Assigned Barstools, Open Mic Night, and the Case of the Hidden Speakeasy

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A bookstore with no checkout, a doorbell with a secret, and a barstool that comes with a story—our Kentucky journey starts where bike culture and bourbon tradition intersect. We kick off in Louisville on Whiskey Row, tracing two different arcs of American whiskey: Bardstown’s modern blending and hospitality machine and Michter’s deep Pennsylvania roots revived in Kentucky. Along the way, we compare tasting philosophies, talk candidly about when flights feel like value versus a money grab, and share what makes a tour memorable for curious riders who buy bottles with their heads and their hearts.

Then we step into Kentucky Peerless for a true grained-to-bottle experience. DSP-KY-50 isn’t just a number; it’s a thread back to a family legacy that Corky Taylor helped bring forward. The team walks us through sweet mash, barrel proof, and why small variations can add character rather than chaos. We taste, we ask too many questions, and we leave with a sharper sense of how process shapes flavor. If you’re mapping a bourbon weekend, this stop belongs near the top.

Night settles in Lexington, and a camouflaged speakeasy hides behind floor-to-ceiling books. Ring the bell, find your assigned seat, and let the bartenders build you something you didn’t know to request. A cognac-and-Stagg creation, a dealer’s-choice masterpiece, and an atmosphere that feels more like 1930 than theme night—it’s all craft, no gimmick. We even stumble into bike polo connections that loop back to a past guest and a court we once found on a Sunday ride. That’s the joy of these trips: the people you meet, the stories you collect, and the way a city becomes more than a waypoint.

We also preview Bourbon Country Burn from our base at the Kentucky Horse Park—routes, tastings, and a few live clips coming next. If you enjoy the ride, subscribe, share this episode with a cycling or whiskey friend, and leave a quick review to help more curious listeners find us.

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Adam and Michael’s friendship has grown through years of shared miles, challenges, and laughter on the bike. Their passion for cycling has carried them through life’s twists and turns, creating a bond full of stories, jokes, and unforgettable rides. In their podcast, they bring that same spirit to the mic—sharing adventures, trading banter, and welcoming listeners into their cycling community. Whether tackling steep climbs or cruising open roads, their conversations capture the fun, friendship, and freedom that cycling brings. Tune in for stories that celebrate the ride and the camaraderie that makes it unforgettable.

and Remember,

It's a Great Day for a Bike Ride!
https://www.facebook.com/cyclingmenofleisure
https://cyclingmenofleisure.com/
https://www.cyclingmenofleisurepodcast.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men
of Leisure, the podcast forcyclists who understand that
riding is not just about gettingto the destination, but the
experience along the way.
Now, here are the originalcycling men of leisure, Adam and
Michael.

SPEAKER_02 (00:33):
Welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of
Leisure.
As usual, I am Adam, and my goodfriend just opened up a bottle
of bourbon, Mr.
Michael Sharp.
Hello, Adam.

SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
How are you doing?
Good.
And for those of you whocouldn't see, I did open up a
bottle of bourbon.
I've got a little uh Kentuckystraight bourbon whiskey from
the fine folks at Rabbit Hole.
So I'm leisuring, so why not?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01):
Well, you deserve it.
You deserve it.
I'm sure you worked hard for thegovernment today.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06):
Well, you know, the wife won't let me smoke a cigar
down here, which I canunderstand and fully support.
So, but it doesn't stop me fromthis.

SPEAKER_02 (01:13):
I've often thought, what if I install one of those
evacuation?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:19):
That's got the venting.
Yeah.
You know, I've often thoughtabout this because I have that
little sunroom.
Yeah.
I could turn that into a cigarbar, put some, you know.
Anyway.
How you doing?

SPEAKER_02 (01:36):
Good, buddy.
Good, good, good.

SPEAKER_01 (01:38):
Um, first, before we do anything else, I wanted to
apologize.

SPEAKER_02 (01:43):
Uh, you forgot to pay me?

SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
No, I think I paid you.
Oh, you did pay me a little bit,yeah.
But if I didn't, let me know andI'm happy to get that settled
because I don't want to be thatguy.
Um, I just wanted to apologizefor me being so awesome.
Uh that's really not it.
I was gonna apologize to ourlisteners and our supporters.

(02:07):
Um that we're a little late onthis episode.
Yeah, we are.
But we were in Kentucky, so um alittle hard to be in Kentucky
driving home and and reportingrecording a podcast, but it's
okay.
I think we're gonna make up forus being a few days late.

SPEAKER_02 (02:25):
Yeah.
No, I think we're I think we'vegot a couple of uh good shows
coming up.
Um we uh we teased, um I have anapology as well.
We teased another partial showthat was gonna try to come
together.
Um it was going to be with Mr.
Franklin Johnson from Braggabout Bragg coming to the burn,

(02:48):
which we'll get into.
Um, and he uh did something thatmost people who have children
should do.
He was spent time with his son.
Yep.
Can't argue with that at all.
So we give him a he's a friendof the show, we give him a pass.

SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
Uh, you know, we don't even have to give him a
pass because he's got such agood excuse, but trust me, I am
quite sure that Mr.
Johnson will be showing up herein the next uh next few months.
So you hear that, Franklin?
You're gonna be coming on theshow in the next few months.

SPEAKER_02 (03:18):
Mark your calendars now, buddy.
Mark your calendars.
Um we've got a couple good showscoming up.
I'm pretty excited.
Uh we uh just got back from ouruh highly teased and and uh and
talked about bourbon countryburn.
And wow, what a trip it was it,man.

SPEAKER_01 (03:41):
It was a great trip.
The only really bad thing is Ithink we had five people who had
signed up and were gonna go thathad to uh opt out for various
reasons.
Uh there were some medicalissues.
There was uh, you know, uh theirkids were, you know, had
cross-country meets and stuff,which again, you know, you got
to spend time with those kids.

(04:02):
That's super important.
Uh, and then had a couple otherpeople that schedules change and
they just weren't able.
So unfortunately, they weren'tthere.
Um, but we did make some newfriends, and some of our other
friends um were there that wegot to spend some time with, and
we met a lot of other greatpeople.
So I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 (04:21):
For sure, for sure.
Uh uh couple couple names.
We got to see the one, the onlyStephanie from Bragg.
We saw her on the route at abrewery, which was awesome.
Um John from Georgia, uh,Michael and Ben.
Uh, we we sat with them and justjust a couple names right away.
So if those those individualswere were uh tuning in, we saw

(04:45):
some other people as well, we'llget to that.

SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
But um But I want to say Michael has been a listener,
if I remember right, almost fromthe beginning.
Correct.
And he is one person who's beena listener and a very avid
supporter of ours, but we hadnever met before.
He's been listening to our showfor like three years, we'd never
met him before, brought his son,we got to share a VIP experience

(05:07):
with him, and it was fantastic.
So I just wanted to say it'sreally cool when you know he's
sent us messages before, madeguesses uh on our listener
spotlight, and we hadn't got tomeet him.
So it was really kind of coolthat uh finally we get to uh
hang out and meet him and hisson.

SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
And hang out we did.
They uh followed us uh back toour camp and um we sat around
the fire for for a while.

SPEAKER_01 (05:35):
And I think you make that sound so bad.
They followed us back to ourcamp, like they're like, you
know, hiding behind trees andstalking us.
The wolves followed us back tothe camp.
Uh it wasn't bad.
I know it just you just made itsound like you know they were
stalking us or something.
We had invited them, so I mean,you know.

SPEAKER_02 (05:55):
Well, yeah, I mean they just don't know where we
are.
We had to drop a pin.
We use technology, man.

SPEAKER_01 (06:00):
We use technology.
I get it.
I did I just wanted to, youknow, make it sound like we, you
know, they weren't like, youknow, hiding behind trees and
shadows and so anyway.

SPEAKER_02 (06:10):
And if you listen to the show, they were from Ohio,
and we all got along fantastic.
He even said, I am from Ohio.
I said, Hey, hey, hey, hey, I'mI make no judgment.

SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
You should have pulled up the Ohio fight song
and we could have all sangalong.
Okay, I I'm willing tocompromise.
We could have pulled up theNebraska fight song and all sung
along.
Keep it neutral.

SPEAKER_02 (06:39):
Well, that's okay.
You know what?
Although, you know what?
We did actually talk about doinga ride in Ohio.
Our friend Lacey's done itbefore, but GOBA.
And so that was a niceconversation.
I think I've come a long way.
I'm I'm I'm I would actually addthat to the list.

SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
You're you're willing to put that on the list
now.
And we ran into somebody elsewe're going to talk about a
little bit later, about anotherpossibility that has been on our
list that we've mentioned hereseveral times.
We met the ride director, andthat may have moved up on our
list a little bit, but we'lltalk about that shortly.

