The Scotchy Bourbon Boys
The Scotchy Bourbon Boys love Whiskey and every thing about the industry! Martin "Super Nash", Jeff "Tiny", Rachel "Roxy" Karl "Whisky" and Chris "CT" all make up The Scotchy Bourbon Boys! Join us in talking everything and anything Whiskey, with the innovators, and distillers around the globe. Go behind the scenes of making great whiskey and learn how some of the best in the whiskey industry make their product! Remember good whiskey means great friends and good times! Go out and Live Your Life Dangerously!
The Scotchy Bourbon Boys
Revisiting Traveler whiskey: A Blend of fantastic whiskey's, Market Dynamics, and Celebrity Collaborations
This episode dives into the world of Traveler Whiskey, a collaborative project between Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace’s master distiller Harlen Wheatley. We explore the history behind this whiskey, its unique blend, market dynamics, and what this means for both casual drinkers and whiskey connoisseurs alike.
• Introduction to Rosewood Bourbons and Rye
• Personal updates and podcast logistics
• Overview of Traveler Whiskey and its significance
• History of Buffalo Trace Distillery and its reputation
• The uniqueness of Traveler’s secret blend
• Discussions on whiskey making and transparency
• Tasting notes and barrel bang ratings
• The importance of accessibility in the whiskey market
• Closing thoughts on blending celebrity and craft spirits
• Future plans for the Scotchy Bourbon Boys podcast
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the whiskey world with insights from Harlan Wheatley, the mastermind distiller at Buffalo Trace. Discover their innovative aging techniques like steam heating warehouses and the challenges they face in quenching the ever-growing thirst for their whiskey. We'll shed light on the broader whiskey market's dynamics, dissecting why mainstream brands dominate, and dispelling myths around blended whiskeys that appeal to both novices and aficionados.
Explore the intriguing collaboration between Chris Stapleton and Harlen Wheatley that birthed the Traveler whiskey. This light, sweet blend boasts fruity notes and a unique composition, free from grain neutral spirits. We'll discuss its appeal, the secretive recipe, and even engage in a spirited debate about its likeness to Canadian whiskey. Whether a seasoned connoisseur or a curious newcomer, this episode offers a rich tapestry of whiskey knowledge, highlighting the vibrant community and impact of critics and enthusiasts alike.
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Hey Scotchy Bourbon Boys, tiny here to tell you all about Rosewood Bourbons and Rye the bourbon that implicated Andy Dufresne in a double homicide he did not commit in the classic movie Shawshank Redemption, initially produced in California by General Distillers in the 1930s and originally called Lewis Hunter's Rosewood Bourbon. Hunter's Rosewood Bourbon. Master blender, jason Giles, has brought back Rosewood to you by purchasing plus contract distilling barrels of bourbon in Kentucky and Indiana. Once they mature he ships them to Texas where he ages them for at least another summer in the Longhorn heat. The Rosewood Contextian blend and the Rosewood single barrels offer a unique bourbon and rye experience. Please drink responsibly and never drink and drive.
Speaker 2:We're drinking birdies. We're sipping on some scotch. We've been a little wild but it's sure fun to watch. We love what we do. We're drinking every brew. Man, we're talking songs. We love to tell the truth. Yeah, we've got scotch and birdies. Boys, we're racing through hell. We've got your burning voice. Raise your hand and make the sun rise. Yeah, we've got your burning voice. We're here to have fun. We hope you join. We're here to have fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, all right, welcome back to another podcast of the Scotchy Burby, the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Scotchie Burby, the Scotchie Bourbon Boys, the Scotchie Burby Boys. Anyways, I don't even know where I'm going. So, anyways, welcome to the newest podcast of the Scotchie Bourbon Boys. I'm tiny, I'm here tonight A lot of times you'll get CT on the screen and you also get Super Nash, but again, this is the time of the year where I'm just going solo. Hopefully we can bring them in. I'm trying to bring them in for a couple things, but it's just been so busy for them. But same thing with Roxy. It's just busy out their minds. But I'm here, I'll always be here.
Speaker 3:Tuesday and Thursday nights, 8.30 Eastern Standard Time. We love everybody that comes and is a part of it. It's so cool. Tonight we are doing traveler whiskey uh, just so you know, with the, with that said, uh, the theme song which is uh, come on, where is my brain? Kenny Fuller sings our theme song, does a fantastic job. You just got to search it. He used to be with the Luca Mariano Old Americana Band and so check him out. Kenny's done some great things for us. But that theme song, we get nothing but praise and we love it. So remember wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys. We've got Glen Karens. I've got a little Glen Karen over here. You can get one right off the website or contact me directly. We've got T-shirts and lots of information about the Scotch and Bourbon Boys there.
Speaker 3:Remember, we're on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X. We're trying to get back on to TikTok but that's not happening yet. We'll see what happens when it goes, when it goes. And then, um, just know that we're also on all the major podcast formats apple, iheart, spotify. But no matter how you listen, how you watch, make sure you like listen, comment, subscribe and leave good feedback. Just not flowing.
Speaker 3:I've had nothing tonight, just so you all know, haven't had a sip. That's probably why, just for whatever reasons, here by myself again, sometimes I'll have these little moments or whatever. But know that we are on Facebook Live and youtube live and monitoring both. Uh, we got andrew seven. Uh, he's been asking me about, um, some mccullen. Uh, you know I've had some. And then also, uh, he's like take a shot. Uh, it's probably what's going to have to happen. Uh, but I will tell you that, um, probably we're going to be doing some scotch with, uh, johnny walker. I've got a decent amount of johnny walker, so we'll probably be doing a johnny walker podcast. Haven't done that in a couple years.
