April 23, 2025 • 66 mins
The Scotchy Bourbon Boys dive deep into Maker's Mark's Wood Finishing Series, comparing the 2024 Heart Release and 2025 Keepers Release while exploring the brand's evolution from its wheated bourbon origins to its innovative stave-finishing techniques.
• Wood Finishing Series represents Maker's Mark's expanding approach to bourbon making through French oak stave finishing
• Heart Release (111.7 proof) showcases the distillery team with fruit-forward notes of caramel, maple and chocolate
• Keepers Release (109.3 proof) honors the warehouse teams with bold oak and toasted sweetness characteristics
• The Maker's Mark Ambassador Program allows fans to follow a barrel's journey and eventually purchase bottles from their own barrel
• Both limited releases demonstrate how Maker's has evolved while maintaining the smooth character Bill Samuels Sr. originally intended
• Dark Arts Whiskey House is taking finishing techniques to new levels by sourcing specific oak from individual French forests
• The bourbon industry continuously evolves as consumer preferences shift toward higher proof, more complex offerings
Visit www.scotchybourbonboys.com for Scotchy Bourbon Boys merchandise including t-shirts and Glencairns, and find us on all major social media platforms and podcast formats.
From humble beginnings in the rolling hills of Kentucky to becoming a globally recognized brand with that iconic red wax seal, Maker's Mark exemplifies how tradition and innovation can brilliantly coexist. The Scotchy Bourbon Boys take you behind the scenes of Maker's Mark's Wood Finishing Series, exploring how this historic distillery continues to push boundaries while honoring its wheated bourbon legacy.
The 2024 Heart Release (111.7 proof) and 2025 Keepers Release (109.3 proof) each tell a unique story through their distinct flavor profiles. The Heart Release celebrates the distillery team with fruit-forward notes of caramel, maple and chocolate, while the Keepers Release honors the warehouse teams with bold oak and toasted sweetness. Through meticulous tasting, we break down how the strategic placement of French oak staves transforms the classic Maker's profile in unexpected and delightful ways.
Beyond the bottles themselves, we uncover the rich heritage of Star Hill Farm, where the Maker's Mark story began in 1953 when Bill Samuels Sr. set out to create a more refined, palatable bourbon without the harsh bite common in whiskeys of that era. The distillery's commitment to quality shines through their Ambassador Program, which allows fans to follow a barrel's journey from filling to bottling—culminating in the opportunity to purchase bottles from your very own barrel.
The evolution of Maker's Mark mirrors broader trends in bourbon appreciation, with today's enthusiasts embracing higher proofs and more complex flavor profiles than ever before. Through our "Barrel Bottle Breakdown" rating system, we evaluate what makes these limited releases special and why they've become so sought-after among collectors and casual drinkers alike. Join us for this spirited exploration of how Maker's Mark continues to innovate while staying true to its roots.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Middle West Spirits was founded in 2008, focusing on
elevating the distinct flavorsof the Ohio River Valley.
Their spirits honor their rootsand reflect their originality
as makers, their integrity asproducers and their passion for
crafting spirits from grain toglass.
Their Michelon Reserve linereflects their story from the
(00:23):
start to the bottle, to yourglass, with unique weeded and
rye bourbons, and also rye andwheat whiskeys, the Michelon
brand is easy to sip.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It might be a grain-to-glass experience, but I
like to think of it as uncutand unfiltered from their family
to yours.
Drinking buddies sipping oncigars we feel it wild.
We're short from the wash.
How could we do with drinkingevery drink, man?
We're caught on some cheap club.
We're technically true.
Yeah, we're the Tashi-Buddyboys Raising some hell.
We're making some noise.
Yeah, we're the Tashi-Buddyboys Raising some hell to make
it some more.
Get out of the scotch and dirtyboys.
We're here to have fun.
(01:28):
We're here to have fun, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
All right, welcome back to another podcast of the
Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
Wait, we're having problems.
Will someone check on Facebookto make sure that you can hear
me?
Someone's saying they can'thear me, but I would imagine
that they should be able to hearme.
(02:13):
I can monitor that real quickto make sure.
Walker, can you hear?
Okay, thank you.
Uh, is anyone had the vanillabean cheesecake private select
from maker's mark picked up,when it's there two weeks ago?
(02:34):
I haven't opened it yet.
I have not.
But, uh, walker, are you saying, okay, you're good now?
Good, uh, that should be good.
Um, so tonight we are doing themaker's Mark the wood finishing
series.
We're going to give it a littlebit of a history on that.
We're going to be tasting andopening this 2025.
(02:56):
Let's see, I want that forward.
Yeah, let's take this back back, back back.
Perfect and going through that,perfect and going through that.
But first we are the ScotchyBourbon Boys
wwwscotchybourbonboyscom.
For all things Scotchy BourbonBoys.
You can get our t-shirts, youcan get our glens.
You also can get the t-shirtsand glens by just leaving a
(03:20):
comment on Facebook and youtube.
I'll get your address.
Uh, we'll set up the venmo andyou can pick it up.
Uh, we also have, um, a barrelpicks right now from one of our
sponsors, which is the lilliansinclair and the william dalton,
available to anybody who wouldwant to uh, get your hands on
(03:42):
this.
Give me a call.
