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
Booker's Legacy Lives On Through Freddie Noe's Innovative Tequila Finish
We explore Booker's Reserve 2025, a groundbreaking bourbon finished in tequila barrels that creates a unique flavor experience unlike any previous Booker's release.
• First-ever finished Booker's bourbon and first tequila finish in the Beam portfolio
• Barrels traveled from Kentucky to Mexico and back, creating a global whiskey story
• Aged 8 years, 10 months, 11 days at 123.3 proof (61.65% ABV)
• Brown wax seal pays homage to early Booker's releases
• Freddie Noe's innovative approach honors grandfather Booker's experimental spirit
• Tasting reveals complex notes of caramel, vanilla, Mexican spice, and subtle agave influence
• Scores an impressive 17.5/18 on our Old Louisville Barrel Bottle Breakdown rating system
• Drinks remarkably smooth despite high proof, making it an ideal fireside sipper
• The finish features a lasting warmth with evolving flavors that continue to develop
Visit www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys, including Glencairn glasses and t-shirts. Remember, good bourbon equals good friends and good times. Drink responsibly and don't drink and drive. Live your life uncut and unfiltered.
Bourbon innovation meets tequila tradition in our exploration of Booker's Reserve 2025 – a groundbreaking release that takes Booker's barrels on an international journey before creating something truly spectacular.
This unique expression began with Booker's 30th Anniversary barrels that traveled to Jalisco, Mexico, where the Camarena family used them to age El Tesoro tequila. When those same barrels returned to Kentucky, they carried rich agave notes that would transform a special batch of Booker's bourbon during a 2-3 month finishing period. The result? A first-ever finished Booker's that bridges Kentucky tradition with Mexican craftsmanship.
Our tasting reveals a masterful balance of bourbon character and tequila influence. At 123.3 proof, this 8-year, 10-month bourbon delivers waves of caramel, vanilla, and baking spices complemented by subtle agave brightness. What's most remarkable is how approachable it remains despite its strength – the perfect fireside companion for winter evenings. The distinctive brown wax seal (rather than traditional black) visually connects this innovative expression to early Booker's releases.
Freddie Noe has established the Reserve series as his playground while honoring his grandfather's experimental spirit. As Freddie notes, Booker "was never not exploring" and would eagerly share his tinkering with friends and family. This philosophy lives on in a bourbon that scored an impressive 17.5/18 on our rating scale, making it a must-have for collectors and enthusiasts alike.
Whether you're a longtime Booker's fan or exploring premium bourbon for the first time, this release demonstrates how thoughtful barrel finishing can add fascinating dimensions to an already exceptional whiskey. Get your bottle while supplies last, and experience what happens when Kentucky tradition meets Mexican craftsmanship in a glass.
Add for SOFL
If You Have Gohsts
https://www.scotchybourbonboys.com
The Scotchy bourbon Boys are #3 in Feedspots Top 60 whiskey podcasts in the world https://podcast.feedspot.com/whiskey_podcasts/
Tiny here to tell you about Whiskey Thief Distilling Company and their newly opened tasting room. Whether you are up for a farm-to-glass distilling experience on the Three Boys Farm in Frankfort, kentucky, or an out-of-this-world tasting experience in New Loop, you won't be disappointed At both locations. Their barrel picks all day, every day are like none other. Each location features stations with five barrels, each featuring their pot distilled bourbons and ryes. Once the barrels have been thieved and tasted, you can make a selection and thieve your own bottle A day at Whiskey Thief, with their friendly staff and ownership, will ensure you many good times with good friends and family.
Speaker 2:Remember to always drink responsibly, never drink and drive and live your life uncut and unfiltered. We'll be every brew and we're talking songs, but we're telling the truth. Yeah, we're the Scotchie Bird and the Boys Raising the hail and making some noise. Yeah, we're the Scotchie Bird and the Boys. We're here to have fun and we hope you enjoy. We're here to have fun, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, welcome back to another podcast of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys and Tiny here with I'm just trying to get you up Super Nash. Super Nash is here and we are going to do tonight. Just know everybody that we are going to do our Bookers thing. We have been doing Bookers pretty Bookers as we always talk about. We got together because of Bookers and Bookers has been. It's been our thing. It doesn't matter, we both love it and there hasn't been, I mean, I think there's just been one mediocre batch out of what since, since we started, everything we taste, plus this year fantastic yeah this year at the christmas party I'm thinking that we open up that old bookers that you gave me for Christmas the one year, two years ago
Speaker 1:it's still sitting there. Um, I, I put it, I wet the cork, but I know your cork opening skills will work no matter what, because you really got those skills. Uh, that's one thing that that we, that we came up with. You know what I mean? It's just oh, are we good? I'm having a oh, that's crazy. What happened on? I'm just noticing are we off of Facebook? We should just check real quick.
