The Scotchy Bourbon Boys

Tasting Jim Beam Winter Reserve: Vanilla, Toast, And Holiday Vibes What Makes A $26 Bourbon Win The Winter?

• Jeff Mueller, Martin / Chris thompson • Season 7 • Episode 29

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We taste and rate Jim Beam Winter Reserve with our barrel bottle breakdown, then map where it fits in winter sipping, cocktails, and the budget shelf. Holiday plans, party specials, and a practical look at value over hype round out the pour.

• double toasted six-year bourbon with vanilla-forward profile
• light nose, medium body, toasted marshmallow on the palate
• modest finish, high drinkability at 86 proof
• ideal for old fashioneds and holiday gatherings
• comparisons with Beam Double Oak, Early Times BiB, Benchmark
• value over scarcity, pricing versus pleasure
• final score: 9.5 out of 18
• Christmas party details at Jervasi with Weller 107 and cigar special

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A winter pour that overdelivers on comfort and undercuts the hype—this one is built for a crackling fire, a plate of bourbon balls, and friends who want something easy but not empty. We open Jim Beam Winter Reserve, a six-year bourbon finished in two toasted barrels, and put it through our full Old Louisville barrel bottle breakdown: nose, body, taste, finish, and a final score that surprised even us. Expect light aromatics, a fuller-than-expected body for 86 proof, a toasted marshmallow and vanilla core, and a finish that whispers more than roars.

We get specific about where this bottle fits. If you crave caramel and vanilla over heat and tannin, Winter Reserve hits the lane. It’s a crowd-pleaser for holiday parties, a gentle introduction for new bourbon drinkers, and a secret weapon in an old fashioned. We share why the double-toasted approach amplifies dessert notes without turning cloying, and how a simple cocktail build—orange peel, bitters, Demerara—lets those flavors shine. This is the pour you can sip, serve, and still feel good about the price.

Along the way, we talk real-world value. Does a $26 bottle earn shelf space next to allocated heavy hitters? We compare against Beam Double Oak, Early Times Bottled-in-Bond, and Benchmark picks, and talk aging quirks, warehouse heat, and why price rarely scales with pleasure. We close with our final score—9.5/18—and the key takeaway: not every winter winner needs to be rare. Some just need to be right.

If you enjoy honest tastings, budget-friendly recommendations, and practical cocktail tips, hit follow, share this with a bourbon friend, and drop us a review with your favorite winter sipper. Which bottle is your cold-weather go-to?

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SPEAKER_04:

Tiny here to tell you about Whiskey Thief Distilling Company and their newly opened tasting room. Whether you are up for a farm to glass distilling experience on the Three Boys Farm in Frankfurt, Kentucky, or an out-of-this world tasting experience in New Loop, you won't be disappointed. At both locations, their barrel picks all day, every day, are like none other. Each location features stations with five barrels, each featuring their pot-distilled bourbons and rye. Once the barrels have been cleaned and tasted, you can make a selection and fill your own bottle. A day at Whiskey Thief with their friendly staff and ownership will ensure you many good times with good friends and family. Remember to always drink responsibly, never drink and dry, and live your life unclutched and unfiltered.

SPEAKER_05:

Tiny here with you, along with there he is, CT. Hey, C hey CT, welcome back to the podcast. Good to have you on.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, to be here. It's uh not always in the cards with basketball and everything else going on this time of year, but hey, we're we're making it work, and then it's Christmas, Christmas, Christmas from here on out.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, and and I'm here, tiny, but one of the things I want to say is we got to fit in. I was just thinking the next time that you're on this, and we got to get you in one more time because you got to do your holiday drink special because those segments are always so fantastic. I we I love them because you come up with the greatest drinks, and I think that you you know, you you have a a bartending skill. Not that you would ever eventually be a bartender, but you do a lot of bartending, don't you?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, daily. But no, I enjoy it. Now we we won't be able to do it next week with everything going on. But I think the week after this before Christmas week, I think that's gonna be the time to do it.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, we could do it on probably do it on that Tuesday.

SPEAKER_00:

Try and do it on there. Oh, yeah. Holy crap.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, yeah, it's the holidays. It's just I mean, just my weekend. One, we've got we bought this wallpaper where you put it up and it looks like a Rick House. And and we tore down the grass wallpaper. We're gonna be putting that up, and I want to have that up by the Christmas party. So that wallpapering is happening this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Then we've got the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree's up, but there's no anything on it, so we gotta start lighting it. We've been making bourbon balls. Normally we make one batch, which is 96. The batch we made did 127, and then we made another batch that did 117. So we're we're in the process of dipping 230, 40 some bourbon balls. So that in itself, plus work works busy, and we've got the Christmas party, and that's gonna be wild, right? Christmas party coming out.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, excited to come up and see everything going on there. Javasi's a lot of fun. What a great place, and sucks I only get to come once a year, but I I enjoy every minute of that.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I know that Super Nash has booked, so there's a room. So this is a first year there's a room at Jarvassi where we can, you know, it's like you can run back and forth. But the some of the things I we have the room this year reserved in the official fashion. They changed some things, so we've got that. That's all set up. Mike's got his normal special pours that he's got. They've got their main thing this year is they've got a couple bottles of Weller Red, one, you know, 107, and they've got Weller cigars. So there's going to be a special on the cigar and the pour. So we've got that going right there, right from Javassi, plus the bottles that he has and everything that we go through and all the stuff. So this should be fan.