Speaker 3:So, covering some scotch, we always like to cover irish whiskey, uh, in march, uh, you know, around St Patrick's Day, and then also we cover Japanese. That's going to be coming up. There's a lot of different type things that we're going to be covering A lot of new releases this year, some of the same ones in their different batches, doing some comparison, because now we're getting into this like four or five years and I've got batches of everything four or five years ago and I'd like to compare batches of now to four or five years ago because bourbon and scotch they evolve. So that's a lot of things that happen in everything. But tonight we are covering, we're revisiting the Traveler Whiskey Blend and just know that when this came out, this is a collaboration between Chris Stapleton and Harlan Wheatley from Buffalo Trace and it's not a transparent, it's a blend and nobody knows what's in it.
Speaker 3:I will tell you. I've read reviews after reviews. I've talked reviews after reviews. I've talked to the people at Buffalo Trace. Every time you go down there they're sampling Traveler. They push Traveler hard. Now I will tell you the thing about Traveler Spoil, salute 21. My favorite scotch is a barrel-aged scotch by brewer gonzo. Oh my god, anyways, um, so, anyways, I'm not even gonna say that I understand what he's saying, but um, traveler, when it came out initially we're just gonna talk about this. Last year we're going to give you a little history there was Buffalo Trace had never put anything out like it.
Speaker 3:One Buffalo Trace isn't transparent in anything they do, as far as how they do it, what they're. They tell you what the number mash billet is and they tell you if it's a wheat or a high rye or whatever, but they're not giving you numbers. They won't. Now, if you look online, there's people who have worked there that those numbers are the numbers, but realistically, when it comes to Buffalo Trace, I don't care. They ultimately are similar to Mictorsors, which doesn't give out numbers either. Now, at mictors those numbers aren't even on the. There's not even you know somebody prior workers or whatever putting those numbers out. But I find that what's in the bottle always matters.
Speaker 3:Now, buffalo Trace is a distillery that is based in, owned by Sazerac, a family-owned company, and it's based in a marketing. I won't say a ploy, because in my opinion they're making what they can make. But what they can make is not enough. Now they have lots of different stills that go there. They have their main still that they just put in another twin still right next to it, right next to it. So production has what they say is doubled, and then they built all different rickhouses and everything like that. So Buffalo Trace, when you go there, is phenomenal.
Speaker 3:It is a historic. It's on historic land, the Buffalo crossing of the river that it sits on right there in Frankfurt river, that it sits on right there in frankfurt, uh, kentucky, and I believe it's not the ohio, I think it's the kentucky river that it's on, uh, and, realistically, the grounds are gorgeous, the buildings are historical. They've been there for a long, long time. Eh taylor was in charge of, you know, running that distillery and doing things. They found, um, historical things and, uh, just like they had to do a dig because they had cemented over all of eh taylor's original fermenting uh tubs and where his cooker was and everything, and they were able to find it and restore it. They had an, it was a, it was a historical dig, and now they're in, they're actually fermenting in those tanks the same way that EH Taylor did so.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of history and historical things, plus then their modernization of everything they've done and all their different classic brands that they do. There. People want and they the Kentucky River. Thank you, rick is right. Yeah, ancient age. I mean, there's so many different brands but they can't even keep ancient age on the freaking shelf full time. It's because the demand for their product is so much that we're always not being able to have it whenever we want it.
Speaker 3:Now it's Sazer companies. They own, you know, they own multiple different distilleries and different brands. They own a distillery in Virginia, it's all over. They're well known in New Orleans, sazerac House, I mean. But Harlan Wheatley is their master distiller. But Harlan Wheatley is their master distiller and the only other name you know. You have EH Taylor, you have Elmer T Lee, you've got George T Stagg, all their other distills with major brands there, and Albert Blanton. So you got Blanton George. It's just like. But now we've got Harlan Wheatley and his brand. Up until this point of Traveler, last year his brand was Wheatley Vodka.
Speaker 3:Now, I'm not a fan of vodka and I'm not a fan of clear spirits. I don't care how many times you distill it, I'm not, I'm not in. It's just that simple. It's not that it's good or bad, it's just like. I'm a fan of whiskey.
Speaker 3:Sazerak makes whiskey and rise uh, I'm not actually, honestly, to be honest, I'm not a fan of sazerak rye either. I have some, it's okay, but I'm not a fan of rye, and that's okay, because anybody that's one thing that I always want to say and we push here. Just because I don't like something doesn't mean you're not going to like it. It means that I don't like it. Maybe you should try it before you buy it. That's all I'm ever saying. If you have an alignment with what I think in my palate, that's very important. But just the Scotchy Bourbon Boys and my wife we differ in a lot of things, but usually what I always want to do is come up with good whiskeys.
Speaker 3:Now, last year we were always um taste and color of the whiskey during the distilling product. I had a dumb question do hand oils affect the taste? And no, they don't at all. Um, when you're distilling uh, if you're distilling, if you know anything about it, you're evaporating off the alcohol, and alcohol evaporates and boils before water. So you're separating the water, which stays in the still, and you evaporate off the alcohol which then you recondense into through the condenser, back into another tub that you do the process again, which is usually called the doubler or the thumper or whatnot. So no, the oils don't affect it at all. And uh, getting back to traveler, when it came out, came out and the first thing everybody noticed is it was now when it first was released. It was released not.
