467. Tricks, Treats & Whiskey Neat: A Bourbon Road Halloween

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.

Welcome, roadies, to the Gastly Bourbon Road Bar, where Todd and I are getting together tonight for a few tricks and treats. And definitely some spirits, right? And some spirits, that's right. That's right. We hope you all have a great Halloween, but tonight we're going to drink five different whiskeys that have been put in our trick-or-treat bag by our good friends at our local distilleries. Or stops.

Yeah. Yeah. I got one of these at one of my locals and I got really lucky to get it. So, but we'll get there.

All right. So Todd on this wonderful Hallows Eve, what are we drinking first?

Well, we're going to go not a tomb, but we're going to go to the vaults. And this is the vaults from Widow Jane. This is their 2025. And folks may recall we reviewed their 2024 last year about this time. We've been drinking the vaults for like five years now. Yeah. They're very kind and we appreciate that. As everyone knows, once fall hits, like the releases and it's just a a bounty time to get samples and, you know, a lot of great bottles come out this time.

And FedEx is your favorite guy, right?

UPS. UPS. Okay. I actually know the guy really well. I've known him for years too. So I usually give him a couple of Christmas presents. So I needed to be thinking about that. I'm glad you reminded me. So this year's vault is considered a mythological I guess version. So what's unique about this? So minimum age on this is 15 years. And this year's finishing casks are made from oak harvested from the ancient forest surrounding Amphilochia. And Fallotia. A mountainous city on the Mediterranean coast of Greece. Ah, OK. So these oak trees in that region are prone to lightning strikes, which adds a layer of mythology and perhaps a celestial char, is what they say, to wood, foreshadowing their future as whiskey barrels. So this is kind of an eerie release. The wood used in barrel assembly is air seasoned for one to two years. And apparently, it's very old. So yeah, and I've pre-tasted this one just cause I was so intrigued by what mythological means. So I'm intrigued to see what you think. It's definitely got some different stuff going on for sure.

I've always enjoyed the vaults releases. And like I said, we've had them on the show. Oh my goodness. I'm going to say. Was it, was it 10 or 12 when it first started? I feel like it was 12. I think it was 12.

Last year we had the Ambarana. I think that like an Ambarana was the thing. $249.99. So this is a, it's a top shelf for, for sure. This is one of those you bring out for someone who can appreciate.

But it's our low proof option for tonight.

Yes. $99.99. Yeah. 99 proof. Yeah. So,

Let's get with it. All right. Cheers. Oh, Oh, nice nose. Um, fruity a little bit. Yeah. Um, it's like a grape, like grapevine. Yeah. Yeah. I know, you know, definitely, uh, a grape note to it, but there's also like, you know, something different about it.

To me, like a little salinity. Oh, like a little saltiness. Just a little on the nose.

I mean, I'm getting this kind of, yeah, salted caramel, I guess. Yeah. So grape, grape and salted caramel.

So I do have some numbers here. There are 15,672 bottles of this. So that's pretty decent. Yeah. Considering it's 15, that's, that's taking a lot out of the vault. It seems like that's 15 or older. Bourbon.

Wow. It's got a little bit of a little bit of a tobacco note to it, but I think the grape was a big call out there. That was good. Um, and you know, I get the saltiness. I think salted caramel is probably where I'd go with that. Let's taste it. Yup. Cheers. Cheers. Well, it comes on strong.

Yes. Yeah. It's not a mild. It punches above its proof for sure. It does for sure.

And it's got a nice deep oak richness to it. Kind of nutty. Yep. I have been eating nuts by the way, but still this is, this is coming across as nutty.

But the oak flavors are different than any other oak flavors that you typically get. They're kind of mysterious. Yeah. It's mythological.

It smells like ozone after a lightning strike. Yeah.

A little bit of sage. I think I brought that up recently on something else, but a little bit of like sage and Kind of like some of those baking cabinet spices that aren't normally in the bourbon, you know? This is really good.

No, this is different. It's unique. It definitely punches above its proof, but it definitely drinks its age. Yes, for sure. So if you're looking for a 15 year old whiskey, and this is the youngest is 15 in this. Right. So who knows what all is in here, but if you're looking for a 15 year old age stated whiskey that drinks its age without being too overly oaky, this would be it.

That nose is really good. Get a little more like citrus on it now a little bit like, um, Like an orange lemon blend kind of thing. Nice little sweetness to it too.

But it's, um, it's kind of a, it's not real caramelly. If anything, I would say it's a little bit more toffee, more toffee than caramel. Kind of a little bit more on the burnt side or heavily toasted side. Nice though.

And again, unique. I think you're going to see a lot of places looking outside, uh, outside the typical finish box now. I mean, we just talked to Sam Rock and that Spanish Oak of his was, it was a wowzer to me. It was really good. And yeah, we got a little bit of that here.

