown water can do. I mean, you know, for the community, for charities, um, you know, we all love to have this fellowship together just like we're doing now. So why not do it for a good cause? And so that's awesome. And I'm sure all that money is going to a great cause and just makes it more special, right? And so every time you take a... Or you remember that person. And as you know, with the Alzheimer's Association, memories is key for us. It's all about the memories. It's all about remembering all those times. And we always talk about every time we see one of our picks, we remember we were at that pick or what we were doing or those memories about those people. I mean, that's what it's all about. Thank you for giving me one of these bottles. That makes it even more special. Thank you.

Great trade. Great trade, Jim. We're probably ought to take a little break and enjoy the rest of this bourbon society pick and then come back. And we've got a couple more picks of barrel owls, barrel owls, and a few more questions for Wes. So this has been pretty fun. Let's do it. We'll catch y'all after the break.

Few things pair better together than a fine whiskey and a premium cigar. And Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Their exclusive collection is meticulously hand-rolled from aged tobacco sourced from the Dominican Republic. Revel in the artistry that only decades of experience can bring. The owner, with over 10 years of cigar mastery, curates blends that capture the essence of family tradition and innovation. Embrace the journey and indulge in a harmonious symphony of Smoky's Lifestyle Cigars, an experience truly beyond compare. Find out more at Smoky's Lifestyle Cigar dot com. When you're traveling the Bourbon Trail, location and comfort is everything. That's why I recommend making the Hill House Bed and Breakfast your home away from home. Located in the heart of Bourbon Country, the Hill House Bed and Breakfast is less than 5 minutes from the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky, giving you easy access to the Bardstown Distilleries and all points of the Bourbon Trail. The owners, Cheryl and Jim, offer four comfortable and cozy rooms along with a gourmet hot plated breakfast every single morning. And when you return from a long day of fun, it's time to enjoy a bit of the Bourbon Trail nightlife. Relax on the large outdoor patio complete with a blazing chiminea and solo stove, or curl up on the sofa and chairs, put a record on the turntable, and relax with snacks and fruit in front of the gas fireplace. An evening at the Hill House is a perfect time to raise a bourbon glass full of cheer in the company of family and friends. We know you'll enjoy your stay at the Hill House Bed and Breakfast as much as we did. Find out more at TheHillHouseKentucky.com

All right. Welcome back, Roadies. We're here with Wes Milligan Barrels. And we got to the first half. We tried two different Russell's picks. One was from his his group and that they'd done for a store. And the other was the Frankfurt Barber Society that we did our pick. And, yeah, sadly, we'll not be able to find those bottles out there in the wild. But I mean, you know, any time you run across a Russell's pick, I you know, it's just about a buy from me anytime. I think I'm up to maybe 15, 20, somewhere in there, different Russell's picks. So I'm a big fan of those. It's hard to go wrong. I mean, Jimmy's been doing it for 70 years, so can't go wrong with that, right?

Yeah. I tell you a lot of times when you do these episodes on, on single barrels and barrel picks, it's, it's really, I mean, I think it's pretty much understood that it's highly unlikely you're going to find bottles, but, uh, you know, it's, it's all about the, the war story. It's all about, you know, the experience and just sharing it with everybody. And then they're looking for that next, you know, Russell's pick. They're not going to find the one you did, but they'll find another one, you know, and it'll be good too. So.

I was going to say, Wes may have a few out there left online somewhere. We'll have to ask him here in a minute. We'll have to see.

Yeah. No, that sounds good, but I guarantee you all our Russell's pickers sold out. So we actually had a Camp Nelson E through Rare Bird 101. It went through the group and there were just a handful left for the public and, you know, five minutes later, gone. I mean, you know, it's really hard to find such a great bourbon at that price point at such a great flavor. And I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. The Russells can do no wrong. And with Bruce doing his magic with all the new things coming out, it's fantastic.

Redbirds get that Patreon group, so that probably does fly quick. Anything he picks is liquid gold to them most of the time.

