ChiTuckyBourbonBrothers
The “Chitucky Bourbon Brothers” podcast, hosted by Mike Nielsen and Tony Meyers, serves as a delightful exploration of bourbon and whiskey culture, offering insightful reviews and discussions about various bourbons and whiskeys. The hosts share their passion for sipping “brown water,” a colloquial term for bourbon and whiskey, and aim to blend music with their love for these beverages, creating an engaging auditory experience for listeners. The podcast not only provides detailed reviews of different bourbons and whiskeys but also promotes a relaxed atmosphere where enthusiasts can enjoy the nuances of their favorite drinks alongside music that complements the experience.
ChiTuckyBourbonBrothers
Episode 107 - The Bourbon Journey of 2024 Through Iconic Sips and Sounds
Ever wondered how a bourbon can be as iconic as a grunge band from the '90s? Tune in as we blend the worlds of nostalgic music and exquisite whiskey, starting with a heartfelt nod to Alice in Chains and the era of mid-90s grunge and heavy metal. Journey with us through our annual SIP reviews where the Russell's Reserve 15 takes center stage, a bourbon that not only captured our taste buds but also topped Fred Minnick's prestigious list. We'll also share a tasting adventure with renowned spirits like George T. Stagg and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A124, making this a must-listen for anyone looking to elevate their bourbon game.
In our spirited conversation, we draw comparisons between Maxim's flashy bourbon rankings and more seasoned sources like Breaking Bourbon's website. Discover why bourbons like King of Kentucky and Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2024 are making waves, and find out how a 6yr bourbon can make it to the top listings. From the unique marketing of Blade and Bow 22yr bourbon to our personal favorites like Larceny's Barrel Proof C923, we wrap up with a toast to savoring whiskey with good company. Whether you're a whiskey aficionado or a curious newcomer, our insights and anecdotes promise to enrich your whiskey journey. Looking forward to 2025, we continue our quest for the perfect pour. Cheers!
so smooth. I just a little aic allison chains I I, I grew up on them, I love them. I just, I mean, they get me going, they get me going, they get me going, always have.
Speaker 2:It's been crazy, All these, these like mid nineties grunge, slash, heavy metal bands you keep sending me like, yeah, you're like check out this song. I'm like whoa that song. Like almost speakers in my car.
Speaker 1:You listen to that. Tony's like what do you know about Alice in Chains? And I'm like I go Layne Staley lead singer. He's dead. That's it.
Speaker 2:Well, I hope you know more than that.
Speaker 1:They're gone Like they're not. They're done yeah.
Speaker 2:But I mean they're 100% grunge From Seattle started in 87. You know, I mean this is just like. I mean mean this is just like. I mean this is nirvana what these all these guys started together. Yeah it's crazy, same same time, same style music, all that good stuff they do have some pretty heavy metal songs, though, like you know, this is off of uh, deep and dark and dirty I think this is off of dirt, I think, is what it was right yeah I don't remember how many albums they had, but I think they had one before this and I I'm sure they had more.
Speaker 1:But uh, jar of lies was really great yeah, that one got a little.
Speaker 2:That one was a little different, though that one got, I feel like a little like a little softer. I was just saying definitely more acoustic, all right, so enough about the music.
Speaker 1:Enough about the music. That's how we do it. You know what we're doing today, what you want to do is 2025 and we are going to uh do our SIP reviews of 2024. Last year we did it where it was. We talked about the 10 that we had tried that year, but some of them what I didn't like about it is.
Speaker 2:I think we ended up going with seven because we only did like 20-something podcasts. We don't want to talk about half of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was just there were things that were like kind of old, that we just really liked, that you can't get anymore. So I just don't think to a listener that it was really helpful. It was just us talking about what we like and mostly about stuff that you couldn't really get. So this year Tony pulled Mr Fred Minnick's top 50 of 24. I did, and we're going to chat about those as we sip them. Nothing too in-depth, chat about those as we sip them. Nothing too uh in depth. But um, the list, uh, due to tony's wonderful homework, um of the 50, we tried and podcasted four of them. Yes, that's what we're gonna drink today.
Speaker 2:The number one of the 50 that was, and I feel like that number one has been kind of a resounding number one. I I actually did just enough research to know that. Uh, I looked at other people's top lists and not everybody says, hey, this is my number one. A lot of people say, hey, this is my top seven, this is my top 10, this is whatever, but they're not in an order, um, but I can tell you it's on a lot of lists it's on every list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like not. So this is the um the russell reserve 15.
