455. Four Pours, Four Places: From Cody to the Lone Star
Jim & Todd taste Wyoming Whiskey's Buffalo Bill Cody, RD1 Sister Cities, and Milam & Green's Kentucky vs. Texas split-distillate experiment.
Tasting Notes
Show Notes
Jim Shannon and Todd Ritter settle in for a four-bottle sample night on The Bourbon Road, working through an eclectic lineup that spans the American West, the Bluegrass State, and a transatlantic distillate experiment that splits the same white dog between Kentucky and Texas maturation. Grab your favorite Glencairn — or a wee one if that's all you've got — and join the guys as they explore what craft distilling looks like when producers are willing to push boundaries, honor legends, and let geography do the blending.
On the Tasting Mat:
- Wyoming Whiskey Buffalo Bill Cody Bourbon: A six-year-old straight bourbon blended from 26 barrels, bottled at 97 proof with all grains grown and distilled in Kirby, Wyoming. The nose opens with leather, sassafras, and chocolate-covered cherries, while the palate delivers sweet cream frosting, caramel, nutmeg, and a bright lemon-zest lift on the finish. Wyoming-only release, SRP $79.99. (00:02:15)
- RD1 Sister Cities Whiskey: A blend of five-year-old bourbon (70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley, finished with French oak necklaces), seven-year-old bourbon (75/13/12 mash bill), and eight-year-old rye (51% rye, 37% corn, 12% barley), finished with lightly toasted Mizunara staves. Bottled at 102 proof, SRP $69.99. Dark plum, milk chocolate, tart cherry, and a dry sandalwood spice define the experience. Available at the RD1 tasting room in Lexington, KY. (00:08:00)
- Milam & Green The Answer — Kentucky Aged: Distilled in Bardstown, KY in October 2019 from a 70/22/8 corn-rye-malted barley mash bill and aged five years in Kentucky, pulling up to 108.3 proof from the barrel. The nose is bright, floral, and fruit-forward — honeysuckle, sugar, and fresh orchard fruits — while the palate lands on cinnamon-spiced applesauce with a jalapeño-honey kick. Part of a 375 ml two-bottle boxed set, SRP $149.99. (00:27:14)
- Milam & Green The Answer — Texas Aged: The sister distillate of the Kentucky expression above, shipped as white dog to Blanco, TX and matured five years in the Texas heat, concentrating up to 117.3 proof. The nose turns darker and denser — smoked and grilled fruit with a rich, brooding character — while the palate delivers cinnamon red-hot spice, deep oak tannins, and a robust, full-bodied finish. Included in the same boxed set as the Kentucky expression. (00:33:20)
Beyond the glass, Jim and Todd touch on RD1's expanding Lexington facility (complete with amphitheater ambitions), the growing craft scene along the Louisville-to-Lexington corridor, a recap of the festival barrel-pick road trip to MB Roland and Casey Jones, and a preview of upcoming Bourbon on the Banks barrel selections still on the calendar. A strong night for craft whiskey with zero weak pours.
Full Transcript
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 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. Smokies Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at SmokiesLifestyleCigar.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 thehillhousekentucky.com. All right. Welcome back to long time listeners roadies. And, uh, even you knew people who haven't heard us before. Glad to have you here. Todd and I are setting up for a great show today. And, uh, today is actually another sample show. So we've got a number of samples that we've curated and Todd has put together kind of a lineup for today. Todd, what are we starting out with?
So our first whiskey tonight will be Wyoming whiskey's Buffalo Bill Cody. And we had spoken about this on our previous show and one of our kind of our news, news flashes, if you will. So they were kind enough to send us a nice little small sample of this. So I'm kind of excited. It's a six year old bourbon blended from 26 different barrels. It's 97 proof, SRP is 79.99. But the bad thing is it's only available for our Wyoming roadies. So if you're traveling through there, hey, you might. I know Wyoming whiskey is really big in Wyoming.
Yeah. So it's kind of a, you got to be in state to get it more or less. Right.
