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
Down the Rabbit Hole: Exploring Rabbit Hole Hiegold Bourbon Single Barrel Cask Strength
Tiny explores Rabbit Hole's Hiegold Single Barrel Cask Strength bourbon while discussing the brand's artistic approach to bottle design and distillery architecture. We take a deep dive into the complex nature of bourbon blending, aging conditions, and how whiskey changes over time.
• Rabbit Hole Distillery founded by Kaveh Zamanian creates bourbon that captures the essence of what you smell in actual rickhouses
• Kentucky exclusive Hiegold features special label designs by Mark Gagnon celebrating Ohio's aviation history
• The Louisville distillery offers a modern architectural experience culminating in a sixth-floor bar with city views
• Rabbit Hole's lineup includes Cave Hill (standard bourbon), Hiegold (high rye), DARERINGER (sherry finished), and Boxergrail (rye)
• Discussion of how bourbon consistency was the industry standard until about 10 years ago when batch variation became desirable
• Experiment mixing Cave Hill and Hiegold together created a distinct gingerbread cookie flavor not present in either bourbon alone
• Environmental factors affecting bourbon from production through transportation and shelf storage significantly impact flavor
• Upcoming podcast featuring Greg Schneider and his new Four Branches Distillery's 9-year Kentucky straight bourbon
Please support our sponsors: Middle West Spirits (check out their new purchase of Old Elk), Whiskey Thief Distillery, Spirit of French Lick, Rosewood Bourbons and Ryes, and Alan Bishop's One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute.
Bourbon enthusiasts know that every bottle tells a story, but Rabbit Hole takes this concept to artistic heights with their intricately designed single barrel releases. Tiny explores their Hiegold expression – a bourbon featuring German rye that captures the authentic essence of what you smell walking through a Kentucky rickhouse rather than the caramel-sweet profiles dominating today's market.
The episode peels back the layers on Rabbit Hole's Louisville distillery, a modern architectural marvel where visitors spiral alongside the still, culminating at a sixth-floor bar overlooking the city. Unlike traditional Kentucky distilleries that lean heavily on heritage, founder Kaveh Zamanian has created a contemporary bourbon experience that honors tradition through flavor rather than façade.
What truly captivates is Tiny's deep dive into bourbon's evolution over the past decade. Where consistency once reigned supreme, today's market celebrates batch variation – a marketing revolution pioneered by legends like Elmer T. Lee, Jimmy Russell, and Booker Noe who transformed "inconsistency" into exclusivity. Similarly, finished whiskeys once derided by purists are now embraced as innovative expressions of the distiller's craft.
The most fascinating segment comes when Tiny experiments with mixing bourbons, discovering how Cave Hill and Hiegold together create a distinct gingerbread cookie note absent in either bourbon independently. This sparks a broader discussion about how bourbon's chemical composition continuously evolves through production, transportation, storage conditions, and even how it settles on your shelf at home.
Whether you're a bourbon novice or connoisseur, this episode offers valuable insights into how environmental factors shape what's in your glass, why modern distilleries are embracing batch variation, and why the seemingly simple act of mixing
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Hey Scotchy Bourbon Boys, tiny here to introduce you to William Dalton Bottled and Bond Wheated Bourbon Made from a mash bill of 70% corn, 20% wheat and 10% two-row caramel malt. This four-year-aged double-pot distilled, non-chilled filtered bourbon has a creamy mouthfeel that brings refined and sweetened notes of caramel and clover honey, followed by tart cherries. The finish is whorehound, candy, blackberry and dark fruit character. Their spirits are available for tasting and purchasing inside the French Lick Winery and Distillery. The spirits of French Lick respect the grain. Please enjoy responsibly what is going on.
Speaker 1:We'll be right back. Yeah, yeah, all right, welcome back to another podcast of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys, tiny, here right now Going to take you on this journey. This podcast one of the things I didn't get to, I'll just go into. Tonight we're going to talk about this rabbit hole, high gold, that the state of Ohio just released and I've got. I did not get their just released when I went out looking supposedly my store had it but it was showing that it had last year's release. But I still picked up the one that I was for last year. I couldn't find I found. So the labels are cool and everything with that. But what I wanted to get a little bit into is, you know, just a couple of our sponsors. Just really quick, go into it.
Speaker 1:We've got Middle West Spirits here in Columbus that Ryan Lang does a fantastic job Right now. Their craft distillery is open for you know, for that's where you would go to see and get the distillery tour, along with their service bar restaurant. That's open Now. Their main distillery is still not open to the public. I don't believe there's tours or anything like that. They're getting there, they're getting up to speed. They've been distilling. It was a year in March. They've got it up and running. That main distillery is absolutely huge. You want to check them out in Columbus, ohio. But then also the big news is they just bought Old Elk. So we will be having Ryan. I'm going to try and get down there and have Ryan on so that he can talk about the purchase of Old Elk and Middle West Spirits. Also we have Whiskey Thief Distillery, great distillery. There they sponsor us. It's so fantastic. I'm going to be going down in July and maybe the third week in June also, so I'm going to be stopping there.