And also, and I can set you up,the Lillian Sinclair is the
last from the Spirits of French.
Lick is the last batch orbarrel that Alan Bishop was
associated with his own whiskeybefore he went off to old
homestead.
We're going to quick.
Do our other sponsors.
(04:05):
We've got Middle West Spirits.
They're in Columbus, ohio.
This is on the shelf in 48states.
The cast strength that they'rereleasing of their Michelon
Reserve brand has been fantastic.
They've got this straightweeded bourbon whiskey.
They got straight weededwhiskey and then they also have
(04:26):
a great pumpernickel rye all atcast strength.
You got to check them out.
Uh, what they're doing downthere, uh, in columbus, having
their two distilleries, theirmassive uh distillery, producing
right now.
They've been doing it for abouta year.
(04:52):
Can't wait till we get to tastesome of the stuff out of there.
But what Ryan Lang has set upand what he's doing, um, you got
to check it out.
Middle West Spirits in ColumbusOhio, and if you visit their
original craft distillery.
They also have a fantastic finedining restaurant called the
Service Bar, so check that out.
(05:15):
Then we also have Whiskey ThiefDistilling Company with their
two locations their one mainlocation at three boys farms in
frankfurt, kentucky.
A fantastic experience thatwhen you go there it is a barrel
pick all day, every day, andyou basically get to choose from
(05:39):
five different barrels uh,thief, your own, uh, taste them,
taste them again, and if youlike one of those barrels, for
the cost of emission of a tour,you can then bottle your own in
375s or 750s.
Uh, it's a fantastic, fantasticexperience, uh, that you don't
(06:01):
want to miss out on.
And they also have uhexperience now in louisville,
kentucky, in the new loo area,their tasting room exact same
thing barrel pick all day, everyday.
Remember whiskey thief and thescotchy bourbon boys are uncut
and unfiltered also.
Then we have um rosewoodbourbons and Rye's.
(06:25):
You got Jason Giles who hasbasically worked out distilling,
which hasn't hit the shelvesyet, but he's also purchased
barrels that have aged inIndiana and Kentucky.
He drives them down in a semi946 miles to I want to say,
(06:51):
houston, texas, and he lets themage there for at least one of
those hot seasons in Texas andhe comes out with some fantastic
bourbons and rye.
So you got to check outrosewood bourbon and rye.
Uh, alan bishop is also one ofour sponsors and he does.
(07:13):
If you have ghosts, you haveeverything podcast, plus the one
piece of the time distillinginstitute on youtube, and if you
are a home distiller or haveany interest in home distilling,
that's the show for you.
Love and history of bourbonmaking that he has then
portrayed into his own, uh rightback into his own distilling
(07:51):
and it's fantastic.
So, anyways, all right.
So, uh, there we go.
For that.
We were the scotchy bourbonboys.
Remember, we're on facebook,youtube, instagram and x.
You can watch us there, see usthere, see our posts, see, see
our shorts, see our lives.
And then we're also on all themajor podcast formats Apple,
(08:12):
iheart, spotify mainly, butanywhere you want to listen to
us.
But no matter how you do it,whether you listen or you watch
us, remember, listen like,comment, subscribe and leave
good feedback.
Um, that feedback means a lotto us, especially if you can go
to apple and leave a.
You like what you're, whatyou're uh seeing tonight.
(08:34):
Just please go to apple, checkthat out, and that will help
with us becoming higher than thenumber three whiskey podcast in
the world according to.
And I will get that.
Let's see according to.
And we can do this right here.
I am going to share the screen.
(08:56):
Let's do that according to.
It's great, but you can do this.
I had it here.
Okay, we'll hit share and thenwe'll hit of the 60.
It's according to Feedspot, ofthe 60 podcasts, the 60 best
(09:20):
whiskey podcasts in the world,the Scotchy Bourbon Boys are
ranked third at feed spot.
So check that out.
Uh, the link is there on.
I included in on the link onyoutube and I'll put one down on
facebook when I'm finished.
You can check us out and theother podcasts there.
But that's really kind of cool.
I, I, I love that part of it.
(09:43):
So, so, being third, I amhonored, we are honored and we
love the fact that we've beenranked third.
I don't know how it is, okay.
So Hash Green chug the bottle.
My boy, yeah, and then the guysout.
Yeah, that's what I do.
I chug bottles on the podcast.
You know it's funny because ifyou watch early, early on, when
(10:06):
I used to be on TikTok, I did doa bottle chug of, I believe,
elijah Craig, but that just gotme, it was Elijah Craig toasted
and that just got me in troubleon TikTok.
So no bottle chugs here, myfriend.
We've got Mashi.
It's on Mr Smith.
It's like I on mr smith.
Uh, it's like I don't, whatever.
(10:26):
It's like I have no idea whereall this political stuff just
comes on from the.
It's like the we, us, uh,people here, uh, we.
We keep our whiskey and ourpolitics separate, especially
here on the podcast, becauseeverybody, I believe the whiskey
is the ultimate.
(10:49):
What would you say?
Go between people withdifferences.
If you're sharing a pour withsomebody, you've got something
in common.
It seems to fix a lot ofproblems.
So that's where we're at there.
Um, so here we are.
Uh, we're at the maker's mark.
