491. Five Premium Pours: From Gatsby to Garryana Oak

Hello 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 four and join us.

Hey there Bourbon 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 give you an update on our ticket availability for the event taking place on October 3rd, 2026.

All right, listeners, welcome back to another show. We've got some top shelf pours today, Jim.

I'm excited. I love these shows. I love these shows with these top shelf pours.

Yeah, we've got some that have been procured by me and some that were sent to us by friends. Spoilers, you got sent one that we're very excited to try as well. And we'll get to that one in a little bit. Excited to try all five of them. Yeah, we're going to do a Cinco, if you will, of top shelf. So let's get right to it, right? Let's do it. First pour. First pour is this was a release from kind of end of last year. This is the 2025 Remus Gatsby Reserve, which is a 15-year-old cast-strength straight bourbon. 15 years. So lower proof, but we're going to high in age. Yeah. So the Great Gatsby, or excuse me, the Remus Gatsby Reserve is released to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Great Gatsby. Great book. I haven't read in a long time, but that was one of those from school days, I'm sure. It was a movie too, right? Yes.

Was it Leonardo DiCaprio in it? The newer one, right?

The newer one? Yeah, I think so. And then wasn't, I want to say Redford?

Honestly, I can't remember. You'd think we would remember the old one better than the new one.

Yeah, because we're old, but we're also old, so we can't remember. It's like, yeah. So of course, this is from the Ross & Squibb Distillery, better known as MGP out of Indiana. Retails for It says anywhere from $150 to $199. I've been seeing some crazy sales, speaking of that. Yeah, some people are really cutting some price on some great stuff out there.

Yeah, I went to my favorite local bourbon store the other day and the guy said, anything on this shelf, $30. No way. I was like, you're kidding me. He goes, no, I'm serious. We got to clear some room. I'm like, wow. I didn't buy anything because I had to really think about. I was like, you can have stocked up on Christmas presents. I did want to spend like $300 right then and there. 10 Christmas presents. There was a lot of stuff. There was definitely $100 bottles in that mix.

Speaking of my friends in Ohio, Jeff Wack, he sent pictures of one of his local stores that had four gate, which I have a very close tie to that. And those are regularly like $189, $229? Yeah. $59 bucks. Wow. some of the older batches, some of those really good ones. It's one of those things that's good and bad, right? It's good and bad.

It's good because now we can get some really cool stuff at a reasonable price. It's bad because there's some people struggling out there. Yeah.

But anyway. All right. But let's get to this 15-year-old beauty. Shout out to my good buddy, Adam Dorman, who sent me this pour. Thank you, Adam. Cheers to Adam. All right. 15 years. I'm ready. I'm ready. Oh. Oh, wow.

That's the way to start the day. Yeah. Now I've not had any Remus in recent times. It's been a while.

Well, they're one that's kind of slowed the horses a little bit too. I mean, they were a big contract distiller, but I feel like it's one of those places that was selling to places that were trying to get their own stuff going and now they're getting their own stuff going. So it kind of,

Great nose, nice smoky oak. Smoky oak, vanilla. There's a little bit of a citrusy. Like a sweet, sweet cinnamon in there too. Oh, it's citrus, huh?

Yeah, there's a little bit of citrus to me.

Yeah, that's a great nose. That is a great nose. Really good nose.

What was the proof again? Only 102.8. Okay.

Well, still respectable proof. All right, I'm going to taste it. Cheers. Same, cheers. Oh, cinnamon red hot candies. Big oak presents. Really, really nice. Yeah, like a smoked cinnamon. I want to say it's red hot, because it's really not red hot, but it's what it kind of reminds me of, like a cinnamon bear. Yeah. But smoked cinnamon bears. Smoked cinnamon bears.

Just invented a new candy. Yeah. Like it. And that second sip. Yeah. There's some Oakey tannins there. There's a nice, uh, get like a little bit of cocoa chocolate kind of thing too.

Cocoa chocolate, a little bit of like, um, root beer, Dr. Pepper kind of vibe. It's kind of weird, but it's good. Is that really a good whiskey?

That's a good start.

Great way to start the day.

this will put them on the map. That's good stuff. Yeah, this is one of those. It's a really gorgeous looking bottle. I recommend, you know, at least looking at the bottle. It's just kind of cool. It looks very I don't know, like something from that time, the 20s kind of thing. It drinks with a little more heft than it has.