If we don't, if, if the five whiskeys we're drinking tonight aren't enough, we've got a few more up there. That's true. There's a few on the shelf.

Now don't be alarmed, we will be at some point getting together and giving kind of a recap of. Bourbon on the Banks.

What a blur, first of all. For sure. I mean, you and I, so I traveled just before Bourbon on the Banks. We attended Bourbon on the Banks together. What a great time. A blast. We'll recap that later. But then you traveled. Yep. And thank goodness we had put a lot of shows in the pocket. So we were in good shape. The weather, the long, you and I haven't been together for probably a month. To record. To record. Yes. Yeah. So, um, it's good to be back. Going to be sipping whiskey with you. Yeah, indeed.

And October's almost done.

October's almost over. But November's going to be great. We've got a lot of good things coming up and, uh, then we'll be, uh, Todd and I'll be scratching our heads, trying to figure out who's going to be bourbon of the year this year.

You know, I've started going back through the episodes and just kind of cataloging, you know, what we've tasted and some of our favorite things. So that's been kind of fun. It'll come full circle. We'll do a little recap of the entire year. But yeah, I think we'll have a contender for that tonight. Oh, good. I'm glad. Morning.

Well, if you're listening to this show and you have your own opinions based on our previous shows, what you think should be contenders for the Bourbon of the Year. I mean, you guys have heard us ooh and ah about all kinds of stuff in the last year. Yeah, we do a lot of ooh and ah. We do. If there's one in particular that you thought we went over the top on and you think that we ought to consider, just post it in the roadies. Let us know. We'll go back and check the episodes. We kind of know which ones we're really liking.

There'll be some. You know, a lot of times we'll get small samples. So those kind of get, I mean, they may have been great that day and would probably fare very well at the end of the year show, but we typically want to have at least a bottle of it or a very large enough sample to save until that end. Yeah.

But even, even that, I mean, I would love to pick something. that people can go try and get. Maybe they can't get it. Maybe they can at least try it at a bar. Right. But you know, some of these things are just so hard to put your hands on.

Maybe we do two shows, one like a, a unicorn best, best of, or one that's more something you can find.

Yeah.

Yeah, maybe. Loving this one.

Very unique. Yep. Good deal. Well, Widow Jane, you've done it once again. You've put out another vault that is worthy of the price tag. It is a lot of money, but this is a very good pour. And if you need to add another year of Widow Jane to your lineup, I would say this is a good one to pick.

Yes, for sure. All right. Shall we move on to poor two? Let's do it. All right. We just had these folks on, um, Tripp and Joe from barrel. They were kind enough to send us, this is their 12 year French oak finish. Okay. So I'm expecting some nuttiness and, uh, distilled in Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wyoming. Oh, I know that was kind of like, huh, Cause funny enough, I recently just got a bottle and I'm not saying this is the Wyoming distillery that it came from, from backwards distilling out of Wyoming. And it's fantastic. It's one of those lost lantern barrels. And so I'm kind of wondering, maybe that could be the one. Cause I mean, that's the first Wyoming distillery I'd heard of. So there can't be too many. I don't know.

Well, it's got a great color to it. It's a deep, rich color. And what was the proof on this again? 108.5. Okay. Barrelcraft Spirits, French Oak finished. Age statement?

Yeah. 12. 12. 12 years. Yes. Looks like it retails for about $159.99. Got some big ticket items tonight. Uh, yeah. Um,

We're top shelf and it is, you know, and we are treating ourselves to these. So there are no tricks in here.

All right.

Well, the nose is, uh, it's nice. It's got a little bit of a, just a little bit of a burn to it on the nose.

Like a burnt caramel.

Yeah. Yeah. But I am getting this nice, um, nutty woody note to it. Not getting a lot of fruit. It isn't real sweet on the nose.

No, lots and lots of vanilla though. Yeah. Dare I say French vanilla?

Yeah.

Yeah. French vanilla. Let's try it. Cheers. Cheers.

That's nice. Oh, creamy vanilla, French vanilla. I think you're right.

We'll go with it just because it's French. Oh, yeah.

I mean, sweet, creamy. Um, the, the nutty, oaky, slightly like burnt nose it had, it's not, not there on the palette.

Maybe it's just a hint of that nuttiness, but yeah.

Big difference, big transition from the nose to the palette, but in a good direction. Oh, that's really good. It does still have that back of the palette kind of nip kind of nips at you a little bit on the back of the palette.

Yeah. Like a little, when you say nip, like a little bitterness, a little bit. Yeah. A French oak gives you the, just a little bit of like bitter, I guess the bitter oak kind of thing. And it might be, when I say bitterness, that might be the tannin, the whole tannin thing. So which, you know, French oak wine, you think tannins a lot. But this is really soft and velvety. Delicious.