Speaker 1:So many things have been happening, but they just hired Lisa Roper Wicker and then also Benjamin Eve, who's been on this podcast a couple times, one time with the Kentucky Artisan Distillery and then also with Alan Bishop one time, and so it's fantastic. They've got Kelly and Derek there. So they're distilling and they're a single barrel barrel pick every day, all day experience. But with Lisa Roper Wicker you've got to think that they might do some, they might start making some batches, and that is her strong point Lisa, formerly of Widow Jane, and so that's kind of cool. And then also the Spirit of French Lick. You've got to take our two newest barrel picks. They're fantastic. If anybody's interested, let me know. I can get you a taste of those. And then also we have Jason Giles at Rosewood, bourbons and Ryes. He basically buys Kentucky and Indiana bourbon. He basically trucks it down to Texas, ages it at least one more season in the hot Texas sun and produces some fantastic whiskey. And then, last but not least, there's Alan Bishop. Alan Bishop, a friend of the podcast, alan Bishop, alan Bishop, a friend of the podcast. He is now at Old Homestead after leaving Spirit of French Lick, but his stuff is at Spirit of French Lick and he's making all the new stuff at Old Homestead Fantastic. But he runs the One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute which gives you all the information that you need about distilling. Check that channel out.
Speaker 1:And then also, if you have ghosts, you have everything. That is my favorite podcast. It mixes two of my favorite things the ghosts from the spirit world and also ghosts in the spirit world. So it's got spirits and spirits and spirits. There you go all right anyways. Uh. So, um the other.
Speaker 1:So we talked about lisa roper wicker being at uh whiskey thief, and whiskey thief with walter is one of my, our, our favorite uh places to go. There's um once it was just a dream to have them as a sponsor. We loved their whiskey from the start, we loved the experience from the start, and now they that they're just growing and expanding. I had made a comment. I guess I picked the. You know I pick and I ask specific people to be sponsors of the podcast because one I love their bourbon and I love the people. It's a double combination. So everybody that I've that sponsored the podcast, they're special and it's a special thing and so that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1:But so much has been happening in the world and we're going to be covering that a little bit coming up in a couple future podcasts about how many distilleries have gone online and then I mean just even Heaven Hill. I mean there's just so much happening in the industry and how people and what they're making. So it's been kind of cool. Now we haven't uh covered uh rabbit hole in a while and I just wanted to give you we pretty much when we've covered it before, we gave you the background. Uh, I've got the information right here. Right, I can just call it up and uh, let's see, yeah, we go right here. Yep, so Kaveh Zemanian, he is the owner and the person who started it. Him and his wife started the distillery and when they first started it it's like the whole name of it is that at one point he was doing this and they just put it all on the line and went down the rabbit hole. And Kavi has been. I've got to meet him a couple times. I haven't had him on the podcast, but we've had a good amount of rabbit hole.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite bourbons is Cave Hill. What I love about Cave Hill just the regular off-the-shelf cave hill is that, um, that cave hill tastes to me like what bourbon should taste like when you smell it in the rick house. And, um, their, their, their lineup is cave hill, high gold, which is a high rye bourbon. Daringer, which is a sherry cast finish bourbon, and then there's Boxer Grill, which is a sour mash rye whiskey. Then they come out with their Founders Collection and that is the race king. Over there the Founders Collections range in price and they can be really expensive and just normal expensive. The Race King was $330. There's been $1,200 and $1,400, $2,500 Founders Collections, but the $330 Race King honestly it's the most I've ever spent on one bottle and I still have a little bit left. So I'll be tasting some of that tonight.
Speaker 1:And then they have their single barrel series, and their single barrel series, in my opinion, is very super unique Because what happens is it's a creative. The bottle is, the labels are created specifically for the individuals. I mean so when there was the first year at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, it was Alice in Wonderland labels throughout these single barrels have some, and they create artwork for the special barrel pick. Now, this one was really cool. This was Cave Hill and it's not the right. Cave Hill is usually a black label, but this one was inspired from the heart in Edgar Allan Poe's short story and uh, here's what it says on the back. You know it's funny because I nope, they're right here. I got everything, so I should be good. We'll drop these babies on and put this here. So this, so this single barrel expression has been gracefully aged for four years, two months in a hand, selected and harvested in the mid.