SPEAKER_02 (07:10):
So let's get into it.
Let's get into our adventure.
So um dun dun you and I decidedum to meet up a little bit
early.
Um, so the bourbon country burnis in Lexington, Kentucky.
Um, and then they do like awagon wheel style where you
you're pretty much base campedout of um uh Kentucky Horse Park

(07:35):
campground or hotels nearby orwhatever.
But I mean that's pretty muchhome base.
But you and I said, wait aminute, there's all kinds of
great bourbon, and you and yourfamily had recently been to the
bourbon row or whiskey row.
Whiskey row in Louisville.
So you and I decided, hey, whydon't we meet in Louisville?

(07:56):
Um, which I had never been tobefore.
And so I arrived a little bitbefore you did, and you have
like a what, a three-hour rideor something.

SPEAKER_01 (08:08):
It was six, but okay.
Um yeah, whatever.
Way shorter than mine.
I'm just saying, you know, I'mnot bitter at just every single
one of these rides we do.
It's like I got a six-hour ride,and Michael, you've got what, a
nine, ten-hour ride?
Enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 (08:22):
If you didn't live in central time, you'd be closer
to even if I did live in centraltime, it would have still been a
long ride.

SPEAKER_01 (08:29):
Anyway, I'm not better, not better.

SPEAKER_02 (08:32):
Here, I'm gonna make it better for you.
The way there was a lot shorterthan the way home.

SPEAKER_01 (08:42):
Is that better?
That is a true statement.
Thanks for bringing that up.
We'll talk about that too.

SPEAKER_02 (08:49):
So I uh I only arrived about three hours before
you did, and I mean, there Ichecked into the hotel after
stretching to do there.
Oh, yes.
As a matter of fact, I rememberchecking in.
The guy said to the hotel, hesaid, Oh, he said, um, he said,
uh, what brings you to our area?
I said, bourbon.
I just came out and saidbourbon.
And he goes, Well, there'sthere's lots here.

SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
And and we you had gotten us a hotel that's two
blocks off of Main Street.
Yep, and so that's where WhiskeyRow is.
And um, so you're welcome.
I gave you the opportunity to goover and and do some drinking.
So where'd you go?

SPEAKER_02 (09:27):
First thing I I did is is I I was um you know
unfamiliar.
I just said to the the hotelclerk, I said, Well, you know, I
could look up my GPS, I saw theywere all there, but I said, What
do you recommend?
He said, honestly, he's like,just go down to Market Street
and whatever whatever floatsyour boat, turn right.
And this is what he said turnright, turn left, or go

(09:49):
straight.
Either way, you are gonna runinto bourbon, sir.
You're there's no way around itdown there.
And I was like, Well, this isgood.
I felt like I'm surrounded byit.
So I were I ended up um inBardstown uh distillery.

SPEAKER_01 (10:06):
And actually, just to clarify, that is not the
distillery, that is theBardstown tasting experience.
There's there's I don't want tobe misleading.
Um, there's two kinds of things,establishments down there that
are around whiskey.
You have the distillers,distilleries, and then you've
also a lot of these places likeBardstown, which comes from

(10:27):
Bardstown, Kentucky, which is anhour away, has a tasting
experience.
It's like a fancy tasting room.

SPEAKER_02 (10:35):
And it was beautiful.
I mean, I you know, I walked inand and on one side is a gift
shop, and the other side is likea bar, and then you could see
behind that there's there's um awhole area for tastings.
If you've ever done a distillerytasting or a vineyard tasting,
you know, you got you knowsomeone stands in the front of
the room and everything, butthey offered they offered um uh

(10:56):
just you could go get a flightof of you know different
different whiskeys and bourbonsthat they offered.
Um, but of course I said, well,what do you what are you known
for?
And and right away they just thecore four, the core four, the
core four, uh, which was uhbourbon, whiskey, uh straight
from the barrel or yes, uhbarrel strength, and then rye.

(11:18):
And so and then gin.
No, no, no, no, no, no partscleaner for me.
Auto zone was probably down theroad, but I didn't need any
parts cleaner.
I rented a nice car, so I wasgood.
So um, which by the way, I gottaback up a little bit because I
love and I know we we were toldwhen we were in Kentucky, people
loved to hear us talk aboutbourbon and stuff.

(11:39):
I rented this car that wastechnology so advanced, it was a
uh Volkswagen Atlas, and I Ifirst complained because I
wanted a Jeep Cherokee becausewhen I went to Costco to rent
the car, and the guy goes, Ionly have that, and I was like,
Man, it's a little bit smaller.

(12:00):
Uh you know, I was camping,bringing everything.
I'm like, okay, and man, I gottatell you, long story short, I
know probably people have allkinds of fancy cars and gadgets
and safety, but you and I bothare very frugal.
We don't buy new cars, we bothagree on that, and so this car
had uh not only lane assist, notonly um adaptive cruise control,

(12:23):
but it had travel companion, orI'm probably misspeaking or
whatever, but what was therejust a young lady in the car and
she needed a ride?

SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
And oh, this is the travel.
Is that what you told your wife?
Uh that was a travel companion.

SPEAKER_02 (12:37):
Uh Lauren, if you're listening, it was not a woman.

SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
But well, it sounds a bit you know, I could look at
a travel companion.

SPEAKER_02 (12:47):
If if I it if I don't have the bandwidth right
now, but it was something to dowith it basically stuck you in
the middle of the lane, and youcould take your hands off the
steering wheel.
The car pretty much droveitself.
I mean, every that it yeah, itwas like driver assist.
Driver, yeah, is that what it'scalled?
Maybe driver assist.
I don't know.
Travel companion.

SPEAKER_01 (13:07):
I mean, all I know is you pay more for that.

SPEAKER_02 (13:10):
Well I what's funny is I tested it on so I drove
down um down through 75 throughOhio and and into Kentucky, and
I never never said, Oh, I wonderwhat would happen.
But on the way home, I was sobored.
I'm like, what would happen ifsomeone fell asleep doing this?
And so I'm like, I'm like, I'mgonna wait and do this when no

(13:31):
one else is around me.
And sure enough, I tested it.
Let me tell you something.
It goes uh into it's white whenit says please please grab a
steering wheel after about 30seconds, then it goes red, and I
made sure no one was around me,just to be clear, just to be
clear, and let me tell yousomething, it break checks you.
It went boom boom! I mean, and Iit scared the yeah, it really

(13:53):
did.
It did.
It scared the I was like, oh mygod, that would wake you up if
you were sleeping.
So I think that's what the pointwas is you know, they were like,
Oh, because you could literallylike take your hands off and it
would just kind of like go inthe lane, and even if it went
around a corner, it would, Imean, it it helped, it was
perfect.
It was great.
It made it, it made my uh fivehour drive wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 (14:16):
Let me just say uh as a caveat that the cycling men
of leisure, at least half of thecycling men at leisure, do not
do not suggest you drive downthe highway with no hands.

SPEAKER_02 (14:29):
That's the only reason uh cycling men of leisure
is half 50%.
I mean, listen, I you only get50% of the vote.

SPEAKER_01 (14:37):
I'm 50%.

SPEAKER_02 (14:39):
Oh, is this where I get to talk about the Apple
Watch?
Apple Watch Ultra 3, theofficial watch of Cycling Men of
Leisure.

SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
Uh again, another unpaid commercial by Adam.
Okay, that's right.
We got we had a longconversation on Sunday when we
were riding about Apple Watchesbecause I need to get a new one.
So and he just got one.

SPEAKER_02 (15:01):
And we went to uh when we were at um uh you heard
us all talk about PodFest beforein Orlando, and the lady stood
up on the stage and said, Youcould say whatever you want.
I mean, no one can really stopyou.
And we're like, hey, weobviously we haven't said this,
but we could say we're the bestcycling podcast out there.
But I mean that was kind offunny, but well a handful of

(15:24):
people might think that.

SPEAKER_01 (15:25):
My mother would strongly argue that that we are
in fact, but maybe nobody else.

SPEAKER_02 (15:32):
Thank you, Barb.
I appreciate your uh continuedcontinued support.
But anyways, getting back toBardstown, um you and I were in
in communication, you were justa few hours out, and I said,
okay, well, I'm just gonna go,you know, walk on the whiskey
row.
And so I went to Barstown and uhused some fancy AI.

(15:53):
And would you like to hear abouta little bit about Bardstown?

SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
I guess we we completely missed my segment
again, but that's okay.
Go ahead.
We are about bargedown.
Are you talking about ranciddissatisfaction?
Well, we haven't done thateither.
But what about listenerspotlight?
You've now drugged peoplethrough 15 minutes of your
talking, and we didn't even dolistener spotlight.
But no, I'm sure you're hold on.

SPEAKER_02 (16:24):
I apologize.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is nowtime for Listener Spotlight.

SPEAKER_01 (16:37):
In case no one could figure out, working with Adam is
like hurting cats, but it'sokay.
All right.
Meow.
The hints that I provided on ourlast episode for Listener
Spotlights are as follows.
Originally it was settled in the1830s.