Speaker 1:We haven't even said what it is. People are like all, all right, can you just say it Russell Reserve 15, Kentucky, straight bourbon, 117.2 proof, and they charge 250 bucks for it. But it's number one on this list and it's probably number one on my list for the or top five for the year as well.
Speaker 2:So that says something about it. Well, it was, it actually was the highest rated podcast, uh that we gave ranking, so we did uh 23 episodes last year. We actually did two more than 2023 and um. It is so good we actually gave this a 4.5, which honestly, I haven't gone back to look at all of them, but I think the only one that's even close to that is the King of Kentucky.
Speaker 1:Okay, I just took a sip of it. Such a good long finish, just a real sticky sugar bomb and just a perfect char with that finish. It's $250, but now I know why we were well into the fours on this one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it's funny. I'm looking back through our last, I don't know. I have everything on a spreadsheet and we've only given 4.5 or 4.75 to three bottles, and this is one of them wow, in five years yeah, and the other ones are the parker reserve heavy char, which kind of makes sense because it's a 2021 version of that Parker's Heritage, and then we also gave a 4.5. You gave a 4.75 to the King of Kentucky. That we did.
Speaker 1:Of course I did, because that is one of the best whiskeys ever made or invented.
Speaker 2:I'm not telling you that it's not. I'm just telling you that that's pretty high marks for us. These are the top top, so it makes sense that that would be high of our list. Also, I'm glad that when these other guys that are supposed to be professionals agree with us.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you also found it. I'm glad we tasted it. I'm glad we podcasted it.
Speaker 2:We did it on our 100th.
Speaker 1:That's what we're here to do All right Cool. Next on the list that we had a few mentions that are in his top 10. George T Stagg if you see that, the Little Book, if you see that, pick it up. Larceny Barrel Proofs are on there and then a few Pappies are on there and then the 15 is what we tried. It's the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A124 coming in at $80. Yeah, we did this early in 24 and I haven't tasted it again yet, but I just remember it being. I just love Elijah Craig. Oh.
Speaker 2:I. You know we are such fans of Heaven Hill, the Elijah Craig and the Larceny. Obviously, the Larceny is the weeded version, the heaven hill is or, I'm sorry. The elijah craig is the is the not weeded version we've had such. I mean, there's three of them that come out a year. I pretty much collect them. You know that I have so many of these stupid things at home and they're awesome. I they never disappoint yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 1:I just tasted it. Wow, On the nose kind of like a very charred oak, just kind of bonfire-y, and on the palate again pretty sugary, pretty sweet, and I remembered that on the other podcast I said like a fruit, maybe cherry strawberry, something like that, like a ripe fruit dipped in chocolate.
Speaker 2:No, there's definitely some chocolate in there. I was just going to say I feel like you're getting a little more chocolate on this. When you smell certain bourbons, to me it makes you be like, oh, that's what bourbon is supposed to smell like.
Speaker 1:This is one of those. I mean, there's not like a weird smell to it.
Speaker 2:It's not like super leathery If you smell a lot of bourbon, you'll know what I mean and it's just like this is one of those ones. When you smell it you're like, oh, this smells great. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells and this one does. Does not disappoint, does not uh, do you want to keep going with the other ones? We tried just to close this out. Yeah, well, we of what we're sitting in front of and tasting.
Speaker 1:So we've tasted those. I don't know if I'm gonna get to a third and a fourth whiskey. Ah, what am I talking about? I will. Um number 22. Um was middle west straight weeded bourbon. We called it the Michelon Reserve $47. These are the guys that sent me a box, a really nice box, of three other bottles. This was one of them. My wife and I almost got through it before Tony could even try it.
Speaker 2:I was like damn, it came in and I thought it was like oh, it got spilled. It was so empty.
Speaker 1:We podcasted it, but that is gone, so great sign of a good bottle.
Speaker 2:We could probably get another one of those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we will Again in $47? Who cares If it's on the shelf? You get a couple of them compared to well, you get five of them compared to the number one. Russell Reserve. And the Russell Reserve is really hard to get no comparing the two, but that came in at 22. We can't taste that, even if we wanted to at the moment. So, um, you want me to keep going, sure?
Speaker 1:yeah, there's only one other one let's do the one, one more, other uh mentions, if you're at a store and, uh, you see something and you're like huh, I wonder if I should buy that. Um peerless was on there, um sazerak was on there, knob creek was on there.
Speaker 2:Well, that's an old knob creek, though I bet uh, it's an 18 year yeah that's a hard one, uh, tumblin dice.