Speaker 3:People thought this was going to be another new product from buffalo trace that you can't get. At first, the first bottles that came out. This is, and still is to this day, msrp $39.99. Cheaper than Taylor, which is $50, some dollars $53.99. All the other ones it's cheaper, but it's more expensive by $10 than $29.99. Buffalo Trace.
Speaker 3:Now, buffalo Trace bourbon has its thing, but it's also, once again, you can't always get it. It's not always there. There's a little bit more than there is at the tailor, but it's not readily available. Just like Weller Special Reserve should be regular, but they can't keep it on the shelf. So when they did, traveller Harlan and Chris Stapleton chose from 50 different blends that they came up with and they felt this was the blend number 40. And so this is called traveler whiskey, blend number 40.
Speaker 3:Okay, it is blended whiskey at oh, let's see, 750. I'm trying to. I want to say 90 proof, but let me, uh, quick, get the glasses, just to make sure. I'm pretty sure. Sure, that's what it was, but I don't like to be wrong. So it's, yeah, it's 90 proof. There's a little stamp right there, very simple bottle structure, and if you read on the back it says good whiskey is like good song. It requires no explanation. One taste should tell you everything you need to know. No one has to tell you how to feel about it. You simply settle in and enjoy.
Speaker 3:For the first of its kind, collaboration from Buffalo Trace Distillery, traveler, brings together the collective artistry of Chris Stapleton and master distiller Harlan Wheatley. Blend number 40 is the carefully curated result of countless hours of testing and tasting. It is a completely unique combination of whiskeys from an award-winning distillery and exactly what you'd expect A premium whiskey that speaks for itself, proudly blended and bottled at Buffalo Trace Distillery, frankfort, kentucky, With you know, harlan, and you've got a map of, I believe, kentucky and the river and whatnot. So it's kind of cool. Cool bottle For a celebrity whiskey. Everybody knows that sometimes with celebrity whiskey certain things happen or they don't happen, or you know that type of thing. So I'm going to say, okay, cheers, martin, thanks. Thanks for commenting. I appreciate you being in here, rick, thanks for being on.
Speaker 3:Information Highway is the head. He took 20 minutes answering my question one day. Harlan has an Information Highway in his head. Yes, harlan knows whiskey. He's been on the podcast twice. I love it. He's the master distiller there. He was in charge of that expansion, still in charge of expanding and doing a spectacular job.
Speaker 3:What they're doing there, how they make whiskey there, is amazing. They don't talk about it when you understand what they're doing. There's one thing that they do is Colonel Taylor had steam heat going from a boiler and then heating those warehouses in the wintertime. They still do that and that in some cases some people call rapid aging. But at Buffalo Trace they don't call it rapid aging, they just do it and the amount of years it's in the warehouse is eight years and it's in there for eight years. But their whiskey tastes phenomenally really good because they know what they're doing, based off of how they're heating and cooling those warehouses and keeping track. Now they've doubled their production and they're able to build same-type material warehouses. Same type material warehouses, monitor everything that's happening in in the original warehouses and then adjust accordingly in their climate controlled, duplicate warehouses and talking to harlan about that was very, very cool.
Speaker 3:So but traveler has his name on it it's a blended whiskey. Instantaneously, when you're talking about blended American whiskeys, or it doesn't even say American, so because it doesn't say blended American whiskey, everybody assumes there's Canadian whiskey in it. I'm telling you that when I first got this, I enjoyed it. This, this is uh old tub, very similar to old tub. It's, but it's 40, and old tub is uh 20, but old tub is single level. You drink it not a lot of thought, it tastes good and but there's only one level to it you're not worried about when you drink old tub. You're not worried about, you're not worried about the nose, you're not worried about, uh, the body and you're not worried about the finish. It's all kind of one thing and it's just good, traveler, good, but there's a lot going on, a lot more going on than Old Tub. But the drinkability and its marketplace of what it came out as is based off of people that listen to Chris Stapleton, that aren't maybe not interested in analyzing what they're drinking, except they want it to taste good. But this does have a nose, a body and a finish that you can.
Speaker 3:And we're going to go about it again. And what I'm going to say is when I first tasted this say is when I first tasted this, I enjoyed it. So everybody because they could get it. And this is a come from. And you people all know my, you know my overall. What would you say? Um, because you all know my overall. It's so funny. Uh, I look just like so it's just unbelievable. How many, um, what would you say on youtube lately? How many troll people just making lots of disgusting comments and stuff. It's just funny. Some are held for review, some people are making whatever, I don't doesn't matter, just keep watching. Love, love. Uh, the majority of the people on there. They come and go, but I will say that, getting back to the Traveler, whiskey and my generation is what would you say?
Speaker 3:The first thing, and that's based off of us collectors and us allocated bourbon people. But sometimes we get kind of full of ourselves and I'll just explain it. We're not really that big of a group when it comes to the whiskey buying public. We do buy up the allocated whiskeys and when you're talking about the level of sophistication of what we're playing the whiskey game at a higher level but we're probably 12% of the 12% of the market that is whiskey or bourbon in the United States. So there's a lot of us because we go to lines and we go down to Kentucky and see each other but we don't really usually get the grand scope of the size of the whiskey market. We think that somehow we're at the top and have importance and we're telling people what the good whiskeys are. But in reality whiskey to the general whiskey buying population that buys Jim Beam, has whiskey Cokes, does shots, the people who buy Jack Daniels, and it outnumbers us by a lot.
