Embark on an enlightening quest into bourbon's heart and soul, where the intricate craftsmanship and storied culture of America's native spirit come alive. With the wisdom of our bourbon sage, Greg Snyder and a tip of the hat to Alan Bishop of the One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute, we unravel the complexities that give bourbon its robust character. From the essential ingredients and the meticulous aging process to the historical fabric that weaves bourbon's rich tapestry, this episode is a masterclass that will elevate your understanding and appreciation of this iconic whiskey.
Join us as we navigate the burgeoning growth of the bourbon industry and address the critical issue of sustainability, particularly in white oak barrel production. We dig into the challenges and innovative solutions being implemented to preserve the future of bourbon's essential companion—the barrel. Alongside insights from industry veterans, we recount the evolution of bourbon since 1978, exploring the transformation of drinking cultures and the shift in popular tastes. For those venturing into bourbon tasting, fear not; we'll guide you through 'bridge bourbons' and the art of tasting to ensure your journey is as smooth as the spirit itself.
Culminating this exploration, we offer practical wisdom on storing and savoring bourbon to its fullest potential. Learn the nuances of oxidation, aeration, and how to maintain the integrity of your collection. Discover the craft of whiskey thieving and how to choose your first bottle of bourbon with confidence. And remember, as the Scotchy Bourbon Boys, we're just a click away on social media and podcast platforms—your companions in celebrating life's pleasures, one sip at a time. Pour a glass and join us for an episode brimming with the essence of bourbon.
https://www.scotchybourbonboys.com
Embark on an enlightening quest into bourbon's heart and soul, where the intricate craftsmanship and storied culture of America's native spirit come alive. With the wisdom of our bourbon sage, Greg Snyder and a tip of the hat to Alan Bishop of the One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute, we unravel the complexities that give bourbon its robust character. From the essential ingredients and the meticulous aging process to the historical fabric that weaves bourbon's rich tapestry, this episode is a masterclass that will elevate your understanding and appreciation of this iconic whiskey.
Join us as we navigate the burgeoning growth of the bourbon industry and address the critical issue of sustainability, particularly in white oak barrel production. We dig into the challenges and innovative solutions being implemented to preserve the future of bourbon's essential companion—the barrel. Alongside insights from industry veterans, we recount the evolution of bourbon since 1978, exploring the transformation of drinking cultures and the shift in popular tastes. For those venturing into bourbon tasting, fear not; we'll guide you through 'bridge bourbons' and the art of tasting to ensure your journey is as smooth as the spirit itself.
Culminating this exploration, we offer practical wisdom on storing and savoring bourbon to its fullest potential. Learn the nuances of oxidation, aeration, and how to maintain the integrity of your collection. Discover the craft of whiskey thieving and how to choose your first bottle of bourbon with confidence. And remember, as the Scotchy Bourbon Boys, we're just a click away on social media and podcast platforms—your companions in celebrating life's pleasures, one sip at a time. Pour a glass and join us for an episode brimming with the essence of bourbon.
https://www.scotchybourbonboys.com
Hey Scotchy Bourbon Boys fans, this is Alan Bishop, Indiana's alchemist of the Black Forest, so I'm tuning in here today to tell you all about the One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute channel on YouTube. If you're at all interested in the art of distilling whether it be home distilling or professional distilling, and the intense geekery that goes into that process, then check out the One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute on YouTube. I promise you're going to learn something you didn't know before about the arts. Hey, virgil, we'll see you next time, all right?
Speaker 3:Welcome back to another exciting podcast of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys Tiny here tonight. I'm soloing it. Every once in a while I get to do that. It's kind of fun, it's. Tonight's subject is bourbon basics. We're going to cover the bourbon basics 101. We're going to cover and I know that Greg Schneider is listening and I've heard him talk about the bourbon basics probably seriously 25 to 30 times. So if I haven't learned everything from that, I don't know who you know. I had one of the greatest teachers in Greg Schneider. You're also talking about Alan talked with Alan Bishop, all the people who make bourbon and what the.
Speaker 3:You know there's a lot of rules to follow but in the same sense when you hear all the rules you think, well then there must not be too much of a difference in taste and we're going to cover that. And then we're going to get into how you start getting into the bourbon. You know the culture and what people are doing and the reason why they get into it. You know we'll cover that also. But remember wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys. We've got Glen Cairns and we also have t-shirts and bourbon balls. So contact me. You can contact me on the website. Just put it through on the website. There's a ability to buy all that, but at the same time, if you don't want to do that, contact me direct and we'll set something up.
Speaker 3:And then also remember to watch and listen to us on all social media. We are on facebook, instagram, youtube and x, and then also on the major podcast formats, mainly Apple, iheart and Spotify. But remember like, listen, leave good feedback and subscribe. It all means something. I would appreciate anybody who hasn't put on a review on Apple to please give us a review. We're doing all right. We come up. There's been, you know, over the years. You get good and bad reviews, but our good reviews just keep coming. So the more good reviews we got, the more people who get to listen. So check that out.
Speaker 3:There we are starting to get going. It's really. Youtube is going, facebook is going and the podcast formats are starting to pick back up. We are going to be in November, approaching our fifth year. Right now. I believe tonight is either our 75th or 76th episode and we've had over 51,000 downloads over those years and the first couple of years. You don't get a lot and then it just keeps picking up and we're doing pretty good there. Everybody who I talked to tells me all about that. And then you get a lot of irons in the fire about what you can do. We're looking at producing more videos you know the equipment that we got and then also we're also looking at maybe getting on TV. So who knows what we're going to be able to do, but it's all coming up and we're excited to do that. Now. I just want to talk about right now the three, because I can and I'm by myself and tonight's podcast will go fairly quick.
Speaker 3:The three sponsors the Spirit of french lick, who recently alan bishop was the master distiller and left. Uh, is still our sponsor. Uh, the people there. Justin whaley uh, he is now the head distiller there and I'm working with him to update our media. That'll be happening hopefully sometime in june. And then also, uh, the know we're going to keep promoting that.
Speaker 3:The whiskey that is going out right now is Allen's and we're hoping that there's some sort of consulting kind of thing that happens as the whiskey goes forward. He's gone on to Old Homestead and he's over there right now and that's awesome. Uh, we're gonna be following him there. He sponsors our with his one piece at a time distilling institute. We promote that. And then he also uh has if you have ghosts, you have everything which is a awesome spirits spiritual podcast. It deals with the alchemy, it deals with the dark you know the cult and it, you know ghosts and it also deals with distilling. I mean it's you know the spirits, it's straight across. So love to have Alan as a sponsor and look forward to what's happening with him. And then also Jason Giles, the person bringing back Rosewood Bourbon.
Speaker 3:Rosewood Bourbon you can pick that up on the Bourbon Outfitters, check it out there, search it. They've got their bourbon in their rye. You want to go there, check it out. You can get it there online and then also know that the Rosewood bourbon I didn't. Tonight you learned something. Now I'll keep going and finding more and more out about it. I know I like it. It is a bourbon that is distilled in Kentucky, and the one he did have an Indiana brand too, but they call it Contexian bourbon because then he drives it all the way down to Texas and brings the barrels down and finishes finish aging them in the Texas heat. So it's a combination of aging in Kentucky and Texas.