Like 102, you said, right? Around 102. It drinks like a heftier whiskey, but it's, it might just be that cinnamon that's got that, that cinnamon palette. It's giving an extra bite. Agreed.

That's one to sit and think with for a while. Absolutely. I mean, I feel like it evolved the longer it sits a little bit.

Yeah. Well, I'll let what little bit I have left of my glass sit because- Are you going to do what I think you might do with them all? Well, I don't know. But I'm at least going to revisit it if we're going to do winter chicken dinner. I think we will. All right. I don't think I have enough left to revisit it and do a combined pour, so I'd have to just forego that.

Oh, nice cold water. Thank you, Todd. Yep. I got us prepared. I don't think we said we were at the Corner Rick House in Frankfurt today, Studio B. Yeah, it's always nice to come back here.

It seems like we bounce back and forth quite a bit.

It's nice to get to Frankfurt once in a while. Yeah. And it works well. We kind of try to take turns at each studio. That way, the drive's not so much on both of us. Yeah.

So what do we have for numero dos?

All right. Our second pour, we're going to bring this from Old Forester. And this is their, I think it's their latest 117 series, that smaller bottles. And this is their High Angel Share Rye. High Angel Share Rye. This one clocks in 110 proof, SRP of 64.99 for a 375 milliliter bottle. Probably find it Obviously this is definitely, we found some at your local there, Paradise Liquors.

They're typically stacked on the shelves. When they have them, they have quite a few bottles.

Yeah. In fact, our Ohio buddies may have texted me to grab one. I just haven't had a chance. So I probably need to get by there. They like those little putting together their collections. Yeah. So this is a 65% rye, 20% malted barley and 15% corn. And yeah. Is that the same as their old Forrester rye? I don't know the mash. I wish I had that computer like brain where I kept all the mash bills intact in there.

I don't know. I think their rye, the old Forrester rye is in fact, um, 115, I'm sorry. The old forest to right is in fact 65%, I believe. Okay. So maybe the other portions are different, but I think 65 is correct.

So this is the first time their rye has had the high angel share, which I find really intriguing because they're one of those few, you know, it's a brown form and so they have the controlled rick houses. So I guess it's still maybe, you know, on a summer day, it still gets a lot hotter up at the top, maybe?

Well, also, you know, the density of the grain and the wood can change from one to another and it might come out easier, evaporate, I don't know.

Is the high angel share a little lower because all the barrels are on top and the cooler ones at the bottom and then so the middle becomes a high angel share down there? Who knows? That's a question. Quite a science. Yeah. And I don't know if you've noticed, Brown Forum has been in the news a little bit, talk of a merger with, was it Pernod Ricard? Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard, I mean. How about that? Yeah, like you said, change of times.

And Four Roses just got bought out by a wine company.

By Gallo. By Gallo. I've seen mumblings of Sazerac and Jack Daniels. Oh my goodness. That's interesting times.

It is interesting times. All right. Well, back to the notes. Back to the notes. Ooh. Oh, that is old Forrester. I mean, it's cola and light chocolate.

See, I'm getting some strawberries. Almost like a strawberry jam. There is like a fruity nose to it, but it's like a spicy fruit. Yeah. Juicy fruit. Juicy fruit. Oh, I like it. Yeah. Of course you're never disappointed with their nose. I know it. It's so good. Especially these 117s and the Kings of Kentucky.

Yeah, it's got a little bit of a nice sweet spice drop kind of nose. All right, taste it. Yep, cheers. Cheers. Oh, that is really good. I'm trying to think of what it reminds me of. I think my strawberries carries over a little bit. Strawberries there, for sure. Like a strawberry jam. But that spicy gumdrop and that colonote still there and a little bit of that chocolate. It's kind of reminiscent of early times a little bit, but of course it's not a bourbon, it's a rye, but it's got a little bit of that early times kind of chocolatey note to it.

The old early times. Yeah, I was going to say their own early times, not the Sazerac.

Not the Sazerac one, right.

It's a little herb, herbal thing going on there too. Yeah, that is delicious. It's kind of bright rather than a darker rye too.

Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely sweetened up a little bit and it does bring those fruit notes forward. They are spicy fruit notes. That's kind of unique a little bit.

It is, yes, agreed. It finished kind of, it's good, but it kind of drops quick. I mean, everything but the spice, like that peppercorn spice kind of like drops.

