Distilled Bourbon Podcast
Distilled: The Bourbon Podcast discovers all that America's spirit has to offer from trails to distilleries and everything in between. Co-hosts Brent Bridges, Chuck Stinnett, Aaron Nelson and Brian McDaniel bring unique perspectives to this popular topic. Brian is an Army veteran and owner of the Beverage Barn liquor stores. He knows how to find those rare unicorn bottles. Chuck is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and is best described as a walking encyclopedia. Chuck and his wife Donna are experts in many things including maneuvering the Bourbon Trail(s). Aaron brings his knowledge of whiskey and bar tending skills to the team to make us look good. Brent...well he owns a few microphones and loves bourbon.
Distilled Bourbon Podcast
E47. Why Ryes are Taking the World by Storm
Ryes are gaining in popularity among whiskey drinkers. We discuss this trend as we try four unique offerings. Which ones did we love and which ones left us looking for more?
#kentuckypeerless #catchersrye #widowjane #caseyjones
https://kentuckypeerless.com/
https://twojames.com/
https://widowjane.com/
https://www.caseyjonesdistillery.com/
Welcome to Distilled the Bourbon podcast , where we drink bourbon. Or in this case, Ryan , talk about it. I'm Brent . I'm here with my co-host, Brian , Chuck and Aaron . Welcome back to the Turret guys.
Speaker 2:Always good to be here. Glad to be back .
Speaker 3:Love
Speaker 1:Being here. Doing something a little different. Today we're going down the Rye Road.
Speaker 2:So I think Rye's really had a resurgence in the last, certainly five years, maybe 10 years. Uh, I , I, I'm not so sure that Rye didn't precede bourbon as an American whiskey. It
Speaker 3:Absolutely did. Um, it was first distilled in the 1750s , uh, and, and it came from , um, the forefathers coming over from Europe. Rye was actually used first in the 18th century in Scotland as one of their early grains to make scotch. So those people were used to drinking rye. And it grew really, really well in Eastern Middle Eastern .
Speaker 1:And you don't have to impress us anymore. You're part of the team. Okay . You're on board . So he's still selling himself , but thank you for that history. There is a cool , a
Speaker 3:Cool fact I found, though, in 1808 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, they sold half a barrel of whiskey or half a barrel of rye per man, woman and child in the community, <laugh> . Wow . So they were, I like
Speaker 1:It . It was huge.
Speaker 2:You know , I think both Maryland and and Pennsylvania were the big rye , uh, distilling places. Yes. You probably can, can , uh, grow rye in those slightly cooler states better than you can in, in Kentucky. And corn was probably more appropriate for Kentucky.
Speaker 3:Yes. And the flavor profile's just completely different too . Yeah . It's a lot more
Speaker 4:Spicy. And I'm just excited for this episode. 'cause I don't think we've ever done a rye episode. Just
Speaker 1:Yeah , we did strictly . Yeah . It's called Three Three Blind Rise . You were there. Oh,
Speaker 4:We did. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah . He just
Speaker 3:Doesn't remember it .
Speaker 1:It's been a while .
Speaker 4:Yeah. That's okay. <laugh> . Um , but I know that as you guys are probably aware, Chuck and Brent , uh, they're not , uh, really rye guys. Oh , I am. You know, and I , I initially wasn't, I , this is a lot more spicier than a bourbon. Yeah . And, you know, so I'm curious to see what , how these stand out today. Now ,
Speaker 2:See , I I , I have to disagree. I, I am not, not a rye guy. I , I certainly am a bourbon guy. Uh, but I've become much more of a rye guy of , of late , I, I did have some choices on the shelf to , to choose from. And I , I don't think you can make a blanket statement. I've, I've had some rice that were sweeter than a lot of bourbons I've had. I think you just gotta judge by the, by the bottle and see what you got.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And you know what I find interesting? I think it was Corky Taylor that told us that as he gets older, he and his friends tend to go more to the rye side and less to the bourbon side.
Speaker 2:I , I definitely have friends who will just raise their hand and say, I'm a R guy, and Brian's one of 'em for sure. Yeah . Yeah.
Speaker 4:I think it's just, 'cause you know, bourbon especially , uh, weed bourbon is so sweet. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> to me. And so is like , uh, Sherry cask finish is very sweet. Uh, so rye is just exceptional for
Speaker 2:Yes . We , we still remember the, the rabbit hole episode with
Speaker 1:The Yes . <laugh>.
Speaker 4:Don't remind me of that, Chuck.
Speaker 2:Just two , two sweets.
Speaker 1:Well , uh, so we
Speaker 2:Have four
Speaker 1:Here today, and , uh, Brian, the first one that you brought is the Casey Jones, one of my favorites, I think per dollar. It's one of the best ones out there. We always talk about Casey Jones, and you guys don't believe us that we're not advertising for them, but we just really like their juice particularly. And we love the people down there. Uh, but this is a great one to start with. It's , uh, it's fair It was released this year sometime. It was in the summer, maybe early
Speaker 3:Early or late spring. Early, early summer. Yeah .
