6. David Jennings - Rare Bird 101, Bourbon Includes Whiskey Bear/LBS Russells, Single Cask Nation Wild Turkey #16-313

It's something I can find out tomorrow when I'm at the distillery. That's a good question.

Yeah, you're going on a pick tomorrow. That's right. What are you hoping to come up with tomorrow?

A good time. You know, just I really just like I like being around Eddie. So Eddie's taking you on the pick. I hope so. But if not, you know, if I'm going with Bruce, that's great.

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts, Jim and Randy. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

We would like to thank Tommy and Gwen Mitchell from Log Heads Home Center for supporting this episode of the Bourbon Road. Find out more about their fine rustic furniture at logheadshomecenter.com.

So Jim, David Jennings, rarebird101.com. What do you think? What a great guy. Yeah, I know. Oh, my gosh.

A knowledgeable man. What he knows about wild turkey. And when he shows up somewhere, he brings some bottles, let me tell you.

Oh, man. You know, I got turned on to some things that I knew nothing about, let's just say.

So now you know all the real terms like cheesy gold foil and split label. Dusty. Dusty. All the dusty was good. So you've had some great turkeys today, haven't you? Yes, I have. It was really good to have David on the show today. What a humble guy. What a guy that's committed to his cause and he's got a lot of things going on.

Things are going good for him right now. Yeah. I look forward to this book. This book ought to be awesome.

Yeah. I'm looking forward to it too. I think we can expect great things out of David and already with his blog and what he's got going on, rarebird101.com, a lot of good things going on there.

His draft of Fred Minnick, so it can't be too bad. I guess not.

I guess not. Well, I'll tell you what, Randy. Let's go ahead and sign off here and let's listen to David and talk a little bit of Turkey. Sounds good. All right. Bye. Hey, Randy, I'm pretty excited today. We're here in Lexington, Kentucky at Base 110. We've got a pretty exciting guest with us.

Yeah, Dave Jennings, rarebird101. We got to find out how he came up with this rarebird name.

I kind of have an idea, but we'll get into that in a minute. David, welcome. Thank you. Good to have you here. So we're going to get right into our first pour today. And what we brought for you is a Russell's Reserve pick. This is actually a pick that I was on with the Lexington Bourbon Society and the Whiskey Bear, which is a nice bar here in Lexington. And we did this pick. in the dead of winter. It was cold. Let me tell you, it was cold. Let's go ahead and take a nose. Sure. Cheers. Cheers. I get a little butterscotch on that.

Yes, me too.

Well, to me, right off the bat, there's a nice kind of fruity, what I call fruity vanilla spice, where you have that vanilla backbone, but then there's kind of like this fruity thing that kind of sits there right above it. I get that in a lot of the Tyrone stuff. What spice do you think? Like when I say vanilla spice, I think like a vanilla spice candle, okay? So you're going to kind of have where there's like not quite herbal, but there's like some cinnamon or some nutmeg. And you know, you'll have like maybe a little bit of brown sugar in there or something. So right off the bat, it's that vanilla spice, but there's some fruit there too. Right. Some like red fruit.

I do get some fruit on it, but I was like ... Maybe plum or ... Apple peel.

It's more like a red apple.

Red apple. Okay. I get just a little bit of ... I don't want to say piña colada.

Coconut maybe? Just a hint of it? You know what's strange is that I've actually heard more than one person tell me that they get coconut on some Russell's picks. Personally, that's never happened for me, but I could maybe see Like if you had like a coconut pie or something where you have the vanilla cream and the pastry and then some coconut there too, to me I could pull that out of it.

It just has this kind of a tropical, a little bit of a tropical... Little bit of a tropical nose, but it's very faint. It's very faint. Yeah. So when we, when we picked this one, it was literally 20 degrees outside.

Yeah.

That's hard, hard to do. Yeah. And you know, we're in a warehouse with Eddie and it's probably five degrees cooler than that in the warehouse. Did you try to warm it up with your hands and all that? But it was really hard. Let's take a, let's take a drink of this.

Yeah, it's a good pig.

Yeah, it's good. A little bit of clove.

Yes.

There's the clove and the cinnamon for sure for me. Hot spice. That clove always comes across a little bit warm.

Herbal spice for sure.

But I do get a little bit of that fruit on the mid-palate.

You know, K, Rick House K, traditionally, if you were to go to my site and maybe look at some of the reviews, K tends to have that red fruit spice kind of thing going on. There's always a lot of, and it depends on the floor too. Like I've had some lower floor picks from K and I've even had one or two that almost kind of had like a strawberry kind of thing. It's like a real bright fruit and some citrus. but then you get to the upper floors and it totally changes in dynamic and you get a lot deeper, richer, darker fruit than you would have on the lower floor. K is kind of a a wild card in a way. If you've had a lot of picks from Rick House B or D, they kind of have a lot of similarities with each other. K, it's like you never really know what you're going to get. You'll get one and you'll think, oh, this is going to be H or something and it's not. And it goes from real bright And it can go to real dark. It just depends. Matter of fact, I have a single Cass Nation barrel selection out there from Rickhouse K. That's over 10 years old. Cass Strength, non-chill filtered. And it actually did an additional year of aging in Bardstown at their warehouse in Bardstown. So it's a very unique pour. So I hope you guys have some of that.

Yeah, I'd like to try it.

It's from K. And it is amazing. I mean, it's stellar. I think you're really going to You don't really get single barrels from wild turkey at cast strength. And single cast nation is about the only place you're going to get that, unless you go to the still.