(16:59):
It was incorporated in the1860s.
The town was first named after ariver before the um before uh
the name was changed.
I can't even read my ownwriting.
I apologize.

(17:19):
The community grow greweconomically through lumbering,
milling, and shipbuilding.
In the first uh three quartersof the 20th century, the city
contributed to the naval fleetof the United States.
The city contributed to fashionin the 1980s.
It helped us understand Vogue.

(17:40):
Uh, if you love tall ships, youwill definitely want to visit
this town.
And the lumber boom helped namea section of this town.
What's your guess?

SPEAKER_02 (17:52):
Well, I don't have one, but David Stroud does.

SPEAKER_01 (17:56):
Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 (17:57):
What is it, David?
Tell us.
Uh Michael, I'm saying that itis Newport News, Virginia.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (18:09):
Uh, that is on the coast.
Uh what I know about NewportNews is the fact that I believe
the United States Naval Fleetthat's been mothballed, kind of
those ships that it's like we'retaken out of service, but we're
not gonna turn into reefs anddismantle because we never know
we may need them, uh, is rightoff the coast there.
Uh, that's all I know about it.

(18:30):
So I think that answers thequestion whether or not it is a
correct answer.
However, it was a good answer,and we thank you.
This one is a little closer toAdam's home.
Oh no.
Yes, sir.

(18:52):
Then the listener spotlight forthis episode is Bay City,
Michigan.
It's like right down the roadfrom you, isn't it?
Yeah, we actually rode in BayCity.
I believe uh Odram ends in BayCity, doesn't it?
That is correct, boy.
Wonder.

(19:13):
Um, wasn't there a band calledthe Bay City Rollers?

SPEAKER_02 (19:17):
Uh gosh, don't put me on the spot like that.
Okay, I won't.
I'm gonna edit it out.

SPEAKER_01 (19:24):
Um, yeah, it was uh uh settled in 1831, incorporated
in 1865.
It uh was first named after ariver before they changed it.
It was uh Lower Saginaw.
Um the community grew throughmilling, lumbering, and
shipbuilding.

(19:44):
And in the first three quartersof the 20th century, it
contributed to the naval fleetof the United States.
Um, they had a big uh shipconstruction yard there, which
between 1939 and 1945, theyconstructed 154 ships.
And those were minesweepers,destroyers, escorts, uh

(20:05):
high-speed transports.
Um, out of all those 154 ships,uh only three of those ships
were lost during World War II.
So they must have built thempretty good back then.
Um, the one the the tall ships,they have a tall ship festival
there.
The lumber boom helped name asection of this town.

(20:25):
Uh, there's a section of thetown called Hell's Half Mile,
and that's kind of where all thelumberjacks hung out.
So there was a lot of bars,brothels, you know, guys with
axes fighting in the streets,things of that nature.
I just made the last part up,but I'm sure it happened.
Um the city contributed to thefat to fashion in the 1980s.
It helped us understand Vogue.

(20:46):
I thought this would give itaway.
No, nothing.
About Madonna.
Oh, yes, Madonna was born in BayCity, Michigan.
So there you go.

SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Perfect.
So while you were reading, firstof all, thank you, listeners
from Bay City.
Thank you, all listeners, butthank you, listeners from my
home state, Bay City.
Uh are the Bay City rollers fromBay City?
No, the Bay City Rollers werenot from Bay City, they were a
Scottish band from Edinburgh,Scotland.

(21:24):
The band chose their name bythrowing a dart at the map of
the United States, which landedon Bay City, Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 (21:31):
Well, that's it could have been a lot worse.
That's true.
It could have been like falls onlike Boaz, Mississippi.
What are they gonna be?
The Boaz rollers or something?
I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (21:41):
That's right.

SPEAKER_01 (21:42):
That's right.
Uh anyway, now that you've letme do my thing, what were you
drinking at uh at the distilleryor the uh experience?

SPEAKER_02 (21:54):
I chose the core four four from bargetown, and I
have some information here ifyou'd like to hear it.
Hit me with it.
All right.
So Michigan recently gotbargedown, or at least I will
say it started showing up in thein the liquor stores where I

(22:15):
would go, and and I think that'sjust because we were Johnny
Cumbe lately to the to the pile.
I think it was many, many otherstates before, but they were
founded in 2014.
Um, although the constructionbegan in 2016, the distillery,
um, unlike most Kentuckydistilleries, it embraced a
custom whiskey productionprogram distilling from many

(22:38):
other brands and startups.
And so um thought that was veryinteresting.
And and the reason why is oncewe get into our tour that we
took, I wanted to uh show thecontrast of the difference.
Um the contract collaborationdistilling model attracted a
well-known whiskey company thatwanted consistent high-quality

(22:58):
products, but didn't want to owntheir own distillery.
Um speed.

SPEAKER_01 (23:03):
If I can stop you, what you're really talking about
is they distill for otherwhiskey brands.
Is that correct?
Correct.
Yeah, so they're like a miniMGP, multi-grain product company
that if I wanted to distillliquor, I could go to them, tell
them what I want the mash billto be, they would distill it and

(23:24):
uh store it for me, and then Icould then take it into my
facility and bottle it.

SPEAKER_02 (23:30):
Not only is that absolutely correct, um, while I
was talking to some of thepeople from the program, from
the tasting experience, theyalso help out people like you
and I.
Let's say you and I have thispassion of saying, hey, we
really think we could have amash bill.
And make it and then they willmake it for us.
I mean, under our name and undertheir name, um, but with the

(23:52):
understanding of thecollaboration together, and then
if it completes now, I have toback you up again because you
lost me there.

SPEAKER_01 (23:59):
They could they would I could bring them the
mash bill, they would make itunder their name and it would be
under with our collaboration.

SPEAKER_02 (24:06):
That's correct.
You they they are doing thatbecause a lot of people, um, you
know, guys in their garage havetried little mini mini batches
and thinking, oh, this is reallygood, and then but they're just
not big enough.
And so uh in the beginning, theyno longer do this, but in the
beginning they were do they weredoing that.

SPEAKER_01 (24:23):
Um getting excited.
We could have a cycling man ofleisure or men of leisure
collaboration whiskey.

SPEAKER_02 (24:31):
We could do a barrel pick.

SPEAKER_01 (24:32):
We could that's that's on the on my list.

SPEAKER_02 (24:35):
So in 2018, uh they switched um to Barstown began
releasing bourbon under its ownlabel, and then they uh their
style is blending innovation,mixing their own young whiskey
with older sourced bourbons andrice to create a unique flavor
profile.

SPEAKER_01 (24:55):
So let me guess, they use MGP, don't they?
Yeah, yeah, I thought so.

SPEAKER_02 (25:01):
Okay, yeah.
I I was I was see you're you'repretty quick.
You're pretty quick.

SPEAKER_01 (25:06):
Yeah, well, it did start, it's like, oh, and then
they released their own whiskey.
It's like, well, where have theybeen getting it at?
And MGP is like the big maker ofbulk whiskies for distilleries
and things, so it only stands toreason.

SPEAKER_02 (25:19):
So if you are a Bargetown customer or fan and
have did not know this, theFusion Series, and I'm going to
grab something real quick.

SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Of course, you have the Fusion Series, I'm sure, on
the rack there.

SPEAKER_02 (25:35):
I do, right here.
Okay.
There's the Bargetown Fusion.
Now, to be fair, I did not buythis there at the tasting
experience.
My favorite mother gave this tome for Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 (25:48):
But um she would be my favorite mother too if she
was buying bourbon.

SPEAKER_02 (25:55):
But the fusion series is a blend of of
Bargetown's young distillerywith some aged.
The answer is sourced, but I'mgonna go with MGP bourbon.

SPEAKER_01 (26:08):
It's okay.
A lot of people do it.

SPEAKER_02 (26:10):
Uh the Discovery series I don't have, uh, which
is uh it's a premium blend ofaged bourbons from multiple
sources, and then thecollaborations are finished in
wine, rum, or brandy casks, uh,often in partnership with some
wineries or breweries.
And so those are the threeseries.
So if you've ever seen Bardstownand you were curious about their

(26:32):
series, but um uh the aim to bemore than just a distillery,
yada yada yada, state-of-the-artvisitor experience, which is
what you just mentioned.

SPEAKER_01 (26:42):
Now I'm gonna say one thing about Bardstown.
Um, we're not paid by anydistillery, we don't make any
money off of anybody, uh, likethat, anything of that nature.
But I am gonna say in July Ivisited a lot of distilleries,
um, over the top number ofdistilleries when I was in
Kentucky.

(27:02):
Bardstown was one of them that Ivisited, and every distillery
has its own feel and things.
Um, you know, I don't mind theirwhiskey.
I just could not get into theirdistillery.
It felt like I was walking intoa pharmaceutical company.

