450. From Ground to Glass: Inside Lost Lantern's Summer Collection Part 1

Oh 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.

Hey roadies, it's Diane Strong with Bourbon on the Banks Festival. We've got another amazing event coming your way this year. Be sure to join us at the half and I'll tell you a little bit more about the event taking place October 4th, 2025.

Todd and I are proud to have Smokies Lifestyle Cigars as the 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. Smoky's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at smokyslifestylecigar.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 3 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 thehillhousekontucky.com. Welcome back longtime listeners and new roadies. We're glad to have you on the show again tonight. Todd and I are hanging out in the Bourbon Road bar. We've had kind of a busy week. We've been out on the road. We have recorded a few episodes. We've had a lot of samples come in. Todd, you've been collecting them like crazy.

Yeah, I try to, you know, I reach out and they reach out. And so we've got a nice little collection of things in and we're going to actually split this up into two shows. So, uh, and we'll do a little deeper dive into what these are here in a little bit, but I think we've got some news to share.

Yeah, definitely. So everybody's always interested to find out when the next little book is coming out. Uh, little book chapter nine is released. It's called None for Granted. It blends Kentucky whiskeys aged seven to 11 years, including some brown rice and rye. So kind of interesting. It's a MSRP 160, but Todd, I think you might have a hook on one of those bottles, right?

Yeah, right. I just got my bottle from the Beamed Barrel and Box set. It was one of the releases that came in that one. And I did let Jason Calori borrow that one for his Mash and Drum podcast. Sometimes he wants to review something. I'm like, hey, I got this in. So he shares with us sometimes, so I share back. And yeah, so it should be coming up. And I've got an interesting idea for another review set that we'll do soon. Uh, this one is, it's kind of similar to chapter eight, but not because chapter eight was, it's a bourbon and rye blend and a little heavier on the rye side. Whereas chapter nine is a bourbon and rye blend, but it's a little heavier on the bourbon side. I think the percentages are. way on one side a whole lot more.

And this one kind of features one of Freddy knows things, which is extending the fermentation time out just a little bit longer, letting it continue in the vats just a little bit longer than normal.

Yeah, which they did for one of those distiller shares. I think we tried once that was kind of, I think it brings out a little more esters and kind of, I think we tried it and it's very like a fruity Knob Creek pick. Like a fruitier, I guess.

I mean, it's great to see that kind of innovation coming out of the next generation out there. And Little Book is just, it's been very, very experimental and very on the edge, cutting edge, out of the box.

Yeah. I think it's a fun playground for him for sure.

Barreled in box, they call it, but it's barreled in and out of the box really is what it is.

Yeah. I'm always excited to get one.

Also, the Russell's Reserve, 13 year, has returned. Cool, I'm so excited. Next issue is the 2025 release and it clocks in at 123.8 proof, which is the highest proof ever.

Yeah, that's about seven proof points higher than the original releases. And yeah, that one's sadly going to be hard to find, but I'm, you know, us being Turkey guys, I got to find one.

Yeah. I mean, MSRP is at 200. I mean, unless you can get it at MSRP, I'm going to expect you to pay a little bit more probably. Yeah. I'm going to have to do some wheeling and dealing, but they're saying cola and brown sugar notes. I haven't tried it yet. So.

You know, we're a Turkey guy, so we got to try it.

Old Forester's President's Choice now has released nationwide. So keep your eyes out folks. If you can get your hands on it. It is. very limited and it's at $225 a bottle. So it's not a cheap point.

And they just, if you recall, I think correctly, we just talked about how they are also doing the President's Choice Rye. Right. So also something.

The bourbon and the new rye expression. So you get both of those. Yeah. I know you've got some more Todd, what do you got going on?

So one of the cool things about Kentucky is we have the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame and there were four new inductees and the Craig Beam I think it's like an excellence type thing. Went to Chris Morris. He is the master distiller emeritus for Woodford Reserve. The other inductees include Larry Ebersold. He worked at MGP.

Yeah, a lot of those barrels that Larry always sold distilled and filled back in his time at Seagrams and MGP. Those barrels ended up at some startup distilleries and then those startup distilleries released those under their name. What a good example is Boone County.

Boone County, New Riff, Rabbit Hole, Bardstown. It says he helped shape facilities for 31 different facilities. Yeah, he did.

But then after they released those MGP barrels under their name, he came in and consulted with them to help them distill their own, which would continue on after those barrels were gone.

Right, right. And then lastly is Damon Thayer. Probably not a big name outside of Kentucky, but he is the Senate Majority Leader at the Kentucky General Assembly. He's from Georgetown, Kentucky. He also, if you've ever been in a Kentucky liquor store, you might have seen Kentucky Senator. That's his brand, and it's named after senators from the past in Kentucky's history. And he's also done a great deal with like bourbon legislation. Like I'm sure he's helped with like distilleries being able to pour at events and things like that.

Yeah.

So, uh, yeah. So I can't remember when exactly that, that inductee hall of fame thing is, but yeah, just want to share. Oh, and one more Mary Dowling who we just, I had a big episode that'll be dropping at some point where we talk about her extensively. It was a lot of fun and we won't throw a whole lot of spoilers.

She is the mother of bourbon. The mother of bourbon. Yes. That's all you need to know. And Buffalo Trace did release a new Eagle Rare expression, the 12 year Eagle Rare, and it is available and it's going to be out there. It's going to be out there pretty much nationwide. It's going to be released on a regular basis this the ability to For them to create the secret 12 is because of their large distillery expansion the 1.2 billion dollar distillery expansion that they they put out Listen in folks If you can get your hands on a retail bottle, $49.99. Great price. Great price. Yeah. The release at the Buffalo Trace Distillery was crazy, though.

