The Scotchy Bourbon Boys

Warehouse Wars: The Hardin’s Creek Experiment

• Jeff Mueller / Martin Nash • Season 7 • Episode 14

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We map how identical distillate aged 11 years diverges across three Beam Claremont warehouses, then score Warehouse R and taste through W and G to find the standout. Along the way we revisit Harden’s Creek history and sample Golden Origins corn whiskey to clarify why used barrels change the label and the flavor.

• Harden’s Creek origin story and past releases
• 2025 concept of same distillate across three warehouses
• Warehouse R profile and full tasting with scoring
• Warehouse W caramel‑chocolate tilt and softer oak
• Warehouse G high‑floor intensity and longest finish
• How floor height, heat, and humidity shape whiskey
• Golden Origins corn whiskey and used barrel rules
• Final ranking and which bottle to hunt
• Community Q&A and platform updates

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Three bottles, one mash bill, and a masterclass in how warehouses write flavor. We put Hardin’s Creek’s 11-year Claremont trio to the test—Warehouse R (single-story, cool and dark), Warehouse W (five floors by the creek), and Warehouse G (a nine-floor relic)—to see how heat, humidity, and airflow sculpt bourbon at 110 proof.

First, we revisit Hardin’s Creek’s evolving story: from Jacob’s Well and Colonel James B. Beam to the 17-year tri-city series and Golden Origins corn whiskey. Then we get hands-on with a structured tasting. Warehouse R shows cherry, vanilla, and honeyed ease with a gentle oak-leather fade—dangerously drinkable and beam-true. Warehouse W shifts caramel-forward with milk-dud chocolate and a softer oak footprint, a natural match for a cigar without overwhelming the palate. Warehouse G brings high-floor energy: deeper oak, layered char, and a finish that recalls Bookers’ breadth while staying elegant.

We compare notes on legs, body, hug, and finish, score Warehouse R using our Barrel Bottle Breakdown rubric, and stack W and G against it to choose a bottle to hunt. Along the way we break down why floor height accelerates extraction, how creekside humidity tamps down tannins, and why used toasted barrels make Golden Origins a corn whiskey, not a bourbon. If you’re curious about warehouse science, microclimates, and how “same distillate” can become three distinct experiences, this tasting flight is your roadmap.

Subscribe for more deep-dive tastings, share this with a bourbon friend who loves warehouse talk, and drop your ranking—R, W, or G—in the comments. Your pick might surprise you as much as ours did.

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SPEAKER_03:

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 Michelon 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 Michelon brand is easy to sip. It might be a grain to glass experience, but I like to think of it as an uncut and unfiltered from their family to yours. Okay, there we go. I got that off. Almost blew it. Super Nash is in the house tonight. Myself Tiny. Welcome, welcome, uh, everybody out there. Um supercharged for tonight, and hopefully that transfers through the whole podcast. Uh when uh we've got um a lot of stuff planned for you uh tonight. I think it could get really wild. Uh I want to say hi to people watching, Steve Pitzer, Patrick, uh Matt, John, John is on tonight, and then we've got a few people already. The the the messages uh they're they're they're trashing me on YouTube already from India. So, anyways, but tonight we're gonna be doing uh Harden's Creek, especially the 2025 line. I have one. Super Nash has all three. We will barrel bottle, we will do the old Louisville whiskey uh whiskey company's barrel bottle breakdown of the one uh that we both have, and then Super Nash is gonna let us know the tasting notes on the other two because this is a really unique uh thing, you know, going on. I have um warehouse R. The mushroom one. Each one has a little bit different, uh different artwork. It seems to be the same. Was it the same? It almost is the same artist that did the rabbit hole stuff. It almost looks like. You know how people share that stuff throughout, and you know, and so that's kind of cool. So we've got this uh Hardens Creek. Really cool this year, how they're doing it, but it is their Jim Beam's experimental. Um, that's their experimental brand. Do a lot of cool stuff, very excited about it, and uh we'll get that going in a second. But remember, you gotta check out www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. We've got uh the Glen Kairens and we've got the t-shirts available. Otherwise, contact me direct if you need a Glen Karen or you need a t-shirt. I will make sure that you get it and it makes sure that it comes through uh fast. So then also um we are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and TikTok. Uh check us out on all of them. Make sure that you uh subscribe and become members where you can become members. Make sure that um you uh like, listen, and leave good feedback. We're also on uh Apple, iHeart and Spotify along with other um of the audio uh podcasts. Uh no matter what, make sure that you go to those places and leave us good feedback. Hey David, good to see you. Um so we're ready to go there. So initially, the the initial release was three years ago. So you've got now this year, if I'm not mistaken, this is the second time they've done this with the three different the first year they released the 15-year and they released the two-year. And then for Harden's Creek, one was called Jacob's Well, and the other one was called, if I'm not mistaken, oh I got Jacob's Well, the other one's up there, it's hiding though, but but you could hear me, right, Super Nash? Yeah, okay, so that year the 15-year did well, but the two-year did unbelievably well because people were like giving it won some really good awards, and that was called Hardin's Creek. Oh, let's see, I should just go Colonel James V. Bane. Yep, thank you. So then the next year it was the turn two year the next year, um, which would have that would have been 2022, then 2023 they released this version of the Boston Claremont and what's the other what's the other one? And Frankfurt uh Rick Houses. So they released that that year, but they released those individually throughout the year, if I'm not mistaken, one at a time, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, they only released those, the the Claremont, Frankfurt, and uh what was the other one?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh Boston.

SPEAKER_02:

Boston, yeah. They released those one at a time throughout the whole year, and they're all age 17 years old.