I'm liking it. I'm liking it a lot. It's, um, it's kind of a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde for me because the nose and the palate are so different, but I keep going back to the nose and the nose is spot on the same as I remember it. It's got a little bit of a kind of a, a burnt bite to it and no real sweetness, no fruitiness. But then when you go to the palate, it's like creamy, sweet, vanilla.

I feel like barrel's one of those that everybody enjoyed early in their journey, but I don't know, kind of forgotten about. And I think they need to go revisit because We had some outstanding expressions with them the other night. Yeah.

And what did they say?

They had 26 different expressions released this year. Yeah. All crafted. Yeah. The Armagnac, the five-year single brand that we got to try the foundation. And then, you know, they come out with that batch. I guess we had 37, which that was really outstanding too. And then the, and then the old standbys and you had Vantage, Seagrass, of course. Yeah. Dovetail. I've always been a Dovetail fan.

Seagrass is, yeah, I like Seagrass too. Seagrass is so different. That's one of those. So when are we going to do like a. I know we got a Malt Migos episode coming up here real soon. So those of you who have been looking forward to another one, we're going to have one here in the next few, but when are we going to do like a, a serious peated Scotch episode?

Like, I've got to do some shopping. I think I've got two peated. I've got an art bag, Corey Brecken, which I love. And then I've got like one of those, It's like a company that bottles other people's stuff. I guess kind of like a Scottish NDP is basically what it boils down to. Trying to remember what brand it was, but I mean, I'm in. I'm sure we could come up with something. I need to go shopping. And I'm sure AMZ probably has something. Well, we don't get sent, we get sent some scotches, but not a lot. Yeah. And then one moment from Bourbon on the Banks, we got to try the Peter Rye from Angel's Envy.

Yeah.

How was that? It was, it was really good. That's the second Peter Rye I've ever had. The other one's one that actually Drew Hannes shared with us that he was when he was, driving on one of his world tours or United States tours and doing some interviews and trying to remember where that was from. I'd had to go back, but it was really unique too. It seems like it was someplace in Michigan. I'm going to go back to the first pour and hit the nose on it.

And it's so different. It's so much more caramelly. The second one, the first one, the first one, you go back to the first one. See, I think it's just something I'm getting more vanilla on the second one. Yeah. I get more caramel, believe it or not on the vaults.

Yeah. On the vaults. I'm just getting, that's something new to my nose and something I've not smelled before. So it's kind of, like I said, a little salinity to me.

Yeah, it's like salted caramel, but then I kind of changed it at the end. I said, eh, I think maybe it's salted toffee, like English toffee with big chunks of salt on it. Okay.

And that's two good pours. I know that. I know it's good. Are we going to winner winner?

We are. We definitely need to do winner winner chicken dinner tonight. So we got five whiskeys we're going to go through. We're probably going to cut out a little bit early on the first half. We're going to do a long haul on the second half and we're going to hit three really good whiskeys in the second half as well. Sounds like a plan. All right. Well folks stick around. We got three more coming up. We just had two great ones. We're going to, at the end of the show, we're going to let you know who we think. Yeah, took the night.

So stick around. Sounds like a plan. We'll be right back. All right, listeners, welcome back to the second half of the show. In the first half, we tried Widow Jane's The Vaults 2025, their mythological finish, if you will, mythological oak, I should say. And then our second pour was the Barrel 12 Year French Oak. Great way to start the show.

Two real knock it out of the park kind of pours. And we've got five tonight. We're definitely doing winter, winter chicken dinner. So at the end of the night, you'll know. We'll probably just pick three of the five.

Yeah, we've kind of been just doing like our top three. Top three. It's kind of like, you know, we're in Kentucky. And horse racing, you know, only the top three, usually, you know, trifecta, you could go super effective, that kind of thing for those that know much about horse gambling, but when place and show, baby. Yeah. We're doing the monster mash. That's right. Whiskey mash tonight. So next up is Bardstown. May song. We were traveling though, Maison Ferrand finished number two. So they've teamed up with them once before and that is a Cognac brand.

So, Maison Ferrand. So Ferrand is F-A-R-R-A-N-D. Correct. Okay. Yes.

These were finished for 15 months in the Maison Ferrand Cognac.

I know.

Merging American character with French refinement. So I'll give you a little back history on the the actual blend, because, you know, I guess Danny likes to play around and mix some things. So we have 73 percent of a nine year Kentucky with a mash bill of 74, 18, 8, a 10 percent 11 year Kentucky bourbon. 78, 13, nine, a 10% 12 year Kentucky, 75, 13, 12, Turkey. And then 7% of a six year Bardstown bourbon company, 95, five. So it's actually a whiskey.

