459. Uncorking the Festival: A Preview of Bourbon on the Banks with Diane Strong

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

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

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

Todd and I are proud to have Smokies Lifestyle Cigars as the sponsor of this episode and as the official cigar of the Bourbon Road podcast. Our hosts and listeners alike enjoy the ultimate experience of premium cigars. Smoky's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at smokyslifestylecigar.com. The Surgeon General warns that cigar smoking can cause lung cancer and heart disease and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. All right, welcome back listeners. It's Todd and I again in the Corner Rick House in Frankfort, Kentucky. We've got a great show for you today. We've got four different barrel picks and a secret guest star.

Secret guest star, that's right. So who's with us today, Todd? Diane Strong from Bourbon on the Banks. Diane, welcome back.

Thanks. I'm happy to be back. I've got lots of new, exciting things to talk about. Yeah.

Yeah. We thought it was high time. I mean, we're getting close. I mean, we're almost a little over a month away. Do you count days?

Kind of? Sort of? I do. I have to.

So is it like, what is it, 42 and a wake up?

Oh, I mean, no, I don't count days like that. I just, I know I have just over a month. I think we're, you know, five weeks.

Okay, well, that's getting close. You can already still feel the weather kind of just in the mornings, right? Oh, it's gotten really nice.

It's going to be 70s next week.

We could use some rain this week, not on the banks.

I don't have time to mow my lawn, so I'm good.

Yeah. Well, anyway, it's such a great thing to have you back on the show again. You have been on here. We were trying to count how many times. We don't know how long, but it's certainly been more than five, probably six or seven. And it's always great to have you on the show. It's always a lot of fun. And today we get to actually drink through four of the, what, 11 barrel picks? Is it? I believe so. Yeah. So for this year's event, there are 11 sponsored barrel picks for the event. And can you tell us a little bit about that?

There's actually going to be 12 because Dark Arts is bringing the barrel pick that they did last year that there was a miscommunication with the distributor or whatever and it didn't show up. So that will actually be there. It's one we did last year. So there'll be a total of 12.

You were on that one, right? Yeah, that was a fun one.

It's supposed to be really good. I know everybody was disappointed that it didn't make it there. So it's going to be there this year.

I'm going to be spending a lot of money.

Good. So let's just dive into it a little bit. So this year's kind of, it's a little bit new the way you're handling it, the barrel picks. You've got kind of 11 or 12 distilleries, as you mentioned, that are going to be featuring their own barrel picks in their tents. And they have special recognition. These are all barrels that were picked by the Bourbon on the Banks team.

Yeah, their official Bourbon on the Banks Festival single barrels.

An ever-changing, I guess, roster of folks that came in and out and did some picks.

I got to do one this year.

Took one for the team, right? It was a lot of fun.

Yes, single barrel picks. Well, anyway, let's get straight to that first one.

So what's in our first class today?

So this is the Angels Envy one you got. You were actually on this pick. I believe it's port finish. Is that correct? It is, yeah. It's got a nice dark color.

This is smell like a campfire kind of.

Getting a little smokiness. So I'm getting that fortified wine. Yeah, I'm getting that too.

It's kind of got that rich overripe berries kind of thing.

Some nice vanilla.

A little bit darker, not brighter. Yeah.

So to highlight these single wear picks, if I'm not mistaken, you guys are going to have like flags. Seven foot flags. Oh, wow. I don't say single barrel or.

I think it says, but around the banks, um, barrel select or something like that. He picked out the wording. So if it's bad, look, blame him.

He can't defend himself. So that's right. We'll get him on the show. And if any barrel pick is bad, blame him as well. I've been on a, been on a bunch. We've, we've found some gyms. Yeah. I'm thinking how many I've been on, but it's probably five or six of the 11 or so.

Anyway. I think I'm about that same, yeah. Enough to really feel like I've been a part of it.

And thank you for making me a part of it. I really appreciate it. It was a lot of fun. All right.

Let's dive into this.

Cheers. Cheers. Oh, that's good.

Let's bring back memories of that day.

That's a little bit. I can remember the... This is one of those where the barrels are not drastically different from each other, but they did make an extra effort to try and find good variety. These are really good barrels. We ventured back in deep into the bowels of their warehouse there to do the tasting, and it was a lot of fun. We had a great time, great group of people there.

This is really good.

It's really rich.

Yeah. And we don't know the proof. It's not, no. I mean, sometimes they give you like a nice labeled sample from these barrel picks, you know, because obviously MC wanted to share and things like that with like you all and Renee and other folks. But sometimes it's just something with a Sharpie written on it that says, this is the pick. This is your barrel. This is your barrel. This is going to be a crowd pleaser here.

I think so too.

Probably a little over 100. I mean, I know Angel's Envy doesn't get real high up there.

No, 107, 111 maybe.

I'm thinking about 110. But this is definitely going to be a crowd pleaser.

This is going to be one that just about anybody could pick up, regardless of what your profile is. I think this is a very pleasing pour. Yeah.

There's a lot of folks that love that Angel's Envy finished.

I'm not a cigar person, but if I was, I think this would pair well with a cigar.

I think it would too. I think it would too, yeah. Still carrying over those like nice ripe, overripe berries in them.

It seems like it's maybe a tawny port, but I don't, it tastes like it, but.

Now, when you did this one, were there, did you have like port sherry, like some other finishes, or were they all port, do you recall? I can't remember.