Yeah, I think the oaky spice notes kind of stick back a little bit. A sweet, you said a citrusy, a cola, chocolatey, kind of spicy gum drop. The sweeter notes drop off pretty quick. Pretty quick. It's good though. It has a great oatmeal impression on the palate. It's like you wouldn't have trouble guessing this one. See, I'm not going to be honest.

I've not had a whole lot of their rise. I think I've had like the, of course, the classic, the bonded rye, which is, that's a solid, solid pour.

Yeah, I think bourbon or rye, they both carry sort of similar. I don't get the banana on this one. No, maybe it's missing that, but I don't get it either, so.

Nice. Yeah, that's good. So we want to do a third one, first half? I think we should do a third one in the first half.

I think so too. And then the second half, we'll...

I do want to hit some water though, real quick. Get that spicy tingle. We're kind of got a nice array of different stuff here.

Yeah. Well, great so far. Two winners so far for the chicken dinner face off. Yeah. Shout out for that one goes to our PR guy.

So shout out to, oh, I can't recall his name off the top of my head.

All right, so our pour number three is from Bardstown Bourbon Company. Thank you so much, Bardstown Bourbon Company, for sending us a 375 of the Cascadia Garriana Oak. Garriana. Garriana Oak. It's a distillery reserve bottle from them. Another 375. It's part of their, like I said, distillery reserve collection. And these can be had for $100, $99.99 or whatever the price is. Yeah, highly sought after. Highly sought after, but they're out there. They're in the wild. You can find them. So, the story behind the Cascadia Gariana, Cascadia is the northwestern United States, Oregon, and Washington area. They call it the Cascade Mountains. This is based on a Northwest oak called the Garriano oak or Oregon white oak that really only grows in the Pacific Northwest in Williamette Valley.

Are you familiar with Williamette Valley? Yeah, that's where a lot of hops are grown. That's where the hops are grown.

That's right. So a lot of flavor coming out of Williamette Valley. It's a very strong, dense and scarce oak. In fact, it's so scarce that it is illegal to harvest it. you can only take fallen trees. So it's very well protected. It is a long growing, a long life tree. And it's, like I said, its grains are very dense and everything you do with the Garriotta has to be sanctioned. In other words, it's very well protected.

Yeah. I've only seen, I think maybe this is like the, Second or third offering I've seen with Garriana. And funny enough, the other one was a Westland single malt out in Washington state. So that makes sense.

Well, one of the things they say about this oak is that we'll find out when we taste it, it imparts clove and darker notes. It also, because of the dense grain, it limits the evaporation and changes the profile of the whiskey.

Well, just looking, it's the darkest of the five pores I think we have here. It is dark. Which is kind of crazy considering that first one was 15 years. and part some interesting colors. I did find a little bit more on it. There's 80% 10-year Kentucky bourbon. That's a 70, 18, 12 mash bill. There's 12% 10-year Indiana bourbon, 75, 21, 4 mash bill, which MGP. And then there's 8%, 9-year Kentucky bourbon, 74, 18, 8, which I believe that's their own. Yeah, I think that's theirs. Now the 70, 18, 12, I'd have to do some digging on that. And I think, didn't say it was like finished like for 10 months.

10 months in the barrel. So roughly, I would say we can just average it out that these are 10 year barrels. Cause I think one of them is actually 10 year, 10 months. So by the time you average it out, these are roughly on average 10 years with 10 months in a secondary finished barrel.

I've been nosing a little bit. It's different.

It's got a fresh Northwest nose to it, doesn't it?

It's almost like you went on a spring hike in the mountains and like you're surrounded, I guess by Garriana Oak or something, you know?

Did they sneak a little cedar in there? Because it's kind of that nose, doesn't it?

Yes.

But we know they didn't. This is all oak here. So I wonder how you actually source barrels made of carriana oak. I mean, it's got to be a difficult thing with it being sanctioned at all.

Yeah. Do you find a tree and you just go and watch it every day and see if it falls? And they're like, I found one. Could take a while. I don't know. With something like that, do you almost feel like maybe the division of forestry? I mean, you got to feel they know where they're all at. So if one falls. There's probably been a count.