And a lot of times the barrels are, you know, they're kind of borderline if they're going to come out, you know, strong enough to be at Russell's Pick.

Yeah, sometimes they're going to have to be a wild turkey Kentucky spirit. But with Wild Turkey, they use a rather low entry proof. So you do get a lot of Russell's picks that border around the 110 mark. So I've seen plenty that are 111, 112, 110 point something.

Right. Very little water added.

Very little water added. Right. And I did, there was a rumor going around for a while because there's an ATF rolling that says, you know, within two points, you can call something barrel proof. Okay. And there was a rumor going around that if it was within two points of 110, while Turkey didn't add any water. And so people were marketing their Russell's picks as cast strength. Oh, really? So I asked Eddie about it and I said, is there, is that true? Y'all don't? He's like, we always add water. We always add. It's, it'll come out to 110. you know, if necessary. So unless your pick is 110.0 on the dot at time of bottling, it's going to have whatever water is necessary.

And if it's 109.9, it's got to be a Spirit. Well, it's going to have to go to Kentucky Spirit. Right. Right. And this is a 110, right? Yes.

Yeah. All Russells are 110. Well, all Russell single barrels for the bourbon. No, the Rise is not 110. The Rise 104. Well, that's good.

That's an enjoyable dream. Yeah, it's a great pick. Good way to kick off my night. There you go. Awesome. Well, let me ask you, what does the bourbon culture mean to you?

Well, to me, the bourbon culture is very online. Because I live in South Carolina, I don't live in Kentucky. And there's no bourbon clubs in my immediate area, at least none that ever come to my attention. So all of my interaction in the bourbon scene takes place via social media, whether it's Instagram or Twitter or Reddit. I have a Patreon account and I'm very close to those folks. So the bourbon community to me is a very large group. in the sense of it comes from a very large area from around the world and that narrows down into where the focus is strictly the spirit, okay? And so politics are put aside, religion is put aside, and we come together in celebration of a drink, a uniquely American drink. And I think that we're seeing, unfortunately, a lot of folks in the industry, I say in the industry, in the hobby. A lot of folks in the hobby now taking advantage of that. So there are some groups that are turning this into a money-making opportunity, but for the most, I've seen nothing but kindness, good-heartedness, willingness to share, fellowship. It's been a real fun hobby to be involved in over the last couple of years. It really has.

I would agree with that. My palate is not as... I don't know, how would I say it? Developed? Developed, yes, as your guys. And what's neat is someone like yourself and Jim, you guys kind of gurus to me. And you kind of say it now, Randy, here's, you know, da-da-da.

I wouldn't think of it that way. To me, everybody, they'll say that, and I'll say, well, I'm not an expert. You just kind of like what you like. Some people have a way of describing a drink in a different way than another person. You hear a lot of people say, especially when they're first starting out, oh that's smooth, that's smooth, you know, that's sweet. And that's just because They just haven't been involved in it long enough to start picking out the little fine things. But it'll come. It'll come. And anyone out there that tries to make themselves out to be some super taster or super guru, give them a blind and we'll see. Anybody can be fooled on the blind, anybody, unless you've had the amount of experience like someone like Jimmy Russell. I mean a lot of these master distillers, true master distillers, they can pick out new make. They can taste new make and go, that's Makers Mark, that's Jim Beam. When you can do that, You're a bona fide taster. That's pretty impressive.

Well, I heard a story about Mr. Jimmy. Okay. And a woman had brought him some candy that she had made. And she goes, tell me what I used in this. And he took a bite of the candy. He goes, hmm. I think that's about, Jim being about four years. Now when he's been aged about four years, Jim, she goes, how did you know that? You know, so Jimmy's one of the best, I guess you could say.

You're not kidding. I've heard the same story. I think it was honey that someone gave him and he knew what area the honey came from. I cannot remember what it was, but it was some other, it was a non-burban item, food item, and he knew from tasting you know, what it was made from or where it came from or whatever. And I was like, you got to be kidding me, really? So, you know, there's years of experience and it makes a difference, you know, it really does. But like I said, if you can taste New Make and say where it came from, then you know what you're doing.

And it's a developmental kind of thing. I mean, your palate builds over time. I guess your library of tastes and odors build over time, right? Yeah. And we've talked about it before. Sometimes you can have just the wrong thing for lunch and it just blows everything out of the water.

Oh, yeah. And it'll mess it up. But we appreciate the bourbon community taking those of us whose palates are not quite as developed and saying, hey, it's OK.

But yours is just as valid as anyone else's. I truly believe that. I can take anyone off the street and I can sit them down and expose them to spirits and just say, look, do you like it or not? Now, they may not be a bourbon person, whatever, and then you're probably grabbing the wrong person. But if they say they like bourbon, they like whiskey, just because they can't describe it a certain way or know where it came from doesn't mean they're opinion isn't as valid.

Right, right. Absolutely. Well, you mentioned you're from South Carolina. What part of South Carolina are you from?

I live in North Augusta, which is across the river from Augusta, Georgia. Okay. So it's that master's country. Is that born and raised? Yeah. Yeah. My family is from the McCormick area, which is, you know, it's in that general area, but it's about, you know, half hour or so away from where I live.

Savannah River, right? The runs between the two of them. I have actually two down the Savannah River. Of course, we weren't drinking bourbon then.

Yeah, I traced my ancestors on my dad's side all the way back to pretty much the boat.

Wow, that's great. So are you a genealogist? Do you do that kind of stuff or just interested?