SPEAKER_00:

And you talk about great bartending. That's that's the one thing that when you go, he he does. I don't care if I'm drinking regular wild turkey 101, it's gonna be done in a way that you're enjoying it, the atmosphere, but uh he does he does a fantastic job.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, 100%. Plus, we're gonna we're working on that holiday drink because we always come up with a special holiday drink that's just special for the Christmas party. And the Christmas party sounds like it's gonna be there, is gonna be probably almost double the amount of people. And last year it was off the charts. Now, this Friday I'm going to the distill the final distiller circle at Jervasie with Shay. So I'll make sure he has that invite. So Shay might give us a special Jervassi update, also. Sounds pretty cool. Plus, I gotta do, I got coming up, I gotta do a podcast with him because honestly, one of our some of our most successful podcasts are with Shay because of Jervasie's their 100% social media with their own, you know, the the winery, everything, that social and how it's searched. It just when you put it up, those podcasts do really well because they're being searched for the stay and the place, and they that comes up, so they learn all about the bourbon. So that's wonderful. So that's I can't wait for the Christmas party. I mean, this this year it's gonna be. Plus, we got to do our bookers of the year. Um I know the bookers has been released. I hope I we gotta get a hold of a bottle before we gotta get a hold of a bottle before next Friday. And then we also have our bourbon of the year. So you have to put your installment of bourbon in of the year, of what you're thinking. And that's a tough one this year, honestly. It really is.

SPEAKER_00:

This year is the probably the toughest year that I can remember uh of just because the ones that may have been the best have been super hard to get to. So it's like I I'm I'm gonna struggle. It's gonna be, I'm gonna, I'm gonna work on it, but holy crap.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I mean, there's a couple out there, but then I really didn't uh the last couple of years Micter's 10 was so up there, but I wasn't able to even get obtain a bottle of Micter's 10 yet. We we, you know, Dan, we're gonna go. Um I I talked to Dan about coming down sometime in January to see him, and he said that sounded good. So I'll be seeing him in January, but that's too late for bourbon of the year.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And then I mean, but there's some Buckners out there that was fantastic. There was, I mean, it's it's rough. That Jerry's batch, that last batch of Bookers, man, that was really good. But the old Carter for batch 14, old Carter's back in in play. I mean, there's so much out there. You've got old stubborn, you know, that those those those barrel those barrel picks were fantastic. There was so much, in my opinion, that was out there that I don't know what it's gonna be. But I gotta we gotta come up with it, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough. I mean, Seller Age 25 was good this year.

SPEAKER_05:

So yes, it was.

SPEAKER_00:

So I mean, it were last year, I probably would have said it didn't make the top 10. I think this year it's kind of close. I mean, that that's a great bottle. 25 was really good.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, what's really crazy is when we did the Cellar Age Blind, me and Super Nash, we we we tasted all three blind, and I really thought 23 was was the best, and then 25 was second, and then 24 was third. But guess, guess, guess what it was the order. You picked 24 first, it was 24, it was 24, 20, 23, 25, and Roxy had 25 the best. She loved it. She was like the perfect amount. She, you know, it was what was it? It was the perfect amount of oak, and she just was like, you know, she did it off to the side, and she's like, I love that 25. So, but seller age is great. And then, and then I've got so much, we've got the private select right now on the verge of coming up. A little bit of, I've had to come work through hoops with the state of Ohio, but hopefully we get there. So once that everybody will make sure everybody gets to taste that. And then as we keep going forward, I'm gonna be picking up and doing after the Christmas party at two. I gotta be at Maker's Mark on Saturday, that Saturday at 2:30 for my golden ticket. I have to have the goal to do the golden ticket tour and pick up my bottles of being an ambassador. I'm finally an ambassador. So this should be unbelievable. So that should be cool, you know, going down there for that. All right, quick www.scotchyburbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. We got our Glenn Karens, our t-shirts, and and almost we're almost right at the bourbon balls. They will be ready. I will say that it's all gonna go back up on the on the website in probably I would say probably sometime next week. Roxy will get there. Plus, CT approved his bio. So your by your bio is gonna go up.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it only took me two plus years to do it, but hey, once uh once AI gets involved, it's all done.

SPEAKER_05:

It's amazing. I told I I tell it to research, I told it to research you to write it. I'm like, research Chris Thompson and what he does, CT as a scotchy bourbon boys, and it just all said comes up and writes this. I'm just like, we're that much of an internet presence right now.

SPEAKER_00:

And it it wrote it well enough that I'm like, yeah, I'm good with that.

SPEAKER_05:

And if you if you've ever been following us in my posts that I post to promote, it it there's not a lot of rand Randy Pressey of you know Kentucky Bourbon Festival always gives me crap on my grammar and what he'll he'll just like point out all my mistakes, and so I just run it all through, and he hasn't talked to me about my for a while. And it's like I even every once in a while catching myself, well, that might sound good enough to do it. And I'm like, nah, copy paste, boom, chat cheap, copy, paste, boom, put it right back in. So, and actually, some of the the the actual posts are doing better, you know. There, the and so there's a lot of stuff that goes into, but uh it's uh there's you know, for someone like me, people are like, well, that's you shouldn't, you should have so you know, it's it it allows you to instant, you know. If you had somebody to have to proofread everything, there would be no instantaneous posts or whatever. You'd have to send it to them, proofread it, then do it. It all have to be planned out. This allows it to be instantaneous.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's an AI is just becoming crazy. Like I posted a video the other day. I was sitting in this room and I posted a picture of it, and it looks like the ceiling's falling down on the on the room. And it's just crazy. The the amount of tech and it takes seconds to do it. It doesn't take no hours and hours to put stuff together, it just happens like now.

