The Noble Dram | Girl Dad - Fathers Day (Season 2 | Ep. 13)

This Father's Day, we're raising a glass to the dads who help shape the next generation.

Aaron and Gavin sit down with Clifford Walsh, founder of Girl Dad Bourbon, to discuss the inspiration behind a brand dedicated to celebrating fathers raising strong, confident women. From the story behind the iconic Unicorn Rider label to the lessons learned through fatherhood, Clifford shares how becoming a dad inspired him to create a bourbon with a purpose far greater than what's in the bottle.

Along the way, we explore what it means to be a "Girl Dad," the importance of believing in your children before they believe in themselves, and the legacy fathers leave behind through the values they pass on to the next generation.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Father's Day celebration without a great pour. We're tasting Girl Dad Bourbon alongside the classic Old Grand-Dad 114, comparing two bourbons that represent different generations of fatherhood while honoring the same timeless mission: showing up for your family.

Whether you're a dad, have a great dad, or simply appreciate the people who helped guide your journey, this episode is a tribute to the fathers, grandfathers, mentors, and role models who make a difference every day.

🥃 In This Episode:
The story behind Girl Dad Bourbon
The meaning of the Unicorn Rider
Raising strong, confident daughters
Fatherhood, legacy, and family traditions
Girl Dad Bourbon tasting notes
Old Grand-Dad 114 review and comparison
Father's Day reflections from Aaron & Gavin
💬 What is the best piece of advice your father ever gave you? Let us know in the comments!

👍 If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to Like, Subscribe, and Share with a dad who deserves a great pour this Father's Day.
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Transcript

Aaron 0:00

All too often being a dad, it's a thankless job. It means thinking about all those things everybody else overlooks.

Gavin 0:10

Like getting an oil change and making sure your car has maintenance and making sure the house is locked at the end of the night.

Aaron 0:17

Yeah. Or it could be those things that nobody else even wants to do.

Gavin 0:21

Like unclogging toilets and killing bugs and spiders.

Aaron 0:26

Well, tonight we celebrate those guys, those unstung heroes. Yeah, we're talking about dads. Gavin and Aaron here. And this week, we get to pay homage to the men that made us. Yeah. Literally. This weekend is Father's Day. So if you haven't gone out and bought a tie or a pair of socks or a silly grilling apron, you've only got a couple days left to do dad right. That's right. Um so one of the fun parts about Father's Day now, uh, that we're older and we have kids of our own, is we get to receive Father's Day just like we get to give Father's Day. So we thought nothing better than having an episode in which we focus a bit on dads, not only what it means to have a dad, but maybe first off, what it means to be a dad. So Gavin?

Gavin 1:58

Who do we got with us today? Well, we have a very special guest with us uh today, tonight, whenever you're watching this. Um, I'd like to introduce Clifford Walsh. Clifford, thank you so much for being here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Cliff 2:14

Hello, Clifford Walsh here. Live in Tampa, Florida. New dad, um, only under six months on having a kid. Uh my first baby girl, so it's been uh a lot of sleepless nights.

Aaron 2:27

I was gonna say, if you nod off halfway through the show, we will not take that person. We totally, totally understand. Um in a complete change, Clifford. Um, we just had our youngest graduate from high school.

Gavin 2:42

So I mean not together, not not. It gets better. It gets better.

Aaron 2:48

I'll say the problems change, but there's always problems.

Gavin 2:54

So, Clifford, can you tell us a little bit while you're why you're here with us tonight? Can you talk about being a new girl dad and girl dad bourbon?

Cliff 3:06

Yeah, so the concept really started when I was having a lot of those late night um sessions. So my wife did all of the stuff during the day. Um, and then it made me become a night out and be in charge of our daughter when she was born through the night. So it was a lot of sitting on my phone, watching the nanny camera, um doing nighttime feedings, trying to get her back to sleep. So I had to just kind of keep myself busy and not fall asleep. So it really went down, you know, the continuing rabbit hole of bourbon. Um, and while I was, you know, before I was gonna have my daughter, you know, a lot of people were like, hey, let me get you a bottle or let me get you something nice or something. And I was like, uh, whatever you like is not something I'm gonna like. Please don't get me anything. You know, like you don't want to be picky, but you're like, you know, everyone has their own taste profile. So I kind of came up with an idea, like, well, why don't I just make something for everyone? And then, you know, it's kind of a way to like pay homage, and it's like, hey, I'm gonna get a barrel, this will be for my daughter, um, and I'll start like a little bourbon company, and it's now escalated into a pretty big bourbon company with, you know, uh, you know, we're buying 20 barrels at a time, and we're having releases that sell out in five minutes, and it all started with just an idea of you know having a daughter.

Aaron 4:19

Well, I hate to say this, but Gavin didn't pour me any of this. Yeah, and I I feel like if we're gonna talk about bourbon, we should be sipping bourbon.

Gavin 4:31

I think this is a wonderful idea. So to that end, let's crack in to the very first Girl Dad bourbon batch. All right, I'm excited. Okay, if this is the first batch that I have. Correct.

Aaron 4:50

Uh now, if if my if my memory serves right, this is dubbed the founders batch. Is that correct? Correct.

Cliff 4:59

Yeah, that was just kind of to signify hey, this is the first round coming out, and anyone that kind of was interested in this, and I'll kind of get into that a little bit later of how this kind of all came about as well. But you know, anyone that supported us, we wanted to make sure, you know, make it a little bit special. We didn't really designate anything on it, but it was just kind of referring it to as the founders batch.

Aaron 5:17

Okay, so let's start with the specs of what's in the bottom. This one's coming in at 101 proof, is that right?

Cliff 5:28

Correct. 101 proof, which every single person has said it's well above the weight. So I guess that's a good thing to have, you know, free free proof. Um, it's age seven year, eight months. Everything that comes out later is a little bit older. And we're coming in at uh 101 proof, all distilled in Kentucky, hand bottled in Kentucky, um, hand dipped in Kentucky, you know, really to pay homage uh to the Kentucky Bourbon legacy.

Aaron 6:01

Is there something specific to the age or the proof as an homage of to your daughter or what goes in this, or is this just like we tasted it in a variety of ages and and and proofs, and this is where the sweet spot was.

Cliff 6:18

So the age statement is just based on I wanted a pretty you know older bottle, didn't want to have you know anything that's like four years, you know, newly, you know, anything with a month statement, you know, like 36 months. So I really wanted to have something that that a typical bourbon drinker is gonna enjoy, and then also didn't want to have it to be something crazy, you know, that's gonna be a hard, rare, allocated 10 years, you know, that's gonna increase price. Um, and then 101 proof is a is kind of a combination of birthdays, my wife's, myself, our dogs. So kind of we added all up and it equaled 101.

Gavin 6:51

Oh, very cool. That's actually very, very cool. I love that.

Aaron 6:56

So to your description, I had never really pieced this together in my head, but a bourbon's age is often referred in a very similar way to a child's, right? That for a certain number of the first few years, they don't talk in years, they talk in months. And then you get to a certain age and you're like, Yeah, we're we don't care about the months anymore. Now we're on to years. And then eventually you just get to the point where you stop counting anymore.

Gavin 7:25

That's kind of where I was like even when when they turn one, you still count in months. It's like 18 months, 24 months. Why are we doing that? Why can't we just go to years? Yeah, I mean you've you've hit the milestone to one, yeah, right as well. I don't know. Maybe maybe maybe this will change the industry. Just redo everything.

Aaron 7:48

So Cliff Clifford. Do you have a preference?

Cliff 7:54

I'm indifferent, but pretty much Cliff.