I was interested for, I mean, I am still interested, but I went on a little spurt where I kind of traced my family history back to the 1700s on my ginning side. Wow. Well, I'm in the Sons of the American Revolution because I had an ancestor that fought in Revolutionary War, and then I've got a good many in the Civil War. And so it was really interesting to learn these things.

The South, I'm assuming.

Yeah. Yeah, they were all Confederate. Yeah. But that's just the way it was back then. You know, everybody, you know, you fought for the home team.

So if you listen, everybody in town is signing up. Yeah, so that's what I'm going to do. So how did you first get into Bourbon?

Well, I've always enjoyed whiskey and coke. I say always, but when I went to college, Jack and Coke was a big drink, or Crown and Coke was a... And that would tend to be what I would have. And this was in the early to mid-90s. And so, if I'd go out to eat with my wife or whatever later on, years later, I would just get Jim and Coke, Jack and Coke, Crown and Coke, something like that. Around 2013 or so, I was at my brother-in-law's house. He had this fancy Crown Royal special edition thing in a box, you know, and he asked me if I wanted some and I said, sure. I was thinking it was going to be like in a mixed drink. And he gave it to me on the rocks and that was the first time I'd ever really sipped whiskey, you know, like on the rocks or something. And it was a lot better than I thought it would be. I was like, this is really nice, you know? And it got my brain like really churning. I'm like, I'm going to get me one of these, you know? And I went to the liquor store and I was like blown away. But it was just like rows and rows of boxes and tubes and bottles. what do I do, you know? So I'm like, well, I'm going to find the best one, you know? So I started off like with Crown Royal and then I moved on to like Scotch and then I started getting Irish and then I would just get anything I could get my hands on trying to find the best thing. And I got into Bourbons and one day I was looking at the Bourbons and on my checkout I asked for a pint of Wild Tricky 101. I was thinking it was going to be like the low shelf poor man's drink or something.

Was that your first bourbon that you tried? Actual bourbon?

No, the first bourbon I sipped neat. That's tough. It probably would have been something like, I think it was Buffalo Trace. I think it was just plain Buffalo Trace, 90 proof. I'm pretty sure it was either that or Evan Williams' Single Barrel. It might have been Evan Williams' Single Barrel. I bought them on the same day. I remember that because I was home with both of them. But I asked for Wild Trucking 101 to check out at some point. And I wasn't expecting a lot out of it, because when I was in college, that was what you would do with shooters, you know. It was like the, while Turkey was like kind of the party boy, you know, frat boy or party rock star kind of thing. And anyway, I had it neat. And I was like, this is really good. Like, why does all this talk about being like the bottom shelf whiskey, you know? I'm like, this is just crazy. So I bought some more, and I was drinking it a good bit. I was choosing it over other things that were a lot more sought after. I had spent a lot of money on Will It Pot still, and Wild Turkey 101 was better to me. Anyway, I was on Reddit, and I was talking about how much I thought that Wild Turkey 101 was underappreciated. And a guy messaged me, and this is back before the rules changed in Reddit on our bourbon, and he said, hey, man, have you ever had dusty wild turkey? And I was, no, I've never had that. He's like, I'll send you something. And he sent me a cheesy gold foil from 92 and 81, 101-8 year. And I wasn't expecting a lot out of them. And when I poured the 1-in-1-8 ear and nosed it for the first time, I literally sat back and I'm like, what the hell is this? And I was like, this is incredible. And I just kept going back to it. I'm like, I've got to get this. And then I realized that this is not something that you can just go find. But it got me started. It was like, well, surely there's some kind of Russell's Reserve or something that tastes like this. So I started buying up all the different Wild Turkey catalog. And I started learning about Lawrenceburg area. I started learning about the Russell family. And I just felt this connection to the brand just as much if not more than the whiskey itself. It just was the package deal for me. I felt like it was genuine. I felt like it was the underdog. I felt like I was getting a product that someone put a lot of time into. And I'm not talking about when they made that bottle. I'm talking about a lot of time that was put into it, going back decades. I felt like I was getting a piece of history with every bottle. Even if it was a modern release, I felt like there was just something here that you don't find. I mean, how many other distilleries can you think of with multi-generation master distillers? If you watch interviews with the Russells, I mean, it just really pulls you in. And I stopped buying a lot of things and started buying a lot of turkey instead. And I found myself writing a lot of reviews. on Reddit primarily. And one day I was like, yeah, I've got like about 20 something Wild Turkey reviews. I ought to just put them on a blog. And so I put them all on one blog and I had it private for months.

And that's how Rare Bird 101 started?

That's how Rare Bird 101 started. I just took a lot of reviews I had written, started a blog, and then I made it public. And just slowly, maturely, I'd start getting more viewers every other day or so, and it just grew from there.

And there's a lot of Wild Turkey fans out there, I guess.

Yeah, it was surprising. It was a lot more folks than I realized. And the cool thing about Wild Turkey is that the fan base is so diverse. I've talked to people from all walks of life, from all different areas, from different countries, and they all just love wild turkey passionately. It's not like this one little niche group. It's a small group made of a large group of people, very diverse group of people.

One of the questions we usually ask all of our guests is, what is your daily drinker?