Uh, we've got the, these twowood finishing series.
(11:12):
But honestly, um, one of thecool things about maker's mark
is becoming an ambassador andthey have a program there and
you could sign up on mercury.
Chug them both, yeah, okay, hey, gate said hi.
Um, what I wanted to say isthat their ambassador program is
(11:33):
pretty.
Why is that?
Oh, because we shared thescreen, so now I'm not getting
any.
So, wow, let's just keep goingthat way.
We'll go that way.
All right, sanford Joseph, okay, oh, I can't say that I have,
but I have the same favorite.
Mine is the okay Ice CreamSocial.
So, all right, yeah, I do, wehave Ice Cream Social.
(11:56):
But the ambassador program isreally cool.
You can download the app or youcan go to Maker's Mark and sign
up for their ambassador program.
It's what they do, is they?
Basically, you sign up and theyfill a barrel and put your name
on it with, I believe, six orseven other people, and you get
(12:19):
updates on that barrelthroughout time.
Plus, you get a certificate.
You get all this, a letter andeverything as part of being in
the ambassador program and afterthe barrel matures which my
barrel should be maturing youcan buy bottles from that barrel
.
It's the barrel that when Ifirst started in 2019, it went
(12:41):
up.
I can't wait.
I'm going to buy all thebarrels I possibly can from that
barrel.
Maker's Mark, these barrels areaged till they're ready.
It's a little bit more aged.
It's a single barrel, so it'sreally kind of cool.
It's not a blend like Maker'sMark.
It comes out the barrel, outthe barrel.
(13:10):
So fantastic, fantastic programand it's all.
Honestly, it's it's free andI've gotten uh, christmas
ornaments, I've gotten, socks,I've gotten.
There's so, so much that theywere able.
You know that you've gottenthrough them through this
ambassador program, plus everyyear that you go there to keep
up, and this is my, that you sawmy one ambassador, but this is
my makers mark ambassador.
That now I didn't.
(13:31):
I went there in 2025, which iscrazy, but you get these pins,
so they went to these pins andthen you used to get the ribbons
.
So I really love that part ofthe program and that part of the
program.
So, up until your barrel isready, but being an ambassador,
once your barrel comes due andyou go down and you get the free
(13:54):
ambassador tour, but we'regoing to be going down and
getting the tour.
But also we are going to behopefully having Rob Samuels on
the podcast that day when we godown and we'll celebrate that
the barrel came due.
And the scotchie this is thescotchie bourbon boys um, you
could buy more than the ninebottles that they normally
(14:15):
prepare.
Okay, but that's really cool.
Um, yeah, well, if you are anambassador, they did not close
it, they, they, you can get upto it's.
It's there, we were there, youcould.
It's a couple podcasts ago withAmanda Humphrey that we did.
And then we're talking let'ssee Blake.
(14:39):
Oh my gosh, I knew, let's seeif I go down.
Let's see how far that was.
Abe, all right, I can't, I'mlooking for it.
Blake Layfield is their masterdistiller, so that's kind of
cool, um, but have missed.
But have missed everything.
I need to figure out what to do.
I've been signed up but havemissed everything.
(15:01):
Oh, okay, anyways, so when wewere there, we were there, uh,
last time when we had amandahumphries on and she's their
event coordinator and she is incharge just the in charge of a
lot of stuff helping withblending and helping with
everything around the distillery, helping with the farm.
(15:25):
The farm is amazing.
That is one thing.
That's really kind of cool.
The farm there and I've gotthis is a little bit older, but
it still is good.
For let's see what I did.
Oh, my God, I just I'm looking,all right, I thought I wait,
(15:50):
did I, did?
I, did I?
I don't know?
No, no, no, nope, that's the.
How do you lose your glasses?
The glasses should be in thisarea.
Did I lose them?
I do not see the glasses.
So that's going to be.
I did not take the glassesanywhere, all right.
(16:14):
So, oh, there they are, fell onthe floor.
So we'll get the glasses offthe floor, because that's very
important to do the read off thefloor, because that's very
important to do the read.
Uh, for all the all you newguys, this is about how it goes
all the time we're just hangingout and at the end, uh, it
becomes kind of a a party.
(16:34):
So let me, let me read frommichael jackson's whiskey the
definite, the definitive worldguide scotch bourbon whiskey,
new edition.
This, I believe, came out in 20, I want to say 2019, but I will
let you know, let's see.
And so he definitely.
(16:54):
I have no idea what the hellthat is Interesting.
My wife has come home.
Let's see.
It was updated, he had passedand he had done the world guide
and this was the new edition.
So, um, it's like maker's mark,founded in 1805, it's owned by
(17:21):
centauri.
Now it used to be Beam Centauri, but it's Centauri method,
column and pot stills.
Capacity 1.8 million gallons,but I do believe they have much
more capacity now.
So American's first premiumspecialty bourbon of the modern
era, a soft and easy dram, lieshidden in the rolling hills of
(17:41):
Marion County.
The distillery site is one ofKentucky's oldest.
In the rolling hills of MarionCounty.
The distillery site is one ofKentucky's oldest, amid the
rolling hills of Marion County,in a broad and fertile hollow
with sycamore trees, standingsentinel in the organic cluster
of buildings that compriseMaker's Mark Distillery.