SPEAKER_05:

If you got if you could supply it with like still you have to have photography skills, you gotta supply it with a decent photograph, and then you ask it to take it into another level. It doesn't like, for instance, uh I this this bottle of winter reserve. If you look at, I believe it was the post I made on YouTube, it basically is this sitting outside in the snow with the with the mountains and pines behind it. It's just like that worked. I just took the picture at the bar really nice and it just took it and put it out there. So, I mean, there's so much it can do. A lot of people rip on it, you know. They like to rip on, oh, that's an AI. You know, we actually have on the Scotchy Bourbon Boys AI helping do some posts, you know, they ask questions, but when it asks when it does the post, it asks it asks me what I think. So most of the time, I'm just straight up, I I okay it, but someone's like, Well, that's just an AI post. This group is, I'm like, but I okay it. It's like it adds more to people, it starts conversation, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

And the reality is that in every facet of our life, AI is coming whether you want it to or not. It's it's gonna become more and more part of our lives. So it's embrace it or try to uh uh push it away, but it's not gonna go away. It's just like when the computers started becoming big in the 80s, and everybody's like, ah, I'm not doing computers. Well, guess what? Here they are.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, and the AI is gonna solve a lot of problems.

SPEAKER_00:

It's creating some, but it's gonna solve some.

SPEAKER_05:

Right, but it keeps learning. I mean, I think it'll help us with space travel. I mean, it's gonna be the reason it's just it the intelligence of what it can and can't learn as it keeps going forward is gonna be amazing. I mean, honestly, that it's working on on medicine, it's working on you know calculations for for all different types of things, and it's gonna be one of the reasons why we're gonna be it should speed things up as far as where us to get to where we, you know, modern technology. And that if we're just trying to solve these problems, we might be in trouble. But with the help of AI, it might help us get through the transition, that's for sure. All right, but at the same time, remember on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and TikTok, make sure that you also listen to us on Apple, iHeart, Spotify, or any of the other formats that you can listen to podcasts. But whether you listen or watch us, make sure that you subscribe, become members. Membership is always a cool thing. Please do that. And then also on the the audio podcast, leave us leave us a five-star review and good feedback. That definitely helps us. That's one area of YouTube and Facebook, TikTok. We're all we're kind of taking off and we do real well. But as far as the audio podcast, it's pretty much straightforward for the last couple years. And I understand that everybody's watching. If you watch it, you don't listen to it. And there's a lot of people that used to listen to it now that we go live on these Tuesday and Thursday nights, we get a lot of people supporting us live, so that's really kind of a fun thing. So it so just check that out. So now, got all that out of the way.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, let's let's talk about what we came here for.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. We've got this Jim Beam winter reserve. I mean, it is a bottle that I would say I picked this up when I went to the Cubs game in Chicago. I was in Chicago and we were at Benny's, and I saw it there when I was with John. And John, I think John's watching tonight. I think he probably will be having some of this because this has gotten. I read a bunch of reviews on this from all the different people. And this seriously, there was let's see, I got his name right here. Let me uh bring this over. Do that. It was Jim Beam, what was this guy? Bourbon Boss Man. And he was like, I've had bad experiences with Jim Beam before, but the the hype made him do it. And there was a lot of hype on this bottle. I don't know what what you were hearing, but you know, I've I heard a lot of good things.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know I I bought this bottle last year. It was probably about this time last year when it came out, or maybe a little bit earlier. And when I got it, you know, it definitely is better than white label. It's not a single barrel, but I like it. And then I realized last year, holy crap, I'm gonna start doing old fashions with this. So last winter, uh that bottle went away pretty quick because I used it in old fashions. So it it does really well in a cocktail, the a little bit of cinnamon. I I you know they put cinnamon and vanilla on the label. I don't know. I guess everybody's palate's different. I don't get a ton of cinnamon. I don't get a ton of vanilla, but it is more than just regular gym bean.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, but it's okay, so it's got the mash pillow of 75 corn, 13 rye, and 12 barley, which I think is the gym bean mash bill. I'm not exactly I I believe that's or but it could be 77 if I remember. So it might be a little less corn and a little bit more barley. You know what I mean? That's what it seems like, but it is one of the things it is, is it will it's I got it right here. That's that's that one. Let me switch over. Okay. The Jim Beam website. All right, so it's it's aged six years, finished in two toasted barrels. This elevated bourbon offers a smooth flavor profile with notes of sweet vanilla, cinnamon, spice, and a hint of clove for a warm capture of the essence of winter. So they put it in two toasted barrels. So what so they empty the six year into a toasted barrel and then empty the toasted barrel into a toasted barrel?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I'm not sure exactly. That is like double toasted. I'm also gonna call out Jim Beam and say that the word elevated is probably a little bit harsh. You know, I don't I don't think this is an elevated bourbon of any sort, but it what the toasted part is working because it does give it the vanilla sweetness. I think that's definitely where you're getting that from, but where did elevated come in?

SPEAKER_05:

Oh. This elevated is elevated. Well, but you gotta you gotta admit, if it's if you're putting six-year bean in a white label, but it doesn't take much to get better than the white label. Yeah, except for everybody knows the white label. Now, I uh all beans except when you're not talking about Booker's Bakers, Knob Creek, or Basil Hayden, I find their single barrels, they're they're they're single barrels great. And their distiller's choice, they've got a distiller's, you know, they got all these double oaks, they've got the seven-year, which we which I have, you know, they've got all these things of beam that that uh you know have a different flavor. And that brand, I really think from the straight brand itself, they probably kick ass more than anything else off the straight brand. Not only do they have their allocated further booker, you know, the bookers and lines and everything, they've got this, this line. How many, what other, what other brand in any other like Heaven Hill or whatever, does be that Jim Beam devil's cut, Jim Beam, this, you know, all different types of things. No other brand really does that. That many.