If you want to look statistically, if you went back and looked every day at what I drink, it's going to be Rosalind. We want the numbers. Rosalind Reserve Single Barrel is going to be the one, probably. But if you want to ask me in general what's the best daily drinker, I normally would say Wild Turkey 101, Rare Breed, batch 116.8, which is the latest batch. is kind of a contender there now for me, because even though it's more expensive, it's barrel proof. And so I find that it's hard to say which one has the better value, because Wild Turkey 101 is everywhere. You go to any restaurant, it's there. You go to any liquor store, it's there. You can get it in minis. You can get it in half pints, pints, fists, liters, handles. So Wild Turkey 101 is hard to beat. It really is. But then Rear Breed, you're going to get that Wild Turkey 101 profile at a barrel proof. So, you know, for like $40, $45. So there's an incredible value there as a daily drinker as well if you like more of a stronger, you know, proof spirit.

Okay. So really between the two, kind of Russell's is your kind of go-to and then Wild Turkey 101 is just your everyday.

Right. And then if you want something stronger, go for Rare Breed. But between those three is where you're going to find the

So what about Kentucky Spirit? Because I know Kentucky Spirit's kind of, and I don't want to say this the wrong way, Kentucky Spirit doesn't have the market share that the other labels have for Wild Turkey. It's not as appreciated, I guess. No, it's not. And so what do you think about Wild Spirit? I mean, Kentucky Spirit, I'm sorry.

I think that you have to realize that the Kentucky Spirit that is bottled now is not the Kentucky Spirit that a lot of people you know, came up with. When Kentucky Spirit started in the 90s, okay, it was first bottled in 94. I think it actually premiered in 95, but you're going to see a 94 date on the rim. You've got to remember that Wild Turkey's entry proof was different back then. It was 107. So, you know, you're getting a very close to barrel proof by the time that maturation sets in. As the entry proof changed, Kentucky Spirit changed. So you're going to have more water added to it. It's going to be diluted a little more. And then I'm thinking, and I don't know for a certainty, but it could be that the barrels that were chosen for Kentucky Spirit before Russell's Reserve was even on the picture. they're going to be a little bit more mature, I would think, because you're not competing with Russell's Reserve Single Barrel. So if you have a single barrel that's worthy of a single barrel bottle, it's going to go to Kentucky Spirit by default. So when Russell's Reserve Single Barrel was introduced, that was like 2013. That's now competing with the same stocks that Wild Turkey and Kentucky Spirit was. You're going to find the choice barrels that are 110 or greater going to Russell's Reserve single barrel, and then whatever's after that's going to go to Kentucky Spirit.

Kentucky Spirit has some 12-year barrels, right?

Well, I have a 13-year Kentucky Spirit from Moonshine Grill. That is a very rare thing. Wild Turkey does not let well-aged barrels like that go very easily. Moonshine Grill has a relationship with the Russell's that some other places do not and so they were able to get a few special bottles like they have a 12-year Russell's Reserve and then they had a 13-year Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit recently. So I was lucky enough to be able to get those. So they exist they're just not something you're gonna find and there's a group in South Carolina I believe that that was able to get a 12-year Kentucky Spirit.

I think I've heard Bruce say that if you are a fan of the old 101-8, that Kentucky Spirit is about as close as you're going to get with today's stocks.

It's not going to taste like dusty. 101-8 is just not. The analogy I always give people is this. Imagine you're on a highway and 101 Wild Turkey 101 is that highway. You have two off-ramps you can go on. The first off-ramp is for someone wanting a bold, rich, heavier profile with a heavier proof, and that's going to be Russell's Reserve Single Barrel. other off-ramp is going to be someone that wants something that's going to stay on the 101 proof that's going to have a little bit more finesse to it. It'll be like 101 with a finesse to it with a little bit more layers. That's Kentucky Spirit. So you have this 101 and then you have the two off-ramps and you can go this way, you can go that way. It just depends on what you're looking for in a single barrel.

And how do you feel about the Kentucky Spirit now that they've had a bottle change?

Well, I wasn't a fan of the redesign. I'll be honest with you, it's not something that... Well, I complained about it. If you look back, you know, I complained about it because it's such an iconic bottle. And to lose that to essentially a relabel of Rare Breed or Rare Breed's glass, It hurt a little bit. I was like, I hate that. Now that it's happened and I have several of those at the house in the new bottle. I find myself reaching for it a good bit. I've kind of let that go. I mean, it just looks, because what matters is what's in the inside. And some of the newer Kentucky spirits from Camp Nelson have actually performed very well, in my mind, at least on taste. I think that Camp Nelson rick houses tend to handle the dilution a little bit better than some of the Tyrone ones, because when I taste some of the Tyrone Kentucky spirit bottlings, A lot of times I'm like, man, I just wish this was Russell's Reserve. I just wish I had that little bit more. But I don't really think that direction so much when I'm sipping some of the ones from Camp Nelson. I don't know why that is. It just could be maybe the barrels I've gotten lately.

Let's change directions here just a little bit. Last year, summer and fall, we had a revelation of some changes in the juice of 101. I guess not just the 101, but other things as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Well, they used some older stocks in 101. Long Branch had eaten up a lot of the eight-year barrels. You've got to remember, They're not really shooting for a certain age. They're shooting for a certain flavor profile, a certain taste. So when Eddie is tasting the batches, if it tastes like maybe this is a little bit too six-year heavy, he's going to want something above that. So if the eight's not there, you're going to grab the 10, OK? And so last year, because of Long Branch eating up a lot of the eight-year barrels, they had to go for some 10-year barrels to make 101. And I mean, yes, there's a difference. I thought that a lot of the mid-2018 101 batch bottles that I tried were excellent. I don't think that it's something to go nuts over and go buy a bunch of cases like a lot of people did, because 101 is just a consistently good bourbon.

And those bottles are still on the shelves. I mean, you can still find them.