SPEAKER_03:

Right. Now, then last year they released the Hardens Creek 11, the corn whiskey. Was that it, or was there something else?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, it was just the corn whiskey, yeah. Which is an 11-year-old corn whiskey, and it's called Golden Origins.

SPEAKER_03:

But this time, they released the Boston, the Claremont, and the Frankfurt in 11 year. Same distillate.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh no, uh, these aren't Boston, Claremont, and Frankfurt. They want 100% they're yes, they're all they're all from the Claremont uh warehouses. But uh they're different warehouses on in in Claremont.

SPEAKER_03:

They're all from the Claremont different warehouse R.

SPEAKER_02:

You got warehouse uh I believe it's G, Gambia, and R.

SPEAKER_03:

All from the Claremont.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and all from the Claremont area.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, so there you go. So that the so instead of from three different distilleries, the not three different distilleries, but three different um warehouses from their different distilleries, they these are from one warehouse section from uh the distillates the same. But the distillate was the same.

SPEAKER_02:

Same mass bill, same distillate, uh went into the barrels, but they went into three different warehouses, and each one of the warehouses is built uniquely different. Right. So for instance, uh like R. Let me see here. Call home and so this particular whiskey came from Warehouse R that we're gonna be doing tonight. And it's made up of one single floor. Warehouse R is uniquely close to the earth and with no windows for sunlight to pour in. It's as cool and dark as the under underside of a fallen log. It feels like the kind of place you might stumble across a fascinating creature. The the witch's hat mushroom thriving uh in the shade of the forest floor.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, so you've got you've got these three, they're aged the same amount of time, it's the same distillate, it's just where it's be that a barrel's being aged.

SPEAKER_02:

So it just shows each one of these is 11 years old, aged 11 years.

SPEAKER_03:

Which, you know, I'm gonna open mine right now, but um so you talk about, so each one's 11, and you talk about, so since I only have one and you do you talk about the other two.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, yeah. Uh the next one I'm gonna do is tell you about is warehouse w. Yep. And for almost a century, warehouse W has sat sturdy in the creekside location, its dense five-floor construction enveloped in the humidity of the surrounding air. It feels like the kind of place you might find a familiar creature, the North American beaver, settling setting up his law lodge built to last where the stream cuts through the forest. Now, and then the other one is warehouse G.

SPEAKER_03:

No, yeah, warehouse equals rick house, yes, David. Warehouse does equal Rick House. It's just two different ways. It's where you store it. A Rick House stores it in a Rick. The Rick system is uh, you know, so there can be uh, but even when they palletize it, they still call it the Rick House, even though it can be called warehouse.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, uh warehouse G. This release belongs to the second series of the Hardest Creek, an exploration of how whiskey is shaped by the warehouse it calls home. Identical mash bills were spread across the Claremont campus, placed in warehouses of varying heights, ages, and and microclimates, and left to mature for over 11 years. This particular whiskey rested in warehouse G. At nine floors high, warehouse G is a rarity. As warehouses are so no longer built so tall. Ours is one of the few built standing relics that uh enjoy such a towering view. It feels like the kind of place you might spot a majestic creature, the great Cornell. So we're in high above the forest canopy as it keeps wide wise watch over the happenings below.

SPEAKER_03:

That's why I was messed up. Actually, they they have not updated to these new these new um Hardened Creeks on their website. I've noticed that Jim Beam has so much going that sometimes like the newest bookers, sometimes you get it and it's not up there yet. So yeah, I was gonna I went there for and they've got the Boston, the Claremont, and the Frankfurt still up as their current release.

SPEAKER_02:

So you already poured some up, right? Yeah, I just poured it up to get of the I've been pre-sipping on a little bit of the warehouse W. I've already had the G open. I opened it up uh probably the week after we came back from the Kentucky Bird Room Festival.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, mine is now open.

SPEAKER_02:

And just let them sit here opened up until about probably 30, 40 minutes before the podcast, and then put the tiles back on.

SPEAKER_03:

Now, the one thing what was I gonna do? Oh, I'm gonna grab it. We tonight are going to do uh old Louisville Whiskey Company barrel bottle breakdown of the warehouse R.

SPEAKER_02:

And Old Louisville Whiskey Company is located in uh downtown Louisville now, and it they're moving in now into the old Seabream's warehouse in Shively. In Shively, yes. Uh so uh you got a chance to uh get down there to see Amin Carr at Old Louisville Whiskey Company, uh where there's no telling what you'll be able to taste if you go in there uh for a little tour with uh with Amin. Uh he had he releases nothing less than seven years. Uh he has bottles that he's already uh blended and aged and bottled uh on site uh that you can purchase in the gift shop. And then also, like I say, you can go, he'll probably take you back and you can go back and taste from different barrels and uh mash bills that that he's acquired and been agent in his warehouse or uh secondary agent in uh different barrels. So get a chance, go see Amin car at Old Louisville Whiskey Company.

SPEAKER_03:

That's alright. There you go. Um, Amin does such a great job, you gotta check them out for sure. And this is the old Louisville Whiskey Company's barrel bottle breakdown. And uh to um, I'll put that right there for right now, and we are doing warehouse R that's got the artwork. Each one now, in the past, if you look at the bottles, they they had done a little bit more. This is last year's, they've got the heavier metal topper, they've got the leather thing over the top of it. Now, this year they kind of went. I believe that's a plastic, is it wood or plastic? I think that's plastic, right? It's still pretty heavy, though. No, that's metal. Okay. Metal.

SPEAKER_02:

Take it off, you'll feel it.

SPEAKER_03:

It isn't heavy. It's plastic.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you try to bite it?

SPEAKER_03:

It's a it's not metal.

SPEAKER_02:

It is metal.

SPEAKER_03:

Are you sure?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I'm positive.

