456. The Roadies Decide: A Bourbon Flight to Remember

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. Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at Smokey's Lifestyle Cigar dot com. The Surgeon General warns that cigar smoking can cause lung cancer and heart disease and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The Hill House Bed and Breakfast, located in Loretto, Kentucky, is ready to be your bourbon country home away from home. Located less than three miles from Maker's Mark, the Hill House is convenient to Bardstown and the rest of the Bourbon Trail. The next time you visit bourbon country, choose comfort and convenience. Choose the Hill House Bed and Breakfast. Listen in at the break for more details or visit their website at thehillhousekentucky.com. All right, listeners, Todd and I are locked and loaded for another great show today. It's going to be another sample show. We kind of explained to you, we've gotten a little bit behind on our samples. Shame on us, but thank you Distilleries for keeping them coming. We really appreciate it. But Todd, this is not just a sample show. This is another one of your roadies choice.

Yeah. So I put out, put it out there to our bourbon roadies page, which I encourage any of our listeners to jump on. It's a lot of fun. We started doing polls and we have some fun. You've kind of created like a AI that asks some really fun questions that folks can answer. Like, you know, what's your. favorite thing to have to eat while it pairs well with bourbon to eat and things like that. I encourage anybody that's out there listening to hop on Facebook and ask to join our bourbon roadies page. It's a fun group. What I did was took about, I think I had about eight or nine different bourbons that we had in-house. We've purchased some that we have gotten bottles or samples from. I let the people vote. So these were our top boat getters this time around. And yeah, we're going to review them. So there's actually... It's kind of interesting if you look at what we're dealing with here. It's kind of funny how it kind of panned out, I guess you can say.

There were some big hitters in there too.

Yeah, there were some that I thought would get the call, but they didn't get enough votes.

We'll talk about this a little bit later, but you kind of have a theory on why they chose what they chose, but we'll get around to that in a little bit.

Yeah. Yeah, we'll see.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, everybody likes to theorize sometimes. All right.

So we have two pours in the first half, two pours in the second half, and then a bonus pour, which we're not going to announce.

Not yet.

Not till the end.

We will get to it. We will get to it. Yeah. We've been on a pretty good run of getting to the bonus pours.

And we'll vote at the end. We'll let everybody know what we thought about everything we had today, but I don't think we're, are we going to include the bonus pour in the voting?

I think we should. Today, I think we should. Since we only got a sample of it, unless we can find a bottle of it, I don't think it'll be in the running for say our Bourbon of the Year 2025 as we tend to like to use ones that we actually have a full bottle of to review later.

All right. So at the end of the show, we're going to do a winner winner chicken dinner. One of these bottles will go home with a grand prize and who knows, there might even be a sample going out.

Right. All the acclaim and accolades.

Yeah, all the fanfare that goes with a Bourbon Road pick, right?

Yes.

All right. So what do we have?

I'm surprised you don't see those neck tags on there, chosen by the Bourbon Road. Maybe we could start getting them to do that, you know, when they put the bottles out on the shelves, it has a neck tag. Oh, they certainly should.

That's right.

We'll have to talk to some of them.

Well, what do we have in our first class tonight, Todd?

So our very first one is going to be the old Fitzgerald seven-year bottle and a bond.

Yay. I've been looking forward to this. Yeah.

So I got lucky and found one of these at one of my locals there at Capitol Cellar. So shout out to them for having it. And yeah, it's been, everyone's went a little crazy at first when it came out because, well, it's going to be a continuous release. I mean, I'm sure batches may change, flavors may change, that kind of thing. But it's a really nice looking bottle. It's not quite that decanter look, but it does have the wooden cork that looks a lot like the decanter top, that glass top.

I still think it's a great looking bottle.

Yeah, it's sharp looking, really sharp. So some of the stats on it, like I said, seven year bottle and bond. It's going to be 100 proof, obviously. Retails for $59.99. 68 corn, 20 wheat, 12 malted barley. In level three charred barrels, so. Kicking it off with a weeder tonight. Yeah, yeah. And I think what's one of the real cool things about that is the old Fitzgerald brand actually started in Frankfurt.

Did you know that? I did not know that.

Started at the Old Judge Distillery back in like the early 1800s, I believe.

Wow.

There was a gentleman there whose name was John Fitzgerald, who was the, they called him a storekeeper, which I don't, maybe they had like an in-house store there, but apparently he knew where all the honey barrels were at in the rick houses or at that distillery. So they, I guess after some time after he passed, they started making a, The really cool thing about that is the old judge, it went through a bunch of different names and 21 brands you may have heard of that kind of closed down, I guess, probably. the eighties. Well now that's where Benson Valley distilling is just opened up. Yeah. And we've had them, uh, come to our bourbon society and I figured eventually we'll probably had to have them on the show. That'd be great. Yeah.

Historic location there.

Yeah. It's really neat. So without further ado, let's check her out. It's nose. Honey bread, floral.

Yeah, it is a little bready.

It's got a little bit of a bite on the nose. Yeah, you get a little bite? A little bit.

But it does have a nice floral note to it, and it does remind me a little bit of the Prime, you know, a little bit, but certainly it's elevated.

Brown sugar, kind of classic. for a weeder. I mean, I think that one thing that really sticks out is like that honey bread, like maybe like even honey toast.

Yeah. Yeah. I get that.

Still a little ethanol going on.

It is rising for a hundred. Yeah. You know, and we've had these in the glass about 10 minutes or so, and, uh, and there is just a little bit of an ethanol bite on the nose there. Yeah. Cheers. Cheers. It's got a nice texture.

Oh, that's a nice Weeder.

It is nice. Very super soft up front.

Sweet.

Yep. Um, it does come to the back a little bit and, uh, provides just a very light sting on the back of the palette. Now, again, with Weeders, it's hard to, it's hard to know where that comes from, but it's probably sourced, it's sourced in the barrel, I'm sure.

