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
Toast of the Town: Why Bourbon Nerds Are Obsessed With Double Oak
Tonight's episode dives deep into the world of double oak and toasted oak bourbon, exploring the science and flavor differences between various finishing techniques. We examine what sets apart barrel finishing methods and why they create such distinct flavor profiles in your favorite bourbons.
• Woodford Double Oak stands as our benchmark for the category—butterscotch and caramel notes with exceptional availability
• Peerless offers both Toasted and Double Oak expressions with higher proof points and distinct character differences
• French oak versus American oak creates notably different sweetness profiles, with French imparting more butterscotch notes
• Charred barrels serve as both flavor enhancers and natural filters for column-distilled spirits
• The Kentucky Bourbon Festival (Sept 5-7, 2025) will feature exclusive releases with tickets going on sale April 17th
• Old Louisville Whiskey Company's Double Double Oak earned a spectacular 17/18 rating on our barrel bottle breakdown scale
Join the Crystal Glencairn Club and connect with us at www.scotchybourbonboys.com for merch, updates, and membership information. Remember to like, subscribe, and leave good feedback wherever you listen!
Ever wondered why some bourbons taste like butterscotch while others lean heavily toward caramel? The secret lies in the oak—specifically whether that barrel was charred or toasted, and whether your bourbon spent time in one barrel or two.
We journey through the fascinating world of barrel finishing techniques, comparing the sweet spot of double-oaked bourbons against their toasted counterparts. From Woodford Reserve Double Oak (the gold standard) to Peerless Distilling's twin expressions and the ultra-premium Old Louisville Double Double Oak, we explore how these barrel treatments transform whiskey from good to extraordinary.
The science behind barrel treatment proves fascinating—charring caramelizes wood sugars and creates a natural filter, while toasting gently warms the wood to release more subtle flavors. We learn why French oak tends to produce butterscotch notes while American oak leans toward vanilla and caramel. Each sip tells a story of time, temperature, and transformation.
Beyond the tasting, we share details about the upcoming Kentucky Bourbon Festival (September 5-7, 2025), where bourbon lovers can sample countless expressions and exclusive releases. Tickets go on sale April 17th, with early access for "Bourbon Insiders" on April 16th—definitely an event worth marking on your calendar if you've fallen in love with these complex, layered whiskeys.
Whether you're new to bourbon or a seasoned enthusiast, understanding the oak behind your pour adds a whole new dimension to appreciation. Which do you prefer—the caramelized richness of charred barrels or the subtle sweetness of toasted wood? Pour yourself something special and join the conversation!
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Middle West Spirits was founded in 2008, focusing on elevating the distinct flavors of the Ohio River Valley. Their spirits honor their roots and reflect their originality as makers, their integrity as producers and their passion for crafting spirits from grain to glass. Their Michelon Reserve line reflects their story from the start to the bottle, to your glass, with unique weeded and rye bourbons, and also rye and wheat whiskeys, the Michelon brand is easy to sip.
Speaker 2:It might be a grain-to-glass experience, but I like to think of it as uncut and unfiltered, from their family to yours, drinking bourbon, sipping on some scotch. We did a little while, but it sure was fun to watch. We love what we do. We're drinking every beer in the room. Man, we're tall sons, but we're telling the truth. Yeah, we're the Scotch and Bourbon Boys. We're making some noise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're the Scotch and Bourbon Boys, we're eating that fun and we hope We'll be right back. All right, welcome back to another podcast of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. And I can't find the music, so it's going to. I knew it. There we go, oh, there you go. Perfect timing, perfect everything. Welcome this podcast. Tonight.
Speaker 1:We have been, I really feel that this podcast me getting back on to the track of podcasting, but I'm sure, hey, adam, good to see you. I'm sure I'm going to have an issue tonight as far as technical or whatever. It's already started out a little wild. Everything's going good. We got it on track, we're live YouTube, we're live on Facebook and we're recording for the audio. Just remember, tonight's podcast is about double oak and toasted oak and then also the difference between a charred oak barrel and a toasted oak barrel. We're going to cover that. Plus, this week it was announced that Kentucky Bourbon Festival tickets in April are going to go on sale. I'll have the details on that. Excited for that because that's one of our premier events. Randy Press, our president of the Scotchie Bourbon Boys and we refer to him as El Presidente will be coming on the podcast coming up sometime a little bit in April, before the tickets go on sale. But with that said, tonight we'll cover it a little bit and talk a little bit about why you want to get on the website, become a friend of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival so that you could get in on that pre-sale. That happens when you sign up at the website and everything. So there you go. Remember wwwscotchybourbonboyscom for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
Speaker 1:Tonight I'm going to be drinking out of my Crystal Glen Karen glass. But the only way you can get this is either become a friend of the podcast or join the Crystal Glen Karen club. So if you got one, you're in the club. There's just different ways to get them. But our newest members are Sarah Evans and Randy Ford. Randy Ford's here with us tonight. He's driving along.