Speaker 4:Yeah. And for 50 bucks, you just can't beat this. No , you can't . No . You know, I've enjoyed this on several different occasions. Uh, and riot's typically higher , higher price , uh, than, than bourbon. Uh, so it's a great value.
Speaker 2:I think the rye grain is more expensive. More expensive relative to corn. It's a sweet nose. It's got a sweet ,
Speaker 1:It's , it's got a good nose. And man, it falls up with a great taste.
Speaker 3:I just absolutely love nosing rye. You can, you always, it's, it's just completely different than a bourbon.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes I don't get a lot off the nose from Mariah , and then sometimes like this one Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> it just smells amazing. I guess the same thing goes for bourbon. I don't
Speaker 2:Know, I don't know if you guys do this as well, but when I'm tasting neat , uh, I actually, I think I've learned this at , at a distillery. Uh, I'll take just a tiny little taste and running through my mouth a little bit and just to kind of wake the mouth up and, and the mouth said , oh, we're we're , are we on? Yeah .
Speaker 1:<laugh> <laugh> ,
Speaker 2:Are we on the clock? Right. And, and then not, you know, seriously taste until the , the second taste.
Speaker 3:Um, I had an opportunity to do a tasting with Freddie Johnson and Oh , nice. Um, he walked us through not to, to drink it at all, just let it touch your lips. Because when that whiskey touches your lips, automatically, you Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> you lick your lips. And so it allows you to taste what the whiskey's gonna taste like before having the, the burn and, and all that. So he , he was saying for people who may not, like, maybe somebody says, I'm not a eye guy. Well, here, just, just put it on your, on your lip and see what it tastes like. He
Speaker 2:Leads a very deliberate , uh, tasting. And, and he is real big about , uh, nosing, not from both nostrils, but from the left. And then the right. He , he says, some days, you know, one nostril is, is is working really well and , uh, and the other one may not be, and it could be different the next day. So,
Speaker 3:And days like today, mine , neither one are working well. So <laugh>
Speaker 2:<laugh> .
Speaker 1:Well, how about your taste buds? What do you get on there? It's not overly peppery. It's , it's got a good spice. It's nicely balanced to me.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think this is a higher corn mash bill . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . It's a little bit sweet for a , for a rye for me, which
Speaker 1:Would make sense for Casey .
Speaker 4:It would. Yeah.
Speaker 2:We've gotta get you some 95 5 rye, don't we?
Speaker 4:Some of those I enjoy. Some of 'em I don't events
Speaker 2:Me , I mean, it , they're either really good or really bad. It's
Speaker 3:Like, it depends on, I guess it has to be where the RISE's grown. That's the only thing I can come up with because, you know, I've had, and we've had 95 fives, which
Speaker 2:Is all the time typically associated with mgp,
Speaker 3:MGP, and they're completely different. You can have a 95 5 1 day that tastes sweet and , and you can have one on another day that'll just burn and tastes like acetone. And I mean, it's,
Speaker 1:You know, you're probably right . You're so much smarter than I am about this stuff. No , but I did hear AJ talk about the size of the grind on grains and how that can make a huge difference. Uh, and, you know, he was talking about some of the, the newer equipment that he has. Uh, I think he really was Was he, Chuck, you were there, was he talking more about the moonshine at the time? About , um, uh, grinding the corn and he , he needed, he couldn't quite get the same. He ,
Speaker 2:He , he doesn't , yeah , he, he doesn't want a , like a flour consistency. Right . He , he wants a bit more, a bit more , uh, grittiness. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , I don't know how , what he , he wants you a larger
Speaker 1:Gr granular piece.
Speaker 2:He , he , he does a lot of , uh, grain is run through a hammer mill and it's just, it's pulverized and it's, it's not meal. It's, it's flour. Right. Uh, I realize that corn is meal , or I guess you have , I guess you can have corn flour anyway. Uh , yeah. He, he wants it to be not quite so fine. And he did equate that to , uh, his , uh, his grandfather , uh, not having his fine , uh,
Speaker 1:Yeah. Didn't have have an opportunity to have Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> a tool that could grind it to that level. So , uh, I think grain size af after its ground , uh, and , um, I'm sure location has something to do with it. Uh, but there are countless numbers of variations even within a , a line of, of grains. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 2:So , and I don't even know , uh, you know , most of, of the bourbons can be made from number two yellow corn. And there's, you know, there's different producers. There's pioneer and DeKalb and Becks and so forth like that. So there could be some variation there, but I have no idea how many different kinds of rye are , are grown . Yeah . So,
Speaker 1:Yeah, who knows?
Speaker 3:And do they come from Canada? Is it American rye? I mean, it's
Speaker 2:European. Yeah.
Speaker 1:All right . Very cool.