It's been so long. Yeah, you do enough of these things, they all kind of run together a little bit. Yeah. I mean, you remember pretty well. I mean, I just get kind of, I get confused.

You drink too much when you're there, obviously. The dark arts got a little fuzzy because we tried like, I think, what was that, like eight? And that's been a year ago. Yeah. But every one of them was a different finish too, if you recall.

Yeah, I think they kind of run together. I have trouble when they're all very, very similar expressions and you're going through a number of them, even if it's two or three or four. Like I was having trouble remembering one of the other ones we're having tonight. And when they brought two samples, one that won and one that didn't, I couldn't remember which was which. So I apologize for the poor memory, but it's part of being getting older, I guess.

So Diane, we want to give us kind of some updates about what's going on with Bourbon on the Bank site.

Well, we just announced that Benson Valley Bourbon is our title sponsor for 2025. We're super excited about that. They're right here in Franklin County. They've got a really cool organic story, just great guys. They're super likable. They purchased the old Kennebec distillery and they purchased it in pieces. It's been split up over the years and they've just purchased each little parcel as it became available and they've been working on it and they redid the master distiller house. It's a big Airbnb now and they've got a little visitor center and they have dug up the history on that and it is fascinating. There's some guy in the area that has held on. I think he had a father or grandfather that worked there and he hung on to just so much historical photographs and documents and they've done their research. They've got a great story. It's definitely worth going and checking out. And they've also got an Ezra Brooks race car there. That is also part of that history.

Yeah, that's where that brand actually got its start.

Yeah, they don't own that brand obviously now. And I don't think that they can really advertise that they've got the car because it's got that Ezra Brooks on it. But What's really kind of serendipitous is Russ has his own line of race cars. He's got 11 race cars that he races in Wisconsin and Florida. And it's just like, what are the chances that this distillery has one associated with it? So there's a lot of little things like that that are just really cool about their story. So they're fun. They're going to be a fun title sponsor. So I encourage people to go check that out while they're here, especially if you're not from Frankfurt or you've not been, go check it out.

And they'll have a presence at the event, obviously, as a title sponsor. And they'll have some of their story on display, I would imagine.

Yeah. They're planning on doing a nice little setup. And when you come down the ramp, they'll be the first one you see. It'll be very impossible to miss the fact that they're the title. I think they've got a 27-foot trailer they're bringing and a whole lounge.

And they just released a rye yesterday.

They just released a rye. I haven't had the rye, but I did have their other one and it's really good. It's really good.

Well, fantastic. That's certainly exciting. Well, what do you think about this one? Final notes on it? Delicious. Yeah, it's really, really good. It does have a little bit more for me of, it feels a little more tawny than Ruby, but I don't know.

I don't even know what that means.

Ruby ports, different kinds of ports?

See, I'm not a wine person, I don't know. But it sounds fascinating.

It's a little more savory, I would say.

Yes, I would agree with that. When I think of a port, it's more of a dessert wine, right?

No, it's more after dinner. It's kind of an after-dinner drink. Usually I have a glass of port after dinner. Not necessarily. I mean, people drink it. Like you said, sometimes with a cigar. Yeah, sometimes with a cigar. Okay.

Well, I called that.

Yeah, you did. You did. Yeah, me. So, have you smoked cigars?

No, I don't think I have. I've smelled a lot and I don't like it. No, there's a couple that are okay, but no. I smoked cigarettes for my early years and not very proud of that.

Glad to put that behind you.

Yes. One of the best things I ever did was quit smoking. I'll tell you that.

All right, so let's move on to the next one here. And the next one is the Casey Jones pick. And you've got the bottle with you there. What are the numbers on this one?

So once again, there's not a whole lot on here. It does have the barrel number, which was 838. Yep. The one. You also have one here that you brought just for us to maybe check out later that you and Amsy were big fans of that didn't quite make the cut for everybody else. It's a very democratic way of picking these a lot of times. And sometimes there'll be a standout, sometimes there won't. But this is a 95-5.

Okay. This is, this is Orion, but I remember the day very clearly. And, and I can also remember that the bourbon on the banks team that went there to pick this barrel, uh, it was a pretty good sized team. There were probably eight or 10 of us. Maybe it was pretty good turnout for it being in Western Kentucky. All right. And, um, we were dead tied. I don't know if it's four to four or five to five, whatever it was, it was split in the middle. And we allowed the distillery to choose which one. So that's what we have.

Did you do the blind thing where you raise your hand kind of thing like we did?

You're saying did we do a blind round after that?

Yeah, just to make sure that it was.

So we narrowed it down. We started, I think, with three or four barrels, three barrels. Yeah, we started with three barrels. We threw one out as a group. We got it down to two and then we blinded those two. Because when we voted on them, we really didn't know. It was pretty close. So we blinded them. We did them again. We voted. We were split down the middle. And so we deferred to the distillery. The bottles are going to be in their tent, and they're going to sell them. We let them choose which of the two. And they chose this one, barrel, what, 838? 838, yep. 838.

No proof on it.

I smell tobacco. I don't know what it is about. Now, the first one, it was more like pair it with the cigar. This, I smell tobacco, like nice.

It's got some nice minty notes. It does have a little bit of a minty note. Like almost like mint chocolate.

I'm alone on my tobacco.

It's your nose.

Have you ever gone to the state fair and you go into where the kids grow the tobacco and it's hanging in there?