Speaker 3:The brand that got in the movie Shawshank Redemption. The main reason I'm forgetting what is the. They were there and the crime was being committed. He had finished a bottle of Rosewood bourbon and left the bottle with his fingerprints on the front lawn and that's why he was convicted of the crime. So it's a cool story. It's a cool bourbon. It tastes delicious.
Speaker 3:I mean, that is when I'm Jason, I met him. He got me some of his bourbon and I have to say, when I first was drinking on my back porch I didn't know and you know you talk about all the different things and all the different bourbons but I was impressed. So it's good to have Rosewood Bourbon as a sponsor and we are working on all the sponsorship stuff. So I think I got all this stuff covered and got it out of the way, besides the fact that I decided to fall before and take a pretty big hit. Fell into the shelves, stuff fell on top of me. It was a pretty loud crash, fell right into the you know the Phil lighting flock Christmas tree. So I was flocked and got to eat and inhale that. But I'm feeling it right now. But here I am still doing the podcast. I did that about an hour ago so, and I was setting up and had little time, so that's why you saw a little bit.
Speaker 3:Hey, walker, uh, yes, played by Tim Ryan and his name was Andy Dufresne. Andy Dufresne, yes, thank you, walker. You, you, you're there for me, my friend, and that is a great movie, don't we always? Yep, we were talking me and Jason were talking about. You know, it's Rosewood Berman. It's in the movie Shawshank Redemption, and whose movie is that not? You know, that is pretty much men and women's favorite movie. That is just a great movie, and you know, and it's just we. You know, everybody loves it and it's really kind of a cool brand to be bringing back.
Speaker 3:Initially, when he was purchasing a brand to bring back that was out there, he didn't pick it because that he found out. Jason found that out afterwards. But you know, if you did that and found that out afterwards, I mean I think you could roll with that. I mean there's no doubt it's in there, you own it and it should be pretty cool. All right, so we're talking bourbon basics tonight. The one thing that I want to do is maybe, you know, I've been on pretty much probably 80 in the last five years, probably 80, 90 tours, probably over a hundred. I have been with master distillers across all, across Kentucky, indiana and Ohio.
Speaker 3:Everybody has a different way of producing spirits and it really comes down to. There's the five basic rules of bourbon that everybody starts with One, it has to be made in the United States. Then two, it has to be made from cereal grains, where corn being at least 51% of the mash bill and of what the recipe is, and then you can go from there. Then that's to be bourbon and then that's so. We got that. It has to be distilled at no high, come off the still at no higher than 160 proof 160 proof. And it has to go into the barrel at no higher than 125 proof and it must be aged in a brand new charred oak barrel. The oak can be American oak, it could be French oak, but it just has to be a brand new charred oak barrel.
Speaker 3:So those are the five major rules of making bourbon. Now, when you're going about making bourbon, the whole process of distilling there are so many different areas. One your mash bill, it has to be 51% corn, but you can use a lot of different oats or grains You're talking about. The four major grains are corn, obviously, wheat, rye and barley. Those are the classic grains used to make bourbon. The rye, so the number one was corn, rye and barley Wheat has entered into it. When you do the corn wheat you could do a four grain bourbon corn, wheat, rye and barley. You could switch it around. But you can do kasha, you can do buckwheat, you can do. I mean, if as long as it's a grain, it can. Sorghum, I mean grains, can go in and it still can be bourbon. It doesn't have to be the main bourbons. Then the other thing is it's got to be made.
Speaker 3:In the United States there's so many people still to this day, especially people who begin, uh think it has to be made, made in Kentucky. Now they say when I first started, 95% was being made in Kentucky and now it's the. It's probably more like into the 80s somewhere because the bourbon boom has gone across the country where I believe at one point there was they were down to not single digits but as far as distilleries. And then now we are over, I want to say 2000 in the United States, that's what I'm remembering. But as the bourbon boom exploded I mean exploded there's just there's distilleries everywhere throughout the country and there's regions. I mean you've got just, for instance, rosewood Bourbon, even though it's made in Kentucky and aged in Texas. There's a bunch of Texas distilleries. There's Texas, and each different place has its own terroir. Now, what is terroir? Terroir is the grains. So as you go south you get the Midwest will grow wheat and rye. And now when you go north, in like into canada, the wheat isn't as hearty, the rye is way more a. You know right, it doesn't have to be uh, uh greg schneier just reminded me it doesn't have to be a brand new charred oak barrel. It could be a brand new charred oak, any kind of container. Um, I know that the story when you go to wild turkey is, jimmy russell said and there's no age time to be in the barrel to be bourbon. Now we could get into the kentucky straight bourbon, which is you have, it's got to be in the barrel to be bourbon, now we could get into the Kentucky straight bourbon which is you have. It's got to be in the barrel at least two years, whereas, but to be Kentucky bourbon, jimmy Russell said you could take a charred oak pail, five gallon pail. You could distill and fill that pail up with distillate, walk across the plant and put it in the bottle and call it bourbon. It was in an actual oak container. I love that story and it's true. Now you know, we've got the definition.
Speaker 3:That's where you can get into the history of bourbon itself and where it came from. And Greg likes to tell the story that there was. The whiskey was being produced, corn whiskey was being produced in Bourbon County, which is in Kentucky. Whiskey was being produced in Bourbon County, which is in Kentucky, and it was being brought to the river. I believe that on that part of in Maysville, in that area, and that's where they put it on it's the Ohio and sent it down to the Mississippi, to the Mississippi and down the Mississippi into New Orleans. And New Orleans had a place called Bourbon Street, but that's where some people think that the name came from, because it was being drank at Bourbon Street.
Speaker 3:But the unique aspect of it is that they were putting it into and there was no rule about what you could do. They were shipping it in barrels. Now, a lot of times, you know, we don't know where the char part of the barrel came, but everybody can speculate. Somebody said that it was Elijah Craig used wood from a burned barn. I mean, there's certain things and he made his barrel, but it's probably. The speculation is that other things were shipped in barrels. Everything was being shipped in wooden barrels and you would basically the inside of the barrel would be. So the way to keep the contaminants out would be burn the inside of the barrel, burn out what was there, and then put your whiskey in and send it down the river. Now, when they put it in, it was clear it wasn't whiskey. On the frontier in the 1800s A lot of people drank whiskey. That was clear.
Speaker 3:Be me and Scotchy would have to comment. Would love to comment, all right. Comment. Would love to comment, all right. So I am going to send Greg Schneider ability to get directly into this meeting and the way that I do that is I need his first. Let's see if I can find it here. Find it here. Search Greg Schneider. Oh, that's the wrong keyboard. All right.