Speaker 3:What goes on the shelf for Jack Daniels and Jim Beam? Jim Beam Black and Jim Beams, all that and everything going off that it outsells tenfold by the craft distillery or whatever A lot of times because it's limited, like you just don't always have the stuff on the shelf, so people can't always buy it. I'm sure the Buffalo trace collection, if it was always on the shelf, would probably sell more. But what the problem is is if we could get it, it would be the same thing that us connoisseurs would do If you always could get EH Taylor, every Taylor, every day when you walked in, guess what? You wouldn't be always buying EH Taylor, you would be looking at something else and spending your money on something that you can't get. And I've always said that. Now a lot of people say I'm crazy.
Speaker 3:But everybody was mad at Buffalo Trace. They keep saying but everybody was mad at Buffalo Trace. They keep saying you're doing this on purpose. You're holding back how much you produce because then it's allocated and then we can't get what we want. So we're always buying it up. This is a marketing ploy. You hear that all the time.
Speaker 3:So I know, talking to Harlan, that's not the case. Everything they make they put out, they sell and it sells and they don't got, they don't have enough. When you talk, when you go back and listen to the Harlan Wheatley podcast, he actually refers to them as a mid level craft. They were a craft distillery when he, when he, got there and now they're a mid level. You know they're not quite. They're not as big as Beam and Heaven Hill and everybody just made.
Speaker 3:So it comes down to this. They finally said well, sazerac owns all this stuff. They're like you and Chris Stapleton, blend some stuff up that we have a lot of. You know, do we have a lot of this. Do we have a lot of that? Make a blend and then make it so that we could produce enough. Lot of this, do we have a lot of that? Make a blend and then make it so that we could produce enough. So the first thing that happens is they pick 40, put it on the thing, they do it with chris stapleton and all the reviews are just average. They don't come out, they they're. They're like like today I've had that before and and's okay, nothing special. It's nothing special because we can get it, folks. That's my honest to God opinion. If I drank that with Harlan Wheatley on the podcast, it would be everything that I wanted it to be.
Speaker 3:But I blinded it last year, just so you know Zero nine. And when I put it in a blind I didn't try to see which blind it was. The blind consisted of EH Taylor Small Batch. It consisted of Traveler, weller Special Reserve and Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace came in last place, weller Special Reserve came in second or third place and then at the time I thought I was choosing. When I was, I wasn't trying to choose which one, but in my brain I went to. I thought Traveler was EH Taylor and I put it first. I switched them around a couple of times and I put it first. Well, it turned out Traveler was what I thought and whatever. So Traveler won the blind. I can't tell you guys, uh, any more or less. Then that was a blind.
Speaker 3:Blinds take away labels, preconceived notions, and goes just by taste. Now I'm telling you, if I put Taylor down and I put Traveler and I taste them and, knowing what I know, I'm picking Taylor every time, but blind, there was nothing I could do about that and so, um, you know it's so I went about it. I was a big fan of it. So the first thing we're going to do and that brings us to, uh, what we're going do tonight is I want to talk about, while I get ready to barrel bang, this at the old Louisville Whiskey Company's barrel banging segment. I never turned on. Let's turn this on. Let's go right there. And did I take it off of the barrel banging six? No, I didn't. That's just because I'm dumb and I believe the facebook is overlapping. Okay, so let's get that back in there, all right, that's probably where it needs to go. I don't know how I'm on delay of the actual Wait a second. How can I actually be on delay from my meeting? Am I on Facebook here? Yeah, okay, I was on Facebook. All right, there it is the Old Louisville Whiskey Company.
Speaker 3:Amin, down there in Louisville, kentucky. You got to go check out the Old Louisville Whiskey Company. When you go there, amin will give you an experience unlike none other. He has a great palate. He's winning awards for his whiskey. The 17-year-old 140 proof that he put out last year is just out of this world. He's basically obtained all these different barrels. He's not specific to any company, they're all different things and he finishes them in all creative ways. French oak he takes some and he just ages. He buys it at 12, lets it sit for five more years. I mean what Amin's doing. There is kind of special Old Louisville Whiskey Company. If you guys are down there, check out Amin and also mention that you heard about the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. So that brings us to the Traveler.
Speaker 3:Now we're going to barrel bang this, which is exciting. We're going to barrel bang this, which is exciting. Our barrel banging rating system has evolved, but it consists of nose, body, taste and finish uh, you can get four points or four bangs, and a bang is uh, some people can hear it, some people can't, but you get four bangs for the nose, four bangs for the body, you could get up to five bangs for the taste and five bangs for the finish. But in the end, if something's exceptional, it can get a butt up up and you could either give one category and one category only. Even though I broke the rule a couple of times, you can give it a butt up up. So, with that said, we'll bring on this Now.
Speaker 3:I have some information on this. This was very fair. I thought it was breaking bourbon last year. On classification it's blended whiskey. Company. Sazeret company. Incorporated distillery under closed. Sazeret distilleries. Release ongoing. It's ongoing and ongoing and ongoing. Um it age non-age statement straight whiskey components in the blend aged at least four years per TTB regulations of being the whiskey blend. So everything in here is at least eight four years.