I've been in a few tobacco barns. I didn't have to go to the state farm to do that.

I had a little bit of dark fruit in this. I'm getting kind of, but I'm getting the mint, but I'm getting it as part of like a forest floor, like a little bit more of a damn frisbee.

Okay. Okay.

Great nose.

Now, Diane, you went on the Pursuit one. Was that your first ever barrel pick you've done? Yeah.

Experience? I'm not a person that likes to day drink. So I tend to pass on the barrel picks. I've heard so many stories that I like to get things done during the day. And so the whole leisurely drinking during the day is not.

Did you come home and take a nap after that? Is that what you're saying?

No. Well, that one started at one.

I mean, it was fun knowing it. Yeah, it's good. Or Ryan, excuse me, was. was a gracious host and we actually, what did we try? We tried like five. Yeah.

And every single one was distinctively different, which I thought was great. And I didn't know if that's normal for a barrel pick. So since it was my first one.

Actually, it's not usually very, very much like that. Just usually with the more craftier distilleries, you'll get some different ones. But with more like Angel's Envy, they're not going to be as varied, you know?

I mean, I don't know. done some of the bigger boys, and sometimes you might get something profile that sticks out more. I think our Russell's pick, it was a lot different than...

But they're not... What I guess what I'm trying to say is they're not usually mixing bourbons, ryes, and finished whiskeys. Oh, right. You get more of that from a crafty kind of place than you would from a big distillery. No, you're right. Some of them just have great barrel variation to start with.

Well, didn't they say every single one was, it started with the same mash bill, but it was put into a different type of barrel, right? And it was, so basically it was really the barrel that was making a lot of different staves, different staves and like custom barrels made and not a, they were all really good.

That was a tough choice that day.

It was.

Now back to the Casey Jones, I will tell you this. We, we didn't know what it was until the end after we had chosen them. Nothing was released by Casey Jones. They didn't tell us the proof. They didn't tell us the age. They didn't tell us the mash bill. They kept everything to themselves and nobody guessed this is a rye. So a bourbon drinker's rye. Yeah. So we were all as a group quite surprised to find out that a rye was chosen at the end. And knowing it's a rye, You can taste the attributes of the rye, but not knowing it's a rye, you can gloss over those a little bit and think you might just have a spicy bourbon. That's true. So yeah, definitely a bourbon drinker's rye. I'm getting honey on it, on the nose too. It's kind of like going on. I mean, what do we say? Kind of dark fruit, a little bit of mint, some forest floor, some honey. It's hitting all the notes. And this is, uh, Diane's a ride girl.

Yeah, this is both pretty darn good.

And definitely mature oak. It's, it's in there in spades. Cheers.

Yeah. I kind of wish it had that age on it. I'm curious to know.

Um, I do know the age now. I can tell you the Casey Jones pick. could be seven or eight years. If they, if they hold off barreling it like two more weeks or something after we were there, it would be eight year. So something like that. That's cool. Yeah.

Ooh, this is good. It is really like a candied orange thing going on.

It's, it's really a kind of a bourbon drinkers, right? You hit that right on the nose.

What about it, right girl? What do you think?

For being a bourbon drinker's rye, I like it. Typically, I don't like ryes that are really smooth. I mean, this one's got a little spice to it. It's complex. That's what I like about ryes. It's a lot going on.

I like it. What do you think about the texture?

It's still a little... I mean, it's not as viscous that you've said it's a seven, eight, almost eight. You would think the viscosity would be a little thicker, but I mean, it's still nice. It's still a little... I guess it's that crafty, youthy, abrasiveness a little bit, just a little, but it's delicious.

Getting a caramel apple. Yeah, I can see that. Yeah, I think the citrus in it, and it's there, but it leans somewhere in the middle between apple and citrus, kind of a little bit for me. I don't know. Do apples have citric acid in them? I don't think they do, do they?

Malik? Malik?

Yeah, they've got another one. Yeah, something like that. Wow.

We need to Google that.

We're getting all nerdy. Yeah, we are getting nerdy. This is just a great, great whiskey. This is really good. They've got tremendous variety in their barrels there.

Yes, they have quite a few UPCs.

Yeah, they do. Their weeded bourbon there is really good. They have a four-grain bourbon there that is just off the charts good. Dark fired? I thought it's MB Rowland has the dark fire.

Oh, you're right.

MB Rowland has the dark fire. And we did a pick there too. So just for, they're not going to be on the show today, but we had to pick four for the show. But MB Rowland was definitely, we definitely drank through some of theirs. Great whiskeys.

They did a special of that Eclipse when I remember you had them on the show.

Yep.

They did the Eclipse release, which was pretty unique.

Fantastic whiskey here. Yes. Really a good one.

No citric acid. It does have malic acid, which is, you go nerd.

You go nerd, that's right. Well, I think that our first two pours anyway have given us a pretty good indication of the quality of the barrels that are going to be available at the event. These are really good.

Yeah. Good on the nose, good on the taste and the finish. checks the boxes.

We should have more details on these, but it is what it is. It is what it is. You'll see the details when you come to the festival and find the flags.

And even then, they're going to change a little bit. By the time they barrel them, who knows what it's going to be, right? It might change just a little bit, proof-wise anyway. Right, true.

So what else is new, Diane? I mean, you got some more announcements for us about any changes or anything like that? Like any more tickets? I think we talked about there are a few more tickets available.