You know, the funny thing is, you know, Bardstown has always been really good about very detailed layout of everything that goes into their blend. but they don't cut any corners even on the media samples. I mean, right? I mean, they're pretty much, they're labeled very well as also, aren't they?

Yes, yes. And actually this one I got from a friend. So, you know, they're pretty good, but this one messes stuff through the cracks.

Typically when we get the media samples, they're in an amazing origami box that opens up and lights come on and fireworks go off.

A small show. But yes, I believe my good friend, Jeff Gamble, who I just met up with at the Bardstown Blitz, which is Mashing Journeys, I guess they're a big meetup for all their Patreons and fans in Bardstown. And my life is very busy, but I usually go up there for the bottle share. And I'm telling you, Jim, I don't know how many bottles are on the tables of the Fairfield Inn there in Bardstown. We pretty much take over the outside area and the inside area of the breakfast area. And there's no telling how much money was on all those tables because I mean, yes, just, you know, GTS is single barrels. I mean, Jason brought a sample bottle of his soon to be released drum key, which I tried that. Pretty good. Yeah. He knows, I was going to say, he knows his stuff and he's, he's tried my blend. So he's learned from the best. Yeah, he has. But yeah, I just, you know, it's, I, I, when those guys come in, I try, try my hardest and Dan, Dan Trout was there, Dusty Nantrout, you know, Scott's always a great to see. I wish I could have made it. And my good buddies from Hello Again Whiskey Friends, they were all there. So it's always, I always try to get up there for a little bit, but you know, I got up there, had a few pours, said hi, and then took my weary butt home. And I don't think I got home to about one 130. Wow. Yeah. But you know, it's worth it to see, you know, good friends and have a few pours and a few laughs.

Absolutely.

Absolutely. Back to the Ferron. And this one retails for $139.99, $111.8 proof.

I always like a cognac finished whiskey. They do have such a great nose to them. Okay. There's a bit of a dusty, like a dusty oak. Yeah. But it does have this cognac, kind of like rich grape nose to it. Yep. It smells of proof.

What was the proof again? Only 111. Okay. Yeah. There's, you know, they're one of those that don't get real high. They tend to stay in that 105 to maybe, I mean, I've seen some single barrels that go above and beyond.

All right. Let's try it.

Cheers. Oh, that's sweet and decadent.

Very decadent, almost deserty. Yup. Really good. Another one where the nose doesn't give you a great deal of hint on what the palette is going to be. Right. Well, I don't want to say that the nose of the palette do match, but the palette has such an amazing like first impression. Very overwhelming.

Very intense palette. Yup. Black cherry. Vanilla is big still on this one too.

Yeah. This is, um, this is like you've bitten into, um, a chocolate that has a very strong Liqueur cream center in it. And it just, uh, overwhelms your palette with a lot of flavor. What is that in the middle? I'm going to say it's a, I'm going to say it's a, um, like a.

You said chocolate. How about a raisin net? A little bit of raisin.

I was going to say like a current syrup. Current. Okay. Yeah. Like a rich berry syrup. Okay.

Yeah. Get a little bit of apple too. Just a hair.

Yeah.

Wow. That's really nice. I'm interested in knowing why they put that small bit of rye in there. I don't know the magic they do. Seven percent of a 95 five. Maybe it's just given that little extra spice on the tail end you get.

I mean, it really does balance across the palette. It, um, it's, it has a very significant, uh, impression on the palette, like a very intense, but it's intense from the moment it hits the tip of your tongue. across the middle, all the way to the back. They've blended this so that it just, it really does bounce across the palate. I wish I could have had, the nose would have like led me to this, but it kind of deceived me from this. It tricked you. It tricked me.

He thought it was going to be one thing and it brought another.

I know, I know. But I should know now after dozens of these bottles that they never disappoint. They never disappoint.

They are really hitting the blending game for sure.

Wow. It's really good. I would love to spend more time with this. I really would. I feel like the others that we've had so far, and I'm not giving this an edge over the others. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is this one deserves a little more time, I think.

Dare I say it might go well with a stick? It might go well with a stick, yeah. Whole cigar, cognac. Yeah. Really good. Definitely worth one finding. Like I said, good for Jeff. I'm pretty sure he came through on that one. And I actually tried it. at David Sandlin's bar at House of Commons recently. I hadn't seen it and had heard great things.

It must be nice to have such a great bourbon bar walking distance from your house. It's okay.

Yeah. Not too bad. I'm not complaining. I was going to say, you know what's crazy is like, Frankfurt's got its share now. Oh, it does. Yeah. It's not just one. I'm just saying Sandlin's place is fantastic. That's my fave. I mean, I will play favorites. a great friend. I see him quite often because we pick up our kids at the same school and yeah, it's, we, we walk around the same street. So it's, and then if we have questions or he has questions and yeah. So it's good to have him as a friend.

