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Tiny explores Rabbit Hole's Hiegold Single Barrel Cask Strength bourbon while discussing the brand's artistic approach to bottle design and distillery architecture. We take a deep dive into the complex nature of bourbon blending, aging conditions, and how whiskey changes over time.
• Rabbit Hole Distillery founded by Kaveh Zamanian creates bourbon that captures the essence of what you smell in actual rickhouses
• Kentucky exclusive Hiegold features special label designs by Mark Gagnon celebrating Ohio's aviation history
• The Louisville distillery offers a modern architectural experience culminating in a sixth-floor bar with city views
• Rabbit Hole's lineup includes Cave Hill (standard bourbon), Hiegold (high rye), DARERINGER (sherry finished), and Boxergrail (rye)
• Discussion of how bourbon consistency was the industry standard until about 10 years ago when batch variation became desirable
• Experiment mixing Cave Hill and Hiegold together created a distinct gingerbread cookie flavor not present in either bourbon alone
• Environmental factors affecting bourbon from production through transportation and shelf storage significantly impact flavor
• Upcoming podcast featuring Greg Schneider and his new Four Branches Distillery's 9-year Kentucky straight bourbon
Please support our sponsors: Middle West Spirits (check out their new purchase of Old Elk), Whiskey Thief Distillery, Spirit of French Lick, Rosewood Bourbons and Ryes, and Alan Bishop's One Piece at a Time Distilling Institute.
Bourbon enthusiasts know that every bottle tells a story, but Rabbit Hole takes this concept to artistic heights with their intricately designed single barrel releases. Tiny explores their Hiegold expression – a bourbon featuring German rye that captures the authentic essence of what you smell walking through a Kentucky rickhouse rather than the caramel-sweet profiles dominating today's market.
The episode peels back the layers on Rabbit Hole's Louisville distillery, a modern architectural marvel where visitors spiral alongside the still, culminating at a sixth-floor bar overlooking the city. Unlike traditional Kentucky distilleries that lean heavily on heritage, founder Kaveh Zamanian has created a contemporary bourbon experience that honors tradition through flavor rather than façade.
What truly captivates is Tiny's deep dive into bourbon's evolution over the past decade. Where consistency once reigned supreme, today's market celebrates batch variation – a marketing revolution pioneered by legends like Elmer T. Lee, Jimmy Russell, and Booker Noe who transformed "inconsistency" into exclusivity. Similarly, finished whiskeys once derided by purists are now embraced as innovative expressions of the distiller's craft.
The most fascinating segment comes when Tiny experiments with mixing bourbons, discovering how Cave Hill and Hiegold together create a distinct gingerbread cookie note absent in either bourbon independently. This sparks a broader discussion about how bourbon's chemical composition continuously evolves through production, transportation, storage conditions, and even how it settles on your shelf at home.
Whether you're a bourbon novice or connoisseur, this episode offers valuable insights into how environmental factors shape what's in your glass, why modern distilleries are embracing batch variation, and why the seemingly simple act of mixing whisk
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Yeah, yeah, all right, welcomeback to another podcast of the
Scotchy Bourbon Boys, tiny, hereright now Going to take you on
(02:16):
this journey.
This podcast one of the thingsI didn't get to, I'll just go
into.
Tonight we're going to talkabout this rabbit hole, high
gold, that the state of Ohiojust released and I've got.
I did not get their justreleased when I went out looking
supposedly my store had it butit was showing that it had last
(02:39):
year's release.
But I still picked up the onethat I was for last year.
I couldn't find I found.
So the labels are cool andeverything with that.
But what I wanted to get alittle bit into is, you know,
just a couple of our sponsors.
(02:59):
Just really quick, go into it.
We've got Middle West Spiritshere in Columbus that Ryan Lang
does a fantastic job Right now.
Their craft distillery is openfor you know, for that's where
you would go to see and get thedistillery tour, along with
(03:20):
their service bar restaurant.
That's open Now.
Their main distillery is stillnot open to the public.
I don't believe there's toursor anything like that.
They're getting there, they'regetting up to speed.
They've been distilling.
It was a year in March.
They've got it up and running.
That main distillery isabsolutely huge.
(03:40):
You want to check them out inColumbus, ohio.
But then also the big news isthey just bought Old Elk.
So we will be having Ryan.
I'm going to try and get downthere and have Ryan on so that
he can talk about the purchaseof Old Elk and Middle West
Spirits.
Also we have Whiskey ThiefDistillery, great distillery.
(04:12):
There they sponsor us.
It's so fantastic.
I'm going to be going down inJuly and maybe the third week in
June also, so I'm going to bestopping there.
So many things have beenhappening, but they just hired
(04:33):
Lisa Roper Wicker and then alsoBenjamin Eve, who's been on this
podcast a couple times, onetime with the Kentucky Artisan
Distillery and then also withAlan Bishop one time, and so
(04:53):
it's fantastic.
They've got Kelly and Derekthere.
So they're distilling andthey're a single barrel barrel
pick every day, all dayexperience.
But with Lisa Roper Wickeryou've got to think that they
might do some, they might startmaking some batches, and that is
(05:15):
her strong point Lisa, formerlyof Widow Jane, and so that's
kind of cool.
And then also the Spirit ofFrench Lick.
You've got to take our twonewest barrel picks.
They're fantastic.