Speaker 3:It was in, but now it's caught back up.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there we go. So we're caught back up and you're back up, and I just saw, I thought that you know Okay, so anyways, my wife's up there on the phone probably watching some stuff, you know, not thinking about the Internet right now, but there you go. So it looks like it's caught up. But so I'm either on the TV or the Internet. What did you say? I said I'm either on the TV or the Internet, or my computer what'd you say?
Speaker 1:all right, roxy. Okay, we're getting some roxy upstairs. I think this is you know. That should be a segment. We're getting feedback from upstairs. We should have upstairs Roxy's feedback as a segment once a month.
Speaker 2:I'm going on YouTube and watching videos.
Speaker 1:All right. We got Laura on Laura on YouTube, who said hi. Then we got Braxton Sports and Duffy Edits says what's up, my dude? All right, so they're on. And then we got a lot of.
Speaker 3:She's watching in the bedroom, yeah.
Speaker 1:Then we got John Ritt Walker, we got Randy Ford, randy Pressey, we've got Steven, my friend, steve Pitzer, you know. Jamie Jacobs is on. We've got a lot of people watching tonight. We're happy. So, all right, we're going to do bookers. But let me do the stuff real quick, all right. So remember wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys. We are going to be making a push. I mean, this crystal Glencairn glass is the ultimate tasting glass and you can have your Scotchie Bourbon Boys regular. I'm not the crystal, but the regular Glencairn glass. We sell those on the website or contact me and I will ship it directly, no problem. But these are a must for any whiskey drinker. Whether you're drinking scotch Irish whiskey, when you taste these this tulip shape with this base and how it works and how you can coat the glass and everything, it's a must for every whiskey drinker. Uh, it's great, it makes a great gift, you guys. Uh, we've got them in stock and uh, you know, right now contact me for that.
Speaker 1:Uh, for for the crystal glen karens, we plus, we have scotchy bourbon boys t-shirts although we are, we are out of excels, but everything else we have. I going to have to think about what we're going to do for t-shirts orders in the future, but they've been doing all right and moving. And the Crystal Glencairn I've got the Crystal Glencairns and I've got Crystal Decanters this time. So the club this year is going to have a couple different stages and we just finished our Maker's Mark pick when we were in Kentucky and the Maker's Mark private selection, which was a very unique private selection that we will be, and I tasted it again. It it's right here. This is it I got to. I got to taste it. It's right here. It smells so good, it tastes so good now and I can't wait to get that.
Speaker 1:And then, um, so you know, check out the website for all the things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Remember, we're on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X, and it looks like that we will be on TikTok real soon. Tiktok's coming, folks. If it's going to sell and it comes to a US company, we will be on TikTok. Tiktok is huge for whiskey, there's no doubt it is five times bigger than anything, but I've always stuck by.
Speaker 1:You know I didn't want to support some of the stuff that was going on as a Chinese company, so, but we will be on TikTok soon and then also on Apple, iheart, spotify and anywhere else that you listen to a podcast. Just check us out there. But no matter if you listen or you watch us, make sure that you leave good feedback. Go and leave good feedback and then also subscribe. You can take it one step further on YouTube. Not only just subscribe, but you can join us, and there are little benefits that you can get by becoming a member on YouTube. So check that out, you know, and you know we'll go from there. Just want to put this out there is.
Speaker 3:We can't do this without y'all and leaving good feedback. Right now, we're in top 10 whiskey podcasts, top 20 bourbon podcasts and top 50 distillers podcasts in the world. Right now, help us get those ratings on up there. Just tell your friends about it, tell your family about it and get them to watch, like and listen and leave some good feedback for us. Help us get those ratings up there. Yeah, and it's you check out, leave some good feedback for us.
Speaker 1:Help us get those ratings up there. Yeah, and you check out Greg's comment. It's pretty good because he loved being with Booker and everything and with Elmer and everybody and he's got so many stories of Jimmy Russell, elmer, t Lee, but Booker is right up there and I really believe that Fred and now Freddie going forward, have really honored their father and grandfather as you go forward. So with the whiskey, I mean I love the whiskey and we are doing the reserves, the 2025 reserves, doing the reserves, the 2025 reserves. Anyways, let's see, give me it, we got Sir Country.