Speaker 1:Mingling of the whiskey and wood yielded an exquisite spirit like no other, at full cast strength, with nothing added and nothing taken away. This is a one-of-a-kind A whiskey and a sensory experience cherished, and I think I want to say so. This one actually has the artist's name, and this one was Romeo and Juliet for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. It was 2022, 123, and it was 105 proof. Now this one has the art it should have. Now, this one is called the Hatter. It's an Ohio exclusive from 2024. And the artist's name is Kui Ginoi. The artist's name is Kui Ginoi. It's G-U-I or Q, so you've got the artist's name. Bottle 79 of 198, release was 2023, 106.2 proof 108.2 proof. So that's kind of cool. They actually have the artist's names and the different things.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to quick do a share of the screen here. Let's go back share. I'll pick that same. All right, it's going to be a second. I'm going to switch over to. All right, let's click off. Click to exit full screen. I swear to Yep, there, it is All right. So the rabbit hole, this one that is releasing the week of this, just released. You guys can see that it's got that jet set bottle and I thought it was really cool. I want to get that and then when you'll, I'll learn what. So here we go, um, honoring the adventurers. So this bottle that they picked honors the adventurers and innovators and creators who built our country's foundation.
Speaker 1:High gold is a kentucky straight bourbon whiskey named after Christian High Gold, a 19th century German immigrant stone cutter. Its unique mash bill layers a high percentage of malted German rye with malted barley and light notes of white with light notes of white paper. Aged in charged American white oak barrels from Kelvin Coolidge, it mellows in the sweltering summer and freezes in the winters of Kentucky for over four years. The single barrel selections are aged longer than classic high golds, come from one single barrel and are bottled at cast strength.
Speaker 1:This special release of high gold barrel cast strength features label designs by Mark Gagnon, who was commissioned by Kavi Zemanian, I pretty think the Rabbit Holes founder, ceo and chief whiskey officer, to pay tribute to Ohio's renown as the birthplace of aviation. This design honors the pioneering spirit of Ohio's aviation giants, from Wright Brothers to astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. Just as High Gold celebrates the trailblazers who shaped America, these labels pay homage to Ohio's aviation pioneers. The legacy continues, with more than 35,000 Ohioans employed in the aerospace industry. These 11 barrels were selected by Rabbit Hole and OHLQ solely for Ohio and not available outside the state.
Speaker 1:So that's what this one and they go on to give you tasting notes, but I really thought that, honestly, that design by Mark is fantastic. And that's one of the things about the single barrels, uh, that I find um pretty cool. But this was last, this was last year's and this was the hatter, and then all of them were cool. They had this really kind of exquisite, cool um design. So I really love the, the labels and you know everything like that. And let's just get back so I can see your comments. Telltale heart yep, the telltale heart was the one. This one was romeo and juliet. No, this was actually, it says r Romeo, but I thought that was the telltale art Anyways. But so you got like a really cool art on the bottles and they're exquisite and they kind of set themselves and that's their single barrel program and it's unlike any other one that I've ever, you know, seen.
Speaker 1:He's hiring and commissioning artists to put the each individual artwork. I mean, it's one thing to have design a label, but specifically for each release is kind of a really cool kind of thing. So, all right, the one guy says everything tastes the same, that he okay, bro, that's a cap. All right, russian vodka good, I'm just checking out the, the youtube comments. Yeah, we got a couple. So we got someone on from russia, we got whatever, and that's. That's kind of cool. Um. So tonight, um remember wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things scotchy bourbon boys. I've got my scotchy bourbon boy t-shirt on and I've also got my scotchy bourbon boy glenn karen those are available on the website or you can just ask me and I'll ship it to you.
Speaker 1:Pay venmo, I can get you that. And then also, we are on facebook, instagram, instagram, youtube and X, along with Apple, spotify and iHeart as far as our audio progress. But no matter what you do listen or watch make sure you like, comment, subscribe, leave good feedback. Like, comment, okay, and leave good feedback. There you go, I'm sure I left something. Like, listen, comment, subscribe and leave good feedback. There you go, I've got it all. We appreciate everything that you guys do do. Also, with tonight, I found because Cave Hill is one of my favorite regular off-the-shelf bourbons. They have a unique bottle design, but the bourbon that comes out of them are pretty good. So early on during COVID, we actually stopped with uh Adam Edwards and he was, uh, the brand ambassador and we got a tour and we did a tasting with everything there. Uh, I do know that we also covered uh it early, early on. So this is our first, our, our next endeavor endeavor we did one with the race king, but this is, uh, it's been a while since we've revisited uh.