There's probably been a count, yeah. And they grow for so long, they're old trees. Love the nose, love it. This is definitely a fresh Northwest take on a 10 year old whiskey and it's unique, just on the nose. I'm ready to taste it. Yep. Cheers. Cheers. Oh, very concentrated. Yes, very concentrated. But it's concentrated, mature oak, aged oak flavors. It's got a great oaky pout. Kind of reminds me a little bit of an older Knob Creek, a little bit.

And there's a bit, almost like sandalwood kind of thing going on.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's different. Like an aromatic. Not quite cedar this time, but like, yeah, like if you think of Sandalwood, I think of like the incense and that kind of.

But it's kind of buttery and warm. It's got a great texture to it. The whiskies they chose for this are definitely premium. Good stuff. Like a cigar box kind of thing. Yeah, that's a great bottle right there. Each one of these that we try steps out in a different direction. It certainly does. It just makes its own statement. It gives you something you really haven't tried before. And I mean, it's definitely something you want to search out, I think, every time there's a release. Yeah.

That spice, that second sip, that spiciness of the oak, that Gariana oak tannins is really, really coming through now.

I wonder if those are barrels you can use again and again, sort of like the Ambaranas. I mean, it doesn't impart the seriousness of flavor that an Ambarana gives you, but it does have it.

I don't know. I mean, this is pretty bold for 10 months. It's bold and unique. Yeah. Yeah. So I'd be curious. That is a great question. We'll have to run across Danny or something. I feel like you got to think it's probably an expensive barrel to put together. Man, your Sandalwood notes is coming back to get me. Yeah. That was a great call out. That is wild. And this is going to be a hard one to call today. And we still have two more pores to go.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. It's tough already.

I kind of know where they stand. I'm getting like some chair, like baked cherry pie kind of thing too. I'm getting the clove. Yep. The clove. Like that's got like the spice cam, but it's got those ones that you don't use a whole lot. They're kind of in the back.

I was saying it was, I was going to say it was savory and it is a little savory. I would say that. But when you add the clove note to it, cause it finishes with a clove note, I start thinking like baked ham with cloves stuck in it.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Like the little toothpick things or whatever. That's a good shout. Wow. Cool. Yep.

All right. I'm going to save just a little bit of that. Wow.

And this one I can think dropped me about a month. Well, I think you got it about maybe a month ago, maybe three weeks ago.

So probably three weeks. Yeah.

And they usually send that maybe a couple of weeks before it hits a shelf. So it's probably been a couple of weeks, a month or something like that.

So we don't get around to them right off. I see some hit the streets. They're on, they're on, they're on shows already.

But you know, if we had YouTube channel, I guess we could do that. And we do have a YouTube channel, but you know, we don't, we don't have the time nor the, The patience for putting them out immediately. But hopefully some of you folks out there found this, or if you're coming to Bardsound, this is one that I'm sure you could get there at Bardsound Distilling Company, I'm sure.

I'm trying to think, Todd, but I think this might be episode 491. So we're almost to 500. The countdown begins. Yeah. Yeah. I think we've got something special planned for 500.

Yeah, it's going to be cool. All right. We're not going to give any. None. Just going to have to wait. It'll be lots of fun. We may have more than one surprise for that one. Yeah. We have to introduce something to kick off the show, kind of a new intro, maybe, too. That would be fun.

Oh, that would be fun. I know what you're talking about now.

Yeah. 500. I actually shared it with a few special roadies, and they were like, wow. Oh, cool. Very excited.

All right. Well, Todd, it's been a great first half. We've had three tremendous whiskies, all of them in contention for the win, no doubt. There's nobody falling behind, I don't think. This is like a photo finish, since we're getting close to Derby in a month away or so. All right. Well folks, stick around. Todd and I will contemplate what we've had so far and plan for the second half. We'll be back right after the break.

Hey there, bourbon roadies. It's Diane Strong with Bourbon on the Banks Festival, and I want to give you a quick update on Bourbon on the Banks. General admission is officially sold out. But don't worry, we've still got Twilight tickets, and they're absolutely worth it. You'll catch the final two hours of the festival. The energy is high, the crowd is buzzing, the music's going, and the bourbon is flowing. With over 70 distilleries to sample from, you don't want to miss it. It's all happening October 3rd in Frankfurt. Grab those Twilight tickets before they're gone. I can't wait to see you on the banks.