Speaker 3:Produce. Yeah, greg was saying that he attended an industry event which was a barbecue in Booker's backyard in the early 2000s and he was sitting next to Booker in the backyard next to a smokehouse and he told Booker that he had bottles signed by Parker, elmer, jimmy and others, but didn't have a bottle signed by him. He helped and then so Booker hollered at Fred and told him to bring a signed bottle of his Booker's. So Greg told him. He said, ah, don't worry, I'll get a bottle of bottle later. Unfortunately, booker passed away shortly thereafter and he was a dear friend of Greg's and an industry icon and a true brother of Jimmy Russell and Elmer T Lee. So he was, as Greg said, he was absolutely one of the goats.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I agree, booker's. When it comes to Booker, you know the story in my painting. You know whatever Booker's in my painting, along with Fred and Freddie, you know? And then I did. Actually, I enjoyed painting. What is it? What's her name? Mila Kunis. Mila Kunis, yes, I did enjoy painting her and at the I'm going to do the painting right now. Yeah, and then the name still didn't come to me, but Mila Kunis was doingis was part of the Jim Beam. She was a brand ambassador and doing all the commercials for Jim Beam, for Jim Beam Black, if you remember. She had that look, that smoky look, and everything. Those were fantastic commercials.
Speaker 1:But so I have my bottle of Booker's Reserves 2025. I also have the 2024. But if you're going to compare the two, it's no comparison. So, knowing that what this is I mean, this is unlike any other bookers before. What it came down to? I got my little card and everything, but there's nothing on the internet. But I did find Whiskey Advocate. They came up with something, so I can, at one point, I'll share the screen for Whiskey Advocate. You know they did an article about what it was, but Booker's, in 2018, released their 30th anniversary batch at 62.9. And they took those barrels and they sent them to Jalisco, mexico, for the Camarena family to use to age special Tesoro tequila for an 85th anniversary edition release. So when those were released in 2022, those same barrels boomerang back up to Claremont heavily imbued with agave, primed for one more aging, prime for one more aging. No, whipped up a batch of Booker's and parked it in those now El Tesoro season barrels for two to three months, making Booker's the reserve 2025. It's the first time that Booker's has ever had a finish and the first tequila finish for any product in the Beam portfolio.
Speaker 1:Now, I am excited about this. I mean for one. The details on this is you get the normal one. It was eight years, 10 months and 11 days. It is 123.3 proof, 62.65 ABV.
Speaker 1:Now, in my opinion on this now, initially, the reserve in 2024, if you remember, this one was an eight-year, two-month, 12 days and, if I'm not mistaken, freddie was the one that came up with the idea for the reserves to take older bookers and make an older-aged. You know, mix them, the ones that went past and mix them together and the youngest is eight. When they say bookers is, the youngest is eight. Now they have the aging statements of this reserves and it is that's tasting note, master distiller notes. Is that's tasting note, master distiller notes? Yeah, this one doesn't do the normal. Um, what would you say the normal? What warehouse, where it was and whatever. Right, it's basically 30th anniversary. They mixed up a batch that they didn't tell us what the batch was, because once they got that batch mixed up, they stuck it in those tequila barrels for two to three months and then made this batch right.
Speaker 1:Yep, now we are going to do our Old Louisville barrel bottle breakdown of Booker's the Reserves 2025. I'll pull it out. The Reserves 2025. I'll pull it out Now. Old Louisville is in Louisville, kentucky. I mean, he is you got to meet him. Fantastic guy. He understands and loves whiskey. He's his. His roots were he was an owner of a liquor, of a couple liquor stores, and he was buying barrels and at one point, the barrel collection got too big and he had to figure out what to do. Well, he basically went to a warehouse, put the barrels in the warehouse and started a brand, and he's got so many different cool things in there, right?
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I mean, and he didn't release anything younger than seven years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, nothing.
Speaker 3:Yep Seven years old or older.
Speaker 1:And he's been releasing. Now he's been around. So some of this stuff he might've got at seven, eight years old, but now it's 17 years old and he's been around. So some of the stuff he might have got at 7, 8 years old, but now it's 17 years old and he's released his 17,. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So awesome stuff there. You've got to check out the old Louisville Whiskey Company there in Louisville and if you stop by and see Amin, make sure you tell him you heard about him on the Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
Speaker 1:I'd like to see how that works because we pushed this. You heard about him on the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. I'd like to see how that works because we pushed this. Amin's a great person, just like all of our other sponsors, which we'll go through slowly as we go through the night.
Speaker 1:But this one is the Old Louisville Barrel Bottle Breakdown. Let's see, I got to pull up so I can see what's going on. Yep, there we go. Uh, and the old louisville barrel bottle breakdown is our scale.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to give this one to you super nash, because whenever I do that, you're just kind of like uh, so the scale is based off of nose, taste, body and finish. Uh, we could give up to five knocks on the barrels for the taste and the finish, and we could give up to five knocks on the barrels for the taste and the finish, and we can give up to four knocks on the barrel for the body and the nose. But if you like something and you think it's exceptional, you can give a butt up. So that's up to either six or five. So that is our rating scale. Um, I actually have potentially could be a 19 out of 18. Yeah, that's the perfect bottle. I think we've had one or two of those. We've had 18s a little bit more 18 out of 18s, but a 19 out of 18 is a little bit score to 19 and it's hard to score if you have two people, because to get we both have to give it a 19.