It was crazy. I think I sent you some pictures. And I have friends that are tour guides over there. My good friend, Jeremy James, is over there doing tours. And he's doing some reviews on his Barstools and Burmbuds show. He sent pictures. And yeah, it was just crazy. Thought about going for about a half second and then saw the pictures and I'm like, nope, can't do that. I can't waste half a day standing in line. But yeah, he, I believe is gonna send us a nice sample of that though, so.

So we'll do a review on the show. Yeah. Let everybody know what we think. Right. There's a number of reviews out there. I know that our friend, good friend, Jason Colori from Mash and Drum just recently dropped a review on that and he compared Uh, he did a full review of the 12 year, then he compared it one-to-one to the 10 year and he kind of gave his, his view on it. So, um, check that out.

Yeah, that was on a straight review, but he also, on his live show, he took a bunch of different 12 years and compared them, which is Weller 12, that 12, you know, Eagle Rare 12. Let's see. Uh, I don't know if he threw in the Jack Daniels 12, which we both really love, but.

Did he do the lot B?

I don't recall. There's a couple more. I'm actually missing, but I can't. Yeah.

I would love to see it against a lot B. What do you think? Hmm.

Yeah. That would be interesting. That's wheat. We did versus that match.

I mean, it's a different animal, but okay. All right, Todd. So we have four whiskies on the show tonight. These are, uh, whiskies that were sent to us. Actually we were sent eight whiskies.

Yes, eight. And like I said, we will be doing two different shows because, well, eight pours is a lot for one show. So we're going to do four today with hopefully a bonus pour. You know, hang on. Everybody's like, oh, they have a bonus pour. Will they make it or won't they? But no promises. No promises. I'm not sure what our batting average is on those. So we'd have to go back. It is getting better because I think we've gotten to a few. But yes, our good friends Adam Polanski and Nora Ganley Roper at Lost Lantern sent us their latest releases and it's their summer collection. And so this is one they put together to kind of celebrate estate distilleries where, you know, distilleries are growing their own grains on their own land and making whiskeys that truly reflect where they are made, which I think is really, really cool. I mean, you've even seen Heaven Hill now has an estate just, you know, they have three different estate releases. And Woodford's Grunghorn too.

So, I mean, they're all working on it.

I know. I think it's kind of that new thing, you know, to kind of show off the toire and things like that.

Well, not only that, but I think that commercial grain growing, the genetics of the grain has tend to drifted a little bit more towards GMO, right?

Right. Sure.

And I think that it's important in order to get back to the true and amazing flavors that whiskey once was, to get back to heirloom grains. Or at least grains that have not been genetically modified to the point where they can be mass produced, but they lose that intrinsic flavor. Right.

So today we're going to focus on, there are three bourbons we're going to try and then one wheat whiskey. So, and then our separate show, we're going to focus on the rise.

Perfect. Yeah.

So you ready to start? Yeah. What are we having our first class? All right. Our first class is Whiskey Acres, which is based in DeKalb, Illinois. Oh, we had them on before. Yes, we have. We were surprised to find out that it was one of the blind barrels samples that we got from those guys. And yeah, we were, I believe it was their 100 proof bottle and blind, and we were both really impressed.

Yeah. I have this fond memory of a very good Whiskey Acres Whiskey. I don't remember the details, but I do remember enjoying it. I believe it may have been our

Maybe the mythology, I think the mythology edged it out. That was the blend with the young stuff and high, like an older, yes, but excellent. So Whiskey Acres is based in DeKalb, Illinois. This is a five year, 75% yellow dent corn, 15% wheat, 15% malted barley. Clocks in at 118.1 proof. And there were 176 bottles of this available. with, uh, believe the price, all these price for about a hundred dollars a bottle, which, you know, yeah.

Okay. Oh, wow. Very, um, very nice grain forward cereal notes on it.

Yup. Cornbread, cornbread, like sweet, sweet cornbread. Definitely with soaked in something. I was going to say, could you put a little cherry jam on some cornbread? Does that work?

Yeah. Oh, that's really good. That is an amazing nose.

Actually, you know what? You ever had bread pudding? I mean, sure. You're like not the, you know, yeah, just the base, but that was like, yeah, like cherry jam on it. My mom used to make one that was in a, like a round flat, I mean pan that she fixed and like literally you would slice it like a pie and my favorite thing to do would be like to go get whatever jam or jelly and just. put it, put a layer of jam or jelly on it. Wow. Yeah. This is really good. That was a fat kid thing I used to do.

It has kind of a light sweetness to it. It's not overly sweet. Uh, but it does have a nice, like you said, like a cherry note. Um, but yeah, the grain just pops on this. Um, and it is predominantly corn, I think.

Yeah. Uh, 75. So pretty good. And then that malted barley, 15, 15% wheat.

You know, I think it, noses anyway. I haven't tasted yet, but I think it knows is right. Oh, it's proof.

Oh, okay. So I was going to say also knows it's like kind of bright, like brighter. Yeah. It's I'm ready to sip. Cheers. Cheers.

Oh, that's different. That's, um, sweet and Serbian rich. Desserty.

Oh, that's good.

Really good. Still the cornbread, still the cherry. Cherry pie.

Definitely a cherry pie. Little vanilla, like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it or something.

Kind of like the hand pies that you used to get as a kid in the wax paper wrapper. Oh yeah. Yeah. That had the kind of the hostess ones. Yeah. The hostess ones that had kind of the, uh, the sugar glaze on the outside.

