From Painting to Perfect: The Booker’s Jerry’s Batch Story

We taste Booker’s Jerry’s Batch, honor Jerry Dalton’s legacy, and tell the story of how a painting, a vintage serial number, and a shared hunt formed our friendship. The pour leads to a rare perfect score as we break down vanilla glaze, caramel apple notes, and a finish that glows more than it burns.

• why Jerry Dalton matters to Beam’s lineage 
• nine-warehouse blend and what 11.1% signals 
• uncut, unfiltered texture vs ethanol bite 
• vanilla frosting, caramel, tart apple, soft peanut 
• rating system and the 19/18 first for our show 
• availability, pricing chatter, and shop shoutouts 
• upcoming Garrison Brothers guest and schedule 
• private select pre-sale details and holiday plans 
• member perks, where to listen, and community asks

Make sure that whatever medium you’re following and listening to, leave good feedback for us, leave us a good rating, give us some five stars. Make sure that you subscribe, but also become a member. Our Maker’s Mark private select is available for pre-sale—ask to join the pre-sale group.

A bottle, a painting, and a friendship walk into a bourbon festival—what came out the other side just made our show’s history. We’re pouring Booker’s Jerry’s Batch and raising a glass to Jerry Dalton, the chemist-turned-master distiller whose quiet influence shaped the way Beam thinks about maturation, blending, and consistency. This release leans into nine warehouses and seven production dates to build a profile that somehow hits high-proof power and easy-drinking sweetness at the same time.

We talk through the nose—vanilla bean, butterscotch, a flicker of char and that signature peanut—then dive into a palate that surprised us: vanilla glaze, thick caramel, and a tart green-apple spark that keeps everything bright. The body coats without crowding, the ethanol stays in check, and the finish trades harsh burn for a warm, caramel-vanilla glow that lingers. If you’ve chased batches like Kitchen Table or On the Rocks, this one keeps the Booker’s soul while dialing up approachability. If you’re new to uncut, unfiltered bourbon, Jerry’s Batch is a welcoming first step at 124.7 proof.

Along the way, we revisit the origin of our show’s bond—an art piece signed by Fred and Freddie Noe and a vintage serial number that kicked off years of tasting together—and we unpack how warehouse microclimates, proof, and texture shape flavor. We also share availability and pricing anecdotes, shout out a stellar local retailer, and preview an upcoming conversation with Garrison Brothers, plus our end-of-year plans and private select pre-sale.

Pour a glass and taste with us. If this breakdown hits, follow the show, leave a five-star rating, share it with a friend who loves barrel-proof bourbon, and tell us what you’re getting on the finish. Subscribe so you don’t miss the Garrison Brothers guest and our bourbon-of-the-year showdown. Cheers.

If You Have Gohsts

voice over Whiskey Thief

Add for SOFL

Chapters

• 0:00 Middle West Spirits sponsor intro
• 3:06 Hosts kick-off, community updates
• 4:53 Merch, platforms, and membership ask
• 6:06 Listener shoutouts and price talk
• 6:41 Health, holidays, and Halloween plans
• 8:47 Upcoming Garrison Brothers guest preview
• 9:58 Why Booker’s matters to us
• 11:40 The painting that started it all
• 14:43 Finding vintage Booker’s and a friendship
• 19:27 Building the Booker’s batch collection
• 21:08 Rating system explained
• 23:16 Unboxing Jerry’s Batch presentation
• 24:48 Jerry Dalton tribute and label notes
• 27:45 Warehouse breakdown and blend details
• 29:54 First nose: vanilla, butterscotch, peanut
• 31:52 First sips: caramel apple sweetness
• 34:40 Body, legs, and viscosity observations
• 37:00 Nose scores and complexity debate
• 39:10 Body scores and the but-um-bump
• 41:30 Taste scores: frosting, caramel, nutty notes
• 43:50 Finish debate to perfect consensus
• 45:58 Historic 19/18 and bourbon of the year talk
• 48:02 Shoutouts, pricing, and availability
• 49:55 Local shop plug and festival mentions
• 52:00 Year-end plans and private select pre-sale
• 54:10 Final CTAs and sign-off

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:35

Middlewest 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 Michelone Reserve line reflects their story from the start to the bottle to your glass, with unique wheated it and rye bourbons, and also rye and wheat whiskeys. The Michelone brand is easy to sip. It might be a grain to glass experience, but I like to think of it as uncut and unfiltered from their family to yours. Tiny here tonight with Super Nash. Yeah, Super Nash is in the house, and we are doing, we are doing bookers. Bookers. Bookers, Bookers, and Bookers. Uh anybody who was on the live before, um, when you watch on the live, you get some bonus. And uh Super Nash and I just now, as we were going and we were prepping, I was able to show all the people on YouTube and on Facebook uh the painting that started it all. And we'll get a little bit more into that. So how the hell are you tonight, Super Nash?

SPEAKER_02: 3:08

Super boom.

SPEAKER_01: 3:11

I'm psyched for this. I really am because uh Scotchy, scotch, scotch, scotch, scotch. It's your thing. Um it's your thing. Um, there's so much that's that's happened, you know what I mean? But just remember uh everybody out there, www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. There's the Glenn Carens, there are the t-shirts, and soon I I swear to God, people, there's gonna be a bunch of uh bourbon balls available this year. Uh me and Roxy are just getting into it. Uh, we've got some time and we are gonna produce for the holidays. So everybody know you might not have to be dipping bourbon balls this year um at the Christmas party.

SPEAKER_02: 3:53

All right.