Speaker 3:Mash bill undisclosed. Again, color light gold. I completely agree with it. It almost looks like I'm having a Miller High light, not a light and uh, oh god, what just happened? Let's go back there, all right? Um, it's $39.99. Uh, very reasonably priced, especially for whiskey. Did not go up last year. Was released released in January. It is now January. Other batches.
Speaker 3:Now, harlan Wheatley, they don't give out sales information at all, but initially he talked about SKUs and everybody had enough SKUs and when they wanted more, they could supply them with more. So when it first came out, it was going for more than $40. Some people were asking $125, $100. And then, all of a sudden, the SKUs started coming out. Everybody was getting cases. There was enough. It was obvious, and that's when the bad reviews started coming in. Now, when it comes to this, here it goes. Traveler Whiskey was first. This is allbreakingbourboncom. I love what they do there and I give them credit for this because there's a lot of information. I gave my information and I like to give theirs. And thanks, randy, for going to, you know, youtube.
Speaker 3:Traveler Whiskey was first released in January of 2024. We're in February of 2025 and is an ongoing release. It is a collaboration between Buffalo Trace distiller, master distiller, harlan Wheatley and Grammy winning singer. Collaboration when making art, and we really do think that both Chris Chris's music and the whiskey we make at Buffalo Trace is art. You experiment, test, adjust and don't give up until you got it right. That's why I experimented with more than 50 blends, probably withdrew down there before agreeing that blend number 40 would be for traveler.
Speaker 3:Traveler whiskey is a blended whiskey which, by legal definition, is whiskey produced by blending not less than 20 on a proof gallon basis, excluding alcohol, derived and added harmless coloring, flavoring or blending materials, straight whiskey or a blend of straight whiskeys and separate or in a combination whiskey of any type of neutral or neutral spirits. However, sazerac has confirmed that the current blend contains 0% grain neutral spirits, while the specific Sazeracowned distilleries that are components within this blend did whiskey originate from are not readily disclosed. Sazerac has confirmed it is a completely unique combination of whiskeys, hand-selected from multiple distilleries. It is also the first celebrity collaboration whiskey from Buffalo Trace, though Whe, wheatley and stapleton are each noted on the label as co-founder on the label. The whiskey is widely distributed and is expected to be readily available. It was readily available.
Speaker 3:Now I'm not going to get into what they critique. I'm going to critique it now with the nose, the palate, uh, the fin, and they go nose, palate and finish. I go nose, body and finish. In this glass when it comes, I can smell it, it's, it definitely has a strong odor and in this glass when you do it, you look at it and you get the viscosities really nice and the legs are long and run back down, and this is definitely something that tells you that this was a well distilled whiskey. So the one thing about with Chris Stapleton and the popularity of this brand is his fans. So some of the other brands that are out there that I would say rebel, yell, rebel.
Speaker 3:There's certain brands of whiskey that go good with country music, rock and roll, whatnot. What this does is the one thing that I pick up a ton of. There's some fruit notes, but it's like a pear. It's very sweet. It's not a, it's more like a combination of a scotch and an Irish whiskey, or you know. There's a lightness to it. So what they say on the nose, the whiskey is light. On the nose there's some fruity warmth reminiscent of green apple or grape. I get some pear along with the hintness of sweetness. There isn't any individual scent that stands out, but all the the sweetness stands out on the nose. It is a very, very nice, pleasant nose but overall the composition is a bit unfamiliar, not falling into typical bourbon or rye, even light whiskey territory. It's very light and while not off putting in any way, it's also not memorable and just simply lacks presence.
Speaker 3:I disagree. The honey note of the sweetness on this is memorable Ever since I had it. It smells and tastes like I remember. So I disagree with, and that's just fine that I want to do that Now. I am going to hey Hawk, what's up? Um, I gotta get back over here and get my. I got to get back over here and get my comments up. I don't know why I can't have my comments up. Okay, hey Patrick, just wish it was a tad higher proof. 90s, okay, for those just getting. Let's see, I'm sipping on. Okay, martin's slipping on some four gate, um, but okay, so the nose, there you go with the nose. Like I said, it's got almost, it's got decent honey at the, the, the legs that happen in there. It's spectacular and there's a little bit of apple honey. Um, this is what he comes.
Speaker 3:The palate breathes some life into the whiskey, most notably due to its yet light, yet smooth, almost creamy mouthfeel. There is a hug on this which is sure to find fans light oak, maple, sugar candy, a touch of sweet corn okay, I'll give you that. A little hint of caramel and a buttercream. Make for a dessert. Synergy flavors I pick up, then I pick up honey, so, but I will say I just got like, on the finish, a little bit Kellogg's corn pops. So at 90 proof it's not any proof. Nice body, it actually. It actually covers the sweetness to your cheeks, fantastic body. Now taste we covered that. I'm just going to say the finish is probably there's some, but it's quick and that is one where I always find when you're talking about a whiskey that's aged at least four years, it's probably got some other stuff in it.
Speaker 3:Some people talk about this being similar to Canadian whiskey. I don't get it. There's no Canadian club in here. There's no Crown. It doesn't have any of that. If there's anything that's similar to it is the drinkability of Crown is very similar to the Traveler. It's drinkable but it's not taste-wise anything like it. So there you go. That's what it is. Now they go into uniqueness. Traveler whiskey may seem simple on the surface but it's anything. But it's the first celebrity collaboration where Buffalo Trace has attached its name to and Harlins.