Yup. Good call.

Hmm. Oh, this is very good. You do not get this in Scotch whiskey. You just never, I'm just telling you folks, you gotta be drinking bourbon to get this kind of taste.

I don't know if I've ever had a Scotch with like that cherry notes you get in a lot of bourbons.

Yeah. I mean, you get, you get some nice flavors in Scotch and I do enjoy them, but you never get this like overwhelming, like baking cabinet or like I don't know, just deep cherry compote kind of sweetness. It's just.

Cause you'd get cherry notes in a lot of, a lot of different bottles. Yeah. Yeah. So I guess it's a corn, corn meets oak thing, maybe.

Yeah. Whiskey acres. You are on my GPS map. I'm going to, I want to stop there next time I'm on my way to Iowa. There you go. Take the recording. I really want a bottle of this.

I know that's delicious.

That is really good. This is a little bit more deserty though. Yeah. So I mean, this is definitely not going to go well with a cigar for as far as I'm concerned, but it's definitely would be good after dinner. Sitting down in the on the couch in the living room after dinner with a few friends sipping on this be pretty good.

Yeah. Enjoy it. It's really nice. It's a good start, but we got to move on. All right, so what do we have in our second class? Our second glass is the highest proof we'll have today. This is from Fray Ranch. Oh, one of my faves. Yeah, Kobe and Ashley Fray have been on the show in the past. I didn't do a dive to see what episode, but if you go back in that catalog, you can find it. And I think you even said, when I told you we got these in, you were like, oh, I bet Fray Ranch is a part of this because they're in a state distillery. And I was like, nailed it.

Yeah, I think whenever I think of estate distilleries, I think the name at the top of my list, the one that first comes to mind is Fray Ranch.

Yeah, what's funny is now that we just had Minden Mill on, so that's two estate distilleries that we know about in Nevada. So it seems to be their jam. So this bourbon is 67% corn, 12% barley, 11% rye, and 10% wheat. And it clocks in at 125.3. Uh, I don't recall the bottle count on this one. I'll try to find that real quick. Uh, but once again, I believe it's a hundred dollars.

All right. Well on the nose, I think it's, uh, it tends to be a little bit more, uh, fresh. Um, the color is darker though. Yeah, it is a little bit darker at one year older. You said one year older, six year. All right. So this is a higher proof. It's one year older on the nose. I'm getting a bit of a fresher nose on it. And very nice.

A bit of darker notes going on, like brown sugar, cinnamon.

Yeah. I think the, I think the more spicy side of the, of the spice cabinets coming in here. Yep. Very nice. A lot more barrel influence on this. I would, I would put this one in the more mature stack.

Ready to sip?

Yeah, let's do it.

Cheers.

Cheers. OK, so this was does not carry the sweetness that the whiskey acres did. This is definitely a more mature whiskey, but higher proof has a great, great palate to it. I would say that the palate and the nose match very nicely. It's well balanced. It drinks very nice. It does have a little bit more of a grain forward. You know, I kind of get that from Western whiskeys. They've got that kind of, their grains really speak when you drink their whiskeys.

So, did find out 200 bottles of this. All these are going to be released June 25th, so this episode should be dropping the day before, and then our ride will be a little late, but we'll let you know what to expect with the rides and what to look for. And typically you can find, if you're in Vermont, you might be able to find them in some of the nicer stores there and things like that. But you can order directly from Frey Ranch, or excuse me. You can order directly from Lost Lantern, or you can also find them on salebox.com.

Perfect. I did look back Todd, and we had Colby on, uh, back in episode 86. It's been a minute. It's been a minute. We did have the whiskies in on again in episode one 17. So we've been kind of neglecting these guys for 300 episodes, 300 plus.

The thing is I get it. Like there are so many, there's new ones popping up. There's just, there's a lot to cover.

Yeah, great stuff. I love what these guys are doing. I really do. Uh, we did have Mendenmill on recently and you know, the, the awareness that comes from a state distilling is just tremendous. And I think it, it's not necessarily that they grow their own grains, but they're, they're in control of their own grain agriculture. Yeah. Yeah. It's got to be,

There's probably a good point to it and a bad point. The bad point being if you don't get a whole lot of rain, well, yeah, you're your crop. production is going to be a little lower, but you're also not reliant on other farmers and things like that. Probably a little, well, I'm sure they have other farms that are involved with them, but you know, rather than buying in bulk and things like that, it's probably a little easier just not to have to pay for that. I guess is what I'm saying.

But now, now, uh, Fray ranch, they actually, they are the farmers. I mean, they're actually literally farming their own grains, right?

Yeah. And actually, I mean, so was whiskey acres. I mean, I think that's everybody's like these farms are like, I think whiskey, uh, whiskey acres is like four generations. Frey ranch is five or six or something like that. So you're talking been on that land a while.

I'll tell you what I've driven across Illinois. This is kind of North Northern Illinois. It's, uh, uh, let's see. I'm trying to think when you're driving across, uh, Is it 74? Now you're talking whiskey acres, right? Yeah, I'm talking whiskey acres. Now when you're driving across 74 across the northern part of Illinois, um, you crossed the cow. I have yet to stop there, but I'm ready to do it. So, and, and who, who doesn't want to go out to Nevada and visit fray ranch and men in mill and the others out there.

I'm ready to do that too. It's gonna say if you are traveling, I mean, Do a little Google searching and see what's around you. I went out to Pennsylvania and sadly that was going to go to, it's called Stolen Wolf. It's in Pennsylvania and they're doing a rosin rye, which was apparently the big rye back in the days. that kind of made Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania rye. And yeah, they were closed the day we were around that area. Well, we were there a little longer, but you know, we had like Hershey park and that whole thing and kids and so.