Aaron 7:56

All right, Cliff. Then we'll go with Clifford. It is settled right here, right now. Yeah, it's official now. Sorry, it's on air. I so you said that your daughter's now roughly six months. Correct. How long ago did the process of starting Girl Dead Bourbon, I'm assuming, predates the birth of your daughter? Because this feels like a lot to have happened in six months.

Cliff 8:24

Yeah, so I I had the idea. I think we found out last March, April we're having a girl. Um, and I looked at it my in my history. It was like, you know, I think I was coming up with the idea just playing on Chat GBT, like in the summer. And then once I kind of got serious, um, aka, you know, paternity leave started in November because we thought she was gonna come early. Um, I really geared up. So it's really, you know, since now it's been seven months from like pretty much bottle design, um, tasting, you know, what barrel, what dissolute we're gonna put in it, um, figuring out the label, figuring out, you know, distribution partners and things like that, marketing, branding, everything is kind of all come within seven months. So it's been a short time. Yeah.

Aaron 9:12

I mean, the notion that you could create you could birth a bourbon brand in less time than it takes for your wife to incubate the child is probably impressive. Was there a part of you that's like, I want to get this done before she gets done?

Cliff 9:29

Just to No, I mean, it's just when you're the only one drinking, you kind of have a DD for a while too, so it's kind of nice, you know.

Gavin 9:36

It does help. That does help. Yes. Uh, we've made that joke before.

Cliff 9:43

You're trying to enjoy a good pour all the time, and you know, your wife's not, and you're like, uh, sorry, you know, you go to a restaurant, they got like a well or 12, you're like, I'm I'm I'm gonna get it, you know, I'm gonna try it.

Aaron 9:52

You know, it's it's a little easier if she's not a whiskey drinker, so she doesn't feel like she's missing out on whatever it is. But yeah, it doesn't take too many times of you requesting the uh the pregnant wife to be your DD before she's tired of that nonsense.

Gavin 10:11

So riddle me this. If you would have had a boy, would you have called it boy dad bourbon?

Cliff 10:18

No, like no. I think I was just I think I was just scared, like a lot of girl dads, of like, you know, you grow up as a guy, you play sports, you're camping, you're fishing with your dad, doing all kinds of stuff, and then you have a girl and you're like, I have no idea what to do. Um, I don't want to say my daughter will be very tomboy, but I've already started like trying to put a lacrosse stick in her hand and like swimming and like you know, making her tough because it's just like it's tough to be a girl, I feel like. So, you know, I can't speak from experience, but I definitely, you know, I think it's a lot easier to be a guy.

Aaron 10:51

Yeah, so I I had both, right? Um, girl, girls first, boys second. Um I don't my wife would say that there were aspects at different ages that were one was easier than the other. And I don't, in fairness, I I can't definitively say it was because they were boys or girls, or maybe it had to do more with their just inherent personality differences and that kind of stuff. What I will say is um playtime at your house tended to be much quieter with the girls than it does with the boys. I no argument there. I don't know. It's a it's a different pitch for sure.

Gavin 11:33

It is a different pitch, yes. And then we have a husky as well, and so you get the husky going, barking, wooing, you get the daughter going. I mean, it is just why between the hours of 4:30 and 7:30, we call it shouty hour because our dog uh shouts like she's she's a husky, she talks, and so you can't get a word in edgewise between the dog or my daughter wanting to tell a story. Hey, watch me, hey, do this, hey, I need this, hey, do this. Like um, so between the hours of 4:30 and 7:30, it is just focused time between the dog and the daughter.

Aaron 12:16

I I think that there's another caveat, Cliff, that like you you have one, right? There's one kid that takes your attention and your focus, right? You get to a certain point and you're outnumbered and you just have to start running zoned.

Cliff 12:31

You already feel that way. We have two dogs, and I'm like, I I mean, I always thought I would never get rid of my dogs, but right now I'm like, you know, they're licking her face as she started to eat food. We're putting her on the ground to do tummy time, and they're coming over and like jumping on her. I'm like, I'm gonna throw you two in the pound right now if you do not get out of her face. You know, definitely I should have uh in in the nine months preceding this, I should have taken them to like dog training classes. That would have been a helpful insight for dad.

Aaron 12:54

That is expecting the one perk of having a dog in a house with your child is you don't have to clean the floor underneath the high chair, right? Like that you have a constant um wetback. Yeah. Wetback, yeah. I mean it's definitely not a dryback. All right, so Gavin brings up this question of like, what if it had been a boy? Like, were you were you also preparing labels and DBAs in case it came out and the sonogram was wrong and you end up being a boy dad and have to revamp the label at the last minute?

Cliff 13:31

No, I mean I was coming up to the phone. You could put all your eggs in the in the summer, just throwing them in chat, you'd be trying it, and it really wasn't until we were like in the hospital where I was meeting with my kind of bottler and like pulled the trigger officially.

Gavin 13:45

Because I just was like, I love I love you were in the hospital meeting with guys texting him.

Aaron 13:54

Yeah, he steps out into the hallway. I got three and a half minutes for the next contract of what you got.

Cliff 14:00

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we went in, we went in during Thanksgiving, so I was already missing out on like Thanksgiving football and you know all the sports stuff.

Aaron 14:09

It's it's a negotiation tactic when you go in and say, Hey man, I got a timeline. Yeah, right. And you're like, hey, I gotta get I gotta get back in there.

Cliff 14:15

Yeah. Oh, my wife was was having this baby and she wanted to keep it in until December 1st. Like, so no matter what, we were having this baby and we were sitting in the hospital for three days.

Gavin 14:23

So yeah. I mean, it wouldn't, and there's not a lot you can do when you're just sitting around the hospital. I mean, if if if the baby is not there, it's like we're just gonna sit here in the hospital and we're gonna wait.

Cliff 14:34

It's an expensive way to very expensive way to spend just a week in hospital, so fifty fifty-five thousand dollars to sit in a you know hospital room in Tandle, Florida for three days.

Aaron 14:46

It's the most expensive hotel I've ever seen. Yeah. You I'm assuming everybody does just steal the little white blankets that they wrap the kids in because you're like, I'm paying this much. I'm I'm getting something out of this. Yeah. For sure. Everybody gets the big cup when they give you full eyes. Yeah, we still have some of those. Yeah. I so you were talking about missing something. Um, my oldest, uh, when she was born, happened to be Super Bowl weekend. And so we missed going to the party. Um, but a friend of mine smuggled a six-pack of beer in uh in a gift bag with a teddy bag, and we um we ordered wings and they brought wings in, and I got to eat wings and drink beer in the room. And the nurse came in and she's like, uh, you're not supposed to have that in here. And I was like, you should probably close the door again.

Gavin 15:35

Uh Cliff, did you take a flask in there with you?

Cliff 15:39

No, no, I was too scared. I I don't, you know, our hospital's a little strict, so oh, I definitely did.

Aaron 15:45

I I took a flask, and it was it was helped mom get through the delivery, yeah.

Gavin 15:50

Like I mean, when my daughter was born, I was still in the middle of COVID. And so everything was so strict, you were wearing masks everywhere, all of this stuff. And for bloody hell, if I'm gonna be there, I'm gonna have a flask and enjoy, enjoy something.

Aaron 16:06

Let's let's get back to a sec about starting up Girl Dead Bourbon I'm intrigued by this, right? I think every bourbon drinker kind of has this little dream that floats around in their head that was like, wouldn't it be cool if we did this? Right, like um, you have you have gone and done what so many guys have discussed doing, right? But never did get around to. So I'm curious the process. You're you're working with a I guess bespoke, a custom distiller. Is that correct? Uh I don't misspeak. Um, can you talk a little bit about that process? About like how much control do you get? Do they have tons of different recipes for you to go in, or is it just barrel selection? Like, what's that all about?