Speaker 2:I, I don't know of anybody making a , uh, an an American rye out of all European rye, but I certainly have heard some bourbon producers that are using some European rye , uh, Northern European Germany or some , something like that. Yep . By the way, as I was looking on my shelf, I found a bottle of a slightly forgotten bottle. It came from , um, uh, limestone branch. Oh, yes. And it was an experimental bottle that I bought several years ago . And it's a small bottle. Yep . Uh , and it's 100% malted rye. Uh , my wife and I had a small taste of it, like it a lot. I didn't see any point in bringing something that you're, that no one's ever gonna be able to find. Probably. Right . A malted rye, it's a hundred percent.
Speaker 3:You're , um, you're gonna start seeing more and more of that malted rye. Um, so
Speaker 2:Was it
Speaker 3:Sweeter beam is it was pretty sweet. Yep . Jim Beam is doing some experimental stuff with that. Okay. Um, they've got a Basil Hayden malted rye out right now. So , um, and it's, it's that malted rye , malted grain is, is gonna make a, a push I think in the next two or three years in the, in the industry.
Speaker 4:Yeah. It's just amazing how the industry has evolved, you know, for 50 years there was really no change in the market. I mean, there were some tweaks, you know, single barrel, small batch and so forth. Uh, but the evolution of bourbon, the last, or rise in the last 10 to 15 years has just,
Speaker 3:And then brings enormous, brings up the topic. Is it going to, is the, is it proverbial bourbon boom going to or balloon, whatever gonna pop? And then is it gonna stop? I just don't, I don't see it like, because they are constantly finding ways to introduce more people to bourbon.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, and Right . History says that there's gonna be another clear liquid wave that comes along. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . We'll see if that happens. I mean, I hope so, because that'll be more for us, right? Yeah , absolutely . We don't want any of the craft , uh, distilleries to go away that , that would put a herd on them. Pretty, pretty , um, pretty significantly, I think. But , um, boy, let's, let's enjoy it while we have it, I guess.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And I think we look at wine in the eighties, you know, when Napa Valley wasn't Napa Valley like it is today. Uh, and you know, the wine industry's so very strong in the US market. You know, you buy a bottle for a hundred thousand dollars if you want. I don't think bourbon has that same glamor yet. Uh, so I think there's still room to grow.
Speaker 2:So the Casey Jones, I think that's, it's a , I find it to be a real, real mild rye. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Very drinkable, very nice. Neat . Uh ,
Speaker 1:If you're new to Rye, that might be a good choice.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. A hundred percent
Speaker 2:Excellent. And , uh, I think it'd be good on the rocks. I don't know if it's much of a , uh, would be a , a good traditional rye for a cocktail.
Speaker 3:I don't think it would. I I agree. I don't think it has enough meat as, as I would call to stand up to mixing it. Yeah .
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 3:Doesn't mean it's not great. Like Yeah . It's terrific . Exactly what Bri
Speaker 1:I
Speaker 3:Would , I would give that to somebody says, I'm not a rye guy. I'm giving them that one all day. And that's, it's really, really good.
Speaker 2:If you, if you have someone who wants a rye Manhattan, maybe this is not the ride to , to, to use
Speaker 1:Yeah. Save it for drinking it . Neat . Or on the rocks, man. Yeah . Alright. Well, very cool. What do we have next year ?
Speaker 3:Uh, so this one is a single barrel, a hundred percent Michigan rye , um, from two James Distillery out of Detroit, Michigan. Uh, so the Evansville Bourbon Society did a pick . Um, and I had a taste and said I have to have a bottle of that. Wow. So , um, absolutely delicious. 115 proof. Um, and so
Speaker 1:Where can you find this? You have this at , uh, beverage bar .
Speaker 3:We have the two, James. Now this is a single barrel pick . Mm-Hmm . So it would be okay , but we, we don't have this exact pick, but we have several of their other offerings. Um, they do a, a gin, they do a barrel aged gin. Uh , their vodka's delicious. They have a, a bourbon that is,
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, you said a barrel gin. Oh my goodness. What the hell are you talking
Speaker 3:About? Christmas. Think about like your Christmas, Christmas in
Speaker 1:A bottle.
Speaker 3:A hundred percent . Is
Speaker 2:It a charred barrel or just a raw barrel? It's
Speaker 3:Used bour , barrelson barrel.
Speaker 1:Does it have color? Okay.
Speaker 3:It does. It, it's, it would, it's a little bit darker than, it's almost a yellow. Okay . Uh , but , um, golden color. Hmm . Absolutely delicious. I've had three or four different barrel age gins. Theirs ranks right up there to the top.
Speaker 2:Wow . Once upon a time I would've said no way. But since I had that , uh, spirit of a limestone at limestone branch, which is using their Yellowstone and , uh, and , and their gin , uh, in a single cocktail. Yeah . And not just, not just finish , but I mean, it's whiskey and it's gin and it makes a terrific cocktail. So I'm telling you , um, I would try that
Speaker 3:If you want something to , to branch out in your, your flavor profile, find a barrel aged gin , uh, you can just drink it on the rocks. You don't have to mix it or anything. You can just sip it.