Speaker 1:Rabbit hole is in louisville and the the distillery is a very modern style distillery, fantastic, uh, well designed. It is put in there with the idea of the sun and architecture and design of windows, like when you're walking up the stairs to go up and around to the next floors. When you're in the distilling room, higher and higher, you're wrapping around the still and as you go up higher, the windows and the blinds and everything the detail of that modern distillery that was paid to design. It is spectacular. It's definitely a must tour if you're there. And then you end up at a bar on the top floor, the sixth floor, looking out over Louisville, and absolutely a fantastic experience. When you go, I highly recommend it. A fantastic experience when. When you go, I highly recommend it.
Speaker 1:Uh, and then every you know you can from time to time they've got releases and bottle signings and you can meet kavi. I've met him and, uh, I think this year, through the podcast, I'm going to um, try and get him on at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. That's my goal. All right, so let's open up this high gold. This is a fresh crack. It's like some people in their comments. I just don't understand when they're just cruising through and they're just jerks. I mean it's like. And what really surprises me on YouTube is the amount of political. There's nothing political about this podcast. I mean, we drink and taste bourbons and whiskeys from around the world in America, but we don't ever discuss politics. But somehow, like 90% of the comments on YouTube are just idiotic political comments. I'm not saying I don't agree or disagree or whatever all of them, but it's just crazy. Anyways, I got it opened. Uh, we did read what that, what this one was um, but I should give you a little bit um, yeah that was the green okay so
Speaker 1:this single barrel, toasted and charred man american barrel, including a whiskey, yielded spirit like no other full cast strength with nothing added and nothing taken away. This one-of-a-kind whiskey is a sensory experience to be cherished and signed by Javi Javi, not Javi Javi. So this one is 108 proof. What's the age? Look for the age 10-6. Well, look for the age 10-6. Usually you get the age on a single barrel. Wow, that is crazy dark. Wow, that is crazy dark, but for some reason this one does not have it. That is crazy. Straight Bourbon Whiskey, limited Artist Edition. All right, no age. The other one was four years, two months. It actually had an age statement on it. All right, here we go. We are about to enter into the old Louisville barrel bottle breakdown. What's awesome is that the barrel bottle breakdown is now working, thanks to my son Nobs, who comes on from time to time. Something I couldn't figure out for months and months, and he figured it out in five minutes. So yeah, internet A-holes on YouTube. There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:Kelvin Cooperage, barrel maker from Louisville, kentucky, not Calvin Coolidge, the president. I did say Calvin, you can go back. I said Calvin Cooperage, not Coolidge. No, alright, anyways. Um, ah, now High gold. I'm going gonna see if I can get some uh information on high gold. Let's just really quick. All right, let's see, we went there, we can go back. One Alright starts, let's go to high gold. Alright, we're going to try and get Alright. Alright, we have the community of the United.
Speaker 1:States. Toasted and charred barrels. Okay, so this one is processed the wood-fired flame. We slowly toast our barrels for 20 minutes with the flame before charring. That gets some of the sugars out. There's family whiskey. Let's see if I can get a review somewhere. Let's see if I can. Sometimes I can. Usually this should not be a bad one, breaking bourbon. There we go ah, yes.
Speaker 1:I'm over 21,. All right, rabbit hole, high gold, all right, let's see. Okay, so high gold's mash bill, courtesy of breaking bourbon, is 70% corn, 25% rye and 5% malted barley. The regular version, this version here, was $99.99, but the regular MSRP is $70. Alright, so you're looking at 70% corn, 25% rye, 5% malted bile, and that is German rye that they use because it's the high gold. Now, if anybody is, we are about to yeah, 25, I think 70, 25,. 5 is 25 is pretty high on the mash bill, but still, corn, corn, forward, anything above. There's some ryes that are like 68 corn, where they you know rye bourbons and then you're looking at, then you know 5, which takes you to 7, you know 20. You got a little bit higher, but this is one. Hey, Matt's on Cheers, but I would say we're about to do the Old Louisville Whiskey Company Bourbon Bottle Breakdown.
Speaker 1:Old Louisville is a fantastic place. Everyone, you got to check it out. It's in Louisville place. Everyone. Uh, you gotta check it out. It's in louisville, uh, as you. Uh, amin does a fantastic experience there. Uh, you gotta go there to even know what I'm talking about. Great, uh, he's got a great. Uh, why tonight, for some reason, the words. Just, uh, I'm just kind of like it's been, uh, the heat, I think, is getting to me, but he's got a great gift shop and then also, uh, he will take you back. Uh, have you try some of his bourbons? A lot of times it's right out of the barrel and uh, they're, they're fantastic. He doesn't sell anything younger than seven years old. So his stuff is similar to old carter. It's seven years and older. So, uh, when you get in, and he knows the the different barrels, uh, there's, it's a place where there are no rules. All bets are off when you're there. So, anyways, you've got to check out Old Louisville Whiskey Company. If you go check out the website, if you schedule a time, just tell them that Tiny and the Scotchy Bourbon Boys you found out about it.