Cliff 17:03

Yeah, so I'll grab it, but I had uh I had a fraternity that I was in in college. They actually started their own bourbon as well. Um, and this was in the fall. So when I had seen kind of this on Instagram, that's when I really made that decision. Like, you know, when I was having a daughter to be like, let's pull the trigger and do this, because I actually seen that there was a path. In the beginning, it was just an idea, you know, I had no idea, you know, what to do. Um then meeting with him, like I said, you know, within the first few weeks, you know, leading up to it as we were getting the baby room ready, you know, and figuring stuff out, you know, I was like, hey, let's figure out bottle design, let's figure out uh meeting with a graphic designer for the label. Um he had sent over some samples. So we figured out, you know, based on my palette, you know, what I thought was gonna be great. Um and so that's why I said, you know, you're going through all those motions to figure it out. And I think, you know, that weekend of being in the hospital, you know, uh Thanksgiving weekend, you know, I kind of had nothing to do. So I was like, well, let's pull the trigger, let's, you know, let's get this in motion. Let's buy the first barrel. Because that's how it was. It was, it wasn't gonna be this massive company. It was just let's pull the trigger and get a barrel, you know. And from there, it's like I got 170 bottles, you know, I can easily get rid of that, you know, in a year for friends and you know, myself and gifts, you know, so so it wasn't too crazy.

Gavin 18:17

So obviously, um, grill that bourbon's not your full-time job.

Cliff 18:22

No.

Aaron 18:24

So uh as we just gotta get to the point where you're selling the bourbon, it can be.

Cliff 18:30

I didn't sell the guy selling a lot of bourbon. I I figured it out, it's a lot of bourbon.

Gavin 18:36

Um, so is it uh is it intimidating to to go from all right, I've got this this thing that I think is really cool, uh, it's one barrel, to now, uh, as you mentioned, uh your first like pre-use settle release sold out in like five minutes or in minutes or uh that time frame. Is it intimidating now that you're like, holy cow, I've started this thing and it is growing so fast? Is it kind of like what's your space headspace right now?

Cliff 19:07

Yeah, it's a little overwhelming. So, you know, my nine to five is my nine to five, work on that, get done at five o'clock, hang on my wife, my daughter, put her down at you know, eight, seven thirty. And then it's my you know, nine to whenever I, you know, go to sleep or when I'm exhausted working on this, learning how to code emails and doing things. Um, and really how this all got started is so I didn't think that this was gonna be this big. Um, so I don't know if you're familiar with so you create a label for any bourbon, you submit it to the um uh alcohol, tobacco, not ATF, but alcohol bureau of tax and and and tobacco and stuff, A C T V. A TV. Nicola, yeah. And so I had gone to St. Lucia that weekend, because I think it was our three months um of our daughter being born. And so everything was getting ready. We're gonna head to Kentucky in May. Um, my wife had won a trip for her job, so it's been three months. We're like, okay, we can leave the baby with the grandparents and we'll go on a you know four-day trip. So we're in St. Lucia, and I guess there's that, you know, uh Instagram blog um coming whiskey that posts all the new labels coming out. So, you know, they grabbed our logo, label, put it on their site, and I think he's messaging me saying, Hey, there's 90,000 people that want this. Um, this is one of my top engagements I've had all year. I see this as being like a very big thing. You should really look at it. So while I'm in St. Lucia trying to relax, I'm sitting there figuring out how do we build a website, how do we really go into making this a lot bigger? Um, because there was that volume. So yeah.

Gavin 20:43

That's insane. Like, and that's actually how I found out about you too was becoming whiskey.

Aaron 20:49

Uh there has to be a level of nerves, though. It's you're you're like the guy who gets caught up to the big leagues and his first at best, first pitch hits the home run. Exactly.

Cliff 21:06

Every person I give a bottle to is a critic, and I don't want bad reviews. You know, I it's not like this is like I wasn't a master blunder for 15 years, you know. I didn't, I didn't I didn't age these barrels myself. So I'm hoping that my palette works well and works for everyone, you know, and you know, and it seems like everyone's enjoying it.

Aaron 21:25

So we haven't gotten to the part where we're gonna talk about what's in the last, but so far uh I'm thumbs up for sure. No, but I just I can't help but think like this creates a bit of a mounting pressure in the fact that like the expectation is every release should be as good as the first release, right? Like yeah, and and to to come out of the gates um so strong is is quite impressive.

Gavin 21:52

It's almost like mistakes were made. Uh and you know, I like to call those poor choices, and and so.

Aaron 22:03

This was another question I want to ask. And maybe, and maybe this would this would be a it's a good leading because you kind of talked about a an aspect that would be quite daunting to starting a brand that just kind of seemed to work. So I I had written the question like, what is an aspect of doing this that turned out to be much more difficult than you thought it would be? And then the the follow-up was going to be what was actually easier than you thought? I think we've kind of already told half of that story, though.

Cliff 22:32

Yeah. So I I mean I would say the hardest part is is is distribution. I think we all know the three-tier system is super complicated. It's not easy to be a small craft distillery, a small bourbon company, and and get you know barrels out there or bottles out there, especially if you're unfamiliar with navigating this. Um a lot of this has been on Claude, ChatGBT, learning how to do it. But I actually was lucky because my bottler is a company called Southern Specialty Spirits. Um they've had some familiarity, you know, navigating, um, working with bluegrass distilling in Kentucky, sourcing some barrels from private Rick Houses, and then working with Steelbox. So we kind of had a path. Um, but again, I don't think any of things that we thought when we were discussing this, you know, right before my daughter was born, like this was gonna turn into this. So it was easy to say, like, oh yeah, you know, we'll get some barrels, we'll put them on Steelbox, or I'll buy them. Friends and family will get them. Easy. But when you have, you know, 90,000 views in a week and everyone wants your bottle, you got to figure out how to then, you know, scale, grow, produce, um, get in people's hands, and and that's been the challenging part, I would say.

Aaron 23:44

So going from the concept of one barrel to where we are today, the first batch you said is how many barrels?

Cliff 23:52

The first batch was about three to four. Yeah.

Aaron 23:57

So right still not a huge number.

Gavin 24:00

No. But then the next batch, did you say you were 20 barrels? Yeah. 20 barrels. Okay. So it's a big job.

Aaron 24:08

We're scaling.

Gavin 24:08

Yeah.

Aaron 24:10

No. It's an it's an impressive feat. As guys who did our own barrel picks here local, and now we're trying to figure out how to motivate people to come into a store and and and purchase those bottles. Um, even one barrel can be a lot of bottles. Um, and trying to figure out how to not oversaturate a market, but like just the notion that that many people are like, yeah, I'm in.

Gavin 24:38

And I think it just speaks volumes to like the name Girl Dad. Like when I found out that we were having a girl, I was ecstatic. Like, that's I won out. My wife wanted a boy, and I wanted a girl. And maybe I shouldn't put that out there. Oops, it's out there now.

Aaron 24:53

Um, sorry, princess, but I didn't want to. I'm like, good lord, man, that's a gr it's a bluff thing.

Gavin 24:59

Um uh, but uh, you know, being a girl dad to me was like I I grew up with a lot of boys, and so um I I wanted to get picked on, that's what it is.

Aaron 25:12

Yeah, you wanted you to be a big thing.