SPEAKER_01: 3:54

Anyways, so um you know, I always enjoyed it because I got to test a few of them. Yeah, well, it's fun. And I we should have some to be tasted instead of hoarding them like we always do. But also remember we are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and now TikTok. So we are on five of those formats, along with iHeart, Spotify, and Apple. Uh, that's where you can listen to us, and you can listen to us pretty much almost anywhere on any podcast format. It's if all you have to do is ask Alexa, play the Scotchy Bourbon Boys series, same thing, everything. You know, that's how it works. But no matter whether you listen to us or you watch us, make sure that whatever medium that you're you're following and listening to, that you leave good feedback for us, leave us a good rating, give us some five stars. Make sure that you subscribe, but also become a member. There's different places to become members all over the place. Um, there is special content we aren't getting. Um we when we get enough members, then y'all will start to get some special content because most of my content just goes straight out because we don't have a lot of the membership type stuff, but it would be great if y'all that's a good way to support us for us to go about our business and get the whiskeys, bourbons, and all the bring all the uh experiences to you. So there you go. I'm I'm pumped up tonight, super pumped up for this. Um, listen, we've got a guy, um, William McColl McCullum. He said he found Eagle Rare in Georgia for 50 bucks, and then he must set it in in Texas. You normally pay 150. Well, here in Ohio, you pay$39.99, so it's 40 bucks. So it's it's different everywhere. And then also we've got um Jason. Uh hyping Jason, he's saying that he's given up drinking, but seeing this podcast, he might might rethink about what about maybe having some. So, anyways, all right, anyways, uh that brings us to uh how was your week so far?

SPEAKER_02: 6:08

Oh man, it's been going great. Uh still got the old heart monitor on here. Uh no alarms have been going off. So I've been uh fortunate about that, and things seem to be going pretty good with that. Uh work-wise, been busy, trying to get things done for the holidays, and uh, you know, they'll soon be here upon us. We got Halloween coming up. Uh to mention that uh we always do our annual Halloween podcast, and have I got a costume this year, and everybody's just gonna have to tune in to see what it is.

SPEAKER_01: 6:43

I was thinking of Britt. No, I'm not dressing up like Tiny. Well, I was thinking of going and getting my bike and then doing like those protesters did in Portland. Uh just come, you know, and then I'll just be playing playing the Queen song on what is it, Fi uh Bicycle, or and then finish up with fat bottom girls. Anyways, with that said, there's a little bit of bizarre humor.

SPEAKER_02: 7:10

Um some people get it.

SPEAKER_01: 7:14

Yeah, but uh yeah, uh this this year's Halloween. Uh I mean this is is this good this is gonna be our fifth Halloween podcast. I know it. And and I'm running out of costumes.

SPEAKER_02: 7:27

Well, you know, you know, uh what last year uh I guess a lot of people don't know, but those that did tune in, last year I dressed up as one of the incredibles, I was super niche, yeah. Incredible, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:42

And I think I think I I I I uh milked the crap out of that 80s costume.

SPEAKER_05: 7:48

Yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_01: 7:49

And I mean, the one year I was I was the pirate, the one year I was um uh I had the pirates of the black, the long, I was Howard Stern kind of ish, and then the one year I was stone cold, I thought I pulled that off. Who knows about this year? Um, gotta think about that. I should start thinking about it. Also, we also carve our pumpkins, you know. Yeah, it it is. It's getting close. But also, I will tell you that this Thursday we've got a special podcast. It'll be, I don't know. Uh uh, do you think you're gonna be able to make that Garrison Brothers podcast there, Super Nash?

SPEAKER_02: 8:26

I'm gonna try. I talked with uh Randy earlier and uh we discussed it, and uh, I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_01: 8:31

So we will have we will have the um whiskey doctor from whiskey without borders.

SPEAKER_02: 8:37

If I can't make the zoom, I will tune in on my phone and and be comment and share it. Yep, and share it.

SPEAKER_01: 8:44

Okay, and then and then we have Dan Garrison of the Garrison Brothers uh distillery in Hay Texas. That's what I think H Y E high Texas, high Texas, um coming on to join us. Been looking forward to this. Um tried to set it up uh a time before, and we ended up uh miscommunicating, so we should have the communications down, it's been verified. Um, Randy was talking about questions. I was just I let him send in the questions, and then I will yeah, I gotta email him the link. I I texted him earlier, but I will email it to his email. But that's this Thursday. Now what are we doing tonight? What are we doing tonight? Um, the the the classic of what we do. I mean, this is this honestly, uh this is Booker's. Uh we do this all the time. We talk about it, we'll go quick, but Booker's is the reason for one of the main reasons I got into this, and then one of the main reasons we met. So in so we started our whiskey group in August of 2018. But it was only after going, and I was able to get that was the first ever bottle I hunted was Booker's Kitchen Table. I saw it on my shelf, I didn't pull the trigger, and when I went back to buy it, it was gone. And I had no idea that Booker's was a batch thing, right? Yeah. So based off of not knowing it was a batch thing, I started looking for it. I couldn't find it anyway. I looked for it through March and April, but in May, I went back to Wisconsin and I was able to find it there. Now, my first ever kitchen table bottle was not in the Booker's thing, it was$79.99 and it was out of the box. I don't know how that's possible. I have no idea how that works, but I was able to pick up a bottle of kitchen table, and that was my first ever Booker's. I read about Bookers, I I thought it was the coolest thing. So in 2018, that's when we were doing the whiskey calendar. We we read about me and uh Young Nose read about how the Kentucky Bourbon Festival was a thing. So from September of 2019 tells two or 18 to September of 2019, I saved every single cent possible. I went on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, completed it, but also we went to um we went to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which unbeknownst to me, so did you, and it was a lot different than it is now. But I I had already searched out the bookers, so I was so excited about bookers and and reading about Booker No, and uncut and unfiltered, and that this is the only barrel strength that's that when you drink that bourbon, it's what it what those distillers um and what everybody who's tasting right out of the barrels tasting, it was the closest thing. There wasn't a lot of other stuff like that. There was wild turkey rare breed, which was barrel strength, but it wasn't like uncut unfiltered, that was more of a batch. Um, this one, this one was just barrels dumped, they weren't being cold filtered. You so you could get and the and I learned all about how whiskey this way, if you if bookers would get cold, you could get cloudy because some of the fatty acids that aren't taken out during the cold filtering process are still in it. I learned so much about it. So I did this painting because at the time I was still close to my um my fine art um part of my life where I was uh painting a lot of fine art, and I did the painting. Uh Jim Beam Black was being sold at the time, and uh Mila Kunis was their Jim Beam spokesperson back then. And um, I can't believe I'm saying back then. So I did the painting, and I and I was able through the Kentucky Bourbon Festival to contact them through the Jim Beam dinner to set up a time to meet Fred and Freddie and have them sign the painting. So that was the start of me meeting Sandy, no, Freddie, and Fred, and uh the the friendship that ensued. But the bottle I used was offline off was taken offline as a sample. I put it in there and I painted the bottle in, and you saw it. So go from there with that story.