Yeah. And, you know, I would be remiss to say that David Jennings is such a generous man. I mean, he's probably become our best partner in doing these picks because he gets the word about, he always supports us. We do other picks besides Wild Turkey that goes into his Patreon group. I mean, we've got an OKI 11 year rye that's about to come out here in a few weeks for that group. I mean, he is always looking for ways to offer new things to his group and he's been a huge supporter of the Alzheimer's Association. Matter of fact, that's how through David Jennings, I met, you know, Jay West, I met Ryan Alves. I mean, he has been a super connector. It's not just raising funds, but I mean, I owe a ton to David Jennings. And in return, you know, I was able to get him a Jack Daniels rye, two Jack Daniels rye barrel picks, because, you know, we're all trying to help each other out and for people to try new things. And I know the next one we're going to try is actually a Jack Daniels barrel proof rye, I think. Well, at the end, with a one and thirty seven point four proof, it probably burned our palates. But I would be remiss to say that, you know, you got to you got to shout out to David Jennings and Jay and Ryan and everyone like I cannot do this without partners. It's not just the stores, but the people out there just talking about it. And we don't just pick things that have a high yield. Absolutely not. People think, oh, you're just trying to get as many bottles as you can. Absolutely not. We try to pick the very best one every time. We've had some as low as 110, some below that, others in other numbers, but we are always trying to pick the best one. So if you ever see a bourbon barrels and ALZ sticker, it's because it tastes the best, you know, not necessarily because it produced the most. That's awesome.

So what do we have in our glass this time, Wes? Tell us about this JT Melick.

Well, I really think if you haven't had JT Melick, you're missing out. It's located just outside of Church Point, Louisiana. And earlier when we were talking, where I wrote my first story about Alzheimer's more than 20 years ago, it turns out that Lafayette, Louisiana is super close to JT Melick. when I heard that there was a distillery that was actually producing American rice whiskey, and I didn't know what that was at the time, I was like, I gotta check this out. And guess who I heard about JT Mellick for the first time from? I heard it from David Jennings and one of my best friends, Jason Ashford, who lived in the Louisiana area as well. And so, well, you know what? I'll reach out to him, say, hey, what's up? Here's my story, would love to collaborate and do a barrel pick. And because of Ryan Alves, who carries a lot of JT Mellick things on Bourbon Outfitter, we all got together and she said, fantastic. Well, and if you've seen Mia, who was the barrel manager for JT Mellick, who's a hoot on social media, we started talking. And next thing you know, unfortunately, her family's been stricken by Alzheimer's. And this was something that they realized they wanted to really give back. It was very personal to them. And so we came down in April. By the way, if you're ever gonna go to Louisiana, April is the best time for crawfish in my opinion, which is why we picked that month. So we'll make sure we get some good food. But when you get there, this is not your normal distillery. There are tractors. There is crop dusters flying around. In fact, the first email we got that says when you turn in, make sure you look to the left and right because crop dusters are gonna be landing right next to where we'll be trying the barrels. I'm not kidding on grass fields. This is not your usual experience, but the Southern hospitality and just... I felt like home. Everyone there treated us so well. The Frougé farm there is actually one of the biggest seafood farms there in Louisiana. So you're thinking, wait, I've got rice, I've got seafood, and we're going to go pick a whiskey. And it is fantastic. And if you've seen any of the blue single barrels, grab it. I mean, these things are like $60 and it's not sake. I will stress that a thousand times over. This is American rice whiskey. And as soon as we started tasting this, we knew like, oh my gosh, this could be a winner. And I know people can't see on the pockets, but the color is just fantastic on these.

Oh, it has a great color. It really does.

Yeah. And, you know, and we're super jazzed on April 18th, we're going back. We raised $5,000 through this pick last year, which is one of our highest known raising. We charged $25 on top of the usual and we sold out and it was fantastic. We actually split the barrel with the Russell's Renegades with David Jennings and Rare Bird 101 because he too was like, what is this? Like, we've got to try this. And so with that backing, we sent our crew down there, as many Louisiana people as we could, and we picked a winner. No doubt about it. And yes, this one is also sold out.

So this one came in at one twenty two point nine proof.

That's right.

Like Wes said, I introduced Jim to this JT Malik. A few episodes back and I think it really wowed him. It's got some uniqueness to it. There's just a little something on the nose. It doesn't say it's bourbon, doesn't say it's rye, doesn't say it's wheat. And then you get to the palate and it's also, there's something just kind of says it's not that, but it's close. And I've had, I've seen people try this blind and think it's like Buffalo Trace product, like stag and things like that. Like just guessing all over the place. It is such a unique thing.