If anybody's interested, let meknow.
I can get you a taste of those.
And then also we have JasonGiles at Rosewood, bourbons and
(05:39):
Ryes.
He basically buys Kentucky andIndiana bourbon.
He basically trucks it down toTexas, ages it at least one more
season in the hot Texas sun andproduces some fantastic whiskey
.
And then, last but not least,there's Alan Bishop.
(06:00):
Alan Bishop, a friend of thepodcast, alan Bishop, alan
Bishop, a friend of the podcast.
He is now at Old Homesteadafter leaving Spirit of French
Lick, but his stuff is at Spiritof French Lick and he's making
all the new stuff at OldHomestead Fantastic.
But he runs the One Piece at aTime Distilling Institute which
gives you all the informationthat you need about distilling.
(06:22):
Check that channel out.
And then also, if you haveghosts, you have everything.
That is my favorite podcast.
It mixes two of my favoritethings the ghosts from the
spirit world and also ghosts inthe spirit world.
So it's got spirits and spiritsand spirits.
(06:45):
There you go all right anyways.
Uh.
So, um the other.
So we talked about lisa roperwicker being at uh whiskey thief
, and whiskey thief with walteris one of my, our, our favorite
uh places to go.
There's um once it was just adream to have them as a sponsor.
(07:07):
We loved their whiskey from thestart, we loved the experience
from the start, and now theythat they're just growing and
expanding.
I had made a comment.
I guess I picked the.
You know I pick and I askspecific people to be sponsors
of the podcast because one Ilove their bourbon and I love
the people.
It's a double combination.
(07:27):
So everybody that I've thatsponsored the podcast, they're
special and it's a special thingand so that's pretty awesome.
But so much has been happeningin the world and we're going to
be covering that a little bitcoming up in a couple future
(07:51):
podcasts about how manydistilleries have gone online
and then I mean just even HeavenHill.
I mean there's just so muchhappening in the industry and
how people and what they'remaking.
So it's been kind of cool.
Now we haven't uh covered uhrabbit hole in a while and I
(08:17):
just wanted to give you wepretty much when we've covered
it before, we gave you thebackground.
Uh, I've got the informationright here.
Right, I can just call it upand uh, let's see, yeah, we go
right here.
Yep, so Kaveh Zemanian, he isthe owner and the person who
(08:50):
started it.
Him and his wife started thedistillery and when they first
started it it's like the wholename of it is that at one point
he was doing this and they justput it all on the line and went
down the rabbit hole.
And Kavi has been.
I've got to meet him a coupletimes.
I haven't had him on thepodcast, but we've had a good
(09:14):
amount of rabbit hole.
One of my favorite bourbons isCave Hill.
What I love about Cave Hilljust the regular off-the-shelf
cave hill is that, um, that cavehill tastes to me like what
(09:34):
bourbon should taste like whenyou smell it in the rick house.
And, um, their, their, theirlineup is cave hill, high gold,
which is a high rye bourbon.
Daringer, which is a sherrycast finish bourbon, and then
there's Boxer Grill, which is asour mash rye whiskey.
(09:55):
Then they come out with theirFounders Collection and that is
the race king.
Over there the FoundersCollections range in price and
they can be really expensive andjust normal expensive.
The Race King was $330.
There's been $1,200 and $1,400,$2,500 Founders Collections,
(10:15):
but the $330 Race King honestlyit's the most I've ever spent on
one bottle and I still have alittle bit left.
So I'll be tasting some of thattonight.
And then they have their singlebarrel series, and their single
barrel series, in my opinion, isvery super unique Because what
(10:36):
happens is it's a creative.
The bottle is, the labels arecreated specifically for the
individuals.
I mean so when there was thefirst year at the Kentucky
(11:02):
Bourbon Festival, it was Alicein Wonderland labels throughout
these single barrels have some,and they create artwork for the
special barrel pick.
Now, this one was really cool.
(11:22):
This was Cave Hill and it's notthe right.
Cave Hill is usually a blacklabel, but this one was inspired
(11:54):
from the heart in Edgar AllanPoe's short story and uh, here's
what it says on the back.
You know it's funny because Inope, they're right here.
I got everything, so I shouldbe good.
We'll drop these babies on andput this here.
So this, so this single barrelexpression has been gracefully
aged for four years, two monthsin a hand, selected and
(12:15):
harvested in the mid.
Mingling of the whiskey and woodyielded an exquisite spirit
like no other, at full caststrength, with nothing added and
nothing taken away.
This is a one-of-a-kind Awhiskey and a sensory experience
cherished, and I think I wantto say so.
This one actually has theartist's name, and this one was
(12:39):
Romeo and Juliet for theKentucky Bourbon Festival.
It was 2022, 123, and it was105 proof.
Now this one has the art itshould have.
Now, this one is called theHatter.
It's an Ohio exclusive from2024.
And the artist's name is KuiGinoi.
(13:04):
The artist's name is Kui Ginoi.
It's G-U-I or Q, so you've gotthe artist's name.
Bottle 79 of 198, release was2023, 106.2 proof 108.2 proof.
So that's kind of cool.
(13:25):
They actually have the artist'snames and the different things.
Now I'm going to quick do ashare of the screen here.
Let's go back share.
I'll pick that same.
All right, it's going to be asecond.
I'm going to switch over to.