I know. Isn't it funny? Everyone, A lot of people don't like rye spice, but I think there's something about Wheaters that it's like a different spice. It's like a cinnamon, zimmy spice kind of thing sometimes. I mean, Weller does it to me, the Bardstown origin series. I find, I don't know, maybe it's just my palette, but I find Wheaters almost as spicy as rye sometimes.

A little bit of a, like a honey cough drop. Um, very nice. Very, uh, it drinks, uh, very traditional, very traditional, very, very much like taking the old Fitz prime and allowing it to, uh, become much better.

Yes.

but it still has that profile. It still has that, that, you know, that, that wonderful weeded bourbon profile that you get off of old fits.

Yeah. I like that honey cough drop honey tea kind of thing. Yeah. It's a great shout. Yeah. That's just solid.

I mean, it's an easy separate. Yeah. Really nice.

And the days are cooling down. So like, thank goodness. I know.

I mean, it was, I just got back from Florida and it was, Hell of hot down there. It was bad. I mean, it was 105, I think. And my room was right next to the pool. So it was a quick, quick jaunt. Quick dash over the hot concrete. But the pool water was kind of warm.

Yeah, I get that. It got nice here. It's starting to climb a little bit. But yeah, there was like a touch, just that touch of fall to let you know that, you know, September and October and Bourbon on the Banks is closing in and cooler weather, sweatshirts, football. Wow. It's going to be good. I know. I'm excited. I do like that time of year. I do too.

I like the summer too, but it can get a bit oppressive in the heat, even here.

Yes. I mean, Florida is a whole other story, but it does get warm here. But there's Uber in Orlando. So like there's Florida heat. If you're on the beach, it's not nearly as bad. Cause there's something about like, you just get that ocean breeze kind of thing. I mean, it's still hot. Orlando is like a big giant heat island, right? All the heat coming from Disney and Universal Studios.

All right. That's a good start. Yeah, I think it is. I think this is a good pour. $59. A little pricey compared to the four year. Yeah. What's the, uh, the heaven hill, uh, bottom on seven year at?

Isn't it about 70, 60? Is it that high? I want to say like, I think about 60 is about right. I want to say this, this is kind of, they're both priced about the same.

Are they? I thought it was less. Maybe it is. Could be wrong. I thought it was like 49, but.

I wasn't expecting that question.

Well, I mean, I've got a bottle, but I haven't bought a bottle in a very long time. So who knows what the price is right now.

But I figure. They're going to stay close to that though, you know, just because it just makes sense. You got a seven-year bottle to bond, a seven-year bottle to bond weeder.

So what do you think the general acceptance of this bottle is going to be by the public?

I mean, I feel like it's, like I said, there's been a lot of hoopla about it. It was a little crazy at first. People in Facebook groups were way overpaying. I mean, I think it's, At the value of that right now, it's a good bottle. It's a great inter, to want to have on the shelf to share with friends who aren't, or maybe to look beyond trying something 90 proof. That next step up, if they're wanting to go in their bourbon journey and take it the next step, this Routed & Bonds is a great second step, I think. Like I said, it's a gorgeous bottle. It's a nice one to have on your shelf.

Yeah, I think that there's a lot to be said for bottled and bond whiskies at a higher than four-year age range in today's market. I think there's definitely a demand for those whiskies at 100 proof. at seven or eight years of age. And there's a couple of really good examples out there. So I think, yeah, I think it's a good move, good marketing move on their part. And always happy to have what's already a decent bourbon at an elevated age and a guaranteed 100 proof. That's kind of nice.

Yeah. Plus it's at that under 10 per year. So I kind of like that.

Yeah, and then their decanter bottles typically run 150ish.

I believe it's 150. Might've climbed up a little bit. Yeah. I've never procured one because those are usually...

In the 10 to 14 range years?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So considering, I mean, I know they've had like a nine year and eight year in the past. So the fact that you're getting A seven for 60 bucks. Yeah, that's true. Cream of the crop there.

This is more production level whiskey, right?

It's good stuff. Yes.

All right. I've made my notes. I know where it stands. It's currently in first place.

First place. I like it. All right. All right, we're gonna keep it at seven years. We're gonna keep it bottled and bond, but we're gonna move over to Jim Beam with this one. And this is the old granddad's seven year bottled and bond.

Okay, well I've always loved the old granddad bottled and bond. So the seven year.

Should be a little elevated, right?

I hope so.

So this one retails for $39.99. So that's a $20 difference than the Heaven Hill. This is their 63 corn, 27 rye, 10 malted barley mash bill. And then, yeah, there's, I mean, there's not a whole lot else to talk about. I mean, old granddad, for those that don't know is named after the face on that logo is Basil Hayden.

So, I mean,

He shows up a lot.

And this is a, you just mentioned the mash bill, but you know, we just got done drinking more of a weeded mash bill and this is more of a elevated right mash bill.

Yeah. Yeah. Not as elevated as it used to be, but compared to everything else.

But, Oh, Oh, the nose. I like that.

You getting that nuttiness? Yes. Yes.

Definitely getting the nuttiness. It's a,

It's like sweet. Do I sound crazy if I say it's like those circus peanuts, like the marshmallowy ones a little bit?

Marshmallowy peanuts. I'm trying to think of what you're talking about.

They're like orange and they're about the size of your thumb.

Oh, I know what you're talking about.

They might even like, yeah. I always heard they were called like circus peanuts or

I think you're right. I think they're like that. You know, another thing that remind me of, do you remember the candy, the Boston Big Beans?

Yes.

Kind of reminds me a little of that too. Okay, nice. But in any case, it definitely has that traditional nutty nose to it. And it has a nice, like not a new oak, but a more mature oak nose on him. So.