It's so funny you should say that because a lot of people think it's well or that I've here that have tried it. And I've got one friend here, Paul McLea, he I gave that to him and he was like, Hey, Wes, I have to be honest with you. Yeah, I want to support you. So I'll buy the pick. And, and you know, he takes it home. And then a few days later, I get a call. He goes, what is this? This is the surprise of the year for me. This is fantastic. Do you have any of these left? And it was just a testament that, you know, try something new. You know, there might be something out there that you realize is really good. And I think they're going to win a lot of awards. In fact, we just entered this pick in the ASCOT awards that are we're figured this is so unique that we think it's really good that I think has a great chance of winning. Hopefully soon they'll have an American rice category.

Single malt just kind of just came out with a thing. So it makes you wonder if like, I only heard of like, a couple other rice whiskies being made out there, but you kind of wonder if it'll catch on and

Oh, I think it, I mean, they're expanding so quickly. We're just lucky to do another barrel pick here, here in April, because they're on a wait list all the way to people have to wait till 2026. I mean, like, because everybody wants to try. No, not at all. I mean, like they are expanding so well. Me and the Frugier family are killing it. I mean, they really are expanding into all different states. Distribution is going to be better. I'm very excited. And the response has been huge. And the price went again. I mean, it's hard to beat. And they've now got the sixth year. They've got their cash strength. Even their small batch is fantastic. The first thing I ever tried from JT Mellick was a small batch. Um, it was in the winter time and Jason Ash were my buddy from kinder, Louisiana. He was like, Hey, you got to try this. And it's got a big giant crawfish on it. And, you know, it's in screams, you know, of home where I grew up and I was like, sure, I'll try this blown away. I mean, it is easily one of my favorite things to drink nowadays.

It's a great profile. It is a little bit kind of soft. upfront, like you expect out of like a weeded bourbon. And I could see where that, you know, the lines could get a little blurred there with a, with like a Buffalo trace product, but it has such a rich and deep and, uh, I want to say wide because it's, uh, it's got a very rich, wide palette on it. There's a lot going on and it's, uh, and you would never think if somebody said this was rice, you would be what? No way.

Yeah. And yeah, I think Todd, you mentioned before you put it blind amongst a lot of other things you think it's older, you know, some people usually guess is around seven to eight years and it's just, you know, between four and five. It's got that oily kind of texture to it that really, you know, speaks to Weller and I mean, you know, man, I haven't had a sip of this in a, in, you know, a few weeks and now I'm like, why have I stopped drinking this? You know, this isn't going to last long again. It's just, it's fantastic. It was easily one of our favorite picks last year just because of the uniqueness of it, supporting the Frigidae family, you know, knowing the story behind it, that their family had been affected by Alzheimer's. And it's just damn good. It's just really, really good. So if you see one of those JT Malik, um, single barrels out there, and I will say that when we pick one of the 18th, it will be available on bourbon outfitter. Um, you know, to a national audience when it comes out. So I'll be sure to shoot you guys a link when it comes out and, you know, hopefully we're able to get one.

Absolutely. Yeah. Fantastic. Todd, we need to get down there.

Yeah. Right. I know. Um, so. When you guys, how do you guys approach going like, you know, say you have you just like kind of picked out a distillery and be like, hey, let's see if we can get one from there. Or is it do they reach out to you? What's been kind of the process for procuring some of these single barrel picks?