All right, let's click off.
(13:49):
Click to exit full screen.
I swear to Yep, there, it isAll right.
So the rabbit hole, this onethat is releasing the week of
this, just released.
You guys can see that it's gotthat jet set bottle and I
(14:09):
thought it was really cool.
I want to get that and thenwhen you'll, I'll learn what.
So here we go, um, honoring theadventurers.
So this bottle that they pickedhonors the adventurers and
innovators and creators whobuilt our country's foundation.
High gold is a kentucky straightbourbon whiskey named after
(14:30):
Christian High Gold, a 19thcentury German immigrant stone
cutter.
Its unique mash bill layers ahigh percentage of malted German
rye with malted barley andlight notes of white with light
notes of white paper.
Aged in charged American whiteoak barrels from Kelvin Coolidge
, it mellows in the swelteringsummer and freezes in the
winters of Kentucky for overfour years.
(14:52):
The single barrel selectionsare aged longer than classic
high golds, come from one singlebarrel and are bottled at cast
strength.
This special release of highgold barrel cast strength
features label designs by MarkGagnon, who was commissioned by
Kavi Zemanian, I pretty thinkthe Rabbit Holes founder, ceo
(15:15):
and chief whiskey officer, topay tribute to Ohio's renown as
the birthplace of aviation.
This design honors thepioneering spirit of Ohio's
aviation giants, from WrightBrothers to astronauts John
Glenn and Neil Armstrong.
(15:35):
Just as High Gold celebratesthe trailblazers who shaped
America, these labels pay homageto Ohio's aviation pioneers.
The legacy continues, with morethan 35,000 Ohioans employed in
the aerospace industry.
These 11 barrels were selectedby Rabbit Hole and OHLQ solely
for Ohio and not availableoutside the state.
(15:56):
So that's what this one and theygo on to give you tasting notes
, but I really thought that,honestly, that design by Mark is
fantastic.
And that's one of the thingsabout the single barrels, uh,
that I find um pretty cool.
(16:18):
But this was last, this waslast year's and this was the
hatter, and then all of themwere cool.
They had this really kind ofexquisite, cool um design.
So I really love the, thelabels and you know everything
like that.
And let's just get back so Ican see your comments.
(16:39):
Telltale heart yep, thetelltale heart was the one.
This one was romeo and juliet.
No, this was actually, it saysr Romeo, but I thought that was
the telltale art Anyways.
But so you got like a reallycool art on the bottles and
they're exquisite and they kindof set themselves and that's
(17:02):
their single barrel program andit's unlike any other one that
I've ever, you know, seen.
He's hiring and commissioningartists to put the each
individual artwork.
I mean, it's one thing to havedesign a label, but specifically
for each release is kind of areally cool kind of thing.
So, all right, the one guy sayseverything tastes the same,
(17:27):
that he okay, bro, that's a cap.
All right, russian vodka good,I'm just checking out the, the
youtube comments.
Yeah, we got a couple.
So we got someone on fromrussia, we got whatever, and
that's.
That's kind of cool.
Um.
So tonight, um rememberwwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for
(17:51):
all things scotchy bourbon boys.
I've got my scotchy bourbon boyt-shirt on and I've also got my
scotchy bourbon boy glenn karenthose are available on the
website or you can just ask meand I'll ship it to you.
Pay venmo, I can get you that.
And then also, we are onfacebook, instagram, instagram,
youtube and X, along with Apple,spotify and iHeart as far as
(18:16):
our audio progress.
But no matter what you dolisten or watch make sure you
like, comment, subscribe, leavegood feedback.
Like, comment, okay, and leavegood feedback.
There you go, I'm sure I leftsomething.
(18:38):
Like, listen, comment,subscribe and leave good
feedback.
There you go, I've got it all.
We appreciate everything thatyou guys do do.
(19:01):
Also, with tonight, I foundbecause Cave Hill is one of my
favorite regular off-the-shelfbourbons.
They have a unique bottledesign, but the bourbon that
comes out of them are prettygood.
So early on during COVID, weactually stopped with uh Adam
Edwards and he was, uh, thebrand ambassador and we got a
tour and we did a tasting witheverything there.
(19:22):
Uh, I do know that we alsocovered uh it early, early on.
So this is our first, our, ournext endeavor endeavor we did
one with the race king, but thisis, uh, it's been a while since
we've revisited uh.
Rabbit hole is in louisville andthe the distillery is a very
(19:43):
modern style distillery,fantastic, uh, well designed.
It is put in there with theidea of the sun and architecture
and design of windows, likewhen you're walking up the
(20:09):
stairs to go up and around tothe next floors.
When you're in the distillingroom, higher and higher, you're
wrapping around the still and asyou go up higher, the windows
and the blinds and everythingthe detail of that modern
distillery that was paid todesign.
(20:31):
It is spectacular.
It's definitely a must tour ifyou're there.
And then you end up at a bar onthe top floor, the sixth floor,
looking out over Louisville,and absolutely a fantastic
experience.
When you go, I highly recommendit.
A fantastic experience when.
(20:55):
When you go, I highly recommendit.
Uh, and then every you know youcan from time to time they've
got releases and bottle signingsand you can meet kavi.
I've met him and, uh, I thinkthis year, through the podcast,
I'm going to um, try and get himon at the Kentucky Bourbon
Festival.