Speaker 3:We're going to do this, we're going to get him in. He wants to come on the podcast, so all right, let's see if that's working. G Search, g-r-e. There it is. So I hope, greg, I am texting you, control V the invitation and you're going to. You're going to be on through your phone. There you go. You've got that, you've got mail, or you've got a text. At least you could come on on your phone directly into the zoom meeting. Now did that is the right one? Right, inviting you bourbon basics. So if you come on, it's the same way as always. Now do you need, if you need, me to email? You're not disrupting anything bringing greg schneider on for bourbon basics. I mean, you know them directly.
Speaker 3:But at the same time, as we keep going but one of the things that happened when you took months to ship it down the river it's traveling, sloshing around. Obviously bad weather, good weather on the river, and hopefully he got it. Hope I he's got it. He's probably has to set up because you know, know wherever he is I'm trying to see. Holy crap, that didn't leave too much of a bruise. But as it's going down the river, it's sloshing around and it's in that charred barrel and it picks up the flavor and one of the things that the barrel does.
Speaker 3:So let's talk about bourbon basics. It forms first. You've got the charcoal because it's charred and everybody knows a charcoal filter for you. Put charcoal filters on your Brita water filter or your home, your water filter on the refrigerator or your faucet is made, there's charcoal in there and charcoal takes out the impurities of the water, as you would say does the same thing with whiskey. So you put it in that barrel, you fill it all the way up to the top, you seal it. What the first thing the barrel is going to do is absorb a good amount. I believe someone said up to five pounds, five.
Speaker 3:All right, I'm still looking for Greg. I did send him or text him. I don't know if it's the right phone that I texted him, but I think it is. I'm. We'll wait, but uh, so we bring in. So there you go, where the charcoal is. But where the wood and the charcoal meet the wood, sugars caramelize. So you've got a layer of caramel right there. So as it sucks it into the wood and absorbs the moisture of the, I'm hoping, hoping you got it. Well, I'll try an email. Let's see if I can email it to them it. Well, I'll try an email. Let's see if I can email it to him. All right, I'll try it one more. Let's go to send it to. This is kind of fun. I never did this before, but we'll send it to Greg Schneider. There we go.
Speaker 3:Oh, greg Schneider, grain and barrel. Let's try grain and barrel, all right. Subject Subject would be podcast and I'm going to just hit that and send All right, now I emailed you, greg. All right, hope you could get it that way. I've emailed you them. That's your computer, but you got an email and a text, so let's hope that works. All right, so that caramelization layer is where. So what happens with wood, with heat and cold, is that when it's hot, the wood opens up, the, the moisture opens up and it expands so that it can take more whiskey into the wood. But as it gets cold, it puts. But couldn't connect with the code they sent. Oh, there you go. So obviously did the email work, greg, here it comes. We're bringing them in, folks, we're bringing them in now. Uh, from youtube standpoint, you guys are going to have to hope that we. I'll turn on a microphone so we can listen, but I don't have it set up yeah, you're, he's there he's coming, he's trying, all right.
Speaker 3:So it comes down to that it, when it's cold, it pushes it back out of the wood through the caramel, through the filter and back into the barrel. It does this as it heats up and it gets hot and cold. In Kentucky it can get really hot and sometimes what that does is open up the wood so much that the whiskey goes all the way through and out. That happens in extreme heat in the upper barrels. Now, yes, he's trying, he'll get it, we'll just wait till he gets it. So then, when it comes down to it, just keeps going back and forth. When someone talks about rapid aging, what they try and do is they try and heat the barrel up and cool it down artificially a lot of times and they say then that ages it to be a five-year bourbon. There's no such thing as uh, there is no such thing as artificial. Maybe I have to let you in. Let's see I might. Let's go. Participants Greg, more and the camera's off. Let's see, I can't.
Speaker 3:Moore, now he's coming in on the other one. Ask to start video. There's the microphone. Can you hear me, greg? Now you got to get the video going. Shit, god damn it. Why are you so complicated? Get the video going Shit God damn it.
Speaker 4:Why are you so complicated, brother Jesus?
Speaker 3:You're almost there, I can hear you, so I mean.
Speaker 4:I can see you and hear you, but I don't know where the video is, because I clicked on the video, but let's see.
Speaker 3:Try to get. Maybe when you click the video it clicked it off. I believe it's in the top right hand corner. Are you on your phone?
Speaker 4:Zoom, zoom, zoom zoom, let's try zoom.
Speaker 3:So the zoom bottom left hand corner. But you know what we're on audio Wait wait, wait. Oh there you are.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can see you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can't see you, but what the hell? And then turn it vertical or horizontal, That'll work good. That works good Because everybody on YouTube will be able to see Right now it's vertical, just turn it. What is that? Your phone? Yeah, if you turn it horizontal it'll flip. Yep, there you go. Now you're filling out the whole box.
Speaker 4:My bourbon glass is empty, so shut up filling out the whole box.
Speaker 3:There it is. My bourbon glass is empty, so shit.
Speaker 4:I'm trying to talk to you tonight with an empty bourbon glass.
Speaker 3:That's not good, man. Well, I haven't had any yet. And it's funny. I have a bourbon Christmas tree slash Packer, slash bourbon and baseball and just you know all around. But what it does is it's a pre-lit tree so I get really good fill light for it. So I take it out of the podcast but I just leave it for the fill light right. So I it's flocked. It's a flock tree. I fell straight face first into it. I was like I tipped over like the eiffel tower jam. I mean I just totally put this into the shelf. All the stuff behind me starts falling down. I'm like hearing crashing and banging and I'm like, did I break? I did not break a bottle, but I was breathing flock. Oh yeah, she didn't hear it. She was upstairs watching a TV show. I went up there, she took care of me, but I was actually breathing flock.
Speaker 4:I'm glad you're all right.
Speaker 3:Well, and I said to her I said there's some nights, you know, that go long on the podcast and I never tripped before that. Now I haven't even had an ounce of anything, you know, and I'm falling down into the Christmas tree. But you know we're guys. You know, if that would have been her, we would have been at the hospital and I wouldn't have been podcasting, that's for sure. She's tough Give her credit Anyways. Alright, so we're talking about bourbon basics. I did not screw up the rules, though I know I had those right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you did. Basically, I mean the federal regulations the standards of identity say that to be a bourbon whiskey it has to be 51% corn in the match bill. It cannot come off the still higher than 160 proof. It has to be aged in a new charred oak container and it can't go in that new charred oak container higher than 125 proof. The last two years I think the TTV, the government, has talked about changing the language of container into a barrel because again companies try to take the regulation.
Speaker 4:the skew them to to weigh benefits and it you know, it was intended to be a oak barrel, but they say container, so right, so companies have tried to excuse that so anyhow.
Speaker 3:Um, well, I know, with the barrels, I guess it's still a container well, but but I know the with the barrel shortage there's some people doing some experimental barrel type things where they're using oak but not, and they're trying to get the amount of oak that still touches the bourbon but use less oak. I mean it's just. I mean they're doing it because there's it's coming to. We all know there's going to be a point when there's not going to be enough barrels. I mean there's just, you can't just keep doing this.