(27:22):
It was all very nice, veryfancy, you know, lady at the
front desk.
Everything was, I mean, clean,but I mean, not like clean,
clean because you hope it'sclean because you're drinking
the product.
It was almost to the point whereeverything looked sterilized.
And even when you went in thegift shop, they had like walls
were like all like pristinewhite and lit up.

(27:44):
It just they had a a big tastingarea and restaurant there, and
everything was just, I don'tknow, it just made me feel like
I was in like a corporatepharmaceutical thing.
It wasn't a there was a lot ofthem that I went to that was
like, oh yeah, let's sit back,let's have a drink.
There it was very stuffy, and Idon't know.
I didn't really like it.
I'm sure there's other peopleout there that think it's you

(28:05):
know the best distillery ever,but won't keep me from drinking
their whiskey.

SPEAKER_02 (28:12):
I I I felt somewhat the same way.
Um and of course for me it'sdifficult because you know you
and I love the history.
It's not just buying booze anddrinking it, it's learning about
the history and and and how it'smade and what you know how many
generations and blah blah blah.
And so um eight years.
But but just to finish and eightyears.

(28:36):
That's right.
In 2022, uh, they were acquiredby the uh Pernod Ricard, which
is the global spirit giant ownerof Jameson Absolute and Chavez
Rigas.
The deal gave them a strongfoothold on the American whiskey
market.
Today, Barstown is consideredone of the most innovative

(28:56):
distilleries in Kentucky, oftendescribed as the Napa Valley of
Bourbon.
So there's your history ofBarnetstown.

SPEAKER_01 (29:06):
The other thing I will say, and I I I think I
believe they're the distillerythat are making the Rick Houses
like glass.
I think that's what I heard,yeah.
Yeah, I think I think that'scorrect.
But um, you ever get a chance,check it out.
Uh, like I said, every all ofthem have their own feel and
their own, I don't know, theirown personality.
And I just that's uh if it was aperson, I probably wouldn't be a

(29:31):
good friend with it.
But that's okay.
Fair enough.
Okay, so you drank the core fourthere.

SPEAKER_02 (29:36):
Core four.
And then you went to I wentacross to Fort Nelson.
Fort Nelson Mitchner's, you gotit.
Yep.
And um I got a pretty goodeducation andor schooling when I
was there.
It was a very differentexperience.
They had a bar on the secondfloor.
Um, I just asked if I couldtaste it.

(29:58):
I mean, behind me on this cabin.
It as you know.
And if you're on YouTube,there's uh you'll see lots of
bottles here.
If you're not on YouTube,picture a big shelf with lots of
bottles.
There is some Mitchner's there,but I had no no no knowledge of
the history, the anything aboutit.
And that's what I was kind ofexcited about.
And so when I got to Mitchner's,I said, Oh, yeah, well, what are

(30:19):
your tastings?
And she said, You have to go upto the second floor.
There was a bar on the secondfloor.
Uh, very interesting.
I had to I had to sign up forit.
Um, not not not a cost, notuntil I got upstairs.
But I I um but I had to sign upfor for a lady, and then of
course, once they called myname, then I got to ride the
elevator up.
Um, very uh private feel, likelike um like you know, exclusive

(30:45):
to be able to be called up.
And then I actually was assigneda bar stool.
Um, you were not pretty muchfree to roam, you were pretty
much assigned where to go.

SPEAKER_01 (30:55):
And this sounds like prison.
I mean, from the movies thatI've watched, uh said here.

SPEAKER_02 (31:02):
I was like, I don't go anywhere, it's right here.
Um and then Michael is veryaware, but I I love my
Manhattans and old fashions, andand that's kind of my my deal.
And so the bartender came overand I said, Oh, I uh she said,
Have you ever had Mitchnersbefore?
And I said, Yes, and and shesaid, Well, what are you gonna

(31:25):
have?
And I just said I'm gonna havean uh Manhattan.
Anyways, um I started askingabout the history, and and the
first thing she says to me is,Well, uh, we have we have roots
that go back to 1753, but thatclosed a long time ago and we're
completely different now.

(31:45):
And that's it.
And then she just walked away,and I'm I'm I'm left there
going, drop the mic.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I go, you can't do that.
And then um, she's like, Well,hold on one second, I've got
some other customers, and I'llbe back.

SPEAKER_01 (31:58):
I don't have time, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (32:00):
I mean, basically that's what happened, and then
long story.
I'm like, uh, I don'tunderstand.
And so they should have had avideo and say, We'll sell you a
video.
Yeah, exactly.
Um, but uh I she gave me alittle bit of history, but I'm
gonna murder that, so I'm gonnago with what I found online to

(32:21):
try to keep me on track here.
So uh the original roots tracedback to 1753.
Um, they established inPennsylvania.
Uh it made that's why it's oneof the if you ever see the
bottle, it's one of the oldestdistilleries in the United
States during the RevolutionaryWar.
Uh they reportedly supplied ryewhiskey to George Washington's
troops at the Valley Forge.

SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
Um they didn't have any food or very little, but
man, we had some rye whiskey.

SPEAKER_02 (32:49):
Well, it's just like the Bottle and Bond Act.
I mean, the priorities waswhiskey before it was food.
So, I mean, but uh thenownership changed several times
through the 1800s.
By the mid-1900s, the distillerybecame known as Bomberger's
distillery, and that's importantif you just because you're a
history guy, so hold on onesecond here.
Um, a well-regarded producer ofPennsylvania style risk whiskey

(33:13):
in the in the 1950s, uh theyrenamed it Mitchner's.
Now, you gotta bear with me fora second.
If you ever wonder how Mitchersgot his name, it's not great,
but then again, it was 1950, sothere wasn't a lot to do.

SPEAKER_01 (33:26):
But there wasn't a lot to do.

SPEAKER_02 (33:29):
So Lou Foreman renamed Mitchner's from
Bomburgers by combining thenames of his sons, Michael and
Peters.
So he took the M I C H out ofMichael and he took the T E R
from Peter and made Mitchner's.

SPEAKER_01 (33:48):
Uh that's weak.
I mean, it's cool.
It's just I don't know.
I think Peter got jacked in thewhole situation, but that's
okay.

SPEAKER_02 (34:00):
I told you there wasn't a lot to do in 1950.

SPEAKER_01 (34:02):
So um come on, 1950, they were out mowing their grass
and you know, with the push mowspants and a collared shirt, and
why why the wife was insidemaking making dinner dinner.

SPEAKER_02 (34:14):
That's right.
Um, and for those of you don'tknow, that's just a joke.

SPEAKER_01 (34:19):
But honestly, that's the way it was.
And yeah, look up the back inthe 50s, it was prescribed that
women had certainresponsibilities to do at the
house with dinner and thingslike that.
So it's just the way it was.
Not right, but it was the way itwas.

SPEAKER_02 (34:36):
So this is where the mic drop moment comes in.
And it closed in eight nineteennineteen.
I'm sorry, I said eighteen, andI apologize.
In 1989, it says, despite thelong history, Mitchers struggled
during the American whiskeydownturn of 1970s and 80s.
And if you don't know, umwhiskey and brown spirits were

(34:57):
going down when in the whole1980s, Miami Vice, when clear
spirits were on the skyrocket.
Um, think of Zima.
Yeah, Zima with a jellyrocketdrinks.
Oh, yeah.
Yep.
Um, and then if you don't know,a little bit of history.
We talk about Blantons a lot.
Um, Blantons was the first oneto come out with a single
barrel.

(35:18):
Um, and then of course save theindustry absolutely.
So the Pennsylvania, and this iswhere the history comes into
play for the history guy on theshow.
The Pennsylvania distilleryclosed in 1989.
At that time, leaving the branddormant, and now it is a history
landmark known as the BombergerDistillery.

(35:39):
So it's a it's a landmark if youfind yourself in Schaeferstown,
Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_01 (35:45):
Um I just said yeah.
I mean, I don't make it toSchaeferstown, Pennsylvania.
I don't make it to Pennsylvaniavery often.

SPEAKER_02 (35:54):
So, how do we have Mitchner's today?
Good question, Michael.
In 1990s, entrepreneurs JoeMaglio and Richard Newman
received the Mitchner's brand,but this time, or revived, I'm
so sorry, revived the brand, butthis time in Kentucky, in the
heart of Bourbon Country.
The company began bottlingsourced whiskey under the

(36:19):
Michner's label.
You got it, while layinggroundwork for a permanent home.
And the modern Michers as we seetoday from 2010 and on, in
2015-15, it opened up itsChevrolet Distillery in
Louisville, Kentucky, and in2019, where I was, it opened up

(36:40):
the Fort Nelson distillery.
And at that one is not just atasting experience, they do have
a small production there.
Now, from my understanding, fromtalking to all the staff there,
they they they have about onebarrel a day that they make
there and then age.

