Keeper’s Heart Whiskey: What Happens When Irish Tradition Meets American Oak

A bottle label can tell you the proof, but it can’t tell you why a whiskey feels creamy, why a blend suddenly pops with fruit, or why 118 proof can drink smoother than you’d expect. That’s the fun part, and it’s exactly where we go with Kate Douglas from O’Shaughnessy Distilling in Minneapolis, the home of Keeper’s Heart whiskey. We taste our way through four expressions while Kate breaks down how real-world distilling decisions show up on your palate.

We start with what makes pot still whiskey different from column still spirits and why those heavier oils can change mouthfeel after aging. Then we get into the nitty-gritty of American whiskey vs bourbon rules, including mash bill requirements and the practical constraints distillers have to hit to keep “whiskey” on the label. Kate also shares how Keeper’s Heart leans into Irish whiskey heritage with malted and unmalted barley, and how new virgin oak aging creates a uniquely Irish American bridge.

From there, it’s all about blending: Irish grain whiskey, Irish pot still whiskey, and American rye or bourbon working together like a base note, a supporting note, and a final layer of nuance. We talk tasting notes, sourcing from Ireland, and why cask strength releases can keep flavors intact when dilution can shift aromas. If you care about craft distilling, whiskey tasting, Irish whiskey blends, American rye, bourbon-forward profiles, or just want a smarter way to choose your next bottle, this one delivers.

Subscribe for more tastings and conversations, share this with a whiskey friend, and leave a review if you want Kate to come back with the next wave of releases.

Transcript

Man Cave Welcome And Warm-Up

Jamie Flanagan 0:24

It is time for Happy Hour. It is the Man Cave Happy Hour, whiskey, cigars, spirits, shenanigans, and the stories that go along with it. I'm Jamie Flanagan.

Matt Fox 0:34

Yes, you are. And this gentleman sitting right here next to me across the table is Wayne Smith. How are you doing, Wayne?

August Gitshlag 0:43

Welcome back, Wayne. Haven't seen you in a minute. Thank you very much. All right. We also got a peanut gallery over there behind the phone. We are we'll get to that, man. Okay. All right.

Jamie Flanagan 0:50

You guys are secondary to the box of that. We got a yeah, we did a we did an obligation. We had a big uh we had a big uh big box of that that we opened up last week and we uh we we had that video out there. Some amazing bottles from Keeper's Heart, and and we're gonna be talking to Kate Douglas Douglas in just a second uh about these uh amazing. Does she know what she's getting into?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

No, no, she has an idea based on the pre-show. All right.

Jamie Flanagan 1:15

So but um we we uh we we opened up the annex today.

August Gitshlag 1:19

We did, and uh you don't lock the door when the door stays open later than usual, people kind of wander in.

Jamie Flanagan 1:26

So, but uh Wayne usually joins us on the line. Uh Wayne's we're glad you're here live and in person. He's usually chiming in and saying cool stuff. Yeah, and so every once in a while he pops in. I love the I love the shirt. That's uh pretty fabulous.

SPEAKER_06 1:39

This is you know, I thought I would be professional and wear one of my more sedate. Well, you were just in Hawaii last week, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 1:46

And you brought us presents, you brought us some pog, some what was it?

SPEAKER_06 1:49

It's a passion orange guava.

Jamie Flanagan 1:50

Yeah, so there's like some fresh passion orange guava. It'll be in the fridge that we have a fridge in here now. Yes, and we'll be able to drink that and have a nice cocktail with that. So, but we have a uh peanut gallery. We have the age. We do have a peanut gallery, we have the annex open over here with uh our Haldorf and Statler, yes. Our our our regular uh uh visitor, uh Dr. David Wright. Yes, sir. Hey Mike is here too, and then Mike Davis.

SPEAKER_07 2:15

Yeah, and then like and then not his first time in the studio.

August Gitshlag 2:20

Mike's joined us for uh taking a doctor Mike Davis The Reverend Dr.

Jamie Flanagan 2:26

The Reverend Dr. Michael Davis the third esquire. Michael Davis. Guys, is that cool over there? You guys all right?

SPEAKER_07 2:31

No, we're all good.

Jamie Flanagan 2:31

You got those headphones you can hear a little bit?

August Gitshlag 2:33

You can hear a little bit. All right, fair play, yeah. Fair play. All right, we're not here on the headphones in our mic, in the mic and our headphones, and that's a good thing. That's uh yeah, so it's working out.

Jamie Flanagan 2:40

That's a good thing. So we were we were we had uh was it last week or the week before, but Barry Malso was here, yes, and and Barry just got a shout out on the today show. Oh, on good morning America.

Matt Fox 2:53

Good morning, America, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 2:54

Right, screw that up already.

August Gitshlag 2:55

Yeah, we just watched the clip literally seven seconds ago. I'm a goldfish. Five seconds on charges or good morning America. Uh oh, you didn't see this, Mike? No, so Jamie Dang, the the Jeopardy champion, yeah, was one of his students.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 30.

August Gitshlag 3:10

That's right. He taught him 30, 30. And he was talking on and they said, you know, well, you know, you have a you have a story about watching George Stephanopoulos or something. He goes, Oh, yeah, well, my AB government teacher, Barry Mulso, told me to stop to watch George in the mornings.

Jamie Flanagan 3:21

He taught me all this so I could be here. Yeah, and he gave him credit. Barry, get a cut, get a cut, Barry.

August Gitshlag 3:26

It's on the even the Hampshire City put up the clip up and said, We're part of our elections guy, Barry Mulso.

Jamie Flanagan 3:32

So Barry is a teacher. He was a teacher. He was yes, he was retired. So he was here on the man cave. I'm a teacher, yeah. So I pretty much won Jeopardy.

August Gitshlag 3:42

Yeah, okay. I think so.

Jamie Flanagan 3:43

So it's it's been bacon's in the six degrees of I just won Jeopardy. Yeah, six degrees of Barry Mulso. That's it. That's it. That's just one step, man. But that that was a very sweet story. And and to to it's as a teacher to get a uh acknowledgement like that. Uh-huh. You know, I I get kids that come come back or send me a, I'll get like a letter in the mail, and it's like I'm in jail.

August Gitshlag 4:03

How the hell you bail me out? Mr. Flanagan, I always loved you, signed Ed.

SPEAKER_07 4:09

Yeah.

August Gitshlag 4:10

Stuff like that. It it's really, it's really, it's really it's great. And I almost cried when I thought this thinking about how it must make him feel.

Jamie Flanagan 4:16

Yeah, made me just such good people. He's such a yeah, yeah. He's such he's a minch, he's a good guy. Yeah, so he is.

Matt Fox 4:24

Yes, proud of you, Barry.

Jamie Flanagan 4:25

Yeah, yeah. So that was that was fun. We were watching that earlier. So it's at six degrees of separation thing. Indeed.

August Gitshlag 4:32

Yeah, he's a frequent guest here. So contributor.

Jamie Flanagan 4:35

Do we have that's that's uh the pregame business, right? We had our the those guys are here, Wayne's here.

Matt Fox 4:42

Yeah, like, subscribe, leave a comment.

Jamie Flanagan 4:44

Oh, yes, yeah, thank you for being here. Tell a friend, yeah, and and like it. There you go. That's what we needed to do. And son of a gun, if I didn't forget our sponsor. How could today? Really, we're being brought to you by Keeper's Heart. Yes, we are in the biggest, baddest uh uh of four-fifths way, and not like not incomplete four-fifths, they're literally four-fifths. The kind of box of that box, so in bottles. That is that's it sounds incomplete with four fifths, but it's uh it's it's it's very complete. It'll get you all the way there. Yeah, it is uh we will probably get all the way there. It's an improper fraction, but right, right. So uh yeah, so but but uh wearing funny, wearing funny.com is our sponsor, so fun rock and roll t-shirts. Uh, you get your man cave t-shirts there, some fun funny, and uh, of course, your uh my Irish radio t-shirt.

August Gitshlag 5:37

You always gotta talk about your Irish radio t shirt.