Speaker 4:No, there's going to be enough barrels. I mean, I mean the white oaks apply. People get concerned about oh, we've got to hug this tree because it's going to be gone someday. I'm sorry, you know when. I was in the barrel business, Jim, I tracked. Every year I got reports from the Department of Forestry, National Department of Forestry, and every five years they were doing an inventory. And the truth is is that when they do an inventory, compared to the previous five years, the amount of white oak grew 10% to 15%.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 4:If you look back in previous years, every year, every five years, they would do that inventory and white oak grew 5% to 10%. And the issue was is that when you cut one of these huge oak trees because oak grows very slow, when you cut one of these huge oak trees because oak grows very slow, I mean most white oak trees that people cut to make barrels are 80 to 120 years old or more. And when you cut one of those big oak trees, man, you used to open up a huge canopy of sunlight and there's, you know, 10 to 15 acorns that have sprouted.
Speaker 4:They're growing up, and now they got sunlight, so now they grow. So that's why the 10 to 15 percent growth rate has been sustained for many, many years Now. With that said, in the last 10, 12 years, as the bourbon industry has flourished, you know, I don't think that's the same numbers.
Speaker 4:But they're probably still dominant and there has been a lot of, so many issues and so many initiatives to sustain white oak in the country and so many plantings of white oak and acorns throughout to kind of help support, sustain that, that, that, uh, you know that inventory, so I'm not, I'm not concerned with the, the inventory of white oak, um, but yeah, it's critical phone, you know. We've discussed it numerous times right you want to make a high quality bourbon whiskey, you better have a high quality white oak barrel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and, and like you said we're, we're far along into the bourbon history, where, where, where. You know, if it was just starting as an industry, then you'd have to be planting every year new oak trees and you need a 70, you know, like you said, a 75 to 100. But but it's been around so long and they've been always replenishing the oak, knowing they needed to make more barrels. It's just where you're right. It's just like they just have to plant more trees as they take more and just they'll get through the they've, they've done enough. There's enough oak to keep going. You know so. But you know I. It seems like even now, just what you've been hearing in the last month, that the production is going to start to the. The distilleries aren't going to be putting up as much as they were putting up, because it's going to. It's kind of flattening out as far as it's still growing.
Speaker 4:But it's inevitable. I mean, you know this, this, this swaying, has been great. I mean to see the industry, the bourbon industry, flourish like it has for 12 years now at least, if not more, and it's awesome. Now is it going to continue that? You know, for years, I mean eight years ago, people were saying, oh, it's going to bottom out, it's going to bottom out. Yeah, eventually it's going to flatten out. I mean, you look at history, history, whether it's vodka, whether it's gin, whether it's rum, whether it's bourbon, there's cyclical ups and downs and you've got to look at the history and bourbon has been on a big swing right now and it's going to start flattening out at some point. Not going to diminish for a while, but it's going to flatten out. There's so many companies that have jumped on board and gotten into the industry and that's great. I'd love to see it. Again.
Speaker 4:I was in this industry since 1978. I saw it about now. I got into it when it was declining. So you know, it's great to see the repletion, I mean the surgence of it, it's great.
Speaker 3:So when you in 1978? How old were you? 1978 uh when I started industry, I was 21 years old okay, so at that time you had been drinking for three years, I guess it was eight, it was 18. Yeah, I mean when, when, somewhere around that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, when I got through, I mean, okay, you were drinking. Okay, yes, it was. I mean, I remember when I was it's funny because I graduated when I was 17 years old and I remember my ninth grade graduation party. We were in a field drinking beer. So that puts me at 14.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I was waiting on bourbon, right, yeah, it was a different time period back then, there's no doubt about it. Um, I think still it still happens, but it's the way quieter, way quieter, but uh, but still, um, when you first, so when you first started, you were weaned, I mean, but you weren't at, even in 1978, what were the bourbons that people were drinking? I mean, my dad was a jack daniels drinker, so I had a lot of, you know, going out and once I was 18 or whatever I was, I drank jack daniels. But you know, my palate thought jack daniels was really hot and I did a lot of stuff. So when you were getting into bourbon, I mean, were you drinking wild turkey, jim bean, what? What Beam? What was the younger self of you?
Speaker 4:My dad. You know we were modest means and we weren't rich by any means. My dad loved bourbon and basically his go-to was either Early Times, yellowstone Cabin. Still, my dad loved it Most weekends. Again, we were very modest means and if we ate beef during the week it was usually on weekends. My dad had a 55-gallon drum that was cut in half and he made a charcoal grill out of it.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 4:And our beef was. He'd buy a chuck roast Big chuck roast, probably the cheapest kind of beef you could buy at that time. But that was our steak. I mean that's what we knew as steak. He would put a little Worcestershire soy sauce on it and throw it on the grill. My dad was like me.
Speaker 4:And that's kind of where I picked it up from. He grilled with bourbon, his bourbon. He loved a highball. He liked bourbon too. Typically, when he was grilling, he grilled with a highball. His highball was like early times or Kevin Still Yellowstone bourbon with wing. Remember Canada Dry Wing. A Yellowstone bourbon with a wing. Remember Canada dry wing. A lot of people don't recognize wing Cause I think I don't think it exists anymore, it was kind of a citrus flavored cocktail mix.
Speaker 4:Probably the closest thing you find today is squirt maybe. Yeah, but this Canada dry wing and it was. It was amazing. It made a great cocktail. That was his highball. He had a couple highballs while he was grilling our chuck roasts out there. It was phenomenal. That was the highlight of the week. I grew up in a family we hunted, we fished. Dad said if you kill it, you eat it. We hunted, we fished. My dad said if you kill it, you eat it. So we hunted, we fished. Usually it was on the dinner plate. Sometimes most nights turned to wheat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and my experience too. My dad and mom used to. They would go bowling on Friday night. They were in bowling leagues for a good probably six, seven years of my what would you say when I was first starting to get into it and my dad would make my mom a rum and Coke and he would put Jack on the rocks. Or he would make what they called an old-fashioned and in Wisconsin an old-fashioned was brand brandy, but he would use the Jack Daniels and you know, unlike the bourbon old-fashions now, that included white soda too. So I mean, it was like those old drinks they like to put.
Speaker 3:You know this, there was definitely a lot more soda in the drinks than they are. You know, when we're making cocktails now For sure. So, getting into, like when somebody wants to get into it, and as you went forward and you started obviously making it but you were working for Seagram, so the brands that they were making in 1978 were more towards the regular Jim Beam. You know, the more you get into this, and you see the Dustys, they were always making special bottles, right, all the distilleries had special bottles.
Speaker 4:You know Jim Beam was always, you know, the bottom shelf for the lowest price stuff, not knocking Jim Beam. I mean you know they flourished and they were the still are the biggest selling bourbon in the world. I believe you know Jack Daniels is not considered a bourbon, even though they sell more than Jim Beam. But you know people need to realize 1978 Seagram's was a great, great company they had. We had all these country distilleries throughout Kentucky Eagle Rare People rave about Eagle Rare today.