Absolutely. And like I said, it's... Eddie's going for a flavor. He's going by taste. I think if you get too stuck on these bottle codes, you're going to pigeonhole yourself, and you're going to miss out on something potentially better.

Do you think it's likely that that's still going on? I mean, with the stocks going to Long Branch? Sure.

It's like Bruce told me. I mean, they've always, with batches, you're always putting older barrels in just to get the profile where it needs to be. It just became a big deal this last time around.

And how big is a batch of 101?

You know, I don't know how many barrels go into a batch of 101. I would imagine it would be well over 100 is my guess. That's something I can find out tomorrow when I'm at the distillery. That's a good question.

Yeah, you're going on a pick tomorrow. That's right. What are you hoping to come up with tomorrow?

A good time. I really just like being around Eddie. I've got a chance to hang around Eddie.

So he's taking you on to pick. I hope so.

But if not, if I'm going with Bruce, that's great. I just want the experience there, the fun, the conversation, being around these folks that are in the room here beside us, the fellowship. That's all I'm really interested in. I'm not trying to find it. You have a lot of people that go and they're trying to find the next hit barrel that is going to get big money on the secondary. I really could care less about that.

Have you had any of these epic picks? Have you had any of those? Can you think of one?

I've had a few. There's a short barrel from Woodland Wine a couple years ago. It was only 42 bottles. It was from M. I don't remember the barrel number, but it was amazing. I always talk about that when people always ask this question. The barrels that the Jewish Whiskey Company picks, I've never had a bad one from them. I've had one, there was one they picked from Dee that was a little bit more modern. It wasn't a standout to some of the other ones that they picked, but the 10-year K that's in the room next to us, it's stellar. I mean, it's probably one of the best wild turkey, well, definitely one of the best modern wild turkey barrels I've ever had.

Well, you've got a gathering of supporters here. So what is this all about? Why are you actually here in Lexington?

Okay. I have a Patreon account. It's patreon.com slash Rare Bird 101. And I set it up to basically just as a way for folks to basically get more content. So I have my blog, which is a post a week. But Patreon, I tend to post every day or every other day. And there's a lot of different topics I can talk about. Sometimes I just share links, sometimes I write an article, sometimes I do a review, sometimes I'll do first pours. And I'll do last pours, so when I get close to finishing a bottle, I'll talk about how it finished out. Or when I open a first pour, a lot of people like it for the first pour because they get to find out my thoughts on something before the review is written. So if I open, like for example, when Masters Keep Cornerstone comes my way, I'll do a first pour. They're going to get my take on it a couple weeks before the review comes out. And it just kind of started as just a way to provide extra content to folks that follow the blog. And it really turned into something special because a lot of people signed up. I mean, I have like 143 patrons now, which blows me away because I was thinking maybe I could get 20 people, you know, and that would be really cool. And it grew. And so I try to reward my patrons as best I can. not just with objects, but like what we have, you know, beside us is just a gathering where I'm basically throwing out some really rare bottles and just saying, here, I want you guys to sip and enjoy these and I want a fellowship and let's talk and let's hang out. Let's get to know each other and talk about wild turkey. And then we'll do a barrel pick the next day. And then those bottles in turn will be, you know, I'll make sure that my patrons are first in line for those bottles.

Well, that's great. Well, I think it's as good a spot as any for us to take a break here. Okay. I'll allow you to go out and talk to some of your patrons. And when we come back, we'll see what you brought for us. Great. Sounds good. Thank you. We would like to thank Tommy and Gwen Mitchell from Loghead's Home Center for supporting this episode of the Bourbon Road. Loghead's Home Center, nestled in the hills of Kentucky, is an industry leader in building handcrafted rustic furniture. Family-owned and operated, they take pride in offering only the very best for their customers. The Logheads, and that's what they like to call themselves, are skilled woodcrafters who are passionate about creating rustic furniture for people who appreciate the beauty of natural wood. Owners Tommy and Gwen don't just sell the rustic lifestyle, they live it. And you can be sure that Loghead's furniture will always be handcrafted in Kentucky by artisans who embrace the simple way of life. Loghead's rustic furniture is made from northern white cedar, a sustainable wood that's naturally rot and termite resistant. Its beauty and quality will add warmth to your earthy lifestyle for generations to come. Be sure to check out everything they have to offer at LogHeadsHomeCenter.com. And while you're at it, give Tommy and Gwen a shout on Facebook or Instagram at LogHeadsHomeCenter.

Okay, Randy, we are back and ready to go.

David Jennings for AirBird101.com, a wild turkey super fan.

Absolutely. David, what have you brought for second pour today?

Okay, this is a single cast nation selection. Some of your listeners may be familiar with the Jewish Whiskey Company, but they're basically an independent bottler. So they pick different barrels, or they would say casks, because a lot of times they're picking scotch. And they bottle it independently at full cast strength, non-chill filtered. And they've done a good many wild turkey releases at this point. They had two Whiskey Jubilees, which was a festival they used to have that they're no longer doing those at the moment. And then they've had probably, I think now they're on their, I believe their fifth, the releases that are coming out, I believe it's their fifth under the single cast nation label with the Wild Turkey distillery being the choice.

So these are really sought after.

They're very sought after, yes. And I'm very lucky to have a friendship with Joshua and Jason and it's It's been an amazing past couple of years talking with them and their passion for quality whiskey, and in particular, wild turkey. It's been really rewarding to have the opportunity to basically taste what comes straight out of the barrel, which most folks don't get that unless you go to wild turkey or you have maybe a pick locally.