SPEAKER_02: 13:43

So I I didn't actually I stopped started following the when I got back home. I started following on Facebook the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Was I flipping through some of the pictures that were uploaded? I come across this post that Jeff had made, and it's all the pictures that were taken of him up there, and he had a tuxedo on and everything, getting his painting signed by Fred and Freddie knows that they were actually signing the painting. And uh, so then he had a picture of just the painting. So I I clicked on that painting, and I was just looking at it real close, and I got to looking at that bottle uh in the middle, and you you you know the numbers on that bottle that's in your painting? Yes, the send the serial number. What is it what does it say?

SPEAKER_01: 15:33

Um I can actually go right there and tell you. It is C O A I wanna say eight.

SPEAKER_02: 15:49

It's one A.

SPEAKER_01: 15:50

One A, yeah. C04-1-1A.

SPEAKER_02: 15:57

Okay. So after I saw zoomed in on that on that bottle and then those serial numbers. Well, it just so happened that I was already starting to collect uh Hooker's bourbon. Started in about 2018, and my first batch was the uh I can't remember the name of it, but it was the 2018-01. And then uh at the same time I was exclusively bourbon hunting and all these old uh liquor stores and all across the states, and I just happened to be in Atlanta a couple of weeks before that, and I found two 1994 batches that the serial numbers were just a couple of numbers off uh from the ones in the painting. So just after seeing that uh Zoom painting, I uh I just messaged Jeff out of the blue and like, hey man, I just happened to find two old bottles that are very close to the numbers in your painting. And we just start started talking on Facebook messaging back and forth. And that was the start of our our our friendship and brotherhood, uh, because we we just found out we had so much in common and stuff, and uh that we were like brothers from another mother.

SPEAKER_01: 17:25

And uh well and then and then you had contacted me, and then the foolproof 1793 foolproof came up, and you sent up a couple of uh knob creek barrel picks, and then the the you made that year's Christmas party. The first Christmas party was November, it was December of 2019. Yeah, that was in September when we started messaging, and then by December, I'd already decided, hey, I want to come up and meet you, and all so it was I believe it was like the 12th, like this year, and um we invited you up, you came up, you had a place, you and Sherry came up actually, and uh we uh did a podcast, and you brought up the actual bottle that was in the painting, and we were able to drop that cork into the bottle right in the middle of the podcast. We had to like have a little delay, but we we got through. We don't edit anybody who knows us, there's no editing. We are we are uh raw live, we don't go through and we're not if you're here other than for a good time and to know and and to to to know what we think about bourbon in a way that we don't necessarily think you have to think that way, then you know that's what that's what this is about. And so that started it all. And I've got two other bottles, I've got one that I have not opened yet. The one that you gave me a couple years ago for Christmas, that's still sitting there, that is a a bottle, and then I um I got a little bit left of the other bottle, I believe. Nope, it's up there, and then I've got that original bottle. But um Booker's has been the thing, and so ever since this podcast started, we were we so in 2020 is when we started doing Booker podcasts when with the new releases, but we sent you set you up a couple of older batches too.

SPEAKER_02: 19:31

Yeah, I I have one, yes. And if anybody can look right up there above my finger, this thing there, yeah, I have accumulated all the batches, the name batches that started in 2013, all the way up until uh this year. I have every batch setting up there on that shelf. And uh also I have a couple of older bottles uh from like 92 and 94 uh batches that are like the CO7-1A type serial number uh booker's batches. And uh you can find a whole list of those if you go to go to the Jim Beam uh website and all and or Google Booker's Batches numbers, and they'll tell you every serial number, every name, and the year that it came out, and the the what it was made up of. And so, yeah, that's was an incredible year that that year. Uh, like I say, coming together and uh meeting you for the first time and becoming part of the podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 20:43

Yeah. All right. It's funny because because Walker, we were trying to get our rating system. He's giving us totes the notes um from off of uh breaking bookers by the pond. We're just what we rated it on the on the podcast. That's all we were looking for, Walker.

SPEAKER_02: 21:06

Yeah, we were trying to find other ratings to tell everybody. We'll have our our rating.

SPEAKER_01: 21:11

I will figure it out for the bookers of the year. But that's one thing we do. We get each booker's batch, and so far this is the fourth. We had the reserves, we had the first batch, which was um what's what's that one? It is Barry's Barry's batch. Yeah, Barry's batch. Then the second one was on the pond, and now we're at Jerry's batch, and plus the the 2025 reserves on the pond and Jerry's batch. So we've got the four out, and the the reserves is a little bit different. Last year it wasn't, but this year it is. This year it's a finished in a tequila barrel, and that is that was uh very, very unique. The first ever finished bur booker. So that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02: 21:57

But this is Jerry's we rated uh when we rated it and tasted it here a few weeks back, it uh rated us 17.5 out of 18.

SPEAKER_01: 22:08

Right. I want to say hi to Eric the Great on YouTube. He is drinking Bailey's and coffee, and then William McCullum says that um that he feels the Garrison, he's out of Texas, so um he feels Garrison Brothers is a good distillery in Texas. And then so that brings us to our bi-weekly rating system, uh, sponsored by our barrel bottle breakdown, sponsored by the old Louisville Whiskey Company. Um, you want to talk about the old Louisville Whiskey Company real quick?