Speaker 1:So, old Louisville Whiskey Company, and this is the barrel bottle breakdown. The way that the barrel bottle breakdown is we have a rating system in which we rate the nose, we rate the body, we rate the taste and we rate the finish, and we give them nocks with our bung hammer. And on our old William Dalton French lick barrel, we give four nocks for the smell and also the nose, and then four nocks for the body and we give five nocks for the taste and the finish. So you can have a total of 18 for a perfect bourbon or whiskey. But if there's one category that's exceptional, you can add an extra knock which is called a butt up up. So with that said, let's get going and everybody's sipping along.
Speaker 1:I know that John said he was saying, I believe that he was able to pick up, he was sipping on a Middle West earlier. I don't know what. If I had to imagine, I would say Walker probably sipping on a Maker's Mark, and Randy is probably a Detlinger, probably. There you go. All right, the nose on this is very similar to a lot of. The nose on this is very similar to a lot of.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to pick up what I'm picking up. I would say fresh iron sheets. It's a little starchy, I guess. Maybe my nose is off. Maybe my nose is off. I'm going to check. That's just weird. It's a little bit of caramel on that. Let's see, this has been around for a while. I bet you this cave hill has a for a while. I bet you this cave hill has a. That's a cinnamoneer one. Let's drop the cave hill in. I could put the two together. Maybe we'll double barrel it. That is just weird that I'm not picking up a lot Um cherries, more cherries on the cave hill. All right, let's try it again. All right, let's try it again. Ethanol.
Speaker 1:All right. So the nose is very neutral, especially for a cast strength. What happens in my glass? I'm going to say this is a very this the viscosity on this bourbon is high, the mouthfeel is oily and the legs are like long, like they go, they extend the whole glass and when they appear they're mid-range. Yeah, that's kind of a nice. It's very neutral.
Speaker 1:I'm interested. I gotta see something. Is it my palette? I'm interested, I gotta see something. Is it my palette? Tonight I'm just not hugely on, or is it? Let's see. No, it's not.
Speaker 1:That tastes like Whiskey Thief. Alright, that is strange. Alright, here we go. I wonder what they? I got fresh, like a fresh baked apple, like a baked apple with some cinnamon. Let's see what kind of tasting notes they get Caramel, gingerbread, sweetness, don't, I'm not picking up.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll give you gingerbread, that's, but there's no caramel, apricot and a touch of oak. I'm going to say that I could do the oak, but it's more like an apple with some gingerbread and some oak. But it's medium to light, is what they say, and it's too neutral for me. It's one of the most neutral. Wow, that is unique. I don't think I've ever, ever, ever, ever had a bourbon that I had to smell this. It's. It's so light, all right, all right, finish, finish. Wow, I think the German rye takes over. This Doesn't have a date. It's peppery. I'm not a huge fan. I'm hoping that the high gold from this year with the OHLQ has a little bit more of a richer taste. All right. So let's do this. Let's do the old Louisville barrel bottle breakdown of high gold.
Speaker 1:Rabbit holes aren't overly sweet, they're more like what you, when you walk into a Rick house and you smell those, those barrels aging you don't smell a lot of caramel and vanilla is happening. It's, I can't describe it. It's, it's a mixture of wood and whiskey and it's it's the definition of the essence of bourbon, and that's what the rabbit hole line has always brought out. For me it's not a super sweet thing, but the rye, although it's a high rye, comes out. It's not off-putting but it's very just, yeah, unlike the Cave Hill which defines it. And I'll have to try that in a sec, but let's just start this off, alright.
Speaker 1:So the nose it's been in there a while. It's pepper and I'll go with ginger spice, maybe some dark chocolate, no, so it's very light and so the most you could give on a nose is a four. I would say for a barrel cast strength nose, this is a two. It should be much more front forward. I hope everybody heard that. I hope everybody heard that. So then let's go Body so everything doesn't get your cheeks 108 proof. But the mouth feel is probably the best part about this. So I would say the body's a three. We got three knocks on the barrel. That brings me to taste Again the rye aspect of this.
Speaker 1:I want more flavor taste. It's very neutral. There's a lot of peppers in it. So I'm going to have to go with the two on this. One All right, one all right.