That's my goal.
All right, so let's open upthis high gold.
(21:15):
This is a fresh crack.
It's like some people in theircomments.
I just don't understand whenthey're just cruising through
and they're just jerks.
(21:36):
I mean it's like.
And what really surprises me onYouTube is the amount of
political.
There's nothing political aboutthis podcast.
I mean, we drink and tastebourbons and whiskeys from
around the world in America, butwe don't ever discuss politics.
(21:59):
But somehow, like 90% of thecomments on YouTube are just
idiotic political comments.
I'm not saying I don't agree ordisagree or whatever all of
them, but it's just crazy.
Anyways, I got it opened.
Uh, we did read what that, whatthis one was um, but I should
(22:23):
give you a little bit um, yeahthat was the green okay so
this single barrel, toasted andcharred man american barrel,
including a whiskey, yieldedspirit like no other full cast
strength with nothing added andnothing taken away.
(22:46):
This one-of-a-kind whiskey is asensory experience to be
cherished and signed by JaviJavi, not Javi Javi.
So this one is 108 proof.
What's the age?
Look for the age 10-6.
(23:08):
Well, look for the age 10-6.
Usually you get the age on asingle barrel.
Wow, that is crazy dark.
(23:30):
Wow, that is crazy dark, butfor some reason this one does
(23:51):
not have it.
That is crazy.
Straight Bourbon Whiskey,limited Artist Edition.
All right, no age.
The other one was four years,two months.
It actually had an agestatement on it.
All right, here we go.
We are about to enter into theold Louisville barrel bottle
(24:19):
breakdown.
What's awesome is that thebarrel bottle breakdown is now
working, thanks to my son Nobs,who comes on from time to time.
Something I couldn't figure outfor months and months, and he
figured it out in five minutes.
(24:40):
So yeah, internet A-holes onYouTube.
There's no doubt about it.
Kelvin Cooperage, barrel makerfrom Louisville, kentucky, not
Calvin Coolidge, the president.
I did say Calvin, you can goback.
I said Calvin Cooperage, notCoolidge.
(25:02):
No, alright, anyways.
Um, ah, now High gold.
I'm going gonna see if I canget some uh information on high
gold.
Let's just really quick.
(25:22):
All right, let's see, we wentthere, we can go back.
One Alright starts, let's go tohigh gold.
Alright, we're going to try andget Alright.
(25:45):
Alright, we have the communityof the United.
States.
Toasted and charred barrels.
Okay, so this one is processedthe wood-fired flame.
We slowly toast our barrels for20 minutes with the flame
(26:07):
before charring.
That gets some of the sugarsout.
There's family whiskey.
Let's see if I can get a reviewsomewhere.
Let's see if I can.
(26:29):
Sometimes I can.
Usually this should not be abad one, breaking bourbon.
There we go ah, yes.
I'm over 21,.
All right, rabbit hole, highgold, all right, let's see.
Okay, so high gold's mash bill,courtesy of breaking bourbon,
is 70% corn, 25% rye and 5%malted barley.
(26:50):
The regular version, thisversion here, was $99.99, but
the regular MSRP is $70.
Alright, so you're looking at70% corn, 25% rye, 5% malted
(27:17):
bile, and that is German ryethat they use because it's the
high gold.
Now, if anybody is, we areabout to yeah, 25, I think 70,
25,.
5 is 25 is pretty high on themash bill, but still, corn, corn
(27:37):
, forward, anything above.
There's some ryes that are like68 corn, where they you know
rye bourbons and then you'relooking at, then you know 5,
which takes you to 7, you know20.
You got a little bit higher,but this is one.
Hey, Matt's on Cheers, but Iwould say we're about to do the
(27:59):
Old Louisville Whiskey CompanyBourbon Bottle Breakdown.
Old Louisville is a fantasticplace.
Everyone, you got to check itout.
It's in Louisville place.
Everyone.
Uh, you gotta check it out.
It's in louisville, uh, as you.
Uh, amin does a fantasticexperience there.
(28:20):
Uh, you gotta go there to evenknow what I'm talking about.
Great, uh, he's got a great.
Uh, why tonight, for somereason, the words.
Just, uh, I'm just kind of likeit's been, uh, the heat, I
think, is getting to me, buthe's got a great gift shop and
then also, uh, he will take youback.
(28:42):
Uh, have you try some of hisbourbons?
A lot of times it's right outof the barrel and uh, they're,
they're fantastic.
He doesn't sell anythingyounger than seven years old.
So his stuff is similar to oldcarter.
It's seven years and older.
So, uh, when you get in, and heknows the the different barrels
(29:05):
, uh, there's, it's a placewhere there are no rules.
All bets are off when you'rethere.
So, anyways, you've got tocheck out Old Louisville Whiskey
Company.
If you go check out the website, if you schedule a time, just
tell them that Tiny and theScotchy Bourbon Boys you found
(29:27):
out about it.
So, old Louisville WhiskeyCompany, and this is the barrel
bottle breakdown.
The way that the barrel bottlebreakdown is we have a rating
system in which we rate the nose, we rate the body, we rate the
taste and we rate the finish,and we give them nocks with our
(29:50):
bung hammer.
And on our old William DaltonFrench lick barrel, we give four
nocks for the smell and alsothe nose, and then four nocks
for the body and we give fivenocks for the taste and the
(30:12):
finish.