Speaker 1:I could give it an 18 because it would only be 18 5, so that's kind of um uh, we don't round up around here, do we no? No, oh no and no halves. There's no halves. It's if you can give it, get a, because if there's two of us, then you can get a half in there. But I have just opened it. I love opening the thing I love about Booker's.
Speaker 3:Fresh pop on that court. Here we go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was decent. The thing I love about, oh God, this one's a good one. I mean, you've opened Now, have you actually? You said you hadn't tried it yet. Have you tried it yet?
Speaker 3:All I did was take the seal off and I popped the cork for just a couple of seconds and then put it back on. That was earlier today and it's been sitting here ever since, but this will actually be the first pour of it.
Speaker 1:All right, that's what's happening with mine into my scotchy bourbon boys. Glenn, let me know if you want a couple. All right, I won't overdo it this time because I want to lay this baby. One of the great things about a glenn caring is that, in order to coat the glass, you can lay it on its side and it can roll around and coat the end. I love this bottle. One of the things I love about Booker's is because Booker's delivers on all fronts.
Speaker 1:It is barrel strength and I, in 2019 and 18, when I was finding out about barrel strength uncut, unfiltered was something that I always was looking. I couldn't believe it. It's what they did. You know, you read about Booker and you read about Jimmy Russell and they didn't. When it comes to rye whiskeys and barrel strength whiskeys, there was a way different, completely different thought process. Where that was happening in 2018, that is happening today, in 2025. One they didn't think people should drink barrel strength bourbon. They thought they should prove it down to what their proof was, and I mean that's crazy and everything, but at the same time, they're probably right. All right, here we go now. All right, here we go Now. What I got to say, is it's like a spicy caramel chocolate.
Speaker 3:It's very, very spicy and lots of caramel and vanilla.
Speaker 1:But I get that dark chocolate on the nose a little bit.
Speaker 3:I'm not getting the chocolate.
Speaker 1:I get caramel and then like a Mexican spice, like a really hot Mexican spice, and then I get the chocolate, like coffee beans, like a chocolate, oh, a chocolate-covered espresso bean.
Speaker 3:I get like the espresso bean, but I'm not getting the chocolate in there, maybe.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, it's so good, all right, let's see if I tasted like it. I mean, I tasted this and I was like shit. Oh my God, the legs on that are insane. It just sticks on the side forever like it's glue. Wow, that is interesting. The one thing. Oh, that must be palate shock. Let me see.
Speaker 3:That is caramelly, as can be, and then it tastes like a milk dug to. I see spices are coming through like nutmeg and pepper Tastes like a milk dug to me.
Speaker 1:The spices are coming through like nutmeg and pepper. It tastes like a milk dug to me. The heat of the hug is insane.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The hug is the.
Speaker 3:The body. It's hitting the whole mouth, top sides, tongue.
Speaker 1:What's really weird is I'm getting almost no finish. The finish is a hug. I don't know what to think about that, mm-mm.
Speaker 3:That caramel's carrying all the way through. But I can take, I can taste that that agave tequila on the finish, on the back of my that time now I'm getting a finish that's, that's where I'm. That's where I'm getting that tequila. That is weird.
Speaker 1:It's almost like it isolates on where you're pushing it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah, you're right, because where I'm letting it flow across my tongue and all that and it's sort of isolating on those buds. Wow, that's going of isolating on those buds.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's going to be a hard one.
Speaker 3:That finish is lasting, though.
Speaker 1:My hug is lasting, the taste.
Speaker 3:That's one of the longest hugs that I think I've had.
Speaker 1:I would agree with you. The hug usually to me is not part of the finish, but in this one the hug is transferred to the finish and I'm still warm inside. Let's see what it is. It's 72 outside. It's not cold enough outside right now for this. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is on one of those good snowy days when it's cold enough to have a little fire going. This is a fireside sip right here.
Speaker 1:And the nose is even better now. I think that's one of the best noses. Honestly, this plays with whiskey. It's not a bourbon, because it's finished in tequila, so it's Kentucky straight finished, so it's no longer. It's a whiskey Bourbon, but it's a whiskey and it's complex-ish. It is insanely complex, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm going to rate it a four because of all this got going on on the nose.
Speaker 1:That's all. You're going to give it A four the whole thing. Yeah, who said we're rating the nose first?
Speaker 3:That's the way we always do Nose body taste finish. That's the way we always do Nose body taste finish. That's the way I write it. Look, that's the way I always write it down on the pad, so don't be chaining it up on me now.