Maker's Mark occupies one ofKentucky's oldest whiskey-making
(18:02):
sites, dating back to 18055,and is designated a National
Historic Landmark.
The black and red trimbuildings straddle the banks of
Hardin Creek, the stream thatdissects the serene valley floor
of Star Hill Farm.
On the road leading down to thecreek, the visitor's pass is
the Courthouse, one of America'soldest remaining retail package
(18:25):
stores.
In a period before the darkcloud of prohibition, marion
County neighbors would swing byin their horse and buggy and
have their corks jugs filledfrom the whiskey barrels inside.
A special southern alchemytakes place at Maker's Mark, an
alchemy that creates a trulyhandmade whiskey, america's
first premium quality bourbon ofthe modern era.
(18:46):
The president of Maker's Mark isRob Samuels, who took over for
the charismatic and inventiveBill Samuels Jr in 2011.
Samuels is the eighthgeneration Kentucky bourbon
maker and the link stretchesback to his ancestors, stretches
back to his ancestors RobSamuels of the 1780s, robert
(19:06):
Samuels of the 1780s, neighborof Baptist preacher,
entrepreneur and pioneeringwhiskey maker, elijah Craig.
In 1953, bill Samuels Sr boughtthe Star Hill Farm 200 acres of
fertile farmland with an oldcountry distillery on site and a
deep spring-fed lake on thehill above it.
Walker, you tell me what thename of the lake is now.
(19:31):
Bill Sr had no interest inselling the pedestrian bourbon
of his competitors, so hescrapped the old family recipe
and set out to produce a premiumsipping bourbon.
My dad's goal was to create abourbon that was more refined,
palatable and yet flavorful,explains Bill Jr, something that
(19:53):
did not have the hot aftertastetraditionally associated with
bourbon.
The purpose was not about money, it was about bringing good
taste to bourbon, and he'sdesignated it for a palate of
one.
Himself.
Bill Sr experimented withdifferent grains for bourbon,
developing a recipe based onlocally grown corn, winter wheat
(20:13):
, softer and gentler flavor thanthe traditional spicy rye and
malted barley.
Mr Samuels, meanwhile, came upwith the name Maker's Mark,
based on the tradition ofEnglish pewter markers who put
their marks on their finestpieces.
The mark of bill samuel stilldecorates every bottle and as
does another mrs samuel'sinnovation the hand-dipped wax
(20:36):
seal that spills down the neckof maker's mark bottle.
So right here you can seepeople on, you can on the audio.
But there's that embossed inthe glass, their stamp and then
every single bottle and this isdipped in red wax and it drips
down the side.
So you get to, in some cases,do this yourself, they'll talk
(20:58):
about it.
Came up with an okay tradition,okay, okay.
In 1958, the first barrel ofMaker's Mark handmade whiskey
spelled without an E in tributeto the Samuels' Scottish
ancestry, because Scotch isspelled without the E and Irish
is with and American is with.
But this is the one exceptionin America where it's spelled
(21:22):
without the E.
And it was ready for the market.
Sales of the early makers weregradual and local, spreading
slowly by word of mouth amongthe whiskey connoisseurs of
Kentucky.
By 1980, maker's Mark hadbecome a Kentucky icon, bill
Samuels Jr says.
And then the Wall StreetJournal ran a front page article
(21:44):
about us that year and thephone rang off the hook.
The article was huge for us.
It created consumer interestoutside Kentucky and gave the
brand credibility.
Maker's Mark was acquired byBeam Global some years back and
now a part of Beam Suntory,which then became now Suntory
Suntory also owns Jim Beam.
(22:07):
Maturation is in black metalside warehouses ranging from
three to six stories and Makersis one of the rare distilleries
that rotates barrels in the samewarehouse.
It's a costly andlabor-intensive process.
In the early part of the newmillennium the company broke
from tradition with thewonderful new whiskey Maker's 46
.
The numbers did not refer tothe strength of its proof or 47
(22:28):
ABV, but to the specific tastingand charring of the wood used
in the maturation process, whichinvolves emptying the casks,
adding French oak staves andrefilling for further maturation
.
Maker's Marks has a stylish,modern visitor center and a gift
shop which includes a waxdipping booth so the visitors
can dip and seal their ownbottles.
So there you go, man.
That is kind of.
(22:50):
Matt Lyson says he's anambassador.
I suggest anybody who'slistening to go and be an
ambassador because honestly it'sreally kind of.
It's a fantastic thing.
But let's get back to this.
This is the wood finishingseries, which is similar.
So what happens in the woodfinishing series is exactly what
happens in makers.
Uh, 46 is the makers, 46 is thestaves that they use.
(23:15):
French, they use a bunch ofdifferent, um, french oak, they
use american, they use alldifferent types to come up with
their barrel, private selects.
But in this case the woodfinishing series is the Kentucky
straight bourbon whiskey barrelfinished with 10 virgin oak
staves and maker certified corpmisting.
(23:37):
So I've got a little bit ofthat on.
This is one thing, because forthe I don't have it on the, I
have it on the heart batch.
This is the heart release andlet me share that on the screen
for everybody.
That is on and we'll go overhere.
This is a breaking bourbon, myone of my favorite places.
(24:01):
Um, it is straight bourbon,finished with virgin oak straves
.