They never mentioned much about shipping, so I don't think they do ship, but you know, they're kind enough to send us a sample. So we like to, Show them some love back. So Wyoming being out in the West, they love to pay homage to, you know, different places and people from the West that kind of made Wyoming what it is today. So that's why they chose Buffalo Bill Cody for this. Uh, all the grains are grown there in Wyoming. It's distilled there in Kirby, Wyoming. And like I said, blended from 26 barrels. I didn't get a mash bill or anything, but so I know they do a lot of weed out there, but I think this is just their straight bourbon in this one.
And this is a 97 proof straight bourbon at a, at a Wyoming whiskey. Fantastic.
Six year old check her out. Yep. Cheers. Oh, that knows this.
It's really nice. Yep. I'm going to, I'm drinking out of a weakling Karen tonight. So the nosing is going to be a little more difficult.
I mean, I like them. I think they're cute. I think they're cute, but they're cute, but I have a big old nose. So it's hard for me to get them in there. Me too. I'm loving this nose. Like there's a little bit of leather.
Yeah, but it's kind of like a real spicy kind of.
It's like a cherry chocolate, like a ball.
Yeah. It's got a little bit of an exotic spice to it, too. Like, I don't know, like maybe a sassafras or a. Yeah, I think maybe a sassafras. OK, so you're getting a chocolate, huh?
Yeah. I'm getting like a chocolate cherry combo, kind of like a, you know, those cherries that are covered in chocolate or like a, um, you'll see those like cakes there for dessert, like somewhere where it's got like the cherries on top of a chocolate cake.
Nice. Yeah. I am loving this nose.
All right, let's go in.
Let's let's taste. Cheers. Cheers. Oh no, that's really good. Oh, sweet cream, frosting. Um, a little bit of like a, yeah, caramel, a little bit of, uh, like nutmeg. Oh, it's just wonderful. Wonderful palette.
There's a little bit of bright citrus, almost like, like a lemon zest.
That's a great whiskey. Wow. Six year old, huh? Oh man.
I'm loving that.
Yeah.
I could drink this all day long. Okay. Wyoming roadies. Let us, uh, if you know, if you're going to come to Kentucky, you might need to bring us a bottle of this.
Oh, other than wanting to sort of call out and honor wild bill with one of their whiskies that they have a specific reason why they wanted to call this the, uh, Buffalo Bill Cody brand. Have they been looking forward to doing this for a while? Is this got, uh, some maybe pick somebody kind of thing.
Um, you know, and he's a very iconic figure there. So, and while that's, uh, Buffalo Bill Cody should be honored that this one's, uh, got his name written all over it.
I've had a number of whiskies from Wyoming whiskey and I have to say they're all good. Uh, this one's a little, little on the special side.
This one is a little elevated.
Yeah, it is definitely. So, uh, listeners, if you've had a Wyoming whiskey before and, and maybe it piqued your interest, this would be one to definitely keep your eyes on because it's, uh, It's a little on the extra special side.
Yeah. And, uh, at a blend of 26 barrels, it's six years. What are you thinking? Uh, 4,000, maybe 5,000 bottles probably.
I'd have to do math and that's hard. I've already had a couple of warm up for us before the show. I know you were hauling kids around, but I was, I was sitting here, uh, uh, on the computer, sipping on a little bit of, uh, actually Woodford double O one from a Frankfurt bourbon society, actually. Okay. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. I'm loving that one. That was really good.
Yep. Very good. Okay. So what do we have, uh, next on the list?
So, next up is we're going to travel to Kentucky this time. This is from our good friend Barry Brinecker at RD1. And this is their sister city's expression. So, it's a blend of five and seven-year-old bourbon with an eight-year-old rye. And it's finished in Japanese Mizunara oak and French oak as well. So, Let, you know, obviously RD one is located in the Lexington and it is sister cities too. And I might kill this. I apologize. Shin had okay. Japan and this is French, which I did not take French either Deauville French or maybe Dove Deauville. Okay.
I can't help you. I'm not reading it, but, um, I think you did just fine. Todd. Okay.