Speaker 1:This release tells the story of some particularly well-traveled barrels. A few years ago we celebrated a big milestone the 30th anniversary of Booker's. To mark the occasion, we released an extra special batch. Then we sent those barrels down to our friends, the Camarinas in Jalisco, mexico. They used it. We know that part about El Tesoro. Now, exchanging barrels isn't anything new. There's a time-honored practice of collaboration between distilling families. But here's where it gets really interesting. Those same barrels, richly seasoned with agave, eventually made their way back to us here in Claremont. We hand-selected a batch of bookers to finish in them creating a bourbon finished in tequila.
Speaker 1:Barrels with a story of a unique flavor From Kentucky to Jalisco and back again. We raise a glass, cheers and salute Color deep in our calm nose Caramel, vanilla, touch of agave, rich caramel, charred oak with baking spice, complex notes of agave and black pepper. I created the reserves to continue the legacy of my granddaddy Book or no, in many ways it's the same bookers you know and love, always uncut and unfiltered. But in other ways the reserves is something new, inspired by my granddaddy's boundless curiosity and relentless pursuit of flavor. You see, he was never not exploring, needed to get to the bottom of. He'd come home eager to share the fruits of his tinkering with friends and family, not just for us to enjoy, but to see if his experiments had paid off or get inspiration for what he could try next time. Needless to say, we were all more than happy to be his guinea pigs. He creatively showed me how much more is possible with the whiskey we all know and love. I'm proud to carry his spirit forward and hope each release gives you a new appreciation of flavor, just as Booker's intended.
Speaker 1:Long live Booker's. That's Freddie Ngo. Bean Family Generation Master Distiller Freddie Ngo. So Freddie is the one doing the reserves, obviously right, yes, so I mean this is… let's raise a glass to Freddie Ngo.
Speaker 1:Yes, freddie, you get to do this and then at one point you're going to get to do the Booker's also. But honestly, this is something special and I love the fact that I'm getting to taste tequila-finished Booker's. I'm all in on it, right.
Speaker 3:I am too.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to do.
Speaker 3:It's not overpowering. I've tasted several tequila-finished whiskeys in the last couple of years and this one is by far the best. It's amazing, Okay.
Speaker 1:So what do you give the news? Oh my god, I'm picking up right now, after just sitting in there, I pick up all this caramel, then I'm picking up this little bit of, I call it like, um, it's more like, uh, how, like a red hot kind of spice, but then I pick up a little bit of that. I'm not picking up the, the, what you call it, as much as I was before the, the, but the, the espresso chocolate, but it's more like a milk dud. Now, oh my god, I'm gonna give this nose a four. So you give this nose a four. So you give the nose a four. I'm giving the nose. Did you hear that? Absolutely, and I'm giving it a four.
Speaker 3:With a. I wrote it down too soon. You fooled me there, oh yeah. James Morgan says he hears it good, I should have known that that ba-dum-bop was coming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the nose is quite spectacular to me. Honestly, I think it's one of the best noses I've ever encountered. This is a perfect nose for me. Honestly, I think it's one of the best noses I've ever encountered. It is. This is a perfect nose for me. I'm not kidding, I get the sting of the tequila agave, but I think the agave is making it sweeter. I think so too. Oh there, now it's back to having a little, but, oh my God, all right, so I got to go on. I don't on.
Speaker 3:I'm going to keep nosing it or keep tasting it. It's that good, because each time you're picking up something more, as it's sitting here, I think by far.
Speaker 1:It's the easiest Booker's yet At 120, it doesn't drink 120. You can do whatever you want with this, to try it like to get the body out of it, but I will say I'm going to go.
Speaker 3:Now, after that sip right there, it has that traditional Booker's flavor. It's in there Right up front. You can tell that.
Speaker 1:On the taste? It definitely. They didn't lose bookers. You know what I?
Speaker 3:mean no, they did not lose it, they've just enhanced it.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm going to say on the body. So there's a couple other bookers that have a bigger body than this.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so there's a couple other Booker's that have a bigger body than this. Yeah, greg said marketing people said people don't want to drink barrel strength Booker bourbon.
Speaker 1:But Booker and Jimmy both love it. Oh, I know Jimmy and Booker both loved it, but they still were thinking the average person would use it and they would proof it down or put it in mixers or do whatever they wanted. They wanted to give them complete control, because I know they didn't think that all the women would love high proof like they do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, so, and, and greg, greg said he he needs to get up to uh visit a mean at uh his uh new facility which is his old stomping ground.
Speaker 1:yeah, yes he knows that plan inside and out all right. So guess what? I lost the hammer. All right, I got the hammer. All right. So on the body, like said it doesn't quite. Booker's always has that big. This one's a little bit easier to drink and you can swish it all around your mouth. Although you can taste it everywhere, it still it kind of tastes, as you put it. It tastes where it swishles around as you do it. You can taste it on your cheek, but then it goes to your tongue, whereas a Booker's, a lot of time it just tastes everywhere. So I'm going to give the body, on this, a three.