SPEAKER_01 (36:59):
So that's because most of the things that are
named distilleries on WhiskeyRow aren't actually
distilleries.
I mean, they're they'redistilleries, but there's not
any production being done.
There's like five or six thatthere is, but then there's so
many other ones that they're notproducing anything here.
But that's cool that they, youknow, even if it's just a token

(37:23):
barrel.
Uh that's that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 (37:25):
And finishing this up, today Mitchner is known for
its premium bourbons and rye,often released in limited
batches.
Popular expressions include theUS one bourbon, US one rye, US
one sour mash.
Um it's and that was in honor ofthe pre-prohibition style of
whiskey, was a sour mash.
They have a 10-year bourbon andrye and 20-year bourbons.

(37:47):
And Mitchner's now considered aluxury bourbon brand, often
praised by bartenders andcollectors.
The brand ties its modernwhiskey operations to
Pennsylvania Roots, makingitself America's first whiskey
company.
There you go.
There's Micher's.
Those were the two.
And then I met up with you.

SPEAKER_01 (38:05):
Uh, you know, you should have taken a picture at
Mitchner's and sent it to ourfriend, who is a huge Michener
fan.
I should have.
I should have.
You mean here?
Yeah, he he loves Mitchner's, somaybe we need to do that anyway.
Um, and then you met up with me.
We went and had dinner and anduh had another drink, but I just
wanted to let people know whenwe speak of Whiskey Row, if

(38:28):
you're ever in Louisville,definitely spend some time on
Whiskey Row.
Uh, there's a very nice museumdown there at the start of what
they consider Whiskey Row thathas the whole history and
evolution, and they got a greatgift shop, by the way.
Whole history and evolution ofwhiskey and Kentucky, and they

(38:48):
got some great displays.
You go across the street fromthere, uh, we've mentioned it
before.
They have the Louisville SluggerMuseum and Factory, which is
good.
And then they've just gotthroughout the uh area, um
they've just got all thesedifferent distilleries and
tasting experiences.
And really, Riz Whiskey Roworiginally started out as the

(39:10):
100th block of Main Street.
And they had basically built bigwarehouses there back in the
like 1857 to 1905 to housewhiskey that was coming in from
the countryside so then it couldbe shipped out to other
destinations.
So it was basically a bigwarehouse district.
Um over time, that's extended tobasically two acres and includes

(39:34):
distilleries like Angels Envy,uh Kentucky Peerless, Mitchers
Fort Nelson, uh, Copper andKing, and Rabbit Hole, just to
name a few.
Um, but it really started out asthat 100th block was just a big
warehousing area uh that heldwhiskey.
And since that time it's kind ofevolved.
Um the 100th block of Maine andLouisville now uh not only has

(39:59):
restaurants and apartments, butthat is where the uh old Forster
distillery is, which we did notgo to, but it's there.

SPEAKER_02 (40:08):
No, I think the only other thing I thought would be
fun to mention was uh thehereafter bar.

SPEAKER_01 (40:20):
That was interesting.

SPEAKER_02 (40:21):
You and I had dinner, and then as we walked
out, um we saw these ladiescoming out of this this building
and they were laughing, and andthey said, You guys gotta go in
there.
And we're like, Well, what's inthere?
Is that like a secret bar?
And she goes kind of felt likewe were gonna get mugged.

SPEAKER_01 (40:35):
You guys need to go in there.

SPEAKER_02 (40:38):
You go in and you know, you know, you ain't coming
out.
Give us your wallets.
So she said you got to take theelevator down.
So we're like, okay, well, thisI'm intrigued.
So we take the elevator.
We're just idiots.

SPEAKER_01 (40:51):
Okay, let's do that.
There's no signage or anything,it just looks like you're
walking into like a business,like the side entrance to like a
business office or something.
It's just a hallway, and you goaround a corner and there's an
elevator, and we're listening tothese two ladies that seem like
they may be a little tipsy, andthey're like, Yeah, go in there

(41:11):
and take the elevator.
And of course, we're like, okay,let's just follow those
directions of two strangers andtake an elevator downstairs, and
you know, we're gonna wind upmissing a kidney or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 (41:21):
Now, hold on.
There was a there was a marqueeoutside that talked about drinks
downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 (41:26):
Yeah, it talked about drinks, but there was no
sign on the front.
I mean, anybody could set a likea little, you know, what are
those A-frame boards out frontand go drinks downstairs just to
lure you down.

SPEAKER_02 (41:37):
I believe that is called a sandwich board.

SPEAKER_01 (41:41):
So uh is it a sandwich board if you're not
wearing it?
Sandwich boards are what theywear.
People used to wear.
Just like a little anyway,sidewalk A-frame sign can just
be moved, probably came fromdown the street.
We don't know, but we just likewe just walked in and took the
elevator downstairs that thesetwo somewhat drunk ladies told

(42:03):
us to do.

SPEAKER_02 (42:05):
Not my first time I've done that.
Um, anyways, I digress.
We get we get downstairs, and wewere safe.
Obviously, here we are today.
The men of leisure are justfine.

SPEAKER_01 (42:19):
It was uh it was a dumped us out in this hallway, a
little short hallway, and you itopened up into this rather small
but very quaint, very intimatebar named what was it named?

SPEAKER_02 (42:34):
Hereafter.

SPEAKER_01 (42:36):
And they had pictures of like you know, old
black and white pictures in theuh oval frames, things like
that.
And we just happened to be thereon open mic night.

SPEAKER_02 (42:50):
Is it did it was it we happen to be there, or was it
every night open mic night?
No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 (42:55):
Uh just that night is open mic night.
Because um, we were there onwhat, Wednesday night, Thursday
night, whatever night it was.
Um the next night was burlesquenight.
So it's not open mic night everynight.
Okay.
Because blue what was his name?
Blue Murphy.
Blue Murphy runs the open micnight.

(43:16):
That's his actual name.

SPEAKER_02 (43:20):
It was an interesting place.
And it was it was cool.
It was good drinks, yeah.
One the only thing I was gonnamention is is like somebody
would go up and sing, and youthought, oh my gosh, I want to
kill myself.
It's a sad song, like my dog'son the porch, and I don't have
where to go.
And then the next it wasn't anycountry, but then the next song

(43:42):
would be wow, that's reallygood.
I mean, that that guy's great.
And so we we kind of we kind ofgot hit with the uh back and
forth.

SPEAKER_01 (43:48):
So yes, some of the people doing the open mic night
were everybody that did open micnight was legitimately could do
open mic night.
We didn't have anybody up therelike me trying to sing you know
sweet Caroline or something,which would have been
disastrous, but it would havebeen great for a YouTube uh or
TikTok video.
Um I did not sing, but we're ata bar, it's having a good time,

(44:13):
and they're singing these reallyslow songs.
It's like, come on, pick it up,pick it, give us something to
pick it up, yeah.
But then when uh Blue got upthere, he did some Johnny Cash
and some stuff like that, andand got the thing rolling a
little bit.

SPEAKER_02 (44:31):
So it was a good night.
It was um that's pretty much allI have.
I mean, from from our first uhday, and then we um got up in
the morning, and you, sir, youprocured us something special.

(44:52):
Well, I ate oatmeal and thenprocured us something special.
I did not eat my oatmeal.

SPEAKER_01 (44:58):
Apparently, okay, I'm I'm just gonna let
everything out right here.
Clearly, you're not gonna let medo rants of dissatisfaction
today because you're spendingall the time.
So I'm gonna let it out.
When I met Adam, he was walkinghome to the hotel.
I picked him up, got in, goteverything, my luggage moved

(45:19):
upstairs, all that kind ofstuff, and then we went out to
the uh grabbed a burger and thatkind of thing, and then ended up
at the hereafter and what haveyou.
But he said I had been that hehad been to Michener's and that
he had been to Bardstown.
Bardstown.
It's like, okay.
And you you said you had atasting at Bardstown, which I
know, you know, tasting's notthat much.

(45:40):
And then you said you had adrink at Michner's, and we had a
drink there.
And the next morning we get up,it's like, oh yeah, hey, let's
go grab breakfast.
So I get this big bowl ofoatmeal, and Adam gets his bowl
of oatmeal, and he's justsitting there and he's profusely
sweating.
Literally, he brought a towelwith him, and he's like, and the
oatmeal's just setting there,and I'm eating away, and I'm
like, what's going on?

(46:01):
He's like, I'm not feeling sowell.
So we went back upstairs.
I had some stuff I had to do,and he took a nap, and then he
was feeling better.
Well, later in the day, Irealized that he had this
sample, but then when he went toMichner's, he had two full
drinks at least.
And then I was coming by and wehad a couple drinks at the bar,

(46:23):
and then we so I was like,what's going on?
But I didn't realize that youhad sampled as much as you had
sampled.
So you were a little slow thatmorning.
But the good news is you gotyour nap in, and then I had
visited Kentucky Piralist, whichis at the very beginning of
Whiskey Row back in July, andthe guy was nice enough.