Sure. So we knew that, you know, when you're the new kids in the block, that, you know, you need to have some type of end or some type of reputation or show that you've done this before. And we really leaned in heavily with, of course, Jack Daniels because of Larry Combs and his connections and his support and, you know, an old forester. And Brown Foreman has been by far our biggest distillery partner. They've been awesome. And then we reached out locally. I mean, we've got Old Dominic and Blue Note here in Memphis, Tennessee, and they've been big supporters. So we've done a lot of local events and release parties and really tried to grow that local store network so that we can give those because we do like to give picks locally. I mean, Memphis, Tennessee and Nashville and the other areas around us, they've been very, very supportive of our cause and the Alzheimer's Association here in Tennessee. And then we started to reach out to other places, whether it was Four Roses for their charity barrel selection and trying to get into their program. Which, by the way, was our voted... Our members voted what they thought was our best pick ever. And it was our Four Roses pick, which was OBSK, Tier 6, QS88. If you know that magical run. And it was only 110 bottles. That thing flew off the shelf. And it's really hard to find nowadays. But And then, you know, we would go through whether it was a distributor, maybe it was through the local rep, maybe it was through an influencer. Jay West is probably a great example of this. We partnered together and Jay knows everybody and has an amazing following and a great palette. And we said, how about you and I help each other out? Maybe I can get picks that you can't and vice versa, and we'll try to give as much as we can to your members. And so there's another great partnership. Now, has every distillery said yes to us? Absolutely not. You know, we're working hard. It usually takes a lot of time to do that. And sometimes other decileries or, you know, NDPs reach out to us. So just depending on where we are, I immediately think of Southern Collective Spirits in Nashville. I mean, they have been fantastic partners as far as getting our names out there, you know, allowing us to pick some different barrels from them. We actually just picked a few days ago a a Bell Mead barrel that was contracted by Bardstown with a very unique bash bill. If you've been to Tennessee, you know about the Bell Mead and the history there. And so it's a little bit of everything. We don't have a cookie cutter approach. We just have to really reach out. And we actually have a presentation that we sometimes give to show how it works and how we raise money. And so some things are very easy. Some things are very hard, like we have not cracked into, say, for example, Buffalo Trace. We have never been able to do that. We've never been able to get into Heaven Hill. But if you go to bourbonbarrels.com, you'll see all the bottles that list all of our bottles and the pictures and everything and of all the things that we've done. So, you know, and sometimes we get real lucky. We have one member, Adam Winter, that actually won a Sazerac rye barrel through the Sazerac quarterly drawing. I have never met a person in my entire life that has actually won one of those barrels. But he won and he's one of our members and he immediately called me and said, hey, how are we going to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association? I mean, you know, it's those types of things. So it comes from several different areas, you know, and sometimes ways we would never even think is possible, whether it's through a drawing or someone is just with a charitable mind. And here we are.

It's funny, you should bring up the Sazerac drawing because I just met someone who's won it twice and I'm like, how in the world? I know that's like getting struck by lightning twice.

I mean, that's that's incredible. I mean, I mean, I think it's a great program. You know, I was actually at Buffalo Trace recently to help pick a Buffalo Trace barrel had nothing to do with the Alzheimer's Association. In fact, it was a member of the Angel Share, which is run by Jason Goldberg. And, you know, I would be remiss not to talk about them. They've raised over $50,000 for the Alzheimer's Association through us every single year. There are thousands of members give so many amazing donations. They're incredible. But i was there because someone had lost a family member to alzheimer's and they were looking for people to join them and of course i raise my hand and you know i was all about it. So they're hopefully that will turn into a connection hopefully more people hear the words what we're trying to do and i get it i mean there's only so many allocations that each facility has there's only so many barrels. just going to keep at it. I'm sure there are some people that are really tired of hearing from me and asking about how we can get a barrel or how we can do this. But as people know, I'm not going to stop. There's too many ways we can raise money and too many barrels out there that can go for a good cause. And hopefully, we can get one of them. So one day hopefully we'll be in Buffalo trace. Hopefully one day we'll be in heaven, heaven hill, but until then we've got a amazing distillery partners that are just in Brown Foreman again, is by far our biggest one. I cannot thank them enough.

Fantastic. That's awesome. Well, this is a, this is a great pour. I really enjoy this. I, you know, I keep saying, Todd, we got to get down there. You know, since you introduced me to this, uh, this brand, it's probably been three or four months ago, right? Yeah, I think so totally bowled over by it. This is a great pick. This is a great bottle. But yeah, it's just as a category, I really want to know more about, you know, the rice whiskey.

Same, same.

Well, that's what Jim, that's why we entered this. I mean, like to your point, it's so unique and then it should be its own category.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, why not? I mean, there are so many other categories in, but I just, if you ever see JT Melick on the shelf, grab it, try it. You will not be disappointed.

Absolutely. All right. Shall we move on down the line? Yeah. Let's go to the big boy. 137.4.

Yeah. This is a Jack Daniel's rye barrel pick 137.4. And I mean, dark, dark, dark, dark. This is mahogany chocolate.

You know, it's, it's how many great things have come out the past few years from Jack Daniel's. I mean, their age statements are going up. I mean, now the barrel proof rise, some of them coming from Coy Hill, I mean, they are putting out some unbelievable whiskeys. And, you know, we're always thrilled to go there and pick things in Lynchburg and One thing I forgot to say is we always try to go to the distillery itself to pick these barrels so we can take pictures and meet everybody. We do not like to lean into samples and there's nothing wrong with that, right? But for us, it's a way to show awareness and to really point towards the disease while we're trying to do the things we do. And that's why Jack Daniels is such a great partner because they're like, come on down, come to Lynchburg. And for those who've done a pick here, you can eat all the southern comfort food at Miss Mary Bobo's after a long barrel pick. And, oh my, you know, I'm still thinking about the fried okra and the fried chicken there.