Speaker 1:Let me know what you guys are sipping on. I know that Thomas Anderson is sipping on a watershed single barrel, select patrick taylor doing a bullet bottled in bond. I didn't get it. What walker's sipping on yet. But uh, let me know and I'll. I'll just put it out there. And we we've got hey, we've got Crystal Pratt here tonight. Let's see I can go down. And then also Walker. Yeah, walker is the Woodford Masters Collection 121.2, batch proof 2024. Nice Walker, thanks. And then health is a perfect reason to drink more whiskey. Yes, let's see Anybody else. I'm just trying to see what, nope. But if you're here and you are sipping on something, patrick Taylor is part of the Crystal Glencairn Club with, uh, it's patrick patrick finney, finney, finnian. And then also nathan malay, malay, malay, malay ho, malay ho one or the other. Um, adam gross nickel sipping on some heaven hill grain to glass weeded. That's a good one also. But remember, uh, we did the wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things scotchy bourbon boys. You can get regular, regular Glen Cairns on our t-shirts there.
Speaker 1:But also follow us on Facebook, youtube, instagram and X, along with the major podcast formats Apple, iheart and Spotify. But no matter how you listen or watch us whether you watch us live, watch us in delay, or you listen to us on the podcast while you're driving, just remember like, listen, comment, subscribe and leave good feedback. That feedback's very important. We love getting good five-star reviews. You can also do it on Google. We are on Google as a business, so rate us on Google as a business. So five, rate us on Google also. So, anyways, that gets us to. We are ready to get going with this podcast. As far as everything that's happening All right, my microphone is working and recording and we are live on YouTube.
Speaker 1:But what I want to do first is cover what that cover the Double Oaks. I mean Double Oaks are my favorite. There's a lot of brands of the Double Oaks. I'm going to quick. From time to time I will start off with different. I've got a lot here. But I also want to cover our sponsors.
Speaker 1:So the first sponsor I'm going to mention tonight is Whiskey Thief Distilling. You guys got to check it out. Barrel pick all day, every day. They're in Frankfurt, kentucky, along with Louisville, kentucky, in the newly opened tasting room. But they've got five barrels lined up up to 10 at the distillery and Whiskey Thief Distilling Company delivers For the price of admission. You can thief from five different barrels pick one usually a lot for me. So yeah, adam, it's a great place and either place I hung out last, I was there last Saturday, so it's almost a week. It'll be a week, two weeks from this last, this coming Saturday, and I'm telling you it was fantastic at their tasting room live music, we watched a basketball game, full bar, everything, and they're and I'm going to tell you they're old-fashioned thiefed right from the barrel. They basically have them in there and they thieve them for you. They're fantastic. That's whiskey thief, right?
Speaker 1:So the first one I want to cover before I knock off this one, all right, the first one I want to cover, my all-time favorite, and it's Woodford. In my opinion, the best double oak on the market as far as price and what it is is Woodford double oak. It's my favorite. Let's get out the glasses a little bit here On this particular one. This was a pick, a batch pick, by Walter Zausch, who is the owner of Whiskey Thief. He graciously granted it to me, but it's basically let's see what we got here.
Speaker 1:Bourbon finished in new heavy toasted, lightly charred barrels. So in this case it's first aged as woodford reserve and then it's put in lightly uh, lightly charred toasted oak barrels for the second round. And what? What I find with woodford double oak and that's what I it's one of my favorite. It's always available and it's available at the most bars and everything, and I just love this one. I'm going to put a little bit in there and we're going to do a duel in the end, but tasting this the notes in this are especially even in this batch pick are total butterscotch caramel a little bit maybe. Nope, it's just such a good, it's such a good flavor. The toasted aspect of the barrel comes through and so, with that said, I'm going to basically share the screen real quick with you guys, and you're going to hear Alan Bishop talk about what a toasted barrel is. So let's get the screen share going. Share, and I'm going to pick. Let's see, he was in, was in there. Yep, that's it. Right, there should be it share. Yep, that's it, let me.
Speaker 3:You're gonna hear Alan talk about the toasted barrel a toasted uncharged barrel is not going to be as heavy on the vanillins, for example, and it's not going to be as heavy on the caramels right, because you've not caramelized that sugar. From the toast level it's going to be a much more smooth, sort of like butterscotch transition, maybe a little bit buttery, that sort of thing as well. It's not nearly as aggressive on the spirit as what a charred barrel is going to be, and so therefore, for clean spirits or spirits that don't need a ton of maturation, you don't want that char in there, because you're going to overrun all the flavors, especially when you're dealing with something delicate like, say, agave syrup, where agave syrup does not have inherently that roasty, smoky flavor of its own accord and you have to build it into the fermentation and the distillation. Even then it's still very volatile, and so we don't want to overrun that with that heavy charred oak. As far as the history of toasted oak barrels, there's a long, long history of toasted oak barrels. So toasted oak barrels actually predate charred barrels quite a bit If you go back and you look at kind of traditional bourbon lore and we don't know how much of this is entirely true, where the charred barrel came from, etc. But they were certainly understanding of the fact that in Cognac, france, toasted barrels were being used for Cognac and they are still used for Cognac to this day because, again, it's much more of a light, cleaner, elegant, more volatile style spirit that char would just overrun unless you make a very specific bourbon style brandy, which you can do.