We do have some Twilight tickets. Just over 100 Twilight tickets available. Of course, that's for the last two hours of the event, four to six, which is you can get a lot done in two hours. And of course, Afterwards, we've got the after party, which is completely free. And this year we are stepping up our game with it. We actually have two bands. The opener is Creekwater, which is a local band. They're super excited to be there and they've got a huge following. And the headliner is actually Noah Thompson. He was the 2022 winner of American Idol and he is a Kentucky kid. He's about 23, I think. And boy, people are excited about that. And I've been listening to him. He's pretty darn good.

So is this in the parking lot?

Yes, at the farmer's market.

At the farmer's market, which is at the The north end of the river bank there.

Right. It's where the ticketing is. Yeah. Yeah. It's at 404 Wilkinson Boulevard and we're going to have the Hauser and Goodwood will have, they'll both have food. There's going to be a full bar and the beer trailer will be there. There'll be the craft beer and your domestic lights. We've got a cigar lounge that's going to set up and some vendors, some country style vendors and the There'll be some merch tents for the bands. And we're just we're encouraging people to bring their lawn chairs and stuff and get ready for a great show. It's it's going to be good.

Sounds awesome.

Yeah.

And it's free to anybody. We want everybody to go. Yeah.

Everybody, you know, just you don't have to go to the festival. It's not a requirement.

Good deal. Yeah, it's always a lot of fun. So I'm looking forward to it. Definitely looking forward to it. So what do you think, guys? Ready to take a short break here?

Yeah, I think so.

All right. Folks, we're going to take a short break. We're going to continue to sip on the first two barrel picks we presented to you in the show. Listen to our sponsors during the half. When we come back, we have two more barrel picks. We haven't really talked about them yet, so you don't know what's coming. It's going to be exciting. Stick around. We'll be right back.

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

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All right. Welcome back, listeners. We're here with Diane Strong from Bourbon on the Banks Festival, longtime friend of the show. And we've just been checking out some of the single barrels that are going to be available at Bourbon on the Banks. And two really excellent starts, if you will. So I'm looking forward to the next two as well. Bop-a-choo, Jim.

Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, the Angel's Envy was definitely one that I think anybody could pick up and be happy with, like, regardless of what your preferences are. And then Casey Jones' Rye. I mean, if you weren't told it was a rye, you might not guess it. So I think it's definitely a bourbon drinker's rye. So if you're a bourbon drinker who's been wanting to toy with getting a rye, this might be a good one to start with. Or if you've got somebody you know that you want to introduce to ryes, this would be a pick to get your hands on for sure.

And I might add, these have your seal of approval on it because you were on both of those picks.

Absolutely. I was on both those picks.

Diane, what'd you think?

I thought they were both great. This is their first time trying this. Yeah, I think they're excellent. Both of them.

All right, shall we get to the third one? Let's do it. What do we have in the third glass tonight? Okay, neither you nor I were on this one. This is from Bespoken. They're out of Lexington, Kentucky. And if I'm not mistaken, this is a 12-year Barton sourced barrel that was finished in Riesling barrels.

Now, kind of the story behind Bespoken is they craft whiskeys to order, more or less, right? I mean, they kind of put things together in a very... I don't know, methodical and yeah, so they're, they're able to put whiskies together that meet the need, whatever it might be. So they're able to, to craft these. So I guess that's the whole idea behind the word bespoken, right? Bespoken. When you say I want a bespoke suit, that means somebody's going to make you a suit. And if you want a bespoke car, somebody's going to go finish a car for you and paint it and do all the things the way you want it to be. It'll be very customized for you. And that's the way I think these spirits are. They're very customized spirits.

They seem to be diving a little more into some older Bourbons and kind of doing some unique finishes too, like I said.

We had interviewed them on Dressing Bourbon early on and I thought they It's been a little while, but I thought they take pieces of staves, small pieces, and then they add it to finish. And there's some sort of speed process that they make it happen quicker. Does that sound right? Or have they changed their?

That is correct.

OK.

But this is like, I think they're also kind of. diving into older, getting some older barrels in as well, and just doing some unique finishes with it. So that's kind of what this was.

You got to expand and adapt.

Yeah. In today's bourbon world, yes. You want to stay relevant.

I get to drink Riesling sometimes because our daughter is a Riesling fan. So whenever she comes to the house to visit, we always make sure there's Riesling in the fridge. And it's always left over because she's a one glass person. So I'm always opening the refrigerator. two thirds of a bottle of Riesling in there and I'm like, okay, I'll drink it. My wife doesn't like white wine, so I drink it.

Super sweet ones or kind of balanced? They're kind of balanced.

I mean, yeah, I think, you know, it's not Moscato, right? Moscato is like super sweet.

You can get some really, some of those German ones can get really sweet. It's a little spicy. It's a white spicy wine.

It's a little sweet, not too overly sweet. And I think it's a good drinker. I enjoy it. But can I pick it out as a finishing barrel in a bourbon? I don't know. The nose has got a touch of something, yeah, for sure.

But it's not what I expected at all.

You don't often get, you know, white grape finished bourbons, right? It's a good point.

We have the ice wine and a few others, but. I've yet to see a Chardonnay. No, Thomas More. Thomas More has a Chardonnay finish. This has a... But I think that's the thing. Everybody's looking for something a little different. I've seen an Alberino lately, which is a Spanish red wine. It's the first time I'd seen that one. Cool. So I think, Places are already trying to look to push the envelope, if you will.