SPEAKER_00:

They came out last year as well with the sunshine blend, which is a more lighter, almost has a slight tropical flavor to it. And then they came out with the pineapple, and they came out with this and that. But the but the sunshine batch follows more of like this, the double oak, the single barrels, and like you said, the double's cut. But yeah, they have a lot of stuff. It's it's for an entry price point. The the thing that I that I find funny is like so double oak beam, which I like, is$19.99 in Ohio. This is$26.99 in Ohio. And personally, I think the double oak is better. But for the what this is, it is a great cocktail mixer. It definitely gives some flavor to an old-fashioned.

SPEAKER_05:

I'm gonna now, from everything that all the results of everything I've been reading, I mean, I've been hearing nothing but good things because of the cinnamon and the clove and whatever, it's more complex than most of everything else that they do. Now, you you were saying you were talking about that, and so that brings us to what we're gonna do tonight. And it is, and I'm gonna let you do the promotion on this, but we are going to do the old Louisville Whiskey Company barrel bottle breakdown of Jim Beam Winter Reserve. And, you know, talk about I mean, out of all the people, CT, you're the guy to talk about what that means doing and where he's at because you're down there quite often. When were you just there?

SPEAKER_00:

Not this past Friday, the Friday before. And uh, oh yeah, that was that was an experience. I took some some guys that never been there. We drank from 18-year-old barrels all the way down, enjoyed a really nice Hungarian oak barrel, really enjoyed a 10-year PX sherry barrel that he's just releasing. That was fantastic. But yeah, lots going on. They're they're still not moved into the new location, so everything's still operating out of the the the first location, which there was people there again that were coming. I what I always find so exciting when I go there is I always meet really nice people, and because it's small, and I end up knowing them from there on. They they they bring people from all over the place. They I don't care if they're New York, California, they come there, and then it's like they just instantly are your friends and you're waiting till the next time you can meet up there again.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, and I think, you know, just us all the time, we talk this, we talk up what it means doing just as much as all all of our sponsors. And I like to always say that we don't are the reason why they're our sponsors is because we love the whiskey they're making. You know, we're not just anybody can be our sponsor, and we didn't we didn't just ask anybody. It was just like first they become part, we become part of their family, and they become part of our family. And then as we get to know each other, there's a point where it's just like, well, why don't you sponsor us and we'll just promote the crap out of you? So that's the a means doing great things. I can't wait till he gets in his new spot, and I hope that we are able to go down there for his grand opening when he does it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. That's gonna be a party. He's out of his boot and everything, so he's moving around freely. So that's a good thing to see, too.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that's been a while.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

All right. So, anyways, like I said, I have it in a rock's glass. I have this pour because that's kind of I always feel when you're just drinking the Jim Beam line, that it's that's where it's best in a rock's glass. I mean, it can be on on the rocks, in old fashioned or uh neat, but definitely this one I have is the Jim Beam glass that I had picked up at some Jim Beam event, but it's got Freddie and Fred's signature on it. And so let's uh yeah, let's get this this thing going. The old Louisville Whiskey Company barrel bottle breakdown scale is based off of four categories: nose, body, taste, finish. Each category can get the two categories of nose and body can get up to four barrel knocks on four knocks on the barrel. And then also the taste and the finish can get up to five barrel knocks, along with if one of the categories is exceptional, you can give it extra knock, which we call a but up up. And if it gets a but up up, you can get up to 19 out of 18 on a perfect score. And we've been pulling in a couple of those just recently. It's been there, it's some really good bourbon this year that we've been drinking. So, but here goes on. I'm excited. I, you know, CT, I haven't tasted this yet. I've not tasted winter reserve yet. I I opened the bottle when we first when I got it, I opened it so that it was not a neck pour, you know, it was just that, and then started it's sat, and now tonight, this is the first first pour, the first taste. It's gonna be interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

All right, so what do you get on the nose?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean not gonna lie, it's it's light. There's there's not a lot for me going on. I I probably get more clove than I do cinnamon. You know, it's it's it's not it's it's okay on the nose. I I don't think it's like, oh my gosh, but it's it's okay.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I get vanilla. I get the classic Jim Beam, the peanut or a nut kind of thing. It's good. I mean, honestly. And there's a lot more vanilla. It's a little bit sweeter on the on the nose than Jim Beam or Jim Beam double oak or whatever. It's so funny. That's weird. Well, you know what? If you nose it, so I always find you got it in the glen. You you you normally put put it at the bottom, but go to the top, and that's where it pull pull. If you go to the top of the that's where I'm pulling the cinnamon. Down here, I'm getting the g. But as I go up, there's cinnamon at the top. There's the it's a lot more cinnamon than there is on the bottom when you're nosing it. You can just start to you start to pull that cinnamon right there. All right. So this is, I believe, 86 proof, correct? It is. Yes. So it's not, you know, it's not 80 proof. It's not basil Hayden. And it's it, you know, I find I just remember once again, when you're growing up and you were drinking Jack Daniels at 80 proof, everybody thought it was hot and it was 80 proof was high. Little did we know what would happen, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And I do agree with you. You talk about smelling the top of the glass, the vanilla and the cinnamon come in a little more there. Just seems to let the air gets a little more.