SPEAKER_02: 22:45

All right, I was gonna give the rating. I'll let you talk about okay. Old Louisville Whiskey Company is uh located uh in uh downtown uh Louisville. Soon to move to the main car, is uh the owner of that and the proprietor. And also he is the master taster and blender. And uh when you go there, uh you're definitely gonna get a great experience. Uh he'll see from barrels. He all also has some that's already bottled that he's done uh all the way up to 18 years old, I do believe. And he does not bottle anything less than seven years old uh out of his out of his blends. And he he gets barrels from uh several different places. Uh and like I say, then he ages it further, or uh I don't even I don't think his secondary age has aged any.

SPEAKER_01: 23:42

In French oak.

SPEAKER_02: 23:44

Yeah, okay, yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01: 23:45

Yeah, a lot of his stuff, a lot of his stuff goes into other barrels. He does have those. Remember the the one that uh CT decided he wanted to dump out?

unknown: 23:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 23:55

Yeah, and he's not allowed to go back. No, uh-oh. He's not allowed to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_02: 24:00

Okay, so our old Louisville rating system is it it we rated on four different uh categories the nose, the body, the taste, and the finish. On the nose and the body, you're allowed to give it up to four barrel barrel knocks. And on the taste and the finish, you're allowed to give it up to five barrel knocks. But if one of the categories is exceptional, you can actually actually add a but um bump. A but um bump. So it could possibly reach a score of 19 out of 18.

SPEAKER_01: 24:40

But this is the old Louisville whiskey company's barrel bottle breakdown.

SPEAKER_02: 24:48

So, and this booker's 2025 03 Jerry's batch.

SPEAKER_01: 24:55

There it is, it's sitting right there. A lot of times I open it. One of the awesome things about what Booker's is, is it comes in this beautiful box. It's got now it's it's got this one has bookers on both sides. It's got a picture of Booker's, plus, it's got the thing this can be used to smoke old fashions. You basically put your old-fashioned glass in there, get some smoke in there, pump some smoke in there, and then put the glass in, drop down the thing. It's been used as a uh drink smoker, but also it's just a fantastic box to store it in. Um, but the thing I love about this this booker's is you've always got the label for the batch, you've got the handwritten note by Fred, and some of them were written by Bookers and whatnot, but you also then have this beautiful black wax over the top of the Jim Beam B underneath there, and with a little ribbon popping out. It's it's a spectacular presentation of a spectacular bourbon.

SPEAKER_02: 26:01

Um, I've always said the I wanted to point out one thing. You see that that label? Uh it came out this month, I believe, in October, and it's got that dark orange label, which is fitting for Halloween.

SPEAKER_01: 26:17

Yep, and and each one has like a line drawing artwork of Jerry's batch, and then it has a story behind it. But each batch of bookers is different, and it they try and keep the bookers. Um, they it's the they are anywhere between six, seven, and some are a little bit older. This one is uh, I want to say seven years and eight months. Is it eight months on that baby?

SPEAKER_02: 26:43

Seven years, seven years, four months, and twenty one days.

SPEAKER_01: 26:46

So yeah, so it's almost you know seven and a half years old.

SPEAKER_02: 26:50

Um 124.7 proof.

SPEAKER_01: 26:54

Right, and so the third release of the Booker's Bourbon 2025 collection is Booker's. Oh, I should, um for this, I should do um a quick share. A screen share. So let's see. We'll come over here and see if I can do it. Share.

SPEAKER_00: 27:16

There it is.

SPEAKER_01: 27:25

Share. There it is. Is that up there? Can you see that, Nash? All right. Jerry's batch. This batch is named after Jerry Dalton, the only master distiller we've ever had at Beam, who isn't part of my family. But while he isn't Beam by blood, he might as well be. Jerry made one hell of an impact on our distilling process and on me, and for that I'll always be grateful. So there's the label inspiration. Fred Noah, beam seventh generation master distiller. He basically has um, you know, more of a scientific approach to uh a picture there. Seven years, four months. We already went through the you know that. My dad, Booker Noah, and I first met Jerry when he moved into the house behind ours after he took a job at a local distillery as a chemist. Over the years, he and dad became close friends, and Jerry eventually came to work with us at Beam, helping us deepen our understanding of distilling. Jerry cared so deeply about our business and our bourbon that when dad retired, he stepped up as master distiller for a few years. I wasn't quite ready for the job yet, but during that time, Jerry made it his job to see that I'd be following in dad's footsteps soon enough. Most of what I know about the science of our craft I owe to Jerry. He used to write up these tests, he used to write up these tests for me every few weeks to review the chemistry I'd been learning. He'd grade them by hand and go over the answers with me to make sure I understood everything. And more importantly, to make sure I was ready to keep making the best bourbon out there. For years, I just assumed Jerry was already part of the Bourbon Hall of Fame. But he's only got inducted last summer. He's a real humble guy who never liked making too much of a fuss. But he's a damn he's damn worth celebrating. Beam wouldn't be what it is without him, and I couldn't be prouder to honor him with this batch. Fred No Beam, seventh generation. All right. Here's the master distiller's notes. As we walk look through our barrel inventories during some abnormally hot days in late June, it's a good reminder of how the weather here in Kentucky influences our bourbon maturation. The interaction of these various batches from their specific storage locations proves the old axiom true that the hole is greater than the sum of its parts. With this blend of batches and its locate with this blend of batches and its and locations emerge and offering with great balance and depth of character. Jerry's batch brings together the microclimate conditions that these warehouse experiences. For anyone that has spent any time at the Claremont plant and surrounding area and working with our products, it's understood that each warehouse brings its own nuance to the barrel stored within and can influence the maturation process significantly. This product delivers all the notes you would expect of a booker's offering. Big bold flavors, a vanilla caramel and oak on a full-body palette with subtle background notes of butterscotch and apple. All this makes Jerry's Batch such an easy sipping whiskey that all you'll need is a comfortable spot in the shade to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02: 31:00

If you'll scroll that up, I'll I'll read this part.