Jamie Flanagan 5:40

That's it, that's my IrishRadio.com. 24-7 Celtic. He put the hat today. He does, he's he puts the hat on very survey.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

He missed the hat last week.

Meet Distiller Kate Douglas

Jamie Flanagan 5:52

It always scares me when we have an Irish whiskey on and so I'm gonna keep the hat on. You break into that. I wish I have I should get mine out of the other room. All right, so with all that being said, and 20 minutes into the show, let's welcome our guest, Kate Douglas. Hi Kate O'Shaughnessy Distillery.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Yes, I can't hear y'all. Just a heads up.

August Gitshlag 6:13

Oh no, who unplugged what you can't hear us.

Jamie Flanagan 6:17

Did you you unplugged something? No, are you back in yours now?

SPEAKER_06 6:20

Oh no, we're muted.

Jamie Flanagan 6:22

Oh no, you're muted. Yeah, this one's this is I we were just talking a minute ago.

August Gitshlag 6:26

What'd you do, Jamie? No, how'd you do? Hi, hello? Anything siblings are we back?

SPEAKER_03 6:37

Yes. Oh, we got her. Was there anything over there? What happened?

Jamie Flanagan 6:42

All right, I think it was just a lap. It was the ghost in the machine. That's what it was. All right, let me do that one more time. And now you waited long enough. Kate Douglas.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Hi, everyone.

Jamie Flanagan 6:55

Hey, it's O'Shaughnessy Distillery there. What city and state are you guys in?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

We're in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jamie Flanagan 7:02

All right, so the O'Shaughnessy Distillery, and they are doing the keeper's heart and other stuff that I'm sure you'll tell us about, but that's all good and well, Kate.

August Gitshlag 7:12

Before we get all that, tell me very important that you answer this question before we let you proceed on the Man Cave Happy Hour. Tell me about your childhood.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Tell you about my childhood. Oh wow. Uh well, I I grew up in the southwest. I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

August Gitshlag 7:28

Oh, so you gotta love that Minneapolis weather.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, uh, it's really just the humidity that I can't stand.

August Gitshlag 7:35

The snow is fine.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

But okay, all right, all right. I know the snow is fine. I mean, I grew up uh in the mountains just outside of Albuquerque, so like the first time I ever drove on a highway was on a snowmobile driving to my mom's vet clinic to take care of the animals because no one else could get there.

Jamie Flanagan 7:52

Okay, that's rock and roll right there. Yeah, New Mexico snowmobiles.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Yes, we sure do, we sure do.

August Gitshlag 7:59

What? Yeah, I have a feeling it's not the world's number one Polaris dealership, though.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Oh no, no, most of the time you like drive up to Colorado to buy your snowmobile and then bring it back down. But yeah, and then I uh let's see, always liked food and flavor, loved to bake. I used to bake cookies for the high school basketball team when they got done with their games.

August Gitshlag 8:21

Oh that's one way to get 30, you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Hey, gotta be creative, okay?

Jamie Flanagan 8:29

What brought you what brought you into the world of spirits and the world of distilling?

SPEAKER_00 8:34

I mean, really, it was that that flavor aspect, you know, loving to cook, loving to bake. And then I went to Colorado State in Fort Collins, and I thought I was gonna go into chemistry. That's what I you know started as.

Jamie Flanagan 8:48

And then um when I was in college and I started drinking, and the stuff tasted like shit. And I said I could do better. I can do better. So I love I love so many distillers are I love that they're mad scientists. I love that so are our brewer friends. Heavy, heavy distilling degrees. All right, I'm sorry, go ahead. So you were there and you thought you were gonna be a chemist?

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Yeah, started in chemistry, didn't have enough of that food flavor aspect that I wanted. So I changed majors. I studied abroad, and when I came back, actually changed again because they said that they had opened up the fermentation science and technology program. Oh and I looked at the course list, and there was food chemistry, fermentation, microbiology, food safety, fermented foods, which you literally just made fermented foods, it was great. You know, a hands-on brewing class, a beer sensory and quality control class, another brewing class. And so it was it was combining my love for science and how nerdy I can get with my love of flavor.

Jamie Flanagan 9:51

I love I love mad scientists, I love me a mad scientist. That's uh that is fantastic. So O'Shaughnessy's how what uh what was your path to O'Shaughnessy's distillery?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, so after graduation, I started at Old Elk Distillery.

Jamie Flanagan 10:05

Yeah, yeah, like Mets, right? That's uh he's oh he's OG.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

He is OG. I know I've got some of our bottles. I've got a bottle of an empty bottle of his Met Select from still at MGP.

SPEAKER_07 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

And yeah, worked there. Wanted to see. I mean, ultimately, I was building some recipes, sending them to Greg while he was still at MGP. And then the back end, it was a lot of blending his products, which is great. Blending is a fantastic art form that I absolutely love to do, but I also wanted to see production on a larger scale. And one of my buddies had moved out, he he and I worked together, old elk, and he moved to Minnesota to follow a girl back to the Midwest.

August Gitshlag 10:47

So someone else's love brought you to Minneapolis.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Yeah, someone else's love brought me to Minneapolis. And you know, he kept sending me pick he got the job at O'Shaughnessy, and he kept sending me pictures of the three beautiful four-size stills coming in, this gorgeous, you know, Vendom copper column coming in.

August Gitshlag 11:09

Build out was just got to you. It did.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Yeah, it did.

August Gitshlag 11:12

Yeah, distillery gets me on that stuff. I get it. Like that we got turned on. We were at a distillery a couple weeks ago, and we're just staring at them at the equipment with the you know, at Chubb. We're like, what is it? We're not even in the business. We're like, this is awesome.

Matt Fox 11:25

The sky opens up, you heard monk chants going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

August Gitshlag 11:30

Just imagine the chartreuse flowing through the butt uh pipes, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Oh man, I love chartreuse.

August Gitshlag 11:36

It's I I'm a huge fan. We talk about it here all the time.

Jamie Flanagan 11:39

We did a we did a chartreuse cocktail last week. Yeah, we did. Nice, sure did. Nice. But all right, so now you're there, right? You're at uh O'Shaughnessy's distillery making Keeper's Heart American pot stilled whiskey and and blends with the Irish whiskeys. Kate, so what is your role there as a distiller? What uh what are you what are you doing on a day-to-day at uh O'Shaughnessy's?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Well, the joys of being at a small craft distillery is you do a little bit of everything. Um so today I was talking to a partner about doing some canned RTDs.

August Gitshlag 12:14

I run most ready to drink, ready to drink RTDs.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Okay, I not RTDs. So I was doing that today. Sometimes it's unloading barrels, sometimes it's packaging, sometimes you're mashing, fermenting, distilling, blending. So every day looks a little bit different, which uh is honestly really nice. You don't have that much monotony.

Jamie Flanagan 12:41

All right. So talking about the keeper's heart, and and you said you have some ready to drinks as well. Um is keeper heart uh the keeper's heart. Is that the uh maidstay, or are there how how many is what's in the catalog there at the Osh?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Um so at the distillery we have a gin and a vodka. It is just source because that's not kind of what we wanted to focus on, but it is under a different name.

August Gitshlag 13:05

So I think people drink it and they pay money to drink it, so you gotta do something.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Yeah, it's Tower Hill vodka, Garden Gate Gin, but the whiskeys are all keepers heart brand. I think the owners sometimes regret not naming it keeper's heart distillery and choosing that house of brands over a branded house. But either way, we're here. Keeper's heart's a killer name distilling company, home of keeper's hearts. It is a great name.

August Gitshlag 13:31

It would be a killer name for a distillery.

Jamie Flanagan 13:33

Yeah, there's still time, right? Right. All right, let's uh let's get into these bourbons and these whiskeys, yeah. So because there's a blend. Some of these are blended with Irish whiskey, and to be called an Irish whiskey and to say it's Irish whiskey on a label, it has to come from Ireland. Am I correct?

SPEAKER_00 13:49

It does, yes.

Jamie Flanagan 13:51

Okay, fair play. So there is some well, is this the E versus the no e shit on whiskey?