Uh, centauri, maker's mark.
The heart was released on julyof 2024.
111.7 proof.
No age statement.
Mash bill 70 corn, 16 wheat and14 malted barley.
Amber color.
(24:21):
Okay, maker's mark woodfinishing series a collection of
bourbons that undergo a woodstave finishing technique that
is meant to enhance distinctivecharacteristics already present
in the brand's iconic bourbon.
The previous set of fivereleases in the wood finishing
series were considered chapterone.
The heart release kicks offchapter two and focuses on the
(24:42):
teams behind the creation ofmaker's mark bourbon according
to maker's mark.
This year's release is meant toshowcase the unique taste
vision inspired by thedistillery team.
The bourbon is finished withtwo different types of virgin
french oak staves 10 staves each, with one set inserted in the
bottle for five weeks and theother for nine weeks.
(25:04):
The finishing takes place inthe distillery's limestone
cellar where maker's mark cellaraged is aged.
So this is really kind of coolhow this finishing series works.
And, um, this, the 24.
Now this release here and I'mgoing to read about that.
Hopefully now I'm going to getoff the share because I do not
(25:26):
need to keep sharing that.
There we go and we're back herefor the second chapter of our
limited released wood finishingseries.
Now, this is for now.
That was the heart release, okay, of our limited.
Okay for the keepers release.
It says series pursues uniquetaste visions that celebrate
(25:50):
those who craft our handmadebourbon at star hill farm the
makers of makers.
The keepers release is aone-of-a-kind expression
inspired by the people whooversee the maturation of our
whiskey, the true, true keepersof Maker's Mark.
Through cold winters and hotKentucky summers, they deploy a
deep knowledge of the agingprocess, hand-rotating casks to
(26:13):
ensure every single drop of ourwhiskey emerges from the barrel.
At its very best, this is abold expression with hints of
oak toasted sweetness.
We hope you enjoy this one asmuch as we have enjoyed making
it.
So that is the Keeper's Release.
Now this one which is the HeartRelease that the makers of our
(26:37):
makers, if you will, in this2024 release known as the heart
release, will have crafted a oneof a kind expression that
celebrates our team thatdistills our whiskey.
This team is the center, theheart of, if you will, of our
whiskey making process.
This stage in the processserved to guide all other stages
, ensuring our taste vision isrealized fruit forward with
(26:58):
caramel, maple and chocolatenotes.
This expression features a rich, creamy mouthfeel that it's a
pure delight.
We hope you enjoy this one asmuch as they enjoyed making it.
So that's the two of them.
Now I am.
That gets us to the maker's markand I gotta get back to
comments.
Doing all this is older thanwalking forward.
(27:20):
Oh, let's see, don't look agift horse in the mouth.
Hi, bro, hey, uno, barrelproof.
No, I believe the heart releasewas a 111.
I want to say the keep.
I do believe they keep it there, but let me see.
Want to say the keep, I dobelieve they keep it there, but
(27:47):
let me see.
Um, this one is 109.3 for thekeeper, so a little bit less.
Um, warehouse wh2-5, it is109.3.
Release, a two of five 109.
Okay, 10 virgin oak stays and,uh, the mash bill would be the
same as I read on on both ofthese, because it's the maker's
mark mash bill.
So that brings us to this partand this section of the podcast,
(28:13):
and it is the old louisvillewhiskey company's barrel bottle
breakdown.
The Old Louisville WhiskeyCompany's Barrel Bottle
Breakdown.
This section of the ScotchyBourbon Boys is brought to you
by the Old Louisville WhiskeyCompany in Louisville, kentucky.
Amin Khar there does a greatjob of purchasing barrels.
(28:41):
He's done it for a long timeand he purchased those barrels
and then he bottles them rightthere while you're there at his
distillery.
He's just added a brand new potstill so that he can say that
he's at the distillery.
But you got to go see Amin atOld Louisville Whiskey Company.
(29:03):
Tell them the Scotchy BourbonBoys.
You know this is where youheard about it, but what Amin
does there is a fantastic joband if you've never been able to
thief or get into a barrelgetting over to Amin at Old
Louisisville whiskey company, um, there's a good chance you're
going to be able to tastesomething right from the barrel
(29:25):
and even bottle your own rightfrom the barrel, just like you
can.
So, um, tonight's barrel bottlebreakdown is of the keeper's
Blend 2025.
This bottle is going to be putup against our Barrel Bottle
(29:46):
Breakdown rating scale, whichconsists of nose, body, taste
and finish.
But the Barrel Bottle Breakdownis a series of knocks on a
barrel that we put out and themost knocks that you can get for
(30:08):
the nose or the aroma or thesmell, is four Four knocks for
that category.
The most knocks you can get forthe body is four knocks for
that category.
But in the taste and the finishyou can get up to five knocks.
And that is because, if it justwhat we've evolved the rating
(30:32):
scale to be, so that's a totalof 18.
But if there is one exceptionalcategory, you can add a, but up
up to it to just one per time.
So a perfect score is 19 out of18 for exceptional bourbons.
But I'm going to tell youhonestly, I'm going to tell you
(30:55):
that this right here and I don'tknow why it's doing that it
shouldn't be doing that Well,let's get that in this
particular bottle right here.