Speaker 1:Now this is, this one is very good, but very different.
Speaker 3:Way different than what we just experienced.
Speaker 1:Very different,
Speaker 3:Because it is a hundred percent raw . Yeah . You're gonna get a lot more spice. This is gonna be one that Brent is probably gonna shake his head that he doesn't care much for. Yeah . But
Speaker 1:<laugh> , it's very
Speaker 3:Earthy. It is
Speaker 1:Earthy. Yeah. It's , uh, it's a little sharper. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> is the first thing I get. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> it , uh, kind of cuts you just a little bit, which is not a bad thing. It's
Speaker 2:Good. First thing I got was some cherry Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Yeah.
Speaker 1:Hmm .
Speaker 2:And I'm not complaining Michigan.
Speaker 1:Huh?
Speaker 2:It's
Speaker 3:Not a hundred percent Michigan rye . I'm
Speaker 2:Just curious. Michigan is a long way from the Evansville Bourbon Society. Did people travel up there
Speaker 3:To They had six people go and , and pick it . Cool .
Speaker 2:Yep . Cool.
Speaker 1:Hmm .
Speaker 2:Do you know what the age statement on this is?
Speaker 3:Four years. Four years? Okay . I'm almost a hundred percent sure. Okay.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:Our rise is typically aged about the same length as bourbons.
Speaker 3:Less actually, they're normally aged less, less
Speaker 1:Time. That's why a lot of it still are start with rise . Right? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , because you can crank 'em out pretty fast and get 'em out there.
Speaker 3:That's what , um, hard truth , um,
Speaker 1:Girls did that . They got
Speaker 3:Some , they did that. They , they released a two year ride . And people are like , uh, of course I say people, me, other people who are I , I wish they would've just waited four years to release it. And it was phenomenal. And , and Brian , the master distiller will tell you like they, they wanted to wait an extra year, but it was ready. So they just let it go.
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 2:Anyone who thought Kentucky Purists was feeling desperate when they released that 2-year-old rye was sadly mistaken . Yeah . I think it won Top 25 Whiskey. The , or was in the top 25
Speaker 1:Year . I think it was number eight, wasn't it ?
Speaker 2:Yeah . Number 15. It was top 2015 . Okay . The first 2-year-old in , I'm gonna say 2017, and I think it was Whiskey
Speaker 3:Advocate. Yes .
Speaker 2:Yeah. And the only , uh, rye and the only craft distillery to rank in the top 20 mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And it, it was and is terrific. And then they went on to release a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Speaker 1:And they're still winning awards with
Speaker 2:It. Yeah. They're,
Speaker 1:Hmm . This is delicious. This is very good. I was a little worried. I thought, oh, this , this might not be my thing. But it's pretty good.
Speaker 3:Love the color of it too. It is, it's dark and it's still got some sweetness without barley and without corn. Um, so it's, it's a really, it's a good mage to, you know what, just a straight rye can , uh, can , can
Speaker 2:Do if , if it's got sweetness, but it still has that pepper. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1:Hey Brian, do you have any idea how many , um, what the ratio is of bourbon to Rye that you sell? Is it 10 to one?
Speaker 4:If I had to guess, I would say probably six to one. Okay. Five to six to one. Really ? Yeah. Um , I would say within the last five years. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> that number is, you know, it was probably three to one. Uh, or I'm sorry, it was probably 12 to one and now it's five to six to one. Uh, just because the popularity of Rise . Um, you know, it started off with , uh, everybody found out that RACQ Rye was Buffalo Trace product. Yeah. <laugh> and then Angels in Angels Vy Rye was released, which I think is exceptional. Uh, one of my favorite rices Yep . To sip on. So there's been several rides that have come out. Peerless Rye came out , uh, won those awards, and it just piqued people's interest. Uh, and then everybody dove straight in to rise . And now every, just about every distillery has a rye offering. So
Speaker 2:With Sach , your bestselling rye,
Speaker 4:It was , uh, it's not allocated anymore. So it's on every liquor store shelf. Yeah. It's common. Yeah. It's , it's pretty common now. Uh ,
Speaker 1:It might be my least favorite, I'm
Speaker 2:Be honest.
Speaker 4:I agree . Yeah . I'm not a fan. I just don't ,
Speaker 1:We love Buffalo Trace
Speaker 4:Here. Actually, we did a blind of that and that was Yeah. Yeah. It
Speaker 3:Absolutely one of, one of my least favorite rice .
Speaker 4:Yeah. Bull Rice is probably one of our best sellers . I
Speaker 3:Love that.
Speaker 2:Uh , how about that ? That's MGP product,
Speaker 4:Which I did not know until recently. Yeah .
Speaker 2:<laugh> . Well, I mean, it , they're very, it's right there on the label. It says it Lawrenceburg Indiana. Yep .
Speaker 1:I don't know what you guys think, but I , I think , uh, we don't have it here today, but Wilderness Trail rise
Speaker 3:Pretty good. I think it's good too.