August Gitshlag 13:57

E versus the no, typically no eye.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

No e is typically like Scotch and Japanese.

American Pot Still Tasting Begins

August Gitshlag 14:06

Okay, scotch and Japanese, okay. All right, Y is typically American. Japanese with no e. Okay. Yeah, all right. So which of these are we supposed to try? So shut up over here.

Matt Fox 14:20

Before you answer that question, there there was uh that Jamie and August were going back and forth. We I think they Jamie's like, we're gonna do this one first, this one first, this one's third, and this one fourth. And then August is like, No, I think we're gonna do it this way. So you are the deciding factor, Kate, as to where we're gonna start and where we're gonna finish. Yeah, because I know where I want to start, but it's just not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_07 14:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

What do you want to start with the cast strength? Of course. We will not start with the cast strength. Yeah, just because it is proof. I'm sorry. It's it's my favorite out of the four. All right, but yeah, so typically I will start low proof to high proof. We just released our first self-distilled, so part of me just wants to start there. It is at 92 proof, but it would be our self-distilled and then go into the blends.

Jamie Flanagan 15:14

Well, it we're I need you to make a decision so I can bring this bet. That's the with that's the American pot still, yes. Yes, the American pot still. That's what we're talking about.

August Gitshlag 15:26

Jamie Jamie wins, I lose. That's it. Tammy, give me a bell. I'm done.

Jamie Flanagan 15:31

All right, so um okay, so pot still. So you have column still and you have pot still. Column still, generally speaking, what is the uh advantage or difference between uh between the the when you when you go when you decide to go a pot still, what's the what's the advantage? Why?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

So really you're going because you want a creamier, silkier texture of the whiskey. Ultimately, the shape of the still is gonna make such a big impact on your your final flavor, and that's because of the science of you know how things are distilled and you know the molecules vaporizing and hitting the outside of the still and getting cold and coming back down, right? I could get very nerdy with that. Um you want.

August Gitshlag 16:21

I watched time, you know? Yeah, yeah. Um you gotta get the sound. Hang on one second, hang on. Fresh crack. I love the fresh crack. I've mastered the microphone pop.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yes, I love it. Column still, it's gonna be way more efficient. You're gonna get a different texture, you'll get similar flavors, kind of initially, but it's almost like a cleaner spirit, so not as many oils come over in distillation, so you don't get quite as much going on in the barrel in terms of texture with a pot. I like to okay. I heard it described once about kind of similar to like when you want to get a drink, let's say a lions game. When is the best time to grab a beer and a hot dog at a lions game?

August Gitshlag 17:12

Between the second and fourth quarter. How hard is it for you to say that instead of Vikings game?

SPEAKER_07 17:16

Yeah, yeah, that was tough.

Matt Fox 17:17

Oh, wait a minute.

August Gitshlag 17:20

Wait, wait, wait, I see it. I see it. I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, so Albuquerque to Minneapolis to Miami? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Um really, so it's always a good time to get a drink at a dolphin scheme.

SPEAKER_07 17:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

What's your opinion on dropping a cube in this? Is that like a total plebe move, or is that op will that open this up a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 17:48

You can drink it however you want to.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

If you prefer to have a that's that's the standard answer we get from the still.

Jamie Flanagan 17:55

Yeah, um, so but my understanding with the pot still is that it it you when you mentioned that the column still is a cleaner distillate, and so that leaves the pot still with with more actually leave more of the flavors from the original mash in it than you do in the column still. And I think that adds I think that adds to the complexity, yeah. And it's a more it's a more tedious process because you gotta clean the pot every time.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Well, we have three separate pots, which is great, right?

Jamie Flanagan 18:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

But so you know, a pot still is like if you go to grab a beer and a drink during like the first quarter. Okay, most everyone is gonna be watching the game. You'll have plenty of time. You can go to the bathroom, you can go in one line, you they might have what you want, you can go back and get everything that you want. You can get everything you want, and that's because the shape of the still is nice and open, so it's easier to pass through. Yeah, okay. Now with a column still, it's like going at halftime. Everyone is trying to yeah, and it it's like everyone is trying to get a drink at the same time, pee at the same time, so it's harder to get actually where you're going, so not everything gets through.

Matt Fox 19:12

Got it.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

So that like and the the oils is the biggest part with pot stills because the texture changes so drastically with it.

SPEAKER_07 19:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Um, and it's it's really beautiful with whiskey, honestly.

Jamie Flanagan 19:24

And it's yeah, this is a the uh it's just hanging on to the side.

Matt Fox 19:30

I'm curious what it's gonna do to my palate.

Jamie Flanagan 19:32

All right, so I I didn't read the back of the bottle, I didn't do my homework. Tell me a little bit about the barrels on this, and why is this an American whiskey and because there's a bourbon, virgin American oak, right? Right. This is an American whiskey and not a bourbon. So why is this an American whiskey and not a bourbon? Great question.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

So that all has to do with mash bill.

Jamie Flanagan 19:49

Okay, yeah. Um, so there is no corn in this oh wow, no corn in this corn because bourbon has to be 51%. So all right. All right, so no corn in it. What's our what's our do we know what corn can you tell us?

SPEAKER_00 20:01

I can't. I'm very transparent with stuff, so I'm almost every single readings, readings for squares.

Jamie Flanagan 20:09

There was like four bottles here to read. I was just like over all right.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

So wanted Kate to tell us an Irish mash bill is like a classic Irish pot still whiskey, is traditionally 50% malted barley, 50% unmalted barley. The reason they started using unmalted barley was because of the malt tax back in the I think the 1800s.

SPEAKER_07 20:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

So they wanted to make their whiskey a little cheaper, so they used 50% unmalted.

August Gitshlag 20:39

Um farmers' tax and malt.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah, right.

August Gitshlag 20:42

Probably the British.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

It was the British. In English, get on here. So with the Oshaughnesses wanting to highlight their uh Irish and American heritage, they wanted to make an Irish American whiskey, which is what we did with the blends. But as soon as we started blending, we also started distilling. It's just that this takes time because young whiskey sucks. Yes, it's not good.

SPEAKER_07 21:07

Yes, we know.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

And so, yeah, so this is four years old. We distilled it back in, we started distilling like August of 2021.

SPEAKER_07 21:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

And we did that classic 50% malted barley, 50% unmalted barley. We loudered it so that it was grain off in the stills and in fermentation, which was a royal pain in the ass.

SPEAKER_06 21:29

How do you think about it?

SPEAKER_07 21:32

Yeah, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

I tell you, once I start talking about rye, I'll it's rye's whole other. I love it, but goddamn, it's so sweet. It's just hard. But so we were making it truly in the Irish fashion, you know, and Brian or Master Distillers, the former master distiller of Jameson, Redbreast, Powers, the spot whiskeys, Middleton, very rare. Right on. So we had a lot of knowledge. Coming over. Great.

August Gitshlag 22:01

I'm gonna tell you. So I I know that you listen to the show all the time, so you probably already know what I'm gonna tell you here. But I am a fan of the blends and the the talent it takes to make the consistency of blended whiskies. I mean same thing as like I don't drink Budweiser, but goddamn Budweiser tastes the same everywhere you are in the country, and it takes a master of genius to get that done. I can't drink regular Jameson or tell them or do anymore. It tastes like crap to me. Okay. A lot of that came when years ago Jameson released Jameson Gold Reserve, which was a blend. And I'm like, wow, this is a perfect bottle of whiskey. It's not a bourbon, it's not crown royal, it's a just a bottle, a great bottle of whiskey. So I've been looking for something like that ever since. Uh looking for a blended flavor that's not the bourbon complexity, just a good whiskey drinker. This reminded me of that.

Jamie Flanagan 22:51

But this is the single, this is just the American.

August Gitshlag 22:55

It wasn't crappy Jameson, though.

Jamie Flanagan 22:56

Right, right. This is because Irish in it. That's a thing. And there's a bottle of red bread kicking around here someplace. But that's the cheat one.