Speaker 3:I have to disagree a little bit. You can disagree all you want. Yeah, I think it's got an excellent body too. It's really thick in the glass. Yeah, great legs, the body of it. Just I mean it just hits all the right places in the mouth, the top the roof, the sides of my tongue.
Speaker 1:It hits those, but I find it hits it.
Speaker 1:It's got nice viscosity I agree it hits them, but not all at once. Curiosity I, I agree it hits them, but not all at once, like if it, like those big booker bodies are just like you. It hits all of it, but I can taste it and it hits on my left cheek and then it goes to the roof of my mouth, then it hits on my right cheek and then it's on the thing. It's not hitting it all. It's not that, to me it just doesn't go. Boom for a four, that's all I'm saying. But that's not a bad thing, it's. I gave it a three. What you giving it? You're gonna give it a four. I know no halves no, I'm gonna.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna give it a four because I like the body on it and like say I think, think that body is just right up there.
Speaker 1:I gave it a three so you could catch up to me.
Speaker 3:And that's exactly what happened. We are now tied.
Speaker 1:All right, you go taste.
Speaker 3:The taste on this is fantastic. I'm getting the caramels, I'm getting the bacon spices, the nutmeg, the peppers. I'm tasting a little bit of that tequila agave vanilla. Vanilla is coming through on it and very little ethanol whatsoever is coming through.
Speaker 1:This would be my favorite fireside bourbon of all time. Yeah, I don't even. I don't think this would go pair well with a cigar, because I think the cigar would take away all the flavors that it has, or the spiciness. This is not a cigar blend. Yeah, they did tequila, not Ambarano, but I think that would be cool if they did an Ambarano. Finished Booker's. Oh, there you go. There I go. Cigar blend Booker's. I'm a marketing genius. I never see that day. Ct hopes he doesn't see that day.
Speaker 1:I'm a true bookers fan no no, the reserves has gone off the rails. It is.
Speaker 3:It is a new train I'm I'm, since I'm going first'm going to rate this a five. It's a good thing. I like it in the flavor of whiskey. I'm going to do a faux pas, a faux pas, a faux pas, a faux pas, hmm.
Speaker 1:Hmm.
Speaker 3:That tequila is really now going on the finish.
Speaker 1:It makes me want to search out a bottle of that tequila now, just to see what that tequila tastes like.
Speaker 3:I don't hate tequila as much as I hate vodka, but sure I'd like to find a bottle that was finished in these barrels.
Speaker 1:So you said you'd give it a five.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm giving it. I will give it a five too and an extra. But five too and an extra, but up up. You can't do that. I'm already giving up on that. I'm tiny, I can do whatever I want. This is my freaking podcast. Oh my gosh, I gave it a six. Did you give it a six for real? Are you kidding? It's for real. Mark it down. Everybody Mark it down. I marked it down. You know what? Are you going to argue with me? Are you just going to? Actually, I marked it up.
Speaker 3:I wrote a five, and so I had to mark it up to a six. I will let you go back and change your score if you want. I wrote a five, and so I had to mark it up to a six.
Speaker 1:I will let you go back and change your score if you want, oh.
Speaker 3:I don't want to change it, okay, so hey, I was always told never look back, I always look forward.
Speaker 1:Well, you look forward in a straight line. Now I knew there was going to be a difference. You started talking about looking, not me.
Speaker 3:I'm having a blast tonight, seriously, super Nash, thank you you know I always enjoy doing bookers with you, like I say, because that was what brought us together as brothers. We're more than just friends, we're family, we're brothers. And then, like I say, just being right along with you for the podcast ever since the beginning has just been a positive pleasure.
Speaker 1:I just remember the last time I pulled out the extra ba-dup-dup. It was a scandal.
Speaker 3:What a big controversy that was, and it was a couple of Christmases ago. I remember it too. Yeah, me too, me too.
Speaker 1:So anyways. So now I get to go on the finish you get to go on the finish and you are not doing a third, but I'm up. No, this isn't a, so you could give it five. And now what's really weird is the finish is finishing and I still am. Just I would give the finish. Based off of now, I would give it a three out of five. And the reason why is now I pick up a little bit more of the tequila bitterness at this point, but the hug just never stops.
Speaker 1:I'm not getting the bitterness that sweetness to me is airing all the way I pick up that jalapeno pepper-ish red jalapeno peppers in tomato sauce, red hot or whatever those, I get that spice. And then now, in this last time that I've been doing it, the tequila and a lot of the tequila finishes that I've had finished this way. And I started picking up. Initially when I first did it I was like finish blind. I mean the first part, the first sip I took, there was no finish to me. Second one I started picking up a little bit of finish, a little bit of the pepper, a spice, and then I started picking up some of the caramels in the finish and now that sweetness and the caramels in the finish, and now that sweetness in the caramels, Sweetness, sweetness.