Speaker 4:If you would have tasted it in 1978 or 1979 when I bottled it, it was phenomenal, it was 101 proof. The small, squattier bottle in a little wooden box oh my God At 101 proof, it was phenomenal, it was crazy good. Another bourbon we had is Sigurd Benchmark. Benchmark was the best bourbon by value, by anything. I mean it was phenomenal Back in the late 70s, early 80s and as time goes on you know you've got Purchase by Sazerac. They use a different Nashville on it. It's on a lower price end, but back in its day it was phenomenal.
Speaker 4:Henry McKenna we owned Henry McKenna. Seagram's owned the Henry McKenna Distillery in Fairfield, kentucky when I joined the company and the Henry McKenna bourbon Again, I think it was a couple years ago, henry McKenna, 10-year-old, was the bourbon of the world or whatever. I don't know. I can't remember, was it San Francisco competition? But I'll tell you what. Back in the late 70s, early 80s, it was every bit as good, if not better. So I've been very blessed to work in this industry well long time and made so many great friends, got to drink so many great burps, uh, but yeah, uh, seagram's, uh, back in that day they had some phenomenal burps well, when you think about it, even the Jim Beam at the low end, you taste that today.
Speaker 3:And it wasn't low-end bourbon. It was cheaper bourbon but it was a high-quality bourbon. There's no doubt about it. Starting to get into drinking the Jack Daniels at 80 proof I don't even think Bottled and Bond was that big of a deal. People were just drinking the regular bourbon off the shelf. I just remember thinking Jim Beam and Jack Daniels were expensive. I mean I think Jack Daniels in 1984 was $19.99. And it's still pretty close to the same price. You know what I mean. It's just everything changed, right. I mean what bourbon has become and all these different brands.
Speaker 3:But what I want to do is because this is the basic podcast. You know what bour, what it takes, how it started. I mean why it was in a barrel and then evolved. You know as it went, uh, went into, uh. I mean leading up to prohibition they called a lot of it bourbon because of where it came from and they were saying we want that bourbon from bourbon county, we want that bourbon that, for whatever reason it got called bourbon. But that's what we want. But there was no law. It wasn't like you had to do. I mean, you knew it was corn whiskey, that was the main thing, that the corn was the dominant grain. But there wasn't even a law to call it. That based off of, up until I believe, the resolution in 1964. That was, or three, when that resolution, that's when that became put in stone. It had to be made in the United States, but up until that point it was, but there was no law stating that it had to be right.
Speaker 4:Actually I think it was 1938, shortly after Prohibition was repealed. That's when it came out. The Treasury Department, department of Treasury, united States Treasury they actually were the ruling body of our spirits industry back then. They came out with the Code of Federal Regulations. You know, you can Google it today, but it's a book about four inches thick, if not more, and within that's a rule book. That's a rule book of the spirits industry. So within that book they came out with the code standards of identity, and in the standards of identity they define what bourbon whiskey is, what rye whiskey is, what corn whiskey is, what vodka is, rum, et cetera. They define the entire alcoholic beverage industry and bourbon industry define bourbon, there's four primary requirements. Number one, it has to have 51% corn in the mash bill. Number two, it has to come off the still no higher than 160 proof. Number three, it has to be aged in a new charred oak container. And number four, it can't go into that new charred oak container. It required 125 proofs Then what you're referring to.
Speaker 4:In 1964, us Congress passed a resolution stating that bourbon and whiskey was a distinct product of the United States of America. So if it meets those four criteria, it is made in the United States of America. You can call it bourbon whiskey, you can meet those four criteria and make it anywhere in the world, but you can't call it bourbon whiskey. Just like Scotch whiskey can only be made in Scotland, Irish whiskey can only be made in Ireland and Canadian whiskey can only be made in scotland, irish whiskey can only be made in ireland and canadian whiskey can only be in canada, bourbon whiskey can only be made in the united states of america yeah, and there's a like, for instance, I believe, in canada and scotland, it actually has to be in the in the barrel for at least three or the barrel, I think it for three years.
Speaker 3:So that's something that's different than bourbon, you know. But then they came out with in the barrel for at least three, or the barrel, I think, for three years. So that's something that's different than bourbon. But then they came out with Kentucky Straight bourbon, which guarantees you that it's been at least two years. And then they came out with Bottled and Bond, and Bottled and Bond guarantees that it's been at least four years or more. I mean, there's all the different things in the categories as they went forward.
Speaker 3:For someone beginning, so you know, and you go through when your basic brand of chicken cock Now I have a bottle right here I plan to use tonight. So it's only ironic that you're here, only ironic that you're here. So when you're talking about getting into bourbon for somebody who is, there's two levels. There's people who have been around spirits and have been drinking, let's say, vodka, gin, tequila, and that you know and that, and they're they always didn't know that they like bourbon. But then to convert them to bourbon people a lot of things. I think that scares those people these days is, I think the high proofs of bourbon is kind of a little bit scary to those people. And what I wanted to cover in this particular, if you're a beginner, there are a lot of bourbons still that are in the 80 to 90 proof range, that are what would you call them bridge bourbons, Things that you can taste and drink to get you into it.
Speaker 3:To get you into it because you know you, especially if you get in front of a young person, you know someone just started, a 21 or 24 year old or whatever, and they have all they know is doing shots, correct. But you get them into. You know drinking something and the one thing that you, that they are saying usually is how hot it is. So if you give them 101 proof or whatever, that all they'll do, they'll be like it just burns. It burns, they can't taste it and I think it's because their taste buds are so new, they're like, they're they, they taste everything that it's overwhelming as far as it.
Speaker 3:So you gotta, you know, do the process, the you know we. There's so many different tasting glasses there that that is the Libby right and this is the Kenzie and this is the Glencairn. And you, basically, if you put now, this is a barrel-proof private cask at, I believe, $150. 116.1. And you put it in there, now you put a little bit to taste and if that's a little bit much, putting it on the rocks, isn't that one of your favorite things to do, greg?
Speaker 4:Typically, if I'm tasting a bourbon, I want to taste the meat, I want to taste the barrel or whatever proof the offering is and then typically then after that, I'll put it on the rock, chill it down a little bit, subside the alcohol burn and try to pick up some of the flavors that the alcohol kind of overwhelms the alcohol kind of overwhelms.
Speaker 3:Yep, if you just add a couple drops to a barrel proof. And that's another thing. Yourself, you've known what Booker you know, you've met Booker. You remember Booker. He was your friend along with Elmer T Lee. You've met them and you know their perspective on barrel-strength bourbon. It is not the perspective and I don't think any of them really thought that people would be drinking barrel-strength bourbon today and not watering it down. I think they 100% were like well, we'll give it to them so they can just figure out what proof they want to drink it at.
Speaker 4:It's a fair assessment, Jeff, I mean again, you're right. I mean. Booker was a dear friend, elmer T Lee, jimmy Russell worked for me for 10 years, super dear friend, still is. God bless his soul. And Parker BAM you name it. There's so many, we could go countless of great distillers, master distillers, whatever the term was at the time.