So yeah, like I said, they start out with a five-year-old bourbon, 70 corn, 21 rye, nine malted barley. And they put in some French oak necklaces is what they call them. So I guess it's kind of like, you know, how some put in staves, they're putting in like some type of chained French oak staves. And then that's blended. with the seven-year and seven-year bourbon, eight-year-old rye, which the seven-year bourbon is 75, 13, 12, which isn't that a gobble gobble smash bill. Sounds like it. Yeah. Right. And the eight-year-old rye is 51 rye, 37 corn and 12 barley. I didn't really do a deep dive on that one.
Who's the 51 rye?
I mean, I know that's an interesting one. There's a 51.
There's a 51 rye out of MGP. I think there's a 51 rye out of southern states as well. I don't know. But it's an 8-year.
So once that's blended, then they add some lightly toasted Mizunara Staves to it. So this comes in at 102 proof.
OK, cool. A little bit of a step up from the last one. I love Mizunara, but man, it's hard for distilleries to do that. That's an expensive barrel. Yes.
So once again, 102 proof, and this one has an SRP of 69.99.
Well, you're going to have to help me out a little bit here, Todd, because I'm struggling with the weakling Cairns. I shouldn't have grabbed these tonight. And for those of you listening out there, weakling Cairns are fun. They sit nicely in your hand, but boy, you cannot nose out of them.
What do you find for like tastings, like quick tastings? Like, uh, I think one of the Glen Cairns I got was from the Evan Williams experience one time. So on the nose, that Miss Inara has given it kind of like a bright fruity nose to me. There's like a heart orange kind of thing, like, uh, almost like a orange sour, sour patch kid kind of thing.
Yeah. The nose is kind of escaping me. I'm getting it. I'm getting like a, what's like a raisin bran. Okay. Yeah. Like raisin bran cereal. Like if you were to open the box and put your nose into it. Yeah.
I can see like some dark plums kind of thing. Right. Yeah. Cherries. I don't know if it's my nose and I'm getting a little milk, like not heavy dark chocolate, but like a little like milk chocolate kind of thing.
Yeah. I think a lighter chocolate's definitely coming off on it. Um, it's got a great nose. There's no doubt, but it's such a, it's so hard for me to pull it out with this small glass. I probably ought to pour a little bit of my hand and just knows it. I think I'll do that. Kind of wet my palm with it. I mean, it's got a good nose. It's kind of on the lighter side though. Yeah.
Coming from that, uh, Buffalo boat Cody. I really liked this one too though. All right. I'm ready to sit. Cheers. Cheers.
Oh, that's really good. Barry, you slide dog. Oh, he's put together something really nice here. Hasn't he? Yeah.
That's a spicy meatball.
Yeah. It's spicy. It kind of, uh, it kind of, uh, it's on the edge of dry and leathery, but at the same time it's got this, uh, you mentioned a light chocolate. It definitely has this light chocolate note to it. I won't say white chocolate. I'll just say like you did milk chocolate, right? Just kind of a milk chocolate note. Yep. tart cherries, but it's got this, uh, yeah, this wood that it's got this wood in the background. This kind of a, a dry, um, spicy, deep, dry, spicy. Yeah. Yeah. Dry, spicy wood. That's you also would call it like sandalwood or something, right?
Like, but that's more, uh, sandalwoods got that more like aromatic type, you know,
Yeah, this doesn't have the aromatics, but it's got kind of, it hits your palate like a sandalwood.
This is really good. Wow. That's two for two.
Yay. Fantastic. Rd1 has moved into a new facility. Yup.
They were there.
What was that area called there where they were at?
I think it's like Manchester. Avenue.
It's not their whiskey row, but whiskey district. Whiskey district. Yeah. They were there for a while, but they moved out and they're, uh, now dark arts is there and, uh, barrel houses. They're still there.
Right.
Right.