SPEAKER_05:

And if I I go, I open my mouth and I actually pull off a little mint. There's like a mint. Maybe that's the baking. I don't. All right, here we go. Let's see what happens on the taste. But it what is it doing? Well, you got the red glass. It seems to be decent as far as its legs. They're a little thin, but as far as the viscosity, it sticks for a while, you know. So let's the one thing. Yeah, this is really there's way more vanilla in this one, man.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the vanilla on the palate is way overpowering compared to the cinnamon to me.

SPEAKER_05:

It's almost like a toasted marshmallow. Like, you don't, that's not, it's there, the nose had some classic, there's no, there's not the classic Jim Beam taste on this at all.

SPEAKER_00:

And it I I get it on the finish. The peanut for me came in the finish. That's where I get it. I don't get it anywhere till that, and it's only the first and second sip. After that, it kind of fades away. But that toasted marshmallow note is why I toasted the marshmallow on the rim of this old fashioned because it works well with that with that bourbon.

SPEAKER_05:

And there is a hints on this, like uh, what would you call it? A complement of cinnamon all in the background.

SPEAKER_00:

Like the cinnamon for me, kind of laid in the mid-palette. It just kind of stayed on your tongue a little bit.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, there's a little bit of like the the the red hots, just a little bit of that little sting there, and it goes with just but but as far I don't know that if most people drank it though, that they would really pick it up like that.

SPEAKER_00:

The sin then the vanilla is definitely more pronounced than the cinnamon.

SPEAKER_05:

It's much more enjoyable than Jim Bean.

SPEAKER_00:

I like I like Jim Bean. Jim Bean white label. This is by far better.

SPEAKER_05:

There's a lot of neutral things happening here. Like, it's way more drinkable. It's dr this is a dangerous bottle. You could you could you could get through a half a bottle.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, hold on, hold on. I gotta keep him out of this room. Get out.

SPEAKER_05:

That's okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean he's he's gone in there and found something outside that he's wanting to go chase, so now he's yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So but yeah, I mean it definitely has flavor. It's it's more flavorful than the sunshine blend, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_05:

But well, yeah, and I could see just sitting and sipping this by uh fire at this time of the year. It it does have a little bit of warmth, but not too much. This definitely is I would recommend this to almost anybody who wants to get into bourbon.

SPEAKER_00:

Like it's this it has the sweetness of a something with a little bit of maple, but without doing maple, doing marshmallow.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, but it doesn't bring the heat that most it's not that hot aspect that most people are like, oh, it's just too hot. I get burns. That that's it's it's null and void of that, you know?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this doesn't have any heat really much, at least to me. It's it's fine, but it does not have much heat.

SPEAKER_05:

And some people do like that much heat. And Martin just said, cheers to us. Cheers. So let's uh let's get ready to do this. I find I know that Walker was watching he's he's like, he refers this to triple oak because it's two toasted oaks. So can he can you say triple oak? He's watching on YouTube. I would say, all right, I'll go first on the nose. Out of four. There's nothing unpleasant. It's multifaceted. It's now there it is. I I would say it's definitely a two and a half, but you can't give half, so you have to decide whether you're gonna go three. I don't I I don't think it goes to the level of three. It's above a it's above two, it's in between, but I give it two on the nose.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree the number I had in my head was two, and and I was actually probably sub-two a little bit, but like because I think that is by far the weakest thing of this is the nose is very very faint, but but I gotta go up to a two, so I'm gonna go with a two.

SPEAKER_04:

All right.

SPEAKER_05:

So you go on the body. Kentucky chew. Wow. You know what's crazy is it's got a decent body. If you do the Kentucky chew, it's the flavor is is pretty much palette. What you get a little bit on the cheeks, not like full out, but it's it's a decent body for 86. I mean, I I'm surprised on how much body this has at 86.

SPEAKER_00:

What sucks for me is this is a six-year-old bourbon that probably had they not proofed it down the way it is, it would be better, obviously. The body would be better, the legs would be better, etc. It it's just all vanilla now. Like it's now that you drink it and you've had it, you go back to it, it's vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. But there's that's exactly what I want, but it may be what somebody else wants.

SPEAKER_05:

But there's a lot of vanilla, like a lot.

SPEAKER_00:

It tastes like it tastes like icing on a freaking cupcake.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, but that's that's really good for some people, especially if you love vanilla.

SPEAKER_00:

And I do, but some people, some people will love it for that. I personally drinking it by itself, I don't like it. Again, in a cocktail in a old fashioned, I think it works really well because you want that sweetness in there. But if I'm drinking this by itself, which is what we're grading it on, I'm probably not as excited about it. I'd rather have a single barrel gym bean than I would this.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So out is this out of four as well?

SPEAKER_05:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Again, definitely two is as high as I can go on this.

SPEAKER_05:

All right, so where we differ is I love vanilla, and I I love birthday cake, vanilla icing, and caramel. I'm always looking for the caramels in the vanillas, and this is delivering. And now I understand why so many people, because honestly, when you're talking about Kentucky bourbon, those caramels are always, but to the toasting seems to have brought out a certain aspect of the vanilla. And then the body, like I said, I'm surprised. It does light my cheeks up, but not what and it's not. So I think actually this is the body's the strongest part on this. So I will give it a three.

SPEAKER_00:

I wouldn't disagree with you on that either, because I don't think there's much else going on other than the body.