So you can have a total of 18for a perfect bourbon or whiskey
.
But if there's one categorythat's exceptional, you can add
an extra knock which is called abutt up up.
So with that said, let's getgoing and everybody's sipping
(30:32):
along.
I know that John said he wassaying, I believe that he was
able to pick up, he was sippingon a Middle West earlier.
I don't know what.
If I had to imagine, I wouldsay Walker probably sipping on a
(30:55):
Maker's Mark, and Randy isprobably a Detlinger, probably.
There you go.
All right, the nose on this isvery similar to a lot of.
The nose on this is verysimilar to a lot of.
(31:31):
I'm trying to pick up what I'mpicking up.
I would say fresh iron sheets.
It's a little starchy, I guess.
Maybe my nose is off.
Maybe my nose is off.
(31:55):
I'm going to check.
That's just weird.
It's a little bit of caramel onthat.
Let's see, this has been aroundfor a while.
I bet you this cave hill has afor a while.
(32:19):
I bet you this cave hill has a.
That's a cinnamoneer one.
Let's drop the cave hill in.
I could put the two together.
Maybe we'll double barrel it.
That is just weird that I'm notpicking up a lot Um cherries,
(32:43):
more cherries on the cave hill.
All right, let's try it again.
All right, let's try it again.
Ethanol.
All right.
(33:03):
So the nose is very neutral,especially for a cast strength.
(33:37):
What happens in my glass?
I'm going to say this is a verythis the viscosity on this
bourbon is high, the mouthfeelis oily and the legs are like
long, like they go, they extendthe whole glass and when they
appear they're mid-range.
Yeah, that's kind of a nice.
It's very neutral.
(34:08):
I'm interested.
I gotta see something.
Is it my palette?
I'm interested, I gotta seesomething.
Is it my palette?
Tonight I'm just not hugely on,or is it?
Let's see.
No, it's not.
(34:33):
That tastes like Whiskey Thief.
Alright, that is strange.
Alright, here we go.
(34:54):
I wonder what they?
I got fresh, like a fresh bakedapple, like a baked apple with
some cinnamon.
Let's see what kind of tastingnotes they get Caramel,
gingerbread, sweetness, don't,I'm not picking up.
(35:17):
Okay, I'll give you gingerbread,that's, but there's no caramel,
apricot and a touch of oak.
I'm going to say that I coulddo the oak, but it's more like
an apple with some gingerbreadand some oak.
(35:40):
But it's medium to light, iswhat they say, and it's too
neutral for me.
It's one of the most neutral.
Wow, that is unique.
(36:09):
I don't think I've ever, ever,ever, ever had a bourbon that I
had to smell this.
It's.
It's so light, all right, allright, finish, finish.
(36:46):
Wow, I think the German ryetakes over.
This Doesn't have a date.
(37:08):
It's peppery.
I'm not a huge fan.
I'm hoping that the high goldfrom this year with the OHLQ has
a little bit more of a richertaste.
(37:30):
All right.
So let's do this.
Let's do the old Louisvillebarrel bottle breakdown of high
gold.
Rabbit holes aren't overly sweet, they're more like what you,
(37:58):
when you walk into a Rick houseand you smell those, those
barrels aging you don't smell alot of caramel and vanilla is
happening.
It's, I can't describe it.
It's, it's a mixture of woodand whiskey and it's it's the
definition of the essence ofbourbon, and that's what the
rabbit hole line has alwaysbrought out.
(38:20):
For me it's not a super sweetthing, but the rye, although
it's a high rye, comes out.
It's not off-putting but it'svery just, yeah, unlike the Cave
(38:50):
Hill which defines it.
And I'll have to try that in asec, but let's just start this
off, alright.
So the nose it's been in there awhile.
It's pepper and I'll go withginger spice, maybe some dark
(39:23):
chocolate, no, so it's verylight and so the most you could
give on a nose is a four.
I would say for a barrel caststrength nose, this is a two.
It should be much more frontforward.
(39:44):
I hope everybody heard that.
I hope everybody heard that.
So then let's go Body soeverything doesn't get your
(40:24):
cheeks 108 proof.
But the mouth feel is probablythe best part about this.
So I would say the body's athree.
We got three knocks on thebarrel.
That brings me to taste Againthe rye aspect of this.
(40:59):
I want more flavor taste.
It's very neutral.
There's a lot of peppers in it.
So I'm going to have to go withthe two on this.
One All right, one all right.
So as far as the finish goes,it's not a real long finish and
(41:22):
there's a little bit of mintlike a spearmint on the on.
The finish leaves your mouthfeeling fresh.
But you could give up to a fiveon this and I'm gonna give it.
I'm gonna give it a three.
So I don't smell yeast, randy,in a rickhouse I don't.
(42:10):
Usually it's always so cool inthere.
I smell yeast when, whenthey're doing a cook at a
distillery.
But in the rickhouse itself Idon't pick up any yeast.
I always pick up the mixture ofthe wood of the rickhouse, the
(42:31):
wood of the barrel and then alsothe whiskey.
Um, I always smell yeast on acook.
I mean when you're in Bardstownat Kentucky Bourbon Festival,
that cook that hits you fromBarton's is always just such a
fantastic smell.
It smells like their baconbread.
I want to say the taste Tasteis a 3-2.