Hello there, Drew Hanisch, Whiskey Lore, and I am excited to announce that I have a brand new book called Experiencing American Whiskey. If you have checked out my travel guide to Experiencing Kentucky Bourbon, you'll know that I go deep into the details of Kentucky Bourbon. Well, imagine that I've spread this out across the entire United States now, and I'm covering a thousand distilleries, coast to coast, and even Alaska and Hawaii. I have 227 detailed profiles in there from the distilleries that I've had firsthand contact with. I give you all the details that you need to know, like when they have tours, if they do tastings, cocktails, and everything is in a state-by-state format so that you can roll through, find your particular state that you're traveling to, and have all that information at your fingertips. and so on. So it is actually available at whiskylore.org slash shop. That's Whiskey Lore's travel guide to experiencing American whiskey.

All right, folks, welcome back to the second half of the show. In the first half, we had the Remus Gatsby 2025 version that came out kind of the tail end of 2025, a 15-year-old MGP or Ross & Squibb distillery product of their own and really knocked our socks off. We followed that up with the of old Forester 117 series, their newest release, the High Angel Sherry. And then our third pour was the Bardstown Cascadia Garriana Finish Bourbon. Yeah. A blend of Indiana. So there's a little few tie-ins there. Kentucky. Yeah.

I haven't had one. I don't think one though.

No, I've only seen, like I said, the Westland, I think, which is a single malt producer out in that area. So that's the only one I've seen. So this was, you know, we were always talking about how Danny's like pushing the envelope on some of these finishes and I think he's done it again too.

Yeah. Well, we're going to have just as an amazing second half.

Yeah, I'm very excited. So sticking, this is an MGP product as well, but this is coming from one of their places at source. And this is Redemption. Redemption is one of those labels that's been out for, it's kind of an old OG of NDPs. Hasn't been around a while. Yeah. So this is their 10 year old barrel proof, high rye bourbon retails for about 115 60% corn, 36% rye, so high rye, and 4% malted barley, and bottled at barrel proof, which is 114.4 proof. There we go. Yeah.

Redemption. What else have we had from redemption recently? I'm trying to think. Oh, we did have something for redemption. I can't remember. Yeah. Another problem with getting old.

Oh, it was the port blend. Remember the crazy one that tasted like the berry cobbler?

Yeah, the berry cobbler. It was really good.

It was really good. It was actually a, what is it? Midnight something? Yeah, something like that. But they called it a specialty spirit or something.

Yeah, because they basically poured wine in it. But it was really good. Yeah. OK, so redemption. You have my respect. But they were clear about it on the label. They said, hey, we've really adulterated this whiskey.

Right. And they put, they put out a 10 year old rye. I feel like they did that like early 2025. So they've got some older stock. Yeah. One of a few Iowa distilleries. All right. The nose is clean and crisp. That rise really shining through. Yeah. More so than like the sweeter bourbon notes. It's got that kind of like rye toast.

Okay, this is good. It's very fresh on the nose. Not a lot of sweetness coming across, not a lot of like overly-oked or anything like that. Just a nice, well-rounded, riburban nose. And, you know, for the proof, it's that which is substantial. It's a reasonable proof. It doesn't hit the nose hard. It's kind of nice.

And I think it's kind of funny that like theirs is one when you hear high rye. I mean, yes, they have different match bills, but that's a pretty good high rye. Sure it is. You know, we've often talked about it while Turkey calls, there's kind of a high rye, but it's nowhere near that 36%.

Oh, it's getting mintier somehow. It is getting mintier. I agree with that. Let's taste it. Cheers. Cheers. Yeah. Candy like sweet. Yep. Very, very sweet. Overly sweet. A lot of toffee. Yeah. Um, the Oaks, I mean the nose mislead you a little bit. It leads you to think it's going to be a little bit on the mild side, but the flavor is intense. It's a syrupy sweet. It's got a lot going on. It's spicy. It's even like, what'd you say? Toffee? Yeah. Toffee. Um, little nutty. No, like, um, one of those, uh, those, uh, carnival, uh, pecans that are glazed. Oh, uh, like candy pecan type things. Kind of reminds me of those a little bit. Yeah, that's a good call.

It is really like that might be the sweetest thing we've had so far. They didn't pour anything. They didn't pour pralines in there. A lot of vanilla. These are not nice a tingle on the tongue too.

Wow. When you go back forth between the nose and the palate, it really has this, uh, this nice, um, Almost a whorehound kind of note to it. Okay.