Speaker 3:And the finish to me, like I say, is still long last, and that hug is still.
Speaker 1:Well, the hug is insane. So that's going to take the three to a four. So I'm going to give the finish a four.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with you. I I'm gonna have to go with a poor on punitive because it's not quite a five. I'm just getting all the flavors they're coming across it reminds me of a scotch finish.
Speaker 1:It really does. It's a scotchy finish. It's just a little bit of it's not smokiness, but there's a char. And then there's like those.
Speaker 3:Almost like a maltiness, a sweet maltiness Right.
Speaker 1:So that is. Hey Roxy, she's just, she's coming down, I should, you should come. You don't got to go on. Oh, you're on the phone, okay, if you want to.
Speaker 3:If you want to taste. The final score is I have 17, and you give it an 18. So it scored a. What did you give it an 18.
Speaker 1:So it scored a six. What did you give it? The finish was a four.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I gave wait, you gave it five, three, six, four, that's 18.
Speaker 1:What did I give? A three, the body, the body. You're right, three out of four. And then I gave it a yeah, five, three, six, four 18.
Speaker 3:I gave it four, four, five, four, for a total of 17.
Speaker 1:17.5 on this Booker's reserve. It deserves it, honestly, absolutely.5 on this Booker's Reserve. It deserves it, honestly, absolutely. I agree. So we've got the other Booker's. Which is not a finished 2024 was not a finished bourbon.
Speaker 3:No, and I was sipping on that before I actually had this. I cleansed my palate before we started tasting this one, oh my god. And I'm glad because, like I say, I love the flavors in this so let me quick get up the whiskey advocate article um they say Walker was saying that Bakers and Bakers 13 are cigar bourbons for Bean from the Bean family.
Speaker 1:Well, roxy probably would completely disagree, considering her love of Bakers, and never would smoke a cigar. Yeah, well, that's just between us cigar smokers, right so they said in whiskey advocate that freddie land's the plainly perfect.
Speaker 1:The eight year, 10 month and 12 day product is really fun and drinks below it's 61.65, proof which we agreed there's a mineral, earthy note that pops up early on the nose owing to the tequila finish that moves directly in the typical aged bourbon aromas of caramel, vanilla and brown sugar, plus a discernible trademark beam note of toasted nuts. Some call that hazelnut. I think it's more peanut On the palate. The agave brings peanut oh, okay, all right on on the palate.
Speaker 1:The agave brings a brightness to the pour. That works nicely. A little zing in there before a big roundness of the bourbon which grows to a nice, warming, lingering finish. There's a bit of drying clove and spice on the finish, as was present in the Booker's the Reserve 2024, but the agave shows up in the end here to soften it a touch. Working best is the marriage and balance between the finish and the bourbon itself. The tequila brings light sweetness. The agave's president is subtle, never shouting too loudly. It may be a departure for Booker's, but this is the direction Freddie's taking the brand. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. He's not taking the Booker brand, he's taking the Booker Reserve brand because that's his and he's basically putting his own stamp on it. He's going to keep Booker's going, because why would you not, although they are producing a lot more Booker's? Because that second batch is still, which is by the pond.
Speaker 3:That's what I want to also make note of. If you notice, the reserves brought back the brown wax because in some of the earliest batches of bookers used to have brown wax instead of the traditional black wax. So I like the fact that he, you know, by changing the reserve, you know making the reserves his and he's bringing back the brown wax. Like I say, he's making this brown brand name his own and his own staple and I'm sure, like I say, in years, many years down the road and a lot of batches down the road, he will be well remembered for these.
Speaker 3:I will say honestly I am what he was a little boat too, yeah.
Speaker 1:And we basically were able to get this through Kentucky Bourbon Festival. We were lucky, I will say, jim Beam, as far as the festival goes, that first Friday there was a lot of frustration of the bottle collectors, of people standing in line for a long time and getting nothing. We heard it over and over and over. We heard it over and over and over. But on Saturday morning when Jim Beam, they basically came through, they had their. If you look in my, I believe, if you look in the back, you can see the bowling pin.
Speaker 1:They had the bowling pin I have mine right uh, there, I see your bowling pin, yeah, and you can see mine, right, yep, the bowling pin. And they had the bookers reserve. They had the harding, all three harding creeks, and they had knob creek 21. Now I have knob creek 18 and 21 on my shelf now not opened. Now, we will be fixing that, uh, in the coming weeks, because knobs I gotta get some, I gotta get a couple samples to knobs and, uh, you know, shout out to him. He is starting to help with the social media. I'm to be basically turning TikTok over to him. So that's going to be cool, but I will tell you, I will say that, the directions of Booker's. I'm excited to have the reserves come out and, like I was saying with Jim Beam, I think that that morning is when everybody all of a sudden realized that there's so many people there.