(43:13):
The total of the barrel bottlebreakdown of this high gold
rabbit hole OHLQ 2024 pick.
I give it 11.
3, 6, 9, 10, 11 out of 18.
So there you go.
I love the artwork on it.
This is a great bottle to haveon your bar.
(43:34):
I mean, when you pick it, thisis a great bottle to have on
your bar.
I mean, when you pick it, Iwill say now I've got the Cave
Hill right here and I, you know,I'll barrel bottle break down
this.
Kentucky.
This pick was from DistillersRow two years ago.
I didn't pick it up this yearbecause they were the same
(43:56):
labels again.
So I was happy with that.
You got to pick and choose whatyou.
I like the.
It's a candy apple, it's crazy.
With a little gingerbread it'sa little sweeter than the high
(44:22):
gold.
This one does exactly what Ilove.
I pick up that wood flavor alittle bit, a little bit of dark
(44:51):
chocolate.
I would say this one instead ofa two.
I'd take this to 13.
I'd give the nose a threeinstead of a two and then the
body's similar three on the body, but I would take the taste up
(45:14):
to a four and then the finishback to uh.
I would take the finish rightback to the three.
Now here is let's see whathappens when you mix them.
That's something, that'ssomething you can do.
(45:38):
I mean, there's no rules whenyou're drinking whiskey,
especially, I would say mixingan infinity in infinity decanter
is always fun to do, justinfinity barrel.
People do little barrels andthey put the bottom in whatever
they do.
But mixing the two it makes thenose sweeter.
(46:04):
The two mixed together.
All of a sudden there is agingerbread cookie flavor.
That wasn't that.
I mean like it was gingerbreadbefore.
Now it's a gingerbread cookieby mixing the two together.
(46:33):
What happened when I mixed thetwo together in the glass?
So one of the cool things thatI'll let you know.
I did a decanter and it's Iactually should have it.
It's right over here and thisis I had an exorbitant amount of
(46:53):
.
One of my favorite things iswood for double oak, so I have
barrel picks.
I probably had heard.
No, maybe two eighths of abottle left on like four or five
(47:13):
Woodford barrel picks and I putthem together.
When I put them together, I putthem together in this at home.
It was Halloween.
Nothing was in this.
It was like the week afterHalloween.
I'm like I need some space, soI'm like let's just mix all
these together.
When I put them together, itwasn't good, but I tried this
(47:38):
about a month ago or two monthsago.
Let's see what happens now.
And one of the things I'll tellyou, one of the things that
happens when you mix whiskeytogether, like I did in the cup.
Mixing in the cup, the twowhiskeys repel each other.
The smell was better, butthere's this mallow cup or bland
(48:14):
chocolate, it's something.
Put it this way.
You can tell they don't want tomix.
They're repelling each other.
When you taste it, there's ablandness to it that you would
have to leave it so that theycould chemically mix together
and become one.
Now this is the word for doubleoak, with like five barrel
(48:37):
picks in it.
The first time I tasted it, itwasn't good.
The last time I tasted it, itwas better.
But I'm going to tell you thistime Now that they've all gone
together that that that it'slike a butterscotch bomb, it's
(49:07):
like sucking on a Werther'scandy.
I mean it's just crazy whatwhiskey has to do when you do
something to it.
Steve Coombs, one time he talksabout.
Steve Coombs talks about onetime when he was on the podcast
with Randy Prass and I brought aWeller and I had been driving
all around Kentucky with it andwhen we did it he wasn't a big
(49:30):
fan but I left him with thebottle and he tried it like a
week later and he Facebookmessaged me how awesome it was
and that while I was drivingaround must have disturbed the
(49:50):
bourbon.
So, believe it or not, thechemical compounds in bourbon
and how they mix together hasand once they like.
For instance, you buy thisbottle.
I bought this bottle yesterdaybut it's been on the shelf for a
year at Giant Eagle.
(50:12):
But then I grabbed it off theshelf yesterday, drove it home,
brought it down here, did aphoto shoot with it, picture it,
whatever.
Then I open it and so a lot ofthings happen to it between when
they put it in that bottle.
So when they put it in thatbottle, they put it in, they cap
it, they.
Whatever they put it, they getit in cases.
(50:34):
They case it.
It waits in a warehouse.
Then it gets put on a truck.
It gets shipped to the statewhere it's going.
It's not shipped on a climatecontrol truck.
So if it's 80 degrees ornegative 10 degrees, it still
gets put on the truck.
So now those bottles are eithersubjected to regular heat,
normal heat, cold, 60 degrees.
(50:57):
It's subjected to some type ofweather.
If you ship it out west, it'sgoing to be subjected to dryness
.
If you ship it into the Midwestor into the Florida area,
you're going to get morehumidity.
Then it goes into a warehouse.
It's not a climate controlledwarehouse.
It sits there.
(51:17):
Then at one point it getspulled out of the warehouse
stuck on a box truck, and itcould be an 80 degree day and
that box truck does drops allday long.
So it could be subjected andheated up to 85, 90 degrees.
And then it's put into a backwarehouse at a liquor store,
(51:37):
then put on the shelf.
Then it sits on the shelf.
It waits for you to pick it up.
How long does it sit on theshelf?
I mean, these are all thingsthat affect how whiskey tastes.
It's something that nobody.