Well, regardless of what it's finished in, it's a wonderful nose.

Very rich. It's got that age.

The age is still there. It has kind of this nice mix of oak and sort of fruity richness to it. Maybe that does come from the

I know Amzie was on this pick and he was like super stoked about this one. Cheers. Cheers.

I smell that. What's a bubble gum that's pink that comes in the little piece of paper that's twisted on both ends?

Oh, bubble yum. On the nose. Oh, wow. That is super good. Massively concentrated flavor. Yeah.

Wow.

That is, yeah. I don't have a proof on this one. I just know the age. All right. I feel like this is up there.

I thought you said this was 137 or something.

No, that's the last one.

Oh, okay.

Don't jump ahead. Spoiler alert.

This is, I'm kind of wondering if this wasn't like a short barrel. I know the,

No, that's the next one.

I know that's the name, but like this barrel wasn't.

More spoilers, you guys.

Yeah.

So now they know. I know.

All right, let's go home.

This is just, it's like, this was what was left behind when the angels took too much. Yeah, it's really strong.

It's very concentrated.

This is the, I know this, you know, since it's going to be a 12 year, this one will be pretty pricey. I think I tried, Nancy and I tried to figure out some, but this will probably be about one 99.

This is, this is, this is delicious. This is absolutely gorgeous whiskey.

Um, that's a night capper.

Yeah, this is a, you're going to have one pour of this and put the cork back in and put it away for the next nice occasion and share.

Yeah.

This is an exceptional whiskey. Share with some friends that can appreciate it. Wow. That's really good.

Yeah.

Wow. I haven't had a lot of bespoken products. I think I tasted...

Were they at the premiere of the documentary? Yes. I think they were. I did have some there. They're kind of known for having teamed up with members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Oh yeah, that's right.

I forgot about that.

Yeah, they've donated some signed bottles. They're very philanthropic.

I can't remember the name of the whiskey that they teamed up with, but nice guys.

It's probably in my spreadsheets if you want me to look it up.

That's okay.

Thanks. I get tired of looking at those.

That is delicious. That is really good.

Yeah, that's impressive. So Diane, what else? Are there tickets left for anything else?

So we've got our Friday events, the bourbon pairing with Peggy No Stevens. It's the stave is the rave. We've been talking about finishes. This is the perfect example. She really dives in deep about how the barrel affects the flavor. And of course, she's an amazing teacher. And so it's entertaining. Elle of Heritage is going to bring three cast-strength bourbons. And Peggy's already gone through the tastings with that. And she's worked with the chef at Limewater. And she's creating pairings that go well with it. And then she'll do a little educational thing about why it pairs well and how to do it at home.

And where's that being held?

That's at the Kentucky History Center at 1 PM on Friday. So if you get here early, that's a great midday. It's just enough food to qualify as a little lunch. So it's good. I think they usually do a savory, like a light sort of sweetness, and then a dessert. So it's very nice. It's a three-course thing. There are tickets to that left. And then Friday VIP, we have tickets. This year, we've got, I think, 12 distilleries in the lawn. And one of the prerequisites for being there is they had to bring something very special to pour, not just what's going to be at the festival and not something you're going to find on the shelf easily. So they're all stepping up for that. We're super excited, thrilled to announce that Luriken Bourbon out of Lawrenceburg, Greg Keely over there, he's going to be the title sponsor for the VIP this year. So the finale for the auction is going to be an opportunity to bid on a barrel pick from Luriken.

It's a whole barrel.

You get to go home with a whole barrel. Wow. You guys bring your friends.

Bring your truck.

It's not really how it works, but you know, it's kind of like going on a barrel pick. You know, you go and you pick your barrel just like you guys have been doing, right? And then choose your barrel and they're going to bottle it for you. And it goes through the liquor store or I don't know if they have, do they have a store on site?

Some distilleries can actually do that direct now.

I'm not sure about them.

It depends on what size, because a lot of places do. You could literally take six friends and buy a quarter of a barrel, go do a pick experience, and then you walk. bottle it, label it, and out the door you go that day.

With this one, it's a full barrel, so you get somewhere around 150 bottles or whatever, right?

Depends, yeah.

Maybe up to 200. But Whiskey Thief, they have in the auction a barrel mash experience. You build your own mash And it'll be aged, and you'll follow it as it ages. And then when you decide you're ready for it to be bottled, you'll get 48 bottles for that. So that's a whole nother bidding. That's a really unique experience. I know, it's really unique. So cool.

And reminder, they will be hosting the Thursday night.

Yeah, the kickoff party on Thursday, which they have been for years now. And it's at the Distillery 6 to 9, I think. And of course, it's free to go there and experience all the stuff, the music and the fire and all this stuff. If you want to do the tour, that's a little bit extra, but it's going to be great.

Who's going to be playing there that night?

You know what? I haven't heard yet. In the past, it's been the Pretty Goods. Pretty Goods. They're pretty good.

They are pretty good. Yeah. Says it on the show. Says it in the name.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. I need to ask them if they've decided which band. They always pick good bands. I don't think we need to worry about that.

I've been to a number of events out there. It's a big favorite of ours. We love to go out there and sit by the fire.

The setting. It's just tremendous. The farm. It's just, yeah, kind of dreamy.