Speaker 4:I like everything from Wilderness Trail. I really do. I do too . I've not had a bad product yet.
Speaker 2:Agreed.
Speaker 3:There's single barrels. If you have a chance to ever, if you find one on a shelf, buy
Speaker 2:It. You know, we , we , we seem like we have a love-hate relationship with , uh, the, the re company. Exactly.
Speaker 1:Buffalo. We buy , we buy Trace
Speaker 2:And , and Fare Ride does come out of Buffalo Trace in Frankfurt. Uh, they do have a, they're producing a little bit in , in New Orleans, but that is a, that Sach Rye is a Kentucky product. I, I just don't care for it. Curiously enough at the Sri House in New Orleans , uh, that's more of a cocktail experience than it is a, a , a straight whiskey experience. They serve their pre-mixed , um, ACH cocktail. Yeah. Now, so there's req rye, and then there's Ach rye. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And then there's a cocktail called the Sach . So they have a, a pre-mixed , uh, ACH cocktail that I'm assuming is made with their ACH rye. Well , I, I hope so . That's the best ACH cocktail I've ever had. So , isn't a
Speaker 4:Can or a
Speaker 2:I've never seen it. I really , I I was only served it. I don't recall it being available in the gift shop.
Speaker 1:That was my next question. Where can you get it? <laugh> ? Uh , in new , in New Orleans.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at my , uh, liquor for guy right here. <laugh> . Yeah . I doubt I can. Yeah . Where
Speaker 1:Can we get it? <laugh> , you know , road trip .
Speaker 4:It's funny you say that. 'cause Brad Schneider , uh, you know, judge here, judges actually over here in Henderson County messaged me one day 'cause he was at Angels Envy and they had the Henderson Mm-Hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> .
Speaker 4:Yeah . Right . Which was a mixed cocktail that you could get only there. And, you know, so I'm, I'm sure it's similar to that. You can't get it other than at the distillery, or in that case, this RAC house.
Speaker 1:Oh man. <laugh>
Speaker 4:Widow Jane .
Speaker 1:So we're looking at the , um, I reached for the next bottle. Uh , I remember to pour up so that we could do a transition. And I was gonna be really slick about this transition. Then I saw the label, it says, widow Jane. And I thought, oh my God, I had a bad experience with this. So you wanna tell a story,
Speaker 2:Chuck? Well, my story is we were , uh, in Manhattan and my story <laugh> , we were touring. Uh ,
Speaker 1:This is made in New York, right?
Speaker 2:It , uh, it is. Well, so I I'm mean , we're in Little Italy. Yeah . And , uh, I look up and on a brick wall is painted a, you know, a painted billboard for widows Jane. Well, you mentioned Brad Schneider. I, I took a picture of it and I texted it to him because he and his wife had been , uh, up to , um, New York , uh, the winter before for a Billy Joel concert. And they had gone to a New York distillery, and he kind of raved about it, and I thought maybe this was it. So I was just saying, Hey, I saw a billboard for, for , for your whiskey. Well, actually, the distillery he went to was on , uh, Broadway in Manhattan. Widow Jane is a Brooklyn distillery. Okay . But now I've got Widow Jane on, on the mine. And , um, our , our wives had gone to see a Broadway show, and , uh, my buddy and I were going to pick them up. We stopped in, in a , in a bar, and I saw Widow Jane, and I said, well, I've gotta try some. And I, well, I liked it. Well, I , I bought a bottle and it's almost empty. So
Speaker 1:<laugh>
Speaker 2:Something happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But,
Speaker 2:But my
Speaker 1:Brain . So you're in a New York state of mind is what you were saying, empire
Speaker 2:State of mind. For sure. So,
Speaker 1:All right , well, let's see what it , uh, if there's a nose here,
Speaker 2:Do I do like that Michigan run ? Do
Speaker 4:You recall what this costs ?
Speaker 2:Uh , 50 or 60.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's not bad. Oh , no . I'm gonna say
Speaker 2:Is
Speaker 4:Some of their stuff goes, some of their stuff's
Speaker 2:Pretty off super premium . No , no . This , it might have been been 75 . I I
Speaker 1:Why does it smell like charcoal?
Speaker 2:Charcoal? You mean like raw charcoal? Yeah. Interesting.
Speaker 4:Not sure if it's my mind deceiving me, but I spell apple is what I smell. Well, it's
Speaker 1:Got apple on the label there. I i that I saw
Speaker 4:That. I'm not, I'm not sure if my mind's playing tricks on me or what.
Speaker 2:So this , this
Speaker 1:Is this . It's one of those charco apples. This is <laugh> . Yeah . Says it right there on the applewood.