Speaker 3:But there's definitely a place for those char or those toasted barrels over the char. I think agave spirits fit that well. Obviously certain brandies, whether it be apple brandy or it be grape brandy, depending on their distillation style and their fermentation style, because there is a difference between what happens here in the United States and what happens in other countries such as France. I think rums in particular could benefit from toasted oak barrels and I don't know enough about rums to be able to say one way, shape form or the other, how common a toasted barrel would be with rum.
Speaker 3:But I would suspect that of the French tradition with rum production you would probably see toasted barrels pretty regularly. So, yeah, there is a very, very long history of using those at pre-dates, using the char here. We actually think that the char here may have been adapted from seeing French oak barrels that were toasted for a little bit too long and getting a very light char to them, as it were. So I'm wondering what characteristics of the spirit maybe, what kind of spirits I kind of answered that and then what someone could expect from an h product. So what I'm looking for really with that agave spirit we put in that toast all right.
Speaker 1:So there you go. Alan bishop talking about that. The toast was kind of there before the char, but all right. So there you go, what the toasted barrel is. So I've got actually some, so this so the double oak is first in the char and then it's toasted. So we got that out of the way, all right. And then you've got this. I got them both. So Peerless makes a toasted bourbon and a double oak. So I'm going to kind of see what the difference is. Once again, let's get the witchcots and read the back of the bottle right here.
Speaker 1:This one says this bourbon whiskey was finished in a toasted barrel, heated with a smaller flame for a more extended period of time than the standard charring method, and then, and this is toasted, so this is actually finished. So it's double-oaked and it toasted similar to what Woodford Reserve is, which is double-oaked in a toasted barrel. Now we've got the double-oak, now the double-oak bourbon whiskey twice barreled in new oak. So that tells you right there that this is two new oak barrels. And then you've got the toasted barrel. So I really want to put these two up against each other. So I'm going to put the toasted in the one and kind of talk about the flavor difference and then we'll do a sponsor uh thing and then, um, I'll talk about not only charred oak barrel, what the purpose is of the charred oak barrel. So I'll put that one in right here and I'll put this one right here. There they are the toasted versus the double oak, the toasted versus the double oak. So now, compared to this, peerless is a little bit different distillery compared to Woodford, woodford is actually partially part. Woodford Reserve is partial pot still and then blended with column still. So it's really kind of interesting where peerless is, I believe I don't want to say pot still, I want to say column still.
Speaker 1:Now the toasted compared to and I love it, but this this actually has. Let's see what we got for proof on the toasted I did have the. Did I put them back? No, did I put them on there? No, no, there, they are off to the side here. No, no, there, they are off to the side here.
Speaker 1:This proof on the toasted, batch two it is 109.4. We're 94, point I believe. 40 is 90.4. So we're 109.4 and 90.4. So 19 percent more proof. And it drinks that. So you got a little bit more bite to. But with this toast it tasted like oak toasted. It's got a little bit more caramel and a little bit of pepper.
Speaker 1:Now the plain double oak, which is this, is my favorite it. I love double oaks and just like I love this one's 107.9 and 5051 alcohol volume, 0.9. Okay, so that's what we're looking at there, and this is barrel-proof, non-chilled filter, strictly sweet mash, no water added. So there you go. This comes straight from the barrel and it was placed in two barrels that were charred. Now I really love this double oak compare. I like the toasted but the double oak really picks up that barrel proof, even though it's two tenths lower than two point two um proof points lower. It really has that classic bourbon barrel taste. But it also is picking up a sweeter caramel and the. The caramel comes through and it's what I love about double. So there we are there. Now we want to keep double oaks and toasted.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about middle west spirits here in the good state of ohio, columbus, ohio, to be exact, what Ryan Lang is doing down there is fantastic. He has his original craft distillery going full 24-7. He's got the service bar restaurant open, but he has opened a large property. He's in stage one, which is the distilling stage but he stage two and three or A, b and C we are talking shops and restaurants and he's got the property. It's just to see it go up from scratch all the way to where we are and it's the size of a beam distillery. It's just massive. I can't describe it. I don't have the specs, but it's up and running and I got to taste Roxy and CT and I have gotten to taste their white dog coming off those stills and it's spectacular. You got to get down to columbus, uh, have dinner, go to the original place, but what's coming is going to be amazing.
Speaker 1:But their bourbons are, and their wheat whiskeys and their cast strengths are fantastic. Uh, when we do sponsorship, we don't have the sponsors. We're not approached by sponsors. We approach them because we love what they're doing and the whiskeys that they produce. They are on the shelf in 48 states. You got to try this. This is the straight wheat whiskey. But you also have to try the weeded four grain bourbon, which is fantastic because it's not only four grain, so it's corn wheat, then barley and rye Fantastic. You got to try it. So there we go. That is Middle West Spirits here in Columbus, ohio. Don't want to knock that clan off. We got that baby back up there, all right.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about what a charred barrel is. There's one, two, three and four chars. So when they said lightly charred, it's probably a one or a little less. What is the purpose of a char? It's the same purpose. The char is a double purpose. One it acts like a charcoal filter.