Speaker 1:So as far as the finish goes, it's not a real long finish and there's a little bit of mint like a spearmint on the on. The finish leaves your mouth feeling fresh. But you could give up to a five on this and I'm gonna give it. I'm gonna give it a three. So I don't smell yeast, randy, in a rickhouse I don't. Usually it's always so cool in there. I smell yeast when, when they're doing a cook at a distillery. But in the rickhouse itself I don't pick up any yeast. I always pick up the mixture of the wood of the rickhouse, the wood of the barrel and then also the whiskey. Um, I always smell yeast on a cook. I mean when you're in Bardstown at Kentucky Bourbon Festival, that cook that hits you from Barton's is always just such a fantastic smell. It smells like their bacon bread. I want to say the taste Taste is a 3-2.
Speaker 1:The total of the barrel bottle breakdown of this high gold rabbit hole OHLQ 2024 pick. I give it 11. 3, 6, 9, 10, 11 out of 18. So there you go. I love the artwork on it. This is a great bottle to have on your bar. I mean, when you pick it, this is a great bottle to have on your bar. I mean, when you pick it, I will say now I've got the Cave Hill right here and I, you know, I'll barrel bottle break down this. Kentucky. This pick was from Distillers Row two years ago. I didn't pick it up this year because they were the same labels again. So I was happy with that.
Speaker 1:You got to pick and choose what you. I like the. It's a candy apple, it's crazy. With a little gingerbread it's a little sweeter than the high gold. This one does exactly what I love. I pick up that wood flavor a little bit, a little bit of dark chocolate.
Speaker 1:I would say this one instead of a two. I'd take this to 13. I'd give the nose a three instead of a two and then the body's similar three on the body, but I would take the taste up to a four and then the finish back to uh. I would take the finish right back to the three. Now here is let's see what happens when you mix them. That's something, that's something you can do. I mean, there's no rules when you're drinking whiskey, especially, I would say mixing an infinity in infinity decanter is always fun to do, just infinity barrel. People do little barrels and they put the bottom in whatever they do. But mixing the two it makes the nose sweeter. The two mixed together. All of a sudden there is a gingerbread cookie flavor. That wasn't that. I mean like it was gingerbread before. Now it's a gingerbread cookie by mixing the two together.
Speaker 1:What happened when I mixed the two together in the glass? So one of the cool things that I'll let you know. I did a decanter and it's I actually should have it. It's right over here and this is I had an exorbitant amount of. One of my favorite things is wood for double oak, so I have barrel picks. I probably had heard. No, maybe two eighths of a bottle left on like four or five Woodford barrel picks and I put them together. When I put them together, I put them together in this at home. It was Halloween. Nothing was in this. It was like the week after Halloween. I'm like I need some space, so I'm like let's just mix all these together. When I put them together, it wasn't good, but I tried this about a month ago or two months ago. Let's see what happens now.
Speaker 1:And one of the things I'll tell you, one of the things that happens when you mix whiskey together, like I did in the cup. Mixing in the cup, the two whiskeys repel each other. The smell was better, but there's this mallow cup or bland chocolate, it's something. Put it this way. You can tell they don't want to mix. They're repelling each other. When you taste it, there's a blandness to it that you would have to leave it so that they could chemically mix together and become one. Now this is the word for double oak, with like five barrel picks in it. The first time I tasted it, it wasn't good. The last time I tasted it, it was better. But I'm going to tell you this time Now that they've all gone together that that that it's like a butterscotch bomb, it's like sucking on a Werther's candy. I mean it's just crazy what whiskey has to do when you do something to it.
Speaker 1:Steve Coombs, one time he talks about. Steve Coombs talks about one time when he was on the podcast with Randy Prass and I brought a Weller and I had been driving all around Kentucky with it and when we did it he wasn't a big fan but I left him with the bottle and he tried it like a week later and he Facebook messaged me how awesome it was and that while I was driving around must have disturbed the bourbon. So, believe it or not, the chemical compounds in bourbon and how they mix together has and once they like. For instance, you buy this bottle. I bought this bottle yesterday but it's been on the shelf for a year at Giant Eagle. But then I grabbed it off the shelf yesterday, drove it home, brought it down here, did a photo shoot with it, picture it, whatever.
Speaker 1:Then I open it and so a lot of things happen to it between when they put it in that bottle. So when they put it in that bottle, they put it in, they cap it, they. Whatever they put it, they get it in cases. They case it. It waits in a warehouse. Then it gets put on a truck. It gets shipped to the state where it's going. It's not shipped on a climate control truck. So if it's 80 degrees or negative 10 degrees, it still gets put on the truck.
Speaker 1:So now those bottles are either subjected to regular heat, normal heat, cold, 60 degrees. It's subjected to some type of weather. If you ship it out west, it's going to be subjected to dryness. If you ship it into the Midwest or into the Florida area, you're going to get more humidity. Then it goes into a warehouse. It's not a climate controlled warehouse. It sits there. Then at one point it gets pulled out of the warehouse stuck on a box truck, and it could be an 80 degree day and that box truck does drops all day long. So it could be subjected and heated up to 85, 90 degrees. And then it's put into a back warehouse at a liquor store, then put on the shelf. Then it sits on the shelf. It waits for you to pick it up. How long does it sit on the shelf?