So that's the one thing that really stuck out to me when we met you guys, like you and your cohorts were in your purple shirt. So it's almost like you guys are at you've gone to a music park and want to be able to find each other.

Yes, it's the family reunion, right? We're all looking for the family reunion. That's what we try to do. Purple is the color for the Alzheimer's Association. When you look at our sticker that's on the bottles, we don't do crazy stickers. We just have a very small end ALZ bourbon barrel sticker that has some Easter eggs in there. You can see the blues guitar. You can see the whiskey thief. You see the Memphis Bridge in the background. But I mean, we're not all about the crazy stickers. We're just about raising money and for the for the charity. So, you know, it's the purple is always there. It's our purple army, as we sometimes say, for the association. And, you know, I wear the shirt all the time that says in the LZ or maybe it says walked in Alzheimer's and other things. I mean, it really is my uniform. It's it creates conversations. I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, what does that shirt mean? Or if they do know what it means, maybe they want to talk about a family member. Jim, you talked about that before about, you know, hey, does any family members, you know, come up to you and join us? Yeah, I mean, like this is a conversation creator. This is my uniform of hope. So you always see the purple, Todd. It's going to be it's going to be out there every single time. And then we slap our sticker, of course, like most people on the barrels once we pick them and sign them so we can take pictures of that. One thing that I did not say before is what do we do with the barrels afterwards? Well, remember how I said I like beer? Well, we have a partner distillery here in Memphis called the Memphis Filling Station. And we do where we actually take our empty barrels when we are able to get them. We take them to the brewery and then we put stouts and other types of beers and then they barrel age them for over a year. And then those beers are sold for charity. That's a matter of fact. This, as we talk about this, this Jack Daniel's Barrel-Proof Rye Barrel is now at Side Project, which is actually one of the top breweries in the world located in St. Louis, Missouri. Yeah, they had heard about what we were doing and the team there, Corey, Rachel and everyone, and they're like, you know what? They're doing actually single barrel beers. So they're going to take this barrel, dump probably a stout or a barley wine agent for who knows how many years, and then that is going to be sold as what they call a silent barrel to continue that life cycle of charity. So anytime we are able to get the barrel, the empty barrel after it's picked, we will take it and just trying to continue to keep raising more and more money. I am super stoked for these beers when they come out in about a year or so. Because, well, for those that have the bottles, right? So we have that four roses barrel that I talked about before. It's gonna have a nice, you know, dark beer in it. We're going to drink the you know, the bourbon right next to the beer and see if we can pick up the same notes and see what the profile is. And that's going to add a totally new element to it, which I'm super excited for.

Well, you're talking to two beer lovers right here.

Right, Jim? That's right. That's right. We love our beer too. So. Fantastic. Yeah. This is, uh, this, this doesn't drink like one 37. I'm surprised by it, but, uh, I thought it would be like, uh, set a fire, but yeah, it's actually really tasty. Very good.

And you mentioned before about the color. I mean, the color on these is just so dark and flavor.

And these are, I think, 70 bucks, usually the single barrel picks, I think, give or take. Not in the wild, but.

Yeah, sure. Well, so this one usually Memphis, if it's just a regular price is usually $79.99. We're actually selling this one for $89.99. So $15 is actually going to go back per bottle to the association. They're actually about 50 of these left at Joe's Winans and Liquors in Memphis, Tennessee. We expected to sell it out pretty soon. There was about 150 bottle yield. But you know, so this is one of our few out of the 33 picks we have done in the past two to three years. There's only about three, I believe three or four, four at the max that have not sold out yet. So, oh, and, and most of them are, you know, around that 50 to 60 Mark left. Um, and so we expect this one to be sold pretty soon, but this is, this is one of my favorite Jack Daniel bear proof rise we've done.

That's really good. I mean, it's very tasty. All right. Roadies, uh, Memphis roadies. If you're listening to this right now, you need to go out and buy one of these. This is really good.

Yep. So do you know if any of them are still available on, like you said, bourbon outfitter or shared pour or anything of that nature still left that folks not in the Memphis area might be able to find?