I purchased on Sunday.
I purchased this bottle lastyear and I wonder what's
(31:16):
happening with the internet,with the YouTube.
I hope I don't lose it becauseit's absolutely doing really
well tonight.
But this bottle right hereSunday between me and Roxy we've
got this at least a third gone.
This is a good bottle.
So I was excited to do thebarrel bottle breakdown of Of
(31:37):
Makers, the Keepers Release of2025.
So let's get this going.
I have this great.
There's the pewter stamp Of theStar Hill Farm SIVs, which is
(31:57):
four.
This is Hand blown glass thatwhen we did the podcast, Amanda
Humphries gifted us this glass.
It's special from that and weare going to taste this in that
glass.
But remember we also have theScotchy Bourbon Boys Glencairns.
If you need one of those, get ahold of me for that.
(32:18):
But I'm going gonna put it inthis maker's mark awesome glass.
And I was like I said, first I'mgonna do the barrel bottle
breakdown and then I'm gonnacompare it to last year's
release.
Um, how they drop in thosestaves is pretty damn cool.
Uh, I wonder what is going on.
(32:41):
Uh, let me try something realquick.
I'm gonna text my wife.
Let's see, are you on theinternet?
(33:01):
There you go?
All right, get back here.
Let's see it seems to be.
Let's see, seems to be.
Let's see it's still working,but it's all.
(33:23):
Uh, I swear to god, is it okay?
Let me see if that's a thecamera I must have.
Maybe that's the camera rightthere, but I'm looking.
Am I gonna look at?
Look at that.
That is not blurry.
So whatever's happening, um,with the internet now she said
she's not, so hopefully I getback over here and there we go.
(33:47):
All right, anyways, all right,so we'll back at this.
So we'll start the barrelbottle breakdown now.
Um, everybody got it in theirglass.
They all do.
You all have something.
I gave her a glass in return.
All right, the nose on this.
(34:10):
Let's see, it's had breathingtime.
This is perfect.
It's got a nice.
There's a nice oaky, almostlike a wine, but there's a, a
caramel apple and the apple isstrong and the nose has a really
(34:38):
, really fresh.
For 109 proof, it's got areally, really fresh.
I'm gonna switch over here backinto, switch back into that.
All right, there we go.
(34:59):
Now it's feeling better, butthe nose is apple and fruity.
Now, I did pour a decent pourand this is not a glen.
So, um, when you're looking atwhat it does in your glass and
how it the, the body of it, the,the one telltale is you read
the legs.
It's when you it coats the sideof the glass and then what?
(35:22):
How it drips back down, tellsyou how thick and the um, the
viscosity of the actual bourbonwhich tends to, when you get
some really nice legs droppingback into that glass, forming,
you know, a longer leg you get.
It tends to have a little bitmore um, a better mouthfeel,
(35:48):
which is part of that body.
Um, I also rate body based offwhat it does in the glass like
this.
But I also rate the body basedoff of how much the flavor
spreads out throughout yourwhole mouth.
It's cheeks, you know, a full.
(36:08):
If you were going to give a bodyat a full four or with a bit up
, the flavor would have to.
It has to go and you have tofeel it in your cheeks, on the
roof of your mouth, underneathyour tongue, the bottom back of
your throat.
It the flavor has that's.
That's to me what the body is.
So here we go.
I'm gonna taste it.
Wow, when I taste, and you cansee what that's doing in that
(36:42):
glass, how long those legs are,there's a cherry.
So the first part is definitelyon the front of your mouth, on
the front of your palate.
I'm gonna do this again.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
On the front of your palate there's a ton, a ton of
caramel, but then as you go andyou go back to that back palate,
then it picks up a little bitof cinnamon, there's an apple
aspect of it, but then there'salso a really, really sweet um,
(37:33):
like a frosting, um.
It goes from caramel to like asugary frosting with, then gets
the.
The hug is really, really full.
You taste it in your cheeks,you taste it roof of your mouth.
Everything the body isfantastic.
The flavor is everywhere and Iwould say that in that all, all
(37:55):
of that, you pick up the flavorof the wood also.
There's some of those woodtalons, tannins in there.
Now, let's see about this onemore time.
There's a lot of maker's mark.
(38:19):
Honestly, there's a ton ofmaker's mark, at least the ounce
.
The glass is made from recycledmaker's mark bottles blown into
shape by um, a specific artist.
Yes, a fantastic glass body.
Three.
Okay, we just cracked the 2025,okay, so you're, you're
(38:40):
drinking it right now with me,right now, matt right, all right
now.
The finish is still there's alittle bit of cherry, like
cherry apple, but the wood is.
There's a decent amount of woodthere and the part that stays
for a while is that oaky flavor.
(39:01):
Now, if you are a fan of achardonnay, this is, this is a
fantastic, fantastic whiskey,because the sweetness at one
point changes from sweet on thatfinish and it's there cinnamony
(39:22):
.
You pick up some of that likecherry apple and then you pick
up the, the wood.
I would say mid to long palette.
So all right.
So here we go.
I love the freshness of thisnose and so I'm gonna go with a
(39:54):
three out of four out of thefreshness because of that apple
kind of flavor, whateverfreshness that's existing.
Three bangs or not bangs.
Three knocks, all right.