August Gitshlag 23:03

That's the one with the the champagne barrels. That's a cheat code. Yeah, yeah. But this is this is this is this is nice on par.

Jamie Flanagan 23:11

This is in the in the family.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah, you know, and and because of to make it that American pot still, it's also aged in new virgin oak barrels. Okay. You know, we have a lot of laws here in the US about how to make whiskey.

Jamie Flanagan 23:26

So to be called an American pot spill, to be called an American pot still, it has to be like bourbon, the virgin oak barrels. And made by real American alcoholics. Yep.

SPEAKER_07 23:35

Yes.

Jamie Flanagan 23:37

I didn't know that. I didn't know. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Technically, pot still is not a category in the US. So that's why the bottle says oh no. So it says triple pot distilled American whiskey.

Jamie Flanagan 23:54

Oh, it's American whiskey. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

So it's pot still is not a category. It's us and Talneua out of Colorado is making a pot still whiskey. So we're the only two that are like truly dedicated to pot still whiskey. But it was it was fascinating because in Ireland, you know, Brian was always using used barrels.

SPEAKER_07 24:17

Okay, right.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

And barrels like barrels are like a bag of tea. The first time you use that tea bag, you're gonna get a rich, bold, dark extraction.

unknown 24:24

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

Second time you use that teabag, you'll get an essence of what like you'll pick up some nuances, but it won't ever be as dark. It won't ever give you that same thing.

August Gitshlag 24:34

You gotta hit the bell because you said teabag twice.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

So rhyme-y. That's fair. That's fair. I deserve that.

Jamie Flanagan 24:42

Welcome to the man cave. Yeah, I was waiting for, I was like trying to work at a teabag yoga in.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

I was holding Bob. Don't do it yet. Don't do it yet. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

But so yield than a column.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

A little bit, yeah. I mean, ultimately it's not as efficient. So you will get a smaller yield. But so Brian was so used to distilling everything to put into a used barrel. So when we first started our spirit runs, he was tasting everything and he's like, perfect, great, let's cut it right there. And I took a proof of it and I said, No, we we actually can't. He's like, What do you mean? And I was like, Well, the proof is at 168 proof, and here in the US, hey, hello, hey, you can run some cars on 168 proof. I was like, here in the United States, Brian, you actually have to distill to 160 proof or below to call it whiskey. Otherwise, it is considered a light whiskey.

SPEAKER_07 25:43

It's called very popular right now. Um light whiskey, okay.

Irish Plus Rye Blend Story

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Yeah, so we distilled it down below 160 proof. So it is a true American whiskey. Okay, but it was kind of fun to have getting.

August Gitshlag 25:58

You can hear the guys in the peanut gallery over there. Sorry about it. Sure, talk about gum disease while we're all switched glasses, so we were telling ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

But it was kind of fun to be able to teach Brian something as he taught me.

Jamie Flanagan 26:11

So yeah, all right. So the the uh the American pot still had some legs, it had some color, it it the flavor was nice. It it was rich. I would call it rich. Yes, it was it was a good description. It was it was rich. The color on on the uh this the next one we just cracked the white label is the Irish and American pot still blend.

August Gitshlag 26:33

Well, it's Irish Irish whiskey. Irish was American. Rye whiskey. Oh, wow. Yeah, so we read the bottle, Flanagan. Read the bottle. I'm reading it. This is your show, damn it. Read the fucking bottle.

Jamie Flanagan 26:48

So I'm curious, I'm curious what clips the AI is gonna grab out of this material highland, right? He thinks that might be all right. Fair play. So, okay, now that we're done with our tire here, tell me a little bit about the Irish and American rye, apparently, whiskey blend.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Yeah, so right now, does the Irish American new labels are getting to me like this week that say Irish plus American rye? Because we have this conversation on a very regular basis and we're kind of over it.

August Gitshlag 27:21

Did you did you win this? Is this one of your wins?

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Being able to put rye on there, yes.

Jamie Flanagan 27:26

Good girl, good girl.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

It absolutely sounds like this needs to change.

Jamie Flanagan 27:30

And and because why to it's all it's important to August because well, I I'm a lover, I love rice. He loves rice, I'm a ride, he loves rides.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

I'm all right, all right, all right. There's people love rice also on either side of it. We both thank you.

SPEAKER_07 27:42

Yes, yes, all right.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Uh so this is actually our first release. This is what Brian was asked to do before he came over in 2021. So the Otronicies started this whole venture in like 2019 at a family reunion, just drinking a ton and then thinking, hey, wouldn't it be so cool if we had our own brand, had our own distillery for for fam for our family for other families to to come to and and you know enjoy their time together. Nice. And we had that conversation this morning, we're like half the family was just hung over the next morning, didn't want to talk about it. Uh, but part of the family was really got behind it, and so good. What if once they what did I say I was gonna buy? What did I hear that check for? What was that? How how many zeros did I put? Jesus, Mary, Joseph, how many? All right, but uh but so Brian was still in Ireland at the time, and once he took a took the position, he accepted it on his 45th birthday and told told the team at uh Middleton that he was leaving on his birthday. Why? I have no idea.

August Gitshlag 28:58

They like to make uh you know a splash, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Right, but then COVID hit, right? So he couldn't actually and so he was tasked with coming up with a blend so that we could release you know, pretty much when he got here in 2021. So he had time. He had a little yeah, he had some time. It's this still took like 143 different renditions to actually get and it is a blend of three different whiskeys. So it is an Irish grain whiskey, an Irish pot still whiskey, and an American rye whiskey.

Jamie Flanagan 29:32

All right, because it it's the color is it's it's light, is is like an Irish whiskey. Yeah, Irish whiskey color. And then the nose is is like an Irish whiskey, but there's something, a little something, something more in the nose.

Matt Fox 29:47

There's a fruit in there, and I'm trying to place the fruit.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

I'm over here, he's over there.

Matt Fox 29:52

Mike's over there.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Well, hello. Hello, girl.

August Gitshlag 29:58

We never are gay whiskey guy here, so he called himself a few minutes.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

Okay, I'll make the brown liquor too, you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

I love it. Well, I'm a gay whiskey girl, but we're here for night.

Jamie Flanagan 30:18

Um I can send an apology letter. Jimmy Jimmy Kimmel apology letter in the room. There we go. I'm sorry. Or that was Fallon, right? All right, anyway. So uh, all right, this is nice though. It's uh what is there a fruit, the fruit that Matt's smelling in there, Kate? What do you think? What it was.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I mean, so I get a little bit of like light pear note.

Matt Fox 30:47

I'm gonna put my nose all the way in there. You already did that honker of yours.

Jamie Flanagan 30:52

You know, and you're talking about because it was a fruit, but it wasn't it, it wasn't a bear, it wasn't a berry. It was a fruit, but it wasn't a berry. So I wasn't we already talked about berry, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Fox 31:05

But yeah, it was a fruit, but it wasn't a berry. I'd buy I'd buy pear. It's like the skin of something, skin of pear, skin of the thing.

Jamie Flanagan 31:16

Yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_07 31:17

I like it.

Jamie Flanagan 31:17

Like he's zooming in on the pear skin notes. It's with a slight fuzz from a fall. Yeah, the leaves from my father's strawberry tree. That's very that's muddled. That's oddly precise on an April morning. That is really, really precise.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

So David Perkins is one of our liquid collaborators, and he you know founded high west, sold it in 2017.

Jamie Flanagan 31:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

He gets Welch's white grape juice off of the Irish pot still that we use.

Jamie Flanagan 31:49

Okay, and I've been throwing a bunch of skins in that that yeah, so you could be getting some some white grape notes too. Why the the in the skins of the white grapes, yep as a wine guy, it's all muddled in.

August Gitshlag 31:59

As a winemaker, I do recognize that smell now. Yep, yeah, yeah. See, no, I was I'm proud of you. I agree.

Matt Fox 32:06

No one said what are you talking about? I meant so I meant smell. That's cool. I mean, look, I made fun of it because I have to.

August Gitshlag 32:12

It's my job on this show, but it was really impressive. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Jamie Flanagan 32:15

Yeah, okay. Yeah, this is part of the part of the shenanigans, but this is this is fun. Thank you.