Well, we do not have anything online right now, but we actually have a lot of barrels that are going to be hitting in the next few weeks that are going to be on bourbon outfitter that people will have a chance to grab. We actually have, we picked three vendor stash barrels last year and we've already sold out the first two. One was an eight-year bourbon in a Canton barrel. And then the second one was an 11-year rye, 5149 mashbill, which many people liked about that high malt series. But we also picked a seven-year bourbon from Owensboro, part of that Green River through Bill Bender. And that is going to come out through Bourbon Outfitter. It's probably going to be an MSRP of around $125. which I think is fantastic for this. Oh, it's so good. And that is actually being shipped from Whiskey Thief. As you know, Todd, that's why I was there. It's being shipped from Whiskey Thief to Bourbon Outfitter as we speak. So that'll be available very soon. We also were recently at Starlight. Andrew Jerdinek and that... that whole crew there is so amazing they were one of our early on supporters when we did a honey and a cigar batch well they actually offered us the first ever mizunara pick so our group urban barrels is the first group ever to have a single barrel That is... The label is just being approved. It's coming online soon. That will be through Bourbon Outfitter. Ryan Alves was there. Mia from JT Malik was there. Sometime we do what we call basically vendor appreciation picks so that they can all join in together and share their stories. Then we'll have an OKI 11-year rye. Those OKI 11-year ryes are fantastic. So we're pretty jazzed about that. And then later on the year, we'll have an Old Forester 100-proof pick in collaboration with Jay West through SharePore. I love those Old Forester 100-proof picks. I mean, those are so special. And then finally, I mentioned before about the Southern Collective Bell Mean Barrel. We're pretty jazzed about that, you know, for locally. And so those are the ones that are coming online. And then we are actually, as far as future picks, we're going to Maker's Mark on March 7. Never done a pick that make Earthmark. We've always wanted to be able to experience that. Going back to JT Mellick, of course, on April 18th. And then we have another Jack Daniel barrel-proof ride with the Russell's Renegades and David Jennings later on this year. And of course, that wonderful Sazerac ride barrel that Adam Winter won. So don't know exactly where that's going to go yet. But that's the fun part. It's not going to be that hard. And then, of course, everything else we've applied for it. Hopefully, we'll talk up soon. So it's gonna be another busy year. It's gonna be another busy year. And you know, the challenge I will say through all this is, you know, how much donation do we actually charge on top of a barrel, right? Like, you know, in terms of sellability or what it exactly is, we charge $5 on top or $25. It's kind of a weird market nowadays, right? I mean, depending on what's moving and what's not. So we have to be very careful on what the market will bear. So that's why it's so important to have these national retailers, all these local stores that want to help. I mean, just so we can find the right fit. Where if we took it to one state, it may cost $175. But if we take it to like, say, for example, Bourbon Outfit, it may be $125. It just depends on How things work out and where they go and how much donation we can get. Um, cause at the end of the day, our whole purpose is to end Alzheimer's and raise money for the association. So we're just very thankful for partners and people like you that helped get out our message. So just, Hey, look, I'll come around anytime you guys want to drink whiskey, but you know, thank you for helping the cause. You're very welcome.

Yeah. Happy to do it. So, but that's, that's a great whiskey, Todd. I think it's really good. And you know, honestly. Like I said earlier, I don't think it drinks 137. What do you think?

No, I've got a couple different ones. Some are just Jack Daniels picked and put out. I think I grabbed one at Kroger one time. I mean, they're always higher proof. It's kind of funny. Those tend to be higher proof than the single barrel bourbons you see, but like they drink so much softer than like 137, 135, but yeah, it's a great buy. So-

I got to tell you real quick, if you don't mind. We just picked a Jack Daniel's barrel proof rye with NTs in Tupelo, Mississippi. And the second barrel that we tried, y'all, it was the darkest bourbon I've ever seen. I mean, like it came out of this barrel and everyone's like, oh my gosh, what is that? It turned out it was a Coy Hill rye. And so it had been baking for... And I mean, it was black as night and we were laughing at just how could this be possible? And even when they thiefed it, how much char that came out of it and everything else? Well, that's the one that was picked. I mean, I'm sure there was no surprise because, you know, it also tasted great. But it's just what they are doing in those warehouses and what they are doing with those those Jack Daniel's barrel proof fries. I mean, you know, It's incredible from the color taste profile. And you all know, there's a lot of things up their sleeve that are coming next. I mean, whether it's the Jack Daniels 14. I think I saw a maybe even a toasted whiskey that was on. I saw online today of new labels that they just had approved continuously pumping these out. And so we're really hoping one day that Jack Daniels and I hope they're hearing me say this, you know, actually help us, you know, have a special Alzheimer's Association branded whiskey from them, kind of similar to what you've seen in one-offs and whatnot. And I think that's very possible with people like Larry Combs and Brown Forma and helping us out. So that's the dream one day is that we can actually see something that's not a single barrel, but it's something that is actually offered to the nation. Yeah, absolutely. because the Squires that are, and I don't know if you all are, you know, Jack Daniel Squires, but you know, with that, that's such a big membership group. We get questions from all over the world. Like, how can I get one of these Jack Daniel's picks? And so we want to offer them to that, to them too, because every other year we have this event called barrels of hope at Jack Daniel's in Lynchburg, where they support us and they bring everybody together. And, you know, so one day guys, dreaming big, dreaming big.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you'll even get a decanter. How would that be?

