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 110 - Penelope Toasted Barrel Strength
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Dive into a rich tapestry of nostalgia and flavor as we explore the beloved sitcom The Cosby Show alongside a tasting of Penelope Toasted Barrel Strength four grained bourbon. Join us as we reminisce about our favorite characters. In this episode, we welcome Chris to delve into the intricacies of our chosen whiskey, revealing the unique production methods that define Penelope Bourbon. From its meticulous blending of various grains to the innovative barrel toasting process, every sip unveils a new layer of flavor that can be appreciated by enthusiasts and novices alike. Chris's pairings, some spicy honey and some banter about our favorite 90's shows by using their catchy theme songs keep this episode flowing.
With tantalizing tasting notes, lively discussions, and a sprinkle of laughter, this episode promises a fulfilling experience whether you’re a dedicated whiskey drinker or a fan of classic television. Subscribe today and join our community of whiskey enthusiasts and nostalgic viewers, and don’t forget to share your thoughts and memories with us!
Intro to Old School Shows and Whiskey
Speaker 1Shai Tuki Berber Brothers here. Shy Tucky Bourbon Brothers here. You have no idea, not even a close idea, as to how into the Cosby Show.
Speaker 2I was I mean it's just like old school jazz.
Speaker 1I know we're not allowed to talk about it anymore, though because, oh God. Bill Cosby ended up drugging a bunch of women and doing bad things. Fucking Bill, thanks a lot.
Speaker 2He's ruining who were your favorite on the 200, 200 episodes of the cosby show over, like I don't know, eight, ten years crazy huh, no comparison to bill, but we have a guest today.
Speaker 1Does he look like bill? No, nothing like him. Quaalude johnny. Quaalude johnny.
Speaker 2How are you christ?
Speaker 1Oh, so good to have you, man who was your favorite on the Cosby show. Tony, you go first.
Speaker 2Oh, definitely, bill, I mean come on.
Speaker 1How can it not be, mr Huxtable, theo, huxtable, hilarious.
Speaker 2Yeah, the son was funny With his basketball. He was so bad at it.
Speaker 1So bad. He was so bad at sports and pretty dumb and they played that up so well. Chris, uh, your favorite, which now has to be a female because we've named the two males in the show late edition, rudy, late rudy, like when rudy grew up, sir oh yeah, that's like that's the end of the year sandra lisa bonet. I can't remember her name. Or was it just lisa? I can't remember. I'm screwing, I have no idea. I said I know so much about it.
Speaker 2I was gonna say this is your show.
Speaker 1I loved it so much. Anyway, shy, tucky bourbon brothers, we have chris here with us today and we're tasting some whiskey, and it is the show must go on penelope. I'm gonna ask tony about what happened to penelope, because they sold, and who they sold to and for how much. But or search, search, chris. Do you know anything about penelope? Uh, I know a little bit about penelope. It was sold in 2018, I believe so recently.
Speaker 1Well, I guess that's not seven hundred and eight million dollars, I believe, also, and they sold to mgp, right, yeah, but one of you guys speak up, or forever chris was looking into this earlier. Wasn't there a deal?
Speaker 2It was like they got $108 million and then, by the end of 2025, they get another, they double that if they sell a certain amount of it, there's certain performance escalators. It's kind of like a contract for your, for your you know, for any of your athletes that if they hit certain you know certain performance levels, then they get more money but this was about nothing other than timing oh, they came out with this.
Speaker 1They bought juice from uh mgp. They then put it in their own bottle named something great pretty bottles, and then they just rolled out a lot of different four grains, and what we're tasting today is the toasted we are, and the toasted series is a newer one. Tony, when did you pick this up?
Speaker 2I picked this one up. Actually, I've had this for a couple of years. I picked this up at the end of 2023. I think when I was home over, like a holiday break or something. Okay.
Speaker 1So toasted mean. It usually means they char the barrels more. I'll get into the char levels, but they talk about this being a heavy toast. It says that right on the label. It says a char five which, when I looked up the char levels, it says there's only four and I'll get back to that in a second. But that with the word heavy, um toast says to me that this is going to have a lot of char and a lot of toast to it, not to mention it's 112 proof and it's a blend of uh, it's another, it's more or less a five year.
Speaker 1Real quick. I'll be quick about it because we've gone through it before. Four levels of charring a barrel which changes the flavor on every level every second more or less that it's charred. First level very mild. They char the barrel for 15 seconds. Level two they char it for 30 seconds, literally putting a flame on the wood on the inside of the barrel. It's kind of cool. It's very cool If you barrel the stage kind of cool.