Matt Fox 32:20

I I'm actually really enjoying this too.

Jamie Flanagan 32:22

Yeah, wow. Okay, it's completely different from the other one. The Irish, so this is an you said they were the two different Irish whiskeys.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Yep, so it's about 57% Irish. Yeah, so Irish pot still, Irish green, just like Jane. Irish Irish whiskey is corn based, so it's gonna add a lot of sweetness in there. It's column distilled to super high proof, you know, aged next bourbon barrels. I get like lemon zest, honey, suckle off of that one.

SPEAKER_07 32:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

The Irish pot still is gonna give it a lot of that mouthfeel, that texture, some of that, those white grape skins.

Jamie Flanagan 32:58

Uh so who are you working with on the island to get the irish? Because it's to be called an Irish whiskey, it's got to be come from the island. So, who are you working with there on the island to get who's your man on the inside?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Who's yeah, who's the sorceress? So we work with Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk. They are basically the the MGP of Irish whiskey.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Love it.

Jamie Flanagan 33:21

All right, fair play.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

Yeah, all right. We get a lot, we get a lot of directly. Sorry, Michael, like there's no further aging of their product when you blend.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

Correct. Not with this bottle, at least.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

Or you go straight to bottle.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

We go straight to well, we bring it here, we blend it, and then go straight to bottle. We do have finishes that will go into new barrels, used dry barrels, maple syrup barrels, surly darkness stout barrels, all sorts of things.

August Gitshlag 33:49

Yeah, it wouldn't be Irish and American unless you had some American whiskey in there.

Jamie Flanagan 33:52

So the American American whiskey that you're starting with, is that the four-year, is that the four-year American that we tried in the other one, or is it not because this is this this is what came out first, right? Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

We were able to re we release this in 2021. Okay. Um, so this is made with those two Irish whiskies from Great Northern, and 43 is American rye from MGP. So it's a four year old.

Jamie Flanagan 34:19

How long was this uh oh from MGP? All right, are you still doing the MGP on this guy on this guy?

SPEAKER_00 34:24

We are okay.

Jamie Flanagan 34:26

Are you working on making it your own?

SPEAKER_00 34:29

We've discussed it. We've built up a lot of product so that we can. We just haven't made that jump yet.

Jamie Flanagan 34:36

So, but yeah, and again, because you guys are getting bigger and bigger. We'll talk about where you're available. And and so, I mean, to keep up with production, you you know, you kind of might have to, right? So it's it's uh yeah, it's all part of the game. All right, so now so we have Irish whiskey and bourbon blend, and then the cast strength monster will be after that.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Yes, so this one the label is a little bit more clear as to what's in it. All right, it is the same two Irish whiskeys, Irish pot still, Irish grain, uh, except with bourbon instead of rye, and everything's at a different ratio, right? For the first one, we really wanted to highlight how the Irish and rye could work together. You can taste all three whiskies, but it is more of a savory whiskey. For the bourbon, we know how much bourbon drinkers love their bourbon, so we wanted that to be the highlight. You know, when you're thinking about blending, you typically, if you're especially if you're doing three different whiskies, you have your base component, which is gonna be your predominant flavor, then you have your supporting component, which is gonna shift you in one direction or another, and then you have the nuance on top. Nuance is the Irish grain in this in the Irish plus bourbon, the Irish pot still is gonna be the you know, that secondary supporting category, and then the bourbon is you know the main flavor.

Jamie Flanagan 36:07

All right. So this this one, the uh the the Irish and American whiskey, my American rye whiskey blend, less legs on it, and it had that Irish color to it. This one is back to like the crazy legs, crazy legs, yeah, charred virgin oak, but I could smell this from across the room.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

I this has got an amazing nose to it. Okay, it almost like I could smell like a cream ale to it, almost like this.

August Gitshlag 36:30

Mike Mike Davis is our resident makers marks now.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

So that's where his that's his house. I'm all for it. But yeah, no, this is uh you can smell this across the room, yeah, from across the room. Keep it away from children because they're gonna think it's cotton candy.

August Gitshlag 36:46

You gotta keep you away from children. I mean, I'm not allowed. I'm not allowed within 63 of an old folks home, so why August? Different podcasts. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

Oh man. Uh there may come here.

Jamie Flanagan 37:03

Um there is. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't call it sweet, but there is a a candy. There's not, it's a candied something. Not sweet, but it's candied.

Matt Fox 37:11

There's a nut in there somewhere.

August Gitshlag 37:13

And Mike, Mike's over there. And again, Mike, we we invited the federal marshals to the podcast for the tasting. They're not here for anything else but for the tasting.

Matt Fox 37:23

What are some of the sweeter nuts that are out there? Excuse me.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Well, this is time to answer that question.

August Gitshlag 37:31

Isn't that crazy to think that this is a lighter taste to it than the rye one? Okay, legumes, is that not honey, honey nuts?

Jamie Flanagan 37:38

It's it's it's it's brighter. It's it's it's it's not because I didn't say I said it's not sweet, but but it's it's brighter. I think it's brighter than the rye one, yes. Because the rye, the rye, the the rye one is spike at a little bit on the edge of spicy. This is not a spice. No. But I get after the after a sip, I I wouldn't get any barrel. But after after a sip and then a smell again, I'm getting I'm getting barrel. I'm getting the okay char barrel.

Matt Fox 38:08

You get any chocolate at all?

Jamie Flanagan 38:09

Yeah, a little bit. All right.

Matt Fox 38:12

A little bit of chocolate. Is this thing on?

SPEAKER_03 38:14

What's the what's the proof? Oh, they are.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

This is at 92 proof.

unknown 38:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

92.

August Gitshlag 38:22

Okay. Yeah. It's 92 proof.

Jamie Flanagan 38:25

The you know, and as as as as the sips continue, more complexity comes through. Yeah, this this grows on you. Yeah, there's more every time you hit it.

SPEAKER_01 38:35

There's something on the front end, it's it's like a delay, it's a delay until you get the kick. I I don't know quite how to describe it, but it's got a warmth. Yeah, it's like a warmth.

Jamie Flanagan 38:46

All right, okay. Okay, all right, yeah, fix this. What do we need to know about this one?

SPEAKER_00 38:56

So, I mean, yes, the sweetness right off, like right at the tip of your mouth. Absolutely. That's a lot of that like Irish grain coming through, that sweet corn that plays so well with the bourbon. The Irish pot still does a really good job changing where the alcohol actually actually hits your palate. So rather than right up in front, it kind of pushes the heat back and is more like a warming rather than like a classic whiskey heat on. No, that is it is by design.

Matt Fox 39:31

Yeah, there's there's a really nice warmth after after a few seconds of waiting, you know, and that just kind of setting it aside and just let it do its thing. That warmth just just sits around your palette.

August Gitshlag 39:40

You know, in full disclosure, we did not tell Kate that that David over there is a hypnotist.

Matt Fox 39:45

No, you're professional hypnotist.

August Gitshlag 39:46

I was an hypnotist. He is his podcast, is the motor city hypnotic. Well, I think that I think that maybe Mike next you might be. She might be. He might be. It's not a weekend.

SPEAKER_07 39:59

Are you all right?

SPEAKER_00 40:03

Oh man, I I love the Irish plus bourbon because I am a bourbon girl.

August Gitshlag 40:09

Yeah, it's like you know what I was thinking. It's like a dream to make those. It is.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

Yeah, I mean, so like my favorite whiskey that I work with is typically the weeded bourbon that we made at Old Elk. So like you said, you're a a maker's thing.

August Gitshlag 40:25

I had a bottle of redemption weeded the other day that did not last long.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Oh it's you know, 51% corn, 45% wheat, 4% malted barley, and it is beautiful. So I I love bourbon, I love rye, but bourbon is definitely like my sweet point.

August Gitshlag 40:44

Yeah, I'm coming into the weeded bourbons, and I'm you know all the other there's a lot of cheat codes out there, you know, all these, you know, uh sherry casp aged and wine barrel age, and they're making them more drinkable to the non-bourbon drinker. Uh, I find the weededs to be really great to drink. This is my latest kick. It's it's you know, I go through phases.