Did you get to ride off the trip anyway?

What does that even mean? Right off my trip, yeah.

I mean, it's business, right?

Yeah, it's business, taking my kids to Hershey Park and eating chocolate, riding rides.

All right. Well, let's keep sipping on these whiskies and we're going to chit chat a little bit more about these first two pours when we get back in the second half. We have two more coming up that we, honestly, I don't even know what they are. You're going to tell me.

Yep. I'm going to lighten you.

All right. Folks stick around. There's a good chance. that will have a bonus port at the end. We're definitely gonna rate the ones that we're drinking tonight and pick a winner. Winner winner chicken dinner. Winner winner chicken dinner. All right, stick around folks. We'll be right back.

Hey roadies, it's Diane Strong with Bourbon on the Banks Festival again. We have another amazing event this year, but we want you to come early because we've got a lot of events leading up to the festival. Starting on Thursday, we've got another mixology with master mixologist Heather Wibbles on the Bourbon Bell and O.H. Ingram. Leading into Friday, we have got Peggy No Stevens. She's back with another bourbon pairing and a lesson called The Stave is the Rage. It's going to be amazing. Limestone Heritage Distilling is going to be bringing in three single barrels. You're going to learn a lot. We've got the VIP coming back and this year we are celebrating women in bourbon. This year, Bourbon on the Banks Festival promises to be even better than ever. We've already got more than 70 distilleries that are going to be there. More than anything, I need to encourage you to get your tickets as soon as possible. They're selling fast. Some of them are already sold out. If you want to come this year, please get your tickets. We don't want to miss you on October 4th in Frankfort, Kentucky on the banks of the amazing Kentucky River.

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 Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars, an experience truly beyond compare. Find out more at SmokeysLifestyleCigar.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 thehillhousekontucky.com.

All right, welcome back, Roadies. We are diving into the Los Lanterns Summer Estate Collection, which the very first pour we had was the Whiskey Acres out of DeKalb, Illinois. They're bourbon. Really, really impressive.

Definitely a, a deserty bourbon.

Yeah. And so good that Jim's going to stop by there on his way out there to visit relatives.

In fact, I'm going to call ahead and see if I can't like pop in and, and maybe even do a quick little sesh.

Right, right. And then you can't have, you know, as expected estate distilling. You think of, if you know anything about craft distillers out there, you think fray ranch. And we had their bourbon, a six year bourbon from them. And it was, night and day from the whiskey acres, but also just as good. I mean, I was really impressed.

It's a little bit more of a well-aged bourbon. It had a little bit more barrel influence on it. Wasn't as sweet. Definitely was not deserty. It was almost like light and dark a little bit. Yeah, definitely. Both great expressions, both good representation of what Los Leonard's trying to do here.

So our next pour is their Farmers Fields bourbon. So what they did here is I know Adam Polonsky is kind of like it's his playground. So he picks the barrels, but then he also takes some of those barrels sometimes and kind of blends them. So what we have here is some bourbons from Frey Ranch. Like I'm sure it's probably just a barrel or so. barrel from Whiskey Acres. And then a new one to the mix is one from Far North Distilling in Hallock, Minnesota.

Oh, what's it called? Far West? Far North. Far North. Yeah. OK.

So, yeah, that's a new one to me, too. I hadn't heard of that, which. I always love trying new stuff, so I'm kind of interested in this blend. Now, it doesn't go into great details like what the percentages are, but this one has a five-year age statement because the components range from five to six years. So I'm guessing probably that six-year might be another six-year barrel from Fray Ranch. That's just me kind of guessing. So 117.9 proof, 428 bottles of this blend. 117.9? 117.9, yeah. So with 428 bottles, you got to think that was probably one barrel of each that he kind of blended together. Sounds like it. Yeah. And again, I believe all these were priced at about $100.

Fantastic. So this is a blended bourbon from multiple distilleries that Adam has procured and played. Curated and blended himself.

Yeah. And you know, you see a lot of blends out there. In, you know, the big boys, you're like other brands do like MGP in Tennessee. Obviously our, one of our favorites is the 15 stars. Right. They play with Tennessee. They play with Illinois. So it's kind of interesting to me to that they're taking some craft stuff and kind of playing around with it too.

So we've had some Nevada whiskey. We've had some Iowa whiskey and now we've got some Minnesota whiskey.

I think I love it. My first Minnesota whiskey. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Let's check it out.

Yep.

Okay. What was the age on this one? Five years because there's some six in it. Five to six. Yeah. Got it.

Okay.

Picking up a little bit of grassy note in there. Just and a nice serial note. Yeah. So

So there are some details here about how the far North Bourbon, it's a, it is a five year, 60% hairline corn, 30% haslet rye, which I don't know. Yeah. I've heard of, you know, rosin rye and was it a bruise and you know, a lot of others, but that's the first one for that. And then 10% malted barley.

Okay. The barlings playing a bigger, bigger part in this, I think.

Yeah. And then it goes on to say the fray ranch is actually, yes, six year barrel and the whiskey acres is a six year.

Okay. Got it. It was kind of bringing all these together. I think that, uh, the far North is, uh, imparting some, uh, I want to say more youthful notes, but some, uh, some, a little bit of grassy note there, a little bit of, uh, um, I'm getting a little more new Oak, new Oak. Okay. I see. I'm getting like just a hint of mint too.

Yeah. Which is a little bit of a bourbon is kind of interesting.