Speaker 3:It's blended whiskey and Wheatley and Stapleton are identified on the bottle as co-founders. First and foremost, the flavor profile is unfamiliar, arguably sweet to a fault but will likely satisfy casual. So they created this 100%, I agree. He goes on to more diehard. He said if Sazerac wanted to appeal to more diehard whiskey drinkers with this, they would have been more forthcoming about what makes up the blend. He's full of crap on that Because Buffalo Chase isn't forthcoming of anything. Okay, it's a wheat, they're weeded, it's got a wheat mash bill. They are not transparent and they shouldn't be transparent because they're allowed to have secrets of how they do things to come up that they don't want to just make it easy for anybody to copy or whatnot. So what I'm saying is um, also, sazerak wasn't interested as much, and neither was buffalo trace and this they were.
Speaker 3:This is more towards the whiskey drinking connoisseur as getting them that I would put this on a 90 proof basil hating hate a basil hayden's level at, but at 90 proof and with unique flavors of whiskey. So let's go and I'm going to barrel bang it and then maybe I'll go back and see what. I barrel banged it last year because I did two podcasts. First I did the podcast on it and then after that I did the blind podcast and both podcasts were very successful. They should be successful. Chris stapleton's, this is something that is has been readily available ever since. It's outsold even the expectations of Buffalo Trace. As far as moving the volume, it's done very well, and then we'll get into that a little bit. After I'm done barrel banging the old Louisville Whiskey Company segment of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys and let's go.
Speaker 3:So the nose out of of four. I enjoy this nose. I would say it's a little simple. So I'm giving the nose a three. Three barrel bangs, now body for a 90 proof whiskey. The whole thing coats your mouth, it's everywhere, the sweetness is everywhere. It hits your cheeks, under your tongue, everything. So I give the body. And what's happening in the viscosity of this glass was phenomenal. So, harlan, fantastic job on that. The body's a four, all right.
Speaker 3:So now the taste. Let's go to the taste. I'm sitting here at seven of eight. The taste could go to a five. I really, really love this taste of this whiskey. I think a lot of tastes. For it to be five, it's got to be a little bit more complex. But the taste is really good.
Speaker 3:And when it comes to, if I was going to go to a concert and I wanted to drink whiskey in my flask, I'm picking Traveler to go in my flask in my flask I'm picking Traveler to go in my flask. If I'm going to a football game of the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau. I'm probably going to pick something even more special for the victory, but beforehand I could be drinking some Traveler beforehand at the tailgate party beforehand. The victory pour isn't going to be Traveler, because one you like to have victory pours as something really special and with Traveler they didn't make it really special and that is part of what we're talking about here. They made it readily available to everybody. So this isn't special.
Speaker 3:This isn't something you go out and then you drink 10 years later on the, you know, when your son's born, and then 10 years on his tenure, you save this bottle for him when he. It'll just be there when you get there, so you don't have to save any special bottles or anything with this. That's why people kind of rip on this brand and because they could get it. And honestly, every single time in my opinion, if we can have something, we don't want it. If they did this with Buffalo Trace, if they also it was there every day, people would stop by. If they did it with Weller Special Reserve, people stop by.
Speaker 3:It's just like whatever you do, whatever you make it, so we can't have it. I mean Knob Creek's there, readily available, and it's there. But it's not like everybody's dying for Knob Creek. It's there, you can pick it up. You might want their single barrels and everything, and Knob Creek's a really, really good small batch. Out of all the small batches I've ever had, it's one of the best.
Speaker 3:But what I'm saying is um, travelers, I would drink this before I drink a regular Elijah Craig, would drink this before I drink a regular elijah craig. Uh, elijah craig, um, small batch, this is better. Uh, I will tell you, 40 bucks those are, those are, you know, in the mid 30s. But 39.99, this is fine now. So for taste, I have to give this. I can't, there's no way.
Speaker 3:It's a five and it's between a three and a four and 90 proof, great body, honey maple, it goes to four. I just like it. So four out of five there. So right now, out of 13, it's an 11. So here's where this falls short. Of great whiskeys and bourbons that you're, you're paying a lot and you can't get. They always have been aged a little bit longer than this and they've got, I think, in my opinion, the all right. I don't know what's going on there, but in my opinion, well, joe Lee's talking about it in the Witchcott and says it's a music festival and it's supposed to.
Speaker 3:Who the hell, while they're sitting there drinking at a music festival listening to music, wants to think about how it finishes up? You might, down the line, think that hey, that was kind of cool. Um, it's still. I could still taste it. But honestly, the finish is quick and fast and I think it's by far the weakest part of it. So I gotta give it a three out of five. So if that puts us at 13.
Speaker 3:And I was, oh, so I gave this a 14 of 18. But for 40 bucks to be getting a 14 of 18, in my opinion. So let's just review the math. So I don't do dumb drunk math, but a 14,. So I'm thinking three plus three for the body, four for the taste, seven and then three for the nose is 10. And the body I gave a five. So maybe I gave it 50. Okay, wait, a four for the body. I'm going to Help me out on that one. Anybody that was adding up, that would be good. I know I gave the. I gave the five and the three, which was eight. No, I gave a four, yes, a four. So you can't give the body a five, so it was a four. So I gave exactly what I said. I gave it a 14 out of 18. So once again, I love Traveler.