Awesome. Wow. I didn't save any of that. I've been saving a little bit of each one, but this time I did not. That's what I mean. I need to spend a little more time with that, so. Well, I may have to leave that sample with you then, the rest of that one. Well, don't feel obligated to. You can, you can.

I have plenty to tide me over.

You deserve a few things, right?

All right.

Ready to move on? I'm ready to move on. You're looking at me funny.

I know. Well, I'm excited about this one, because as soon as I got this, I was surprised to see it. This was at Capital Sellers, one of my locals. Paid a little over the top, but it's a small, local-owned, not a chain kind of thing. And I like to support my locals. So this is Wild Turkey, Master's Keep. bourbon. This is the last masters keep they will be releasing is what I've heard. And it is called beacon. This is it. This is the end of the line. Yep.

So it looks like Turkey.

It actually does. If Turkey has a look, it looks like Turkey. So this one comes in at 118 proof. Whoa. I know there are, they're truly upping the ante on their proofs. Cause you remember when Russell's 13 came out and it was like, Oh, everybody's like, Ooh, it's a big proof. And then the last Russell's 13 we had was what, uh, When the one twenties. Yeah. So they're up in the proof game, which you know what? I bet Eddie, I mean, sorry, I bet Jimmy's, he's probably not too happy about that. I don't think not. He likes his, he knows where the saddle is. And he likes to send in a right or a left.

It's so funny. I look at the color of this and I just, it almost looks like Turkey. I said that a few minutes ago, but I'm just saying it one more time. Deep. rich amber, but with a reddish hue. And just a sparkle, just that sparkle from wild turkey. I love it. Oh, funkalicious. Yeah. That's good.

Yeah. I can get the proof on the nose a little bit. So now this one retails for about 2.99. Oh, that's another big dollar. That's right.

Man, we're emptying everybody's wallets tonight.

Yeah, like I said, but I'm, I'm a Turkey guy. You know this and you are as well. So, you know, sometimes you got to do what you got to do, right?

So you said you paid over.

So yeah, a little bit over.

Whoa.

But yeah, it's got that dusty, the Turkey funk. Yeah.

Um, there's toffee and yeah.

Yep. I'd say like a burnt orange kind of, you know, like you go a little bit of orange on them. A little bit of honey, but you know, I would say more, more sweet, more sweet than that.

Um, so concentrated, maybe, maybe molasses. I don't know.

The cherries there. I mean, this is like, it's like, it is the Turkey. They've thrown the whole Turkey toolbox at us. Yeah. But it's more inviting. I think.

Yeah. We'll taste it. Cheers.

Oh my gosh.

I know. Right. Hold me back. That's unreal. It's special. Oh my goodness. I don't even know how to describe that.

Oh, if you are a turkey lover.

Yeah. Try this. Got to go find this at a bar and try it. Wow. I don't want to give anything away because we are voting at the end here. Yeah, I know, but this is like Seattle slew.

Oh my gosh. Or, uh, you know, it's, I almost wanted to have a whole show devoted to it because I tried this and I was just floored. Oh my goodness. It might be the perfect turkey.

I can hear all the listeners now. They've set down their headsets and they're running for the liquor store. Or they're emailing me for a pour, which that's fine.

Actually, you got to come to get it. I don't know if I would email this or mail this one. Wow. Fantastic. trying to come up with some notes here. I mean, it's like, like I said, there's nothing like really new about it. It's just everything they're kind of known for, like that orange, the citrus, the cherry, the funk, the oak.

It's just orange, citrus, cherry, toffee, just a hint of that clove, molasses and clove and tobacco, tobacco and it's rich oak. It's perfect. Oh, there might be a little sentiment in there. I don't know. Oh, wow. That is just amazing. It's one that makes you just kind of take your breath away a little bit. So if we had had a bonus for tonight, we didn't have a bonus for tonight. We're just doing five.

I was going to say, maybe we call that the bonus board because it's just so elevated. We're getting a bonus early tonight. Yeah.

I don't know.

It's a special, special bottle for sure. Well, I know the last one's going to be good too. Yeah. I mean, well we've had. This is four, four, four, four outstanding pours.

Now, do you think the nose on this ranks as high as the palette? Cause the palette was like, lights out for me. Angels sing? Yeah, angels sing. I do like that nose. I do like the nose too. I think it's a great nose, but I think it's a phenomenal, overwhelmingly wonderful palette. It is, it's viscous. Yeah. It is, uh, everything Turkey ought to be. Wow. Have we had, have we heard other reviews on this?

Uh, Jason's reviewed it, of course. And he was floored. Um, you know, that's usually where I get most of my reviews and I'm pretty sure Scott. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's definitely gonna be a contender. Yeah. for Bourbon of the Year. I'm not seeing Fred's. I'm curious. I'd like to go back and see what he said. You know, I don't have so much time. Yeah.