And this is one we might revisit a little bit down the line. Cause I think it might just be fun to kind of do an old granddad show. What a fun comparison. You know, you've got their 86 proof, their four-year ball and a bond. This now, although this says it's limited, but I'm kind of, I don't know, kind of curious to see if you'll see this continue or maybe they'll change the year or something on the ball and a bond. It does say limited on it though. But you've also got the classic, the 114 proof, which I mean, that's one of the best deals out there in my opinion.

Absolutely. Great, great nose on this. I really enjoy that. Cheers. Cheers. That's really good. Yup. I like that. I do too. $39. $39. Oh my goodness.

Grab this at Kroger.

So this right here is not $39 puts it solidly in the, you can drink it straight or you can mix it range. Right. I mean, for sure. Um, and at a hundred proof and seven years old, it carries, it carries a nice, powerful, um, palette that I think would really shine through a cocktail or even eyeball.

Want to try that theory?

Yeah.

Sweet. This one's sweet again. Yep. that baked bean or the Boston baked beans thing is so kind of, you've got that just.

Do they still make those? You know, so many of these candies, I don't, I don't, I don't really go to the candy aisle anymore.

I was going to say, I bet at Cracker Barrel, they've, I mean, and something like that, that's gotta have them. Cause that was a classic.

Man, I just pulled that one out of like my cold storage memory.

Yeah. We talking about O'Henry bars next.

Charleston chews. There's another one. They still make those though.

It's a bit of a citrus thing going on too. Like, uh, I know I say orange citrus when we have a lot of wild Turkey, but I'm getting a little citrus on that too. Brown sugar. Yeah, that's a, it seems a little more viscous than the heaven hill.

It is. It definitely is. Now when, when the heaven hill hit my palette, I thought it's a nice texture, but this is even up from that. I think so too.

Yeah. Cool.

So, wow. Great job, James B beam distilling. You have, uh, you've put together a very decent little pour here. Do you often have the, uh, the standard issue, uh, old granddad bottle and bond on your bar? I do not. Yeah.

Well, that's just got too much.

Yeah. I mean, when you have so many whiskies, you got to kind of, but, but it's one that I've picked up from time to time when I'm trying to keep bottle and bonds around for something to, something to pour. Right. I don't remember the price on the standard one. $24 sounds about right. Sounds 20, 22, 24.

Yeah. I think 20 to 25. Yeah.

Okay. And then this one's at 39 and you're getting, let's just say three more years.

Yeah. Yeah. We've discussed how I like choose my drinks though. I do that random number generator. I got a list of my bottles that are open and I'll pick three or four for that day or evening or something. That's, that's my weird way of choosing my pores.

Got to have, got to have a plan.

And then I guess, you know, my, my collection's a lot of single barrels. You know, I'm friends with, do a lot of picks, friends that do a lot of picks. I love the uniqueness of that. You know, I'm also a big craft fan, so I've got a lot of craft stuff too.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever been to your bar, Todd, one of these days. You're going to have to.

Well, I usually bring it to you. I know. I know.

You've got your portable bar.

Yeah, portable bar.

We should be sponsored by your bar.

I need to reach out to them. That's right. That's a good idea. So I've got to show a picture of it on the Bourbon Roadies page. It's a four bottle carrier I got from Aged in Ore, which they have a lot of really neat things to help you pack. One of the other things I have, it has four sealed bottles that you can take pours with you, like a little travel pack that comes in quite handy if, say, you're going away for a few days. And you're going to be stuck at a work conference that's only going to have Jim Beam and Maker's Mark at the bar, and you want to take something a little nicer, which I've been known to do.

Oh my goodness. Well, a couple of really good pours in this first half. So we had the, uh, the old fit seven year bottle and bonds, sort of a, a new release. And we've just had the old granddad seven year bottle and bond also a new release. And, um, I kind of got my tally going. I know where I'm at. What about you?

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah.

Yep. So far, I've got one and two. Yeah.

All right.

Any additional notes you'd like to give on the whole green, Dan? I was just going to say, I'm starting to get a little like a little green banana, which is odd for a bean.

You mean like a plantain? A little bit. Yeah. I don't know. You know me in bananas.

I know. But both, yeah, solid pours.

Yeah. Both really good and both in that reasonable price range. Um, yeah, fantastic. I hadn't had either one of these yet. So glad to have them on the show.

Yeah. I think this is one for the roadies.

Like if you do see it and it's at MSRP, it's a, these are big distilleries with lots of capacity that are delivering to all 50 states and overseas. So my guess is if you're hearing this pretty much anywhere, you could probably land one of these bottles if you're persistent.

Yeah. Just be patient and don't let it flesh out. Don't overpay. Yeah.

Yeah. Don't overpay and let it flesh out. I mean, it'll get out there. It'll get snapped up and then it'll get restocked and then you can get one. Right. All right, Todd. Well, that's a great first half. I think we, uh, we'll sort of break here.

Yep.

We'll come back afterwards folks. And, uh, we've got two more, uh, roadie chosen pores for the second half. And then also a surprise bonus port at the end, which is going to be included in the voting voting. Yeah. All right.

Stick around.

We will 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 five minutes from the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky, giving you easy access to the Bardstown Distilleries and all points of the Bourbon Trail. The owners, Cheryl and Jim, offer four comfortable and cozy rooms along with a gourmet hot plated breakfast every single morning. And, when you return from a long day of fun, it's time to enjoy a bit of the Bourbon Trail nightlife. Relax on the large outdoor patio, complete with a blazing chiminea and solo stove, or curl up on the sofa and chairs, put a record on the turntable, and relax with snacks and fruit in front of the gas fireplace. An evening at the Hill House is a perfect time to raise a bourbon glass full of cheer in the company of family and friends. We know you'll enjoy your stay at the Hill House Bed and Breakfast as much as we did. Find out more at TheHillHouseKentucky.com

All right, listeners, welcome back to the second half of the show. In the first half, we tried the old Fitzgerald seven year old bottled and bond, which solid, solid, solid pour. And then secondly, we tried from Jim Beam, the old granddad, kind of staying on point, seven year bald and bond bourbon, which they just released. So yeah, two great pours to start with. And we've got two more lined up with the bonus pour, which I'm quite confident we're going to get to, because I'm pretty excited to get into that bonus pour. I just heard a lot of good hype about it.