Gavin 25:13

I had an older brother that was pretty big, and I didn't nobody wanted to mess with him.

Aaron 25:18

I I think we all as guys, again, you kind of alluded to it earlier, Clip. This idea that um like you you close your eyes and picture what it means to be a dad, and you picture all the things you do with your son, right? Like you're playing ball in the front yard or you're going fishing or you're going camping or like all that kind of stuff. Um and so for me, like I kind of was thinking, oh yeah, like the first one will come and it'll be a boy. That's just what it will be, right? And then the first one comes and it's a girl, and wouldn't have traded it for the world, right? Love her to death. She's my whiskey drinker, right, in our family now. She's old, she's old enough. Um, but yeah, it's a it's a different dynamic. And the the really fun part is sharing some of those things that you kind of always thought you'd share with your son, but now you share them with your daughter, right? And so that it's a fun twist on what it means to be dad. I don't think we were quite expecting when we when we decided to have kids.

Gavin 26:16

So one of the fun things, uh, so Aaron and I do a bottle chair uh every year right around Christmas time. And um, ever since she's been born, and she could set up in a seat, she sets up in the chair next to me, and as I got the whiskey tasting, uh whiskey uh little bottles that we do for the bottle chair, um, I'm doing that. I've got music playing, and she's over here coloring or or doing whatever. So she sets up drinking her own whiskey. Yeah, drinking apple juice that looks like whiskey. Um just to be kind of hanging out with me. And I love that. It's kind of our yearly thing now.

Aaron 26:54

There is absolutely nothing that melts a dad's heart more than than the daughter who wants to do what dad's doing, right? And I'll be honest, when you have boys, it melts your heart when the boys want to do what you want to do too, right?

Cliff 27:07

Like you're gonna fall into your passions and your hobbies. I mean, I swam in high school, I played the cross in college, so that's kind of what I'm pushing her towards, you know. So it's like, because I'm familiar with that, you know. I had that's that's my my uh my hobbies, my skills. So yeah, I can't do gymnastics, so yeah, I can't teach that.

Gavin 27:30

Yeah.

Aaron 27:30

Somersaults are not all the further I'm gonna get. And even those, even those are dangerous at my age.

Gavin 27:35

Yeah, my my daughter asked me if I could do a cartwheel the other day. Like literally, like last weekend, and I was like, I don't know. You didn't even try to. I didn't try it. Come on. My bamboo drive.

Aaron 27:45

Yeah.

Gavin 27:48

I think you can do that.

Aaron 27:50

Let's talk a little bit about what's in this class. Because yeah, I'll be honest. Um I think if I was putting everything into one word, right? Luxurious. It's got this soft, sweet, luxurious note that shows up both on the nose and on the palate.

Gavin 28:14

I think I think I think it's rich in like the caramel and the spice. Like I can smell the baking spice right off the bat on this guy. Or gal, I guess. Yeah, no, she uh she's a lady. She's a lady.

Aaron 28:33

Uh she's a pink lady. I think you get obvious bourbon characters right out of the beginning, right? The vanilla, the there's a little oat, there's uh there's a caramel note, there's baking spice, those kind of classic y bourbon flavors. Um yeah, I I think rich is a way to describe it though. Like it's not, it's not sometimes you get all of those flavors, but they also must feel muted. Like this this feels like a big bold cord, so to speak. So on the palate, do you think that that tracks? Oh, absolutely. I I actually say I think the palate is a little sweeter than the nose was, which I was a little tough to imagine. But I I'm with you, Cliff. You started in saying that like it it kind of punches above its weight, so to speak. On the palate, it it tastes more bold. Sometimes you get sweet stuff and it it tends to become sweet because it's soft. And I don't I don't think that's the case at all here.

Gavin 29:40

Um I put on the palate, uh so where there's originals are some of my favorite candies. It's my old man candy. It's old man candy. Keep it in your keep it in the hard to get sweater right here. So when I smoke my tobacco pipe, I have something uh sweet. Uh I think there's that um kind of where there's original, uh kind of a buttery, scotchy kind of caramel uh flavor. Excuse me. Um there's some creaminess to it, and then um I put a one of my favorite things to talk about is cola. I think there's a there's a uh Burbany cola that I get out of it.

Aaron 30:22

No, no cola on there at all. You don't get any cola? No, no, it's got it's like in the finish, I I tend to get more the baking spices become heavier for me. Um the nutmeg, the cinnamon, like that kind of stuff really starts to show up. Um snickerdoodle cookies, kind of on the finish. Um uh that kind of cinnamon toast. Yes, right, like that kind of stuff starts to show up on the finish. It's a longer finish than I think I I originally thought, right? At first, because that sweetness tends to dissipate, you kind of felt like the finish was short, but the more you sit here, you realize there's actually a lot of other stuff going on that kind of lingers longer.

Gavin 31:07

Yeah, I think I think she goes for a ride.

Aaron 31:11

It's a unicorn.

Gavin 31:12

Yeah.

Aaron 31:13

I so I will say I really do love the logo. The idea of I've never met a little girl who doesn't love ponies, who doesn't also dream of owning a unicorn. Um the homage to the whiskey world and what we refer to as a unicorn, right? The kind of this fun treat that's that's hard to come by, limited releases. I everything about it kind of lightens back up. I I like to play on all of that.

Gavin 31:42

And I actually wear a unicorn every single day. I don't know if you know this or not.

Aaron 31:46

What?

Gavin 31:47

My my ring. Oh, I thought you have a weird tattoo you're gonna share every with everybody. It's my tramp stamp. Um no, I I have uh uh my family uh coat of arms has a unicorn and a lion. So my ring that I wear has a unicorn on it. There you go.

Aaron 32:04

I mean, and you were destined. I was destined, genetically predispositioned to enjoy this whiskey. Um before we give scores, I think it's important to kind of run down, just give everybody an overview again of how we score. Um I I'll give them all, even though I think a whole bunch of these are wasted airtime, right? Anything under 60 is undrinkable. Well, we're not interested in it. 60s, right? From 60 to 70 would mean I'd be interested in drinking it, but somebody else should pay for that glass. I don't I don't necessarily need to spend my money on it. Uh 70s turns into the I would absolutely buy a glass of this, but I don't know as if I need a bottle in my collection. 80s run from wouldn't wouldn't mind having to gotta have it. 90s get into those rarities that um only my closest friends know that we have. So that being said, Gavin. No. This is my bottle. Yeah, but I gave I gave the score, so no.

Gavin 33:08

But first and foremost, first and foremost, uh Cliff, on the on the notes, did we kind of hit it?

Cliff 33:16

Yeah, the goal is to hit every of your old classic Kentucky, you know, being a Kentucky's trade bourbon whiskey, you know, with kind of a high wheat mash build. That's exactly what it is. Um like I said, I didn't barrel this, I didn't know the barrels, you know. I had a sample, and then when we got to this the bottler, we cracked the barrels open, so it came out perfect. You know, that that's kind of what I gotta say.

