Orphan Barrel whiskeys have been around since 2014. As the story goes, each bottle in this series represents stocks of whiskey that were hidden away and nearly forgotten in the back of rickhouses and distilleries. The newest release in the Orphan Barrel series is Indigo's Hour Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is a blend of straights from Kentucky and Indiana that is 18 years old and has a mashbill of 68% corn, 28% rye, and 4% malted barley. If you've never had any Orphan Barrel offerings,...

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of acquiring the famed Bernheim Distillery and the Old Fitzgerald brand, Heaven Hill went deep into the "tanks" and bottled a very special bourbon. Distilled in 1999 and aged for 13 years, this VVS (very very special) Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond decanter contains the very juice that Heaven Hill deemed as exceptional all the way back in 2012. It's a modern day dusty of sorts! If you listened to episode 120 (and we highly recommend that you do), you heard...

When a listener asks you to review a bottle...you don't just review that bottle...you review the entire vertical plus one more blind. Lol. This week, we dive into Campari's Whiskey Barons Collection which features, Bond & Lillard, Old Ripy, and W.B. Saffell. These 375ml bottles have been released since 2017, but can still be found in some markets. Even though these bottles are billed as coming from the American Medicinal Spirits Company, they are actually Wild Turkey distillate. They...

The Dark Arts Whiskey House is an up and coming spot in Lexington, Kentucky which focuses on blending, rebarreling, and finishing a variety of different whiskeys. The brand promises an experience that is anything but ordinary. So what exactly does that mean? Join us this week as we welcome The Bourbon Swami/Chief Alchemist/President of Dark Arts, Mr. Macaulay Minton. This conversation is a lengthy one, but we promise it is worth it. You'll get to hear about how Macaulay got his start in the...

OCD stands for Old Crow Distillery and #5 is an ode to the fermentation tanks on this hallowed property where something historic was found. Glenns Creek Distillery sits on the same property as the original Old Crow Distillery. While they offer a number of different products, the one we are tasting and reviewing this week, OCD #5, has a unique story behind it. This high corn bourbon mashbill is distilled using yeast resurrected from one of the fermentation tanks at the old distillery. It isn't...

This is a moment we've been waiting for since 2014. Just a few episodes back, we tasted and reviewed some of the oldest rye to ever be released by the New Riff Distillery. For this week, we turn our attention to the newly released New Riff 8 Year Old Bourbon. As we all know, it takes time to make good bourbon. Since 2018, New Riff has only released 4-5 year old bourbon. We've been clamoring for older stuff for YEARS! Was it worth the wait? You'll have to listen to find out. Prepare yourselves...

Bourbon Pursuit is the most popular bourbon podcast in the game. Starting back in 2015 and being a large part of our own personal bourbon journeys, they now have over 800 episodes and are known as "the official podcast of bourbon." Fast forward to 2021, Kenny Coleman and Ryan Cecil took the smashing success of their podcast and started their own spirits company. For this episode, we are tasting two of their core offerings: Pursuit United Bourbon and Pursuit United Rye. Both of these whiskeys...

Bourbon Lore is community of enthusiasts, collectors and aficionados that came together with the goal of elevating American whiskey and creating unique whiskey experiences. When we were asked by our friend and partner Ryan Alves (bourbonoutfitter.com) to review a bourbon collaboration between Ben Holladay distilling and Bourbon Lore, not only did we say yes, but we invited Alves onto the show to get the entire story behind the whiskey. Join us (earlier than usual) this week as we taste and...

What on earth? Old Forester again? Looks like we are in a groove. This week, we taste and review the brand new batch of Old Forester 117 High Angels' Share bourbon. This limited release comes in at 110 proof and is in a tiny 375ml bottle. These bottles aren't easy to get, but are they worth the hype? Our in depth analysis will let you know if you are missing out...legit. Join us this week as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a pre-pour and share a ton of laughs before getting into assessing...

First debuting in 2019, Bulleit 12 Year Old Rye Whiskey was available for a limited amount of time and then was seemingly gone. During a recent trip to a liquor store, one of the fellas noticed this bottle sitting on the front counter and immediately purchased it. The strangest thing about this MGP sourced rye is that it reappeared without much warning. In fact, we looked all over and couldn't find any formal announcement about the reemergence of this whiskey. Join us this week as we chat...

This week we venture into the somewhat budget cask strength bourbon realm. What appears to potentially be a house brand for a big box store (that will remain unnamed), McFarlane's Reserve Select Cask Strength Bourbon is a wheater that comes in at nearly 110 proof! With those stats, it has got to be good....right? Well...you'll have to listen to find out. In this episode, the fellas ponder if the bourbon boom is over and have some lively conversation about where things can go from here. Also,...

The Holladay Distillery in Weston, Missouri is rich in history and heritage. Recently, we had the chance to meet Kyle Merklein, the Master Distiller of Holladay and also got the chance to taste the different bourbons they offer. In this episode, we talk about that fantastic evening and also taste and review "the bourbon of Missouri," Ben Holladay Bottled-In-Bond Missouri Straight Bourbon Whiskey. While this brand is still relatively unknown to many (including us, before this week), there is a...