Yep. Yep. But truth be told, I mean, it's only probably like a, three, four minute drive from there to their new place, which is off of 421 there. And quite a facility. They've got big plans for that. They're supposed to put in like a amphitheater for concerts and things there. And it's a big space that runs right along the tracks there and it's near the Lexington Cemetery. And yeah, so I expect to see a lot more stuff going in that area.
Yeah, I go way back in time here. And I think about back in like 2018 or we had Barry on the show and this is long before RD one was even a sparkle in his, his eye, but, um, he was running the Lexington bourbon society at the time. I don't know if he was running it, but he was certainly one of the leaders there. And we had him on the show a few times and. But he's went on to great things and these, these, these guys are really doing a good job. And I mean, when you go up to, uh, uh, one of their events, you step up to their tent, you taste some of the whiskies.
I mean, they're fantastic.
They're really doing a good job.
Yeah. So one of the things that's kind of cool and they're kind of doing is you'll be able to bottle your own there, like, you know, kind of like whiskey thief and I know bluegrass does that and, you know, that kind of thing. So, um, The thing is their barrels will already have that finish. So like you could get a bottle of the Mizunara, the bottle of French Oak. They also have just their straight bourbon. So it's going to be a, it's going to be definitely a good destination. If folks, if roadies out there are in that area in Lexington, it's, I think Lexington's really starting to show itself on the bourbon map, if you will, which is nice to see, I think.
I think so too.
Yeah. It just kind of makes that whole little to Lexington corridor worth a two or three day stop, you know, or yeah, three day visit.
Yeah. I kind of feel like, you know, uh, you know, we're not quite as spread out as the Tennessee whiskey trail. The, uh, the Kentucky bourbon trail and the craft trail are spread out from. Pretty much the Ohio river up near Cincinnati all the way out to Owensboro and then down to the Western part of the trail, which we were just at last week. Um, I mean, it's, it's still a pretty good haul to try and get them all in, not quite as spread out as the Tennessee trail, but still. There's some miles there. I mean, it took three and a half hours to get from Louisville down to MB Roland. So, yeah, that's not, I shouldn't say Louisville. I should say Shelbyville or Shelby County down to MB Roland three and a half hour drive. Right.
But I heard you guys had a lot of fun.
We did, we had a great time. We picked a couple of really, really good barrels. And, uh, for those listening, when you get to bourbon on the banks this year, you're going to get to try some of the barrels we picked this year. I think we're picking a record number of barrels this year, 10 or 11. I think it is Todd, right? Yeah. 10 or 11, I believe. Yes.
We still got a few more to go. And, uh, you guys picked one from MB Roland and you also picked one from Casey Jones.
Yep. And then the week before we did, uh, Jeff, the creed and then you and I were out at, uh, James pepper, um, angels envy. Where else have we been? My goodness. Uh, anyway, there's a few, there's quite a few chicken cock. Yeah, that's right. That was a really fun one. Well, it's been the year barrel picks.
Oh, and they did one at bespoken too or bespoke. Yeah, bespoke. Yep. Yep.
All right. Well, so far, so good.
I was going to say, be ready, roadies. I'm pretty sure that we will be giving away another barrel pick spot for probably the whiskey thief pick, I would imagine. That would probably be a good one for someone to come along and join us, but we'll have to check with Amzie on that.
Yeah, that sounds good. That'd be a good one to go on. We got, what do we got left? We got, uh, whiskey thief. We've got pursuit spirits.
Yeah. Uh, we've got short barrel, short barrel out of Georgia. I believe they're gonna, they'll be sending some samples at some point. And I feel like there's one more that we might be missing Jim, but, Oh, uh, limestone.
Oh, limestone farms. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So that might be another one.
We might go to invite a roadie along on since it's pretty local. Good deal. We'll definitely keep checking in the bourbon roadies, uh, Facebook group, uh, those announcements will be there. So, all right, Todd. So two great whiskeys in the first half, both of them. Well, definitely, uh, my top two of the night so far.
Yeah.
So they beat out the Woodford then, is that what you're saying? Yeah, they beat out the Woodford, I think. I mean, I love Woodford Double Oak and you guys did a great pick, but yeah, I love tasting things that have a little bit of a, a unique note to them. And both of these had a nice, unique note. All right. Just real quick.