SPEAKER_03:

Look at the top where it says Harden's Creek. Usually you can't do that with metal.

SPEAKER_02:

It is metal. Yes, you can. It's stamped in there by a press. That is metal.

SPEAKER_03:

Alright. I'll go with I'll go with that's metal. Alright. Damn it.

SPEAKER_02:

Heavy metal.

SPEAKER_03:

It's we're eight minutes in. Don't make me swear. But the but it's, you know, the the other ones, you know, they so they've kind of backed off on the barrel aspect. I think the price though reflected. What was what do you remember the price that we paid for these each? It was like one ten. Anyways. I can't remember. Watch, hey, hey, Siri. What is the MSRP on this year's Hardens Creek? I would have had to go. Alright.

SPEAKER_02:

Um Yeah, you gotta give her a little more information than that.

SPEAKER_03:

We have uh Clint Clintista from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hey, how's it going? Um let us know what your what your uh yeah, sipping on. Alright, so anyways, our old Louisville whiskey company's barrel bottle breakdown uh scale is and you can do it because you're good at it now, Nash.

SPEAKER_02:

You have four categories. We we go to my nose, body, taste, and finish. On the nose and body, you can give it up up to four barrel knocks. And uh on the taste and the finish, you can give it up to five. Uh, because those are the most prevalent, the taste and the finish. And if one category happens to be exceptional, you can give it a butt um bump.

SPEAKER_03:

One of these, but up up. But up. It's not a bum up. A total of 19 out of this this rating scale is based off my wife's ass. It's a butt-up up. Not a bum up. Or a butt-up up. It's a it's a butt-up up.

SPEAKER_02:

But up bump.

SPEAKER_03:

But up bump.

SPEAKER_02:

I need a couple more drinks before I comp.

SPEAKER_03:

Anyways, all right. So um once um once I'm once we're finished this and we give it the rating, then I want you to compare the other two, give us give us the notes on the other two, and then let us know which one you think was the best. And if I have to acquire to go out and acquire more Hardens Creek. Um, I you on one hand, uh, when we did that, if you remember, we did the we did the um the line at Kentucky Bourbon Festival. And that was the day that I think that the James B. Beam distilling uh company um saved.

SPEAKER_02:

They brought their they brought their A.

SPEAKER_03:

And they, in my opinion, they turned the festival around as far as the festival goes for acquiring bottles. Because up until that point, a lot of people, and I'm not talking about myself, but a lot of people were getting frustrated with there was there, you know, the lines were way better as far as how it was set up. The whole festival was set up awesome. Uh, you could, but I mean, even if you the but when it came to how many pe how many bottles and how many people were waiting in line, that the first day there was a lot of people that you talked to that waited in line for two, three hours and didn't get anything. They waited in this line, then they waited in that line, and whatever. But that morning, which was Saturday morning, even the people who had general omission, uh Jim Beam brought it, they brought all three Hardens Creeks. They bought Booker, they brought Booker's Reserve, they brought Knob Creek 21, and I believe the bowling pin was the other one, right? It's a hundred so there you go.

SPEAKER_02:

They even come up with uh 150 bucks. 150, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Hardens Creek, Kentucky series, Boston, whatever it was 170, right? Yeah. The warehouse, yeah. Okay, so what we're looking at, hey, hey Terry, good to see you. Um, what we're looking at is um we you could they let you you could bought one of each, every single one. Now I know that the the right, but I mean there was a the bowling pinzer creek 21 year and two bowling pins. Yeah, the knob creek 21 year, yeah, knob creek 21, booker's reserve, the bowling pin, and I just bought one Hardens Creek, but you bought three. Yeah, my my um bill was already uh just one was I saw it and I I wanted to get at least one. So, and you know, I I chose like everybody does with their expertise, especially all the podcasters. I picked the one with the best artwork. I thought the mushroom, I was looking at them like I kind of like the mushrooms. So there you go. So, anyways, are we ready to old Louisville whiskey company barrel bash this?

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03:

Did I say barrel bash? Barrel bottle breakdown. Wow, what a Freud that's a Freudian slip. Sorry, Stacy. Nope.

unknown:

Nope.

SPEAKER_03:

Nose is a for a Jim Bean nose. Now what's the proof on this? The proof is they're all eleven years. I wanna I think they're a hundred, but I don't know. So a hundred and ten proof. There you go. Hundred and ten proof.

SPEAKER_02:

Aged eleven years and a hundred and ten proof.

SPEAKER_03:

So if you talk to anybody at Beam, what you know, I've talked with Fred, I've talked with a little bit with Freddy, and uh if you've read Fred's books and everything, there's sweet spots all over the place for the whiskey. Now, it based off this being in a one-floor warehouse in dark with no windows. I mean, we're talking about, you know, aging a specific way at for 11 years, you're gonna you're not gonna get as much, you're gonna get more liquid, and you're gonna because it's not gonna be released because it's gonna be cooler in that warehouse.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and you're not gonna lose uh a lot to the angle share.

SPEAKER_03:

So do you know, did they say what the mash bill was?

SPEAKER_02:

Nope. Okay, didn't say what the mash bill was.

SPEAKER_03:

I I mean it's a really uh it reminds me of some of the Jim Beams from the 70s in your decanters without the dusty funky note. But there's a cherry. A rich, rich cherry that you pick up off those. But it's minus the funk. You know, the s the the the dusty funk.

SPEAKER_02:

Very sweet.

SPEAKER_03:

I get a little bit of vanilla, but I'm picking up the cherry that stings. A little bit of like a like a black cherry.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my god. That's good. Some people remark that the whiskey leaves leaves with oak and char and notes of toasted sweetness too. But we suggest you take a sip and decide for yourself. Well, that's all the notes that they put on.