Speaker 1:That's one of those. You see, the label actually has like someone's rolling dice on the label, if you see that, uh, they really like that for 80 bucks. But the other one we just podcasted um on 39th on the top 50 list is, uh, 2xo. Um, the sneakerhead blend. Yeah, it's got the sneaker on the label.
Speaker 2:We talked about jordans and dunks and we did and we also that dixon deadman had to do with. You know he came obviously from kentucky al um. That company's been traded a few times. He's doing his own thing now and you know, honestly he's honestly he's just really really a good blender and you know I follow him on other social media and he's just very interesting, he's really good. I'm happy that his brand's taken off like it has.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean to be on the top 50, and they've been around for a couple years. If I haven't said it already, that was a $100 bottle, so pretty reasonable. I'm going to go backwards to that Elijah Craig, a124, so January of 24. That is probably not on shelves, but a little advice If you see any of those, you do you. Yeah, barrel proof, elijah Craig. The standard 94 proof, you can get a handle of it at Costco. Very drinkable, very mixable, really great. Then you step up to these. If you see these, they're usually 80 to 100, depending on the liquor store you buy it.
Speaker 2:They only come out three times a year.
Speaker 1:I mean it is 119 proof. So it's a little bit more sipper and not like mixer and drinking it all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say the majority of barrel proof stuff you don't mix. You try it If you're not drinking a neat I mean, maybe you make an old fashioned out of it or something. But like, I would tell you that if you're going to spend the extra money on a barrel proof or on a private selection or whatever you, whatever you're going to do, I I would not plan on mixing that. I feel like mixers are, are are everyday bourbons that they make so much of. You'll never, you'll never run out.
Speaker 1:What are your other? Uh, I think you were mentioned having other 2024 stats or just about the podcast. I kind of geek out with that. Do you want to go?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what I did is I went back and kind of looked. So when we did a little searching I did a little searching I found Fred Fred Minnick actually does the top hundred. I just that's just so many bourbons I don't even know how you put them in an order, so I just downloaded the first page, which isO-U-R Bourbon, and then E-U-R they did a top seven Bourbon.
Speaker 1:E-U-R.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bourboner, bourboner.
Speaker 1:Bourboner Bourboner.
Speaker 2:Anyway, they do a top seven. They don't put them in order, but their top seven was Russell 15's. In there there's a Still Austin, that's Stagg, there's a Garrison brothers, that old granddad, 16, made their list, which I was a little surprised, but not really crazy surprised because that old granddad looks like that old Remember that old overhaul bottle that we did? They look similar, it's very similar bottles. They look like that little squatty bottle, the 114.
Speaker 2:Did you say that? No, not the 114. They have an old granddad, 16-year-old, that's in a little squatty bottle. It looks just like that old Overhart bottle, old Overhalt bottle. Sorry, I couldn't say it, but anyway. Maxim did a list. Maxim had a top 10 list that I was really impressed with. I didn't realize that that's kind of a trendy whatever magazine and I was kind of impressed that they came up with a list of a lot of the similar bourbons. So I was kind of impressed that they came up with a list of a lot of the similar bourbon. So I don't know if they were copying or whoever. They got right and it did a really good job. So name a few of those. They had the king of kentucky on there okay fred didn't have that.
Speaker 2:They had that. Heaven hill heritage uh collection, the 2020 they had that widow jane black opal, which is. I had the opportunity to buy that, but that's 500 bucks, msrp, and I passed, so how?
Speaker 1:do you think these matched up? That's the fourth of their 10. That didn't match.
Speaker 2:No, because then they had the Booker's, that Reserve's that's been on there. They had that Jay Mattingly, that six-year, A six-year bourbon to make these top lists has got to be something special.
Speaker 1:I'd like to find that.
Speaker 2:Bourbon. Yeah, it's number 24 on.
Speaker 1:Fred's list.
Speaker 2:And this guy had it double saved. Yeah, so I bet it's got a good char to it. I bet that. But that's a six year and for people to be putting six year juice in a top 25 or top 20 or whatever it is it's, that's crazy. Um stag was on there. Another garrison burgers, that maker's mark would finishing that 2024, that heart release, that that's made a bunch of lists. They had blade and blow, blade and bow 22 year. And remember when we were down there 22 year. But remember when we were down there, no, they said they do, they sell one bottle every day until they run out, but you have to be there early, good memory. And I remember the guy saying that I was like, well, I wish you would have told me this, I would have come really early today. But that msr piece 550. Wow, I just I have a hard time spending that kind of money on a bourbon.
Speaker 1:I mean I do, but only when I know it's absolutely spectacular. But if it's on people's lists maybe it is. We've spent that much before.