SPEAKER_05:

Because to me, if you if you're not a vanilla fan, then yes, I agree with totally. I'm a vanilla fan, so but vanilla kind of goes to the taste. I mean, I've always said you can have a whiskey that tastes like shit, you know what I mean? But it could get a four for the body because it so much fills your mouth with shit taste that it was it's powerful, and that's the body, how much flavor there is. And this hat this delivers on flavor, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, there's not too many bourbons that you're gonna drink that the vanilla tannins and stuff are that strong, you know. Usually it's not like this, yeah. But it but it's it's it's faint. I mean, this this almost takes on the flavor profile of something that was added to it to give it that much, you know, like in tequila. When you drink a tequila that's got strong vanilla flavor, it's usually because it's not organic, it's been added. This has that type of vanilla, which is kind of crazy. But again, I think there's plenty of people who would love it because it's a very good. I I can imagine this time of year just sitting around drinking it, you know, with with people by the fire, they're gonna enjoy it. It's super it's super easy to drink, it's very approachable.

SPEAKER_05:

All right, so taste. I like it. I love the vanilla. I mean, the weak part obviously, on this, it's a six-year, but hmm. It has the one dimension of the vanilla is now, like you said, when you first start off, there's a lot complex, but right now this is complexity on the sips, is just vanilla. But it's not vanilla pudding. You know, it doesn't have a icing one. But some people can just scrape the icing off and eat it. Or my favorite is when there's vanilla icing in the refrigerator and you just basically stick a knife in there.

SPEAKER_00:

But that now that last drink I got, the the vanilla was very strong, but I got the finish of the peanut on that one.

SPEAKER_05:

On the finish.

SPEAKER_00:

But it's a sweet peanut. It's not like the bookish peanut.

SPEAKER_05:

Or not like the Jim Beam regular peanut that that flavor.

SPEAKER_00:

The sweeter peanut almost the vanilla obviously is affecting it. But no, I mean, for what this is, taste. I mean, for what we usually the the unfair thing of this really is is that we usually bear bottle bash some higher end stuff, you know, some some really bottle. This is a$26 bottle that you know in in the running of what we've done is kind of hard to compare. But although I mean you compare this to a lot of other$20 bourbons, I'm sure it holds up pretty well, you know.

SPEAKER_05:

I mean, honestly, old tub at a hundred proof, it's a bottled and bond, and I love it better than Jim Beam bottled in bond, but old tub is so it's just basically one straight flavor. There's no complexity to this. This has more complexity, things are happening. So I'll I'm for taste. I'm I'm once again, you can give it five. I will give it a three.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll take the vanilla note over a dirty shoe note any day of the week.

SPEAKER_05:

What has dirty shoe? You think old tub tastes like a dirty shoe?

SPEAKER_00:

Some of those bottles that are like$20 range, man, they get some funk going on. It's like, what the hell did the corn just what happened here?

SPEAKER_05:

You mean that one?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't I I'll have to revisit Old Tub, but I didn't like it as much as you like it.

SPEAKER_05:

But you see what I got?

SPEAKER_00:

I can't tell. Is that I can't see it.

SPEAKER_05:

Ancient age.

SPEAKER_00:

Ancient age, yeah. Ancient age is$12.99. It was what? It's so thin. It's like literally bourbon flavored water.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, except it's not just bourbon-flavored water, ancient age. It's bourbon flavored candy candy, cotton candy bourbon flavored water. There's cotton a cotton candy note on there that I can't like not. I love it. Now, I like that ancient age. That's but that's that's even worse. That's ancient age 10. It's not 10 years old. It's just 10 stars. Yeah, it's just 10 star. And it's cheaper than ancient age.

SPEAKER_00:

What does that mean? 10 stars.

SPEAKER_05:

It means that it but it means that it's less than two years old. What does 10 star mean anyway? Yeah, the the what there's a gym, there's a a a bottom shelf. There, isn't it just not eight star? Is it is Jim Beam has a product that's not even Jim Beam, it just it's just just eight star or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. It's name, that's its name. But what's hilarious about ancient age, and they just totally did that, is like I so I have an old bottle in the other room, and it's 10-year, and it looks like this. They did this to try to be like, oh yeah, you know, that's like no, it's not, no, it's not.

SPEAKER_05:

No, it's not 10-year, it's just 10 star.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's it's on the bottom shift than the regular stuff, but again, I like the regular benchmark line, it's all kind of that same kind of flavor palette as benchmark.

SPEAKER_05:

Although benchmark, though, their single barrels can beat out Taylor single barrels, and I love benchmark top floor because that is like that gets on the top floor with those 110, 115. So that will age really quick in the two years. And everybody, everybody just doesn't realize with when it comes to Buffalo Trace, they steam heat their warehouses in the winter. And I'm telling you, that there's so many places that would call that rapid aging. Hey, Leland, good to see you. But rapid aging. What's up, Leland? That's Buffalo Trace doesn't say anything. There's a reason why Buffalo Trace products are good, is because they who else does the steaming? Oh, that would be the same, that would be old Taylor's same place, which would be wait, hold on. Castle and Key has the steam.

SPEAKER_00:

No, so no, you're not thinking of it. You just we talked about it earlier. We didn't get a bottle this year.

SPEAKER_05:

Victor's? I don't think they steam heat their warehouses. They just heat them. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

You don't think they have a warehouse at Green River? Who Green River? Bardstown? No, well, you know. I'm just just saying there's there's a possibility there's a steamed warehouse at Green River housing some of theirs. I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

Maybe that would be good.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe not.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, maybe uh maybe uh Aaron will have to take us there.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh boy, if he takes we you know, I'm gonna drink anything Aaron takes us to drink.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh my god, yes. Aaron knows what the hell he's doing, that's for sure. All right, so what are we at on this? I I gave it three out of five on the taste. What are you giving it for the taste?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh wow. You know, it's not bad. And again, I'm gonna give it credit for the price point it's at, so I'll give it a three.