Speaker 4:there, and I've been blessed to know them and hang with him and learn from him. And you're talking about Booker. I mean Booker, I think your dear friend Fred. Fred tells the story. You can tell if his dad had a bad day or not, he'd come home pour some bourbon in a glass straight from the barrel, and it was a good day you know He'll turn on the faucet, run that glass under it and just pass it through and get a little water.
Speaker 4:Right, it was a bad day. He wouldn't even turn on the faucet. He'd put that glass underneath the faucet with no water running and it's drinking. So you know he just that was Booker. He put that glass underneath the faucet with no water running and it's drinking. That was Booker. He's just a great guy, tremendous storyteller. Loved him dearly. And I can't tell you how many fun times we had together socializing. So many barbecues in his backyard and Fred was a part of that. I've been blessed.
Speaker 3:It's it's great industry so the other thing that I've noticed doing tastings and you've done quite a few is that there's a lot of women out there and that is a huge market open, and I think it's one of the reasons why the bourbon boom is what it is and it's not going away. I mean it's funny you could set record after record, year after year, of selling right, but then one year you just basically sell the same as the last year. That's still equaling the record that you broke the year before. You know what I mean. It's like there's a lot of bourbon being sold but, as we know, we still haven't reached the rate of distillation and aging that was done pre-prohibition and there was a lot of distilleries and everything, and we're getting close, I think, but it's not there. But doesn't that say a lot? I think there was only 2 billion people on the planet total back then, and now there's 7 billion, and we still haven't reached the rate that they were drinking whiskey back then.
Speaker 4:Again, it's cyclical. You go back on any spirits and you look at the history and it has its ups and downs. Uh, so it's cyclical. So you know, right now we're enjoying it uh in the bourbon industry. I saw a bottom out. I got into it 1978 when it was on the decline and saw about them out in the 80s and kind of had a little whip in the early 90s with the japanese and austral. But to see it skyrocket in the last 12 plus years it's been great.
Speaker 3:And you really see where I really feel that what's the market that's open to bourbon to grow isn't so much in the United States. They're going to meet the demand soon, I believe, for the, you know, and it's not. I don't know if meeting the demand is a good thing, because Americans always want what they can have. What's going to happen when we all can get what we want? You know, you go to the store and you can buy. You used to be able to buy Pappy right off the shelf.
Speaker 3:It wasn't like people were dying for it. You know, once, once you told everybody they couldn't have it. Then they want it. You know what I mean and it's like. But it is our generation. We are the generation of wanting what we can't have. I will completely. I knew that when I was in third grade and I was collecting wacky packages, I only wanted the one that I couldn't get, you know, and it's just the same, you know, throughout. And that's one thing that they've, you know, marketed. But you know, like I said again, for I wanted to cover the beginning aspect. So what kind of? You know? I've got got the different glasses here for the tastings. What's your favorite tasting glass? Is it the Glencairn? Is it the Libby, or do you notice that big of a difference?
Speaker 4:You know me, I'll drink out of a glass.
Speaker 3:Out of a plastic little tasting glass.
Speaker 4:yes, but in all honesty. I love Martin Duffy to death and I really believe that Glencairn does the best job of actually exuding the aromas and the flavors with the shape of the glass, and there's other companies that do the same, similar styles, but, yeah, my favorite is the Glencairn.
Speaker 3:Well, I think the reason why the Glencairn you know Martin will tell you that it's not, but it's him. He goes to all the festivals, he knows all the people. It's what his job is to sell glassware. All the other the Kinsey and the Libby I see them on the people. It's what his job is to sell glassware. All the other the Kinsey and the Libby I don't. I see them on the shelf. I never met the glass reps that make that. They're there, but you know he's just part of the industry.
Speaker 3:Whereas that's one thing I want to tell everybody. When you're trying to pick out, you know what do you tell the consumer when they walk into the store and you're in a lot of liquor stores what is on the shelf these days is insane and people, you know there's a lot of people who wait for the allocated, but at the same time it's just crazy what's actually on the shelf compared to even five years ago. I mean, all my liquor stores used to have a half a wall of bourbon and then they might have a little area where they had Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. Now it's a full wall. It's behind the counter, it's. You know, it's taken over the whole store. It's behind the counter, it's you know. It's taken over the whole store. How do you? What do you? What advice do you give the beginner when they walk in? I mean, watch a podcast. Yeah, I'm here, can you hear me?
Speaker 3:I'm losing them a little bit, hopefully Must be the internet locked up, all right. So in the meantime, until yep. Now you're back, you back.
Speaker 4:I tell you what my battery's getting low. Buddy Looks like I'm running out.
Speaker 3:All right, that's fine. Thanks for joining me, man.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks, pal. I appreciate it and love you guys, and thanks for allowing me to chime in tonight.
Speaker 3:I appreciate it, thank you, all right, all right, good night. Good night. So that just brings us, that brings us back. You got that. Let's see, I think I can do that more. Let's see, I think I can do that more. I'll just drop them in the waiting room.
Speaker 3:There we go All right. So what that? What that does is OK. So let's just cover, if you're a beginner. Once again, hey Walker, is Stacy Stacy's watching? Oh, hey, stacy, good to see you. Just for the beginners, there's a couple bourbons. Now, what I wanted to say is that, as a beginner, it's so much fun to choose your glassware. So there's rocks glasses are everywhere. This rocks glass is one of my favorite right here, but I love a heavy rocks glass. There's thin rocks glass, but this is a crystal and this is a EH, taylor rocks glass. One is a crystal and it's uh, this is uh, uh, this is uh, eh, taylor rocks glass, one of my favorites. And then. So let's see, yep, we're still going um where are we at all right?
Speaker 3:and then, so you've got the libby, which is the official kentbon Trail glass, and I actually did the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and got one of them. And this was all. The distillers in Kentucky got together and picked a shape of the glass that they felt they could sniff, they could get the aroma from the whiskey and then also perfect for tasting and having enough whiskey so that it can handle the pores. Then there's the Kinsey. You'll see it all over the place. It's the shape it's designed, but at the top it's straight up at the bottom, and then it condenses the aroma in the middle, whereas the Libby actually has a little bit to let the aroma come back out. It starts out small, spreads out, comes in and then spreads out again, and then you have the Glencairn, which really the liquid's in the bottom, and as it comes out it basically concentrates it as it comes out further.
Speaker 3:Uh, there's all different ways, it's different brands, but these are fun to pick up. Uh, you can pick one up, a scotchy bourbon boys one, you know, just contact me, like I said. Uh, a lot of people, if you're drinking right now. Um, flavored whiskey. Uh, this is jim beam honey. Uh, there are other ones, but if you're basic, uh, one of the basic bourbons that I love to suggest is Buffalo Trace. I mean Buffalo Trace is good. Jim Beam you're talking, uh, jim Beam. If you want to get into a little bit more as a beginner, they, they have Double Oak, they, they have devil's cut. There's all different types of stuff to evolve. Most brands can evolve you through your tasting experience but's made up of lots and lots of different barrels. It's designed that every time you walk into the store and you buy a bottle of Jim Beam or you buy a bottle of Buffalo Trace or you buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, those are the brands that are designed so that they taste the same. It's probably 85% of the market of what people do that drink whiskey. When you're talking about drinking whiskey, you're talking about partying, but you're also talking about the everyday guy that comes home, works hard, wants the same thing. Some people like to eat the same thing. Well, this is what that is. It's called consistency.