Speaker 2It's very cool if you think you know whiskey and all things. Whiskey is cool. No, literally like they have like a flamethrower and they stick these barrels and they literally like burn the inside up.
Speaker 1It's actually kind of cool some people might not think bill cosby's cool and some people might not think that was cool. Level 3 35 seconds. Level 4 is called the alligator char, which is 55 seconds. So this is either that or more, because they call it a level 5 which in the world of whiskey supposedly doesn't exist so it's obviously more than four, so that means it's it's.
Speaker 2The barrels are pretty crispy on the inside long story short.
Speaker 1We're tasting the penelope toasted barrel strength bottle and it is. It looks like it's a binnie's pick.
Speaker 2It is, yeah, which is kind of cool yeah, you know, I think that the other Penelope we have is a Galenstein pick or something, I don't know. There's a whole bunch of different stuff, but yeah, all these places do it.
Speaker 1Chris Donnelly, here with some information. Penelope bourbon Five char, five or higher, which is a heavy toast, adding rich vanilla, roasted marshmallow and spice flavor. Thanks, chris. Lots of rules here at this and I break them every time and I like to swear a lot. So who gives a fuck? All right, tony, give us some stats.
Speaker 2All right, so it's a blend. This blend, the mash bill's included in the blend. It's a 21% rye bourbon, 99% core bourbon, 45% wheat bourbon all mixed together. They don't give us the exact amounts of each one or the ages, that's why it's a four to five-year juice. I was told that it ends up being a 74% corn, 21% rye, 5% barley, which doesn't make 100% sense because they don't say there's any wheat in there. So this is kind of some of these websites you look at. I think people make up this 74-21-5 thing because I do know it's a four grain. It says it on the bottle.
Speaker 1All right. So it's a four grain. We know what those four grains are. We know now that it's a heavy char. We know the proof. We've gone through everything else. Can we smell it and taste it now?
Speaker 2Sure Is it time, yet I think we should.
Speaker 1Yeah, chris do you like whiskey With Coke? I have a perfect answer You're going to love this one, then. Perfect answer You're going to love this one then.
Speaker 2Some of our listeners will agree and some of them will not. Is it Coke or Diet Coke or Coke?
Speaker 1Zero. You're a Coke Zero. We drink it every which way.
Speaker 2Smells sweeter than I thought it would. Honey, what do you got A little bit of lemon, maybe the end.
Speaker 1Uh, I like the honey because it's a sweetness, but it's not. Um, some jump out like real fruity sweetness and I do like your little, uh, your little lemon citrus there, a little lemon there at the end and tons of vanilla oh, I mean, it's tons of, it's a creamy uh, creamy banana split maybe. Yeah, you don't, you know, you don't. Uh, you don't really smell the char, which is surprising for them using words like heavy, exactly, I'm not getting a whole lot.
Speaker 1And going off the charts with the amount of char. But usually when you go off the charts with stuff you really screw up a whiskey. Yeah, you're trying to really kind of break the mold, but let's taste it. Cheers, cheers, chris, tony, cheers Chris, cheers so much cheersing.
Speaker 2Yes, thick, thick mouthfeel.
Speaker 1It's coming at it, tony, keep going. I like it Thick, thick. Am I wrong? Tell me if I say something that you don't think.
Speaker 2No, no, spice, a little bit of heat at the front, but then it goes away. But not too much heat.
Speaker 1No, cinnamon, not that heavy, almost like it's like I think it's that rye.
Speaker 2It's that rye. It's that little bit of cinnamon. It's that little bit of like cinnamon red hot you got at the beginning do you like a char on your uh, on your meat?
Speaker 1I love a char on a steak.
Speaker 2I do a pittsburgh, they call it yeah, but the pittsburgh is weird because it's super raw on the inside. That's right.
Speaker 1I can't I don't like it that raw, so I do a medium with a pittsburgh. I I test them if they will do that for me and a lot of most of the time they do, and it tastes great.
Speaker 2No, that was my yes. I would tell you that I like more of like a pink, but I love to have the char on there. You don't want to overcook it because then it turns into a hard.
Speaker 1Chris, are you drinking this with a whiskey or are you pairing this with something? Maybe I'm pairing this with my charcuterie board tonight Meats and cheeses, and fruits too, and a pickle and a pickle.