I want you to go back and nose that Wyoming. Now, if you can, I know you have your small Glen cam, but see if you can. Wow. That thing got darker and leather, like more leather to me.
Yeah, it's leathery. There's no doubt about it. It definitely is. Good stuff. All right. Well, great first half folks. We're going to slip in to the mid point here. Take a quick break. Todd and I will continue sipping on these two and make our notes because tonight we're going to, uh, definitely pick a winner. 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 Frankfurt, Kentucky on the banks of the amazing Kentucky River.
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All right, listeners, welcome back to the second half. We just had two really nice samples, one being the Wyoming distillery Buffalo Bill Cody bourbon. And the second was RD1's new Sister Cities whiskey. That's actually a whiskey because it's a blend of two bourbons and a rye. And yeah, I thought both are quite impressive. What about you, Jim?
They were both really good. And I have to say they were both Um, unique enough to really get my attention. I mean, really get my attention. I think I, we mentioned in the first half, I had a warmup. I was warming up on some double Oakdale Woodford, which I love. It's a great one. And you guys made the pick. That was a fact from society pick and a wonderful bottle. But the minute we eased into this show and I started drinking the Buffalo Bill Cody and then the sister cities from RD one, I just, we entered this world of, uh, wonderful, unique profiles. And I love it. I love it so much.
Well, we're going to kind of stick on that sister thing. If you will, we're going to dive into my lemon greens answer series. So what they did was they distilled their mash bill in Bardstown. They did a Back in October 2019, this was a 70 corn, 22 rye, eight malted barley. And so once it was done distilling, they immediately pretty much took half of that distillate and shipped it to Texas. And the other half they kept in Bardstown and put in barrels. So what you have here is two sister distillates, I guess, if you will, aged in obviously one in Kentucky and the other in Blanco, Texas.
So literally the exact same white dog going in two different barrels at the same proof. Well, a lot more than two barrels, of course. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was two sets of barrels. Yes. One being aged in Texas and one group being aged in Kentucky, but it was the same distillate entering at the same. a barrel entry proof, the only thing that changed was the location of the maturation. Yep. Both are five years.
And I think, you know, you often hear that things in Texas get a little hotter quicker. So the proof on the one from Kentucky came in at 108.3. Now I don't have any kind of barrel entry proof types information. And then the Texas one came out at 117.3 proof. So, and I think I read somewhere where like the Texas lost about 10% of its volume each year for those five years. Whereas the Kentucky was like two to four, 4%. All right. I'm excited. Kind of a neat experiment. I think it's pretty, uh, pretty unique. So we're going to start out with the Kentucky version. Like I said, this is the, uh, 108.3 proof five year.
Let's check it out. Yeah, let's do it. Oh, nice. Bright and fruity. First thing that pops in my mind. A lot of fruit on the nose.
Sugar, honey, fruit, floral, a little bit of floral notes, like honeysuckle.
Oh, that's really nice. Kind of reminds me a little bit of like a four roses. Oh, okay. That's, that's a high compliment.
Yeah. Really good. We've had three great noses so far. I know that. Oh, I'm ready to taste this. I think if you gave this to me blind, it's so fruit forward. I almost think single malt. A little bit. Cause of those like, yeah, like bright fruits notes. All right. I'm ready to sit.
It still has kind of the, the, it still has a little bit of that caramel. Yeah. Yeah.
Contrast with though. So some fruits drizzle with caramel. Cheers.
Super sweet with a bite. Oh, you nailed it. That's a spicy bite. Wow. It is. It is. It's almost like a jalapeno honey. Oh, good call.
This is like, I get like this very interesting apple sauce. It's make me think of like, yeah, apple sauce, like cinnamon drizzled on top and then your jalapeno honey. I like it.
That is a really sweet whiskey, but it is delicious. It's got this, so sweet and spicy go together so well. I mean, they just do. It's got that great pairing of sweet and spicy together. I think you nailed it with the applesauce. That's kind of what's at the core of this is this applesauce that has been amped up with Um, some spice, maybe some cinnamon, like you said, maybe a little bit of cayenne pepper just to kick it off.