Walter has turned that place around, no doubt about it.

Yeah. And I've always said, I've never tasted anything out of Whiskey Thief I didn't like.

It gives you that when you were younger, like field party kind of vibe a little bit. Oh, yeah.

Well, growing up in northern Minnesota, like bonfires and keggers, that was my childhood. So yeah, I like it there. They do a great job.

Thank you for that glimpse into your childhood. We appreciate that.

That's all you're gonna find out. You'll judge me if I go on.

This is really good. So Bespoken Spirits, the barrel there is likely to be a little bit more pricey, but definitely one to remember for sure.

Yeah, that's a good one.

Man, that is just thick and rich and concentrated. Definitely a premium whiskey. I'm glad we're going to have a few like ultra premiums available as barrel picks as well. So.

I don't think we should rank these today, but maybe we just pick our favorite at the end. Like everybody picks their favorite. What do you think about that? Oh, we could do that. Yeah.

I'm glad I have left. I've saved some left over so that I can actually retest.

I haven't saved any.

I'm going to have to go back just to the nose, but I can remember pretty good.

Yeah. I think I know my favorite going into this last one.

Okay.

All right. So the last one. The last one we literally did Friday afternoon. They sent us some samples because it's from Short Barrel. They're out of Atlanta, Georgia. They are NDP, so a non-distiller producer. They get fabulous barrels from all over. And they've been doing some finishes and things like this, but this is just straight up the way it was meant to be in my book. So we had three samples they sent to us. One, let's see, I got to think. Oh, one was actually Barton distilled. It was a, I want to say a 10 year.

Yeah.

And it actually, I guess it kind of tied in for a second because all three, it was one of those where all three were excellent. But one just outshone it. The other two, and I mean, it's on this label, so I'm going to share it. It says it was distilled at OZ Tyler, which folks out there are like, I remember that, behind the Terra Pure, which was a technique where they tried to like age their bourbon faster and it just didn't fly.

Yeah.

And there were a number of barrels that never went into that process. Right. So this was, this is an eight year and it's a hundred, oh sorry, 135.7, not 137.5. So I apologize. I dropped the proof a little, but yeah. Nose wildest, palate wildest. And like I said, the other two were fantastic too. But I'm kind of excited. When you pick a braille, you always want to see people's what they think. So I've done quite a few. So you always like to get feedback like, oh, this is great. It's just something about you pick a winner like that. So basically, yeah, we were David, Amzie and I, David Sandlin from House of Commons. They shipped him to him, which was nice of them to do. And yeah, he and Amzie and I got together for liquid lunch. Just the three of you? Well, we tried to line up a few more. You said you're not a fan of day drinking. It was one o'clock.

You need to keep Eric in mind. We keep forgetting about him. I don't know that he would come in at lunchtime. He works on electoral stuff.

This is an eight-year. It's from Short Barrel, Atlanta, Georgia, but it's distilled at Ozzie Tyler's, now Green River. I should add that. So in Owensboro, Kentucky. And yeah, I'm excited to see your guys. See what you guys think. Nice nose. Like pipe tobacco. Yep. Oh yeah. There's your tobacco. I get it. There it is. Like rich.

Yeah, the cherry tobacco.

The ethanol's there, but you expect it to be at this proof. That's what I noticed right off it.

Give it the top of your glass a little blow. It blows it out. It's magic. Nice. Wonderful. We've got a great color.

Great color and definitely a nice, like mature oak bite to the nose as well.

So there's a lot of oak notes to it.

Yeah. I would guess this much over eight years. All right. Cheers. Cheers. Oh my gosh.

I know. Wow. It was a bit of like milk chocolate. Oh my. Leather's still there. Cherry's still there.

Yes. Chewy. Chocolate, cherry, caramel, but, but maybe even on the almost burnt caramel. Like creme brulee kind of.

It's got a richness that. Wow. Was just Florida's.

I can see why.

Does not drink 135.

No. And it's still got that like, I'm getting like a chewy nougat-y thing too. And it still has a little of that vanilla cream icing too. I mean, it's like all the good things. It's like all, it's got all the things that you look for in a bourbon. Wow. That is tremendous.

A little proofy for you, Diane? No, not at all. Okay, good. We want you to be proud. I mean, we are representing you.

I'm hoping I can buy some of these bottles. I get so busy, you know, but if I can make it over there and just buy them all.

A little bit of coconut, just a teeny little bit. You can add coconut.

There's like an aftertaste that I can't put my finger on. There's something.

I called it like, you know, you say there's a funk to wild turkey, but there's a funk to the, I get what you guys are talking about. I didn't get like a, it was just kind of like a woodsy sandalwood kind of like almost savory note kind of thing. It's really good. Really delicious. Oh my goodness.

Oh my gosh. You've got snap up those twilight tickets so you can go get a couple of these barrels. There'll be some left. Yeah. Yeah.

They should last. Yeah. I was going to say, like Diane was saying, you're probably going to get anywhere from 150. Maybe, I mean, you got a short barrel to be well under that, but 150 to 200 is a pretty good safe bet depending on age.

Now are the, are the, are the bottles from short barrel going to be at capital sellers? I'm not.

Oh yeah. Yeah. If they did the barrel pick, they'll have that. Oh yeah.

They're sold. Yeah. They are sold in Kentucky.