Speaker 1:I mean, these are all things that affect how whiskey tastes. It's something that nobody. That's why sometimes I mean the one thing that all of the people, up until about 10 years ago, the main thing they were always looking to do is consistency. Consistency was everything. Um, most bourbon drinkers, when they go in and they buy their jack daniels, their jim beams, their woodford reserves, they want it to taste the same every time. So what they do on those bourbons if you ever notice, they're not complex, it's a one-flavor thing.
Speaker 1:Old Tub is one of my favorite one-flavor whiskeys, bourbons. It's a bottle and a bond. Every time it comes out it has that one flavor. It's got the jim beam-esque kind of thing, but it's 100 proof. It's also got its own thing going.
Speaker 1:And what I find is it's a great thing to do when I'm doing my, my fantasy uh drafts or I'm watching and I don't want to analyze the whiskey. I just want to pour that, I'm just going to drink and it gives you one flavor that's good. But that's easier to keep consistent than something where you've got complexity to it. To consistently put out the same complexity of a complex bourbon is very, very, in my opinion, difficult. And I think we accept what would you say? We're always looking for inconsistency. We like the inconsistency of the different flavors for the different batches, and that's something that was new to bourbon and that's something that Elmer T Lee and you know, jimmy Russell and Booker Noe all were the founders of selling inconsistency.
Speaker 1:That it's special. It's a one-time batch. You're not going to get it again and in the time period, I think it was a great marketing ploy. Obviously, it started the bourbon boom and right now, when I first got into this in 2019, we talked about this before. Honestly, you got that, um, honestly, in 2000. So when I got into this in 2019, people were not into cask finished whiskeys. They were. They would rip you if you did something like that. That's's not bourbon. Bourbon is this, bourbon is that. But now we're in 2025 and people just look forward to all the different ways that bourbon can be made to be expansive. I mean, that's why you buy different bottles. You're looking for those the intricacies of how you can make bourbon taste. So, uh, that is something that's been a fun to you know, that's been fun to be a part of, and, uh, we're going to keep consistently bringing you that type of thing and I've actually got this gone. So the Cave Hill, like I said, that went from a 13 out of 18.
Speaker 1:The last one I'm going to do. I'm here. This is the Founders Collection. Okay, so great. We've already talked about this.
Speaker 1:But it comes in this awesome box signed byavi. You know it goes in there. It gives you a ton of detail about what uh race king is and all the different stuff. We've been over that. But it's got the outside. The distillery is a big, huge giant awning and it's got this artwork of the rabbit, the rabbit hole. It's really cool if you get a chance to get to louisville. You got to go to the rabbit hole distillery because, honestly, it's fantastic, fantastic distillery. Kavi gives you an experience. That is on.
Speaker 1:It's a modern distillery. It's not. It's not based in. It's based in its story, which is very cool. But it's also based in modern distilling techniques using a vendome, you know, column still. It's not like they're not. You know they're, they're, they're doing. They're using the classic column still, but at the same time, they put it in this modern setting. But in your founder's collection, this, this topper, is unbelievable. It's got a weight to a pound and a half, I mean. It's got that gold color. You can see all the stuff that's going on with it. Let's see if I can get it right. Yeah, it's really a cool. Let's get it there. There we go. Oh there, cool, but it's heavy. I mean, if you threw this at a glass window it would break it. It's like a rock. So the bottle is, you know, got the rabbit hole. Got the rabbit down here, you've got the rabbit hole logo there.
Speaker 1:With the, I mean the angle of the, I mean the bottle's just cool. And this is Ray's. King is double chocolate malt and honestly, let's see what I love. This one. Here we go. What a Thursday, right guys. What a Thursday. What a Thursday. Y'all went quiet on me, you all went quiet on me. Nose is very similar to the other ones. Yeah, this is like high Gold in Cave Hill. Still the flavor not a lot, a little bit sweeter. But that double chocolate malt you pick up chocolate, it's a Hersey's chocolate bar. It's not a dark chocolate, it's a Hersey's chocolate bar, not as sweet, but it's not bitter like a dark chocolate. It's not a milk chocolate, but Race King, which, let's see. Race King which, let's see, let's see how many. What the? We'll put the glasses back on. It's 109.2, so it's a little bit heavier. 79 out of 1365, limited edition Whiskey is all about flavor, particularly unadulterated, non-chill, filtered expressions at cast strength, with nothing added and nothing taken away.