We'll take whatever they give us, Jim.

So Wes, besides single barrel sales, you guys also raised some money some other ways. What are some of those other ways? You just talked about the barrels for hope, but you also have like a walk to end type thing.

No, no, absolutely. So many people may see that we have the Walk to End Alzheimer's logo on a lot of our bottles, as well as the bourbon barrels logo. And really the Walk to End Alzheimer's is the largest fundraising event for the Alzheimer's Association across the nation. So in communities all over the US, people get together and have these walks where they can be with loved ones, you know, they can wear that purple that we talked about before, share stories and raise money and they happen everywhere. So for example, you know, you know, the actual walked in Alzheimer's for the Lynchburg, Tullahoma area happens at Jack Daniel's people walk through Jack Daniel's as a part of which is super cool. So you see this happen. Yeah, it's incredible. And then so in Memphis, we're here in a place called Shelby Farms. And it's just a place for everyone to congregate and celebrate. And it is the culmination of everyone's fundraising every single year. So it has been, in matter of fact, the fastest growing fundraiser for nonprofits in the country. Just because of that fellowship, just like we're here drinking whiskey and bourbon. I mean, you know, the same thing, they're getting together and walking and sharing those stories and wearing their purple just to raise more money. We also have another thing called the Logus Day, which is actually the summer solstice, which usually around June 20th, which is actually the single one day across the nation on June 20th, where everybody raises money for the association. Breaking through the darkness, showing that light that we finally have hope for Alzheimer's. So, for example, at Old Dominic, we've had for the past two years a bottle release at the distillery where people can purchase the single barrel pick, which is awesome because it doesn't have a distributor. So you can imagine the margins are much, much better on that type of donation. We've done Ales for Alzheimer's, which is that where we actually have like bottle shares of beer and people bring it all together. And there's a $100 entry fee, as we call it, which is a donation right to the association. And we don't even take it. We say donate through this link. We've got you on the list. We never want to touch the money. So we want people to get the tax donation for that as well. And again, we have our annual event in June, which was through the Angel Share, Jason Goldberg and all those members there and the staff. We do amazing stuff for us. I mean, we've run that event online through the Angel Share for the past four years and raised over $215,000 through that group. So yeah, we're pretty. Yeah, it's amazing. And so we're going to do that again in June. Hopefully we can get close up to sixty thousand dollars in about four days. That's the goal for this year. And so, I mean, we have to get creative, Todd. You know, we have to try to find as many ways as we can. It can't be just single barrel picks. There's no way it can just be that. Right. And we also do silent auctions. We also do other ways. I mean, anything and everything. And sometimes we actually raffle some of our barrel pick spots. So, if somebody has never had an opportunity to go on a barrel pick and we have an open spot, we'll put it out to our members or other people and say, hey, listen, if you'd like to have the opportunity to join us, we would love to have you. How about a donation? And it's really not a hard thing to fill. But we also want to make it economical too. It's not like we want to deny access to those that might be able to get that fellowship with people that are helping us in this disease. There's always something. And we're always looking for ideas. I mean, like, you know, anything and everything that helps us, we'll do it. And, you know, hopefully in the future, we can partner with more groups, you know, whether it's an event. And there's actually one in particular event we're trying to get into, which was a kind of a live auction where some distilleries have approached us about, hey, would you like a pick experience to raffle off where they come to the distillery, pick it themselves, get the bottles? Matter of fact, one of those partners is probably going to be Jim Bean. When we went to Knob Creek for the first time, I don't know if you all have done an on-site Knob Creek pick, but they rolled out the red carpet for us. It was incredible. Funny story, we were actually doing a pick at Four Roses And, you know, we had picked a barrel and we decided to go next door to the restaurant there. I think it's called the kitchen at Jim beam. And while we were there, guess what, Todd? They saw our shirts and they said, what is that? What does that mean? And it was a slow night and all the staff came over and started talking to us and someone slid us a piece of paper. It says, you need to email this person. And let's see what we can do. And next thing you know, we're sitting at the kitchen with our store sponsor from Tennessee, Phil with Kirby. And they're like, hey guys, come on in. And next thing you know, we're trying all this R&D stuff. We're in the back trying things they won't even tell us what it is. And they're like, by the way, let's go to the warehouse. And all because they just wanted to help us out. We picked a great 10 and a half year knob Creek. And we think this is going to be a very long term relationship for us as well. Because, you know, we're not just doing this for, you know, fun or doing it just say our group is whatever. I mean, we're doing this because we show them this is how much money we're going to raise. This is where this money is going to go. This is the people that we're going to try to help. And I don't know. So in fact, now that I think about it, I need to follow up with them to get back on the schedule. So we need to go back there ASAP.