All right, so yeah, great first half, both great whiskeys, both definitely, I'm gonna say a bye for me. I'd buy either one of them if I saw them on the shelf.

Yeah, well, I did.

So thank you, Todd, for doing that.

I did, so there you go.

All right, so we've got three pours already out, so we've already poured all three for this half, including the bonus pour, so we're committed. We're very confident about this. All right, and I'm looking at this first pour. And it is very dark. It is very dark. Yes. So what do we got?

We have the old Forester extra, extra old. So this is a part of their experimental 117 series. It comes in a 375 retails for about $64.99. And so basically what it boils down to is this is 1910, which always a fan favorite of a lot of folks, that finishes even longer in that secondary barrel. So where 1910 typically sits in there six to eight months, these extra extra sit in there for 24 months or longer. So two years in those secondary bottles. Got it. The mash bill is 72 corn, 18 rye, 10 malted barley. And this is usually the best place to get this is either at the distillery, or Whiskey Row, I guess. You can also order directly from them. You'll have to check to see which states. I do know I have some friends that have been lucky and I'm sure it's like everything when you're like, you know it's going to release, you've got to get your email in there and all that stuff. Just hurry, hurry, hurry and hope it doesn't crash kind of thing. So you can order directly from them. And then some retailers around, I'd say probably a lot of them in Louisville get a few cases and things like that.

Well, 1910 has always been a favorite of mine. I could remember one time we went to a friend of mine, actually prior co-host of Brian and I went to Churchill Downs and we had a suite at Churchill Downs and we ordered an old Forester I remember we ordered like an old, an old Forester like bonded, like a bottle for the suite for us to drink the while we were there and they were out of it. So they brought us the 1910 and said, sorry, this will have to do. So we were pretty happy with that.

That'll work. That'll work. So this one's 93 proof. I don't think Gus said that, but yeah, that color is very dark.

Very dark. And 1910 is kind of dark anyway.

Yeah.

And so was the 1920, by the way. I mean, they're both pretty dark whiskeys. Right. All right. I'm ready to check it out. Same. Oh, wow.

I've got a little chocolate, a little dark, like dark cherry.

Yeah. Chocolate cherries. Definitely chocolate cherries. A little marshmallow.

Yeah. The toasted barrel. Toasted. Yep.

Yep. This has got all those signature marks of the 1920, but I, I mean 1910, sorry, but it's kind of, uh, concentrated.

Yeah. Is there like a, you get like a roasty, almost like copy note, like a, like a roasted chocolate coffee, you know, like those flavored copies.

I mean, I could see that. Okay. I don't know that I'm getting, I'm not, I'm not a, like, I normally drink just plain coffee. I don't normally get those elevated coffees.

We'd like to keep our eyes on the discount in Kroger a lot. Something that's normally $14 a bag that drops to four. We'll get experimental.

This is definitely, I mean, you hit it right off the bat when you, with your first couple of notes there, it definitely is chocolate and cherry. And I think I'll add in the roasted marshmallow a little bit. Yep.

Now I'm not gonna, I'm not getting that banana this time. I'm not. Well, I wouldn't anyway, but great nose.

It kind of reminds me even of something just, a little bit up the ladder a little bit. I mean, not quite their top shelf stuff. Well, it can't Kentucky kind of getting, getting there at $65 for a three 75.

I mean, that's a fifth turns into one 30. So. Great, great, great whiskey and might be the best nose. Yeah.

I call it a finished whiskey cause it's been a secondary toasted barrel, but this doesn't have like a, a, a used barrel finish on it. Right. All right. Cheers. Cheers. Very, um, mild. Agreed. Wow. I really expected this to pack a punch a little bit. You said it was 93 proof.

93 proof. I'm kind of wondering if maybe they let it ride a little higher, like 105 or something.

Hmm.

What is 1910 usually? What's the proof on that?

I don't know.

It's a little over a hundred though, right? I think. Am I crazy?

I'm going to have to Google it. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Okay. I expect it to be sweeter. It's a little more drying on the back. It does kind of make me salivate a little bit. So I know it's hitting the right spot. It's definitely delicious, but super mild on the palate. The nose is,

Yeah, I was expecting that oak spice to be prominent where it's there, but I think that the fact that they've cut it, probably a nice portion. I think they've cut it pretty low. It just doesn't, I was expecting more, I guess.

I think it's an excellent whiskey for me. It's probably been following two bottle and bond whiskeys in the first half drinking this. I feel like it's been proofed in a little too much, but it's good. It's really good. The nose is phenomenal.

I kind of struggled to how to order these and we did go a little higher proof, but I just kind of thought those two bottles and bonds should be kind of back to back. still getting that like rich dark cherry thing, some like burnt caramel.

So I think this is, this is a whiskey that is going to take some time to acclimate to. I think if you're drinking other whiskies and you drink and you nose this one, you're like, Oh boy, we're going up the ladder. And then you taste it and you're like, Oh, That's kind of mild. That's not quite where I expected it to go. But I think if we sit here and sip on it a little while, I think it's going to develop and it's going to grow on us and it's going to be exactly what we want this moment.

Yeah. I think you're right. That was like the, about the third sip. I can already feel it like building. Getting a little spicier.

Yeah. Unfortunately, when we're doing podcasts, we don't always get to spend as much time with the poor as we'd like to. Yeah.

There'd be a lot of blank air time. Nobody wants to listen to that. They're like, are they still recording?