SPEAKER_01: 31:03

Yep, there you go. Read it.

SPEAKER_02: 31:05

All right. Booker's Jerry's batch is made up of barrels from seven different production dates that were aged in nine different warehouses. The age of this batch is seven years, four months to 21 days. The proof of this batch is 124.7. The breakdown is as follows 11.1% came from the fourth floor of a seven story warehouse three. 11.1% came from the fourth floor of a seven story warehouse one. 11.1% came from the fourth fourth floor, seven story warehouse X. 11.1% came from the fourth floor, the seven-story warehouse Z. 11.1% came from the fifth floor of seven-story warehouse K. And 11.1% came from the third floor, the seven-story warehouse L. 11.1% came from the third floor, seven-story warehouse O. And 11.1% came from the fifth floor, seven-story warehouse four. And last 11.1% came from the fourth floor of seven-story warehouse G. There you go.

SPEAKER_01: 32:12

All right. Stop sharing. There you are, back up there. So there you go. You got your information on bookers. So um let's pour this bad boy up. Yeah. Let's get it going. So it's a a pretty fun batch.

SPEAKER_02: 32:44

Yeah, extensive amount of bottles and percentage that went into each one, each each of these batches. So this is pretty unique.

SPEAKER_01: 32:57

The vanilla on so I get like a vanilla graham cracker. I even pulled out a little bit of butterscotch as I pulled my nose away.

SPEAKER_02: 33:13

That's what I was fixed to say. I I I get that little bit of butterscotch and almost that little bit of peanut. Uh now, which is always except for the the one batch that we did, you know, here just I think it was either batch one or two that didn't quite have that that similar, you know, Booker's note of the peanut.

SPEAKER_01: 33:38

Well, I think um the ethanol on this nose is pretty high. Yeah. And this the the proof of this was again 120 what? 124.7.

SPEAKER_00: 33:54

All right. Did I put that one?

SPEAKER_01: 34:04

Oh I think I poured it in the wrong yeah. I'm gonna have to pour more. Can't mix it. It's probably why I was getting a little bit because I was uh there was some other bourbon in that. That's not that's not fair. Almost messed that up.

SPEAKER_02: 34:32

Yeah, you were already trying to to score a blend in there. Once that that ethanol's starting to dissipate a little bit.

SPEAKER_01: 34:46

Yes it is.

SPEAKER_02: 34:47

And you can really, really pick up that some of the vanilla and butterscotch. Oh, it's real buttery. All right, here we go.

SPEAKER_01: 35:16

I'm gonna go. It's the sweetest booker's today.

SPEAKER_02: 35:26

Sweet, sweet caramel, and I'm getting I'm getting marine apple.

SPEAKER_01: 35:31

I get caramel caramel apple. On the front, I get that vanilla cake frosting. Then mid-pallate, I get caramel. Wow, that finish is so caramely.

SPEAKER_02: 35:56

And it that tart it I'm telling you, there's a tartness of an apple in there.

SPEAKER_01: 36:01

I get it. On the sides of your tongue.

SPEAKER_02: 36:08

On that first sip, I got it right on the tip and then hit the sides. More caramel's coming through on the on the uh and a little bit of vanilla on that second taste.

SPEAKER_01: 36:23

And it has an outlying aspect of oak. Let's see what it does in the glass as far as that body.

SPEAKER_02: 36:34

Here we go. Look at that color. I poured a pretty hefty pourer on that too.

SPEAKER_01: 36:44

Oh man. Little heavy, little heavy. Those those legs are long. They don't just form on the side, they go up and then thick it is.

SPEAKER_02: 36:52

And I mean it's just you can see each one of those legs just thick and strong. Little bit of brown sugar coming through. On the on the aftertaste.

SPEAKER_01: 37:14

The more you drink something, as your taste buds get hit, then the flavors change. Mm-hmm. As I start as they acclimate to it. There's no bitterness on the finish at all. It's sweet. Usually you'll pick a little bit of that saddle leather, or you'll pick up a little but just a little bit leathery, but it's it's a s it's sweet, and it's just it's not dry.

SPEAKER_02: 37:44

It's more buttery. Yeah. I think that's that's got to do with the viscosity of it. It's so thick from all the sugars in it. It's weird though. You know, you get that ethanol on the nose.

SPEAKER_01: 38:03

Are you getting are you I'm getting it slightly on the cheeks, you know?

unknown: 38:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 38:10

But this isn't the the it's so big and huge on the palate and the roof of your mouth. And then that caramel. That is just like weird, because normally a booker's would have that that four body, and it it's if it's a four, it's barely a four. Normally it's almost a five if you could give it a five, you know what I mean? But what was that?

SPEAKER_02: 38:44

What the heck? A net. Yeah, we're we're still getting a few nets in here down here in South Carolina.

SPEAKER_01: 38:51

You guys, do you how did you get hit on that weather? That nor'easter, did you get rain?

SPEAKER_02: 38:58

No, we didn't even get no rain. We got we got some wind. We got a lot of wind off of it, but uh no rain whatsoever. Not up here in Anderson. Okay, the coast. Yeah, they got flooded all along the beaches, Charleston, and all that. Yeah, they got flooded down there. They got hammered.

SPEAKER_01: 39:17

Well, I gotta try not to get hammered. I gotta work tomorrow. No, we just we just have every single day. I don't know what it is. I I swear to God, I'm living in California because it's only, I think over the last eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, I think over the last 12 weeks, which is basically three months, we've only had three days of rain, of of cloudiness. Otherwise, it's just pure sunshine for the last uh with just three days of clouds, and then it just went right back to it again. Now we every day you wake up, it's the 40s and the 50s, but it's sunny, it gets up to 70. You know, my my wife has uh covered the air conditioner, so there's no air conditioning. Oh my gosh, we're still running our airs. You're in South Carolina, 81, 82, 2 degrees. We got 70 today, but the house heated up to 75. And I'm telling you, anything over 72, I turn into a sweating.