That spice is just sitting on the middle of my tongue. Now a little bit about the pricing and the release. There were only 800 cases of this and they, they had like a, it's like a boxed wooden box set, 375 milliliter bottles. So it was pint size, but I've seen the packaging. It's really cool. And the suggested retail price on that box that was $149.99. And it says you could get it straight from My Lemon Green if your state is available to be shipped to, and then a few select retailers at the Tasting Room there in Blanco, Texas.
This is definitely like applesauce, dump cake. I mean, it's got that, You nailed it, Todd, that apple sauce with spice cake.
Yeah.
Spice cake. I mean, that's exactly what it is. It's so good, except they've thrown just a, a dusting of cayenne on it to add some punch. That's really good. Wow. It's going to be a tough call tonight. It is. I've always been really impressed. I don't agree.
Yeah. I, you know, I kind of got introduced to them more on this show than anything. And, you know, we, we tried their under-bridged a while back and we tried one of their latest small batch releases and yes, they, they are blending some real good whiskies. They're taking a lot of different components and making magic out of them. It's really cool.
Yeah. Good stuff. Well, I'm kind of excited to taste this Texas version. I mean, I'm, I'm on the edge of my seat.
I kind of wish they had told us like what the entry proof was on the barrels of this to see like, do you think it went at maybe one Oh five? So the Kentucky only went up to one Oh eight.
Well, I don't know. Do you, let me ask you this. Do you think it was barreled in, in Bardstown and then the barrels were placed on a truck and shipped to Texas? Or do you think it was containerized?
I think it was containerized as to still it is the, the way I'm, you know, in reading the press release on this, it sounded like it was, it was like a tanker type thing. Which probably would make more sense.
Which means they could have went in totally different barrel types. You know, they might not have went in the same exact barrel types. So it may not be just a comparison of two distinct environments. It may be more about two distinct environments and two distinct barrels. I mean, that'd be a good question to ask. It'd be a good follow-up question for this. Tell us about the barrels of the two and how they differed, you know? Right.
But it'd be curious to know if I kind of feel like it either went in at like 100 or maybe 105. And that's why you see just a small climb on the Kentucky and then the big climb on the Texas, but I could be wrong.
No, you may be right. You've got a little bit of experience here. I'd say you're calling it probably right.
All right. Shall we move on to Texas?
Let's move on. All right.
Oh, okay. The nose goes a lot darker.
Oh yeah. It's a different animal, isn't it? Isn't that crazy?
Wow. I wonder if anybody else will do this kind of experiment now that they've done this. It's, it's a really interesting idea.
It is. And you know, as I know that, and again, just, just to qualify this, I'm in a weakling Karen, but. I'm not getting the same bite on the nose that I got from the Kentucky version. There's almost like a ethanol bite.
No, it's a little, but it's just darker. There's like this, I'm getting like this touch of smoked fruits, like grilled fruits kind of thing. Oh man. We've had either my nose is just loving everything tonight or we've had four outstanding. noses on these.
You know, I'm seeing a trend here, Todd. We have been receiving some phenomenal whiskeys lately from distilleries that we've had samples from before that were good, but they weren't like, knock your socks off, right? And I think there's so many craft distilleries coming into their own. Really, they're distillate. in maturation is just reaching that prime age. And it's just delightful. It's wonderful. It's great to see it happen.
Agreed. You picking up anything else on that nose on your, on your wee nose? Yes.
Yeah. So I would not nail this as a Texas whiskey as I nose it. It doesn't speak Texas to me. I mean, I feel like when I have Texas whiskeys, you know, Balcones and, uh, iron root and, and, uh, some of the others there, of course, my lemon green is a Texas distillery, but, um, I feel like I can sometimes pick it out. They've got this, uh, unique profile that just the Texas climate just imparts on a whiskey and I'm not getting it on this one. I do see the difference between this and the Kentucky version. Yeah. But I wouldn't necessarily say it's a Texas light. Right.