(46:47):
I was talking to him, it's like,yeah, I'm gonna be back.
He gave me a certificate for twofree tours.
So I was like, Well, if you wantto do it, let's do it because
it's a really good tour and thepeople are very knowledgeable.
So we went over there and uh yougot to experience behind the
scenes at Kentucky Peerless,which was a uh a whiskey that

(47:08):
you and I hadn't tried up untilI believe two years ago.
You brought a bottle to BourbonCountry Burn.
And I think that that's thefirst time I had tried it.
I believe you said that was thefirst time you had tried it too.

SPEAKER_02 (47:19):
Yeah, I actually had bought the bottle.
Um, it was recommended by uh uma beverage manager, and he said,
Oh, this is this is somethingyou know special.
And and uh I said, Okay, great,great, great, thank you.
And then um he's like, Oh, okay.
And so we opened it up.
That's the first time I had hadit.

SPEAKER_01 (47:36):
And so the tour is fantastic.
Um, they give you the fullhistory of this is an old brand
that kind of died away.
That the great-grandson of theoriginal founder brought it
back.
And they are very proud.
Um, every whiskey company outthere has their own

(47:59):
identification number, and it'suh DSP and then the state
they're in, and then the number.
And in Kentucky, it's kind of anhonor thing to have the lower
numbers.
Well, Peerless is DSP KY 50,which means they are the 50th uh

(48:21):
whiskey producer or spiritproducer um that was granted a
license in that state.
And this goes all the way toback when they started granting
license.
Now they're over 250,000 orsomething.
Um, you know, it's a huge numbernow.

(48:41):
But they hold number 50 andthey're very proud of that, and
that's part of their tradition.
Um, Corky Taylor is thegrandson.
Him and his son is the one thatkind of brought this back, and
uh they had to do a littlefighting to get that number
because anytime distilleries arebrought back, um, they're
typically just issued a newnumber, and he knew that was

(49:02):
important.
But what is interesting aboutCorky is two things.
Number one, actually threethings.
Number one, they talk about hisfather, who had gone to military
school and all this kind ofstuff, who was in fact uh the
aide de camp to Patton.

(49:24):
And just before Patton had hisaccident, which then led to his
subsequent death in in Europe,uh, he had given his grandfather
one of his uh pistols that hecarried with him.
That was one of Patton's bigthing.
He always had it, uh I believeit was 45.

(49:44):
He always carried it with him.
It was always a big thing.
Uh, he actually gave it to hisgrandfather because his
grandfather, uh, you know, hehad a he had respect for his
grandfather.
His grandfather, I believe, waslike a lieutenant colonel.
Um, and this is all a truestory.
I mean, it wasn't just made upbecause actually there's a
famous picture of Patton thatthey had on the wall uh that

(50:06):
showed General George Patton outthere, and right next to him is
this guy's grandfather.
And so it's cool because uh alot of times when military
people come in, if Corky'sthere, he'll pull the gun out
and show it to him.
And he gets invited to a lot ofbig military things where
there's top brass there becauseeverybody wants to see and and

(50:26):
touch, you know, GeneralPatton's uh, you know, gun.
And so that was cool tellingthat whole story.
Um, the second thing that'sreally cool about Corky is that
he is actually in the distillersuh in the whiskey, Kentucky
Whiskey Hall of Fame, whichgives him even more um, you

(50:51):
know, kind of elevates hisstatus.
But the other thing that'sreally cool about him, and and
he did it uh, he does it on aregular basis, is if he is he's
in the office a lot.
He's he walks around a lot.
He actually tries to come intoeach tour and just say hello,
talk to people, find out wherethey're from, that kind of
thing.
And that was really cool.
He did it in July, and then whenwe were sitting in there

(51:12):
tasting, he came in and talkedto us a little bit about you
know, things and asked us wherewe were from.
So it's really cool because ifyou go on these tours, I can
maybe tell you one or two othertimes that the actual owner or
master distiller has came outand talked with us.

(51:32):
And both of those times it wason a very, very small, I mean
small, you know, regionaldistillery.
These guys just you know umdistribute nationwide.
So it was just a fun experience.
At least I had fun.
I I think you had a good time.
I did, yeah.
So um, but yeah, it's it's uhdefinitely worth the uh the

(51:55):
price of admission, which in ourcase was free.

SPEAKER_02 (51:59):
Piggybacking off of what you said about whiskey row
and a lot of our experiences,the neat thing about peerless is
is they are actually uhdistilling right there.
So um they claim uh currently onwhiskey row, they're the only
ones who are um grained a bottlecraft.
They're calling themselves likea craft whiskey, which I really

(52:21):
thought was really interesting.
And so um, if you've never seena peerless bottle, um one of the
really interesting things isit's shaped after the pot still,
or but not like Willet.
Willet, if you've seen Willet,um it looks like a pot, um, like
a you know pot still, but thiswas shaped for in honor of that,
which I I thought I found veryinteresting.

(52:41):
I like like I like that kind ofstuff.

SPEAKER_01 (52:43):
So yeah, they are the full full operation there.
That is the only place that theydistill peerless, uh, you know,
not like Mitchner's where it'sdistilled, but they also
delivered a little distillingthere.
Full distillery right there.
Uh, and they actually createdtheir dis put their distillery

(53:03):
in an old building that used tobe, um, among other things, they
used to um create, construct,produce, I guess would be the
correct word, um, grain bags.
So it's a really, really, reallyhistoric building.
It's really kind of cool.
Uh-oh, he's digging in the uhhe's digging in the shelf.

(53:26):
Uh, do you got a bottle ofpeerless up there?
You do.
Of course I do.
Of course I do.
That's probably the bottle weopened.

SPEAKER_02 (53:37):
This is the small batch um peerless uh gold top,
uh peerless of stilling.
Oops, sorry, there we go.
I do have a bottle right there.
Has it been opened?
It is this one, actually, hasnot been opened, but the one
that you and I took down toKentucky a few years ago um was
completely finished.

(53:58):
So uh, but yes, this ispeerless.
This was not purchased on ourtrip.
Um, this was um the sweet mash.
No water added, barrel proof.

SPEAKER_01 (54:12):
But but everything peerless does is sweet mash.
Correct.
They don't do any sour mash,meaning they start their mash
bill fresh every single time,which big big distilleries or
most distilleries don't do thatbecause they lose or you have an
opportunity to lose consistency.
So they they like to do the uhthe sour mash sweet mash.

(54:32):
They're starting, they don'tbring any of the mash over from
the the previous run.
And so that's what gives um, Imean every run could be a little
bit different.

SPEAKER_02 (54:43):
So now an audio.
And I have I have the ryepeerless.

SPEAKER_01 (54:52):
So uh look at you go.
Yeah, buddy.
Yes, sir.
I don't have any peerless in myin my bar.
Well, uh there's a way to tryto.
I can remedy that very easy, butthat's correct.

SPEAKER_02 (55:04):
But uh the one that I tried there was the toasted,
and oh man, that was good.
I but uh we'll add that one tothe list, maybe to add to the
bar collection bar collectionbar.

SPEAKER_01 (55:22):
Uh anyway.

SPEAKER_02 (55:24):
Um that was great.
I I really enjoyed that tour.
Thank you for uh working hardwith the networking by getting
us the tickets because not onlydid we get to take the tour, we
got some tastings, which I toldmy wife I found a common theme
about the tastings on WhiskeyRow and Lexington, and it seems

(55:45):
unfortunately it's about themoney grab.

SPEAKER_01 (55:49):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's the problem.
Um, I mean at Peerlish, you gotthe tour, and and I don't mind
paying for a tour and thengetting the tastings, but we ran
into a couple places where it'slike, yeah, for$20, we'll give
you a tasting.
I'm I get it.
Um I guess to an extent, andI'll pay a couple bucks for a

(56:11):
tasting, but especially thesesmaller ones, I don't know
anything about you got in thebottle.
I don't want to pay$20 for atasting.
And to me, I just feel like,well, if I'm spending$20 on a
tasting or you're charging me$20on tasting, I kind of get the
feeling that you're worried I'mnot really gonna buy a bottle
because it's not that good.

(56:34):
Where if you go to like BuffaloTrace, they have no problem
giving you a tasting becausethey know they got good stuff
and and you'll buy a bottle andthings like that.
But I I don't know.
I just feel like if you're ifyou want me to pay a lot for
your tasting, you just don'tfeel you have a good product,
and you're you know I won't buya bottle of it.
So that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (56:56):
That's that's that's what I was just giving Lauren
some some pieces, but um sobasic basically to let people
know this is gonna be a two-partepisode because we still got the
rest of the weekend to talkabout.
What we didn't go home afterthat?

SPEAKER_01 (57:15):
No, well, no, we didn't.
We went and we actually did somecycling and some sampling, and
uh have a whole bunch of otherstuff to uh to chat about.
So um after we did all this, wethen went back to Lexington, or
we went to Lexington, about anhour away.