That's why sometimes I mean theone thing that all of the
people, up until about 10 yearsago, the main thing they were
(52:02):
always looking to do isconsistency.
Consistency was everything.
Um, most bourbon drinkers, whenthey go in and they buy their
jack daniels, their jim beams,their woodford reserves, they
want it to taste the same everytime.
So what they do on thosebourbons if you ever notice,
they're not complex, it's aone-flavor thing.
(52:26):
Old Tub is one of my favoriteone-flavor whiskeys, bourbons.
It's a bottle and a bond.
Every time it comes out it hasthat one flavor.
It's got the jim beam-esquekind of thing, but it's 100
proof.
It's also got its own thinggoing.
And what I find is it's a greatthing to do when I'm doing my,
(52:47):
my fantasy uh drafts or I'mwatching and I don't want to
analyze the whiskey.
I just want to pour that, I'mjust going to drink and it gives
you one flavor that's good.
But that's easier to keepconsistent than something where
(53:07):
you've got complexity to it.
To consistently put out thesame complexity of a complex
bourbon is very, very, in myopinion, difficult.
And I think we accept whatwould you say?
We're always looking forinconsistency.
(53:28):
We like the inconsistency ofthe different flavors for the
different batches, and that'ssomething that was new to
bourbon and that's somethingthat Elmer T Lee and you know,
jimmy Russell and Booker Noe allwere the founders of selling
(53:55):
inconsistency.
That it's special.
It's a one-time batch.
You're not going to get itagain and in the time period, I
think it was a great marketingploy.
Obviously, it started thebourbon boom and right now, when
I first got into this in 2019,we talked about this before.
Honestly, you got that, um,honestly, in 2000.
(54:24):
So when I got into this in 2019, people were not into cask
finished whiskeys.
They were.
They would rip you if you didsomething like that.
That's's not bourbon.
Bourbon is this, bourbon isthat.
But now we're in 2025 andpeople just look forward to all
the different ways that bourboncan be made to be expansive.
(54:49):
I mean, that's why you buydifferent bottles.
You're looking for those theintricacies of how you can make
bourbon taste.
So, uh, that is somethingthat's been a fun to you know,
that's been fun to be a part of,and, uh, we're going to keep
consistently bringing you thattype of thing and I've actually
(55:12):
got this gone.
So the Cave Hill, like I said,that went from a 13 out of 18.
The last one I'm going to do.
I'm here.
This is the Founders Collection.
Okay, so great.
We've already talked about this.
(55:35):
But it comes in this awesome boxsigned byavi.
You know it goes in there.
It gives you a ton of detailabout what uh race king is and
all the different stuff.
We've been over that.
But it's got the outside.
The distillery is a big, hugegiant awning and it's got this
artwork of the rabbit, therabbit hole.
It's really cool if you get achance to get to louisville.
(55:56):
You got to go to the rabbithole distillery because,
honestly, it's fantastic,fantastic distillery.
Kavi gives you an experience.
That is on.
It's a modern distillery.
It's not.
It's not based in.
It's based in its story, whichis very cool.
But it's also based in moderndistilling techniques using a
(56:17):
vendome, you know, column still.
It's not like they're not.
You know they're, they're,they're doing.
They're using the classiccolumn still, but at the same
time, they put it in this modernsetting.
But in your founder'scollection, this, this topper,
is unbelievable.
It's got a weight to a poundand a half, I mean.
(56:41):
It's got that gold color.
You can see all the stuffthat's going on with it.
Let's see if I can get it right.
Yeah, it's really a cool.
Let's get it there.
There we go.
Oh there, cool, but it's heavy.
I mean, if you threw this at aglass window it would break it.
(57:03):
It's like a rock.
So the bottle is, you know, gotthe rabbit hole.
Got the rabbit down here,you've got the rabbit hole logo
there.
With the, I mean the angle ofthe, I mean the bottle's just
(57:26):
cool.
And this is Ray's.
King is double chocolate maltand honestly, let's see what I
love.
This one.
Here we go.
What a Thursday, right guys.
(57:47):
What a Thursday.
What a Thursday.
Y'all went quiet on me, you allwent quiet on me.
Nose is very similar to theother ones.
(58:12):
Yeah, this is like high Gold inCave Hill.
Still the flavor not a lot, alittle bit sweeter.
But that double chocolate maltyou pick up chocolate, it's a
Hersey's chocolate bar.
It's not a dark chocolate, it'sa Hersey's chocolate bar, not
(58:35):
as sweet, but it's not bitterlike a dark chocolate.
It's not a milk chocolate, butRace King, which, let's see.
(58:55):
Race King which, let's see,let's see how many.
What the?
We'll put the glasses back on.
It's 109.2, so it's a littlebit heavier.
(59:19):
79 out of 1365, limited editionWhiskey is all about flavor,
particularly unadulterated,non-chill, filtered expressions
at cast strength, with nothingadded and nothing taken away.
(59:42):
You taste the essence of howgrain, wood, thyme and terroir
come together.
With this distinct bourbon, Iwent all in on a unique double
chocolate malt.
Five distinct grains, threedifferent types of malts with a
double malt combination ofchocolate wheat and chocolate
(01:00:04):
barley, carefully aged inhandmade wood, fire toasted and
charred barrels.
Making fire, making finewhiskey is a creative art driven
by primal desire to turn asimple grain into gold.