SPEAKER_00 41:03

The wheat gives it a really creamy texture, and it's just it's chef's kiss delicious. Uh but so I was really excited that we were gonna do an Irish plus bourbon and that we were gonna highlight the bourbon flavor. And so we started with just trying a bunch of different bourbons because, as you all know, there's high rye bourbons, high wheat bourbons, yeah, crazy high corn bourbon. There's such a variety, you know, you just have to be 51% corn. The rest is up to what I'm saying.

Jamie Flanagan 41:32

And so your bourbon is coming. Is your bourbon coming from NGP? Does okay it is the Indiana place for now? For now, again, that's yeah, for now. Well, again, you're a younger project. I mean, we are it's it's like until you're 10 years out as a as as a distiller with barrels that have been resting for you know five, six, ten years.

August Gitshlag 41:53

Terrible, you're a terrible cork popper. And Matt doesn't Matt didn't get the popped. No, it's twice in a row. He's he's fired that's twice. You're fucking fired. Language is not a good show.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

Holy smokes, right? My mom's watching.

Jamie Flanagan 42:08

There it is. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

You really have mastered that.

Jamie Flanagan 42:10

Good job, buddy. Crack.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

All right, but it's you know, so getting to one taste all the different bourbons and then start blending and actually having my hand in the blend was really cool because one day it was, you know, Brian Nashad, David Perkins, and myself sitting in the lab. We had figured out what bourbon we wanted to use.

August Gitshlag 42:30

Sitting amongst legends getting schnickered unintentionally, mad scientist in the lab. Yeah, I love it. Did you did you fangirl out, Kate?

Matt Fox 42:38

No, she's an equal now. She's an equal. No, not at the top. I would have fan, I would have fangirled out. No, I I love it.

August Gitshlag 42:45

You're the you're the the the chick in the room holding her own. That's awesome. Absolutely. Good on you, you know, and so we're getting drunk now, so we're she's not drinking like we are. We're talking too much. Yeah, but I just got your thing before I got stupid and interrupted you, dear. I'm sorry. Please.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

You're good. No, I mean it's it's really cool to be able to sit with those guys. And I mean, having worked with Greg Metz, yeah, you know, I when I told people that I was headed to O'Shaughnessy to work with Brian Nation, they're like, you realize that you're when you're done with this, like you've worked with two of the world's best master distillers, right? It's like, oh, thank you. I like to surround myself with legendary people.

August Gitshlag 43:23

You're a legend, you're a legend yourself. You're getting there. I mean, you're only 24 years old. You can't be a legend at 24.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Oh, good lord, I'm not 24. I'm 34. Work work with the group. Go with it. I can't, I can't lie about that one. You're the genius.

August Gitshlag 43:40

You're the young genius in the room. But no, I mean, I've been doing it for over a decade, so Jamie is the proof why bartenders use jiggers when they're pouring their drinks, so that you have a certain amount to regulate what you're pouring. Or the Irish shit. You're gonna get into some flan flamenagans tonight.

Jamie Flanagan 43:58

Splitting the G in the wrong way, right?

SPEAKER_00 44:01

I am there with you. I when I'm at an event, I say, sorry, I'm a distiller. I have a heavy hand.

August Gitshlag 44:07

Yeah, you have a heavy hand. Plus, you want people to be drinking your product. That's I get that too. Jamie taught me how to pour.

Cask Strength And Water Science

Jamie Flanagan 44:14

See, yeah, see, Foxy's is deeper than mine. That's what she said. There you go. All right. So Irish plus bourbon, Irish plus bourbon, cask strength. Are they the same whiskeys? Just a different what's what's the difference? Different proof.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

Again, you so they are the same whiskeys. We have just got a different proof. I love this one.

SPEAKER_01 44:42

The nose on this is fans. Do tell why.

Matt Fox 44:48

Why do you love this one so much, Kate? So I she's been joining all the way through.

Jamie Flanagan 44:53

She's but she's rocked it all the way through. I'm too busy looking at you guys. I can barely. She's uh I got an angle to the TV. She's uh she's one for one here. That's uh but she's one for one ounce, yes, yeah.

August Gitshlag 45:02

And that's Jamie Flanagan pours. She pours a little more gently than no.

SPEAKER_00 45:07

I love the Irish post-burban cast strength. It you know, it's 118 proof, but it does not sip like 118 proof.

SPEAKER_03 45:15

No, it doesn't, it's not like variable.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

We add like the tiniest bit of water just to make sure that it's always at 118, but it is like it doesn't vary by truck like some of the other it's pure Minneapolis tap water, too, right? We do reverse osmosis. Um any unused water goes goes back to the Mississippi. There you go.

Jamie Flanagan 45:36

You know, but here's the thing like it like metro Detroit area in the mid uh in the Midwest, there's the water in the Midwest, there's a thing, right? Because we have this thing called lakes and fresh water, so we're really good at water here. It's you go other places in the mid country messing up, and it's like, oh my god, what and you're like grabbing a you go to grab a thing out of the out of the sink, and people are like, What are you doing? What are you doing?

August Gitshlag 45:57

Do not drink that. You're like, this is gorgeous at all. Did we drink this out of the garden hose in Detroit? It's better than when you got here in just two more Kansas City here, right?

Jamie Flanagan 46:07

Right. So I I and that's another thing about this being a Midwest thing. It's like we're kindred spirits for sure. All right, so a little bit more about the uh it's so it's just a little more gas in the same same two whisk, the same whiskey blends.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

Yep, same three whiskeys go into it, same proportion. So when you add water to alcohol, it's an exothermic reaction. So you can actually burn off some flavor profiles. Big world by having, I don't know, um thanks, Smarty Pants in the corner.

Jamie Flanagan 46:38

Does that impact the flux capacitor at all?

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Oh my god, it does. All right, I thought so. So I love it at Cast Strength because you don't lose anything.

SPEAKER_07 46:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

You know, sometimes I feel like the Irish plus bourbon at the 92 proof, there's a little bit of break in flavor profile that I like as you sip it, that I don't get off of the cast strength version.

August Gitshlag 47:01

I mean, I I liked the other one until I had this one. Now the other one's stinking.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

This one is possible.

August Gitshlag 47:07

No, it was not stinking, it's just two different words, two different worlds. And uh my tongue a little like this is what what happened in your tongue over there, Mike Davis?

SPEAKER_03 47:16

A little sharp on my tongue.

August Gitshlag 47:17

Well, hey Dave, you met Mike?

SPEAKER_03 47:20

Because I'm we're friends now. Yeah, I'm a little drinker. Like I'm a marathon drinker. I couldn't marathon this.

August Gitshlag 47:25

No, no, you can't marathon anything.

SPEAKER_03 47:27

This is like the goodnight crazy.

August Gitshlag 47:28

This is not a morning cocktail.

SPEAKER_03 47:30

Do not wake up at 9 a.m. and have a snort of this with your cigarette in the case.

August Gitshlag 47:33

I believe it's a dram, you coke head.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Well, you obviously haven't been to the distillery on St. Patty's Day. Okay.

August Gitshlag 47:43

But I'm yeah. No, they do call it a snort too. I'm just being me.

Matt Fox 47:48

So part of me wishes that we had started with this, Kate.

August Gitshlag 47:56

This is the grand finale. We had to beat you off that bottle as soon as you sat down.

SPEAKER_03 48:02

I mean, the way the glass is streaming with the this one's got a lot of oil. Does the oil make a difference in alcohol content?

SPEAKER_00 48:11

No, but it'll it'll make a difference in how that alcohol is perceived.

Jamie Flanagan 48:15

Okay, that's true. How it hangs in. Yep, how it how it coats, coats, coats, and relieves.

August Gitshlag 48:22

So you're you're gonna give me the answer that, like, however, you want to drink it, but it's are people putting a little bit of water in this or are they putting cubes in this one more than the others, right? Because just because it's cast straight, right?