Three knocks on that body.
It goes everywhere.
(40:17):
I would have to say I won't get, it doesn't get.
I would say that the body, thisone is a 109, it's Maker's Mark
, it fills every aspect of you.
Pick up that Maker's Markprofile.
(40:38):
I got to go with a four on thebody, randy, I think's a little.
I mean it hits, it's not a buttup up, it's not one of those
that you could give like a lotof the barrel strength stuff,
but this one.
Seven out of eight, all right.
We go to the big, the bigcategories, the taste, where you
(41:24):
maker's mark with extra caramel, then, uh, a little bit of, a
little bit of, uh, like a applekind of chardonnay kind of
cinnamony thing that happens.
So, from the taste, I, this,this is, this is fantastic.
I will give it the full five on.
(41:46):
This is what I love aboutbourbon, and this one's at a
five now we're talking.
So right now we've lost onepoint.
So out of 13, it's 12 out of 13.
Yeah, um, I don't know.
(42:09):
Matt says they might step.
I just think the batches allare different.
I mean, we pulled out a batchout of there when we did it that
you get when you do the farmtour for everybody, and that one
I was able to pick up and dipmyself.
Um, I will say that where thisdiffers, where like a seller,
(42:29):
aged excels beyond this, is onthe finish.
The finish is good and so, like, if you're, if you're talking,
it's, it's, it's good, but it'sprobably medium and in the end
it finishes with an oaky flavorthat I would get with, maybe,
(42:49):
like it.
Like there is the sweetnesshappening of the apple and the
cherry, but then it goes to thisoaky Chardonnay kind of finish
and I kind of like, I like it,but I'm not going to say that
that's what I want from abourbon.
So of the five, I give this onea three.
(43:11):
Here we go.
I don't know if y'all can hearthat, but that's, I'm kind of
hitting that on.
Pretty good as those knocks are.
So I'm going to rate this year's2005 Keeper's Release, maker's
Mark.
I have given it 15 out of 18.
(43:36):
Because I think that would havebeen 15 out of 18.
I think that's, yeah, thatwould have been, yep, 15 out of
18.
So pretty damn good whiskey.
Um, thank you for old listeningto the old louisville barrel.
Bottle breakdown for tuesday,april 22nd uh, makers mark.
(44:00):
Keepers release 2025.
There you go.
So we got people from all overthe place.
Uh, on youtube and whatnot.
Um, what did you think about it, matt?
Uh, I'll probably put that.
Put that part out.
Uh, now I'm going to put thisup against last.
(44:23):
Now this has only been opensince Sunday the keeper's batch.
Let's put the two there.
Put one here, one here.
Let's do it that way and I amgoing to put.
I'm going to try.
I haven't tried this for awhile, but I'm going to put a
little bit of this.
Uh, heart release.
(44:49):
Now I'm I'm definitely biased.
I might be able to get Roxy tocome down here and pour me a
blind on the two.
I know what they are right now.
Let me see.
Yeah, totally different Both ofthem, although that heart
(45:16):
release is pretty damn good Offthe first, after it sat.
Okay, so the Keeper's Releaseisn't as maker's marky.
The heart release is very thathas evolved into something
(45:38):
really good.
That has evolved into somethingreally good a little bit more
cinnamony than I think the 111proof.
The heart release is a lot morelike the classic barrel
(46:01):
strength bourbon that you get.
I'm telling you, in my opinion,the 2025 pulls in right next to
each other, is pulling insomething that's a little bit
different that I like better.
(46:23):
They're both damn good.
Uh, after it sat for a littlebit, once it's open, has turned
into a.
There's a.
It has way more oak.
It's got that rich charred oakthat you pick up in a beam or on
(46:49):
any cast strength.
That's what the Heart Releasehas.
That group of people loveKentucky Cast Strength bourbon.
That's what the Heart Releasetastes like.
Where this Keeper's Batch, ithas way more white frosting.
(47:13):
The sweetness is not theclassic Kentucky barrel
sweetness and the two of themare both fantastic.
But if I had to pick betweenthe two.
I'm pulling in this.
Uh, keepers, it'll beinteresting to see after I let
(47:35):
it sit in the bottle like thatfor a while.
All right, so we got that outof the way.
Um, I did want to talk about alittle bit tonight about what I
did last Thursday.
It's kind of cool.
The state of Ohio likes toinclude whiskey podcasters,
(48:01):
influencers on their state picks.
That they do.
They do a lot.
Picking a barrel with the stateof Ohio is completely different
than picking a barrel with agroup or for yourself.
When you're picking for a groupor yourself, you're trying to
pick that one barrel.
I like to think that, as theScotchy Bourbon Boys or when I'm
on barrel picks, where you'repicking that one barrel for
(48:23):
Kentucky Bourbon Festival, thedistillery is putting out some
damn good barrels, because whatyou want to showcase at the
Kentucky Bourbon Festival orthrough the podcast a podcast
where you're going to comethrough and promote the brand
when you make the pick you wantto have good barrels available
(48:45):
for the publicity.
So a lot of the times whenwe're picking, we get to pick
some damn good barrels, and thesame thing with the state of
Ohio.
But the state of Ohio is alwayspicking multiple barrels.
They're in it and theyunderstand that palates are
(49:05):
different.