Speaker 2:So , so to be sure this , this is a finished rye. Okay. It , it , it's , uh, it's widow Jane rye finished in a toasted apple toasted with, finished with toasted apple wood . So yeah, I I would, you might pick up some apple. I don't know about the charcoal. Of course, my man, Brent's gonna torpedo this one
Speaker 1:Anyway. No , I'm not, I I'm totally open-minded
Speaker 3:<laugh>. I'm with Brian that apple is there. Yeah. Like , almost like a apple pie. There's some spice there, of course, because of the rye.
Speaker 4:You know, that's a ,
Speaker 1:It's good, but
Speaker 4:It's , it's very unique.
Speaker 2:Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Ryan's face. I don't know that you could play poker. You don't play poker? Dude , I
Speaker 1:Don't play. That's why I don't play poker.
Speaker 4:<laugh> . I'd have to wear a mask if I played poker in sunglasses. <laugh> .
Speaker 1:Uh ,
Speaker 2:I like it. Uh, I would not use it for a cocktail. Uh, I simply would drink it as it is.
Speaker 1:Um, I
Speaker 2:Why not? It was the , the , the value wasn't bad. And that was a New York price, by the way. Yeah, I did . Definitely did not, did not spend a hundred dollars. Yeah. Although I wasn't in an empire state of mind. So it's, I've been wrong about prices before. It's Aaron will recall
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Well , the bottle was 75 . 75 95 <laugh> .
Speaker 3:Um, I think I would really, really like that if the proof point was about 105. I was
Speaker 4:Gonna say it tastes low. Was it 90 ? 93 .
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:So not saying it's bad, this comes across as a, and maybe, maybe it's what they were going for. It comes across as a, a scotch. Uh, it tastes, it's got that low proof , that apple fruity flavor. There's not much burn there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I get
Speaker 4:Very little burn.
Speaker 2:A very polite little burn. Like, you know,
Speaker 1:Well , <laugh> <laugh> . So
Speaker 3:It's not a
Speaker 2:Kentucky hug for sure.
Speaker 3:It's more like , um, New York, New York hug.
Speaker 1:It's more like a New York. I'm going to ignore you. Just keep putting my head down and keep walking, walking <laugh> . All right .
Speaker 2:It's different. I think it's fun.
Speaker 1:Well, Chuck, I am glad that you like this. I'm go , I like you so much. Then I'm gonna let you have all of my share of Widow Jane products going forward. <laugh> , I don't dislike it. I just don't think there's much in that bottle. Okay. Now it's completely different from the last widow Jane I had, which was Rocket fuel in a bottle. Oh, wow. Um , and it was the bourbon, I'm pretty sure. Um, so I do like this one better. And I could certainly drink that one. The , the widow Jane I had before. I didn't even finish the class . So can
Speaker 2:You get widow Jane ? Yeah, we can. I'm not sure how widely distributed it is .
Speaker 4:Uh, the ones we have are more premium. They're , they're 90 plus bucks. Okay.
Speaker 3:They're , we'll get the 10 year . 10
Speaker 4:Year . Yeah. That's the most, the one we sell the most.
Speaker 3:Um, there's a bottle out decadence or decades or something like that from widow chain . We just
Speaker 1:Received that
Speaker 3:In. Yeah. And , um, it's one of those that is highly sought after for whatever reason. Uh , I've never had it. Never tasted it, but a lot of people, I say highly sought after secondary market,
Speaker 2:All that.
Speaker 3:No , that, that's a different topic for a different day. There you
Speaker 1:Go. So the last one is, is the one that I brought to the party today. It is the double oat Rye from Kentucky. Peerless . Uh, my favorite, I've, I've said this several times already today. My favorite go-to rye is the Kentucky Peerless Small Batch. I have a , a couple of bottles over there on the bar. I also have a couple of single barrel , uh, Kentucky Peerless r with different tasting notes. Uh, and then I just recently got this double oat , um, um, rye . I like their, I love their double oaked bourbon. It's fantastic. And I've never had this before. So this will be a new experience. It's compared to the other bottles. If you put them side by side , this is so much darker. I don't know how much wood you're gonna get, but , um, I've heard good things about it.
Speaker 2:I was holding it up to the light. And it is that , that is a dark whiskey
Speaker 1:Kind of musty on the nose or maybe nose blind at this point.
Speaker 2:I , I get that.
Speaker 3:Like
Speaker 2:Scotchy?
Speaker 3:No scotchy
Speaker 2:Musky.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking like age, like, I don't know if it's walking in a rick house . The must that you Yeah . When you walk in that rick house . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And you take that first big breath of Rick house air. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . That's the must. Uh , and it's a such a, that's a good
Speaker 2:Thing . What is , that's a good description. This is 110 .
Speaker 1:Proof hundred 10 . That's what I was gonna ask, because it doesn't taste like 110 to me. It's a little softer than what I expected. I love the oaky flavor that you get here. This is a fantastic ride to me. But it almost, I mean, it feels more like a bourbon than it does . It feels like a high rye bourbon more than a rye. Did I pick the right bottle? Did I
Speaker 3:Pull the wrong bottle off the shelf ? No . Yeah , it's great. No, it's, it has the best nose of the day. Double
Speaker 2:Cry . Double
Speaker 4:Cry . Okay.