Kind of, you know, I think of like iron root and garrison brothers where it comes off with that like burned caramel. They're really just rich and dense and you can like, you pick up that. Yeah. Just richness on that nose of some of those Texas whiskies. All right. But I'm ready to sip this one.
Yeah, let's do it. Cheers. Great whiskey. Really good. Different. Much different from what we had just a moment ago. Yeah. I'm going to go back to that first one though. Yeah. You go back to the first one and it's, uh, so much floral is sweet. It's fruity. It's, uh, it, it does remind me a little bit of a four roses. I hate to say that, but it does.
I would probably take that as a compliment though.
Yeah. Cause it's a, it's a wonderful whiskey. And then we'll go back to this one, the Texas version and you get this deeper, richer.
You can almost just taste how much it got drawn into the barrels on this Texas one. There's a lot more oak spice. I'm getting like the cinnamon red hot kind of thing.
And it is picking up a little bit of dryness from that barrel and from the wood. I mean, you're getting a little bit of that tannic note that's coming through on it. It's a, it's a bolder whiskey is something a little more robust. I guess robust is probably a good name. That's a great word term for it. I feel like the Kentucky version is a little more floral fruity and lighter. This one's a little more deep, darker and robust. If there were cigars, the Kentucky version would be a Connecticut and the Texas version would be a Maduro. Okay. Both wonderful, both really good, but amazing how you could take the same distillate and drive it in two totally different directions.
Yeah. And I just love this idea. When I saw this, I was like, I hope you guys have some samples of this. And luckily they were like, yeah, we can send some out. So thanks.
All right. So their, their box set contains two bottles. Are they, are they seven fifties?
There are three 75s. So pint size is a little pricey at one 49 99, but the, you know, it is a kind of a, Unique circumstance, I guess, kind of thing. And, you know, the, the, the box that comes in is really interesting.
So, and Milo McGreen is one of those distilleries that, uh, kind of has their foot in Texas and their foot in Kentucky. They kind of, uh, and also they all, they have their foot in distillation and they have their foot in contract distilling. So they, they kind of. They don't box themselves in to be like, we only make our own stuff or we only source from the best distilleries. They kind of do a little bit of both. They make their own and they source and their partner in Kentucky is our some bourbon company. Couldn't ask for a better partner than that.
Right. Right.
I think, I think it's great to keep your options open like that and just do what makes sense. And, uh, yeah, I think they're, I think they're doing a great job. This is a good example of what they're able to do with, uh, with keeping their mind open and thinking out of the box a little bit and incorporating both Kentucky and Texas, you know, climates into their maturation.
Yeah. Great. All right, but we've got to figure out how we're going to rank these tonight. Can we do one A, one B, one C, one D? This is all number one. They're all excellent. I know we say that all the time, but this is going to be really, really tough.
It's going to be tough. I know what my order is and I don't, I feel pretty confident. It's not going to match you, but that's okay. Cause this is one of those lineups where it really comes down to what you like, what's your stick, what it is you want. And, uh, I've got mine.
Okay. Well, you start us off and it'll give me like probably like 10, 15 seconds to think about it a little longer.
All right, no problem. My number four is the Milam and Green answer Texas.
Okay, good. We're going to agree there. I like that a lot. Okay. Yep. But the other three outshone it. Just a little bit. I mean, we're talking narrow margins. All right. All right. So what do you have for your number three, Todd? My number three is going to be the RD one sister cities and B2.
Oh, I thought we were going to be so different. Ah, oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
I'm right there with you again. Very enjoyable, but you know, there's something, I don't know if it's just my own personal bourbon journey. I've kind of like, I don't know. I've kind of gotten to a point where I'm kind of a little bit over finished whiskeys. I say that, but I still enjoy them. You know, I don't know. I'm just not, I don't search for them anymore.