So when you go on a pick, you get to taste it that way. Of course, when it delivers, normally it's not, and it's a little bit of water in there.

Right, right. The unique thing about this particular bottle, this was a pick from Rick House K. They had chosen a different barrel and while Turkey, somewhere along the lines, there was a mistake made and they sent Joshua and Jason the wrong barrel. But instead of sending the barrel back, they kept it and even though they weren't 100% happy with it at the time to put their name on it, they send it to their warehouse in Bardstown for some additional aging. So it aged well over 10 years and about a year of it or more was in Bardstown. When I tasted this for the first time, I was very impressed because I had just had their selections, their nine-year selections from D and from K, and they had released a few months before this one. And I thought, well, nothing's going to top that nine-year K, because it was a reject barrel, really, that they had found an asset if they could have, because it was deemed as too off-profile. And it was off-profile, but it was amazing off-profile. So I thought, nothing's going to beat that one. This one, to me, beats it. I mean, it just has pretty much everything I'm looking for in a turkey barrel, to be honest with you. Um, a lot of layers, a lot of complexity. Look at that color. Yeah.

Yeah. It looks nice.

So they, they do a good job. They really do. Um, and, uh, you know, you probably ought to look at having them on one day. Yeah. Good to talk to. They do a lot more Scotch, but still they, they, they have, uh, well, we don't have a problem with talking about leftover bourbon.

Hmm.

Oh, that is delicious. That is really good. That is a flavor explosion.

And that finish just goes on and on and on on that one. It does, but it's not, man, it does.

And I think those legs are just going to stay on that glass.

Yeah. It's around 120 proof or so. I don't have the bottle in front of me, but it's up there.

You can feel a little added heat to it. I mean, a little bit more there than a typical Russell's.

It's beautiful, though. It just has a nice all around Just a nice all-around profile. It's delicious. And maybe one day soon we'll have cast-strength Russell's Reserve picks. That would be ideal. I think it's hard right now because, you know, when the program they have now is selling so well, I mean, a lot of folks can't even get their foot in the door on a pick now.

Right.

I don't really think there's any urgency on Campari to change anything. So it's going to be tough. I know Eddie's pushing for it. I know it's something that he wants. When it happens, I'm not sure, but I know it's been in talks for a while.

Well, maybe you should use some of your influence over...

I've tried. I've tried.

I've heard Bruce talk about you in your writings, and I know that Campari, at least I've heard, that Campari has an open ear when it comes to some of the things you're saying.

That was a shock. I'd heard that. That came as a big surprise that it meant that much to them to even take the time to read. It means a lot to me to know that they do that.

So let me give you my list. One would be, you know, bear proof picks. Another one would be, let's go back to the 107 entry proof. So if you could get those two things on your agenda, I think maybe.

Yeah, I really think You know, Bruce has said in the past, I was on another podcast, but he was talking about two things that he really wanted to do, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. One was, You know, keep things, you know, you can still have a run, you know, the way that they're doing things now, but there's no, you know, why not experiment and have a run where you make the barrel entry proof 107 and age those maybe somewhere special and then, you know, 10 years down the road, maybe we have a special release, whatever, or at least let's try. Let's do some experimentation and do some tasting as it ages and see what the deal is. He's pushing for that. Another thing that I like that he mentioned was, having a another Rymash bill because Wild Turkey's rye, Jimmy, you know, he's not a rye fan. The only reason Jimmy had a rye whiskey is because Wild Turkey traditionally had rye.

Now Bruce is, right? Bruce is a huge rye fan.

Yeah. Jimmy was never a rye fan. He's just not. It's just not his thing. So from the beginning, he was not really big in the rye. The rye was sourced for a long time. Rye came from either Maryland, it came from Pennsylvania, or it came from Illinois. So until Austin Nichols purchased the actual distillery in 71. All the rye was coming from out of state. As Jimmy got more involved with the distillery under the ownership of Austin Nichols, he started distilling his own rye. But it's a barely legal rye. I mean, it's just over that 50% mark to make a straight rye whiskey. I think that Bruce is more interested in having a rye Higher rye rye. Yeah, so I don't know what percentages he's looking at or thinking about, but I think that would be a neat thing too because, you know, we don't want to change, you know, fans, you know, don't really want the bourbon recipe changed. We don't really want that. you know, change. But I'm all for, experiment all you want to on the rye side because I could use a little bit more rye.

And for listeners who may not know, wild turkey literally has one mash bill, right?

One mash bill for bourbon, one mash bill for rye. Right. Right. And I don't think anybody really wants the bourbon, you know, recipe being changed. But I mean, I don't see any problem. You could do two recipes of rye. You could keep the classic you know, rye, and then you could maybe have a new rye, you know, and call it something else. I don't know.

Well, that seems to be the thing. There's a lot of distilleries out there doing some experimenting right now, especially with, you know, the big bourbon boom. I'm all for it. So why not? Why not?

Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. Let me change directions here for a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about your book. And so what prompted you to start writing a book? Especially about wild turkey specifically.

Well. For those that follow my blog, I think it kind of would make sense just because I'm always writing about wild turkey. When I write for my blog, my reviews tend to be more than reviews. It's kind of like reviews with a little more insight or a little more depth or a story around them. So writing about wild turkey is not unusual for me. And I have my Patreon site, which has a lot of additional content that I add there. And one day I was just, I don't know how really the conversation came up, but my wife suggested that I write a book. She's like, you really ought to write a book about wild turkey. You're always writing about them, and I think you could do a good job with it. And I got to thinking about it, and it just sounded like such a chore. It was like, I just, you know, a book sounds heavy, and it sounds like, oh, that's a lot to do.