(57:36):
The horse park got checked in,put up our camp so we could do
it at uh in the daylight becausewe had uh we had reservations
for a very interesting place.
That's correct, which is I willsay, two blocks down from
Transylvania University.

(57:57):
Real place.
I didn't just make that up.

SPEAKER_02 (57:59):
I can confirm he's he's not lying there.

SPEAKER_01 (58:02):
I got pictures.
So do we want to get into thatnow, or do we want to save that
for next one?
Well, because I got another uhlistener spotlight.

SPEAKER_02 (58:14):
I'll tell you what.

SPEAKER_01 (58:18):
Why don't we talk about the spe the speakeasy and
then and then get into thelistener spotlight, and then
episode two will be um yeah, wegot some live clips and we've
got some other things, and soyeah, I think we should we did
get a lot of live clips, whichwill be cool, um, not just with
us, but uh different areas anddifferent situations, so it'll

(58:41):
be kind of fun.
We had a fireside chat, uh,which was actually literally by
the fireside.
Um, so we had reservations to goto the speakeasy, and I had
found out about this when I hadbeen there with my family, but I
hadn't gone.
It looked really cool.
So I was like, Adam, I think weshould do it.
And he's of course, yes.

(59:01):
Um, these folks take speakeasyto the 1930 version of
speakeasy.
So I'll let you explain and andset up the scenario here when we
show up.
All right.

SPEAKER_02 (59:14):
So first we park and we walk in, walk in, and it
looks like a I don't know, itlooked like like a there's no
signs.
No, no signs, it's a small stonebuilding.
And you I mean you pretty mucheither need to know it's there
or have reservations, otherwiseyou would just walk right by.

SPEAKER_01 (59:34):
It's and it's right on the edge of commercial uh or
retail areas, but then that thebuilding next to it and the
building across is likeresidential houses.
So it's like looks like uh couldbe like uh you know some
business that does warehouse,but there's no signs on the
wall, you wouldn't even know itwas a business.
I guess is the point.

SPEAKER_02 (59:55):
So we take some pictures from the outside
because you know we're We'retourists.
So we walk in and and picture aroom about five feet by sixteen
feet of just books.
Floor to ceiling.

(01:00:17):
Book books.
Shell books.
You don't see a door, you don'tsee anything.
It's just books.
And there's a sign about realbooks.
They were.
You picked one up.
You're like, huh?

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:34):
I could have could have took that and read it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:37):
So then we saw a sign about four inches by three
inches that said, please ringbell.
And so I'm looking around, andsure enough, behind me, like an
old doorbell.
It was right there, and I wenthit it and went ding dong.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:55):
This is a common theme.
People tell us to do something,we just do it.
Damn the consequences.
We're just ring the bell.
Okay.
Hey, go down there to theelevator.
Go.
Wow.
We are just waiting for crime tostrike us because we'll just
follow directions from strangersand signs.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:15):
And you can hear the bell, um, and and it was behind
a wall.
At that point, I was like, okay,there's the magic.
I wasn't.
I mean, obviously, you could seewhere the building was before we
walked in, but and then all of asudden, a guy who looked like
Harry Stiles came out and said,Literally, did I?
I mean, he looked like HarryStiles.
He did.

(01:01:35):
And and he came out and he said,Do you have reservations?
And and we were like, like goodtourists.
Yes, yes, we have reservations.
And he went back in and shut thedoor.
We don't we don't like yourkind.
I'm like, well, okay, thatdidn't go as planned.
And then he came out and he andhe said 6 30.

(01:01:58):
And we said 6 30.
And then he shut the door again.
Then he came out and he said,Okay, come this way.
And once again, in a commontheme of the weekend, I got
assigned a bar stool.
No, you two down here.
And I actually confused you knewwhere to go.
I said, Oh no, he meant here,and you're like, No, he meant
here.
And so with me, you were wrong.

(01:02:20):
Oh, I was.
I was right here recording.
And so we sat down and um veryinteresting.
I mean, you know, you asked mewhat I first thought, and when
we got there, and oh she therewas a there was a cocktail menu,
but then uh Aubrey, who we met,um she started asking you what

(01:02:40):
you liked, and you're like,Well, I I I don't know.
I mean, let me see the menu, andthen she's like, Well, is there
a flavor you're looking for?
And you just came right out andyou said, if you say the word
gin, I'm out.
And then and so she explainedthat and you you you uh did
something a little risque, andI'll let you talk about that.

(01:03:02):
I went with something like um, Idon't know, I guess they'd call
it a belvedere, but it wascognac and and stag bourbon uh
mixed together, and then what apresentation of like spritzing
the top with vodka and just forfor presentation and to kill the
bubbles and um you know rock'sglass and cube vice and uh what

(01:03:26):
a cocktail.
I mean, it was amazing.
And you, sir, you you took aleap.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:31):
Well, you know me, I'm a high roller, as defined by
the Edison at at Disney Springs.
Oh, don't don't.
Yeah, I have a coin to say thatI'm a high roller.
Okay, you know, light the bar onfire.
I'm that guy that's like, giveme the drink that's gonna, you
know.
Hey, they did light the bar onfire for me.

(01:03:51):
But anyway, here um I couldn'tfigure out what I wanted, and
there was this uh bartender'schoice, dealer's choice,
whatever.
I think he called it bartender'schoice.
And uh I said, what's that allabout?
And she says, you tell us kindof what you're looking for and
we'll make you a drink.
And I was like, what the heck?
Dealer's choice, I'm in.

(01:04:12):
And uh, you know, I I explained,you know, I like the whiskeys, I
like the bourbons, um, more intonot rye.
Um she already knew about thegin.
Um, and I don't remember whatshe called it, but she, the
other lady there made me thisdrink that was just incredible.
And the presentation was so muchpart of it.

(01:04:36):
I mean, number one, they had acool everything in there is like
wood.
Ceilings are wood, wood beam,wood paneling.
It it looks like a uh gentleman.
Um, well I was gonna wait aminute, let me not say that.
It looked like like a 1920smen's club.
You know how they would like,oh, we go to the club and we

(01:04:57):
smoke and we have our cognac andwe talk about uh things of the
day.
You know, um dark wood, the barwas beautiful, uh, leather
seats.
Um there was it wasn't that biga place, but um it was just the
presentation was incredible.
There was one drink, and we getset at the bar, so they're like

(01:05:18):
you know, making it right infront of us, and we'd be asking
them questions.
And there's one drink she wouldreach into this little thing
with her tweezers, and she wouldput a put a dried rose in the
middle, and another drink sheput like three coffee beans in a
little design thing, and shedidn't get the one right, and
she took it and threw it awayand pulled out another one.

(01:05:38):
And but it was just really cool.
And uh the drink I had wasfantastic.
Um if they would have servedfood, which they didn't, she
told me she could make me a gindrink that would change my mind.
Um they didn't have food and Iwas getting hungry, and it's
like last thing I want to do istry that on an empty stomach.

(01:06:01):
So I I passed on that, but itdid intrigue me.
I would have if I went back, Iwould just walk in the door and
dealer's choice, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:10):
It was a really neat place.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:12):
I mean, um they created the whole thing.
I mean, you felt like the onlything missing was a little like
slide thing on the door andhaving to have a password.
Um, what would have beenhilarious is you know, they have
somebody pounding on the doordressed up like a 1930s cop
yelling it's a bust.

(01:06:34):
Uh but I mean, I've been to alot of places that call
themselves a speakeasy, and thatis about as close to what I
picture a 1930s speakeasy beinglike.
You know, you ring a bell orwhatever, a secret door opens
up, and you go in and there'smusic and alcohol and well,

(01:06:54):
what's better alcohol than the1930s, but password.
Do you know?
I I was waiting for that guy tocome out a third time.
Do you have the password?

SPEAKER_02 (01:07:04):
Yeah, no, he goes back in and shuts the door.
I know, but uh every time thedoorbell would ring from other
people who had reservations, I'mlike, it's the cops, and I it's
the cops.

SPEAKER_01 (01:07:17):
So but it's a bust.
But what's funny is they had acamera in there, so when the
door rings is they could go overand they could see, you know,
how many people were in theparty and things like that.
But uh yeah, it was it was a funexperience.
I'm glad we went and did it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:07:32):
The one one of the neatest things for me is just
you know, the reason why we dothis show and the people we meet
along the way and things that wedo.
We were sitting there and theywere asking us, uh, two of the
bartenders uh were asking us,Oh, what are you guys doing
here?
Are you here doing the bourbon?
Like, well, actually, we're heredoing the bourbon country burn,

(01:07:52):
and she's like, Oh, yeah.
And she's like, Your your rideis gonna take you right by my
bike polo.
And I was like, Oh, you do bikepolo?
And she's like, Yeah, yeah,yeah.
And I said, Oh, we did we did aninterview with this guy named
Luke Box.
And and she's like, Oh, yeah, Iknow Luke.
And and and she's like, Oh, andshe's like, I'd like to hear
that.
And she goes, Will you send itto the Lexington bike polo

(01:08:15):
Instagram page?
And I was like, Yeah, I could dothat.
She's like, Yeah, I'll give youa follow.
And I don't know.
I mean, sometimes when peopletell me things, I just think
maybe they're trying to bepolite, they're trying to be
nice, or whatever.
I think we've gotten five hitsoff of that old episode since
that time.
Seriously.
I know I've I've been watchingit, and so um I'm like, okay,
well, thank you very much.
And so I sent the I you know,because each episode has a link,

(01:08:38):
as you would expect, and and soI send the link to the Lexington
bike poll.
And while I'm on there, I lookdown and sure enough, I see the
bartender's picture.
I said, Hey, this is you, andshe goes, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so we're and Michael says, Idon't think we have bike polo by
us, and she goes, Yes, you do.
And and I and I go, I don'tthink we have it in Michigan.
She goes, Yes, you do.