Race King was a gamble, butfortunately the payout has been
outstanding.
(01:00:27):
It doesn't say how old it is.
That is one thing On this one,it does not On this.
On this one, it does not onthis.
Alright, we got that back overthere.
Let's see if I can pull off howold it is.
On the bottle nope, not there.
(01:00:58):
No age statement.
There you go.
So no, not Ambarana finished.
Have you ever had any of this,walker?
(01:01:31):
Anyways, so there we go.
So I will take us offline.
As far as the podcast, guys,thanks everybody who was
watching.
Just know when you're onFacebook and YouTube, we're
going to go a little bit longerprobably not on YouTube.
wasn't a lot of interest onYouTube tonight, but what I will
(01:01:54):
do is keep us on Facebook andthen throw up the invitation for
a little bit.
All right, guys, all right.
Thanks everybody.
This week's been pretty special.
I want to say that, coming up,I've got this bottle here.
(01:02:16):
It is Greg Schneider's newdistillery, four Branches.
This is their 250th anniversaryof the military bottle.
I'm going to get samples out tothe people I need to get
samples out to and in theupcoming not next week but the
following week, either Tuesdayor Thursday, hopefully we're
(01:02:38):
going to have Greg Schneider onplus the founders of the Four
Branches Bourbon and we're goingto be tasting this bottle.
I'm excited because, you know,greg's at a new place.
The man knows how whiskeyshould taste.
The man knows how whiskeyshould taste and when people
give him whiskey to work with,he usually makes it taste
(01:03:02):
awesome.
This actually is, I believe, anine-year Kentucky straight
bourbon whiskey and I'm lookingforward to tasting this opening.
I'm going to have to open it.
Send off samples to CT and Mattwants us.
I'll send samples off.
Somehow I got to get it to.
(01:03:23):
I'll get it to CT, matt.
I'll get as many people as Ican get samples of this bottle.
But it came today.
And then the coolest thing itcame with this coin and I'm
excited about it.
It's that they sent the coinand it's going to be fun to be a
(01:03:47):
part of the new place that GregSchneider is on and he's going
to be on.
He's the one that contacted me,he's the one that wanted us to
do this.
He's such a good friend, gregum.
It's like you're just, you'repart of us, but you're part of
me and everything that you do.
(01:04:07):
I wish I lived closer and wecould hang out more and uh, I
just you know it's when, afterwe were done, uh, at old
homestead this the last place,when, when we went down to
kentucky and indiana the lasttime and we were at old
homestead afterwards, me and ctchecked into the hotel at old
(01:04:29):
homestead and then me and ctheaded off.
I believe randy um took a napand me and ct headed off and
walk and Walker's going awayparty was at Amore, which is
like five minutes from Greg'shouse.
But we got to Greg's house, Ibrought my Magnus bottle, the JW
(01:04:54):
Magnus, which was the cigarblend that started it all, and
we smoked a cigar and had a pourof that, and then we went and
had an awesome meal, but this isto support the military and him
being part of the military.
The story we're going to tellabout this bottle is going to be
(01:05:16):
fantastic.
Plus, it's got nine-yearKentucky straight bourbon
whiskey in there, and I'mexcited about it.
So that's going to be happeningin the next couple weeks, so
everybody, look forward to that.
I do not believe, walker, thatthis is what you're talking
(01:05:43):
about.
This is different.
It might have been before Greg,but this one's part of Greg, so
it's not going to be.
It's nine years, that one, andwe don't need three more years.
He hasn't, he hasn't.
I don't believe he's distilledanything right now.
(01:06:04):
He is, uh, making sure that hegets well, the barrels that they
buy and purchase these andsource that.
He's putting it together tomake great bourbon and I'm
telling you, greg schneider'spalette is every bourbon man's
palette.
He's got the man's man palette,but anyways, um, with that said
(01:06:28):
, uh, great to have everybody,everybody on tonight.
Uh, we are the scotchy bourbonBoys wwwscotchybourbonboyscom.
Make sure you check us out forT-shirts, glen Karens.
And then also we're on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X, and
also on Apple iHeart and Spotify, but also all the other podcast
(01:06:52):
formats.
But however you watch or listento us, make sure you like,
listen, subscribe, comment andleave good feedback.
Good feedback is everything.
If you're listening on AppleiHeart, please go give us a
review.
Reviews, five-star reviews.
I need to get our four-pointwhatever rating up further.
(01:07:13):
So I challenge everybody to goto Apple and hit that five star
and give us a comment on.
Give us a good review rightthere.
But remember good bourbonequals good times and good
friends.
Make sure you don't drink anddrive.
(01:07:35):
You live your life.
Drink respons and drive.
You live your life.
Drink responsibly, not liveyour life and live your life
uncut and unfiltered.
Little steve-o is going to takeus out, as he always will.
Speaker 3 (01:07:52):
I'm I'm dedicated to
you, little steve-o, I'm
dedicated to you, little Steve-ooh, show me the way to the next
whiskey bar.
Oh, don't ask why.
(01:08:13):
Oh don't ask why.
Oh don't ask why.
Show me the way to the nextwhiskey bar, oh don't ask why.
Oh don't ask why.
For if we don't find the nextwhiskey bar, I tell you we must
(01:08:35):
die.
I tell you we must die, allright.