SPEAKER_03:

I pick up. Let's see this card. You just you said the one single floor. This release belongs to the second series from Harden's Creek, an exploration of how whiskey is shaped. Did you read that already? By the what? Yeah. Identical mash bills.

SPEAKER_02:

Very sweet. But it is a little oaky and a little leathery on the finish. I when it lots of vanilla, lots of vanilla, maybe just a little caramel. Might even be just a little caramel.

SPEAKER_03:

On the front end of this, this is almost like honey. Like a vanilla honey. It's so sweet. It's not a vanilla ice frosting. It's got a nice vanilla. Now, the the easiness of this bourbon at 110 and 11 years old. You don't pick up the oak in the char like you know, like I I just remember when uh I was talking.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I did it on the finish. I get that little bit of oakiness and maybe a little bit of leather.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, but not 11-year oaky, you know what I mean? It's not over-oaked. No, uh-uh. I I just remember because um I was talking to Fred when I did the interview. You guys can check that out um on YouTube. Fred does a wonderful interview from Kentucky Bourbon Festival a couple years ago, and he said that he's always fighting it being too, and he referred to it too woody, wood forward. He and and I I was like, I've been in this, you know, doing this the podcast for a while, and I never ref I don't hear a lot of people referring to a lot of time it's called overoaked or whatever. They don't talk, they don't say just straightforward it was too woody, and so then I thought that's why you named your cat Woody.

SPEAKER_02:

Anyways, you know why I named it.

SPEAKER_03:

I know why. I was right there while you were chasing him out of the wood pile, anyways.

SPEAKER_02:

On top of the wood pile while I was filling up the coffee pot. I had the window open. Scared the crap out of me.

SPEAKER_03:

Little kitty.

SPEAKER_02:

He was right there in the screen. There's a window right there behind the kitchen sink. And I had a wood pile all the way up to the top of that window. Well, as I got the pot about halfway full, and I didn't even notice him until he went meow. I mean, and it was the lightest little meow coming out of a little bitty kitten. And I was like, holy shit. Then I went and opened the back door and he ran right around there and ran straight up my arm onto my shoulder.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, Danny, this is the mushroom.

SPEAKER_02:

So henceforth he became known as Woody.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, it did. Ah, Terry. I thought that I the the real story, I thought that he jumped in. You weren't making coffee, you were packing up all my bourbon bottles to send up to me because you were cleaning out your cupboards.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. Because that was right right before Sherry moved in.

SPEAKER_03:

One of the early, early um videos that I put online when we were just beginning um was me opening up a package that came from hit from Super Nash's house. And I mean, he was he didn't just now the one the one bottle he did dump on me, you did but dump one bottle on me, and that was um the Jephtha Creed. That one, that was not a good that the Jephthah Creed has um uh tasting them at the festivals this year. Has come a come aways. Another one that we we need to work on is Hemingway because they they just released their first bourbon and I talked to um the son. The names are eluding me. I talked to the dad in the son, and I normally would you know shy away from Hemingway because they were mostly ryes. But I got to taste their their bourbon at Kentucky Bourbon Festival and it was pretty damn good. But I didn't get a chance to um see them.

SPEAKER_02:

Appreciate you tuning in while you did.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, thanks for coming on, man. Appreciate it. Check out the the Maker's Mark Private Select barrel pick. We've got that available in our pre-sale for the vouchers.

SPEAKER_02:

And they're going fast.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Alright, so the nose, I'm I I'm picking up a little caramel on the nose. A little caramels there that wasn't that cherry, it's a cherry vanilla cherry caramel. Now on the taste, let's do this again. Now I gotta do a I gotta do a uh Kentucky chew. Wow, does that pull the sweetness throughout? And it's got the beam. That beam almost a slice. Citrus, maybe. I love this one because it's the easiness of drinking this. Like you put it to do the chew, there was no that's why I picked up a look when I was doing the chew.

SPEAKER_02:

I picked up like a little bit of citrus, maybe.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I'll give you that. But it's it's the but that's the wood. Ah, go by a tart blackberry. A blackberry. It's a blackberry, but the sweetness.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, a while ago I said black cherry. But yeah, I'll get I'll give it to you, uh, a tart blackberry.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, that's on the chew, what's left, like it's that's like in the finished form. But the hug is there's no burn on the hug. None. Just go to warm. I'm warm on the inside, but there was no warm, medium, even hug.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

This is fun. I could be in trouble with this. Oh my gosh, yes. This is a this has the the the everything that you want, like from when you think of bourbon. This is a this is your oh this yeah. Grandpa's bourbon.

SPEAKER_02:

Sipping on this. If you started sipping on this on a cold, snowy winter day watching a football game, you'd be trashed by the time the game was over. Yeah. It's just that good and that drink, it's got that drinkability to it.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, Danny Spirits asks, are we reviewing all three Harden's Creeks?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, we will um we are raiding one, which is Warehouse R tonight. And then uh I'm gonna taste W and G after we get through. I've already been sipping on a little bit of When I was pre-gaming.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm happy with my pick so far.

SPEAKER_02:

What is it? What's it called? Pre-potting or pre-gaming.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. You're you're uh pre pre yeah, pre-gaming. Um, my my thing, I'm really happy with this. It would be nice if you sampled some up to me, the other of the other two at one point. I don't think so. You're fired, you're fired.

SPEAKER_02:

You're too good.

SPEAKER_03:

He's not gonna even let any out. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02:

Sample at least some some some down.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh all right.

SPEAKER_02:

Alright, let's get on to rate of this thing on the nose. You want to go first or shall I?