Speaker 1:So distillates that are column stilled. When they're column stilled you can't do the heads in the pot still. You basically distill off the heads in the pot. Still. You basically uh, you know, distill off the heads, get rid of them. Then you hit the heart and then, when it comes to the tails, you might put a little in but they're bitter. So then you might re put them back in where in a column still it's. Basically it's got the heads, the tails and the fints, or the heads, the hearts and the tails. But where you pull from that column still is where the hearts are. But you can't not get it just pure hearts. Most of the heads are evaporated off, but there's still some in there and some of the tails are still in there.
Speaker 1:So the barrel serves as a charcoal filter for these impurities. One it takes out all the bad stuff and then it basically takes out some of the bitter flavors of the tails. And so the charcoal filter is very important on the inside of the barrel. And you know the whole process of how the barrel works is you basically char it and if you're at a four or five char, that whiskey is going to come in and out and it's going to filter out all the impurities. But it needs time. Two years probably on a column still isn't the best. It's not getting enough of those impurities. But if you're talking four, that's probably right when you're getting into the wheelhouse. But places like Maker's, mark Jim Beam, they're doing five, six, seven, eight, nine. That's their sweet spots for really getting some good bourbon, getting out those flavors but also the barrel.
Speaker 1:Still, the reason why we're talking not so much butterscotch as you're talking about caramel is because with the char you're caramelizing that sugar and you're really caramelizing. So it goes through the filter, then through the caramelized sugar, wood sugars and then into the wood and back and forth. So that's where you pick up a lot of that caramel flavor that everybody loves in bourbons. So what level char is determined by a lot of times. If you're doing pot distilling you can pick whatever level char you want, but it has to have a char to be a bourbon. You can't just stick it right into a toasted barrel and then expect it to be bourbon because it has to go through. So if you're trying to get a major toast, you might put it in there four or five years with the number one.
Speaker 1:If you're pot distilling and you put it in on a number one char and then you finish it in a toasted, now on the toasted you're not actually getting that black charcoal anymore. You're just basically heating up those wood sugars so that their flavor can go in. You're like getting them almost to the point of caramelization. So that's why you pick up some butterscotch, because it mixes those wood sugars mix, after they've been toasted, with the actual flavor of the wood. So it's a great finishing aspect, but also it's a great, you know, just putting it in and aging it, but then it wouldn't be bourbon. So there we go, as far as the, the, the charred barrel. Now this one here I just picked up at yellowstone and it's just toasted and I'm really kind of excited about this bottle. We got it, we tried it, I picked it up and I'll give you the lowdown on that bottle.
Speaker 1:In 2010, my family and I founded Okay, let's see, wow, wow, mention of crafting only the finest whiskey and the dream of restoring the Yellowstone brand to its former glory. In the spring of 2015, over a century after our great-grandfather, mc Beam, sold his distillery to Yellowstone, that dream came true. His distillery to Yellowstone that dream came true. The Toasted Barrel Collection is a series of single barrels, each hand-picked and sampled at the distillery. With each barrel comes its own complexities and one-of-a-kind flavor, every one different than the other and one of a kind flavor, every one different than the other. From our hearts to fill your glass, enjoy. That's Stephen Beam. And then Toasted Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, finished in toasted casks. So there you go. They make it.
Speaker 1:This one was a single. This barrel number this was barrel number 27 of 30. So there you go. I was able to pick that up at the distillery when I was down there. We were in by Maker's Mark stayed and, on our way up to Louisville, stopped off and saw the good folks at Yellowstone. Stephen is in Florida at the time and I know Stephen Fonte was uh, he's doing a lot of cigar stuff. So I'm gonna dump this in and let's see what we got. So once again now I will say the peerless the little bit of the peerless toasted I just took, really liked it. It really picked up some really nice flavors. All right, vincent, I'm pretty vega, I'm pretty good brother. And then, oh, I, I took it off. I haven't been okay. Uh, right on, four years is nice. Uh, my last blind hey matt good to russell, pure Russell Woodford.
Speaker 1:Double Oak versus Peerless was very similar, except hotter, really like, yeah, I agree, that's exactly what I would say. It's got a little bit more pepper. Now, pulling in this Yellowstone can't wait for them to get their Rocky Patel cigars. That's going to be in a little bit and I'm going to tell you you're going to want to do that because what uh steven fonte loves to do with cigars is fantastic and he's part of heading up this project, so really kind of cool.
Speaker 1:All right, the toasted I've been tasting it all but I love it. I mean, this is this is my wheelhouse of what I love, so it's great to be in this. Um, the peerless toasted is sweeter than the double oak, depending on your palate. Well, you got to also know depending on which batch you're drinking, walker, from batch to batch it differs. I mean, some of the batches that I've had off the shelf, um, a lot of times I find that the batches off the shelf are what with wood double oak.