I'm not getting that one today, but now I'm getting a little like burnt orange kind of thing too.

You're not getting any of that kind of cough drop kind of. Not yet. Well, we have two completely different palettes. I like this one a lot. Yeah, it's good. It's good. It's going to be a stand-in.

It's going to finish in the top five, right?

Guaranteed. That went down the wrong pipe almost. That's a little proofy.

It does drink a little warm for 114. Yeah. I'm sure they- MGP is one of those you can see like barrel proofs ranging from like a hundred to like a hundred and forty two though. So it's kind of- I'm sure that's where they are in the Rick house, but I have seen that. It's old Lawrenceburg Rick houses, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Right. I've actually been by there. I've kind of seen it from a distance, but that's one of those places. It's kind of like, they don't do tours. I think our friend, Bo Kovlin got to do a pick there. So that's pretty, and I know our good friends, Jason and Scott had been there to do picks too, but it's kind of, it's almost got that Willy Wonka vibe. Like no one goes in and no one comes out kind of thing.

I'd go there once a year for my granddaughter's dance competitions. They're in Lawrenceburg, right there by the distillery. But she just graduated, so she doesn't have any more of those. So that'll be it. I probably won't go back for a while. Not a lot else to do in Lawrenceburg if there's not some reason to be there.

Just passing through on the way back from family and up in Muncie area. All right. Wow. Yeah. This is a good lineup.

You did a really good job.

All right. Are we ready for number five? Numero cinco. All right. Got to give a shout out to one of our roadies, and that's Jeremy James. Used to do bar stools and bourbon. He's now a tour guide at Buffalo Trace. So he was one of our winners when we gave away a copy of Drew's book. And so I knew he did tours over at Buffalo Trace. And I was like, I'll slip over there at lunch. drop this off to you and just give me a shot sometime when you're over there. So he texts me one morning and says they are dropping EH Taylor barrel proof batch 14B. This is called B and I'll explain that in a little bit. And I'm like, well, let me know when the crowd settles because I don't want to get over in the mix because it seems like, you know, over there, like when the word gets out, it's It's kind of like ants finding a hamburger on the ground, you know, that just swarm it or something like that. So, you know, a couple of hours passed and he said, there's still bottles here and it's pretty quiet. So I got over there and yeah, I got a bottle of this. I mean, usually I don't, you know, I've gotten a few over there, the Eagle Rare 12, which, you know, you and I and. Yeah. We shared that with Rob, actually, at the Eagle Rare bar. But yeah, shout out to Jeremy. He kind of helped me get this. And yeah, this is the first barrel proof I've ever owned, which is kind of funny considering I live 10 minute drive from the distillery.

I mean, you're pretty nonchalant about it. But it's not everybody, Todd, that gets a personal call from the distillery when something releases.

Well, it's good to know people. The funny thing is he wasn't the only one to let me know that, because we have a lot of A couple of our board members and members are tour guides out there. So if there's something good, they'll let folks know. Hey Todd. Like I said, they're not the only ones doing it. Because like I said, word spreads quick. They've dropped CYPB. And I'm kind of like, I'm OK. I'm good. Yeah, I'm good.

I'm surprised that it's still, um, that crazy at the distillery on releases when the rest of the markets kind of softened.

I think it's because they've upped their game. I mean, there for a while, you know, it was like, it was either going to be Blanton's special reserve, uh, Eagle rare, but like special reserve is every day. I think Eagle rare might even be now. And yeah, they're dropping like single O projects. They've stag, um, They've really upped their release game.

No, it might have to pop in once in a while. I think my understanding, at least from talking to Rob Carter, is between 10 and 11, preferably closer to 11, on Thursdays.

I know I went about 10 or 11, but I don't remember what day it was. You got to let that initial rush sort of cool. So this one clocks in at 127.4. And the reason this is called 14B is they apparently they released another one kind of earlier this and it was 127.2. Okay. So it's kind of a yearly release and I'm doing the quotation marks with the fingers. This is considered their mash bill one, which in this case is that's their low rye mash bill. There are some numbers out there that claim that's what it is, but it's They like to have that mystery behind it a little bit too.

I would imagine if the actual facts have been leaked enough times now where you can call it confirmed. Yeah.

So typically six to eight years, I think I walked out the door from the distillery, 82 bucks. There you go. Yeah. Can't beat that.