Yeah. I'm getting that too. I agree. Okay. All right. We're not going to get to try this, this far North by itself. Right?

I mean, this is, uh, well, They do have one, one of the estate rises from them. So, uh, and I'll go ahead and we'll go ahead and talk about those. So we'll, like I said, we're separating these shows. We're going to do the rise for another show because well, eight pours is a lot to try and do a show. I think we've done it before and we don't have time for tasting for taking a nap. and the Tasting Four. That's kind of what it boils down to. Got it. Yeah. Yep. So Frey Ranch has a rye in there. Corbin Cash out of California has a rye in there. And then kind of like they've done here, they took barrels from each of those three and I believe blended them to make like a what they call it, the farmer's blend kind of thing.

Well, fantastic. Yeah, this is definitely nuanced a little bit. The new player here that's coming in has brought some different notes that the other two didn't have. So I would say it broadened the spectrum of flavors on this.

Yeah, it's earthy. Yeah, a little earthy. Yeah, I agree. So we've gone light, dark, and earthy. Yeah. I like it. All right. All right, sip it. Cheers. Cheers. Okay.

Oh, that is savory.

Yep.

Wow.

That's a good call. That is. Wow. We have like three different.

Yeah, very different. This is dripping. Uh, I'm getting this real salivating effect on the sides of my tongue. Um, it's amazing that these components come together and just bring this, uh, this wash of flavor that just excites the palette. Yeah.

I'm getting that cooling mint. Yeah. We had that on something else recently that was really unique. The cherry from like maybe that whiskey acres is there.

The funny thing is I would have liked to have tried the, uh, the whiskey acres, the fray ranch and the far North, all three separately, and then tried them together. We didn't get to try the far North by itself.

I'm curious to know why they didn't have that in there, but you know, they, maybe they didn't have enough barrels or something.

But the end result is a very good whiskey.

Very tasty blend. Yep. I like this a lot.

Adam, good job. Yeah. Your team did a great job on this one. No doubt. I'm actually getting a little bit of leather note on that. And it's surprising because there's really nothing here extra aged.

No, I mean, you're all pretty close.

A little bit of tobacco and leather. No. So Todd, savor on that for a minute and see if you don't get a little like red man on it. Like a little chewing tobacco. Yeah. I can see that. Wow. It's funny how the flavors play together. They kind of, um, enhance each other. Yeah, I'm definitely getting like a, I said red man, but I'm going to go beach nut.

What's cool about this was. They send me a link to a Zoom that they did with Kobe, with the head guy from Whiskey Acres, the head guy from... far north, but I think that was the night we were recording with Mendenmil, oddly enough. So I only got, I didn't really get to pop on and watch much, but I mean, I'm sure that was a pretty, they actually sent me, I've watched a little bit of the kind of the replay, but it was interesting to hear them talk about like where they're from and you know, like the Corbin Cash guy was there as well. So, you know, their challenges and like Nora and Adam were kind of on there, you know, like being the moderators for it. So, Um, I love what they're doing. I love, you know, like they say their motto is shining the light on craft distillery. So, and well, apparently it's also blending craft distilleries too.

So this is fantastic. This is going to be tough. Uh, it's going to be a tough one tonight. It's definitely going to be a tough one because they're, they're kind of, uh, I mean, they're, they're, they're different enough. Like, you know, the whiskey acres, it was kind of more deserty for me. The fray ranch was a little bit more refined, bold, but also a little more well-aged. The oak had a bigger influence on it and it kind of would be a little bit more of a, would pair better with a cigar. This one here, uh, it kind of brings all those together, but then introduces this nuance from the far North that, um, it kind of has a little more youthful effect to it. But I've always said that whiskies that have some of those youthful notes, some of those four year notes that disappear later on. They're, they're nice.

Yeah. I mean, sometimes, you know, I've had some things that were a little off putting, but sometimes, yeah, I don't mind that.

Yeah. And they bring something, but they, that those, those nuances that they can bring disappear after five or six or seven years in the barrel and you never get those again. So altogether, I think this makes a great blend.

Yeah. And you got to come into it with a different mindset. You don't want to think, well, I want this to taste like a Buffalo Trace product. I want this to taste like a Heaven Hill product. It's not going to. Because they've got their distilling process down to a serious science where everything's going to taste spot on. There's not a whole lot of variety. Sure, you're single barrels. But to get, like we said, we had the Buffalo Trace, just the basic to kind of kick off our, kick off our palette, if you will. I mean, every time they bottle that Buffalo Trace, there is a flavor they are looking for, and that's what it's gonna try to be as close to when they put out batches, if you will. All right, shall we move on?

Let's move on.

All right, so gonna change a little course here. There were only three bourbons. But now we're going to stick with one of the ones we've had kind of. This is a Frey Ranch wheat whiskey. All right. Wheat whiskey. And so I can expect a little fire and ice on this one. Fire and ice, is that what you say? Yeah.

I mean, wheat whiskeys can be peppery and they can be spicy. Yeah. Surprisingly so.

Yes, agreed. And it seems like you're starting to see more and more. Makers Barctis came out with their Star Hill Farm. And it's getting rave rave reviews getting rave reviews. I haven't had it. I haven't either. Oh, come on guys. We need to get, I mean, we need to get busy here.

We need to be reviewing this, uh,

Yeah, but we whiskies are catching some attention. I think so. It's a, you know, Bernheim's been out there. I remember you and Brian actually did kind of like a small dive into them. You had Bernheim and a couple others. Yeah.

But the, but the makers Mark actually won gold outstanding at IWSC. So, I mean, it's not, it's not just a few reviewers saying it's good.