Two pages a day, man. Two pages a day, that's all it is.

Well, Stephen King does like six, you know? Oh, does, okay. So I'm like, oh, man. But I got to thinking about it like, you know, I tell you what, I told her I'd try. I'll sit down and I'll just try. And I sat down and I was just like, I'm just going to write the introduction. And it just started flowing. It just came out. And as I got into the first chapter when I get into the RIPI history, I was enjoying the research. I was really enjoying learning about the Rippies and their history and legacy. And it wasn't really work. It was kind of like I just, it just was happening on its own. So I do a little by little by little, go back, fat check, you know, change if I need to, little by little. And before you know it, it was all coming together. And I had, I was like, wow, I've got, you know, a hundred plus pages already done. Like how, this is amazing, you know? And, And now half the book is history and half the book is appreciation. And so the appreciation side was easier in some ways because I was able to go back and pull notes from my journals and my blog posts to kind of shape that. So there was a little bit of an able to regurgitate some information that I already had. But it was also difficult because I'm trying to give I can't just copy and paste a blog post. It's like I have to kind of make it for the book. So you had to kind of massage it into something that flowed. And so that was difficult on that way. The history was difficult in making sure I had it right.

All the citations were there. That's where it came from.

And you might find one article that says something, and then another article that says something else. And then I end up just having to message Eddie, and I'm like, tell me what's the difference between this and this. It's finally come together where I sent a first draft to Fred Minick and he was a big help to me. I've sent some drafts to some other folks and gotten some really positive feedback. Almost done with my official second draft now. So I've been working through a few edits.

And they say that once you get to writing your book, then you go back and then you do your introduction because it will change.

Well, you know, it was how I started telling my story because I was like, how do I write a book about watchmaking? I'm like, well, I'm going to write it from my perspective. So it was kind of like I wanted to say, you know, how did I get into this?

So it's kind of a journey? Like your book is kind of your journey through Wild Turkey?

It's not really. I wanted to kind of paint a picture of how this book came to be and why I decided it was worth writing a book about in the first place. And to me, And the title of the book is Wild Turkey American Spirit. And there's multiple meanings behind that. You have the release, the expression Wild Turkey American Spirit, which is a bottle and bond, the only bottle and bond Wild Turkey expression ever released. But then you have that American spirit as in the spirit of America, and then you have American spirit as in alcohol. So it has a multi-level thing. When you look at the history of wild turkey, it all started with immigrants. There were French Huguenot immigrants that had moved to Ireland to escape religious persecution. They came to America, settled in what is now Anderson County, Kentucky, and this is the Rippies. They started a long tradition of distilling that would lead into basically the exact same distillery that Jimmy Russell would be hired on to in time. So you go from that American frontier, you know, Jacksonian America, to modern times, and there's a lot of stuff in between. It was a lot of fun researching it, it really was.

Wow. Evidently, there's a lot of people waiting on this book, too, because I understand the fundraising went very well for this.

Yeah, that was a shock. I tossed and turned about what amount, because see, with Kickstarter, it's all or nothing. If you don't raise your goal, you don't get anything. And so I knew I needed at least enough to get something done. So my original idea was to print on demand, where basically you do all the writing, the photography, the editing, get a graphic designer, put the book together, and you send it up to Amazon.

Amazon does that, yes. And then they can print on demand. Right.

And that's where I've left it right now. But I've got some talks going on. I can't get into too many details. But this is looking to be a real deal book through a publisher. Wow, cool. Hardback, full color, 80 pound paper, the whole deal. And that is going to be, I feel like if it's going to be done, I want it done right. But yeah, the Kickstarter, Within just a few days, I put it out there and I'd met my goal like I think in two or three days and I was blown away by that. The generosity of people and the interest that they have in the brand, it showed tenfold. And now it's at a level I never even imagined it would be.

In the back of your mind, this is kind of what you always wanted, but you were being conservative.

Being conservative and realistic is, you know, I know it's a niche, you know, it's, you know, bourbon's big right now. Bourbon books are big right now. But wild turkey is still very niche, and there's a reputation that comes along with wild turkey that's undeserved, but it's out there. I mean, you pull anyone from the street and you start talking to them about wild turkey and they're going to think you're going to a frat party or something. So we're trying to overcome that. And I think it's happening, actually. I mean, McConaughey has given it whole different look and made it more approachable for consumers that probably would have never given wild turkey at the time of day. And I think that just With bourbon being so big, I think once people are exposed to Jimmy Russell, Eddie Russell, Bruce Russell, Joanne, when they get to know the Russell family or watch an interview or a podcast like you guys have, read articles, they realize that there's a lot more of this brand than a party whiskey.

Right. A lot more. Right. So when is this book going to be released?

Okay, I've put on the Kickstarter that I would like to have it done by November or December for the holidays.

So a great Christmas gift there.

But I would like to have a copy in Jimmy's hands by September 10th, which is his 65th anniversary at the distillery. No one in this world has ever done that. It has been a a distiller at the same distillery for that long.

And I don't want you to give away anything you're not ready to give away, but have you considered having the book in the gift shop? Have you talked to maybe some personal interviews? Or do you have personal interviews?