SPEAKER_03:

I'll rate the nose. The nose a fantastic bourbon nose, but it lacks a a little bit of complexity. There's I mean it's very much straightforward, whatnot. So I give the nose a three out of four.

SPEAKER_02:

I was definitely gonna concur on that. It does lack some complexity on it. Um it's just not, you know, one of the best noses I've seen I've I've had. But I mean it's a very good nose. Uh, like I said, for what you're getting off of it. Yep. But there's there's only like three, maybe four different things that you're that you can smell in it. And so, like I say, that's where I think it's lacking a little bit. So I'm giving it a three also.

SPEAKER_03:

I really didn't do the what's it doing in the glass?

SPEAKER_02:

It's very thick. You can see look how thick it is. Got a nice collar to it. It's really thick.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, those legs are those legs are wide. Yeah, look how sugary it is.

SPEAKER_02:

And it takes forever for look how long it takes for them before they start to develop.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, they kind of develop one at a time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. That's just weird. Usually when you have when you start to look at the legs, you'll you'll have three or four to start dripping down through there, and you can see several legs, but these are just like one at a time.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, this is like I I wonder if I should I wonder if I have Jim Beam honey. I'd like to put that up against it.

SPEAKER_02:

Just to compare it to.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

The body on this to me is uh quite similar to the nose. It's not a real big body. It's uh thick of the guy on us with it.

SPEAKER_03:

So James Powers is from Ireland. Good to have you in here. That's cool. So what are you giving it?

SPEAKER_02:

I think I'm gonna give the body a two.

SPEAKER_03:

Two out of four.

SPEAKER_02:

It goes across the tip of my tongue in the center, but I don't quite hit the s the cheeks and the sides.

SPEAKER_03:

I'll give the body a two also.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. Here's the best part.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, so if you're a Jim Beam fan, you can't go wrong with this. This is a sweetened vanilla honey sweetness that leads to at the back of your palate gym beam all day. It tastes like Jim Beam all night long. So this would be those, this would be something fantastic for that 80% of people who just like to drink Jim Beam. They're not in this is a fantastic 110 proof, not 80. This has got the it's add an added sweetness of of flavor, and it the craftsmanship of this one is in my opinion fantastic. And when it comes to the taste, um I want to taste this. This is what I want to taste from a from uh a bourbon. Like I'm right there.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, I think this is where it uh it really excels.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, the taste. I'm I'm gonna give the taste a five.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03:

When I drink bourbon, this is what I want. It's not an ad, yeah. It's not, yes, it's it they don't add sweetness. It just has added sweetness. It's still a bourbon. That's for um bard. Um, I there's no, it's just it's just well, so if you like beam, it's much sweeter on the front, but then it turns back into beam. What are you gonna give it? I'm gonna have some more.

SPEAKER_02:

I like it. I really like the taste, and uh I think like I say it the flavors that you get the vanilla, the honey, a little bit of uh blackberry tartness is in there, and like I say, I'm getting just a getting a little taste in a little bit, a little bit of oak, a little bit of char maybe. And then maybe just a slight hint of of uh leather.

SPEAKER_03:

Which is which you pick up which you pick up when you drink beans. I think this would be wonderful. I think this would be wonderful with a cigar. So that you're saying tobacco. Yeah, yeah, this would be a wonderful cigar blend to go with.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm gonna have to give it a five tick. No, we're just getting to the finish, and this is where uh I think it drops back down. It doesn't quite, it's just got like a medium warm finish. But the it's like the flavors are going away too quick.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, they go into leather wood, but I also was getting just a little bit, whether it's French toast or grand cracker, just a little bit. I I was paying attention. I want to say except for maybe that that tobacco or cigar, it's it's more like tobacco, but it's like you know what? It's like an acid cigar. There's the sweetness of that tobacco that's there, yeah, which is very pleasant as far as the Drupal Estate to Box that have that sweetness, but then it's just a little bit of graham cracker that just hangs on, so you don't have the bitterness of the cigar, you more have the sweetness of that, just little bit that's unique. All right, what are you giving it?

SPEAKER_02:

I think I think I'm gonna give it uh on the finish, I'm gonna give it a four.

SPEAKER_03:

You're giving it a four?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

For me, it's medium. Um I think Jim Beam on the finish itself is a two. I think this takes it up one level, so I'm gonna give it a three.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm I was pushing it for four, but like I say, that a couple more sips into it and uh finishing a little bit, you know. I like the finish on it.

SPEAKER_03:

I like the way it finishes in uh I I I I I love this. It's fantastic. So what is our scores?

SPEAKER_02:

All right. I gave it a 14, and you gave it a thirteen.

SPEAKER_03:

So thirteen point five out of eighteen.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_03:

All right, there you have it. Hardens Creek, warehouse dubbed R, R, right? Yep, yep. Old Louisville Whiskey Company bourbon bottle breakdown thirteen five. Perfect. Thank you, Amin, for supporting us and letting us do the barrel bottle breakdown. Thank you, Stacy Pritchard, for uh correcting us on what it is. All right, so while you do that, I'm gonna put this little bit of Hardin's Creek away. I'm going to last year I did not open up the corn origins. So Super Nash has the other two warehouses, and why don't you get all three and tell me which one you like the best? And I'll open up the corn while you're doing that. We never did this as a review.

SPEAKER_02:

Actually, I'm gonna clear my palette with a little bit of water here.

SPEAKER_03:

I got some water too.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh yeah. We're gonna go with uh warehouse W. And I'll just uh reread where what warehouse W is.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

It has that sturdy in its creekside location, it's then its five-floor construction enveloped in the in the humidity of the surrounding air.

unknown:

It feels like the kind of place you might find a familiar creature than North American beaver. And the taste, and that's why it's got the the picture of the beaver on the front of it coming out of his little log cabin.