Speaker 1:We're not always drinking Me and you are drinking a lot of barrel picks. Yes, I agree with the barrel picks. A lot of them don't deliver that sweetness, whereas off the shelf I mean, I have it. The butterscotch on there is just amazing. So here we go for the. Here we go for the. It picks up all the toasted. Now this one picks up a lot more of.
Speaker 1:This is probably the okiest so far. Not as sweet as the other ones, but from a standpoint of, if I was going to smoke a cigar, this would be out of all of them. This is the cigar batch for the toasted. It's 100 proof. So I really enjoy this.
Speaker 1:One Does a really nice thing in the glass. It's pretty nice, all right. So that brings me to the next double oak. This is the old jet brothers done by neely. If you take a look at that baby. I love this thing, this, this bottle, special to me because this is Kentucky, straight bourbon. I'll get more into the. All right, all right. Now where did I do with them. I'm always putting them someplace. I thought I set them over here. No, how do they disappear? There they are. They're over here now. Glasses going all over the place. Let's see, I've got this one. It's the old Jet Brothers. This is Neely, kentucky, 6th District. Okay, so this is pot distilled and bottled by Neely Family Distillery, sparta, kentucky. This is Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey their bourbon pot-stilled whiskey, finished in new toasted French oak, 106.5. Finish time was 14 months.
Speaker 1:Now Rebecca and us have been. She has allowed us in the past to go through and thief from the barrels, and this barrel was the day that we were there. It was a cold day. She drilled this barrel and honestly, this was one of my favorite things out of the barrel. It was so good and we have told her it had to be about 13 and a half months that that was ready and so it got bottled. As an old jet brother, I made sure I got it. Haven't had it for a little bit, had some time to sit on the shelf and I'm just excited to try it one more time.
Speaker 1:All right, this is a fun podcast so far. Um, this is a fun podcast so far. Um. Can't drink too much, all right. So, ah, the nose on it. It's French toast.
Speaker 1:These French oak barrels they got brand new. They were. This was a spectacular um, straight from the barrel, and once again they put it out, barrel proof. So I was really excited and it did disappoint. I'm telling you, wow, sweetness, a really nice butterscotch, a really good pot, still flavor. What is that? It's so sweet, this is so delicious. I love that one, if you get, if you get a chance.
Speaker 1:While you're at there, old jet brother is finishing French oak casks. I mean, fan tastic, that's a good one, all right. So that brings us to why we're here tonight. Well, I could quick um, greg Schneider, when he was working at Chicken Cock um, they had gotten some whiskey that wasn't bourbon. It was bourbon had to be put in used barrels and it wasn't good. So he finished it off in brand new French oak casks.
Speaker 1:And honestly, does the spice species of oak have a different effect? My question is French oak better or worse than American white oak? I'm going to tell you that most of the time, french oak, I believe, is a little bit, comes up with a little bit more sweetness when it toasts Some of those French oak staves, like, for instance, we have a double oak which is the Lillian Sinclair, and I don't know if I actually have the bottle. I should have my Lillian Sinclair, didn't have my Lillian Sinclair. Or here's the five year which we did a double oaking, which we finished it with, um, straight Kentucky bourbon finished west finish. This one, with which was five and a half years, was finished. No, this was not.
Speaker 1:I want to say no, this was straight up whatever that was not finished with french oak staves. Our lillian sinclair was. I'm not sure if I got a lillian here, but I'm gonna look. Hold clifty, I got so much right there. Maddie, in New Falls, I don't know, there's the Lee W Sinclair, there's that. Nope, I don't got the Lillian is right back here. So we've got the Lillian Sinclair which was finished with the French oak say. So that was a nice double oak. If you guys are interested in picking up that one, I do actually have that available. So if someone wants to pick up our Lillian Sinclair, let me know. It's a special Alan Bishop special one.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to talk about this. This chicken, it was say this was another way to do double oaking One. It was in a used barrel, then it was put into a brand new. So it was like back bourbon. It originally was in used barrels and it just didn't cut it. So Greg put it in brand new French oak barrels and pulled off a double oak. That's delicious once again, that sweetness that that oak comes out and it's. These were french oak barrels. I really feel that french oak is my sweet spot, so that's kind of how I go there.
Speaker 1:So all right, that brings us to the old louisville barrel banging. Let's call it. It's not bare, it's called the old louisville barrel bottle breakdown. The barrel bottle breakdown is based off of a rating scale of knocks that I make with this bunghammer, and it is four knocks, up to four knocks for the nose and up to four knocks for the body, and then five knocks for the taste and five knocks for the finish. So, uh, this particular old louisville whiskey company, uh, in louisville, kentucky, amin there, uh, will you, if you stop in and he will show you a really good time and you'll get into some fantastic stuff. He has barrels and everything and when you leave you get a bottle and a velvet case. I mean, it's like none other.