Speaker 1:You taste the essence of how grain, wood, thyme and terroir come together. With this distinct bourbon, I went all in on a unique double chocolate malt. Five distinct grains, three different types of malts with a double malt combination of chocolate wheat and chocolate barley, carefully aged in handmade wood, fire toasted and charred barrels. Making fire, making fine whiskey is a creative art driven by primal desire to turn a simple grain into gold. Race King was a gamble, but fortunately the payout has been outstanding.
Speaker 1:It doesn't say how old it is. That is one thing On this one, it does not On this. On this one, it does not on this. Alright, we got that back over there. Let's see if I can pull off how old it is. On the bottle nope, not there. No age statement. There you go. So no, not Ambarana finished. Have you ever had any of this, walker? Anyways, so there we go. So I will take us offline. As far as the podcast, guys, thanks everybody who was watching. Just know when you're on Facebook and YouTube, we're going to go a little bit longer probably not on YouTube.
Speaker 1:wasn't a lot of interest on YouTube tonight, but what I will do is keep us on Facebook and then throw up the invitation for a little bit. All right, guys, all right. Thanks everybody. This week's been pretty special. I want to say that, coming up, I've got this bottle here. It is Greg Schneider's new distillery, four Branches. This is their 250th anniversary of the military bottle. I'm going to get samples out to the people I need to get samples out to and in the upcoming not next week but the following week, either Tuesday or Thursday, hopefully we're going to have Greg Schneider on plus the founders of the Four Branches Bourbon and we're going to be tasting this bottle.
Speaker 1:I'm excited because, you know, greg's at a new place. The man knows how whiskey should taste. The man knows how whiskey should taste and when people give him whiskey to work with, he usually makes it taste awesome. This actually is, I believe, a nine-year Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey and I'm looking forward to tasting this opening. I'm going to have to open it. Send off samples to CT and Matt wants us. I'll send samples off. Somehow I got to get it to. I'll get it to CT, matt. I'll get as many people as I can get samples of this bottle. But it came today. And then the coolest thing it came with this coin and I'm excited about it. It's that they sent the coin and it's going to be fun to be a part of the new place that Greg Schneider is on and he's going to be on.
Speaker 1:He's the one that contacted me, he's the one that wanted us to do this. He's such a good friend, greg um. It's like you're just, you're part of us, but you're part of me and everything that you do. I wish I lived closer and we could hang out more and uh, I just you know it's when, after we were done, uh, at old homestead this the last place, when, when we went down to kentucky and indiana the last time and we were at old homestead afterwards, me and ct checked into the hotel at old homestead and then me and ct headed off. I believe randy um took a nap and me and ct headed off and walk and Walker's going away party was at Amore, which is like five minutes from Greg's house. But we got to Greg's house, I brought my Magnus bottle, the JW Magnus, which was the cigar blend that started it all, and we smoked a cigar and had a pour of that, and then we went and had an awesome meal, but this is to support the military and him being part of the military.
Speaker 1:The story we're going to tell about this bottle is going to be fantastic. Plus, it's got nine-year Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey in there, and I'm excited about it. So that's going to be happening in the next couple weeks, so everybody, look forward to that. I do not believe, walker, that this is what you're talking about. This is different. It might have been before Greg, but this one's part of Greg, so it's not going to be. It's nine years, that one, and we don't need three more years. He hasn't, he hasn't. I don't believe he's distilled anything right now. He is, uh, making sure that he gets well, the barrels that they buy and purchase these and source that. He's putting it together to make great bourbon and I'm telling you, greg schneider's palette is every bourbon man's palette. He's got the man's man palette, but anyways, um, with that said, uh, great to have everybody, everybody on tonight.
Speaker 1:Uh, we are the scotchy bourbon Boys wwwscotchybourbonboyscom. Make sure you check us out for T-shirts, glen Karens. And then also we're on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X, and also on Apple iHeart and Spotify, but also all the other podcast formats. But however you watch or listen to us, make sure you like, listen, subscribe, comment and leave good feedback. Good feedback is everything. If you're listening on Apple iHeart, please go give us a review. Reviews, five-star reviews. I need to get our four-point whatever rating up further. So I challenge everybody to go to Apple and hit that five star and give us a comment on. Give us a good review right there. But remember good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make sure you don't drink and drive. You live your life. Drink respons and drive. You live your life. Drink responsibly, not live your life and live your life uncut and unfiltered. Little steve-o is going to take us out, as he always will.
Speaker 3:I'm I'm dedicated to you, little steve-o, I'm dedicated to you, little Steve-o oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar. Oh, don't ask why. 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. For if we don't find the next whiskey bar, I tell you we must die. I tell you we must die, all right.