It's always in the 120 to 130 range, typically, proof-wise. What was this one again? 127.4.

So this is our biggest proof today. We are going proof from low to top.

Oh yeah. Just straight on traditional Rye bourbon nose. A little bit like... Little Snickers bar kind of. Oh yeah.

I think the thing that's interesting is like I said, this is my first and you think when you think barrel proof, you think stag, stag, stag junior and definitely different to me. Like I already hit a taste. Sorry, Todd. That's all right. I was pontificating. Okay.

It does have a fruity note to it. It is on the lighter side. It's not super floral though.

Oh no, that's a sweet palette. It is sweet.

I'm trying to nail that. Again, I'm hitting these cola notes today a little bit.

Okay. I'm still getting that red berries, like a lot of caramel.

Yeah, this is more spice cabinet kind of stuff, more baking spice, which caramel?

Which carries? I think, you know, Buffalo Trace in general, like their stuff runs the gauntlet in the baking spices, I think sometimes.

This is a good whiskey. This is tasty. Um, but it's, it's more traditional bourbon. I mean, it's more down the center lane a little bit. Um, but it is a little different than, than, uh, tailors I've had before. Yes. So it varies a bit from the typical Taylor profile, but it's still more center bourbon than some of the other stuff we drink today.

Yeah. Not like super oily and viscous either. And I would garner to say this is probably the youngest thing we have. Like it said, six to eight. So everything else has been like nine, 10, 15.

And this is sitting on the palate. It's got a good finish. And it's sitting on the palate, kind of heavy on spice. And it sticks around. It kind of sticks around. It's like a white pepper rather than a black pepper. It's good. This is great bourbon. I wouldn't mind having a bottle of that. Jeremy should call me sometimes. It's all right. I can send you home with a big pour of it. That's all right. I can join you for a pour once in a while. Do you have any of these? I did. I had an unopened barrel proof about a month ago. I think I told you, I paid my... The barter system, yeah. The barter system. So it worked out. He was happy. I was happy. I got off cheaper. He got off with a bottle he really wanted and we were both good. Yeah, that's...

It'd be interesting to know what batch it was and like if you did truly get your money's worth on your electrical work too though.

It was 127.9 proof. So that would be an older one, I think. Yeah.

Good, good. Yeah. Delicious. All right. I've got a, I'm not going to lie. I kind of figured it out from the first three. Now I've got to place these two. Yeah.

So, okay. So I, I wish I had a pencil. I do have a pencil. Thank you, Todd.

Oh man. When you go back to something after tasting something else, it just changes so much. Do you think it's because it takes the flavors that may have been similar and then shines the ones that you don't get, like you didn't get from that pour before? That could be. It's almost like, you know, what's the gentleman that does reviews where he eats like dried cranberries or something? Oh, I don't know. Is it Chuck Hattery or one of those older

Well, the old guys.

Yeah.

All right. Well, I think I have mine. I was really quick to write down my orders. I didn't want to overthink it. So I kind of wrote them down pretty quick. Are you going back and retasting? I think I should probably do the same.

Wow. Going back to that Garriana is really interesting. I've gave it like a smokiness and that sandalwood is, is strong in this one now.

Yeah, that is good.

Wow.

I'm sure the listeners are like, Oh, we can do with less of the mouth noises guys.

We're trying to do our best for them though. I mean, these are five winners today for sure.

I think I got it. My one and two could flip flop, but the rest of them I think are in fair order. We can go ahead and do all five today if you want. No? You want to just throw out number five and just do the top four or what? Oh, I thought we might just do top three. Top three. Okay. Let's do the top three. All right. You want to go first? Yeah. So my number three is the EH Taylor.

Okay. I think my number three is going to be the redemption tenure. Oh, wow. Yeah. I liked it. Yeah. There's a, I mean, some sweetness, but there's a lot going on there too. Yeah. It's got a nice, that high rye, give it a little, you know, we're rye guys. So yeah.

The Taylor just bumped it to number four for me. So, um, yeah, I think it could be that, Um, I've just had a hankering for just this center lane whiskey for awhile and just really wanted a good high proof solid center lane rye bourbon and it hit the bill. So for today it was, it was number three instead of number four for me.