SPEAKER_02:

I got lots more than that.

SPEAKER_03:

We got dead air.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, this is it's this is way more caramel forward than what the other one was. It's not quite as sweet. The sweetness is there, but it's not quite as sweet as that vanilla and honey.

SPEAKER_03:

This is caramel and so Thomas Anderson chocolatey caramel and chocolate like a milk dud, or is it more dark chocolate?

SPEAKER_02:

More like a milk dud. Exactly, like a milk dud.

SPEAKER_03:

Thomas Anderson, who follows us relentlessly, um, he says, cheers. Um, cheers to you, Thomas. And then Bart Letikin, I want to do this, in my opinion, which is always correct, he says, American whiskey is inferior and mostly relies on extensive marketing to sustain its relatively meager market share. So um it's kind of like that I I don't even want agree with 100%. Um, one, uh it's funny because you in in the rest of the world use our used barrels to make your whiskey. Most of the scotch is using bourbon barrels that uh are or Tennessee whiskey barrels from Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, and you're putting all of your malt barley uh stuff in a used barrel, which allows for a lot more aging time if you want to do it. Uh American whiskey isn't inferior, it would be superior because we're using grain, the the original brand new barrels that have been charred or not charred. We don't we uh we're not as far as bourbon goes, it's brand new and rise. Now, as far as American whiskey, when we use our used barrels, then we come down to your quality. That's what I would say to you as far as Bard. I think all whiskey has its place. Um, I do like Scotch, I like Irish whiskey. I and I absolutely love uh American whiskey too. So there you go. All right, so you got something now.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm gonna read the tasting note. All right, it's like a like a milk dud, and it didn't have quite as much of the char to it. And this is some people have remarked the whiskey is up is lighter on the oak and the smoke than others it was series. Instead, leading with sweet aromatics, but we suggest you take a sip and decide for yourself.

SPEAKER_03:

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02:

Walker, yeah, I was getting like like uh on on the nose, I was getting like that caramel, and then maybe just a little bit of chocolate. Wasn't getting hardly any oak or uh or char. And then I'm not quite getting any kind of fruit on this one either.

SPEAKER_03:

So you're more on that one being on the it that was aged on the fifth fifth floor. You're picking up more of the Kentucky bourbon thing that goes on with the caramels and everything.

SPEAKER_02:

More like it going into this one don't quite taste like the Jim Beam on the finish. This tastes more like a oh man. This it almost got like a booker's finish on the top.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, it at 110 too. I mean, so so taste it up against the two the other one and tell me which one you like at the moment.

SPEAKER_02:

At the moment. I'm like in warehouse R.

unknown:

Wait.

SPEAKER_02:

Over warehouse W.

SPEAKER_03:

And and we that's what we tasted. R over W.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, R is what R is what we tasted together.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Now we're on the warehouse G. Wiz on the nose is uh This this one has got more oak than any of 'em. More oak than any of 'em.

SPEAKER_03:

So this picked up the eleven year, and then let's read about this one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, let me get my case in there before I read. Um this one's hitting the sweet spot.

SPEAKER_03:

And what's it's warehouse what?

SPEAKER_02:

G I'll read about the warehouse. And this is nine floors high. Warehouse G is a is a rarity. A warehouse as warehouses are no longer built so tall. Ours is one of the few standing relics that enjoys such a towering view.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, because you lose too much on the ninth floor. They usually are seven feet tall now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And that's what I was telling you. See, I I can pick up the oakiness on this one. But it's still a lot of sweet vanilla and caramel.

SPEAKER_03:

What what what floor was that one each?

SPEAKER_02:

It did not say what floor.

SPEAKER_03:

What do you mean? Read that card. It has to say what floor. I don't believe you.

SPEAKER_02:

It just says that warehouse G is nine.

SPEAKER_03:

That would make no sense.

SPEAKER_02:

This release belongs to the second series from Pardon's Creek. Expiration How whiskey is shaped by the warehouse that it calls home. This particular whiskey rested in warehouse G. It does not say what floor.

SPEAKER_03:

Keep going. Flip it over.

SPEAKER_02:

That's what not flipped it over. That's what I just read. That's nine floors high. Warehouse G is the rarity. And it doesn't say anywhere.

SPEAKER_03:

Keep reading.

SPEAKER_02:

There's like five cards. You might spot a majestic creature, the great corn owl, soaring high above the floors, horse canopy, as it keeps wise watch over the happenings below.

unknown:

Then the next card is the tasting notes.

SPEAKER_02:

Some people have remarked this whiskey has an unmatched complexity, balancing notes of oak, char, and sweet aromatics. We suggest you take a step and decide for yourself.

SPEAKER_03:

Alright. And that's it. I did that too. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta like twist it in. I did that too. Except I wasn't the star at the time. I everybody was paying attention to your ass when I did it.

SPEAKER_02:

So we know nobody saw you do it. Saw me.

SPEAKER_03:

Look at you tying up tying up uh let me see if it says it on the bottom. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh yeah, it does ninth floor. Yep. Elevator nine floor. Nine FL.

SPEAKER_03:

If I would have known that, I would have bought that. Yeah. You know what that's that is like that's top floor from from benchmarket.

SPEAKER_02:

It exemplifies all the flavors that you're getting off of these other two, but it also kicks in it, it's got it finishes like a booker's bourbon.

SPEAKER_03:

So there you go, Randy.

SPEAKER_02:

And I I like Booker's Bourbon. Randy Ford. Out of all three of them, I like warehouse G the best.

SPEAKER_03:

So warehouse G, Randy Ford. Get me one. Bring it to me. Bring it to me.