SPEAKER_05:

All right, Nash.

SPEAKER_00:

Nash doesn't even have this bottle, so I'm gonna have to bring him the rest of mine when I see him next week.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I'm giving my bottle to a guy at work. I told him I'd bring it in. I just I I honestly I like it, it's good. I could use it, but I'm gonna share it with people because of the fact it is good. And but how many times when you open a bottle like this, unless you're making like you're making cocktails with it, but how many times do we have time to revisit this? What level of alcoholic would we have to be to get back to this when we have so much of the other stuff?

SPEAKER_00:

Only in a cocktail.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I like it. I would I I like this, honestly. I do. I I would drink it. I would drink I the chimney sweep came and cleaned our fireplace. I might go upstairs and have one more afterwards and just sit by the fire and have a fire. Just depends if Roxy's asleep or not. All right, so the last is the finish.

SPEAKER_00:

There isn't one.

SPEAKER_05:

There no, no, it exists. It exists, but and and and in my opinion, the finish is is medium, it but it's so light from start, it it's there. Like, like for instance, right now, I still taste whiskey in my mouth even after, but but you know, a finish is a lot of times you really taste those flavors and you could pick stuff out. This is just like, well, I did drink whiskey. It's that it lasts for about three seconds. Here it is, I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's a thin finish. I mean, it it doesn't stay it's vanilla. That's probably because the the walnut flavor is vanilla.

SPEAKER_05:

Vanilla, walnut, it's still there. Now there's maybe a little bit of the of the wood tannins of being six year. There's a little bit there.

SPEAKER_00:

A little bit of cinnamon on the front of your callic, but it it goes away pretty quick.

SPEAKER_05:

It's gone. Yeah, it's gone right now. So it's it's it's it's it's it's there, but there's something there still. So what are you gonna give the finish? Out of five. Five.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm being nice again at the proof point or a price point and what it is, so I'll go with two.

SPEAKER_05:

I would have to concur.

SPEAKER_00:

And again, not that that's bad for everyone. It's just again, for what we have set the standard for with this, it's I mean it makes it tough to do. And this may be the case even for some of those bottles we just talked about. We may do them and be like, oh geez, you know, but but we like them, but they don't they don't uphold to some of the things that we rated as a four or five.

SPEAKER_05:

I mean, what do you what do you pay for? Okay, so honestly, if you take this bourbon, yes, you gotta pay, but it's it's been age six years. I mean, and then put into two more toasted barrels. So it could have been up to seven years to make this before they got six months in one, six months in another, who knows? But but that's age, so they're they're dis you know, they're not you're it's a good deal for the age of this bourbon. Put it this way. Two, you're paying, but is there a bourbon in your mind that is uh worth a hundred dollars more than this bourbon? And in my opinion, the difference between tasting that and a bottle that's like 180, it's not the diff, the price difference is never it's there are so many good$24 bottles. If you're if you want to just drink 24, you're yeah, to get to the next level on when we're getting when we're talking 18, 19s, and we're talking all those different, you know, those that depends on what you're doing with it.

SPEAKER_00:

If you're just enjoying it to to just not wreck yourself for the night, which you know, I think that's obviously important for people to enjoy it and not get stupid, is this is gonna allow you to enjoy several drinks and not be in that position. Whereas those 125 to 150 bottles, which flavor-wise, yes, I will take them all day, they they definitely don't allow you to drink nearly as much of them, and then you're in a different state.

SPEAKER_05:

So and also on those, yes, I like the flavor-wise, but the price usually doesn't correspond the the increase of doesn't correspond with the taste of the bourbon, it's more you're paying for the exclusivity of being able to drink that bourbon that maybe if you put the two together, would be like a$15 difference as far as actual taste, in my opinion. That's just there's never been a bourbon that I and I paid$250,$300, and it's good. I'm not saying that, but this is if that's a$300 bourbon and you're really being honest of what this would be and rating, and let's just say that$300 was worth it, this should be$225. That's how that's what I'm not, I'm glad this is$24 for a bottle. But you know what I mean? I'm just saying that they take these prices up and it's just based off of not being able to have them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, it's exclusivity, that's the you can't get it, so it's rare. There are exceptions, definitely. The VVS from last year from Old Fits was very unique and has already started to show secondary is insane on that bottle now. But that's a very rare situation.

SPEAKER_05:

Did you get a VVS last year? Last at the festival?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I got it before the festival, so yes, because you know Heaven Hill people. Um, yeah. I was lucky to get that. But the but the other thing is, is I mean, that's why single barrels are so much fun. And even the Jim Beam, since we're talking about Jim Beam, I mean, there are single barrels, the black label that looks just like this, the bottle's exactly the same. Black bottle, white and gold lettering. Those bottles for 24 to 26 dollars are really good and they all vary. You know, it it there's a little bit of variance in each one of them, but they are super good bottles for just every day. I want something that's decent to drink.

SPEAKER_05:

So I gave it a 10 out of 18, and you gave it, I believe, a nine. Because I went two, three, three, two, and I think you went two, two, three, two.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I was one, I was definitely one behind you.

SPEAKER_05:

So a ten and a nine, so it's a nine point five. So uh when it comes to for a 24, if you can a score, if you it's a$25 bottle,$26 bottle, and you can score at above a nine, you're you're doing something right, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00:

You you can't it it you know say Buffalo Trace, which is obviously a very popular bottle, would not score much higher than that unless it was a single barrel, and that's a different story because some of those get upwards of nine years old.