Well, I am trying to work out something with the gift shop. I think the most important thing to me is I think about these things. And I try to quiet them down in my head because I have to focus on having the best product. Campari is a very high class company. You can look at their ads. You can look at their products. They're very big on design. They're very big on a very sleek and presentable product. And if I'm going to have something that's going to be worth selling at a store that they own, it needs to be at that level. And so I think I just need to focus on that right now. I need to focus on the content. I've hired an excellent top of the line photographer, Victor Sizemore, who just has an amazing eye and a knack for taking pictures that I think when it comes to bourbon, because he has a love of bourbon himself, he has a love for bourbon himself, it shows in his photography. So I think that's going to add a lot to the end product. So again, my focus is just not so much thinking about the marketing. Let's just have a quality product.

Has Campari had any input on layout design kind of stuff?

No, it's my own thing. They have given me permission to have whatever photos taken. They've worked with me end up very well. The reason why I have it, it's like it's a double-edged sword. It's like I could approach Campari and say, hey, let's work on this together. And then we're looking at a lot of paperwork, a lot of delays, a lot of signatures, a lot of more people involved. And it may either not happen or may not happen the way I want it to. So I figured this is best done with my vision and with the help of others. If I put something quality out there, then I just can cross my fingers and hope that they'll want to be a part of it afterwards. But they've been helpful. They've been very helpful and have not roadblocked me one time.

So off the cuff, how do you keep yourself motivated? Because when you take on an undertaking like this, you can get bogged down.

It's tough. I have a family and I have an obligation as a husband and father to do things and so I have to kind of keep all that in check and then I have a full-time job. This is not my job.

What do you do?

I work for a bank. I work in insurance for a bank. So I have to kind of keep all that in check and so it's one of these things. When it comes to motivation, I have the motivation. I almost want to do more than I can. I have to keep myself from overdoing it because a lot of times I'll stay up till one in the morning writing and then I'll look at the clock and be like, God, I'm really on a roll here. I don't want to have to go to bed. I got to get up at six in the morning. And so I have to say, it's like I burn the midnight oil very frequently because I don't want to take time away from my kids. So I come home and there's things that need to be done, homework and this type of thing. So I have to wait till they're in bed and then I work. Sometimes that motivation, I actually have to reserve it.

The book's a big undertaking. What's next on your...

I don't know if I can think of next yet. You're still in the fight. I still have to think about the book and I have to keep my blog going on a regular basis. I have a Patreon site that I've mentioned already and I like to keep the content there fresh. I've got a lot of barrel picks in the works. This barrel pick that I'm doing tomorrow is one of several I've got planned for this year. So I've got a lot more of those.

So you're doing barrel picks as a collaboration with certain retail outlets?

That's right. I'm doing a collaboration with Lexington Beverage Outlet in Lexington, South Carolina. And that's gonna be the one for tomorrow. I'm doing another one with them in September. Now that'll be in Columbia with Eddie. So that won't be here in Kentucky. And then I've got two special ones. I don't wanna reveal too much. I've got some special ones in the works that are gonna be with two pretty well-known individuals in the scene that I'm really looking forward to because they each have a genuine love for whiskey and wild turkey in their own unique way.

We want to ask you the details of that, except when can we expect to hear more about those?

Very soon. At least the first one, I should have an answer in the next week or so. There's some things I'm having to work out as far as logistics. So watch the blog. Watch the blog. Yeah. Keep an eye on things. Or Instagram. I let a lot of stuff out on Instagram.

So what do you think have been the keys to your success with your blog and this new book project?

Oh, boy. Well, I mean, there's a lot more successful blogs out there than mine. I think with any blog, regardless of what it's about, I think that you have to be passionate and honest. I think if you're passionate and honest and you can half right, you'll do well because people They like something that comes from the heart. They like something that is legitimate. And they like something that's driven by a true appreciation. So I think that having passion and being honest is going to do well in any blog. I would recommend anybody thinking about starting a blog, Think about starting it because you really love what you're starting it for. Don't just say, I'm going to start a blog because I want to have a whiskey blog. It just comes on its own. When you're passionate about something, it just kind of happens anyway.

So be genuine.

Be genuine. Be committed. Genuine and committed, yeah. There's a quote from Stephen King that I love. It says, You know, talent is as cheap as table salt. What makes the difference in someone that's talented and successful is the amount of hard work in between. Something like that.

Very, very well spoken. Well, David, we'd really like to thank you for taking the time today to sit down with us. We appreciate it. It's great to have a couple of pourers with you. Yeah, well, thank you. And to hang out with your patrons here.

We're going to have to do this again sometime. Excellent. Yeah, I'd love to. After this book comes out.

Yeah. Hey, trust me, I'd love to. I want to get the word out as much as I can. Put us on your book tour. There you go.

Thank you. Thank you, David. Thank you.

Cheers.

Cheers. We'd really like to thank David for taking time out of his busy schedule here to meet with us at Bass 110 Studio and record an episode. You can find David at rarebird101.com where you'll see his blog and a lot of information on wild turkey products. You can also reach out to David on Instagram at rarebird101, on Twitter at rbird101, and on Patreon.com slash rarebird101. Now, Randy and I are gonna go join David and his Patreon supporters for a few fine dusty porters. We do appreciate all of our listeners and we'd like to thank you for taking time out of your day to hang out with us here on the Bourbon Road. We hope you enjoyed today's show and if so, we would appreciate if you'd subscribe and rate us a five star with a review on iTunes. Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the Bourbon Road. That way you'll be kept in the loop on all the Bourbon Road happenings. You can also visit our website at thebourbonroad.com to read our blog, listen to the show, or reach out to us directly. We always welcome comments or suggestions. And if you have an idea for a particular guest or topic, be sure to let us know. And again, thanks for hanging out with us.