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Yeah, just because it's higherproof.

August Gitshlag 48:34

Yeah, I think it's like really, really good. I would have got it off.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

Everyone likes to drink differently. Yes, right. I love this neat. I can sip on this neat and be a happy camper.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

I don't I don't put ice in any my whiskey.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

I've got a school bus like kindergarten children drive home. They're getting mad.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

Uh the colder that things are, the less you can taste. Yes, yes. I love getting to to taste it, you know.

Jamie Flanagan 49:06

That's why they filter the the the the the yegamizer through the sub-zero dispenser, so you can't taste that horse.

August Gitshlag 49:13

Well, who was who was the rap we had on? Was it the old Forester guy who said, like, here's here's your dropper of water? He's like, here's two drops of water. Watch the action in the glass, and you can actually you can see it. You can see it because it opens it up and it changes everything on the nose.

SPEAKER_06 49:28

And I'm like, okay, okay. I mean exothermic reaction.

SPEAKER_07 49:36

She's synthetic. Wow, that's different.

SPEAKER_00 49:41

I mean, it will change things. I did, however, like it is really cool if you happen to go to the store and pick up a bottle of Everclear.

August Gitshlag 49:50

Oh, have to put it in a glass where it belongs, put it in a glass and add water to it. Yeah, we can't get that here. We have to go to another state to get that. Everclear. All right, everclear add water. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_00 50:03

But if you feel the glass, you will feel the heat created. Oh, wow. By poofing that down. There you go. There you go. I mean, that's that's why I introduced old elk to the slow cut method, which I think they still do today. Is because it will drastically change flavor profile. So the more you know.

Jamie Flanagan 50:31

All right, so Kate, Keeper's Heart, we're here in Metro Detroit, and you guys are one of the uh key sponsors, uh August, please, for the uh Motor City Irish Festival uh coming up in in the summertime, and it's awesome that you guys do that. I'm a big Irish music freak, and I'm leaving you alone.

August Gitshlag 50:48

I did my one freak out, and I'll let you go.

Jamie Flanagan 50:50

I launched uh the music station, you know, just because I love the Irish music, and you guys sponsor that, and that's like so you got old and decided you want never mind so so cool. Simmer at DJ and I know, I know you're goading me to say something. Thank you so much for sponsoring the the Motor City Irish Fest. Uh and now I lost where I was going because we got to do it.

Matt Fox 51:14

Because we were gonna talk about my Irish radio, yeah.

August Gitshlag 51:16

Yeah, no, we weren't gonna talk about you're the this is why that's the connection, that's why this is here.

Jamie Flanagan 51:22

So, yeah, so it's it's that's so when I got introduced to it. Are you a where that's where are you available? Where are you available? That's where I was going. My fault because you're a big spot, I'll find you, but I like just in Michigan. Okay I saw you on the shelf it, but at more independent stores in Michigan and not not the big boxes. So, where where are you guys available and how can people find?

SPEAKER_00 51:45

I was not prepared for this question. I don't know.

Jamie Flanagan 51:48

All right, so your website does your website have a location finder.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

The website does have a a location finder, so you can you know enter in your zip code ultimately with all right.

SPEAKER_03 52:00

You're going back yeah, whatever you're doing the past big dog, the one we're drinking right now.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah, I told you it's my favorite.

Jamie Flanagan 52:07

She needs she needs cast strength to put up with us.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

I know, but no, so the website does have the the store finder, so you can find us there.

SPEAKER_07 52:16

Perfect, you know.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Michigan with it being a control state, stores get to choose everything, so ultimately your store will have access to Keeper's Heart, so you can go in and request it, and the store is.

Jamie Flanagan 52:35

No shit. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. Oh, that little dog on the corner there. Yeah, yeah, it's a little not the little one, no, no. Oh, the big one around there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Between here and Kecos. Yes, but but yeah, so it's it's it's it's nice to see you, but I've seen you on more independent shelves than on the big box shelves. I don't know if they're in total wine, which is the big, big we got total wine here in Michigan, and they're like the big, big, big box, they're the Costco of uh bourbons. There you go. Call me a coke, slug bug. Yeah, fair play. All right, so Kate, these were the you sent us. You guys are super generous to send us very much so much. Thank you. These were four expressions. What other uh whiskey and bourbon expressions are on the future on the horizon? What's going on?

What’s Next And Final Toast

SPEAKER_00 53:21

Yeah, so I mean, our self-distilled stuff is what we're extremely excited to to release. You know, our American Pot still was just the first kind of of our trilogy. I talked about you know how big of a bitch rye is to make, and that's that's the next one coming out. So it turns four later this year.

August Gitshlag 53:40

For you to call it a bitch, that's a that says something. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

Trust, yeah. Um it's um rye, the grain is is tough to mill, it's foamy, it's a pain in the ass when you're screwing it, fermenting it, distilling it.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

So fermenting, or you are you kind of covered, or how's that how's your situation?

SPEAKER_00 54:05

So they're they're covered with rye in particular, you've got to be really careful with fermentation because it is very easy for it to foam over. And we had that happen multiple times. So, you know, get a call from our tours manager who's getting ready for a big day, like special event day, and saying, Oh, the fermenter is foaming over. What do I do?

SPEAKER_03 54:30

Then you should call my people and call it a foam party. Uh my people that's a gate show of my people.

SPEAKER_00 54:39

I love it. Let me know next time.

Jamie Flanagan 54:41

Um has been surprisingly quiet. Wayne, what's what's your take on uh on the keeper's heart? What's your take overall? Which which was your uh out of the four? Which where would you go? Historically, which one's gonna go home with you?

Matt Fox 54:52

Yeah, historically, Wayne is a rum drinker. Fair play, fair play.

SPEAKER_06 54:57

I I really like the Irish and uh and rye.

Jamie Flanagan 55:00

All right, the first one, the Irish. Yep, yep, yep. Yep, right on, right on. Yep.

August Gitshlag 55:06

I am all in on the American pot still. Yeah, it's because it doesn't taste like the shitty Jameson, right? Right. I just like it.

Jamie Flanagan 55:16

I'm on both ends of the scale. I'm that one and then the cat, you know.

August Gitshlag 55:19

I'm the I'm not even gonna use the cask, it doesn't belong in the category. It knows it, it knows it's better. Yeah, yeah. Right? I mean, that's like I was about to say what who's the next handsome guy besides Brad Pitt in the road? You know, that's gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 55:31

Often me, but you know, it's definitely well. I'm I'm glad that you say the American pot still. The triple pod distilled rye is gonna be great. It's a hundred percent, hundred percent rye, which is extra hard. Had to had to call old boss Greg. Thank you.

August Gitshlag 55:50

You deserved a bell for that.

SPEAKER_00 55:52

I did. Well, I know, and Larry Ebersall, who you know was master distiller of MGP before Greg was, to kind of check ourselves with rye because Brian didn't have a ton of experience with rye whiskey. So we checked in with those two, and we were doing it both on the the pot sills and the column. And Larry Ebersoll told me that the rye that was coming off our column was better than the rye coming off of the column MGP, which was like, oh wow, huge compliments.

August Gitshlag 56:26

Yeah, pat yourself. There's a different kind of bell.

SPEAKER_00 56:30

So excited about that, you know, and then we did a triple pot to sill bourbon too, so that we were hitting kind of the three big categories. We did a a high rye bourbon, and then we did a small campaign of a weeded bourbon for me.

Matt Fox 56:44

You guys are just checking all checking all the boxes.

Jamie Flanagan 56:47

Is there art do you guys have do you guys have tours of your distillery? Can people come to going over during the tourists?

SPEAKER_00 56:54

Yeah, we do have a tour, you know, and it's it's been so cool because like at one point in 2023, we were running that place 24 hours five and a half days a week. So we started Monday morning at 7 a.m. and we finished Saturday evening whenever Irish ducats ride it hard, you know. So we were able to do a lot of different mash bills. So we have the American pot still, we have the rye pot still, the rye column. We did 100% malted rye for both of those. We did a high rye bourbon, a weeded bourbon, a wheat whiskey, a single malt. Because we yeah, we were running, we were running so much, it was easy to just go bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. You know, because of the state of the industry, we have slowed down a bit, but it's nice because it's allowed the whiskey to to really start aging, and uh, you know, getting this American pot still in a bottle and on the shelf has been so so great because so many distillers will distill something and then leave before it comes to market. So it's it's nice to actually be here for the release.