Yeah. The cherry is really coming out. The more I sip on it, the more I get your cherry. Like a cherry tobacco kind of thing. Yep. Yep. Really good. Really fantastic. Wow.

This is one of those shows where there's probably, we'll have to edit the pause, some gaps where we're like, well.

If they're listening to this right now, there have been no pauses because Jim has already edited them out. But yes, don't let them know. There have been many pauses here as we just looked at each other, eyebrows up in the air.

What is it? Sheep eating grants on our faces.

Like this is, yeah, I'm just looking over there. You have a full 750 mil bottle of that. Wow. Good for you.

Yeah, that'll be one to share.

It didn't come cheap, but yeah, it didn't come cheap. That'll be one to share with the ones that will appreciate it. All right. Well, I'm going to save a little bit of that.

And then I think we should move on to- And now we'll get you a nice little pour of that too, to have in case of emergency, right? Well, I might have to find a bottle. Yeah, I'd appreciate that. All right. So, pour number five. Last but not least is Woodford Reserves. barrel-proof strength rye. Okay. So a barrel-proof rye from Woodford Reserve. First time ever. Yep. They're up in their proof. Shut the front door. I know. They recently had that sweet oak, which we tried to get a sample of and they were out. It came in at 110.4. So they're kind of stepping, like diverging from the 90.4 that they normally do. So mash bill, 53% rye. So I'm guessing- Barely rye. Barely rye. Doesn't really give, I can't like, yeah, it doesn't have like the, the rest of the mash bill.

So- Well, it's going to be, it's going to be 40% corn and probably 7% multi-barley. Something like that. This is a barely legal rye, mostly corn. And so it's going to have that nice sweetness to it, that corn sweetness. But what's the age on this?

Non age stated. Non age stated.

Okay.

If there were a gripe about Woodford reserve by some of those folks out there, like the true bourbon snobs, it would be that rarely do they have an age statement. If it's not age stated, we know it's at least four years. Right. So, uh, this one retails 129.99. So, We've had some top dollar stuff here today. Yeah. And it says you could get it shipped from Woodford, but yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. OK. But it should be out there in some of your nicer stores. But again, probably allocated and hard to get. Sure.

Let's check it out.

And since it's the first barrel strength Rye release, for sure. All right. Cheers. Cheers. Oh.

Oh, very, um, serially very, uh, like sh corn pops, sugar, sugar pops, sugar pops, sugar pops.

It's got a little spice to it though.

I mean the rise there, no doubt, but I'm definitely getting like sugar pops or what are their corn pops? Yeah. Corn pops, corn pops are the round yellow balls, right? I'm trying not to mix match it with sugar smackums.

Sugar smackums have like the little leopard spots on them. Right.

So this is the big round balls. This is the corn pops.

Little pepper, little clove, little mint. Not a very expressive nose compared to some of the others tonight.

No, but it is a nice nose. I do enjoy it. Um, it doesn't scream rye, but you can tell if it's not a rye, it's definitely a high rye bourbon. I would guess it in the six to eight year range. Let's just call it seven. That's my guess on it.

And I did say proof was 125.1. Okay.

So what's up there? I think it noses a little below its proof.

Yes. It does not have the ethanol you'd expect. All right. I'm ready to sip. Cheers. Cheers.

Oh, that's nice. Oh yeah. Okay. That's good.

There's a little bit of graininess to it though. It does. It's got graininess. You can tell the rye, like rather than corn grain, like the rye grain, you could really, it's a very cereal whiskey.

Right. Wow.

Not expecting that.

Um, it kind of reminds me a little bit of like, uh, Just a little of the three chamber rye. Okay. You know, the kind of the cereal.

Oh, I remember that one. Yeah.

I know you do, but kind of reminds me a little bit of that. I don't know that it's at that level.

Hmm. Makes you wonder if you think this came out of the pot stills there.

I'm thinking it probably did. It seems like a pot still whiskey, doesn't it? Yeah. Little clove. Still. This is a good whiskey. This is a really good, um, traditional, like this could define a Kentucky rye right here. Yeah. As far as I'm concerned, this is a Kentucky rye.

A little bit of leather, just a little.

Yeah. It's good. It's, it's, it's got a nice viscosity to it. Great flavor. Nice mild sweetness. All the spices that you mentioned early on, they're all shining through. Um, it does have that great cereal note. Um, I, yeah, I definitely think it's, um, corn pops.

I mean,

Rye pops? Rye pops. Corn pops. I don't know. It's got a good, it's got a good corn percentage in it.

It's for probably 40% corn. For sure. If you're only doing what, 56?