SPEAKER_02: 40:24

Yeah, yeah. I'm the same way.

SPEAKER_01: 40:25

It's like I was on her, I'm like, it's it's just like 68 degrees outside. Like, open up some doors or something. I I I'm just dying.

SPEAKER_02: 40:36

Yeah, I think like Friday and Saturday, uh, it didn't get up to about like 68 degrees. And so I actually made the mistake of cutting cutting our air up from 68 to 70, and Sherry woke up. I'm hot, I'm sweating, you're hot, you're burning up. Cut what uh well I cut the air up, put it back down.

SPEAKER_01: 41:01

We we it has to be 72 or or less. And I walked, it's I said it's 75, and and and Roxy's like, it isn't 75, it is not. I'm cold, I'm like, you're nuts.

SPEAKER_02: 41:14

Yeah, yeah, my what my wife's the same way.

SPEAKER_01: 41:17

All right, anyways, let's get back to this. Um let's get back to it. All right, all right, what are you giving it on the nose? Now that it's been there, the carameless, uh, as far as a booker knows, booker's nose, a lot of times it's one-dimensional. This is complex. Vanilla, caramel, a little ethanol, a little bit of wood, wood, you know, some wood char, and then or or wood grain, and then a little bit of peanut.

SPEAKER_02: 41:56

So in the complexity, still a little bit of slight peanut in there.

SPEAKER_01: 42:01

Yeah, I'm gonna give the nose a four out of four.

SPEAKER_02: 42:10

I'd have to agree, this is a very good nose. Uh, and like I say, it's not overwhelming in any one category. It's all it's just all blending across there, and you can each time you nose it, you you pick up something different. And the ethanol, it's still, yeah, it's it's the alcohol still is not there to overwhelm it. So I'm gonna give it a 4-2.

SPEAKER_01: 42:42

Wow. I just think I saw a gnat, but I didn't. Maybe maybe it's in the bottles.

SPEAKER_02: 42:48

It probably flew in front of the camera. He just saw the one that's was flying around here. But I took care of him. All right, so what do you got a bottle of bookers and I got them?

SPEAKER_01: 42:59

What are you giving this body?

SPEAKER_02: 43:03

This body's really good. It's really thick in the glass. And the flavors just hit all the sides of the tongue, the mouth, the roof, the tip. And it's just staying there. I'm gonna have to give it a I'm gonna give it a four with a butum bump. Because that's that's this is one of the best bodies that I I think I've tasted on a finger. But up bump.

SPEAKER_01: 43:43

It's exceptional. We're disagreeing somewhat. Okay. It's what what it is.

SPEAKER_02: 43:58

I know you were talking a little bit weak about the body a few minutes ago. I thought I think it's it's great.

SPEAKER_01: 44:07

Well, since you gave it the butt up up, by the way, but up up. I was slow on that one. Um wouldn't be the first time. All right. I was gonna give it up. It was it was a three and seven eighths, but there was no whatever. But since you gave it a butt up up, I will give it a four. Okay, it just didn't light my cheeks up like I want, but it lights up the rest of everything. The hug's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02: 44:48

So now we go to the taste, which is well, that's the on me, like I say, it's it's hitting the sides of my tongue, and they're still tingling a little bit.

SPEAKER_01: 44:57

Yeah, the tongue, it just didn't get to my cheeks. It barely got to my cheeks. It did, it did get to the cheeks. You didn't you didn't take it a big enough sip, is what it was.

SPEAKER_00: 45:11

Uh all right, all right, taste.

SPEAKER_01: 45:20

Now I will tell you, because of the body not being so big, you can play with the taste way more without that barrel strength ethanol. And the fact that this was just coming out of those barrels and they came up with this flavor, like I said, I get a vanilla frosting, like a birth, not like a birthday cake vanilla frosting. Then it goes to a caramel. I pick up a little bit of the peanut peanut right at the back, which reminds me of like a caramel pecan roll. And then it's the only caramel cinnamon roll with pecans on it, yeah, or peanuts, but the it's almost a nutty flavor. Yeah. So what's amazing to me as far as the taste, and I guess that's what it is, the the taste of this one, Rox Roxy even last night, because I opened it up because I wanted it to air out a little bit, and I I tasted it, I believe, on Monday or Sunday night. Well, and then also I'll tell you a story. Roxy picked it up for me on last Friday, right? She went to the grocery store, said she was gonna pick it up. She asked for this batch, and she comes home, and I come home and the bag's on the table, I open up the bag, and I look in and the label's blue. I'm like, what the heck? I thought it was orange, it's Jerry's batch. And I look and it's on the pond. So I have to call my guy out, tell him, he says, yeah, bring it in. He goes, I didn't realize that there was still on the pond left. So I was able to pick up on the pond and then uh switch it out and get it bring it back. So Sunday night I I just opened it and had a little bit of a taste, whatever. Um, I've been, you know, it's crazy, super natural. It's kind of like there, I've had this thing, which I don't think I've never had anything like it, but I've had a scratch, so it initially was a scratchy throat with an annoy a minor, minor, every once in a while cough. If you didn't, if you when you saw us in uh bourbon on the banks, you'd notice that there was just a little bit of like where it just a little bit, right? But you didn't feel bad or anything. So then when we came back, the cough went away, but there's this minor sore throat that happens and it's never gone away. So I've never had anything where I've had a sore throat or a minor it's not a glass, whatever sore throat for two straight over two weeks. And I'm just like, when's this going away? So I've been trying to burn it off with barrel strength bourbon. Just burn that off. And it's working tonight. I have to admit, it's working tonight. Uh, you know, it's one thing to burn it off with just the pour before you go to bed, right? It's another thing to burn it off with getting get having some fun, and that's what we're doing tonight. So I will tell you this. I'm gonna catch up to you because you can only do one. I am gonna give this, I think, single-handedly, Jerry's batch, and it's gonna be hard to I'm gonna have to back this up, but I've never tasted a booker's with this amount of vanilla and caramel. It's always a hint with that peanut, with that big bold taste, but this the sweetness it takes center stage. The barrel strength takes backstage, but it's 124-proof, you gotta admit, right? So I'm gonna throw this down. Since I've tasted all the the batches that were named currently, and I think you took us back to two, we've done one when when uh Xavier was here where you gave us stuff from 2017. We had 2017, 18, 19, and 20, whatever. But I'm gonna tell you that I think this is the best tasting batch named bookers I've had, and people always complain, but this is not a complaint thing, this is sweet and everything, and I'm gonna give it a five with a butt up up.