And that one, that one was well done. I mean, like I said, uh, you know, I gave, I gave the, uh, the bow of, uh, uh, respect to Barry and the team there for, for putting together a great whiskey. It's really good. Uh, but there are some other whiskies here that kind of stand out a little bit more. Um, the number one and number two for me was a very tight race. Okay.
Before you go in, I'm going to say this about the RD one real quick. Yeah. And that's, that might be my favorite expression they've ever put out. I like their French Oak and their Ambarana is nice, but I'm kind of really over Ambarana, but that, I find that fantastic. So that's saying something.
All right. Yeah. I think they did a fantastic job there. Yeah. So, all right. Number two for you. Okay. Number two for me. This is so, so hard because they're both good in different ways. And, and, you know, honestly, if I said one or the other or the other in the one, I would feel equally fine because they're so close. I'm going to say my number two. Yeah, it's a coin toss. The number two for me is the answer. Kentucky from Milam green. Guess what, Jim?
My number two is the answer. Kentucky. So I'm going to agree with you.
Oh my gosh.
That Buffalo bill Cody. Yep. Yep. Took the cake. It was wow. Tickled all my fancies, if you will.
It was really, really good. Wow. We, we were locked step in agreement on all four of these, the Buffalo Bill Cody release from Wyoming whiskey. Definitely the number one. The Milam and green, the answer, the Kentucky age version of it had this really sweet palette, this four roses esque kind of feel to it, but it was dusted with cayenne pepper. I was like, I've never had that before. So it was delightful. It was really good. Um, both of those were, uh, exceptional examples of craft distilling. Very good. Agreed. All right. What a great show. I guess if somebody wants the number one pick tonight, they got to go to Wyoming, right? Yeah. And while you're there, grab us one. Get us one too. Yeah, that's right. But you couldn't go wrong by picking up a Milam and Green. You know, the box set at 150, it's a little pricey. I have to be honest.
It's a little pricey for two pints. Yep.
two pints, which works out to one bottle for one 50, right? Um, yeah, a bit much, but if you're a Miami green fan, it's a good deal. Otherwise, uh, find it at your local bar. That's a great pour that whiskey, uh, the, can the answer Kentucky aged. Phenomenal really, really good. No losers tonight, but all four of these whiskeys were fantastic. Todd, you did a good job putting them together. I think we made a great show here. It's easy to put together when they said, yeah, I think, uh, it's funny cause we always hear back from roadies that, uh, listen to the shows and they go out and they buy bottles based on what we talk about. And, uh, I don't think we've been. Uh, we've had any disappointed roadies yet. Have we? I haven't heard.
Nobody sent me any bottles with only a poor or two gone from him yet. So a little good deal. Yeah.
All right. Well, it's nice to do these review shows every now and then we, again, I apologize folks, but we've allowed the bottles to back up just a little bit. Todd and I have probably two more shows worth of sample bottles to get through. At least. All right. And we'll try to not do too many, too many of these shows in a row, but they're fun. They're always good. Like having guests though. Yeah, true. All right. All right, Todd, great show. Thank you so much for putting this together folks. Uh, definitely, definitely, uh, check out the bourbon road.com or website. We always have our episodes on there. We always have our blogs on there. Uh, you can also buy our swag and that anytime you buy a tee shirt or a hat or a Glen Karen or any of that stuff. You helped Todd and I get down the road to that next interview, that next distillery tour, that next place where we can bring the news to you about what's good to drink. Every single Wednesday, Todd and I will put together an episode. We will have a guest on, we'll have friends on, we'll visit somebody else's bar, we'll go through samples like we are tonight. Sometimes we'll have a musician or an author or, I mean, we've done all those things and we've done all those things quite recently. So if you like the variety and the things that we do here, let us know. We appreciate it. Uh, but if you're listening to us and you want to make sure you don't miss one of our episodes, scroll to the top of the app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way when Todd and I release another episode, you'll get that notification, let you know that we've dropped another one and we'll get you through that next, uh, whatever it is you do with your headset on. It might be driving to the next sales call or cutting the grass or whatever it is you do. We would love to be a part of your day, but until the next time. We'll see you down the bourbon road.
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