SPEAKER_05:

Now, Trace, sometimes and lately, I've I've the the ones that have been coming out, the aging process in, and we're getting these type of higher, better tasting bourbons off of the line because of the aging process. The weather in Kentucky has been better for aging, in my opinion. So the last Buffalo Trace that came out this year, I was able to taste it, and the caramel on it was ridiculous. You know what I mean? Just it was ridiculous, and I love caramel, so it takes it to another level. But I like this. Actually, you know what I know what this is on the same level of, and I really like that bottle is early times, the bottled and bomb. It's similar to those same kind of flavors. The bottled and bon at 100 proof for early times is probably takes it up a little bit heavier, a little bit more, but the the flavor profiles are very similar. I think this would probably be a really good bottle to make bourbon balls.

SPEAKER_00:

You you may be you may be right. And I'll tell you the other bottle that I think it reminds me of, and I thought that I had it, but I used it all, is Basil Hayden Toasted. I think basil Hayden Toasted in this are similar in line. I use it for cocktails, and that's why I the bottle is gone.

SPEAKER_05:

Except for the fact that's a lot more expensive to make a cocktail with a basilhay at 50 bucks. It's double.

SPEAKER_00:

You're paying for the bottle and everything, but it and you you make a good point. It is a very similar, but for somebody who likes basil Hayden Toasted, this is a similar, maybe a little more vanilla, but similar profile to Basil Hayden Toasted.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes. All right. No, it's it's just a Jim Bean bottle, but it does have that nice uh copper shiny label. It did some nice things.

SPEAKER_00:

Here's my favorite part the screw cap.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. I like it.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm starting to appreciate screw caps more. I'm I'm tired of opening a bottle that has got a cork in it. Synthetic corks different, but natural corks, it's like if they've been open and they set, and then you go to open them, you gotta be careful, the damn corks will fall apart.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. All right, everybody. 9.5 on the old Louisville Whiskey Company's barrel bottle breakdown of Jim Beam Winter Reserve. There we go. That's another one in the books. I hope Super Nash is still watching. You should write that down in our book that you keep track of everything. So, all right. Got anything else you want to add in? I think in the next couple weeks, look for CT to come back on and do his holiday drink special.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh we'll definitely work on some good cocktails for that. We'll make a uh a budget old fashioned, we'll do a couple other things, and we'll probably even do a little more high line old-fashioned. The one thing I've definitely been doing more lately is elevating that drink with a higher grade cocktail with a higher grade bourbon, and really starting to see that that's it does make a difference. It's so good.

SPEAKER_05:

I think I don't remember what podcast it was, but we did an old fashioned podcast based off of does a better bourbon make a better old fashioned? And we definitely made like four old fashions, and it it really did it. I think the old fashioned that was the best, believe it or not, it was Stag Jr. that we made the old fashioned with that was the by far the best. And honestly, most people would punch you if you were using Stag Jr., but still, it did. It delivered.

SPEAKER_00:

I made one with a 16-year-old old Louisville, and I'm gonna take my 18-year-old old Louisville and do it with it too. So don't worry, it's coming.

SPEAKER_05:

My favorite is when they mix Pappy Van Winkle with root beer. I've seen that before. A root beer papy van winkle. I'm just like, yep, do whatever you want.

SPEAKER_00:

I would do it with Mountain Dew because I like it with Mountain Dew better.

SPEAKER_05:

Pappy Van Winkle?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh anything. I like Mountain Dew and any herbal.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, let's get a 15 year for$2,500 and we'll just start mixing it with Mountain Dew. That sounds great. Yeah, doesn't it? I'll split it with you. There you go. All right, everybody. We just remember afterwards we're gonna stay on for a couple minutes, me and CT, but just and if you're on Facebook, we will send out an invite and you can join us on the Zoom to keep going. But thanks for checking in tonight. We are headed into the holidays. Can't wait. Our Christmas party, make sure it's Jirvassi, December 12th, 7 p.m. Eastern Eastern Standard Time. Come on up from wherever you are, join us for one of the best uh bourbon podcast Christmas parties that there is. Jarvasi is a great venue, so make sure that you join us. There'll be light or doors, and then fantastic pores are available along with the special that we're doing, which is uh Weller 107 with the Weller Cigar. They've got that available for us. A lot of stuff's gonna happen. Live music. Last year we were pretty much off the charts. Hopefully, an appearance with the master distiller at the still house at Jervassi, Shea Pridemore. He's doing some fantastic things. We've actually started to see some Jervasie on some store shelves these days, and they just have finally come out with their small batch for the first time. Before that, it was only single barrels of what they've been producing, and they pretty much are in my backyard. So when they started this endeavor, I was right there. I'm just a little bit older now. So, anyways, all right, www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys, Glen Karens, t shirts, and real soon bourbon balls. And then also make sure you check us out on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. X and TikTok, and then also on Apple iHeart and Spotify, along with all the other podcast formats. Whether you watch us or you listen to us, make sure that you become a member. And then go to those audios and leave five-star reviews and good feedback for us. And then remember, good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Don't drink and drive. Make sure you drink responsibly and live your life uncut and unfiltered. There you go. And then our theme song will take us out. I think that I gotta s do I have to reset it? I'm trying. There it is. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02:

And hot all day to you can't no more. Life rules on, but the choice is yours, how you play it out when you walk through that door.

SPEAKER_01:

It's got in store. Tuesdays, Thursdays, no ball of the sea.

SPEAKER_02:

On the rocks and knees.

SPEAKER_01:

Japanese eyes will tell you why everyone. Heroes tune in with us from your home or your car woman!

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Tiny/ Jeff Mueller

Host
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Super Nash

Co-host

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