Yeah. When he says that, you mean at the tent at the festival, we have a capital seller tent for anybody who's out of state that doesn't have a Kentucky distillery license. They have to sell through there.

So when they're looking for short barrel, they're going to find their barrel picks at.

Well, all of the out-of-state distilleries are in the capitol cellar courtyard. So everybody's together. And then the liquor store is right in the middle. So whatever you like, you get to go turn around and go shopping.

That's a great idea. Perfect. Oh, that's neat.

Thanks. We're full of them.

I think I saw that before somewhere. I can't remember. But that's a good idea. We've done that for several years. I never get down there. You never get to go. I know.

And if you do, it takes you like 30 minutes to get from, you know, four-tenths down because you see everybody. Everybody's coming by with their bottles. I'm like, I'm busy. Jim's too busy.

Shaking hands and kissing babies. That's all right. I'm sure Diane feels the same way.

I did not make it past the ticketing area last year.

I don't see Diane until it's done and dusted. I've said hi to her a couple of times. She's like, yeah.

Last year, before the event, I was over there just for a minute because I had to be, but then I got into the ticketing area. I was just very adamant about the ticketing moving really smoothly last year because it's one place we hadn't mastered it. What a huge improvement and we've got a little bit even more improved this year. But yeah, so I didn't get over there. I hope it was good. The feedback was fairly positive, so.

Now has it gotten a little easier on you, or is it always, is it the struggle the same every year after year?

No, it's hard to explain because we are well established. It's easier to get sponsors, but at the same time, you have more people who want to be a sponsor, which requires a little bit more work because you want to make sure they're happy and you make promises to them. And so that's more time consuming. And every year we seem to add just A couple more things. We've got the brunch this year. We didn't talk about that. The Ashbrook and Cypress and Oak, the two new restaurants that are part. They're also boutique hotels. Cypress and Oak is in the delegate. And then the Ashbrook restaurant is in the Ashbrook, which makes it easier. But they're both having a brunch on Saturday before the festival. And it's a special brunch specifically for Bourbon on the Banks Festival. It's from 10 until 1. So you can totally get some good food in here before you drink, which is good.

Is that reservations required?

I would suggest making reservations, but I wouldn't say don't try to go if you didn't get them.

Got it.

But it never hurts to make a reservation.

I would think it could be a rush on the place.

I hope so. They've got just phenomenal food and atmosphere. It's so cool. They're just neat. The Ashbrook is in the old E.H. Taylor home and that has been completely renovated. We did an undressing bourbon about both of those places and you get to look inside the rooms and the bars and everything and they just attention to detail. It's so cool. And the interior designer that did the Ashbrook is just, and they're completely different. Have you guys been in there?

I've been into the Ashbrook. Sadly, I've yet to go to Coperno.

Yeah, the Ashbrook is, they say it has more of a feminine feel. It's like very bright and lots of, it's just bright and feminine. And then the delegate is just really masculine, dark and leather and it's a brick, you know, but they're both just amazing.

Yeah, I think the fascinating thing about the delegate is that building, I mean, it sat vacant for a long time, years. And it always looked like, it almost looked like a Rick house back in the day. I know it wasn't, but.

It's been a lot of things. It was a button factory and storage, furniture. And I know that a lot of developers looked at it, but it was so intimidating based on the work that needed to be done. to bring it to where it is now. It's unbelievable. I never would have believed they could do what they did.

Frankfurt has such amazing character.

And those two places have really added to it, I think.

Oh, yeah.

And I encourage any roadie coming down here for that to get out. Frankfurt's a great place to walk. I see Diane walking, and she sees me walking a lot. It's a great place to walk when you're downtown. It's easy to get to places. We do have a bridge snag, but it's hopefully soon. 2027. Yeah, 2027. It will be remedied. So the budget's been allocated to fix the bridge?

Oh yeah, it's going to get fixed.

Yeah, that would be good. Is it going to be a new bridge or just a fix of the one?

No, it has to be new.

Yeah, because that's old, right? Yes.

Because it used to be a covered bridge back in the day. Which would have been neat, but I think it'll be something pretty simple and pretty easy.

Yes. And we are referring to the singing bridge, in case anyone is wondering. It's got the metal surface that creates a singing noise when the tires go over it.

The bridge that connects Bridge Street with St. Clair.

St. Clair, yes. Yeah. and used to make it really easy to get from where we're at now over to the other side of downtown.

Which is kind of where things happen, right? It's kind of the heart of downtown.

Yeah, of course they do.

But I think St. Clair is kind of that focal point in the center of the city.

Yeah, it's got the brick street.

But I encourage you to get out, check our town out. There's a lot of neat shops. We have great coffee shops. We've got a lot of new shops, too.

And it's all along East Main and West Broadway and St. Clair. And it's very cool. Last time I checked, I think the plaza had like nine rooms left was all, but I think that the delegate in the Ashbrook, because they're new and people don't know about it, they've got some rooms left. So if, what an experience if you want to really.

What about the house? I think they're booked.

I mean, yeah, they booked early on. There's not a lot. I did too. Yeah, those are amazing. I think they booked early on, because this is their second year. So a lot of times, people who come to Bergen-on-the-Banks that stay at those type of places and Airbnbs, they'll book the day after for the following year.

So just smart. You got to be right on it, get the good spots, right? Yeah. Yeah. You guys? Actually, I'm not sure we're going to stay this year. We might be hiring a car to take us back. But we normally do stay down here for the whole weekend.