Speaker 2Mustard, I've never.
Speaker 1Hot honey sauce.
Speaker 2Oh, I like the hot honey. We like the hot honey. I'm really glad I have A little drizzle. Tony, take notes. Is there a preparation out of?
Speaker 1him. Holy shit, it's like I prepped him for that.
Speaker 2Can I come over and have some of that charcuterie?
Speaker 1Tony and Chris. I got a sip of whiskey.
Speaker 2I'll take care of the sip, but I don't know about the charcuterie part. I don't really get that very often.
Speaker 1I got a honey guy, so oh, I bet you do. We do have a Whiskey Club member who sells honey and hot honey and spiced honey and sriracha honey, and you can pick it up at Whole Foods.
Speaker 2We don't usually label or name drop, but look for sriracha honey and it's probably one of the only brands on the Whole Foods shelf. Yeah, I don't know the exact brand, but I know there's a Sriracha. He's got like a hot honey, there's like a natural, but he's got a spiced honey and then they got a little bit of what's the name of it. It's all local grown.
Speaker 1Doesn't this taste like a spiced honey? You nailed it with the honey and or the vanilla, and like a good spice.
Speaker 2All right, and or the vanilla, and, yeah, and like a good spice. All right, you can name. Local hive is the name of the company. Local hive is the name of the company, but sriracha is their, uh, yeah, one of their better, one of the better ones, I think. That one, I think the hot honey is pretty good, especially if you want to put it on some, uh, on some chicken wings and it's good like raw good for you honey.
Speaker 1It's not like full of chemicals and stuff. So, yeah, I think it's like the reason I mix with honey they put in a jar. Yeah, I think their.
Speaker 2Their theory is that it's um, there's only so many hours away when they pack it, so everything is um, everything is is local, right. So I think they have different regions. I don't. I think if you look at the back of their regular, but you know what. We can get the guy on here and he can talk all about it for as much as we would like to know, but I just know what I overhear.
Speaker 1It's another Mike.
Speaker 2We should have Mike on the podcast and I typically, just like when I like it, I'll talk about it no-transcript he's a great new member and he brings over hot honey for us oh sample packs. Everybody just get home with a little treat, loves it. It's like treats.
Speaker 1Um, do we want to get into, uh, the poker match I I won recently, so we have to. Well, so these two guys that I'm sitting with right here, um, I'm not going to say I'm not gonna say how I won.
Speaker 1What I'm gonna talk about is how I have kind of predicted how you guys are gonna play and therefore you change your style of play and then you're playing catch-up. One is tony's a bluffer. No, so I would sit and be like but. But when I say that he therefore plays differently, chris sit next to me is a chaser, so he doesn't yet have the card, so you know when he's betting he's chasing.
Speaker 1So if you come over the top and go big, you know you're going to knock him out. And when I start calling him chaser, all the time he stays longer. Well, he changes his style of play, and when you change his style of play, it's harder to win, because you're now playing with a different strategy.
Speaker 2I like to think I'm not sure about this. Phil Hellmuth, Mr Mike over here, I think that he wins one and all of a sudden he's over here giving advice.
Speaker 1Wins one. I want to be Jack Binion. Can you call me him please?
Speaker 2I'm going to buy you a broke-down, fake World Series bracelet, please.
Speaker 1I was just going to say that Could you imagine going into a work appointment and being like did you see Mike's jewelry?
Speaker 2It's like oh, that's his World Series of Poker bracelet. I want one from the first year of the World Series of Poker, because before it was too gaudy that you'll never wear it.
Speaker 1Oh, they're so slinky. They look like medical bracelets.
Speaker 2They do. The new ones are like Super Bowl rings, though they're completely crazy blinged out.
Speaker 1You still watch it.
Speaker 2Yeah, I watch it every once in a while. There's like a poker channel now. If you flip through channels, you can watch it.
Speaker 1You would think, with all this winning I've been doing, I was watching the poker channel.
Speaker 2It's all different now, though. I mean, if you listen to the old guys that play poker, they don't like to play now because it's almost it's like a survival of the fittest, and the younger people can last 12, 14 hour days, numerous days in a row, to make this work. The guys in the World Series of Poker, they just wait for their hands. If it's not a top 10 hand, they don't play it.
Speaker 1Either way, if you're getting to that level, you're doing a lot of things right and luck is definitely on your side. You've got to have a good day.