I'm going to say, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is a, This is a one hour whiskey. This is a whiskey you want to spend an hour with in your glass. You probably, and you might even have a cigar with it. Uh, I think it would go well with the cigar. Uh, but I think if you spent the time with it, I think it would, uh, it would blossom and develop. Yeah. And evolve. So trying to get the quick taste and the quick decision on it.

It's not really fair for this whiskey.

I think this is a, this is, this is one of those long play whiskies. And it does with each sip. It builds on itself, becomes a little more, uh, it fulfills your palate just a little bit more.

Yeah. And it, yeah, it's everywhere in my mouth. Like there's no denying it, but, um, yeah, we should have had just a little more heft. It'd been nice to see this at a hundred, just to, would you, would you call this a sleeper whiskey?

Like a sleeper? It kind of sleeps.

Right. Right. I like it. This one we got a sample of, so shout out to our PR folks at Synesthis. Very appreciative.

Definitely. Great whiskey. Really good.

I know there's a few of our Ohio and roadies out there that are really excited about me or about us talking about this one. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

I won't name names, but hi Doug, Rhett and Mark. We won't name any names here. Actually, I think funny enough, you know, they are one of those that those guys drop in on the bourbon roadies page quite a bit and show what they found on their trips or, you know, they'll go to distilleries and things like that. And they actually got just the extra old. I think they both Mark and Rhett may have picked up the extra old old Fitzgerald. So cheers to that. Always nice to find something you've been looking for.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

All right, shall we sally forth to number four?

I think we should.

All right. I'll get one more sip of this. It's growing on me.

Yeah, it is. I got just a little bit left. I'm going to revisit that. And I want to spend some time with it.

I think we each saved a little bit for later later. So maybe we'll have a different opinion tomorrow. All right, our fourth pour this evening is Evan Williams' 12-year-old bourbon. So this is one of those that's been around for quite some time, but it only used to be available over in Japan. It was an export only. So in 2013, when they opened up the Evan Williams experience, and I guess that was... probably one of the first, uh, whiskey row buildings, right? It was Forester. I mean, all those are kind of close, but it's been there. Yeah, it's been there.

It's one of the first. Yep. For sure.

So, which it's kind of a hidden gym. I mean, you don't hear a lot of hype about it, but I've been there. It was a lot of fun. It's a fun tour. Um, what's fun about it is you can pick up this. Usually if you do a tour there, you can usually pick up this bottle as kind of a, desert just deserts a reward, if you will. So

And they have a couple of tours there. They have they've got their speakeasy tour, which is so basement is so cool. And you get to go down in the, you know, they got the whole say your password to get in kind of thing. And but then they also have like this is my favorite tour there. It's the one where you kind of walk through old Louisville in the 1790s. And have you been on that tour?

That sounds amazing.

Oh, it's really amazing. So they've got the old city recreated sort of like a pot kind of thing. Okay. Don't, don't, don't blow it up too big in your mind.

It's like it's good traveling the world.

It's good. So you really, you walk through this sort of a historic main street in old Louisville from the 17 nineties and you get the, um, sort of hear about the story of, uh, you know, the falls of the Ohio and how, what Louisville was back at that time. And you get to sit in this little, shop and, and taste your whiskeys. It's, it's really nice. It's, it's a great tour. Definitely one to go. Now this has been, it's been probably four years maybe since I've been there. So they may have changed it up a little bit, but that's what it used to be.

Okay. Huh. Now the, you talked about old Louisville and during the 17, late 1700s. Well, that's kind of where Evan Williams kind of showed up on the Louisville scene. He's considered, you know, Drew Hanisch would say this could be whiskey lure, but he's considered one of the first commercial whiskey distillers in Kentucky. So if you've ever seen that 1783 on that Evan Williams bottle, well, that's why.

Yeah, the Evan Williams claim is that he was in Louisville in 1783. And back then it was Corn Island and it was the Falls of the Ohio and that's where Lewis and Clark had their Illinois campaign was sort of based out of there. And it wasn't really Louisville at the time, to be honest with you. It was more like the sort of the corn island slash.

It would have been part of Virginia still.

It's still part of Virginia. Yeah. Kentucky and Louisville and well, it was Jefferson County, Virginia. Okay. And, you know, the, but, you know, there's been some, and again, with the lore, you know, 1783, Evan Williams, but they've, Michael Veach has kind of looked into it a little bit, the urban historian. He's like, eh, no, we got him coming over from England in like the 1790. Maybe he wasn't here in 1783, but you know, who cares?

Yeah. A lot of fun. It makes for a good story.

Makes for a great story.

Okay. So I don't think I said this is 101 proof. So right there with the turkey.

12 years. So this is the oldest whiskey today.

Yep.

So far.

So yeah, I was going to say we had kind of a, based on everyone's votes, a kind of an old, theme tasting tonight because we had the old Fitzgerald, the old granddad, the extra, extra old, old Forester. So there's three olds, but then the oldest oldest whiskey we have is just 12 year old. The red label, the red label with gold wax. Yes.

All right. Those is great on it. Look at a little bit of fruit on it.

Uh huh. Not getting like that peanut shell that you get on the heavy meal. Like you said, a little brighter fruits. I actually got this on the tour. Yeah. I just spoke about it before. I got to go with Jason Clorey and we interviewed Bernie Lubbers, Mr. Baldwin Bond himself there inside the Speakeasy. What a cool, cool day.

Oh yeah, definitely.

After the interview, they're like, hey, would you guys like this? And we were like, yes, sir.

Thank you. Good deal.

Now this one's $150. Yeah, it's a little pricey.

But you know, it's exclusive to the distillery, at least for now. Uh, if you live in Japan, you're lucky. You can get it off the, off the shore, off the shore stuff anytime you want.

But I'm curious to know, like I saw something where like over there, it's like 40 bucks.

I don't know if it used to be that. I don't know. Or if it still is that everything's expensive in Tokyo. So I don't know.