I was going to say, I've seen some reviews that have been very positive. But a little bit about this one, 121.3 proof, six years, 233 bottles. And again, I believe it's that a hundred dollar MSRP.

All right. Let's check it out. I know. Here we go.

Oh, baked bread.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I feel like I'm in a, I'm in an old stone wall house kitchen. With bread baking. Yeah. Definitely baking bread. Oh, I love this nose. Yeah. It does have a little bit of a freshness to it though.

You were talking about the distinctive like, like fray ranch is like, there's something very distinct about it. Like there is something like that says this is fray ranch. I don't, I'm guessing it's something they're yeast and parts.

Maybe it's got to be the yeast. I would think it is. I mean, certainly we have noted in the past that these Western distilleries tend to be very grain forward in their expressions and. You know, they really, it's for us to get this baked bread note or, or sort of, you know, but the, the yeasty note from them, I think it, I think they have a great yeast. Yeah. And, and it's been a long, like, I think I'm trying to remember when it was, when we had Frey Ranch on, when we had Colby on. Uh, but it's been a while. And I think that, um, I think you said like 68 or something. Yeah, it's been, and we've had them on a couple of times. I think we had, um, We had Colby on as a guest on the show in episode 86, but then we had their barrel-proof single barrels on in episode 117. But we're at an episode like 450 something now. So, uh, I think we've neglected Colby and the Frey Ranch team there for just 300 episodes or so.

Well, there's so many, so many places to talk to and so many new faces. It's hard to, I could see where it's hard to kind of go back sometimes.

This is good. Uh, let's get it on the pallet.

There's a little bit of florality to it as well.

Yeah, it's floral for sure. No doubt. All right. Cheers. Yeah. I mean, wheat whiskeys can have this little bite and, and, and fire that comes off of them a little bit. I think Bernheim does it too. They just have this, um, surprising spiciness that you don't expect from a whiskey, but we whiskies, they just have it.

I think so too.

Wow. You always think about wheats being soft and they do tend to soften a whiskey a little bit. And be proofing them down. Does that maybe, maybe it does. Yeah. Who knows what the chemistry is behind it, but Oh, strawberries, like a strawberries and cream is what I'm getting. Yeah. Let me go back at it. Okay.

The spice is actually pretty gentle.

Yeah.

Man, can we do like a 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D when we rank these?

I'm actually getting a little bit of anise on it too. Okay. Again, surprising for a whiskey. I don't know if it's subliminal messaging, but yeah, I'm starting to get it now. Yeah, I think it's a little bit of a surprise. Wheat whiskeys can tend to be fire water. I mean, they can be particularly like the barrel proof Bernheim. It's, it's pretty spicy meatball. Oh yeah, it is. It is. This is good. This is really good. It still carries this nice, um, Kind of bready note to it.

Now this is a hundred percent soft winter wheat. Okay. Which a lot of folks have heard.

I don't even know what the difference is between a soft winter wheat and a hard winter wheat. I don't know what that means.

If we get Kobe back on, we'll have to ask.

Yeah, we'll have to ask. I'm not the grain specialist, but this is good. This is really good. It's going to be tough. So we did have a, a weeded whiskey, a wheat whiskey special.

You said that was with Brian. Yeah, that was a Brian. Yeah. And, uh, I can't remember what episode. I don't remember.

So many, so many, but, um, I can't remember who came out on top on that either.

Well, I just remember you obviously you guys, Burnham is one of those that it's been around a long time. That's like the iconic wheat whiskey, I think.

Um, but I feel like you guys maybe pulled a few more, maybe.

Hmm. Yeah.

We had one from Woodford, maybe? Oh, that's right. I think you did have Woodford. Yep. That's right. They do. You often forget they'd make one. Yeah.

It's, you know, everybody, when you think of Woodford, you think of like, you know, just their basic or their double oak, you know, so.

Now we all know that in the whiskey biz, things have been softening a little bit in the market. It's just, you know, hey, in the world of bourbon and whiskey, things go up and down. It's kind of a cyclical market. But the funny thing is, is that Woodford is killing it in a little bit of a down market.

Yeah, that's really crazy.

So what does that say?

Their sister company, well, sister brand, I guess, Jack Daniels.

is not doing well. Yeah.

You say not doing well, but there's still the big guy.

Yeah, millions of bottles. There's still the gorilla in the room, but their sales are down while Woodford's, and actually if old Forrester too, is up at the moment, surprisingly. But they did decide, Brown and Forman did decide to part with making barrels. Yeah.

I believe I saw some news on who bought that, but I don't recall who it was.

Yeah.

Probably one of the, you know, one of those bigger cooperages, I'm sure.

Yeah. It's a lot of things changing. We've had some shake up a little bit in the market and and it's it's we'll try to keep you abreast of what's going on. But yeah, just let it be known that Woodford is doing very good at the moment.

And well, we were both big fans of that chocolate redux. Absolutely. That thing was crazy good. It was good that. It's a very good distinct possibility that might show up on our end of the year. Best of. I was floored by how good that was. All right, so shall we maybe start pondering our rankings and can we get to this extra pour? Can we do it? I think we can.

So yeah, let's score our four while we have the bonus pour. How's that sound? That sounds great. All right. All right, well, let's start off by talking about this bonus pour, Todd. What do we have in our glass? So this is another Lost Liner product.

This is their Far-Flung Bourbon 3. And what's cool about this one, once again, Adam Polanski, showing off his blending skills, took some Bourbons from Frey Ranch. from still Austin, rich grain distilling, which I hadn't heard of. And, but that made your ears perk up.