Speaker 2Good week Before we tip rating.
Speaker 1Let's get back to the sip rating. I do want to talk about the merch we have, because we have sweatshirts and hats.
Speaker 2Now I'm looking at both of you guys with some hats. Yeah, sip hats, they're pretty legit.
Speaker 1We're going to put them on Instagram so people can be wearing them.
Speaker 2Yeah, no, I like those hats the embroidery I thought was a solid move that might have been worth the extra few bucks.
Speaker 1Very good design.
Speaker 2So I like this.
Speaker 1Penelope toasted so much that I got. I kind of drank it all and I gotta pour a little bit more for our uh, do you?
Speaker 2do you want to dump some into?
Speaker 1some coke for chris, hey. So here's what I do want to do is I want to have chris start with, because he's such a such a great listener that I know he's gonna nail the sip rating and we won't. We'll wait for his number, but his SIP rating Ready, set go, chris Pressure.
Speaker 2I don't know if I remember this.
Speaker 1I was like P is not pressure.
Speaker 2No, no, p is not for pressure.
Speaker 1Shareable, I think, is a two and a half you need to be.
Speaker 2Oh, there's no numbers. You're either shareable or not. We got him all nervous.
Speaker 1It's shareable for you.
Speaker 2Yes, chris is a little nervous, it's shareable especially around the fire, around the fire okay, maybe with some s'mores, some marshmallows, s'mores.
Speaker 1Okay, what's the influence like for you? Know anything about penelope? Or they have like a big deal to you in your world. I know nothing about them, okay, okay, but it's a pretty bottle right.
Speaker 2And then price. I don't even know if we ever said the price, but the price of this is $69.99. We didn't say the price, so yeah. So price I don't know if the price would help your rating or not.
Speaker 1It's a little high. It's a little high. A little high at $70? Yeah, you want it like $10, $20 less 45, 50 range oh okay, okay, all right.
Speaker 2So for me, shareable, sure. I think that if somebody was asking about it I'd love to give it to them. I think it's actually a pretty good foregrain Influence to me. I'm a big MGP fan but I don't really care. Like the story of Penelope is nothing special to me. To me, this is just MGP juice that they've blended and they've got a good blend. And then price honestly I I hate to say this, but 70 bucks, 60 to 70 bucks, is kind of the going rate for halfway decent bourbon nowadays you don't have to be, you don't have to hate to say any of that, because I think you're spot on with all of them.
Speaker 1I will say shareable is at a higher level, and why they do so well is people that don't know whiskey necessarily yet, um, but they have a good product in the bottle. We're talking about you, chris.
Speaker 2You look at this and it's like yeah, I want to.
Speaker 1You know you present this to someone. Hey, let's have a little sip together. It's a good looking bottle, so shareable has got high marks for me. Influence. I do love MGP and their product as well. I hear their stock price is way down. I think everybody's talking a lot. Just think of what's been? Going on. I was just making another point about them.
Speaker 2I always like to look at what's been going on in bourbon in the last month or so. I haven't really noticed anything. The couple things that stick out to me are that new Jack Daniels 14. They're making a really big deal about it because I think it's the first time in like over a hundred years that there's a 14 year old Jack Daniels. Like they just not made one and released one.
Speaker 1It's just time ever.
Speaker 2No, there's one like literally a hundred years ago, like, if you look at it, there is a 14 from a long, long time ago. But uh, I think that's interesting, I think that Can I get back to my influence and price. I thought you said you matched mine, all right, keep talking and I agree with you on the price.
Speaker 1Keep going.
Speaker 2Thanks for interrupting. Did you guys watch the Saturday Night Live 50th? Yes, and it was very good Did you guys see the Maker's Mark ad I did. Yes, and it was very good I actually was like oh my God, I haven't seen a Maker's Mark ad in forever. I was with you, you were with me. Yes, and I couldn't believe it. I guess their new ad. I actually made a comment about it. I was like I don't know if I've ever seen a long Maker's Mark ad Was.
Speaker 1Tony pretty worked up about the whole. Thing.
Speaker 2That might be the.
Speaker 1State of the Union with bourbon these days, though, right.
Speaker 2I mean, I don't know, I mean the bourbon right now. These days, bourbon's definitely. People like to throw around words like glut and this, and that I don't believe in any of that right now.
Speaker 1Yeah, they spent the last 10 years, making way more than they ever did before. So glut, yes, true fact, but that's all it means. People are still buying a lot of it.