I feel like it would, would climb up there with what we're paying for it. All right.

I'm ready to taste it. Cheers. Cheers. That's good. The fruit carries over the cherry.

Yep.

Very nice.

Sweeter cherries. Yep. We had that like dark cherry on the old Forester, but this is like brighter, almost like maraschino.

A little bit of nuttiness coming through now.

Yep. Didn't get it on the nose, but you're right.

This is good. I did have a bottle of this at one time. Uh, it's long gone, but. It's one of those things. If you go on the tour and you get an opportunity to buy this, you might as well, because 150 or 12 year, it's kind of good. Um, and you know, it's, it's not a bottle you're going to find anywhere on the shelf.

So it's can't find it in your retail places. Can't get it through any online retail places. I don't think they sell it through heaven hill or anything like that. It is, it's pretty exclusive.

Great palette, nice and balanced. A little bit of sizzle up front, a little bit of sizzle in the middle, a little bit of sizzle on the back. It's kind of nice and even across the palette. The oak is mature. It's mature oak, no doubt. And it's got some traditional notes. I think it is a little fruity, a little nutty. Overall, a great pour.

Yeah, yeah. That's solid, solid pour there. I wonder what kept it from being borrowed and bought.

I don't know.

This had to probably be the seasons. Could be. What was the proof? 101. 101. So, you know, they could have cut it one more proof point and it has to be like the seasons it was distilled. They probably used barrels from all over.

Could be.

Cause back in the day, Heaven Hill, I actually have a bottle of it. It's almost gone, but it's a 10 year bottle and a bond, which that's a long time to let a bottle and a bond set.

Oh yeah. Well, I mean, Henry McKenna does it.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah.

So, and Evan Williams is one of those bottles and bonds anyway. That's, uh, I know it's one of Fred Minnick's go-to's and his favorites.

You're talking about the white label. What is it, a $20 bottle? Is it that? Is it that? It might not even be that. That's definitely one of those bottles. that, you know, you can put out and anybody at your party can do whatever they want with it. They can pour it in Coke. They can pour it in a, an old fashioned, they can drink it straight. They should be pretty okay with it. No matter how it comes. Yep. Ice cube. Yep. Yeah. A few ice cubes, bourbon slushy, bourbon slushy. I haven't had one of those in a while.

Those, uh, I'm a big slushy guy. I used to like the iceys and slushies and all those like frozen concoctions, like that kind of thing. So yeah, I try to avoid those because I would just drink it way too fast.

I know they have the slushy machines. You can buy them now. They have them at Costco sometimes.

Yeah, I don't need that. Kids would love it though. Yeah, this is good. Yeah. I like it.

I think it's really good. This is a, this is a nice whiskey. It's a good talking point. It's one that, um, you've got a pretty good chance of somebody comes to your bar. They haven't had this. Yeah, for sure. It's just hard to get. Um, and it's not cheap. It's an expensive bottle, but Oh my goodness, Todd. So we're going to be picking from these tonight and I'm trying to think in my brain where I'm at right now.

I'm looking at the bottles too, and I'm like, hmm.

And we're going to drink another bonus pour here in a few minutes, but we're going to have five bottles. And I think we kind of talked during the break that gets a little confusing when we try to rank them five through one. So we're just going to each pick our top three, right?

Yep. I think that's a great idea.

And then our listeners will be able to figure out which ones we didn't vote. And just by the fact that they didn't get mentioned. So, Oh my goodness. That's great. Love it. Todd, you've really brought, you brought your egg game today.

Well, I've had, well, like I said, you know, sometimes you just see things you you're pretty sure the folks want to hear about. I mean, you know, we obviously follow other, I follow other podcasters and you know, to certain things like this is some of these are readily available. Obviously, the seven Williams hard to find. But like, when you see something that Folks are probably seen on the shelf now and they're kind of like, should I, shouldn't I? You know, it's good to grab a bottle and give our opinion. I mean, I hope they appreciate our opinion. I hope when they buy a bottle that we recommend, I hope they, they're like, hey, those guys are spot on.

We do get feedback sometimes and it's usually positive.

We haven't anybody go, what in the world were you telling us? I was going to say, I've thrown out the buy back policy, but no one's taking me up on it. So maybe we should be doing all right.

All right. So Todd, what do we have in our bonus pour tonight?

So I am very excited. This is a shout out to our good buddy at the House of Commons, David Sandlin. He gave us a pour of the Starhill Farms Wheat Whiskey from Makers Mark. Fantastic. This is their first new mash bill in decades. That's just mind blowing, because if you've heard anyone from Maker's Mark, they talk about their taste vision. So this must have been on a different channel, because this is a whole different taste vision. So this is, like I said, a wheat whiskey. It's 51% soft red winter wheat, which is what's typically put in their bourbon, 27% malted soft red winter wheat, and then 22% malted barley. zero corn, 114.7 proof, retails for 99.99. And speculation is ages about seven to eight years. And I think one of the cool things about this is all the wheat came there from, I can't say all, but a good portion of it came from the Starhill Farms there at Loretto.

Great. So what was the proof again?

114.7. Okay.

So this is up there.

We've upped our game a little.

I wonder how many times, you know, messing with the match bill came up in board meetings and how many times it got shut down before it finally got, before it finally happened.

You know, they're starting to come out with a lot more inventive stuff. You have that seller age to a couple of releases of that. And then, you know, they, They started that wood finishing series. And there's actually one that we've not tried. The keeper, I believe it's called. We had the heart release and we really enjoyed that. So maybe we'll have to, I've seen the keeper still kind of hanging out.

The keeper's over here just down the road. I've seen it on the shelf.

Okay. Maybe we might need to snag that and see how it is. But yeah, I think they're, you know, I think it's good to stay to your roots, but in today's whiskey world, people are always looking for, I feel like age statements now, if it says weed on it, I mean, weeded stuff is just really hot. It's about different new releases a lot. Like the experimental series is brilliant for old Forrester because well, it's something different every time, you know?