Speaker 1:It's not just dependent on what you get from Heaven Hill and Heaven Hill, you know everybody, as the festival went on the first day, you know you had the VIPs all getting their bottles and you had the president VIPs getting their, their bottle of the festival and a lot of people weren't able to get it, but they got their bottles. And then the next day, the vips that didn't get it and then everybody else were getting. So there was enough there, honestly for everybody, right, would you not say?
Speaker 3:and in the end, on the bus tour I think I was at- not only that, but I mean oh my gosh, so many people were leaving out these craft distilleries they were bringing the heat.
Speaker 1:They, oh, the craft distilleries, you're right, you're right, I, what Augusta did, what, what Dark Arts did? I mean that buff, that buff, turkey, I mean it's like he's, but Macaulay sold 10 full barrels of turkey at the festival. He owned that festival. And then you're talking about what, you know, town Branch, they, they did a fantastic job. And then Whiskey Thief. You know, when you got in there, larrican, I mean it was basically extravaganza Old Louisville with you know, amin, they were just, it was Everything that a dean did. Yeah, once everybody discovered what was happening at, I mean, my favorite video is we walk up to Matt Groves from Augusta and he's like somebody just bought a 17 year, which is a $499 bottle, and they opened it. And so there's Alex Castle, right, alex Castle and Matt Groves, and they've got Augusta 17 in their glasses. I mean, there's just so many things that happen at the festival, but, like I said, jim Beam, on that Saturday I got the 17-year bottles, I got the third, you got two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got the 13 year and the 17 I got the 13 and the 10 because we tasted the 10 on the podcast, oh yeah, and I and, and honestly, the 10, in my opinion, the caramel on that 10 year, I just was, I just was in over the 13. I thought the 13 was good, but the 10 was just like my jam and sometimes it's just that's what it is right.
Speaker 3:How about when me and CT had the same idea? You know, when we had Matt Groves on from Augusta Distillery when we did the podcast that he mentioned that you know he was so busy working at, you know, at the booth during the festival that he would love to have been able to get out and get in those lines and get some of those bottles, especially, like you know, the eight year Jim Beam bowling pin right. Oh yeah, because you remember like I think his dad had one, an original bowling pin right. Yep, so then I went to Jim Beam and picked up one and then we presented it to Matt live.
Speaker 1:I mean, Super Nash, you have done so much for the podcast and so much for people. It's just like your generosity. It's just like your generosity. It's just like same thing of getting Randy Prassy a bottle of Weller Full Proof on his birthday. And those are the kind of things that Super Nash does for the scotch.
Speaker 3:Or giving him the Jim Beam decanter from my dad's collection of the Kentucky Derby Festival that he opened up with all the associates and presidents and all up there at the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby. Yeah. So I mean, that's just that's what bourbon is.
Speaker 3:That's what it is, it's like oh, the old bottles, the new bottles, the bottles that you acquire and it's sharing with people hearing that's, that's what makes me happy and makes me feel good and and uh, helps me to enjoy the bourbon and whiskey that I get and and the times that I get to spend with these people, uh, it, just it's. It's all real good and just uh, always a special time for me all right, real quick, we're going to end this audio podcast.
Speaker 1:Everybody on YouTube and Facebook hold on, because we will end the audio at this point. But YouTube and Facebook you can watch, because we'll pull on a couple more and do our normal roundtable afterwards and talk. But 17.5 for the Old Louisville Whiskey Company's barrel bottle breakdown of Booker's the Reserve 2025. And that is a fantastic score. Absolutely All right, everybody. A fantastic score. Absolutely All right, everybody. We're going to sign out here. Remember wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys, including Glen Cairns and t-shirts. Check it out. Either order off the website or call or just Facebook message me or YouTube message me or me or Super Nash and we will get that to you. Remember, absolutely YouTube, facebook, instagram and X, and then also on Apple, spotify and iHeart. And remember Good bourbon equals Good friends and good times. Remember drink responsibly and don't drink and drive.
Speaker 1:And go out and live your life uncut and unfiltered. And I got it right here. There it is. Let's see there it is. Let's see there it is.
Speaker 2:Nope, we'll start it right there, that's it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, let's turn it up. We love to spend time with our crew. Listen along and find out how that can be you spending time with the boys. You don't want to miss us. It's just twice a week, whether it's ohio, kentucky, newark or south carolina too listen along.
Speaker 4:Let's have a good time. We make sure to leave the bad time behind. Bourbon is the blood that makes a lifelong bond with our friends and neighbors, even some across the pond. I can't wait until the next time we meet, because I'm always looking for the next bourbon. Yes, please, I'll have it neat. So show me the way to another whiskey bar where it'll be right back.