If you take a short trip back to episode 100 of the podcast, you'll notice that we tasted and reviewed the 2022 version of the Four Roses SMBLE. When Steven and Anthony both struck out on finding the 2023 version of this annual release, Kenny saved the day. Coming in at 108 proof with a blend of 12-25 year old bourbons, the 2023 SMBLE celebrates the 135th anniversary of the Four Roses brand. Not only do we taste and review this highly sought after release, but we also do some blinding and...

Yellowstone is a popular TV show and a world renowned National Park, but it is also a Kentucky bourbon brand. It's hard to believe it took us this long to review anything Yellowstone, but better late than never. This week, we taste and review the 2023 edition of Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon thanks to the generosity of one of our dedicated listeners. This offering is a blend of 7, 15, and 16 year old bourbon that was finished in Tokaji casks, coming in at 101 proof. We hope you will...

With all the fanfare surrounding the recently released Traveller Whiskey, you knew it was only a matter of time before we gave it a try. Proudly blended and bottled at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, this Chris Stapleton endorsed whiskey took the world by storm recently and aims to be a readily available product for years to come. But what does it taste like and what is actually in the bottle? While we don't have any inside info on the blend, we are certainly going to give you our honest...

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge delivered the very first radio address from the White House, the Summer Olympics were held in Paris, and...and...Owsley Brown took barrels of whiskey with different mash bills to a warehouse on Howard Street in Louisville, KY and bottled them as Old Forester. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of this momentous occasion, Old Forester has released the 10 year old "1924" bourbon. This new edition to the Whiskey Row Series is 100 proof and diverges from the classic Old...

The Pacific Northwest is known for many things, but one of its best kept secrets might be the Camas Whiskey Club. Founded in 2023, this small, but dedicated group of individuals get together regularly for tastings and have also used the power of the brown water for charity. A couple months ago, the founder of the group (Shawn) reached out to us on Facebook to tell us how much he enjoyed the podcast. The praise was enough, but what came next was unexpected and amazing. Shawn sent us a "care"...

The shear length of the episode this week signifies that we had a lot to discuss. Recently, our esteemed whiskey tasting panel completed the "Best of 2023" competition. This "best of" has been going on for the better part of four years, but this is the first time we are discussing the results on the podcast. To assist with this discussion, we are joined by our good friend Ryan Alves from bourbonoutfitter.com. The format/foundation of the whiskey competition was co-founded by Kenny and Ryan...

Time flies when you’re having fun. It’s incredibly hard to believe that we’ve been doing this podcast for 3 years! What started as a way for us to connect during the pandemic has blossomed into something that we couldn’t have imagined. Thank you for your support. For this anniversary episode, we decided to taste and review Old Forester Rye whiskey. In 2019, Old Forester released their first new mashbill in 150 with this rye whiskey release. Instead of just reviewing the acclaimed 100 proof...

The holidays might be over, but the fun continues. This week, we welcome our first ever female co-host to the podcast to discuss a very interesting pour. The Old Elk Distillery was founded in 2013 by Curt Richardson and proudly calls Fort Collins, Colorado home. With longtime MGP distiller Greg Metze at the helm, Old Elk's "quiet on purpose" motto has been tested by the excellent and buzzworthy products they are releasing. In this episode, we taste and review Old Elk Cigar Cut Island Blend....

New Riff Distillery was founded in 2014 by Ken Lewis. Just south of Cincinnati in the heart of Northern Kentucky -- this urban style distillery has gone from craft to established purveyor of spirits in record time. This week, we taste and review one of their newest (and oldest) offerings to date: New Riff High Note 8 year old 100% Malted Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. If you wanted to hear our thoughts on New Riff prior to this week, you would have to go all the way back to episode 11! What...

The holidays are one of the best times to share and enjoy good bourbon. We were lucky enough to win this bottle in a lottery and were looking for the perfect occasion to open it. This week, we taste and review a very rare release: Pride of Anderson County Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This bottle represents one of the oldest and highest proof single barrel releases to ever come from the Wild Turkey Distillery. Rare Bird 101 and Rare Character Whiskey combined forces to bring us this...

We get quite a few requests to review bottles that are readily available. As the holiday season approaches, we felt it would be appropriate to blind three shelfies priced under $30. The three bourbons that we blind and review this week are: Cooper's Craft Barrel Reserve, Wild Turkey 101, and Elijah Craig Small Batch. All of these bottles have been dubbed by many in the whiskey community as "good values." But, is that really the case? Join us this week as we laugh a lot, talk about value...

What else is there to say? It's BTAC season! For this week, we taste and review one of the most revered bourbons in all of the land which is George T. Stagg. Coming from the annual release of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, this years version is a little over 15 years in age and clocks in at a blistering 135 proof. This bourbon is the shear definition of premium. Even though we were passed over again for media samples by BT, Kenny hustled his *ss off to get us this bottle. So, is GTS...