SPEAKER_02:

I will make sure the bodies there. Yeah, see this one's hitting all the sides, the roof.

SPEAKER_03:

I'll trust you, Nash, on that. The ninth floor. That's gonna so the bottom floor and the top floor of nine. So they went, and then it so what was what what floor was the the last the other one on?

SPEAKER_02:

On the on the uh W. It was on the fifth floor.

SPEAKER_03:

So we we're at the bottom, the fifth, and the ninth. And so well, and then R was on the first floor because it's only a one-floor uh warehouse. So so R they should have had a ton of whiskey. The fifth floor, they would have the average amount of whiskey, and on the ninth floor in Kentucky. I mean, that should have been the least amount of this batch. Yeah, that's crazy. So they they basically went mid, low, and high, and we liked the mid over, we liked the the low over the mid, but the high went, and and I've always imagined that not only does that help the the angel, you know, the the angel share and the evaporation, but the heat actually probably works with the caramelized sugars to just take them another level on the ninth floor. And plus 11, 11 years on the ninth floor.

SPEAKER_02:

Think about what happens is when you get up there on the ninth floors or the higher floors of the warehouse during the you know the hotter months of of summer, that heat makes that alcohol expand. So it's forcing that forcing that alcohol or spirit into the thickness of the ferrule to where it can pull out, and as it cools, that's when it comes back back through that charred wall, and it's pulling those wood sugars along with it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Hey, cheers, cheers, matt. All right, so I poured brother. So we would G, so the the the level that we're at right now is with the Hardens Creek is he's got the nine ninth floor.

SPEAKER_02:

He's got the he's got the warehouse, G. Who said that? Randy Ford. And he said he'll he'll see what he can do, but he's working 11 hours a day now.

SPEAKER_03:

That's no excuse, Randy.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, don't give a bullet, only the second day.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm giving Randy crap. Oh my god. So I'm doing so so last year, which they released, so there's been the first year, the second year, the third year, all was tied together with the first series because they said this year is their second series. So to finish off the first series, the golden corn 11 year, the golden original, and you've got it right there, right? Yeah, golden origins corn whiskey. Wow, take that card off. I don't even think glasses will help. The heart of Kentucky celebrating the partnifying glass while forging forward to define American whiskeys tomorrow. Golden Origins. It started at the creek and it To the very beginning, to the land to the land rough and rugged. But released generously with cornes with the raw Oh my god. I need I need the light. I need a light. Alright, here we go. We're gonna hit the light. I it's like holy crap, is that what the can I ask you a question? Who who does a pamphlet like that? Who does a pamphlet like that with raw potential? Rugged but blessed generously with corn.

SPEAKER_02:

Wait, wasn't just a crop. It was more akin to gold.

SPEAKER_03:

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02:

Not a colonel. I'm reading.

SPEAKER_03:

Not a kernel was ever laid to waste. Whatever wasn't eaten was preserved, distilled into whiskey, and then that precious liquid was drunk, bartered, or sold. Kentucky's origins were founded and on a founded on and fueled by the rumble corn grain. The humble the humble the humble rumble and the golden whiskey that came from it. But remain at the heart of what we do today. With this corn whiskey, we put forth our time-honored craft to honor the crop that started it all, then create and carries us forward now. Thank you. Expertly distilled, patiently matured to the ripe old age of eleven years, and finished in used toasted barrels. This whiskey centers the familiar sweetness of corn, a delicate symphony of caramel, and vanillas follow rounded out and functuated by rich notes of char unfiltered for unmistakable sip. This corn whiskey is a perfect example of Hardens Creek, our newest expression of our oldest grain. Heritage and future sharing a glass legacy is always in the making. Color deep gold. I agree with that. Subtle notes of corn and toasted oak, palette, delicate balance of caramel and vanilla, finished lingering notes of char. Alright, is what does that say? Hardens Creek, Kentucky Corn Whiskey, 106 proof, and the James B. So that's the littlest type I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_03:

What is that?01?

SPEAKER_02:

That's gotta be.

SPEAKER_03:

Anyways, so I poured this up and I opened it. And reading that makes me excited, but I will ask you this question. Yeah, but I'll ask you this question. If it's more than the definition of bourbon is more than 50% corn. So it's gotta be 51% corn. So if this is 100% corn, isn't it still bourbon?

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

Because it's aged in used bourbon barrel.

SPEAKER_03:

Ah, so it that's where it's picking.

SPEAKER_02:

Golden orange orange corn whiskey. Aged in used bourbon barrels. Right up under the corn whiskey on the label. John Ritz like that's why that's why it wasn't it wasn't aged in new new barrels. That's why it's not bourbon.

SPEAKER_03:

John Ritz says, this is funny. I read to you, I read to you, you read to me. That's such and then and then Randy's like, John, at least I can read on a fifth grade level. And then Walker's just like negative.

unknown:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03:

Hey, that's why you guys are all here. For the entertainment value of we're we're here for entertainment, right?

SPEAKER_02:

We're done with the information park. Now we're on to the entertainment park, right?

SPEAKER_03:

We've been entertaining all all the all the time, right?

SPEAKER_02:

That's right.

SPEAKER_03:

All right.

SPEAKER_02:

Say goodbye to warehouse W.

SPEAKER_03:

Alright. So G.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, warehouse G. That's the bottle you want.

SPEAKER_03:

So Thomas asks, what's the difference between personally?

SPEAKER_02:

Personally, I'm not gonna lie. You want all three of these. They're each one unique. But if I had to choose one of the three, I would choose G.

SPEAKER_03:

The nine-story warehouse. Well, in the shell game of Harden's Creek, I picked the second one, which was R.