Matt Fox 58:12

In your personal opinion, Kate, because we have we talk about peaks and valleys, you know, everything is coming up and it's really, really popular, and then we you go down for a few years and then it comes back up. Where do you feel we are in that conundrum? Are we in going down in a valley? And we haven't quite gotten to the bottom yet, and so it's gonna start coming back up in what the next five five years or so. You think what you think?

SPEAKER_00 58:34

So I mean, we are definitely in a valley. I think we are still going down. You know, I mean, there's some like we are in the perfect storm of going against alcohol right now.

Jamie Flanagan 58:48

Yeah, you'll bet. Yeah, there's there's crazy, crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_00 58:54

Boom.

Jamie Flanagan 58:55

Yeah, you know, are you uh like with tariffs and what have you? Is getting your Irish whiskey over here a challenge?

SPEAKER_00 59:02

Yes, fair flesh. Getting glass is a challenge, getting pork challenge. Thank you for your honesty on that.

Jamie Flanagan 59:08

So the price point price points on these are pretty fair. I was at the I was at the I was at the store here in Michigan, and they they're not exorbitantly priced. I mean they're they're because I I'm a cheap mofo, and I no, he ain't his wife is uh I'm a I I spend like and so is his husband.

August Gitshlag 59:28

I spend like a limited.

Jamie Flanagan 59:31

But you know, you got 35, 39, 49, and then there's a 10-year single malt. That's all really finished in Miguelio wine casks. That's like up around 75. Oh, you do get fancy, don't you, girl?

SPEAKER_00 59:46

You get fancy, but uh yeah, the 30, 35, 40 I think the yeah, the American pot still is at like 49.99.

Jamie Flanagan 59:57

49.99, right?

SPEAKER_00 59:58

Yeah, the Irish plus American, I think, is that like 35.

August Gitshlag 1:00:02

Yeah. Michigan has her state minimums and everyone. We're we're a different kind of rule. Yeah, I I get you're a different kind of rule.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:09

I'll try$12 a case to move it. Trust me, I know Michigan right there. Michigan. We we had to do a special bottling in 12-pack cases for Michigan. Oh, right on, yeah, so we're because they have the they have the like$12 per case fee for moving it. So given our cash strength has been moving more than our other products lately. So you don't that one's actually not in a 12-pack, it's in a six-pack.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:37

But oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:38

Oh well.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:39

All right, Kate. What else do we need to know about Keeper's Heart? Are we do we did we do okay?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Last note did we do okay? I think we did. I think we did.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:51

I mean so it's keepersheartwiske.com is the website, yes, right. All right, keepersheart whiskey. There's an S in there, it's got that Midwest S in there.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

Yes, you can also go to osdistilling.com and that'll take you to the distillery itself website. So you can you can do tours and reservations and whatnot there.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:16

I like that all the stoppers in them, so I stopped. Ain't no stopper stopping me, brother. I get it.

August Gitshlag 1:01:22

You're going right back at that cask strength in a hot second. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

Yeah, and if y'all are ever in Minneapolis, come see us. We're right next to Cerly Brewing, which is like the second most visited spot in the state behind Mall of America. Don't threaten me with a good time.

August Gitshlag 1:01:38

It's time to ride that phone's over. Call Mike, he'll bring a couple of new boys out.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

What are you guys doing this weekend?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

Um for the phone. We've got we've got great food, great whiskies. You can do a flight of some cask finished stuff or a component tasting. So if you want to dive into the Irish plus bourbon and taste the three whiskeys that go into that, you can, and you've got the the view of the three beautiful copper pot stills behind you.

August Gitshlag 1:02:07

I'm gonna go slightly off topic now. Naturals and the final right's not what's up, Mike? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:13

I was just gonna say that would be a fun tasting of having like the three the yeah, the raw the raw distillants, yeah. And then the fourth is what like yeah, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 1:02:21

This is the finished thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Yeah, it's it's honestly an incredible education tool.

Jamie Flanagan 1:02:26

Oh fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:27

Um because you rarely get an Irish grain whiskey by itself on the market. All right, you know, most Irish whiskey is a blend between Irish pot still and Irish grain. So to taste those truly individually and then taste taste the blend, then you can get an idea of what each flavor you're tasting in the blend is coming from.

August Gitshlag 1:02:50

Nice. So I I've been in in Minneapolis once for a conference, and there's two one thing that everyone has to do, and that's jump next to the Mary Tyler Moore statue. Ah, you have to do that. Throw your head up in the air. That's required. Three, four, five, we're gonna make it after the meal. And that's that's that's Lavrantious Milwaukee. That's Milwaukee. Don't don't Milwaukee my Minneapolis. And then there's a bar that claims to be the number one Jameson selling bar in the in the world. Really, really, and and the car it must be in the country, and it was in Minneapolis. It had Jamison all over the walls, and it had a phone booth that I made out with a lesbian in. Okay. And that's why I always remember my trip to Minneapolis. Wow, that's talk about off topics. I was not expecting that one. Well, she's now she's now a state representative.

Jamie Flanagan 1:03:40

So that escalated quickly.

August Gitshlag 1:03:43

Boy, that really got out of hand fast. That's my trip to Minneapolis to where LGBT's in the rights conference.

Matt Fox 1:03:50

All right, my favorite Kate's head just went.

Jamie Flanagan 1:03:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:54

Because now I know exactly who you're talking about. Well, I think I know who you're talking about. Ah, ta-ta like this in the background.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

What the fuck is it with you? I love we are a very queer city, so it makes sense.

Jamie Flanagan 1:04:06

Peterman is my favorite artist. Well, besides Prince, Peter Himmelman, my favorite artist out of that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:11

Anyway, nobody little side note I was in Minneapolis Airport on a layover when Prince passed. Oh 10 years ago. What was he wearing when he passed, when he got? Oh I thought he walked by you. He was wearing something purple.

Jamie Flanagan 1:04:29

Bathrobe and buddy slippers, apparently. All right. Oh, that's all right, Kate. I don't know where this went.

August Gitshlag 1:04:36

It went cask strength, is where it went. The last model did ascend.

Jamie Flanagan 1:04:41

Kate, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, thank you, Kate, for putting up with us and being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

Of course. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. You are welcome back anytime, Kate.

Jamie Flanagan 1:04:51

Yeah. And uh yeah, you know, if you guys like there's like some of these crazy, the inch crazy, interesting expressions. Yeah. Uh, if you would like to talk, crazy, you know. That's your mad science blender thing going on. But uh yeah, if you ever come back and chat chat it up, we're happy, happy to have you.

August Gitshlag 1:05:10

Yeah, you launch something new in Michigan, please come and uh and put up with us again.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Yes, yeah, absolutely. That sounds great, guys.

August Gitshlag 1:05:16

Thanks for not, you know. I should be watching a Timberwolves game right now, right? Isn't that a big deal? Pistons are on here, so yeah. Yeah, like subscribe.

Matt Fox 1:05:27

All right, leave a comment, tell a friend, and that's Matt Fox. That's uh Jamie Flanagan. I'm sorry, that's August Kitchener. The cast strength is kicking. Wayne's here.

August Gitshlag 1:05:39

Wayne's funny time, super slow-mo! Super Zoom.

Matt Fox 1:05:44

Mike Davis is right over there as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:47

Yeah, right here.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:48

And then Settler. No, no, we have our own.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:50

And and and David Wright, the motor city hypnotist, whose podcast is coming up in like two minutes. So stick around. Absolutely.

Matt Fox 1:06:00

Thank you everybody.

Jamie Flanagan 1:06:00

All right, we'll see you all again very, very soon. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers, everybody. Good job. Cheers.