Speaker 3:It was a very difficult thing to do initially in the industry to make something taste the same throughout. I mean the original pot stills of the earlier days. They did things as far as their yeast to keep that yeast strain the same. You hear stories about the distiller bringing home the donga jug which you stored yeast in every day and dropping it in his well and putting his meanest dog on a chain in front of the well, so no one ever took his yeast. And then would go back as far as distilling, keeping that yeast strain alive. Yeast strains can be captured anywhere and a lot of times some of the pot stillers of today, in order to bring back a brand, they go to the area that the brand was being distilled, and maybe the old distillery is in ruins, but you can catch the yeast that's living there. You could catch yeast in many different ways and then cultivate that yeast and use that for your fermentation, now in ferment.
Speaker 3:So when you're distilling, let's just go over the distilling basics. Uh, you're going to be. Uh, you're going to get your. You're distilling, let's just go over the distilling basics. You're going to grind up your corn, your rye and your malted barley.
Speaker 3:Malted barley is used for the enzymes, so let's just get into some geekery. As far as beginning the corn and the wheat sugar chains uh, initially, when you're cooking them, are too long. Uh, there's too many, and what the barley will do is break down the sugar chains to be more consumable by the yeast. So when they consume the sugar and as an excrement, put out the alcohol, the yield is better and there's no bad chemicals like if the yeast is have trying to break down these sugar chains and can't. It's not alcohol they produce, just they produce other chemicals. So, uh, that is why you add the barley.
Speaker 3:Now some people add enzymes to do this also. Now, I'm not a big fan of the enzyme adding. I like the fact that people use barley, but barley mainly allows because it's the natural process does not allow as much yield of alcohol as if you're using enzymes. So that's why some people use it, because it makes it easier to get a better yield out of the yeast. It breaks the sugar chains down to consistently be the right size, whereas if you're using the barley you might still get a few. Now that will change the flavor of the distillate.
Speaker 3:So, as it goes now, there's two different ways of distilling today. Early on in the 1800s they were using pot stills, pot stills. There's so many different ways. How you heat a pot still is so many different ways. You can use wood and burn underneath. You can use a propane tank and use that to heat up the pot. Still, you can encapsulate it and use steam to heat it. There are so many different ways to heat it, it and that heats up when you're distilling and getting the the. The way that the still heats up and it works, um has to do with how you're heating it. Those different measures, um, some will actually you can scorch the, the fermented, fermented alcohol in if it gets too hot. The control is is everything. But you know, it's funny because there's some really historic distilleries and in with those historic distilleries they're using the old-fashioned way. I know, I believe at mount vernon they actually use wood, um, they they cultivate the wood off the land, just as george washington would have done, and they use the wood off the land just as George Washington would have done, and they use the wood to heat the pot stills. So you know, there's a lot of cool ways of doing it and it's going to affect what happens when you're distilling.
Speaker 3:Um, water is very important, although when distilling and you're distilling, uh, initially you're evaporating the water completely and the, and you're evaporating it, sending the steam up, and then you're reconstituting it and in that process the alcohol and everything. Uh, most of the bad chemicals come off initially, and then you can do your different uh. First you have your heads where the bad chemicals are and then you can do your different. Uh, first you have your heads where the bad chemicals are and then you have your hearts, the heart of the run, where it's coming off the right percentage off the steel as far as 160 or lower, and then you run that run all the way down to your um tails, and the tails are the end of the run. They're not bad for you, like heads are. Um, a lot of the heads have some potent alcohol, things like nail polish and remover, and I mean there's just the different forms. There's rubber, cement, thinner, all alcohol products that need to come off before you get the consumable part of the, and then when you get to the tails, those are bitter, but some people leave a little bit of the tails in because then, once you put it in your aging process, it affects your taste. There's so much you can do at this process. So you know, from a distilling standpoint and the yeast itself and the fermentation and the grains, you could come up with a ton of different flavors, and that's why the bourbon has exploded so much.
Speaker 3:When you're talking about pot stilling, pot stilling normally has a little bit more initial fruity flavors. Because you're doing cuts, you can eliminate a lot of the bad stuff that's in it, so you don't need the barrel to filter out lot of the bad stuff that's in it, so you don't need the barrel to filter out. When you get into the column still, there's other chemicals that are left in there that the distillers who use column stills depend on the barrel to filter out. Some of the bad chemicals that are left in during column stilling they're depending on the barrel and that charcoal filter to go through. So there's a lot of things, but you know they're one thing um, I talked with alan bishop all along about how good uh pot still is and when you do it and you don't need the barrel to to take out the, the the different uh compounds, but I've been tasting some of his uh, got to taste some of his aged whiskey that is getting up into.
Speaker 3:They started in 2015, so we're eight, nine years and I'm telling you what it's doing for the flavor with that quality pot still is amazing. I've tasted some really good stuff that's coming out and so when you do that really. You know high quality I mean pot still is just a hard when you want talking volume. Woodford Reserve, which is pot still. But we know that it's a mixture blend of what they produce through the pot still there at the Woodford Distillery and then what they also produce through the column still in Louisville. So there's a lot of different ways of doing this.
Speaker 3:When you're talking about different bourbons, I mean you know Woodford, right there. I said different bourbons. I mean you know Woodford, right there. I said it's half, it's partial pot still and partial column still distillate there's. These are the kinds of things you can do and that are so open to what has been done. Yet You're talking about single barrels. If anybody wants to know what a single barrel is, I had no idea what a single barrel is. I was thinking, know what a single barrel is? I had no idea what a single barrel is. I was thinking you know, single malt, scotch, single barrel, bourbon, you know, but a single barrel is. They take one barrel and they basically do the proof. They do it, they dump it and bottle it. It can produce anywhere from 250 bottles down to 72 bottles, which one of the barrels we just got from Elijah Craig for our pick had.