SPEAKER_02:

You picked a mushroom. Yeah, cuz you were thinking back to the 60s.

SPEAKER_03:

Why do I gotta go to the 60s more like the 80s? I mean, I was doing shrooms back then in the 80s.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that's what I meant. We don't gotta go, we don't gotta go that far. Doing mushrooms and and doing artwork.

SPEAKER_03:

Anyways, all right, so this Hardens Creek Golden Origin Origins, 11 year. Golden Oranges.

SPEAKER_02:

That's what I was talking about.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it's just stopping. So I love um, so once again, this is just the Jim Beam doing the I think I just opened this, you opened it a while ago. It had to pick up a ton of caramel.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my god. Because I've tasted way better than when I first opened it. Because I can taste it's been open probably a year. And I drank half the bottle.

SPEAKER_03:

I really like it. I taste the corn and the caramel. It's like caramel corn, but it got burnt.

SPEAKER_02:

Like you like you get it to be.

SPEAKER_03:

Walking around eating all a few peanuts, roasted peanuts. Oh, you're making me hungry now. Alright, so what's the difference between the three Hardens Creek bottles? Thomas Anderson's asking. They're each at different warehouses. R, warehouse R is a one-story warehouse that that's located in the creekside, right?

SPEAKER_02:

And they're all located at the warehouse W at the Claremont, at the Claremont facility.

SPEAKER_03:

Facility.

SPEAKER_02:

All at the Claremont facility.

SPEAKER_03:

Uh which Claremont is where Booker's is aged. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Warehouse W is the one the five-story warehouse, and it's it's built right along the creek side.

SPEAKER_03:

And it's on the fifth floor, so it's mid-range, it's top floor of that, but it's still on the fifth floor. And the and then G is at one of the few remaining nine stories because most warehouses that are built today are seven because of structural issues, and you don't want the warehouses collapsing, but the nine the few left nine floors, this was aged on the ninth floor for G. So that's the difference between the mash bills, they are the same. The actually they all come from the same distilling run, and then they fill the barrels and put them in the different places 11 years ago. So there you go. Now, as far as the golden origins, this is a different thing. This came out last year. Um, I think it's fantastic, but that means it's time to get this ball rolling so we can uh get going on, you know, get you know, so everybody on Facebook and YouTube are gonna stay on. It is 10 to 10. I'm not gonna stay on too late tonight because I gotta get this uploaded.

SPEAKER_02:

But I got some work I gotta do. I I didn't get in till late and didn't have time to even do my work.

SPEAKER_03:

All right, so everybody, um, thanks for coming tonight. Uh absolutely. I think it was a fantastic podcast, um, Harden's Creek uh quality whiskey uh experimental coming from Jim Beam. And uh what more do you want, right? It's just like that's it, they're just doing different things, and I mean 2011 years ago we're talking about 2014.

SPEAKER_02:

They you know and honestly, you know, they're they've started uh Jim Beam actually started doing uh you know experimental stuff that people don't even realize, but they're just now coming out with their experimental stuff because but they had the foresight to start all this, you know, maybe 15 to 20 years ago. To lay this stuff down in the barrels and and to and to do the experiments with what they had in mind to do. And now we're getting to taste the fruits of their labor and their forethought, and which is uh really exciting to me. Uh, because uh next year they'll be coming out with uh with a different heart's creep uh from another experiment that they laid down, and uh we'll find out next year how many years this is gonna be.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, for sure. And um, I'm gonna try and pre try and pre-game some of this. It's like if I can figure it out, yeah. That didn't work. Alright, where where are we? I think that's it. That seems to be it. Yep, that's it. Alright, everybody. Um thanks for joining us tonight. Uh I did no, I have not chart tried King George the Fifth. And thanks everybody. But know on YouTube and Facebook that the the party will continue for a couple minutes after. So hang on, but we're gonna finish this up for all the audio podcast people. Remember, www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys, Glenn Karen's t-shirts. Make sure you check it out. Otherwise, just ask me straight up on Facebook or YouTube and we'll work something out. Uh, also remember our uh makers mark private select is coming out soon. Uh if the pre-vouchers are for sale right now, so contact me with that if you're interested. And then also uh remember we're on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X and Spotify, no, X and TikTok. Remember on uh Apple, iHeart and Spotify. But no matter whether you listen to us or watch us, make sure you like, listen, subscribe, leave good be or and leave good feedback, and also comment. Everything helps that you can do. Um make sure uh join and become members in anything you can. Uh there's a bunch of ways to do that on Facebook and YouTube.

SPEAKER_02:

And then also I'd just like to say one more thing. Interrupt you here. Even we like good comments, but if you got a bad comment, I I challenge you to put the bad comment in there too. Because uh, like I say, it always raises uh interesting questions and things like that, and we'd be glad to answer for you and comment it back to you and and just to see what you got to say. Uh so uh always keep this in mind, good or bad.

SPEAKER_03:

Do you want me do you want me to get out the whips? Absolutely. That's you can ask a question, but don't give us bad comments. No, no, no, no. That that oh that's like no, no, no bad comments. I don't mind questions, and you can actually say something, but at the same time, uh the every time someone gives us a bad review on on Apple, I spend like I gotta have another 10.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, you can have a bad comment because we can we can comment right back to that. All right, we'll get that we'll get that party started.

SPEAKER_03:

All right, and remember, um good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make make sure you don't drink and drive, drink responsibly, and live your life uncut and unfiltered. And our our AI theme song will take us out.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks again, everybody. Appreciate everyone and y'all that tune in to it each week and each night that we run. Can't do it without you.

SPEAKER_03:

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 30. That's right.

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Tiny/ Jeff Mueller

Host
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Super Nash

Co-host

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