Speaker 2:Well, I just guess we tried this last, because I think it had the, the most potential for , for being a favorite.
Speaker 1:I think Brian's gonna like , uh, number two there the best. And I think I'm gonna like the , uh, oh gosh, man, it's hard between Peerless and , and um , uh, Casey Jones for me. But this peerless is pretty doggone
Speaker 3:Good , man . You're right. It does not, it's , it's 110 proof. Right.
Speaker 1:It
Speaker 4:Doesn't , but I'm assuming you , you really enjoy this, Aaron .
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He likes it. But he'd like it to be hotter, wouldn't you ? Uh ,
Speaker 3:120 . I'd be, I'd be fine. I
Speaker 4:Need , I need , we need to find a new co-host here. <laugh>. Again, I'm the odd man out that I really don't, it's , I mean , it's okay in my opinion, but compared to the double bourbon,
Speaker 3:Yeah . Were you asking about if it's my favorite of the bunch?
Speaker 2:No,
Speaker 4:Just, do you enjoy it? I mean, it's,
Speaker 3:Yes. I, I I can drink it. Oh , I can , I don't know that I would , this would be one that I would be happy to have a pour at a bar and let somebody else
Speaker 4:Pay for it. Like drink ,
Speaker 3:Buy the bottle, you know, because of the price point. I mean,
Speaker 1:I think if we would've had this first, we would've all been singing its praises. And then as we go , uh, that, that Michigan, what's the name of the, the mic , the one that you running ? Catchers Rye . Catchers Rye . Uh, I , to me that's probably the best one on this table, to be honest with you . Uh, it's the most rye . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . If you'll allow me a , a , a non word . Um, it , it's, I don't , I don't , I don't know what else to say. I think the peer list is fantastic. If we would had it first, I think I would've had a different opinion about it. Interesting. But this is really pretty good. It's just mild.
Speaker 3:Brian took my, I was getting ready to grab my water and pour some water in my glass to see what it did.
Speaker 2:Proofed
Speaker 3:It down a little bit when
Speaker 2:I was talking with Corky Taylor about the 2-year-old rye that got such a claim. Yeah. He was mentioning that was a, a high corn rye. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So it's , we're not talking 95% corn. We're talking, I'm not sure they release , they don't. Uh , but maybe it's a 25% corn. Maybe it's a 30% corn and a 55% rye. And then some, some , some barley in there. Um, I , because he was talking about trying to make a , a rye that a bourbon drinker would. Mm-Hmm . Like Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So this, if, if you're looking for, for rye rye, this may not be your thing.
Speaker 3:When you add water to it, it opens it up a lot. It
Speaker 4:Does. It's much more approachable. Yep . In my opinion. You know, when you add a drip of water or two ,
Speaker 1:You know what we're gonna have to do, fellas ? Uh, I've got four bottles sitting over there. We're gonna have to do the small batch, the two single barrels and this double oat side by side and see which one of those Kentucky Peerless products , uh, stands out. I love. 'cause that small batch to me is so good. Um,
Speaker 3:So you're saying
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna whisper this wind , the four ? I might, yeah. Yeah. I might like the small batch better than I like this double oaked. I'm not sure. I think I might, we're gonna have to find out. We will find out . Future episode right there. Okay .
Speaker 2:This is weird. I added some water. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , I'm getting celery. Oh ,
Speaker 1:Okay. What'd you have for lunch? That's
Speaker 3:What I was gonna ask. Did you have celery for lunch?
Speaker 2:Did not. I had ,
Speaker 3:Uh , bloody Mary for
Speaker 2:Breakfast. <laugh> had a Hammond Swiss on wheat a half and vegetable , uh, beef soup. Mm-Hmm .
Speaker 1:Wow. So I don't get celery, but I definitely get a different
Speaker 2:Something green nose . Yeah,
Speaker 3:It is green. Absolutely green.
Speaker 2:That's just because
Speaker 3:Wonder where they get their rye from?
Speaker 2:I don't remember.
Speaker 3:I wish I knew the mash bill on this, because it's not, I mean, it has to be at least 51% rye. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . But I'm , it's got some corn in it too. Oh, I'm ,
Speaker 2:I'm gonna take a stab in , stab in the dark and say 60% rye, 30% corn, 10% malted barley. I
Speaker 3:Was 65. So yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm not that good. But I'm the
Speaker 3:More No, you're, you're , you're better than you think you are. The uh , the more I know this though, after adding water, the more I can get behind it. Yeah .
Speaker 1:Uh , you know, we've said this a thousand times. Corky did say he makes a rye for bourbon drinkers, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Yeah. So maybe that's, maybe that's where we are with the double oaked. I don't know. It , it's just different than what I expected. Uh , I do like it. Um ,
Speaker 2:So do you find it to be it all Woody?
Speaker 3:It is Woody. It's dry on the back . Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah . You're right.