Speaker 2:I spent some time on Breaking Bourbon's website. I went to the Bourbon Pursuit and listened to their podcast. Everybody really loves that Russell's, so I'm happy that we gave it such high marks. I mean really loves that russell's, so I'm happy that we gave it such high marks. You know, I mean that's, that's. I guess we're doing something. We're at least in the right thing. Yeah, we're doing something right, but we're doing something.
Speaker 1:I mean at least we're tasting. The right people that are listening are listening. They already know that, so I appreciate it but anyway.
Speaker 2:So for us, we did 23 episodes last year. We only did two of them that had a four rating or higher, and uh, one was that large, if you're driving your car.
Speaker 1:Pull over right now, because these are the stats this is this is really great. So two of our how many podcasts 23 of 23 got over four rating and those bottles were the russell reserve 15 uh-huh and larceny's barrel proof c923.
Speaker 2:So we didn't do. We must have did that in january because that came. That was the the last of the three versions.
Speaker 1:That of larceny does from the 2023 I mean, guys, just what I said about the elijah craig barrel proof larceny same thing. They won humongous awards last year. They're always on the list if you're if it's at least in chicago and at binney's a lot of times in the little special glass room or whatever. These el Elijah Craig barrel proofs are there. They're reasonable, 100 or less, and just like the Elijah Craig the Larson, you got to buy it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Larson is the weeder.
Speaker 1:If you, like Weller's, want really good whiskey at obtainable there, it is Right there. Those two are always on your cart.
Speaker 2:They are, and they only come out three times a year. They're actually bottled in January and in May and in September. Those are the only three months they're bottled. They usually don't hit us, our market up here in the Midwest, until February, june and October. That's not always for sure, but that's when they usually hit. The October ones seem to get blended in because that's when all the buffalo trace antique and all the poppies come out and those, sometimes those, those get hidden away because they have to have stuff after those all go. But then, uh, one other thing I know. So we all right. So two and two in the four range. We had five of them that were 3.75 or three, and seven eights three three quarter and three.
Speaker 1:Now we're at the top seven of the 23, and those were the Handy 2022 Handy.
Speaker 2:It was that bottle that you bought after second murder, thomas.
Speaker 1:H Handy. It's a rye, it's in the antique collection and I think I spent speaking of I think I spent $5.50 on that. Did you Something in that range? Because I had already heard it was good and had tried it, so I bought it, whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Old Forester, 1924. Yeah, we really like that. I'm surprised that's on anybody's list.
Speaker 1:I have not touched that since.
Speaker 2:I know I'm surprised that's on nobody's list, because we really like that. We should probably. You know what do they say we need to. What's the word they use? Not it's re. Oh, it's what they say. When you're in Napa we need to have another drink, but there's a funny saying Anyway, it'll cook.
Speaker 1:I have no clue. I was like Napa.
Speaker 2:No, it's when you go wine, we want to retry or something. Anyway, it's not. There's a word. Yeah, it's a way to get a second pour, but then you usually have to buy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're like, let me try more of the really good stuff and then I'll buy some.
Speaker 2:And then Will it? We did that, will it Eight year? The black bottle Yep, that was up there. And then we had the Maker's Mark wood heart. What is that? Maker's Mark wood finishing series the heart, release 2024.
Speaker 1:That was pretty tasty and Maker's is really. Tony and I were talking you're seeing these, this Maker's Mark wood finishing series of different kinds on discount at certain grocery stores and certain liquor stores.
Speaker 2:So if you see one, you can get one of these at $100. You should buy it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pretty damn good stuff.
Speaker 2:And the last one was that Elijah Craig, just what we were hilarious, the one we've been drinking, the Elijah Craig A124. So there you are, and then we did have an honorable mention because remember that Middleton, very Rare, that Irish whiskey that's. There you are and then you know we did have an honorable mention because remember that Middleton, very rare, that Irish whiskey that we did, that you got as a gift. We gave it a high mark too. It's just it wasn't bourbon, so I didn't really include it on our our list, but that had a high number. That cause it was very rare. Remember it was a hard. It was like a $300 bottle that you got as a gift or something.
Speaker 1:I wonder if listeners are, um, you know, just into all whiskeys and and, uh, I want to talk real quick about scotch because, um, they say that you start, um, you know, in your early whiskey days you always start with scotch and then eventually you go to the sweeter, which is bourbon, or you switch to like Irish or something like that. Um, but I'm back on scotch, and the standard, most standard, and you can roll your eyes is mccallan. Yeah, mccallan is a highland.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, do you do the 10 or the 12?