Speaker 3:I just want to quickly talk about, honestly, the whiskey market and what us con no doubt about it and they the really, really good stuff. You can only make a certain amount and it's very costly to make it. The goal of a distillery for success is to be able to make really good, readily available whiskey to the general drinking whiskey public, where not only do the connoisseurs like it but the general whiskey drinking public. Um, this is something that 100 you can drink. Neat, there's no doubt. I enjoy this immensely. And then I drinking Top Shelf at a music festival Yep, cheers, that's great. Yeah, I think this is something. The name, the whole concept. I mean the fact that Harlan Wheatley has this on a bottle as his first whiskey that he ever put his name on. I think you got to respect that Right. So there's no doubt. So getting the 14 and the 18 on the old Louisville Whiskey Company barrel banging segment 14 bangs out of 18, that covers that.
Speaker 3:I'm going to sip up the aspect of what I want to do Now. What's really cool is. I have my really cool rocks glass tonight, folks, and in it you can spin it. It's got a little ball on the bottom and it's my favorite one. My mother-in-law gave me this and I got a big round ice cube in there and you spin it. So one of the cool things is as like, if you really want to do it, um, and I'm gonna try, let's do this and maybe make a reel of it. But here we go, got some traveler right here and as you here and as you spin it, pour as you spin. There you go. Oh, maybe see Nice in the glass. Now that's in a rocks glass on some ice. So let's talk about this, this drinkability.
Speaker 3:I don't like to always put higher-end bourbons or whatever. I like to put some of the higher proofs on ice after I've sampled them, and it's really good for extending out the night If you're going to be. You know, if you sip a couple glens, that's it, but if you put a couple on the rocks, you can go a little bit longer. Thanks, john, I like this glass. Thank you, my mother-in-law. Spin it again. There you go. Yeah, randy Ford says it's, it's smooth, randy. We like to say easy. Just remember that that's the key to all whiskey. This is easy, it's very easy. There's no doubt you put it on. So I put this on ice. The ice cubes melted and there's a little bit of water in here, probably proof this down and usually when I put like a barrel strength on it, take a 120 and it'll proof it down to maybe 100. But this probably went from 90 to 75. But I'm picking up a ton of pineapple, I mean, but there's on ice.
Speaker 3:If you're an average drinker or you're even, uh, you're a little bit not completely in, this is going to take this to a different level and this is really fantastic. I mean, I think you could. I think women just getting into whiskey, people just getting into whiskey once again, like the Basil Hayden, it's Basil Hayden's 80, this is 90. Again, like the basil hayden, it's basil hayden's 80, this is 90. But the drinkability of it is kind of really, what would you say for 90 and 80? This has more flavor. A lot of times people that drink basil hayden like I can't taste it. You definitely can taste traveler. So, once again, if, uh, after I'm done here and I start loading, I'm probably going to play some chris stapleton and sip some whiskey plus, once again, 90 proof can have a little bit more, and you know, and got a little bit more control over how fast the whiskey will take effect.
Speaker 3:Sipping on Town Branch True Dark 113.9. That's good, thomas, I approve of that. Cheers, uh, that's that I. I approve of that. Uh, cheers anyways. So I guess, uh, we've covered that.
Speaker 3:But once again, let's just review the market that I'm talking about makes up 80 of the whiskey market, maybe even 85% of it. The connoisseurs probably make up 12% and people like myself, who are the whiskey influencers or the whiskey critics we're probably 0.05 percent. There's, there's, we're out there, and there's a people on tiktok, facebook, instagram, but it's in the hundreds, and the people who, like traveler, is definitely in the millions. Uh, this is a whiskey that's for everybody. Uh, I don't, you know everybody who.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of people and reviews I read because they could, in my opinion, because it was readily available. Buffalo trace did the experiment and all they were ever doing is being ripped on. You're holding stuff back. You don't have enough. I want to walk into the store and have something that's readily available. I want a bourbon or a wheat bourbon that I can just walk in. I don't want to wait in line, I don't want to do this. A lot of complaining and complaining. They gave them Traveler and the first thing they said was I can get it, so it must be crap. And that is the attitude of that 12% of the bourbon market. That why they think whiskey is good and what makes whiskey taste better to them is the chase and the acquiring of the whiskey. Now I will tell you 100% I've drank whiskey with a lot of different people and master distillers.
Speaker 3:You know people in the industry Stephen Fonte, bernie Lubbers, industry uh, steven fonte, bernie lubbers and when you're doing it and you're having an experience and you're, you know, with steven fonte, you smoked a cigar with him. He went through and did a tasting. Now you're sitting at limestone branch, out on their, on their wonderful patio that they've expanded to, and you're sitting there with steven and you got limestone branch single barrel. That's whatever I'm telling you. Your taste buds go up and you're there and the experience has so much to do with whiskey. And, once again, when you're talking about those these high-end acquire special bottles when you're talking about drinking a bottle of whiskey on the day your son's born with your best friends, there's nothing like it. That's what whiskey's part of that relaxation and everything. And your taste buds go to a level that you're drinking and you know what you're drinking and you love it because you know you're going to love it. But that doesn't mean on essence, on the everyday, that when you're just drinking it and you're not drinking it for a special occasion and you're actually analyzing it on a level, I mean, good bourbon is good bourbon, but it's probably not as good as those experiences, because that's just the way it works. So, traveler, I can tell you would be a lot better and it's good to me, but it probably would go to 14 of 18 to 16 of 18 if I'm drinking it with Harlan or I'm drinking it with Chris Stapleton. And that's one of the things that I want to say is, I'd love to be able to get like that's the next level for the podcast.