Speaker 3:So you think about a dry wine after you have a glass of dry wine. The Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> the
Speaker 1:Yeah .
Speaker 3:Dryness. It leaves on your back of your throat. That's exactly what you get here. Yep . From the extra wood.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So that's why I had water. 'cause I thought it was too much wood. Yep . Uh , it was just ,
Speaker 2:Uh,
Speaker 4:Extreme. Uh, so I had to drop water and that toned it down enough , uh, to be more approachable.
Speaker 2:And it's not woody because it's like a 15 or 20-year-old age. This is probably a four. I I was looking for the age statement. I couldn't see it. Yep .
Speaker 4:But so what they do is they, they take barrel . Once they take outta that barrel, they dump it in new barrel. And that's why it's so expensive because barrels are not cheap these days. Right. Uh , with the bourbon surge. Uh, so they put in a new oak
Speaker 3:Barrel. So they take it from a new barrel and put it,
Speaker 1:They put in new , another new barrel. Barrel . Yes.
Speaker 4:Is
Speaker 3:That all double oak or is that just what Peerless
Speaker 4:No , just peerless. Because Peerless did that by mistake because they had a barrel that they had to dump. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It leaked. Right.
Speaker 4:It leaked. So they had to put it in, in a new barrel. Uh, and so they continue to do that today. Uh, I don't think everyone does that though.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I have a bottle at home. I guess I bought it. Surely someone didn't just hand it to me at the Salvation Army. <laugh>. Maybe
Speaker 4:When you're out there at the Red Kettle, they
Speaker 1:<laugh>
Speaker 2:You
Speaker 3:Look cold, sir.
Speaker 1:<laugh>,
Speaker 2:I've been offered something nice , uh, while , while ringing for the Salvation Army. Never quite that nice. <laugh> chemical hand warmers were , were , were a nice one . Really cold day. So is this like maybe 125 price point?
Speaker 4:Yes, it is retail .
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Alright. So fellas , uh, if you're gonna spend your own money on these rises , which one would you buy and which one would you not buy ?
Speaker 3:I did forget to mention the price of the single barrel. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . It's 59.99. I'd buy that
Speaker 1:All day long. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, well you just stole the shelf <laugh>. Are you
Speaker 3:Serious
Speaker 2:That that's it's a pick. Yep .
Speaker 1:I would buy the first . I
Speaker 3:Would buy the first . That would the shelf price. 59.99.
Speaker 2:I am amazed.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Dollar for dollar.
Speaker 3:Hands down.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna leave Casey Jones off the, off the table. I'm gonna buy both those first two. Absolutely. Um , all day long. Uh, the other two, well, will widow Jane, I'm not gonna spend my money on it .
Speaker 3:Coming back to the widow, Jane, just very quickly after, while you were introducing the Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> Peerless
Speaker 1:Exp espousing
Speaker 3:The finish after it sat on my tongue. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> was the apple from the Applewood app . It felt like apple juice. Like you couldn't , and you can go back and watch. I was over here chewing my jaws <laugh> . But you could, you could really get that Apple profile. So if that's something that you like, you would, you would love it.
Speaker 1:Well, there you go. Brian. What are you thinking, buddy? Which one would you spend money on? Any of them ?
Speaker 4:I would say all of 'em . I mean, the peerless , uh, would probably be my last one I'd buy. Just because the price point, I , I really enjoy it when I added a , a little bit of water. But the widow Jane surprised me. It really did. 'cause I've had the 10 year and for the price point, I did not enjoy it or I enjoyed it, but I did not, I wouldn't , wouldn't be willing to pay that. Yeah. Uh, but the Casey Jones, of course, I knew that was gonna be great. The catcher's rye I've had before, I , I knew I was walking into, but it surprised me again. It's, it's very good.
Speaker 2:I'm astonished. Yeah. Yeah. Dollar for dollar, the catcher's rye is, is is my winner today. And I , I would, I'd buy any of 'em . I would enjoy all of them. Yeah . Uh , but, you know, in today's market, it's nice to find a , a good value. Casey Jones, good value. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , uh, that catches Rye from, from two James,
Speaker 3:Two James Distillery.
Speaker 2:Wow. Um , I will be keeping my eye , my eye out for that. All right .
Speaker 1:Aaron , what about you buddy?
Speaker 3:Two James. I , even though I brought it, but I absolutely love that it's everything that you, you would expect from a raw , it's dark, it hugs you, it's earthy. It's, it's great.
Speaker 1:It is great. And they're all very good. Uh, we appreciate you guys listening. Uh, by the way , uh, help us out here. If you're listening on the audio only podcast, flip on over to YouTube. Look us up at the Distilled Bourbon podcast. Smash that like button. Even if you don't listen to the whole episode on YouTube , um, uh, we really could , uh, use a , a little help with the SEO and get us out there. And so other people can enjoy this. Uh, it helps with the algorithms, and if you'd like to subscribe, fantastic. Uh , but , uh, thank you very much for listening. And with that said, please drink responsibly.