Aaron 33:43

Um so there's a bit of a bit of dumb luck in this bottle, too. I don't want to say that. I don't, you know, but again, I I think that's half of parenting. I was gonna say if there if there is anything I could wish upon a new dad, it's dumb luck. Yeah. I mean, it's trial and error and dumb luck. I it would be awesome to be great, but to be lucky still works out pretty damn well. So I've got no complaints there. All right. Numbers. I this is flirting with the don't share with people. That's how good I like this one. So I'm gonna give this an 89. It's in that category of I absolutely want one of these on my shelf. I'm a little disappointed that Gavin beat me to the purchase on this. Um, and so Gavin has a bottle and I don't, but um I'm gonna drink more, I'm gonna drink more of it before the episode's over for sure. Um, yeah, I I will say one of the things that has always been a struggle for me, both being a bourbon and a scotch drinker, is one of the things I really love about Scotch is that the nose and the palate and the finish don't align with each other. But yet you go look at all the bourbons I give really high score to scores to, they're ones at which the nose hints at the palate, which hits at the finish, and you kind of get this chord that sings all the way through. And there's something beautiful about the soft sweetness that comes with bourbon and that kind of consistency across that. I think you I think you nailed on this one. Um, so mega kudos on my end. 89 for me.

Gavin 35:26

89 for you. I am just squeaking above you at an ID.

Aaron 35:32

See, but if you don't know this, but every episode, Gavin won ups me by at least one point.

Gavin 35:37

So um as as a girl dad, um, my daughter is um she's about to turn five, so um still young uh on that side.

Aaron 35:50

Um I think you can't say that to a guy who has a six-month child. Five years old is really old. It's like ten times older than the future.

Gavin 36:00

Yeah. No, I the the notion of being girl dad, the story behind it, um, the the label, the logo, everything about it. I absolutely love it. That's outside of the whiskey. And then the add that add that to the whiskey.

Aaron 36:16

The story was enough to give it one more point to make it 90.

Gavin 36:19

That's fair. Um I'm a sucker for the story. I think the whiskey is it's not the um fastball down the middle. There's there's a there's some of it, but I think there's a little bit left or right. Um it takes you for a ride, and I enjoy that. And I enjoy that it just lingers and goes and it rides. And not all bourbons do that for me.

Aaron 36:47

I was so afraid you were gonna make a unicorn, like grab the horn unicorn joke or something there. I felt I felt like we were hitting in a bad place. Let's put a saddle on it. No, you don't need I don't know if this is a universal truth. Cliff, and you you can you can agree or disagree, but does anybody put a saddle on a unicorn? I think you ride a unicorn pair, man. El natural. Well, this unicorn's got a saddle.

Cliff 37:13

Has one on here because it's really also kind of a very homage to like Kentucky Keeneland. Like to go there to college. Um, like the the the jockeys outfit is actually my mom's alma mater, her college is like in a floral pattern. If you look at the mane of the horse unicorn, my daughter's name is in it. Um the fair nails, there's uh in in the established in the in the horseshoe. Like that's there's three on each side because my grandfather had three daughters. Um, so there's a lot of like little symbolism. Um, you know, like the tobacco leaves at the bottomer because I'm from Virginia. There's a lot of like weird stuff in it that like I really wanted to like showcase. And together it came out with an amazing, you know, all together logo that anyone can see and be like, that's a great bottle. And I think it looks great on the shelf. Um, the whiskey is 10 times better than the presentation, and I want people to open it up. Um, I've I've heard a lot of people saying, you know, I want to save this till my daughter's 18 or 21. It's like, dude, we'll make more of this. Just just crap open now, enjoy it, and have it.

Gavin 38:15

Yeah.

Aaron 38:15

Yeah, get two. Drink one now, save one for later.

Gavin 38:18

That's that's the sad part for me, is I've got this one bottle, and that is something I'm gonna have to go buy another bottle because I want one for my daughter.

Aaron 38:27

You should get you should get every consecutive brand batch so that way they didn't even try the wall.

Gavin 38:33

So um, I do have a question. Uh maybe maybe I should ask this earlier. Um we're way past the questions. But so do you have plans in the future? Can you give us any little nuggets? Are you planning on releasing anything other than a bourbon?

Cliff 38:54

So, right now the plan, and this is uh I've spoken with people and kind of the game strategy for the year. So for this year, 2026 is just released this, you know, try the bug, get all those barrels that we have access to from this mash bill and and buy them all up and give them to dads because we think it's a great idea. Looking at 2027, we understand that the you know, this is $79.99. Um, it's 101 proof, and a big market that we had was moms buying this for their for their dads, for their husbands, for their expecting fathers. And they might not be a typical bourbon drinker. So maybe looking at maybe lowering it, getting, you know, a six-year at like a 90 proof and doing that um in the spring next year, and then also having like a really good, maybe way more allocated, uh like 10, you know, year with like a way cooler battle design. Because I feel like I've I've hit the mark in kind of being in the middle of being between two fences, and I, you know, you know, being from a novice bourbon drinker gift to this is actually a really good bourbon that people enjoy, and wanting to figure out how can I, you know, capture two markets.

Aaron 40:00

Yep. It makes tons of sense. Makes tons of sense.

Cliff 40:03

Yeah, no ideas doing anything for like boy dads or girl moms or anything. I mean, that's like a long way off, you know, but it's the brand's like focus on bourbon, focused on girl dads, great product, even if you're not a girl dad, still amazing bourbon that you can enjoy. Or when you're at someone's house, have a pour if they're expecting a girl or you know, their daughter graduates high school, bring it over for that dad, you know.

Aaron 40:24

Yeah, now I'm picturing like all different kinds of spirits, and what do you call all of them? I'll be honest, it's it's derailing horribly at my life. We'll just leave it at that.

Cliff 40:36

Spirits in general are getting so niche, cliche. Like I saw I saw Makersmark just put out a Knicks bottle. Like the the week before they went in the playoffs. It's like, what does Makersmark and the Knicks have in common, you know? So I want to make something that's definitely relatable.

Aaron 40:53

Nothing, but I've got a Houston Astros bottle of Makersmark, right? Like, I mean, they they they they do every team, I think. Yeah, so Cliff, we would love if you would stick around. Um, we've kind of been talking about what it means to be a father. Um, would would you be so kind as to stick around for a second pour and let's talk about what it means to have a dad? Perfect.

Cliff 41:17

Love to.

Aaron 41:19

What if your next four actually meant something? Not just a good night, but doing real good. This is pouring forward. Where whiskey means purpose.

Gavin 41:35

Where we spotlight real people and real stories. And show up when it really counts. No middleman, no fluff, just impacts.

Aaron 41:49

Here at the Noble Dram, we believe that whiskey's more than just what's in the glass.

Gavin 41:54

It's about the people that you share it with. And to that end, head over to thenobledram.com and find out how you can pour it forward.

Aaron 42:04

Enjoy a dram and be noble.

Gavin 42:17

Okay, so we just talked about what it really means to be dads, right? We're all three girl dads. Aaron has boys as well.

Aaron 42:27

I will I will say, in fairness to what it means to be a father, we glossed over a lot of what it really means. It's a much harder job. I think we made it sound there, but yeah. Drinking whiskey. We absolutely were focused on being dad, not having dad.

Gavin 42:42

All right, all right, all right. So let's talk a little bit about what it means to have a dad, right? Everyone has a dad or has had a dad, right? Um, I am in the unfortunate camp that my dad is no longer with us. Um, so Father's Day for me can be hard sometimes. Um, and uh in that I find comfort in that I'm not alone in that because a lot of dads don't have their dads, or a lot of people don't have their fathers anymore. Um and so not to get sad or or go down that route too too much, but um, I I am in the camp where my dad is no longer with us, and I and I aggrieve that every year right around this time. Um but I want to celebrate those that do have their dads, and let's talk a little bit about what that means and what that is.