Speaker 3:The podcast is getting so many views on Facebook and YouTube and everybody, and we're getting consistent followers. I appreciate Thomas Anderson, randy Ford, walker, you know we got John Ritt. There's all of the people that follow weekly and tell everybody about what's happening and I really appreciate everything. Hopefully we could take this to the next level that we pull on. I know that Harlan will do another podcast coming up, but it would be cool to do one with Chris Stapleton, or we pulled in. Thank you, randy Ford Sweetens, cove 22,. To be able to do something with. Colton Manning I believe his name is their third brother and have him on. Or Peyton Manning, I believe his name is their third brother, and have him on, or Peyton Manning, it doesn't matter Whatever. That's the next level for the Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
Speaker 3:But know that, no matter what, we're not in this to tell people stuff's bad or whatever. If we're reviewing it, chances are this is a good product. We're reviewing it. Chances are this is a good product, except for if I'm reviewing a ride with another person on this podcast, because you know, ct likes some rise that I don't like, and same thing Nash likes some rise that I don't like. So overall, let's spin that baby. Overall. That's what it's all about for us. So I think, great podcast tonight.
Speaker 3:I am going to end the audio real quick. Still cannot run Little Steve-O Alabama song that he redid because I'm in a dispute with YouTube and BMG Records who made claims somehow that his remake was there. Right, I just disputed it. To see what happens? If it doesn't happen, if I win the dispute, little Steve-O's Alabama song will come on, but if I don't, I'm going to have to do the same thing that I do. I'm going to have to do the same thing that I do. I'm just going to replay the Scotchy Bourbon Boys theme song. You know off of what we got here, and so I'm going to finish up right now.
Speaker 3:Remember everybody. Thank you for listening, watching. Thanks, super Nash for coming on. Really appreciated it. Um, oh, super nash is drinking or smoking a rocky patel premium cigar. I'm probably for saying that, gonna get slapped by youtube too, because this is just how it goes when you start to make a little bit of money, they just slap you till you make no more money. But I will say um, remember, uh, thanks everybody, everybody for coming on wwwscotchiebermanboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys, all our information, glenn's T-shirts Contact me for faster results. If you go through the website it takes a little longer, but if you want a Glenn or a T-shirt, thanks so much to evans for becoming our newest member of the crystal glen club. Uh, we will be having I'm putting that together a meeting, hopefully sometime in june, to come up uh with, uh, a special dinner and tasting that we're going to put on for everybody in the Right now.
Speaker 3:The Crystal Glen Club is 17. We have one left and it is available and I can go into. It consists of $425. It consists of three of our barrel picks from the Spirit of French Lick a t-shirt, a Crystal Glen and a regular glen for $425. That is available. Other than that, this year we've only released two and that took us up to 18 members. The founding members of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys all have one and then really, really good friends that have appeared multiple times on the Scotchy Bourbon Boys Greg Schneider, alan Bishop, aaron Harris all have their Crystal Glens and we are going to try and get whoever can come up for those meetings, including for those meetings, including but last year Patrick Finnegan, patrick Taylor and Nathaniel Malejo and then now Sarah Evans are all part of that and it's an exclusive club. Every year and anytime we do a barrel pick, if we do not have enough members to go, we will invite the members of the Crystal Glen Cairn Club first to be able to come to the barrel pick and then after that, members, but overall, and then after that, members, but overall. The other aspect of it is that once we do a barrel pick, the Crystal Glen members get the first dibs on the barrel pick and how many they want. So, going forward, that is a great club and it'll be coming up. And then also remember to follow us on Facebook, youtube, instagram and X Hopefully TikTok soon.
Speaker 3:And then all the major podcast formats Apple, iheart, spotify, whatever were there you listened to. Oh wow, what is that? I don't even know how that popped up. Oh, that's how. Oh, that's how Randy's watching, okay, and then also we're on all the major podcast formats. But no matter how you listen or watch, make sure you comment. Oh my God, make sure you. How am I having? Make sure whatever you can do you do, which would be subscribe, comment, leave good feedback and like, like, like, listen, subscribe, comment and leave good feedback. Thank you, it's just like well how that crap at 60 goes out of my brain. It's really kind of dumb. But seriously, randy, you sent that's cool, but remember, drink responsibly, don't drink and drive. How am I screwing this up? Comment and subscribe. John john helps me. And then, okay, let's try it. Good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make sure you drink responsibly, don't drink and drive. Obviously, I've not been drinking responsibly tonight and make sure you live your life uncut and unfiltered, and we'll have.
Speaker 2:Kenny Fuller. Take us out with the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. We're drinking birdies sipping on some scotch. We've been a little wild but it's sure fun to watch. We love what we do. We're drinking every brew man. We talk songs. We love to tell the truth. Yeah, we're the Scotchy Birdie Boys Racing to hell. We're making some noise. Yeah, we're the Scotchy Birdie Boys. We'll see you next time. © transcript Emily Beynon.