So now when I hear we eat whiskey, I usually think of like a red hots fire spicy as it can be. Yes. We discussed that earlier. We found it. So, I mean, it's, that's the way it is, but I'm hitting the nose on this. I'm not getting a set of fire. Nope. It's actually kind of a light nose.

It is kind of a light nose, but I like it.

It's like, uh, I'm getting a little bit of the malted weed.

I think kind of a, I need to stay on that cherry theme, but it's like, yeah, a little bit of cherry brown sugar. Yeah.

That's the one.

Cherry turnover.

Yeah. Cherry turnover. Yeah. I think that's a good one. You said 114, right?

114.7. Yeah. So a little bit of change on it.

Yeah. Light sugar icing on it.

Um, not a lot of vanilla icing. Yep.

Not a lot of butter though. I was hoping for that, but I didn't get it.

It's got a great nice color.

Yeah.

All right. Probably the second darkest we've had. Cheers.

A lot of concentrated flavor in that.

Oh,

Really good cherry turnover all the way.

Wow.

It's a great palette.

This might be a great bonus pour.

Yeah. This is really good. The nose is very deceiving. It's like, it's like not giving away any secrets.

Man.

That is a really good palette. That's a really good whiskey. Yeah. That's delicious. I wish the, um, nose was more of an indication of the palette. Um, it's kind of like, maybe it's just meant to be a teaser. Maybe it's a teaser.

It's like, yeah, they're like, don't, don't show it all in front. Yeah. which is kind of reverse to the old Forester though. The nose on that was, I mean, I was expecting the angels to sing and don't get me wrong, great poor, but that nose, it's probably the best nose. The old Forester is probably the best nose we've had tonight. Wouldn't you say?

I would say it was for sure. Without a doubt.

If you could make a bourbon candle, that would be.

Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, the palette was great on the old Forester too. It just took a while for us to realize it and Who knows? Maybe when we were visited, if we spent some time with it, we might be like, this is my jam.

This is soft. It's subtle. I mean, there's a little bit of a tingle on my tongue after it's gone, but it's, it's sitting there forever too.

I might say, my dad, this is a really good whiskey. Yeah. I have to say. So you received this from Dave Sandlin and when he handed it to you, did he have any comments?

Give him a shout out. No.

Yeah, sure. Give him a shout out.

No, we do that often. We do. Yeah. So, um, no, he just said, enjoy. Uh, I actually, what did I, they had their birthday recently, their second birthday. So, uh, some of the are more, uh, I guess our more involved private burden society members, we all went over there to celebrate his birthday. We obviously saying, well, his birthday, his, his place is birthday and we saying happy birthday. And I actually shared, um, a really unique pour with him. I had a, pre pro Oh McBrayer.

Oh wow.

Yeah. That I had like a one ounce sample of. So I shared it. I'd love to have shared it with many, but I shared it with him and Aaron, one of his bartenders there. That's a super nice guy. So, uh, yeah, it was kind of a nice birthday present. So yeah, it's kind of a, I scratch your back, your scratch my back. So he said he had gotten a few bottles of this and this is really good.

Yeah. So if you're at, uh,

If you're at the House of Commons, try this for sure.

At the House of Commons in Frankfurt, you should get a pour of this one.

Now, I do know this is one of those that's been kind of hard to find. Yeah. I mean, you figure if they're taking most of their grains from that farm, probably weren't. I didn't see like a bottle count or anything like case count or anything, but I've not seen it anywhere. So I was really tickled when he said he got some in. I was like, can we purchase, borrow, whatever?

Good deal.

Yeah.

It was a great friend of the show and it's always fun to have Dave on when we can. And I always like to go into the house of commons when I'm in Frankfurt and have a pour there. It's, it's a great, a great, um, experience.

Yeah. He also said to come in and record a show anytime you want to. We might be able to do that.

Yeah, we can do that. Oh my goodness. It's going to be a tough one tonight. Are you sort of forming your, your ideas and your head done?

Well, I think I definitely have, uh, my number one is a lock. It's the, um, two and three, but I think I got it.

Yeah.

I think so.

Okay.

I'm curious, because last time you said we were probably be... I said we were not going to match and we were locked step. Locked step. So this is going to be interesting.

All right. So the way this is going to work tonight, folks, is we're going to say our number three, our number two, and our number one. We'll alternate between us. We won't mention what our four and five is. So if you don't hear them mention, you know they were not in the top three.

Yeah. We do kind of like a Derby tasting.

Yeah.

When place and show fourth and fifth. That's only for superfectism. We're not the, the, uh, the field was too small to do a super effect.

Yeah. I mean, if this was a, if this was a, a video podcast and we had all the bottles lined up and we're pointing to them and talking about them, it'd be easier.

I think so.

But on an audio podcast, it's a little hard to follow. So we're going to do our top three and Todd today, I think I went first last time.

Okay.

So I'm going to let you go first this time and tell me what your number three was.

My number three is the oh granddad seven year.

Oh my gosh. Are we going to do this again?

I don't know. I'd like to go back and like, I know we've been off a few times and you know, it's, it's bound to happen, but I feel like our, lock stock is probably like 500 maybe.

Yeah.

I don't know. We, you know, I'd have to go back. If anybody out there's got a Wikipedia that they're developing for the bourbon roadies, please reach out to us and keep all our stats and everything. That'd be great.

So Todd's number three is the old granddad bottle and bond, seven year bottle and bond. Mine also is the old granddad bottle and bond. Let's hear why you think it's number three tonight. When I compared it in my brain to what I remember of the old granddad, the standard issue, old granddad bottom bond, I felt like it was significantly elevated from the original. It was also, the nose and the palate were extremely matched on it. I felt like here's something at $39 that you can do whatever you want with it. You can drink it straight. You can have it with a cigar. You can make an old fashioned with it. You can make a high ball with it. You can do whatever you want and it's gonna stand tall. I think it's a great, great whiskey. The extra, the high rye content in it is really going to make it shine in a cocktail, I think. So I think all around it's a great whiskey. And what a price.