SPEAKER_00: 50:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 50:29

Well, I already wrote it down here. Uh I'm giving it a five because this flavor is just oh, it's so good. Uh are you gonna break the rules? No, I'm not gonna break the rules. You can five.

SPEAKER_01: 50:46

I'll give you permission.

SPEAKER_02: 50:47

I gave it a five. All right. Uh because like I said, I thought the body was exceptional to me. And the taste, it just stands right up there too. All these flavors, and it's like the ethanol, when it goes across your palate, it's like the ethanol is not there. It's just a little tingly from it. But you can pick it up. I get like uh vanilla, the vanilla glaze, like off a glazed donut.

SPEAKER_01: 51:16

Yeah, I get the frosting.

SPEAKER_02: 51:20

That little bit of donut uh batter, you know, and then it quickly goes into the caramel, and then I'm getting the apple, and then I get a little bit of that peanut comes through on the aftertaste. It's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01: 51:38

Caramel, for me, it's more uh it's a caram apple.

SPEAKER_02: 51:46

It's a caramel apple.

SPEAKER_01: 51:48

I'll give you the that little bit.

SPEAKER_02: 51:50

It's more caramel.

SPEAKER_01: 51:51

I'll give you that apple, I'll give that apple flavor that's there, but it's like the caramel is you have it's like a caramel apple with so much caramel that every every bite, not just like a few bites, has that massive amount of caramel to go with it.

SPEAKER_02: 52:08

Yeah, it's good, it's a thick caramel. Yeah, it's good. Like I say, just that slight little bit of tart tartness of the apple.

SPEAKER_01: 52:16

All right, so so we're on to finish. We're tied.

SPEAKER_02: 52:22

Yeah, so far, actually, no, uh, yeah, it's uh yeah, 14 and 14. Yep, and the finish. This is where I think it just it's lacking just a little bit on the finish. In the respect that it's uh like a medium hug, you know. I would expect a little bit bigger hug from it, but the flavors are coming through on the finish. I'm still keep tasting the flavors after you've taken a sip. The caramel. Yeah, and that caramel there, that sweetness, that's that vanilla glaze, uh, it's all there. As it just keeps and yeah, I am getting that just that little bit a hug. I I think I want a a little bit more bigger hug from it than what it's given. But the flavors are finishing there and staying there. That uh I think I'm gonna have to give it a uh I almost want to give it a five, but I'm not quite sure that it's quite a five. Should I go first?

SPEAKER_01: 53:42

Nope. I'll go first.

SPEAKER_02: 53:48

I'll go first. I'm gonna give it a five because because because, like I say, all the flavors are are in the finish. The sweetness, that little little bit of oakiness, uh, or actually it's not oak, oaky, a little bit of char and a little bit of a little bit of a leather, but the the caramel that and that tartness goes all the way through that that little bit of apple that I'm tasting and that peanut. It's all all there in the finish, so I'm giving it a five.

SPEAKER_01: 54:24

So super nash gives it a 19 out of 19. Um, I think that the finish is weak, and I'm gonna give it a two. No, seriously, um this is gonna be uh Scotchy Bourbon Boys first. I think there's only one other time, but that was I Gave It by Myself. That this is the first ever um Scotchy Bourbon Boys podcast with two Scotchy Bourbon Boys doing the review where there's a chance for the perfect bourbon. Wow. And um, so I think I think this would be it. So it's our first ever perfect, it would be our first ever perfect bookers. Start the finish, it's phenomenal. I will tell you that there's no bookers that ever had the sweetness of this finish. This finish picks up vanilla and caramel, and then as it goes, uh okay, I will admit, but I've never considered the hug part of anything, how the hug goes. But what this hug does, if there's anything this hug does, it doesn't seem to like at going down affect you, but there's a warmth in you, a warmth at the back of your throat. Yeah, that warmth that's staying forever. It doesn't like it's it's separate from each individual sip, but it's a part of the whole over overall experience. Like, I feel like I'm gonna still have this warmth when I go upstairs and you know, in an hour. But the sweetness is is insane um for this batch, and Fred, um you on this batch you've done booker uh knocked it out of the crowd. I I think you pretty much have had a batch. All the batches that before this, you you are always keeping up the the the essence of bookers, but this batch here has set itself aside and taken bookers to where uh it still is bookers, it's not like the you know, some of the other stuff, whatever. It's bookers, there's no doubt, but it's so sweet, it's so delicious, and you know, um as far as a finish, this is what I want. I I don't want when I get a leather, a long leathery finish or a long um tobacco finish, that's not what I'm looking for. A lot of those older bourbons or a long wood tannin finish, they have those. They have those finished, but these this does not have that type of a finish. This is sweet and delicious, and um so are you gonna raise your two to a five? I am going to give this a five to make history. Now that puts a lot of pressure on us, uh supernatch. Which one which one of us is gonna pick this for our entry for bourbon of the year? I will I'll work this. I mean, it's a 19. We both gave it 19 of 18. It's it's right up there for bourbon of the year. There's a couple other ones that I would pick to that I've tasted that could go up there, but when you're talking about this proof, it's their distillate. This is this is Beams distillate. This is not uh a non-distilling producer who's pr who's buying from someplace, putting stuff together. Um, Mark Carter does a fantastic job with that, but this is their distillate that they're pulling from their place. And when you read about this batch and Jerry's batch, I mean, you are talking about the man who taught Fred No, who Booker was the master distiller, and Fred taught him the chemistry. 130 in Wisconsin. I don't know what I tasted, what what I paid, but I probably could pick you that up in um Mr. Pitzer. I could pick that up for you here for cheaper. I'll look what my I I want to say it was 99 here. But you there, Nash?