Yeah. We had them on the show before. So rich grain is a very small operation and Mississippi, right?

Mississippi. Yeah. Wollersheim out of Wisconsin. I've heard of, but I don't think I've ever had anything. I have not had anything. Rocktown out of Arkansas. I've had them. Yes. You have a rye over there. I do have a Rocktown rye. Yeah, that is delicious. And Smooth Ambler out of West Virginia. Wow. Yeah. So, yeah, age four years. So I'd expect the youngest being four years if you're playing with that many types of barrels. And folks, heritage distilleries cannot do this.

Let me just tell you, you love your heritage distilleries. You love, uh, Buffalo trace and, uh, heaven hill and wild Turkey and, and all the big greats out there, Jim beam, but they're not allowed to do what we're getting, what, what Adam Polanski is doing at Los lantern, which is to blend between distilleries.

Yeah. A bunch this time. Wow. Fantastic. I know I'm intrigued. All right. But shall we nose and then we'll start, uh, ranking. Okay.

Great. Ooh, we're not scoring this one in the final though. This is just a bonus point.

This is a, like I said, I've become a big fan of theirs. So, um, I actually joined their monthly club. So this was kind of like a bonus thing for kind of joining. So, yeah.

Nice nose, nice nose. The proof is up a little bit, is it? It's 124. Yeah, we're up there.

I was going to say, we've stayed in a really good range of like 115 to one, was it 125ish?

Yeah. So a little bit more ethanol in this one.

Okay. Lemon bars. I'm getting like lemon bars. There is a citrus note to it. Yeah, like powdered sugar on top. There's a bit of like chocolate too. I'm not getting the darker notes on it, but I'm definitely getting the citrus, the elevated ethanol. I think I've said this on one other pour we've had, maybe two, like an amaretto, like an almond type thing. Okay.

I'm getting the nuttiness on it.

Not like peanut, not like walnut, but like it's a little like that sweet amaretto type thing.

All right, I'm gonna taste it. Cheers. Me too. Oh, that's the best texture of the night right there. Oh. Very buttery, creamy, silky. Nice.

I'm getting the chocolate still a little bit.

The chocolate is now, I didn't get it on the nose. Yeah. But I'm definitely getting it on the palate. It's a little bit, um, toasted marshmallowy. Okay. Yeah. I could see that.

Nice. Nice. Nice. I know like when you're playing with that many barrels from that many distilleries, like Did he go like full barrel or did he go like three quarters of one barrel and like a, you know, two barrels from here? That's a reach out to Adam and ask him. Have him back on. No, no. Right under the gun. That's right. All right. I think we should start writing. All right. It's going to be tough.

It is going to be tough. So for me, Oh, you're going first. I'll go first. This gives me even like extra time for a minute. That's right. I number four.

Oh, this is going to be hard. So you've got the whiskey acres, the fray ranch bourbon, the fray ranch with whiskey and the farmer's blend. We'll call it.

Okay. So I'm my number four. I'm going to go. And it's really close on three and four. Okay. But I'm going to go the wheat whiskey at my number four. Really? Okay. Yeah.

I'm going to go with the fray ranch bourbon. Oh really? I am. Okay. I enjoyed it. And you said it's close on three and four, but I would say it's close on one, two, three, and four. I mean, I loved all these.

Yeah. They were, they were all good. No doubt. Yeah. I think the wheat whiskey for me just didn't hit home and that it could be a profile thing for me. It could be a personal preference. I was intrigued by, well, I'm not going to, no, I shouldn't go there because I'll give away by next pick. So let me just say that I, I carefully considered this and I think the wheat whiskey fell in fourth place for me. Okay. All right.

My third place is going to be the farmer's blend.

And I'm going to agree with that. Okay. So I'm with you on the farmer's plan. I think that, um, that far North brought something to the table that I liked.

Yes.

Yes. It definitely took the other two and just kind of rounded them out and brought it. It definitely brought something else that they didn't have.

It also makes me want to check out a farmer's North bourbon. Yeah. Like, I mean, for whatever reason, it wasn't a part of this series, but I'm intrigued now because like you said, there was something added to it that I think was from that far North.

Yeah. All right. My number two was the free range bourbon. Okay. And, uh, and I, you know, it's just, again, these things fall back to kind of what you prefer as an individual, what your palate prefers.

What makes you happy that day? What makes you happy?

That's correct. So the French bourbon for me was, uh, yeah, it was, was that for me.

So my number two was the wheat whiskey.

Oh, okay.

Yep. All right. Wow.

That's pretty high for you.

Yeah. It, uh, That's one of the better ones I've had. Yeah. Yeah. I'm becoming a fan. Good deal. Like we talked, there seems to be a few more coming out and out, you know? Yep. I've had some single barrels of some MGP whiskey, which are really, really good too.

So, but I think we have a consensus on our number one. Oh my God, Whiskey Acres, what's up?

Shut the front door.

Shut the front door. Well done. I am definitely going to talk Melody into Figuring out how we can make our next drive to Iowa include a stop and decal.

I was going to say, we got to get gas and decal.

We got to get gas and decal.

For three hours. For three.

I like it. Wow. Good. Great job, Adam. Yeah. I mean, he's picking some great barrels. Yeah. No doubt.

Like I said, I root for these guys because, I mean, as you said, the market's slowing down a little bit. It's going to be tougher on these smaller guys than it is for the bigger guys, I think. So hats off, you guys did a great job and we will be.

Reviewing The Rise here shortly. So I don't know if it'll be the next show, folks, or it'll be the show after that. But we're going to follow up with The Rise here real soon.