I'm going to say seven year old, six, seven year old. Cause it's had, it definitely had a chance to age out that corn component. That's a good whiskey. It's got a nice spiciness to it. I like it. The real question is, does it hold up to the others? Yeah, I know.

I know it doesn't hold up to one.

Yeah. Or two.

But it's the only ride of night. I know. So we got to give it its due. We've got to, I got to start chasing more rides out there, but I tell you what, I think I've told you, We've got a lot to review towards before we get to the end of the year.

I know because it seems like, you know, that the shipments of bottle samples that we get in from our wonderful media people who help us along the way, they ebb and they flow. They come in bursts kind of. And I would say that in August, it kind of slows down a little bit. Yeah, which makes sense. I mean, it makes sense. But then in October, Let's lose, right? Yeah.

And then we also have a lot of good friends that are like, Hey, have you, we want to review this on the show. And I'm like, heck yeah. Thank you. So, I mean, it works well because, you know, tis the season for new releases. I mean, BTAC is, we'll probably talk about those new releases and what they're about. on a, on an upcoming show, kind of a news player because yeah, they are, there's a hazmat George T. Stag that's getting ready to drop and you know, the folks are going to go goo goo go over that one.

And now we've got Taylor part of this part of the lineup.

So a lot of great things happening in this world.

And I think it's just going to get better as they, if I, for the consumer's attention, we're going to see great expressions coming out. Um, and hopefully everybody can get their hands on them.

Yup.

I hope so.

All right. All right, Todd, it's time for, uh, it's time for us to put our glasses down and scratch our heads a little bit. Yeah, for real. Um, I think I am ready. Are you ready? I think so. Okay.

Well, we'll let you go first tonight. Okay. We're going to go first. Can we go number one? No, I'm kidding. No, we're going to go number three, two and one. So we had five whiskies tonight. Right. We won't even talk about two of them. Well, whichever the bottom two.

Well, your bottom two, each of us will pick our top three. Right. All right. My number three, Three, four and five are very close. Yeah. But my number three is going to be the Ferrant.

The Burristown Ferrant. I'm wondering if that's mine too, because I'm thinking it might be because the nose for me wasn't all that, but the palette was really good. Yeah. And it really impressed me. So I'm really thinking about it here.

I'm going to agree with you.

Okay. I'm going to agree with you. I'm going to agree with you, but I also agree that three, four and five were very close.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. What's your number two? Oh gosh. I'm going to go with the barrel.

I'm going to agree. Are you really?

It was, it's really nice. Yeah.

I thought, I thought for sure we would differ on this one for some reason.

I mean, like I said, we're talking. Very small, like on a different day, I bet, and we tasted all five of these, maybe in a different order. Okay. Well, let's remind the listeners what this bottle was. This is the Barrel 12 Year French Oak. And the third place? The third place was the Bardstown Ferrand collaboration, the second. Fantastic. Both? Great whiskeys.

Ferrand Cognac. All right. And then let's go ahead and say it.

I mean, number one, by far it is, it is truly a beacon in the night. It is a beacon in the night.

It is a, uh, it's a call to all the werewolves out there to head towards the it's fantastic. Uh, Is it really the last Masters keep? That's what they say.

End of an era. Yeah. I do know there's another, you know, the single Rick house. There's a, I think they're doing a Camp Nelson E, I believe is what we saw. We'll probably bring that up in a news bit. I need to, but, um, Yeah, apparently it is. But I think you're seeing the torch passed, I think from Eddie to, to Bruce. I think, cause I think they both kind of collaborated on this one and well, well done guys.

I really think that Jimmy sits back in his rocking chair. and looks at Eddie and Bruce, and he's just gonna be beaming with pride, beaming with pride. He sees the passing of the torch, like you said. He sees the next generation coming on strong.

And probably some of the, you know, knowing Jimmy, I don't know him super well, but you know, I've had plenty of opportunities to talk to him. It probably perturbs him a little bit. They're doing their own thing, but it probably also, like you said, it probably makes him a little proud too.

Cause Jimmy kind of did his own thing too, right? I mean, they all do. They all exert their, I mean, Jimmy just, he's the one that made that eight to 12 year saddle at Wild Turkey and just, it just drove it home. Yeah. Everybody loved the brand.

And I think you're seeing that with Fred and Freddie now. The torch gets passed. Right. It does. And they bring their own.

Is there another up and coming generation? I'm sure there are.

I'm sure there are too. I mean, they're a bit young right now. Yeah. I mean, Danny at Bardstown doing some great blending work. I mean. Yeah.

Oh my goodness. Well, folks, definitely. I know these bottles are expensive tonight. I don't think we had a single bottle that was under $100. Not tonight. There were a couple of them right at $300. So they weren't cheap bottles, and we don't expect you to all go out and buy them. But I know you can get a pour of it. So I'm highly, highly recommending that if you're a turkey fan, you find a way to get yourself a pour of that beacon, because it is. Yeah. It'll change your day.