Aaron 43:34

I think I think you don't have to say celebrate people that have their dads, it's celebrate what it what your dad ultimately meant to you, right? But that means we need another bourbon, right? We need we gotta have another tasting. Yeah and so so I sat down and thought to myself, is there a dad that per or is there a bourbon that personifies having a dad? And I'll be honest, I looked long and hard for a Tom whiskey and I didn't I didn't find one, right? And so sorry, dad. Start your own bourbon company, we'll put you on the on the show again. He's like, well, I'm just gonna go do that. So I said, well, if everybody has a dad, then they also have a granddad. And so I said, we should drink old granddad. Because if you don't have an old granddad, you probably aren't old enough to be drinking bourbon, anyways. So this happens to be old granddad 114, which we have mentioned in passing previously on the episode. Um, it is one of those bourbons that is routinely described as the best bang for the buck. And we've talked about how it doesn't always bode well for a whiskey to be plain as the best bang for the buck. So, Cliff, I know you don't have our exact bottle. You've got something much nicer, specially picked up bottle of old granddad, but yours hold it up there so the world can see it. Um his his is even prettier to look at. I bet it tastes better.

Cliff 45:18

What? No, there's nothing there's even no mention anywhere of it. So I'm kind of like I don't even know that's the same granddad. Exactly. I feel like every old granddad has except for this one, which is which is not just uh what's what's fine.

Gavin 45:33

Well, so so I think we need we may write to beam and let them know we send a uh a strongly worded email.

Aaron 45:40

Um, all right, so I cliff, I'm gonna give stats on ours. I want you to tell me when your stats differ than ours. So old granddad 114, named so because of well, a granddad. I'll get to that in a second. But the 114 is in reference to the proof, so comes in at 114 proof or 57% ABV for those people who like the smaller numbers. Um, Gavin made reference to it. This is made by the guys over at James B. Beam. Uh, is yours also a 114 proof? Correct. Um, it says old granddad on it, although no photographic proof of granddad. Um, I assume also made by James B. Beam and also made at the same uh Claremont, Kentucky distillery. Yep. All right, so mine has no age statement, although it's relatively common assumption is that old granddad 114 is aged roughly seven years. Does your single barrel have an actual age statement?

Cliff 46:47

Yeah, so this is a single barrel aged seven years, lot number one.

Aaron 46:51

So this is the first says lot number one. The back of ours says lot number one. I don't know what the lot number now means. I thought, like, oh, they got different lots. Maybe it's the parking lot the guy that works at the distillery has to park in. They all park in lot number one.

Gavin 47:08

Now I need to get a bottle of the single barrel because I really want to know.

Aaron 47:13

Because if this is roughly the same, yeah, like what could this be the same stuff and a different sticker on the front?

Gavin 47:20

Could it be the same barrel?

Aaron 47:21

The bottle looks eerie similar too. I don't think they're using a different glass. I believe with the exact layers in the middle, it's just different. This will this will be the part where somebody comments about how we could not be more wrong with our high-ry mash bill on it. Yep. So high rye, this is 63% corn, 27% rye, and 10% multiple.

Cliff 47:48

They've just rebranded it with an age statement and calling it a single barrel.

Aaron 47:52

All right. So the question of old granddad was whose granddad is it? So this is actually named after Basil Hayden Sr. Wait, wait, you mean Basil Hayden? Yeah, the Basil Hayden. Basil Hayden Sr. This was named by the third generation uh Hayden distiller at um well at the distillery at the time, which was called the old granddad distillery. So back in 1882, Raymond named this after his grandfather, Mr. Basil. Hayden. I call him Rain for sure. You do? You guys are close? Yeah, we were close. Yeah, no, I get it. I get it. Not so much anymore, but we don't hang out as often as we used to. I so I want to spend a bit of time talking here about how our dads impacted us, or maybe to this day continue to impact us. So we've had my dad on the episode. Everyone is at least vaguely familiar with my dad. He's an older, smaller version of me.

Gavin 49:08

I don't know. People thought he was our buddy. Big Chief thought he was my dad.

Aaron 49:12

So who knows? Who knows? I'm not positive he's not. There's there's a possibility we're stead brothers. All right. As we as we sit here, sniff, sip, and savor this glass, Cliff. I guess the question to you is you find yourself just about to become a dad. You're thinking about how much bourbon you're drinking, and wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy it by the barrel? Right? Um, as being a buying ball. Yeah, no, just buy a barrel. It's a wholesale approach, right? We talked about positive. Well, so that the question, I guess, becomes is did your dad influence your whiskey journey, positive or negatively, perhaps? Um, like was he was he an instrumental part in where you find yourself today?

Cliff 50:08

So, yes and no. So my parents were divorced. So I saw my dad's on the weekend, or my dad on the weekend, and he never drank. And he still never drank, never drank at my wedding, nothing like that. And I guess because he had an accident, fell off like a deck, you know, in college. So just kind of gave it up. Um, but he was not didn't drink around you, but doesn't drink. No, I know. So I my mom never saw him drink. So yeah, so he he actually started a watch company before I was born. So he had the entrepreneur spirit. So I got a lot of that from him. Um and then at the same time, when my parents got divorced, I was raised a lot by my grandfather, who I'm named after. So I, you know, use that as a reference. And like we spoke about in the girl dad bourbon, you know, that's uh a big part of my life. I actually have his Harvard banner next to my diploma, which is way nicer than my diploma. So I keep in my office, yeah.

Gavin 51:01

Well, I I should say that's very fitting of what we're drinking. Yeah.

Aaron 51:05

Yeah, we're not drinking old dad bourbon, we're drinking old granddad bourbon. Makes sense.

Gavin 51:10

So here's a question. Did you what did you call your granddad? Was it was it granddad? Was it grandpa? Was it grand?

Aaron 51:18

Like, ooh. So you so most people have multiple grandfathers, right? So you got you got a couple different options. Clip, clip, what'd you call granddad?

Cliff 51:27

So so that's actually funny because we're going through that right now with my daughter about all the grandparents now fighting about what they want to be called. And it's funny because I decided what my grandfather was called because I was the first one of our set of cousins, and I couldn't say ga our grandfather, so I called him ga, just G A. And that stuck with him. Like that, that like once I was born in 1990, like he almost went by that professionally. Um, so it's funny because now we're having this debate with our, you know, our family members of like we're all the grandmas want to be called something, and I'm like, it's my daughter's determination of what you're being called. So stop getting stop getting it.

Aaron 52:03

Yeah, it's like trying to pick your nickname amongst your friends, right? Like, that's not how it works. They pick your nickname. Exactly. Yeah, for sure. I I I loved everything about that story until you said you were born in 1990. Oh, that makes me feel wall. Well, because you are.

Cliff 52:29

No, no, no.

Aaron 52:34

So the question would be granddad is a whiskey drinker. Did granddad have a go-to bottle that like that that always harkens you back to to grandpa? No, he was a wine drinker.

Cliff 52:52

My grandfather was a wine drinker, so no, there's a lot of bourbon in my family coming from New Jersey and then DC, not a large history of bourbon. I think maybe the bourbon in my family really comes when I went to school in West Virginia. And like I said earlier, we would just go on the weekends to Lexington, Kentucky, and kind of betting on the ponies, and that kind of just started my infatuation at a young age with with bourbon, which at the time I think the only thing I could afford was old granddad, you know, way back in the day. So Cliff is gen one. Gen one. I like it. Daughter's already gen two, you know, already she's already part of the whiskey business.

Gavin 53:28

Yeah, right.

Cliff 53:29

I mean, her name is on a label.

Aaron 53:31

Wait till she starts tea, then then she'll be a consumer as well. So so Gavin, how about you? Did did I mean we've talked a little bit about our dads uh on the past, right? Did dad have a bottle that like now every time you see one, like you can't help but think of dad?