Yeah. Like I said, these will be released the 25th, which, yeah.

The 25th of? June. 2025. Yes, 2025. Because we never know when somebody's going to listen to an episode. That's right. It could be like three years later. But anyway, yeah, I think it's a. Go check their website.

Go to Sealbox. If you're in Vermont, go to a store that carries them. I really like what they do. Like I said, I joined their monthly club. I'm kind of excited about that because every month is going to be a different distillery. I got something from J.R. Rieger out of Kansas. Wow. Yeah. And you know, we've had some fantastic single moths from them too, so. you've been warned when the malt me goes right again, there's probably going to be a good chance it's going to be something from Los Lander.

I am looking forward to it. Yeah. We had a, we had an episode recently where we were drinking some single malt and you know, um, I think I'd mentioned on the show that there was a particular distillery in Iowa that made a single malt I really liked. And they're like, Oh yeah, we know who you're talking about.

Yeah. Right.

Because there are some great single malt distilleries out there and people championing it. It's been a blast today. I've had so much fun. And we went through a number of whiskies. We need to go back and look, but I think you're right. I think Whiskey Acres might have either taken the day or second place the last time.

I feel like second place, because I think that mythology, which they kind of have a cheat code. They had like a 15-year MGP, blended it with some three-year stuff, I think. Don't quote me on that, but I think that's what there was something about it.

So good. So much fun. We've got some great shows coming up. People, you need to stick around and listen to every episode. Make sure you subscribe to us because you will not want to miss the episode about the mother of bourbon.

I know we had a really fun interview. That was really cool.

My goodness. Mary Dowling is, uh, a tremendous character from, uh, the 19th and 20th century that just, uh, rocked bourbon.

Yeah.

And, uh, and you gotta, you gotta hear this story. So if you're, if you're kind of a history nut and you're a bourbon nut and, uh, you love hearing, uh, true history of bourbon, a little bit of fiction put in there.

I was going to say, and if you're waiting on the next bourbon road episode and you can't find anything to listen to, you might want to check out that book for sure. Oh, absolutely. But it's coming soon.

Bourbon on the Banks, almost sold out. 75 tickets, yep. 75 tickets left. Probably some Twilight's.

It seems to be the one people are slow on, but. Yeah. I think it's more for the locals, like the late locals.

Todd and I will be there. We will have the bourbon road bar. We'll have the bourbon road tent. We'll be hanging out. We'll have all the swag there. We'll be at Whiskey Thief the Thursday night. Yeah. We're doing it upright. Yeah. We always do. We have a big, huge tent. We have a lot of fun. It's a big deal for us. It's kind of our annual gathering of roadies. Yeah.

We're kind of the bells of the ball.

Yeah. All right. It's been another great show, Todd, lots of fun. Thank you so much for, uh, working with Adam to put together this show and the lineup that we had tonight. Cheers to lost liner. Yeah. Cheers to lost liner. No doubt. Check them out. And do you know the website? Just search Lost Lantern on social media.

It's not lostlantern.com because I was trying to do a quick search and apparently there's a Lost Lantern brewery. So I didn't even look where that was. I was like, shucks, wrong one. But I'm sure it's like lostlanternwhiskey.com.

Adam Polanski, Lost Lantern, do a couple of searches. They'll come up for sure.

Yep.

Check them out. Definitely get on their normal, like, what's it called? Their mailing newsletter. Newsletter. Yeah. And see what's going on. They've got some great stuff.

I was going to say, get on, you know, if there's a distillery out there, everybody has a newsletter. It's kind of fun to keep you in the loop. And sometimes you get lucky. And I think I just signed up, we were talking about the URL 12, Buffalo Traces. That's what's funny. They sold 1800 bottles, but then they have a little contest where they're giving away five, five bottles. And I'm sure one million people have signed up for that. So it's kind of like when, if I win that, it's kind of like winning the lottery, I guess.

I just wanted to show up at Kroger's. All right, folks, it's been another fun show. We had a great time tonight. Thanks for listening to us. Thanks for joining in. You can find the bourbon road on all social media outlets. You've got to start on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, tick tock, Facebook threads, all those places every single week. Todd and I strive to put together a great show for y'all. We'll have guests on from distilleries, uh, People in the industry, authors, musicians, poets, comedians, just listen, if they'll drink whiskey and join us and have a good time, we're going to have some laughs and drink through some whiskey. We'll definitely let you know what we think you should add to your bar. We hope you'll join us every single week. The best way not to miss out is to scroll to the top of the app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way when Todd and I drop another episode, you'll get that notification letting you know that you can put your headphones on, hop on that tractor, hop on that zero turn, get out there, fire up that sweeper in the house. Whatever it is that you do with your headphones on, we can become a part of your day. Definitely check out theberpinroad.com. And the bourbon roadies.

And the bourbon roadies, yeah, page on Facebook. Yeah, we give away pours. Sadly, these are small samples, so I won't have anything. But maybe I'll just I've got a few lost liner bottles, so maybe I'll do something along those lines. But it's a it's a great group. We have a nice little group of like minded folks that love bourbon, love talking about bourbon, love showing what they what they're drinking. And yeah,

We'd love to have you come onto thebourbonroad.com and check out our articles and our, check out our store. We've got the glasses and t-shirts and hats and all the good things. Every time you buy something from the Bourbon Road, you help Todd and I get down the road to the next interview. And you know, we're not in the business to make money on this. We're just having a good time. It's a hobby, but your purchases help us to fund the hobby and we have a great time. If you enjoy what we do, support us. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

you