Speaker 1:And the old Louisville Whiskey Company barrel bottle breakdown is Woodford Reserve Double Double Oak, really kind of cool. Super Nash had this bottle. I was hoping he'd be on tonight so we could barrel bottle, so we could barrel bottle breakdown together, but once again he's been busy, so it's just me barrel bottle breaking down. Uh, this bottle is not cheap, but the availability and what I've tasted so far has been like no other. And it's called Double Double Oak. So now we're taking it one step further and I think I really enjoy that. So let's talk about this Woodford. I love Woodford Double Oak. So this normally was $3.75.
Speaker 1:This bottle here is liquid profile, extra aged, 700 milliliter, it's still 90.4 proof, like most Woodford Reserve, unless it's the few extra ones like Walker's sipping on tonight. Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey finished in heavy toasted new oak. So there you go Heavy toasted, which means it's not a, but they call it double new oak. So there you go Heavy toasted, which means it's not a, but they call it double double oak. So I'm gonna crack it. That's what I do, we're gonna. You can give me, I can give you mine, I want yours, I love it. Here we go In colder to cool climates, in warmer climates.
Speaker 1:The initial aging American white oak is both traditional and preferred. I would say that depends on aging and environment. It's preferred. I would say that depends on aging and the environment. It's preferred. Honestly, walker, when it comes to the first maturation, 100% I agree with you. But as far as what you're looking at, as far as Maker's Mark and the staves they're dropping in, they're dropping in French oak staves, the majority of it, and they get some damn good stuff off those French oak staves. They're dropping in. They're dropping in French oak staves, the majority of it, and they get some damn good stuff off those French oak staves.
Speaker 1:And I just think, for finishing, I prefer the French oak. So that's just me personally. I think it adds a little bit more, um, a little bit more. A little bit more. The French oak adds a little bit more sweetness that I like. It's more the toast, and the oak is more butterscotch opposed to caramel, the caramels. But that's just my opinion.
Speaker 1:As you said, randy, here we go, I'm doing it. So here we go. They built the white brand from it For sure. Ah, the nose. I need a little bit more here. It's, uh, it's very toasted there. There's not a, it's not a. You can, you can smell the toast. Let's give it a. I've never rolled the crystal Glencairn. Does it work? Let's see, it makes a really cool noise, that's for sure. All right, oh, it popped out. Five American, five French oak. Yeah, that's good. Oh, the nose on this is spectacular. I could just smell that all day. It just smells like pure French toast with powdered sugar and a little bit of chocolate. A little bit of chocolate. Okay, the nose on that. As far do the body Damn. That's delicious, that double oak there.
Speaker 1:How do you get French oakear in the US? When it comes to barrels, there's a whole huge barrel network, ricky. It's like on the circuit there's barrel. I wouldn't say it's not barrel dealers, they're barrel. The word I'm looking for is we have a paper the word's not coming to me, but they basically represent different barrels that go on the market. That's how we get all of the barrel. You know the staves and the barrels. You buy them through a representative. They're representatives and they broker, they're brokered. You. That was. Thank you, walker. I didn't see broker, I said broker. And then I looked and you're always there for me. Man, um, yes, the nose was a four.
Speaker 1:Um, the body, what it does in the glass is unfreaking, believable. The legs are so long they're just dripping straight down all the way, top to bottom, running back in. I would say, oh my God, not the Chiefs. I would say for the body, this is a three At 90.4, a three is pretty damn good. I was wondering if everybody can hear that. I don't know if they can, but I thought they might be able to. Can hear that. I don't know if they can, but I thought they might be able to Now.
Speaker 1:When it comes to the taste, there's only four, randy, you can only give the. You can't give it a 4.5 unless you give it a butt up up. You could give it a five and give it a butt up up, but I think the body's a three for me because it just doesn't hit my cheeks. Um, and 90.4. A three is like the, like what you usually can get as far as the best at 90.4, in my opinion, just has to fill my mouth all the way everywhere. But it's really good.
Speaker 1:Um, taste, which you could go to five. The flavor of this is so fricking fantastic, oh my God. Um, that bottle is everything. And then some, there is this one. I will say, okay, randy gives that, but I'm going to give the taste a five and a but up up it's. It's just my wheelhouse that that's what it gets, um, so there you go. Oh, thanks, thanks for uh coming in, ricky, I'm glad that you watched, all right. So body, here we go.
Speaker 1:It picks up this oaky flavor Like, if you like leather and oak. I thought the taste, the taste to me, randy, is just in my. I gave it a six. If you like leather and oak, this is. It picks that up. But then there's that French toast thing and it goes on forever.
Speaker 1:So I will give this a four, so that the double oak Woodford is his top five. I'm telling you strings that the double, double oak will be your top then, because it's fantastic, a spectacular, a spectacular. And if you take five and six is 11 and three and four is seven, it picks up and it four and six is 10, and then three and four, so it picks up a 17 out of 18 rating. So I really find this to be a fantastic. I would recommend it. The price is pricey but the flavor just delivers. It delivers. Yeah, walker, you're very knowledgeable. Same thing with Randy. Randy's knowledge of non-Kentucky distilleries is mind-boggling. So there we are, 17 out of 18 on the Woodford Reserve. Lately it's just been the old Louisville company's barrel-bottle breakdowns have been spectacular.