Gavin 53:46

Yeah, so my dad, um hate it or not, he was a crown guy. Um you can't say you hate your dad on the air. No, hate it. Oh, hate that he was a crown drinker. Yeah, okay. Sorry. You you either have people that are okay with crown or you got people that are snooty and say, no, I won't touch that stuff. This guy right here.

Aaron 54:08

No, it's not fair. We did a we did taste crown on the air, and I actually thought it wasn't that bad.

Gavin 54:13

Yeah, but that was not your normal crown.

Aaron 54:16

No, no, no. It was it was bougie crown.

Gavin 54:18

It was bougie crown. Um, so there's just something about um um crown and coke. When I my crown and coke was like the thing that my dad would go drink whenever we'd go bowling or whatever. Um, and so that's what I order when I go bowling, and I pretty much only order it when I'm at the bowling alley. It is like the homage.

Aaron 54:40

So many fun storylines I want to explore. Oh no. Back when back when dad and I were little and we'd go bowling together. Nothing screams I'm from Oklahoma, more than dad and I going bowling. I mean, why not? Is that better to do? I don't I don't know if I've ever seen my father bowl. Really?

Gavin 55:00

No, my dad ran a bowling alley for a while. Well, that makes a lot more sense. And then and then I worked in that same bowling alley years later uh when I was in high school and college. Um, so yeah, Crown of Coke was like his thing, and and so the the purple velvet bags and all of those fun things were just normal things around the house or whatever. Like he'd use them for, I don't know, like uh to put random stuff in. Screws, bolts, screws, bolts, put a jack of cigarettes and a lighter and carrying around. I mean, whatever, right?

Aaron 55:33

I so I I fell somewhere in the middle. Um as a as a young child, I don't remember my dad ever really drinking much. Um I he would guys would come over for poker night and he'd drink some beers, but like it wasn't it wasn't a regular thing. Um, and then about the time I started getting into whiskeys, that was about the same time he got into whiskeys. And my dad is an avid, peedy, smoky scotch guy. And I'll be honest, my dad has an absolute disdain for bourbon, which I keep quite out of my head around. Like, I don't know how you like one and not at least appreciate the other. But uh typically it's the other way around. You're in the States for sure, right? Go overseas, and I don't know if that pattern quite old. So one of the things you often see in TV, movies, whatever, right? The glass of whiskey is used as a setting for one generation to pass upon the next generation clips of knowledge, if you will. Was there a moment that you can recall, Cliff, where you're sitting down and grandpa's got his or I should say, right? Got his glass of wine, and he sits down and begins to wax poetically about uh the finer aspects of life, and you just kind of got to sit there and absorb that? Or was he a philosopher?

Cliff 57:04

No, he probably thought he was a philosopher, you know, because he went to Harvard. But I think my most uh connotation with Sam was falling down our family stairs after way too many glasses of wine. And that's when we then decided you will be getting the non-alcoholic wine when you visit all the house. Maybe we shouldn't have you sleep in the basement, you know. So I think he was a man. Retired, and you know, then he took full advantage of I don't have to do anything anymore. I can just drink, you know, Chardonnay every day. So, you know.

Gavin 57:33

I think somebody else made a reason to fall down the stairs.

Aaron 57:36

I fell up the stairs. And I actually had not been drinking, I was just in a hurry.

Gavin 57:42

We were on a we were on a phone, I think, yesterday.

Aaron 57:45

Yeah, yesterday. I I was this this week's a short week, right? Like, so normally we we try to shoot episodes in advance, but today we're shooting, and then just in a few short days, like this has to go live. Um, and so I was trying to get as much stuff pre-prepped up and ready to go. And I was on the phone with Gavin and I had something in my hand, and I was hustling up the stairs, and I missed one, and I fell on the stairs, stone sober, not a drop of alcohol in my system. So I remember the phone drop. I'm okay. In fairness, I was fine, right? I wasn't you're here today. I'm here today. I so for me, like there is even when we're not talking about dads, right? Being fellow dads, that we often get together and we share kind of the insights of what it means to be dad. Um, I think there is something wonderful about the community and camaraderie that surrounds a glass. Like Gavin and I are often making this. I I won't say joke because I don't think it's a joke. We often say that what's in the glass is less important than the people around it, right? That's the beauty of what whiskey is, for me at least, right? Is that it's an excuse to sit down, it's an opportunity to sit and share it's a vessel. Life experiences, stories, whatever, whatever you want to uh share. And I think that's where what it means to have been a son and hurt dad's stories, which ultimately become your stories when you pass them on to your next generation. There is something incredibly moving as a father to hear one of your children quote you to somebody else. Right? Whatever quip it is that you get you become fond of saying. And then this happens to all dads, right? Like I can think of things my dad used to say repeatedly, I can think of things I have said repeatedly. Um, we happen to be uh together with all the kids at Mother's Day, and um somehow the conversation came to the things dad used to yell at the kids. And so then, of course, all my kids are sitting around the table sharing all these things, and I realized like they've been listening all this time. Tears, tears in your eyes, like they've been listening to me, like they've never implied or never suggested they've been listening, but they have been. So it's it's such a powerful thing to think about how customs and traditions and knowledge and stuff passed down from one generation to the next. All right, shall we talk about whiskey here? Yeah, let's do it. Cliff, we're gonna we're gonna talk about what we get. I want to know if yours matches us or not, because I'm not convinced the single barrel isn't a bit of a hoax. And it's just the same stuff that we're getting. Gavin, you were adamant that I went first last time, so I'm sorry, my friend.

Gavin 1:00:54

You're so you're on the hook. Um, I think on the nose, this one. Um I still get the bit of a faking spice note. I think there is a bit of um almost like a red hot on the nose for me on this, and mixed with um, I can't help it.

Aaron 1:01:17

You're gonna say cola again, right?

Gavin 1:01:19

No, I'm gonna say I think there's a bit of a um a dusty peanut. A dusty peanut. A dusty peanut. Like you're at the Texas Roadhouse, and it's the bucket that's there for Tesla. I don't know if you got Texas Roadhouses around. Yeah, we have um I think there's just the bucket of the full peanut.

Aaron 1:01:42

They don't do the buckets anymore.

Gavin 1:01:44

Oh damn you, COVID. Well, shows you how long it's been around since I've actually been to Texas Roadhouse. Um but that's what it reminds me of. I think that there's uh I mean I can't get away from the bean peanut thing, but that's influenced it.

Aaron 1:02:00

I I see the cinnamon. Um, I think more like big red gum, maybe. Okay, right? Not quite as sweet of cinnamon as I think of one, I think, of red hot. Um, yeah, right. A little bit of clove, a little bit of baking spice on the nose. Um, I think as you roll into the palate, um some of that softens and the sweetness shows up. I can't you can't help but compare the two, right? Like we went from one that I I think was much sweeter and caramel vanilla-y on the nose to this one's a little sharper right now. I'll say historically, I've always said one of the beauties of old Grandad 114 is like there's nothing abrupt about it, right? It's very much the standard C chord, right, on the keyboard. Um, and but it's funny now to compare the two. Like, like this one now has a distinct flavor that stands out compared to the previous bottle, um, which is a funny twist to me. I cliff, you agreeing on your end?

Cliff 1:03:03

Yeah, so I think I haven't had the single barrel before, so this is interesting to try compared to you know, tons of times having a classic old granddad, I would say on here. The rye really comes out a lot. Maybe that's just because this is a single barrel. So I think I'm getting, you know, those notes, and maybe it I'm I don't feel like it's it's 114. I feel like it's higher on the proof point. But again, like we said, we just had the the girl done, which is really sweet. So um and I would say on this, I think this would be amazing in any good cocktail that you wanted to really make it a little stronger. You know, I think this would be the perfect uh mixer because I think it was like $35 at Costco, which is perfect to add into a drink to just really, you know, after a uh a stiff day, you know, have a have a good stiff drink.