If you have good friends and something special to celebrate, that's something to do it with.

That's really, really good. I love these review shows, Todd. It's so awesome that we get a chance to go through these whiskies and let everybody know what we think. I don't know that there are other shows that just pounce through all the samples the way we do and roll it down to a vote at the end. Maybe there are. I think, let's do a few and they all kind of have their own different way of doing it for sure. Everybody does it a little bit different. Some do ratings, rankings. Yeah.

Yeah. That kind of thing. But I kind of like the way we do it. It's hard to put a number on how good something is to me. I mean, we had five outstanding pours tonight.

It's hard to rank something on a scale of one to 10, but you can say which one you appreciated more that night. So by us doing winter, winter chicken dinner, I think we're able to. everybody know, at least tonight, which one we liked the best. And it was a beacon. Definitely a beacon. Nothing wrong with the other two pours that we had tonight. They were equally good. Well, not equally good, but a little lesser good, but still good. Just got outshined.

Choosing tonight's tasting was rough because I had a pretty good idea the beacon was just going to outshine everything. You had a sneak peek. I did. I had to try it just to see if the hype was real. Look at you. Are you blending them all? I'm blooming them all. That's the noise in the background, folks.

I'm doing that thing where I'm combining all five of them together. He's cheersing himself. It's going to be nasty, I'm sure.

It was hard to pick four to go against it. Like I said, we had five outstanding pores in it.

It's just one was really, really, really outstanding to me. You have a way of doing a lineup, Todd. Pretty awesome. So what you're saying is we've got so many samples in the queue. Yeah. There's going to be a couple more sample shows. At least. We're definitely doing a Malt Migos show. Yep. We've got, oh, there's another show you mentioned. We're going to do a little recap of Bourbon on the Banks. Recap of Bourbon on the Banks. And then there was another one you mentioned just a little while ago.

Oh, we got a couple of places that we're kind of lining up to talk about. Oh, and then I actually reached out to my friend at Porter's. And funny enough, we talked about David Sandlin at the House of Commons. So he's a big beer nerd and has a beer seller like I do. But I also talked to Jonathan Seppfield of Porter's. And so we might do a bourbon beer kind of tasting kind of thing. Cool. I know. Yeah. We had actually talked about that with Our friend was at Jay Mattingly and now at Lerkin, right?

Yeah, Aaron Malali.

But I thought I'd reach out to Jonathan. He's a good dude.

Good deal. Okay. Here it is. This is all five mixed together. I can't believe you did that to that beacon. I didn't leave much of it. It was just a few drops, but still it's part of this. That's really good. I mean, it's not as good as the beacon. It's not as good as the, I'm still nursing that one over here. I don't even know if it's as good as the vaults. Yeah. It's, it's less than the five. Yeah. But that's okay. It usually happens that way.

Well, it's been a lot of fun, Todd.

Great show. Good to be back in the saddle a little bit. It is definitely good to be back in the saddle. We got some shows coming up, folks. Make sure you tune us in in the coming weeks for some great stuff. Again, we're going to work our way up to that great big announcement at the end of the year where we tell you what whiskey we agreed on was going to be our whiskey of the year. It will be tough. It will be tough.

But we might have a front runner.

Yeah, no doubt. I can remember like two or three, maybe other shows during the year where I got just as excited about a whiskey. So it's not alone.

No, there was another Turkey product, I think that would probably fall on that. And that's that, uh, the other 13 year we had, it was pretty, pretty good, pretty special.

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 places. Make sure you tune us in every single week. The best way not to miss a show, you're listening to us now, so just scroll to the top of that app you're on, hit that subscribe button. That way, when Todd and I drop one next Wednesday and the Wednesday after and every Wednesday after that, you'll get that notification letting you know that we've dropped another episode. and we can give you an hour of fun and whiskey drinking. So we'd love to be a part of your day. Anytime you have those headsets on, we'd love to have you listening to the Bourbon Road podcast. But if you don't have your headsets on, if you're just browsing the web, make sure you go to the Bourbon Road That's our webpage. We sell all kinds of wonderful things on there. Hats and Glencairns and flasks and all kinds of good stuff. Maybe you buy something from the Bourbon Road webpage. You help Todd and I get down the road to that next interview. Also, the Bourbon Roadies on Facebook. That's our people. That's our fan club. That's our friends. That's our peeps. Make sure you check out the Bourbon Roadies. It's real simple. Just go to Facebook, type in the Bourbon Roadies. ask to join, answer three simple little questions, pop on in there and say hello to us. Tell us how much you enjoyed an episode or what you're drinking or take a picture of what bottles on your counter at the moment. We'd love to know about it. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

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