Speaker 1:So that brings me to the Spirit of French Lick, our other sponsor we have. You know it's so funny, there's a Lillian Sinclair. I should drop this in. This is a double oak we dropped. This was aged for three years and then about two and a half months of aging with the French oak stave that we picked. So so the spirit of french lick is in french lick, indiana, spectacular um whiskey there that was distilled by alan bishop, who is now at old homestead. But our last two barrel picks were his last two barrel picks and the last time he was in the distillery. So check it out, check out the Spirit of French Lick in French Lick, indiana.
Speaker 1:If you're in that area of Indiana, you've got French Lick, you've got Starlight and you now have Old Homestead at Patoka Lake, which then takes me into where Alan Bishop is and we did a segment of Alan Bishop tonight and the One Piece have experienced the spirits in the spirits industry and the occult also. So really kind of cool what he does. If you have Ghosts of Yadda or anything, check it out. Well worth it. A great podcast and Alan Bishop's a great guy. And then also his stuff is at the spirit of french lick and you know if you want to pick up the lee sinclair line and he's got the william dalton line. But if you're interested in william dalton or lillian sinclair on barrel picks, contact me there. I've got that available, all right. So we've done that and I've got the Lillian Now that, oh, what is it?
Speaker 1:It tastes like a chocolate donut, very, very good with that French oak stave and the three-year-old respect the grain four-grain bourbon, fantastic pot-stilled whiskey. You can't go wrong, all right, so all I've got left I'm going to talk about a little bit is I got a couple ones. I was able to go to get the double oak at Peerless, but they had a special release of single barrels, right. Well, they sold this nice 200 milliliter at 112.5, which was a double oak, which was a great thing for me, because I've experienced this three or four times, and I'm going to take a little bit of that while I talk about the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. All right, so here we go. I'm going to share the screen again.
Speaker 1:Kentucky Bourbon Festival is coming up, folks, the tickets are going to go on sale, so let's. I did a really good job of share screening there too. I've got the email. Let me. All right, so that's up everybody for. So it says get ready to raise a glass at the 34th annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival, happening September 5th through 7th 2025 in Barstown, kentucky, the bourbon capital of the world. So if you subscribe which I have, and you just have to go to the website and subscribe we're thrilled to give you the inside scoop.
Speaker 1:Tickets go on sale April 17th with exclusive early access for bourbon insiders like myself on April 16th this year. We're offering six incredible ticket options from the single day Sunday sampler to the bourbon taster weekend pass, all the way up to our premium VIP experiences, including the brand new Orris Presidential Club. Every pass includes unlimited re-entry sampling of over 60 distilleries, exclusive KBF single barrel picks and expanded programming for premium events. Sip rare whiskeys and festival only distiller rose series bottles with lockers to stash your finds. Enjoy expanded programming in the great tent featuring master distiller chefs and mixology Shop. Bourbon inspired goods from top brands like Oris, jacob Bromwell and Clayton and Coombe, jacob Bromwell and Clayton and Coombe.
Speaker 1:Vip perks like early entry bottle signings and access to the VIP lodge with your premium pours. Our VIP packages sold out in just 10 minutes last year, so mark your calendars. Bourbon Insiders can snag tickets starting April 16th at KentuckyBourbonFestivalcom. Prices for weekend passes start at $190 for bourbon taster tickets and go up to $6,995 for the exclusive Orris Presidential Club, which offers a year-round membership limited to just 24 guests. This elite experience includes everything in our VIP packages early entry, bottle signings and crystal Glencairn glass, a bourbon locker and a VIP lounge access. Plus exclusive perks access to the VIP penthouse overlooking the festival ground. A spring bourbon experience, a fall-winter Kentucky Bourbon Festival reception. A three-night stay at the Trail Hotel in Bardstown, private shuttle service to and from the festival and limited edition Oris watch to commemorate your membership. Just join us at the.
Speaker 1:Celebrate the National Bourbon Heritage Month with bourbon lovers from around the globe. Whether you're meeting master distillers, discovering new favorites or sipping in style, there's nothing quite like Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Stay tuned for more updates and get ready to secure your spot. So you got to go to the. I'm going to get back. There we go. You got to go to the website kbfbourbonfestivalcom and check it out. Check out if you want to be an insider. But that is the premier bourbon experience, and let me get out of this right here so I can see some of the comments Ah, where did we go? There we are. So the Bourbon Festival last year was fantastic with the Cigar Lounge. We hung out with Stephen Fontes.
Speaker 1:You get to see all the master distillers there. They all have different things. Plus, the releases are out of this world. Not only do they release their single barrels, but every single distillery now releases special edition stuff that, for instance, cellar-aged Maker's Mark. You're able to pick that up. I'm sure the Woodford Double Double Oak will be there. There are certain things. I mean Heaven Hill just kills it with their private select stuff they release and then also all the different things. And then the other place, brown and Foreman, also kills it. I was able to pick up a bunch of stuff from Brown and Foreman last year. I look forward to it. Beam, there was Little Book, there was Booker's, which was the Reserve which will be coming out. I mean it's such a release time, fantastic bourbon to pick up and there's enough for everybody that's there. Plus, you can try all over 200 different spirits while you're there.