Aaron 1:03:50

Price point screams, do whatever you want with this, right? Like it's it's it's go to town. Yeah, I take a flyer on a cotton tail you never tried before, right? If you if you hate it, like you didn't waste a bunch of high dollar whiskey. Um I I'm I'm with Cliff on the rye note, but I think it actually becomes a little bit more prominent on the palate than I think it was on the nose. Um, do you agree on the rye side of things?

Gavin 1:04:22

I I I do agree with the rye. Um I think the peanut influence on this for me continues on. And I think there's maybe it's just because I've been eating a lot of nutty bars lately, but I think that there is a a peanut chocolatey note that just screams uh little Debbie nutty bar to me. Oh yeah. Like I remember like the with the with the wafers. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. That is that is just right down the middle for me on that.

Aaron 1:05:00

So often when we talk rye, mint and dill come to mind. And I don't get either of those two. I get more of that pumper nickel bread, rye bread kind of bite. Can we just say nickel? I do like who doesn't love the one where um yeah, I so to me, like when when when you sit down and start tasting high-ry bourbons, right? You get those three flavors, and they can sometimes show up in pairs, but this one I get almost no mint. I get absolutely no dill, but I get pepper. Yes, you get that that that black pepper, that kind of bite.

Cliff 1:05:38

Um I mean, that's what it's on this label, it's just black. So I mean, I wonder if they're paying painting that other people are leaning into the white granddad, but there's black, you know.

Aaron 1:05:50

So I to me, again, like you can't help but contrast the two bottles setting in front of us. Right. One of them leaned into the baking space. Spice and sweet aspect, the other went baking spice and peppery dry. Um, I mean, honestly, I've had old granddad before blind, right? And he didn't know what it was. And I thought, hmm, too simple, right? Just didn't have enough of something to catch my attention. And then I've had other sifts where I was like, oh, so beautifully balanced, right? Nothing is out of whack in it. Um, which I think is a different way of saying the same thing, right? Um it's it's intriguing to me that now I've identified a flavor profile that stands out to some extent. All right. Numbers.

Gavin 1:06:43

Oh man, go back to the girl dad.

Aaron 1:06:45

No, I'm I'm gonna I'm kind of saving this for my my close out.

Gavin 1:06:49

All right. So numbers.

Aaron 1:06:52

Um I'm gonna well I think I think it's a I think it's a fair thing to ask Cliff. Yeah, no, no, second, you have to go first. It's not fair to make Cliff go first.

Gavin 1:07:04

Okay. So for me, old granddad 114 um is a bottle that I have recommended probably more than anything to anybody that is just more than anything? Just that's just starting out. They're like, hey, I I don't know what to get. I don't I don't want to guide them to a for those who can't spell bourbon, this is the bourbon they're giving them. Is that what you're saying? Well, I'm I'm saying I don't want them to go out and spend $100 on a scotch or $60 on a bourbon. Let's let's get them into something. Um you know, I might give them a few options, something that may not be as quite high proof, but at $114 proof for the price point, I think it is just phenomenal, honestly. It may not be um may not be the most outrageous, but I think for 114 for the price point, I am setting it like an 85 on this guy.

Aaron 1:08:11

I cannot argue with an 85. I I will later, but I want to hear Cliff's number first.

Cliff 1:08:18

So again, I have the single barrel, so it's a little bit different. I think it's way better than what I've had before with old granddad. Also, it being a single barrel, I think the MSRP was $44 or something on that. So it's it's a really good deal for a single barrel. But I think, like I said, I I think it I don't think it's as amazing as maybe just being a little bit different than a typical old granddad. So I'm giving it like a 75, you know. I think I think it really is still a great value, great bourbon. But for them creating a whole new line that I think is pretty much exactly the same as the old granddad, you know. I think they're kind of reaching to try to get that single barrel market, and I I can't remember any, I don't really taste any differences.

Gavin 1:09:04

Well, what I would say is I would love to actually taste these next to each other, exactly. Um, and really dive into the difference between a single barrel or the standard release. So all right. So I'm at an 85, you're you're at a 75, Aaron.

Aaron 1:09:22

I I'm gonna buck the trend here and not have mine in a five. Oh, right. So 65 and 95 were both off the table. I I personally I'm at an 82. I would say its price point helps. I think if if this was more expensive, my number would have come down just a little bit, right? Um, but because it is so affordable, um, ultimately what I'll say is there's there's nothing objectionable to Old Grand Dead 114, but there's nothing that wows me either, right? Which kind of puts it right around the upper 70s, low 80s range for me. Um, yeah, I I I like the idea of how do you put this into a cocktail? How do you put it into a mixer? If if a buddy came over and said, I want a whiskey and several cubes of ice, sure, knock yourself out, right? Not gonna bother me in the least. Um, so yeah, to me, 82, have it on the shelf if if you've got a spot for it, but um I'm I'm not I'm not knocking over a little old lady on the way through the door to try to grab one of these, right?

Gavin 1:10:36

You're not you're not camping out at the looking.

Aaron 1:10:38

No, no, no. This is not an overnight stay.

Cliff 1:10:40

Which is funny because I just looked at it. So I said, like I said, I got the cost of and and and I'm looking online real quick, and typically this goes for like 50 bucks, 50, 53 bucks. So it's almost double the price of a typical old granddad. So for double the price, it's it's not you know double the value, double the taste, I would say.

Aaron 1:11:00

So to that, I cliff, let it let us start by saying one, thank you very much for being here. We appreciate that immensely. Um, we know your time is limited between real nine to five job, running bourbon dad bourbon, and raising a girl. Um, it's a daunting task. And so cheers and kudos to you for all of that. We thank you very much for coming on tonight. We appreciate it.

Gavin 1:11:29

For uh before we let you go, can you tell the folks out there where they can pick up Girl Dad Bourbon?

Cliff 1:11:37

So, yeah, so so like we said, we we sold out um first time within minutes on Steelbox, sold out with like in under an hour the second time. Um, the strategy for the moving forward for the summer is to release on another distribution site that should then get us in 48 states um for online resale, as well as we're starting to work with getting into um uh retail locations in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, and I think Kentucky. So we're definitely trying to spend the summer, you know, kind of you know, regrouping, figuring out next plan of attack, and then trying to be available more across the country.

Gavin 1:12:21

Okay. Awesome. Well, uh again, we just want to say thank you so much for uh spending the the time with us.

Aaron 1:12:28

Um before you before you cheers, is that the right glass? No. I feel like I feel like I feel like the scores suggest we know which bottle we're cheering with. For sure.

Gavin 1:12:39

Um, first and foremost, um, for the fathers out there, happy Father's Day. Um we appreciate every single person um that watches the show. We appreciate all the dads out there doing the hard work, being present, um, always being there for your kids. And we absolutely love being girl dads. So cheers.

Speaker 1:13:07

Cheers. We want to thank you, our noble listener, for joining us. We believe each whiskey has a story, and so do you. So give us your thoughts by leaving a comment. And if you have a whiskey you'd like to see us share, let us know. You don't want to miss a single episode, but subscribe to our YouTube channel and make sure to like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to stay up to date on the Noble Dream. If you find watching it difficult, you can always listen to each episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. As always, be noble and enjoy your dream responsibly.