(01:08:58):
You have it in Grand Rapids,that's where the world
championship was held.
And I'm like, I'm gonna shut upnow because I know nothing about
bike polo.

SPEAKER_01 (01:09:06):
So now, what is funny about that story?
Not only that she knew Luke, whowe had done an interview with a
couple years ago, um, because heruns a bike shop.
Um but two years ago on theBourbon Country Burn, we took
the bike trail on Sunday morningto just do a short ride.

(01:09:26):
And that is when they actuallyplay polo, and we actually took
the trail all the way downthere, and I have pictures, and
you have pictures, and weactually sat there and watched
them for a while because it'sthe first time either of us had
ever seen bicycle polo, and it'sjust it's kind of that big
circle, you know, come backaround.
It's like, oh my gosh, we knowexactly where you're talking
about, where you play, becausewe've been there.

(01:09:48):
Um she knew Luke, so it was likekind of that small world for
sure.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:56):
And I think in the next episode, we can get into
you know the actual um bourboncountry burn.
We can get into our live spots.
Um, but before we do that, I'dlike to uh ladies and gentlemen,
it is now time for the secondoption of listener spotlight.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:21):
Oh my god, you're like the people in open mic
playing the slow music.
Wake me up when you're done.
Anyway, got a good one thistime.
You really need to payattention.
I'm ready.
This town was a stereotypicalWild West town during the last
half of the 19th century.

(01:10:43):
Wild West, woo.
Um today the town is still verybig with cowboys.
Uh, part of this town sets on aNative American reservation, and
the Spanish were the firstvisitor, European visitors to

(01:11:04):
this area.
Um, more visitors followed withthe discovery of gold in the
mid-1800s.
The town played an importantrole in the territory that it
was located in.
So there's some big hints.
Uh Doc Holiday, you know, thedentist, gunslinger, gambler,

(01:11:29):
enjoyed the company of one ofthis town's former residents.
You're thinking St.
Louis, I can tell.
Um the historic the historicaldowntown area in this city uh
would put a big smile on Adam'sface.

(01:11:49):
You got that?
Got it.
And presidential ambitions weresparked in this town.
There you go.
The historical downtown area inthis city would put a big smile
on your face, sir.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:05):
You were absolutely right when you said I was
thinking St.
Louis.
You're absolutely right.
You know what I was thinking?
I have no idea.
It is definitely not St.
Louis.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:16):
I was gonna say, how is he getting the Spanish first
visited the area?
Okay, I could maybe go with thatgoing up the Mississippi.
I do not remember gold everbeing discovered anywhere close
to St.
Louis.
No, that's what I was thinking.
I I don't I'm gonna guess DocHoliday came through St.

(01:12:41):
Louis because he was from thethe wet or the from the east,
but I think he just passedthrough.
He probably had a dentalconvention there.
Yeah, he didn't really want tobe a dentist.
But then his health, he wantedto be a dentist.
He really did historical fact.
Doc Holiday wanted to be adentist, and he was a dentist

(01:13:02):
back in Boston or somewhere likethat.
Uh he was very good at it.
The problem with it is, is hegot um what do you have,
emphysema or whatever.
And um he was always coughingall the time.
And so who wants to go to adentist?
Well, they got your mouth openand they're doing this, they're
hacking away and stuff likethat.
It wasn't emphysema, it was theother uh the other lung disease

(01:13:28):
consumption or something.
But so he wanted to be adentist, but people didn't want
to hang out with a dentist whowas always, you know, coughing
and sickly.
So then he moved out west.
Got him some cards, got him agun.

SPEAKER_02 (01:13:44):
And uh it was a dry heat.
He didn't have to cough outthere.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:48):
That was the idea back in those days.
Um, is if you went into a dryclimate and the dry, you know,
no humid, you know, lackedhumidity and stuff that that
would that would in fact helpyou.
Well, it didn't, but I uh it'snot St.

(01:14:12):
Louis.
Thank you very much.
One of these days I'm gonna doSt.
Louis, and you're not gonnaguess St.
Louis.
You're like, I'm so sick andtired of saying St.
Louis, and then it's gonna beSt.
Louis.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:22):
No, I think I I think I might catch on.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:24):
No, because you know what?
Here's the problem.
I know what you know about St.
Louis, and I will make sure Iavoid those topics.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:32):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:32):
So see, it's kind of spiked against you, but maybe
I'm wrong.
I'm not gonna bring up, youknow.
Um about the airport, who usedto fly out of that airport,
anything like that?
My father.
Your dad?
Well, no, that would make it tooeasy.

(01:14:53):
But somebody before your dad,very famous, flew out of that
airport.
Lindbergh?
Charles Lindbergh.
In fact, they have uh the oldspirit of well, not the, but a
replica.
At least I used to hanging inthat airport.
I know.
So anyway, there you have it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15:11):
We'll we'll see what that answer is.
Ladies and gentlemen, we willget part two out, which will put
us right back on track.
So um question being what did wereally do at the Bourbon Country
Burn?

SPEAKER_01 (01:15:25):
How far did we ride?
What whiskies did we try?
And who did we meet up with?
Rather famous.
And the bigger question thatneeds to be answered is I got
something super special that I'mgonna share on the next episode.
It's cool.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15:45):
I agree that it's cool, and I think that's a good
teaser.
But before we go, I have onething.
Do you know who Joe Grammar,Emery Norris, Dennis Keeler,
Scott Garwick, and Alex Bellare?

SPEAKER_01 (01:16:01):
I do.
You do?
These are four, yeah, these arefive people who have at least
once been kicked out of a redlobster.
Um I don't know.
I mean I don't know where I cameup with that at, but yeah, it
could be.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:19):
That would be a good what from eating too many of the
cheese biscuits.

SPEAKER_01 (01:16:22):
Uh no, probably from getting a little carried away on
the bottomless shrimp thing thatthey used to have or the endless
shrimp.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:28):
Oh gosh, I remember that when my parents, uh my dad
We're gonna have to ask you guysand ladies to leave.
My dad was at Scott Air ForceBase in Belleville, Illinois,
just down the road from LambertsInternational Airport, where
that Spirit of Livingston planewas.
And I remember the endlessshrimp.
Um, but I remember going there,and then it was supposed to be

(01:16:51):
endless, and after like threeplates, they're like, Okay,
well, thank you for coming.
Like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
No.

SPEAKER_01 (01:16:57):
So which in the last five years is what's caused uh
Red Lobster to uh run into somefinancial problems, is or you
know, having too many uh all youcan eat type things.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:10):
But Joe Grammer, Emery Norris, Dennis Keeler,
Scott Garwick, and Alex Bell areVIPs.
They are monthly supporters, andand we thank them.
You can be just like themmultiple different ways.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:22):
You can get kicked out of a red lobster.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:25):
That's one.
Yeah, you could be just as coolas all five of them are, and you
could be just like them by beinga sponsor of Cycling Men of
Leisure, the Road Adventurepodcast.
Our our show uh helps uhactually we gave it all back to
Bragg, our Bragg team.
But but uh um it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:45):
We're not here to make money.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:47):
No, but helping us.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:48):
We just don't want to have to spend thousands of
dollars to produce the show andall that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:52):
So and if you can't do that, I'm begging you,
wherever you listen to yourpodcast, could you please please
leave us a review?
It helps the show get caught inalgorithms.
Um, every review that is left,believe it or not, helps things
get picked up.
And so uh if your finances arelike, buddy, I ain't paying you,
I'm just listening to you.
Okay, I get it.

(01:18:14):
But if you could just spend alittle bit of time and leave us
a review, I'd thank you.
I I was caught in an algorithmonce, it was bad.
Yeah, you had to change thetires.

SPEAKER_01 (01:18:25):
You're like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 (01:18:28):
Ladies and gentlemen, with that being said,
we did have a great day for abike ride.
We did indeed.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:36):
Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on
road adventures with cycling menof leisure.
If you have enjoyed this, pleasesubscribe to the show on the
podcast app of your choice.