Speaker 1:The weekend pass is three days. So you want to do that and you just want to. It's excellent. So I will 100% support that and you know you want to do it. So the double oak wood, okay. So I mean we had such a good time when you're walking around. It's just such good weather. Now this year it's moved up another week, the fifth through the seventh. So you're talking about that first.
Speaker 1:I believe Monday is I want to say, monday's Memorial Day, or is it Labor Day, monday's Labor Day, and that Thursday is Bourbon in the Air. Friday, saturday, sunday. So fantastic, fantastic, it's going to be a fantastic weekend and you don't want to miss it and you need to get your tickets. The weekend pass is good enough for anybody. I mean, there's so much whiskey to taste, so many events to go to just on the 190. Where can you go if you divide 190, divided by three, that's like $63.75 per ticket per day, and I mean $63.75 a day, and you can drink as much whiskey and taste as much whiskey as you want. Fantastic mean 63, 75 today, and you could drink as much whiskey and taste as much whiskey as you want.
Speaker 1:Fantastic, if you get a chance, uh, check out those vip things, um, and definitely go to the website and make sure that you hit that all up. So that's where we're at there. Uh, I'm trying to get this, okay, all right. So, yeah, okay, the where I am behind. I know it's so funny. Go well, they go well. Okay, all right. So that brings me to the last. I don't? It just pours past that. Stop it, stop it, okay, thank you. So the next one we covered Okay, so, rosewood, bourbon and Rye, which is Jason Giles in Texas.
Speaker 1:Fantastic guy, he put that out there on the shelf. It's not being distributed now, but whatever's on the shelf is there. So if you see a Rosewood bourbon or a rye, I suggest you pick it up. His Contexian in Indiana bourbons that he takes back to Texas and ages them for one season there spectacular, really good. You should definitely check that one out.
Speaker 1:All right, so, last but not least, on a double oak, makers makes a wood finishing series and it's fantastic. And here we go, I have the heart 2024 collection. This is, and we check out our recent podcast with amanda. Uh, okay, I could do this, amanda humphries, at maker's mark, from maker's mark. She's in charge of their experiences and she's just all around in charge. And there, so kentucky straight bourbon whiskey barrel finished with 10 virgin oak staves. So once again, it is. Uh, this is a double-oaked whiskey or bourbon. So it's finished with oak staves which keep it a bourbon, because I'm pretty sure Makers has done this part of the process and they were able to keep it bourbon Boom processed and they were able to keep it bourbon boom. So we're going to put that in there as a finishing point. This heart collection. Uh, for 2024, caramel, chocolate and maple. Put that up there.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you everybody for joining us tonight. We covered the Kentucky bourbon festival. Hey, pat, cheers, man hopping off to go spend a little time with the family. Yep, all right, cheers, patrick. Thanks for watching tonight. We're finishing up right now. There's no. And hey, you know me, I'm tiny and maybe there should be brown informant. I like to say, maybe there's an informant, how about that SEPR in the 2020. I need it to open for about 10 months. Going to pass you some SEPR5 from 2020. It needed to be open for about 10 months. Now it's nectar. That's great, all right. Oh, needed to be open for about 10 months. Now it's nectar. That's great, all right. That was fantastic, fantastic. This is just.
Speaker 1:My jam is double oak and toasted oak. I love them, I love them. And, uh, there's another one, elijah craig toasted, which I them, and there's another one, elijah Craig Toasted, which I like also. So that's another one. So I've had that before. Actually, that's what started off the whole Internet thing with me. I've had a lot of fun with that. All right, all right.
Speaker 1:Everybody, thanks for joining me tonight. Oh, man, that wood finishing on on makers. The sweetness is there, but that's like they. They really put by it being the white oak, the 10 white oak staves, you really get the feel of the oak. So if you like a really oaky bourbon boom, this is it. Fantastic, all right.
Speaker 1:So wwwscotchybourbonboyscom for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Also, remember we're on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X. Also, we're on Apple, iheart, spotify and also all podcast media. And Adam, thanks for the cheers. Man, thanks for coming in and watching tonight. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:And then remember, no matter where you listen or watch us, remember you got to, you got to. Oh my God. So we're really going to have a problem with this. You got to comment, you got to. Why am I having a problem? Listen, like, comment, subscribe and leave good feedback. There you go. I don't know why. It's like something that doesn't come to me after. I've said it a million times. But remember, good bourbon equals good times. And well, let me start this off by finding where I got to go. I found it when I was messing around. It's so bizarre. I like all of a sudden picked it up and then put it away. There, it is All right. Good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Remember, don't drink and drive. Drink responsibly and live your life uncut and unfiltered, and little steve-o will take us out.
Speaker 4: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. Oh don't ask why. For if we don't find the next whiskey bar, I tell you we must die. I tell you, we must die. I tell you, I tell you, I tell you, we must die.