Tell them you want one of those Worcestershire stave barrels, right? That's good stuff.

It was interesting for sure.

All right. Well, why don't we give you an opportunity here to tell everybody that one place they can go to, to find out more about. the good work that you're doing, that website, that Instagram page, you know, all those, uh, places that, uh, that people can go to find out more about what you do to see your picks and all those things.

No, I really appreciate that, Jim. And the best place to go is to first go to our website at bourbonbarrels.com. So barrels is spelled B-A-R-R-A-L-Z. And there you can see all the picks that we've done. You can learn more about us. But also there's a contact portion there. So if you want to give us your email address to be notified next time we have our picks online, that's the place to do it. We probably do most of our marketing and most of our communication through our Instagram account, which of course is bourbon barrels. And it's been amazing the following we've gotten on that so far in terms of our picks. I mean, whether it's Bill Bender wearing his end ALZ shirt, showing off the picks that we've done or David Jennings of Rare Bird collaborating with us and showing that. I mean, we're just trying to grow this awareness because we have a lot of picks coming. And so we want people to enjoy that from across the nation. And so just go to our website, go to our Instagram page. We also have a Facebook page. We don't use it that often. But again, that's another way to connect to us. Once again, that's Bourbon Barrels. And if you would just simply like to make a donation, maybe bourbon or whiskey is not your thing. Although if they're listening to y'all's your podcast. I'm sure that's exactly what they're here for. But also you can find a link where you can make a direct donation to the Bourbon Burials team. Tax deductible gifts were always available for that. And we always say if there's any type of bottles that you want to donate for our events, whether it's the silent auctions or the chance for us, whether it's beer or bourbon, we'll take anything that raises money. So go to that website, you know, go to that Instagram page and just thank you. Anyone that reaches out to us. It means a lot to us.

Awesome. All right. Well, Wes, it's been a pleasure to have you on the show today. We've really enjoyed it. We've had a, a fantastic time tasting through, uh, three of your picks, all, all fantastic. People can't go wrong with your picks. Todd, thank you for, uh, for bringing the one in from the Frankfurt bourbon society. That that's a great one as well. So for single barrel picks today. All of them great.

I think you can expect, I'll probably give a poor giveaway of those four bottles there to our bourbon roadies group. So be on the lookout. Want to get Wes in there too. He needs to be a bourbon roadie.

Hey, sounds great. It's my honor. I just want to appreciate you guys inviting me again. I mean, we have to have ways to tell more about the Alzheimer's Association and our mission to end Alzheimer's and we can't do it without great partners and that includes both of you. So just appreciate you all supporting the cause. You know, again, we all love great whiskey and bourbon, but just know that when you drink ours, that it's going towards a great cause. And hopefully one day we will end this heart wrenching disease. Thank you both.

You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you for the great work you do. All right. Well, you can find the bourbon road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, tech talk, Facebook threads, all those things every week on Wednesdays. Todd and I will put it on an episode. We'll have a guest on like West's will always drink whiskey. We're always having a great time. We hope you join us every single week. The best way not to miss an episode of the bourbon road is to scroll up to the top of that app. You're on hit that subscribe button that way every single week, when we come out with a new episode, you'll get that bell notification, letting you know that, uh, Hey, the guys have dropped another one and we'll get you through that next drive or that cutting grass or shoveling snow or sweeping the house or whatever it is that you do. with your headset on, we'd like to be a part of your day. But until the meantime, we will see you down the bourbon road.

you