I think he nailed it. And the one other thing I might add to that is the viscosity on that Hunter Proofer. I mean, it was obviously cut down from something. We don't know what, but it still was very, had a great mouthfeel to me.

Yeah.

All right.

Number two. Number two. Are we gonna keep it going? It's, it's the extra, extra old, old Forester. Is it? It is for me. And here's why I'm giving it. a little bit of a pass because I really feel like in the few minutes we had to drink it, that it was slowly, slowly building on my palate. The nose was phenomenal. It was a great nose, but the palate for me came on a little mild at 93 proof, but as I was As I was sipping on it, I was thinking, you know what? This may be a great whiskey to have with a Connecticut cigar. OK. All right? A mild Connecticut would go well with this. And I thought, what better thing to do than to sit down with this extra, extra old and a Connecticut cigar and just spend an hour with it? Where are you at on your number two?

Well, we're not going to agree this time. That's OK. Yeah. So I went with Evan Williams, 101. OK. Of the 12 year. It was really good. 101. I like it.

Yeah.

It's a nice, yeah, just a nice board. Ticked a lot of my boxes. Yeah. Yeah. Great age. Wasn't like, didn't really show its age, which was kind of interesting. I mean, I expected more oak, but maybe just the way they prove it down a little bit, kind of down that. Yeah. I mean, that was a pricey pickup, but you know, when you get the opportunity to do something like that, the story and Bernie Lubbers is like right there with you. You're like, sure. I love one, you know, that kind of thing. So very glad, very glad to grab that. And yeah. So today he was my number two. Yeah.

All right. Now we're down to the number one winner, winner chicken dinner.

Who is it? Who is it, Todd? I think we're going to agree on this one.

I think we will.

And shout out to Dave.

Yep.

Star Hill Farms.

The Star Hill Farms weed whiskey.

It is.

Phenomenal.

That's, that's a great poor.

Yeah. It's a really, really good poor. And it, it, it, uh, it shined tonight. I hats off to makers for, uh, stepping out of the box just a little bit and, um, using a new mash bill they haven't used before. I think it's a great idea. I think they did a, a phenomenal, you said it was six or seven years, seven years, seven to eight is kind of eight. Great whiskey, really good, delicious, wonderful whiskey. I think if and when you can get a pour of this, don't pass it up. It's really good. So we had, um, we had two whiskies that didn't make it into the top three and we will mention those again. Uh, one was the old fit seven year. Yeah.

I was going to say that was the only one that didn't make it.

The only one that didn't make it was the one of our top threes.

Yeah. But again, solid poor, just felt a little short of the others today.

Yeah. I think it was a little, for me with the old granddad, it, the old granddad seven year bottle and bond was significantly elevated over the standard old granddad bottle and bond. Whereas the old Fitz didn't seem to make that leap as much. It was good. It was great.

I've got like an older, one of those old, very old Fitzgerald bottle and bonds from probably like the 2000s or nineties. What? Do a comparison with that sometime. And I still have a prime bottle too, somewhere. The 86 proofer squat bottle. Yeah.

Fantastic. Well, really good night tonight. Yeah. A lot of great pours and we do have a winner and it is the Starhill Farms. Yeah, but so we kind of wavered a little bit in the middle there. You and I did not agree on our number two, but that's okay. It happens sometimes. The number three was a solid lock. The number one was a solid lock and we both kind of varied a little bit in the middle.

Yeah. But when you have five good pours, it's, it's bound to happen. You know, some things took our fancy more than others.

I think, I think for me, the reason, and I think I mentioned this already, but the reason that I chose the extra old, old forester was because I thought that if I spent more time with it, It would be amazing.

Yeah. Oh, it was nose only. That was number one, like hands down.

Yeah.

It just has a amazing, amazing nose. Like like you said, I think you mentioned King of Kentucky and I would put that nose up with King of Kentucky.

All right, roadies. Well, it's been another great show. Todd has amazed us once again. Thank you for those who voted online.

Yes, thank you.

And the bourbon roadies group to help us pick what was going to be on the show tonight. Of course, we surprised you with a bonus pour and it took the, it took the show.

The show Dave threw in a ringer.

But that's all right. We had a great time. We always love doing samples and letting you guys know what we think about them. Tonight was no exception. It was a lot of fun. We had a great time and I always love drinking these with these. I'm thinking about the, the whiskies we had tonight and of the five whiskies we had, I had only had one of them before. So it's a great surprise for me as well.

Great treat for me as well.

All right, folks, well, you can find the bourbon road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook threads, all those things every single week. Todd and I put together an episode. We'll gather up the samples or we'll venture out on a trip and go to a distillery. Sometimes we're online with some fun folks. Sometimes, uh, you know, who knows who's going to be on the show. We try to mix it up as much as possible. But we hope you'll join us every single week when we do. The best way not to miss a show is to scroll to the top of that app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way every week when we put out a show, you'll get that notification letting you know the new one is dropped and we'll get you through that next thing you do with your headphones on. It might be driving to that sales call. It might be cutting the grass. It might be sweeping the house. Who knows what it is. Uh, if you're wearing headphones and you want to listen to something fun and enjoy and have a good, enjoying time, we hope you'll join us. Make sure you check out the bourbon roadies. That's our Facebook group. That's where all our friends are. That's where the vote took place for tonight's pores. Uh, go to, uh, the Facebook and search the bourbon roadies and it will come up. You have to answer three quick questions to join. And when you do, you'll be, you'll be added into the fun, loving group of people who share all kinds of fun knowledge and pictures and things about whiskey. Todd and I would love to have you listen to us every single week. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

you