I know a lot of roadies do. Our Ohio contingency, they stay over on this side of the river.

Well, we'll certainly be here till at least midnight. Yeah. Because that's what we do. It's just such a fun time.

Well, when you say hire a car, what does that look like?

What does it look like?

Well, you hire a driver to come pick you up when you're ready. Jim's getting a limo. He didn't want to brag. No, it's not a limo.

I know that Uber is here a little bit, but I don't know if it's dependable. I don't know if you plan to- A family member with a vehicle.

Oh, okay. Come get us. Come get us.

Gotcha.

Yeah, we're not going to drive.

Family Uber. You definitely don't want to make the most of your bourbon on the banks trip and then put the key in the ignition. Right. Absolutely not. That's not what you want to do.

Yeah. And we have Happy Trails and she's taking reservations. And I've been told that we have a little bit of Uber and Lyft here, but not quite.

It's kind of limited, but I mean, there are options. Yeah. And there's certainly more hotels out on the interstate, which with room, I would imagine, right?

I would believe so. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

I've stayed at the Hampton before and it's been nice.

Yeah. Yeah. And Happy Trails, that's where she's like spending most of, she's taking reservations and she'll pick you up and she'll schedule your departure and get you back to the hotel.

Good deal.

So that number's on the website.

All right. So for anyone who hasn't gotten their tickets yet, where do they go? What do they do?

Bourbononthebanks.org.

All right.

All of them are on there. Every event we've got going on is on the front page. You got a tile for it. You click on the tile to get more details and it's all there.

And what's the price on the Twilight's?

It's 55. 55.

For two hours of fun.

And we have 95 different entities sampling there.

95.

95. I bet you crack 100 next year. So it was 70 last year. It's 95 this year.

Last year, we were upper 80s.

I was going to say, I think it ended up getting up 80s. I think when you came on the show, you announced it was around 70. But then you kept adding.

Well, we pick them up, and we cut everybody off on August 1st this year. I can't keep adding. especially with Eric trying to develop the map and we only have so much room. But yeah, it's going to be a lot. And we will have beer by the can for sale for the first time ever. This is a new thing. I've been, people have been asking for a long time and it's, I've been hesitant, but typically your beer drinker is not your bourbon drinker. So the people who are going there and they hesitate to buy a full ticket and they, they wanted, so they're the designated driver cause they don't have anything to drink this way. They, they do. They can get a beer and walk around.

Sure.

Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.

Fantastic. Well, Diane, thank you so much for coming on again and giving us the lowdown so close to the event.

I know. So much going on.

Yep. Roadies, make sure you go to bourbononthebanks.org and check out the Twilight Tickets. Peggy knows, what's it called? The Stave is the Rave event. And the VIP event on Friday night, which is fantastic.

We're featuring the women of Bourbon. We've got eight amazing women that are going to be there. You can mingle with them. It's just, and it's such a nice event. You know, you've got the patio and sampling and Rebecca Ruth is going to have some chocolate for you.

Yeah.

Yum.

Nice. They brought out some, they've got some new like truffles that were, they brought to the Frankfurt Bourbon documentary that word.

Oh, yeah.

Amazing. Jim and I have really gotten into chocolate slightly. We have a chocolatier. We had our first chocolate show. Yeah.

Really? And tasting. With who?

Delicia. Delicia. Delicia. Chocolatier out of Austin, Texas.

Oh.

Really good.

Amazing.

Yeah. And when you have a guided tasting of chocolates and bourbon together, like it's one thing to eat chocolate and drink bourbon. We all know that's good. But when you have a guided tasting and you have these crazy flavors.

Like, what was it? We'd give her some tasting notes and she'd be like, oh, try this one. There was the one with anise, there was the one with the apple, the apple pie. Smoked chipotle. Yeah, smoked chipotle. There was actually had like a little slice of green apple inside the chocolate, just

Was she here in Frankfurt?

No, we did that one through StreamYard.

Oh, she sent it to you.

It was recorded, yeah. Wow. Yeah, she sent it chilled in an ice package. Yeah, it was amazing.

Didn't invite me. Pretty cool stuff.

Yeah, so chocolates and bourbon, guys, it's definitely the way to go. It's a thing. I know, I'm like, what could go with a little pair well of this?

Yeah, I know we did a show a while back on uh, which, which restaurants have the best country biscuits and country ham. We put, we put the two together and we had them with, and that's an amazing pairing too. So bourbon just goes with everything.

That was like the Booker show. Booker loved his country ham.

Great show. Diane, thank you so much for joining us again. We really appreciate it. And we know you've got a ton of work to do between now and the big day. So we wish you all the luck in the world.

Thank you. It's going to be great.

It's going to be great. And we'll help out as much as we can. Absolutely.

Nice.

All right. 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 places. Uh, just check out our show every week on Wednesdays time. I'll put one out. It'll be always something fun. We'll have somebody on like Diane and bourbon on the bank. Sometimes it'll be an industry, uh, distillery. Sometimes it'll be a music artist. We can, we like to mix it up because that's what our listeners like. But the best way not to miss one is to scroll to the top of that app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way every week when Todd and I drop a new episode, you will get that notification, let you know that one's available. And, uh, then you can put your headphones on and cut the grass or whatever it is that you do. Uh, when you listen to podcasts, we'd love to be part of your day, but until the next time we'll see you down the bourbon road.

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