Okay. What's your number two Todd? My number two is going to be the EH Taylor Barrelproof. Okay. Yeah. Wow. I like it. The the age was in there, but it was just had a lot going on. Like I said, a good baking spice cabinet thing. The berries. Yeah. And like I said, this was my first one. I think it's I may have tried one some time ago back in my earlier days of tasting. And I was just really shocked at how different it was from, yeah, like I said, the stags and stag juniors, which, I mean, they're kissing cousins, let's be honest.

They are kissing cousins. Sometimes they can be fire.

Yeah. So I'm sure it has something to do where those barrels came from or something like that.

But this, yeah, this was, I liked it. All right, good deal. Well, my number two was the Bartstown Garriano Oak. Ooh.

Yeah. OK, we're going to vary today. We are going to vary because I'm guessing you're going. Yeah. My number one is going to be the Guyana. There's just something that Sandalwood was really unique. I don't know. I like that uniqueness sometimes. When it's done well and it just surprises you with something new, it's kind of fun.

Well, we are all over the place today. I mean, I love the Garriana Oak. It was my number two. It was obviously, and I said earlier that that one and two were kind of neck and neck for me. I'm actually going to call the Rivas at one. Ooh. Yeah. Okay. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was a great pour. I thought it was an exceptional whiskey. I think if I remember back to talking about it, I said, this is going to put them on the map.

It hit me really good today. Yeah. So I would say that's, truth be told, that would probably be my four and then Yeah, but of course your ride was really good. It just didn't shine compared to the others today. Yeah, it was outclassed today just a little bit. It was good. It was fantastic.

Maybe it had a little more proof to it. All our Ohio friends who have to have a bottle get a bottle because it's good. But it didn't fare as high on the list today. And so you and I were not lockstep. We were actually I know, which has been a while. It has been a while since it happened. But certainly, if you take your top three and my top three and sort of figure it all out, I would say it's probably the Bardstown Garriana at the top. And then probably after that, the H. Taylor.

Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, I mean, who knows? Who knows about three or four? So we'll let you guys decide if you're team Todd or team Jim this week.

I don't know, Todd. Your palate's pretty amazing. I would say I'd go with you. You know, if you got to eat in these bottles or I could pour these, I think you're going to be thoroughly pleased. Absolutely. Well, it's been a great show, Todd. Great lineup, great samples. It's always nice to do a sample show where we have five exceptional whiskeys like this. I mean, if you were to line these bottles up and have to go buy them, I think you would spend somewhere around $400, $500, $400 bucks.

I would say, yeah.

$400 bucks?

Well, I mean, I think, oh, well, there's the, you know, some of them were a little smaller, but yeah. $375. Let's see, $185 at MSRP. Yeah, but I think you're right about. Probably about four or five, yeah.

Not bad, not bad. If you can get your hands on one of these, and if Buddy can get a hand on another one, you can meet up one night and share pores and just enjoy. Or if you're in Frankfurt, give me a shout. Or stop by Todd's house. Which just happened, yeah.

Actually, there were a couple of guys I know in Jason's Discord and things, and they were in town. They actually were going to go do a Buffalo Trace Pick, so I met up with them at the House of Commons. If you're ever in town, let Jim and I know you never know. We might, uh, meet you for a drink somewhere. That's what we do.

All right, Todd. Thanks again.

Great show. Love it. 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. We do all those things every single week. Jim and I will drop an episode every Wednesday. So make sure you hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast app and don't that way you don't miss an episode. We'll help you get down the road on your commute to work or whatever it is you're doing while you listen to the Bourbon Road. We'd also appreciate if you took the time to lease a review on the podcast platform that you use, as that helps us get out to new listeners. And yeah, just spread the word about the Bourbon gospel we're talking. Sometimes we'll have a guest on, sometimes we're just sitting here reviewing whiskeys like today, where we had five great pours. But the key ingredient, we're always having a good time, drinking great whisky, letting you know what we think you should add to your bar. Check out our Facebook group, The Bourbon Roadies. It's a lot of great people, about 3,200 or so bourbon enthusiasts that love to drink whiskey, share stories, share pictures, share experiences, share birthdays, and they just share and share and share and be a part of it. Don't sit back and, you know, just, you know, it's kind of funny. You see, when we post something, you'll see how many people viewed it, but Some of you guys just kind of just view it and go on, but be sure to chime in sometimes. We enjoy it. Also, be sure to check out theburbanroad.com so you can check out our merch and help us get on down the road. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

you