Speaker 2It's still the prices. The amount of money being paid for bourbon at all different levels is crazy still.
Speaker 1You know what's a good sign of that too? When you're out with friends, if you cocktail, if you drink, I still have men and women ordering Manhattans and old fashions not yet martinis again, or gin, gimlets or other stuff. So when people are still going out and paying $16, $18, $20 for an old-fashioned cocktail, they're obviously still really into fucking whiskey.
Speaker 2Yeah, I just think there's too many options now. That's probably the better way to put that.
Speaker 1All right, let's give you a. We already know Chris's. We did the sip rating we wanted to do.
Speaker 2Are you doing a two and a half standing?
Speaker 1I like this two and a half standing All right.
Speaker 2I'm going a hair higher than that. I think this is going to be like a two and seven eighths to me, just under a three I'm going flat three.
Speaker 1I think this is the best penelope I've ever tasted. I think that, uh, some of their stuff is pretty kind of boring. Um, I like the not too high but pretty high proof I, and I love what they did with the char. You can really char something that it tastes like to a level of disgusting Like you are, you know, licking a burnt charred barrel. And this is not just black and grossness, this is like this is good they did.
Speaker 2I don't know how long they keep it in the charred barrel, but they did a good job on the flavor of this.
Speaker 1That's why I brought up a steak. You over char a steak or any piece of meat Disgusting, yeah, but I feel like we've had a few different chars.
Speaker 2I feel like we've had a few different of these toasted. Most of these toasted things are higher charge. I feel like you've got to do a good job or you're going to get burned out pretty quick on it Very drinkable For sure. I'm going to go out with some more TV greatest themes. Do you want to guess? We do a couple different ones.
Speaker 1I just want, chris, do you have any?
Speaker 2I do not. We are going out on the Simpsons. No, that's just, you said the Simpsons, so that was an easy one to just say the Simpsons. Oh my God, you had that ready. No, I just clicked a button, that's ready.
Speaker 1That's pretty ready.
Speaker 2I didn't think you would have that ready. Friends Friends is huge. Friends is probably the number one show of the 90s. Honestly, that 70s show is a good one. I love it. That was actually probably my favorite show that came out of there that was the one.
Speaker 1They always sat in the basement right yeah, yeah. Seinfeld was 90s duh.
Speaker 2One of my favorites this is what we're going out on no no, no, we're going to go out on one that you have to guess. I'm going to call this the most prepared podcast. If we invite Chris, he's super prepared.
Speaker 1You, with all, I mean multiple, we're going to go on one that you have to guess. You're going to have to go on one of our favorites.
Speaker 2I'm going to call this the most prepared podcast ever.
Speaker 1We invite Chris he's super prepared you with multiple different songs. I can barely get two out of you. Look at this. What are we going up?
Speaker 2That's 80s. I have it here, but that's 80s actually I think that's 90s pal? I don't think so pal. I got a pal out of him.
Speaker 1I know I got a pal. Oh, you know another one that all the women, all the women love.
Speaker 2This is one that all the women uh, uh, uh.
Speaker 1They made two movies over it. I know where the women. They talk about their shoes all the time and it's called sex in the city sex in the city all right sexy in the city.
Speaker 2Huh, no just sex in the city, and they also got the fresh prince of bel-air, but everybody knows that one. So we're not going to do that. Let's go out with what you were harassing me about earlier. And I do kind of remember this. I remember the show, but not the song.
Speaker 1I'm so glad you chose this.
Speaker 2I don't remember the song, but I remember the show.
Speaker 1Just let it play for a second the A-Team. Don't remember the song, but I remember the show. Just let it play for a second the a team. Oh, oh, baywatch, that was another one. Doogie hauser is what this is. Yeah, I also just the cosby show and doogie man, can you? I mean both wonderful, wonderful shows wonderful, I could watch every episode all over again. But again, we're now not allowed to do anything with bill cosby anymore.
Speaker 2If you like him, you're like unfortunately.
Speaker 1Yeah, you're a big jerk, shy tucky bourbon brothers. We take care of the whiskey so you can focus on with whom you share it. So good to have chris here and you know, tony, your preparedness off the charts I was just playing with.
Speaker 2I hope you guys like.
Speaker 1Doogie Howser, doogie Howser, md, md. Good to be with you guys.
Speaker 2See ya, cheers.