Speaker 3:But what's left in the barrel has to do with how long it's in the barrel too. I mean how much got absorbed and evaporated. And so when you're dealing with a 10-year barrel, you've lost a certain amount of the distillate to the angel's share. Now what's the angel's share? That's the part of the water or the alcohol that's evaporated off through the air aging process. It basically makes its way and it's really unique when you drill into a barrel head to release a barrel that hasn't been drilled into and you want to get some out. When the barrel is filled and you put the bung in, initially it's filled to the top. There's no air in it. As the barrel absorbs the whiskey, which is like five gallons of the 53 gallons into that barrel, that leaves a five-gallon gap that has no air in it. As it absorbs it more and more out, you can lose up to 10 years. You might lose half the barrel. You might only have 25 gallons in there and there's still no air in there. The air now air is not bad for whiskey, like it is wine. So when you drill in you have to do the double. You have to drill into the area where the air should be and then first you drill into where the liquid is and nothing comes out because it won't release it, because there's no air in there. So it's just going to hold it in that barrel. So as soon as you put a hole up by the vacuum in the part where there's an empty space, it's able to, as the whiskey comes out, suck air in, creating the ability to get it out, similar to any can or anything. That also is airtight seal. So there's a. You know that's a really cool thing.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of kind of, but let's get back to the basics. It's so what do you want when you're starting? Well, it's always good to get a pick a tasting glass and pick one of those. It's good, just one's all that you need. We, like I said, we sell them. It's always good to get a good rocks glass. Now, this rocks glass, like I said, is my favorite. It's heavy. I like that weight. There's lighter ones and I just don't like it. But then there's also gimmick ones, and this one's a really cool one because I'm going to pour some buffalo trace in it, put a pour of that in, and we're coming down to.
Speaker 3:This is going to be a two-part. I'll finish with this. But you put that in there and the bottom is rounded. It sits but it spins. So what does this do? This aerates now what.
Speaker 3:The last part of what I'm going to say is when you add uh, when you add air to bourbon, it's a good thing. You add that air a lot of times, you can bottle it and when it gets bottled, goes through pressure and the, the whiskey is disturbed and once it's in the bottle bottle it releases the molecules and some things that might be a little bit, the tannins and what's left in that, the flavor profile that will out gas into the bottle. That's why they call it a neck pour. It's always good to get rid of that air right off the top. And then what I like to do to avoid it and what everybody else does, but I like to open it first, let the air out. Actually, in some cases we'll actually just suck the air out, put the cap back in and shake up the whiskey. This way, what was in that neck? All that, those out gases are released, and then when you shake the whiskey up, you're not adding them back in, you're basically putting fresh air into it.
Speaker 3:Now I will tell you that anytime somebody drinks, you open up your bourbon and then you visit it. It down the line, it seemed, unless it's so good that it stays the same most of the time the bourbon will taste better. More vanillas, nor more caramels, especially when you're drinking weeded bourbon. But I just poured the buffalo trace right in here. Now, this bottle right here and I it's has been sitting. I open this. This is probably three years old now.
Speaker 3:What I do notice is I get a little bit of evaporation on my collection. Sometimes I look at it and think my bottles, if I, if I had a teenage kid here, I could blame him, but I don't. So either ghosts are drinking it or it's evaporating into the air, and I'll go with the evaporation. I mean just me and my wife, and I know what my wife drinks because I'm pretty much with her all the time and she's not day drinking, that's for sure. So the bottles do you do lose a little bit, but in that losing a little bit, you're probably going to gain a little bit. You're not losing the alcohol, it's probably the moisture and the water. So you're going to gain a little bit of proof and you seem to gain a little bit more flavor.
Speaker 3:Now my first bottle that I opened up, which has to be from 2018, and we're looking at it's 2024. We're looking at it's 2024. We're looking at six years ago. I still have some of those bottles and I've been revisiting them and maybe finishing some off, and the whiskey still is fantastic If I get to a point when it's too long.
Speaker 3:But what you want to do once you open up a bottle and we'll go through that point is that you want to close it up, seal it and put it in a cool, dry place. You don't know. Some people say light hurts bourbon. But I'm the or heat. I'm like no, heat doesn't hurt bourbon. If you heat that bourbon up it's the same damn thing, as it's not quite the same as the barrel, but in the barrel it can get up to 143 degrees and down to 20. All the aging process is going hot and cold. So getting hot in your bottle and you cool it down you're not wrecking it Just because you bottled it doesn't make it somehow fragile compared to what it was. You might lose some to evaporation and then you would increase the proof. Anyways, I think we've got it covered for tonight. We'll leave that. I'll do a part two because I don't think I got nowhere near far enough. We covered the glassware I will leave you with.
Speaker 3:It's always good to get a decanter. Now you wonder what a decanter is, for I've got this decanter here. This is a Kentucky Bourbon Trail decanter that I like to put with my Kentucky bourbon trail completion glass. But that decanter a decanter is really good One if you get a dusty and the dusty you open up and it's what you can decant it to make sure it's good, and that is a really good use of a decanter. Also, I like to take bottles that. So when you put it in the bottle and it disappears on your shelf, if you have a really good bottle that you think is a drinker and you really enjoy it, you decant it, which then you're on a timeframe because it doesn't seal it quite the same. So you know you got to drink what's in the decanter within a couple months, otherwise it's going to disappear a lot faster than sealing it in the bottle. So I just the last decanted bottle I had was, um, we had done a new riff pick, uh for, uh, kentucky bourbon festival last year and at that pick that was a very special barrel. And once I got that bottle I basically put that bottle in a decanter and I drank pretty much the whole thing and I think it was done within two weeks of just pulling from that sample. That was what was what.
Speaker 3:A lot of times I'll come down and pick a nightcap that I you know it's not every night, but I'll have a nightcap, especially if I have a little gunk in my throat or I'm feeling like maybe a little cold, grab a bottle, bring it up and drink it before bed. And in the decanter there was no deciding what I was going to drink for that nightcap. I would just come down and drink the nightcap. So it was kind of cool.
Speaker 3:This is a really, really cool decanter with logos from evan williams maker's, mark town branch, all the distilleries jim beam, bullet, that that are on the Bourbon Trail, bourbon, heaven Hill, woodford Reserve, wild Turkey, four Roses. I mean it's a pretty damn cool decanter. I love this decanter. It's one of my favorite. I do have a Jim Beam decanter that I purchased initially, and then I have my Kentucky Bourbon Festival last year from the Decanter Crystal, decanter Glencairn Club. That was pretty cool. So anyways, all right, everybody, we'll take that out. Put that back. Like I said, we'll just keep doing the basics of bourbon 101 and, uh, keep covering it. Uh, we'll cover.
Speaker 3:Next time I would like to cover uh, whiskey thieving, amin just no, arjun, uh, just watched us, not amin, but um, we'll go through the basics of whiskey thieving and then also the basics of there was one other um whiskey thieving and determining, uh, what, what you would want to what you want to start out with buying on the shelf, uh, to start your bourbon journey. All right, everybody, uh, we're the scotchy bourbon boys, wwwscotchybourbonboyscom. For all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Remember Facebook, instagram, youtube and X, like, listen, subscribe and leave good feedback, along with commenting, and then also check us out on all the social, not social the podcast formats, apple Spotify and iHeart to be specific. But if you listen to it, you'll like it. I'm going to see with the Alabama song, let's see. That's on. I don't know if it's going to work, but I'll try. But remember, good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make sure you don't drink and drive, drink responsibly, but make sure you go out and live dangerously. Little Steve-O's going to take us out. All right, is my sound on.
Speaker 3:Let's see yeah, all right, it's working.
Speaker 2:Oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar. Oh, don't ask why. Oh, don't ask why Show me the way to the next whiskey bar. Oh, don't ask why. Oh don't ask why. Thank you.