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:07

Yeah, I was just I was just reading. So it actually came from nine different things.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:14

And it was different bear. And each place was equal. 11.1. So a le so that comes out to ninety-nine point. No, it came from ten different ones. No, nine. Nine ninety-nine point ninety-nine point nine percent. So where did that last point one percent come from? Somewhere there was a point, there's in two of them, there was ninety-nine, that the eleven point one percent from me. Five. There was a half a percent in two of them. Or maybe a quarter percent, or maybe twelve point five percent from eight of them, or or one point six of a percent six point two five percent from twelve of them. Oh, there's only eleven. Anyways, so there we go. That is the old Louisville whiskey company barrel bottle breakdown of Booker. Jerry's batch, where we've set set uh Scotchy Bourbon Boys history. Um that would be uh 19 out of 19, out of 18. The first time that Bookers has ever done that, and the first time um that we've had a multiple uh Scotchy Bourbon Boy rating that's come up with 19.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:58

Now, I do want to give a shout out to uh my friend Daval and the owner, ooh, that wasn't good. He's the owner uh of uh Lyaker Express here in the upstate. Uh this one in particular here in Anderson, but uh I believe they have about uh seven different locations over upstate South Carolina. And uh I was able to get this bottle today uh through Duvall. And uh shout out to Duvall and Cheers, brother. I appreciate you so much. And uh if you get a chance to anybody that lives in upstate South Carolina, Georgia or North Carolina, if you're around the area, go buy any one of the Liquor Expresses they do. He does lots of barrel picks from all different places, and uh also he has a vast variety of bourbons and whiskies on the shelf at all times. So if you're there's something you're looking for, get by one of his stores, Liquor Express.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:57

And then also um uh coming up is the Ohio Craft Distillery uh whiskey um Ohio Craft Distillery Festival. Um that is in Dublin, Ohio. And not Dublin. Where is it? Oh my gosh. Uh-oh. I think not oh, anyways, I'm gonna get an on you. But why it's it's completely gone. Um, it's not Dublin, or it starts with a D. Anyways, um, everybody in Ohio, make sure you make sure you get there. We will be there, we will be represented, and uh, you know, come by, say hi. Uh when is that coming up? That is the October, I want to say 25th. That's Saturday, October 25th. I want that that is what I think, and it is in oh, I almost had it. I can see the um water tower when I get off. I'll be just a couple of states away. It's at Henrik Farms, Virginia. Henrik Farms. So um, you know, we really gotta get with Lisa, Roper Wicker, and head up at one point to Mount Vernon this year. Absolutely. Mount Vernon is where I want to go. I want to check that out. So we gotta do that. And then also, um, you know, shout out to everybody. Um uh I see anything else you got?

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:38

I I believe that's it. I've covered just about everything that I have for tonight.

SPEAKER_01: 1:04:42

Oh, I am feeling so good right now. Me too. I my my I don't have a sore throat at the moment. All right, anyways.

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:51

It's always it's always great when uh we can get together and and go over a batch of bookers uh from our good friends uh Fred and Freddie No at uh James B bean distilling company in uh uh three different locations in uh Kentucky.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:09

Yep, and then also um know that we have one more batch for sure. And when we do that batch, uh then on our uh December 12th will be our Scotchy Bourbon Boys um Christmas party. But um Super Nash comes December 11th. Um he is bringing Mrs. Super Nash this year, and um we will be um spending all day Friday doing our holiday um podcast, our bookers of the year podcast, and then our Christmas party. Yep, our whiskey of the year, and then our Christmas party whiskey of the year, holiday holiday podcast. Um, yeah, and then we get to go do our Christmas party, and then we will be headed down. Now, I do know that um as far as the makers mark experience, they only allow two people, so Roxy will be coming down with us, you know, whatever, and you guys will hang out, but then we're gonna stay at the trail hotel, which I can't wait. That'll be awesome, and then we'll we'll have more fun. We'll be in Kentucky, but also everybody know that our um makers mark private select is available for pre-sale, so anybody watching, ask about that, and then I can get you into our pre-sale um Facebook group or I can give you the information on YouTube and uh we can get you set up because back with Super Nash.

SPEAKER_02: 1:06:55

Uh, if you want any of those bottles, I can hook you up and get you the information on how to get them.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:01

Yep. So, all right, everybody. Um, fantastic podcast. Um remember uh we're the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Uh www.scotchybourbonboys.com for uh all things scotchy bourbon boys.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:18

Yeah, all things scotchy bourbon boys, Glenn Karen's t-shirts and other swag available. Uh go check it out.

SPEAKER_01: 1:07:25

And then also we are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X and TikTok, along with uh Apple, iHeart, and Spotify.

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:39

iHeart Spotify in all the major podcast formats. Uh you can even ask Alexa and Siri to play us, uh, and they'll gladly do that for you, whether you're in your car, you're in your office, or anywhere that you can listen to a podcast. And if you do, we ask that you watch, comment, listen or listen, and give us good feedback.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:03

And uh also uh subscribe and become members.

unknown: 1:08:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:07

And remember, good bourbon equals good friends and good times. Make sure that you don't drink and drive, and you drink responsibly, and live your life uncut and unfiltered. And we are going to be taken out by our new theme song. All right, cheers everybody.

SPEAKER_02: 1:08:34

Thanks for tuning in, thanks for watching.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:36

We couldn't do this without you, everybody on YouTube and Facebook. We're not gone, we're just ending this part. And if you're on Facebook, you have an invitation to join us in a couple minutes. Absolutely.