Speaker 1:um, either the 15 is actually at binnie's well, it's almost 200 bucks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 15 is a different price. I'm like I don't like scotch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I did the 12 and uh, it's 80 bucks. And, man, if you're into scotch or you used to be, go back to it. It's. It's so creamy, vanilla, smooth, unlike a sweet or biting burning bourbon sometimes.
Speaker 2:So so good do you know a lot about scotches, like if I say, hey, I don't like the peaty ones, you're like, hey, go get the highland ones, then did you? Are you that educated on it?
Speaker 1:yeah, that's kind of as far as I go. There's four regions. I knew that um and isla is the peaty one. That is on, I believe, the western coast okay and that's where they actually burn peat to heat the booze in the winter. Whatever I can't, I don't know what they do and that it makes it like a lefroy right there it's very, very peaty, where highland is your more creamy, classic, straight, kind of smooth um.
Speaker 2:And then there's two other regions and I don't, I don't know, I don't know enough about it.
Speaker 1:We're gonna go that into it, but no, but I get yourself a mccallan 12.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the right, that's the right version. So I feel like the Highlands is the one that people that like bourbon are probably going to like, that one, that region. If you're picking a region more than others, yeah, wow, so good to sit here. What are we sipping right now? I've had like three different sips of stuff.
Speaker 1:This is Elijah Craig barrel proof, and.
Speaker 2:I'm going to open up this Maker's Mark one. You want a little sip of it. I would not turn one down, all right.
Speaker 2:Sorry, as I pull my head away from the microphone. It's not a good way to talk here, but I mean, we've had these high proofs and this is the highest proof that Maker's Mark makes and it's still 111 or something, but this is nothing compared to you know well, I guess russells is 117 and this barrel proof that we just drank was 119, so it's just a little less. Completely different, though. This is like a nine year, if I remember right, like a mixture of a nine and a 12. That that elijah craig that you and I just had. I think that was like a 10, 10 to 11 year stuff. It says it on there. I can't read it 10 years, nine months, yeah, and then the rus Russell's 15 is obviously a 15 year. So this is all old goods juice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean this makers. I remember. I kind of remember thinking, isn't it 130 bucks?
Speaker 2:This. I feel like it was one 29.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember thinking like this is not that I didn't like the price, but you're getting a lot in there. That's not um. It still has that Like if you dig deep, you can still get that standard maker's profile though.
Speaker 2:Do you feel that way? I for sure do. It's after having these other two, like the russell's 15, which just you know, it just blows you away. And then I'm a big fan of these elijah craigs and I feel like they do a really good job.
Speaker 2:All together we love yeah, this one, I might have to try that 2x0 just to see how it lines up. The maker's mark definitely falls. It falls apart a little bit on the finish. It's not the taste, it's not the smell, but the finish falls apart, like I mean it's going up against I mean we're going up like yeah, but like, but yeah, it steps like there's a three.
Speaker 2:I hate to say that but there's a reason that it steps down, I guess. Right, I, yeah, I, I wasn't uh prepared for that, for that analysis, until I just had it as we were talking here you're like uh-oh.
Speaker 1:I was like oh, wait a minute, that's not a number one. That was not a number one a year for sure maybe that's not why it's on fred minnick's top 50 all right. So uh, you got any more. 2024 wrap-up stats not really.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think now we should maybe roll into what we want to do next year or this year, I guess, because we're in 2025. I I'd like to get to you know a few more podcasts, obviously. We did 21 podcasts in 2023, did 23 podcasts in 2024. I'd like to try to. I think. I think a good goal for us would be to get at least 26, one every other week.
Speaker 1:Let's break the 25 barrier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a very fair. The only time we've ever done that many podcasts in one year was COVID year, and that was because you and I would just come over here and mess around, and that was 28. We did 28 that year, so I think for us to do 26, to do one every other week is a lot.
Speaker 1:We're here to go up, not down. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we're on a good run. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 1:All right, man, what are we going out on?
Speaker 2:So I was going to keep us with Alice in Chains just because Got no problem with that right.
Speaker 1:Got no problem with that. From 2000 or not. 2000, 1994, 1995 same album. Here it is. Oh yeah, some more alice in chains. Uh, thanks for taking a listen. 2024 in review. Mike and tony, we take care of the whiskey so you could focus on with whom you share it. Uh, go out, like I said, larceny and elijah craig. You see him, the barrel proof you, you buy them.
Speaker 2:I agree. If there's anything you learn from this episode, the barrel proof, Elijah Craig and Larceny If you see them in the glass room, they're $69.99 to $89.99. They're worth it every time.
Speaker 1:All right guys. See you a lot more in 2025. Peace out.