So when they're picking they'rejust trying to pick for good
whiskey picking.
They're just trying to pick forgood whiskey.
But I believe on Monday I wantto say on Tuesday Andimic
contacted me and asked if Icould do a barrel pick with the
state of Ohio in Columbus, abouttwo hours away, and on Thursday
(49:26):
, and asked me what I wanted to.
You know if I wanted to do thatand I was like, yeah, cool.
So last Thursday I met withDark Arts and Macaulay Minton
(49:48):
and we did.
We chose from 10 barrels, Ibelieve we picked four and uh, I
got to Macaulay Minton.
I've known he is the person whoon my first initial uh bourbon
Stewart on the bourbon Stewartuh class.
(50:09):
I did it at wilderness trail,withaulay and I met Macaulay.
That's the first time I evermet Macaulay.
But then I was on barrel pickswith Macaulay.
Alan Bishop knows Macaulay,royce Neely knows Macaulay.
I ran into Macaulay numerousmore times and then when he left
Wilderness Trail and he startedDark Arts, we went and saw him
(50:32):
down at Dark Arts and went andtasted through some barrels.
Put up a ton of social media onthe barrel thieving, but we're
going to have him on coming up.
But in the state of Ohioeverybody Dark Arts he had
(50:59):
Macaulay has done so much topromote this brand and it's
becoming very, very successful,but it's not as successful
successful in the state of Ohioas I would like it to be,
because this is some damn damngood bourbon you're drinking
from his, his batch releases orsingle barrels or whatnot.
Dark arts is, uh, whiskey houseis fantastic whiskey.
So we were able to go down meetwith macaulay.
(51:21):
I'm working out having him onthe podcast now I'll also want
to say I'm also working to godown and see Dan McKee and
Andrea Wilson at Michter's.
And then we're also going tohave Bernie Lubbers May 6th I
(51:44):
want to say it's a Tuesday May6th we will be having Bernie on
the podcast.
He is the brand ambassador forHeaven Hill and Mr Bottle and
Bond and he's a fantastic,fantastic ambassador.
When we did our Elijah Craigbarrel proof you know barrel
(52:04):
proof pick at Heaven Hill, wehad Bernie come on and do the
pick with us and that wasfantastic.
Got to do meets more than justpassing time, got to spend some
time with Bernie.
So he's going to be on.
But dark arts I'm telling you.
(52:26):
This is what Macaulay is goingto bring to the finishing
industry.
He's taking it to the finishingindustry.
He's taking it to a differentlevel.
All we know is when someonesays French oak, they're putting
French oak in.
Macaulay will explain to you.
There's three different majorforests in France and each
(52:48):
forest yields different oak thatdifferent wines use, so each
forest is different.
So if you just hear aboutFrench oak and you don't know
what forest it came from, that'ssomething that is important,
because they yield differentflavors and tastes, and Macaulay
(53:09):
has taken it upon himself tounderstand where all of his
finishing barrels come from.
What was finished in themexactly?
Um, it's like if it's an orlarosso.
He even he'll know the brandsand everything.
So what he's done is fantastic.
So look forward to um, the darkarts podcast coming up.
(53:31):
I'm excited.
Hanging out with Macaulay andAnn Dimmick, two of my favorite
people, was fantastic.
Also, greg Schneider announcedthat he was going to be at Four
Branches.
That is now going through.
They made it official on theiron their website.
(53:53):
It was posted on Facebook.
Greg is just already starting.
The brand had started and therewas some things, and he's
already getting and using hisknowledge and expertise to start
what Greg does, and what had hehad done for chicken cock he's
now going to do for fourbranches.
(54:14):
I'm looking forward to it andvery excited about that.
So we've got a lot happeninggoing forward.
I'm still gonna sip on this.
Yeah, the heart release is waymore powerful.
(54:44):
And you know, it's funny becausewhen you um think about maker's
mark and what we talked aboutwith what bill samuels jr said,
that Bill Samuels was trying todo when he started Maker's Mark,
and when you think about that,I need some water when you think
about that he's talking about.
Back then he wanted to makeMaker's Mark a smooth, easy
(55:08):
drinking whiskey, one thatdidn't have that bite that some
people love but other people'sdon't.
But it's funny now.
Up until a while ago, beforethe private selects, you
couldn't get one.
You couldn't get barrels agedany further than what they were
(55:30):
aging the barrels and they werejust making Maker's Mark all
along.
When Maker's Mark 46 came along, that was their first ever
change in what they were doing,but they also weren't changing
the proof.
Now we have barrel proof.
We've got the cellar aged,which is further aged because
(55:53):
forever maker's mark wouldn'tage it any longer.
And uh, this is the cellar ageand I'm sure this is one of my
favorite.
You can see this is a greatbottle that got dipped.
Um, but my, my thing is is thatthe newer higher proof makers
(56:17):
marks don't exactly fit the bill, because whiskey has evolved,
because a lot of people likethat higher proof, they like
that little bit more age, theylike that little bit of bite and
that's kind of just like, ifyou take the sport of baseball,
there's different time periodswhere things are happening
within the sport Right now.
(56:39):
You know, in the 70s and the80s average was very, very
important.
People would hit for average,didn't want to strike out, but
right now home runs andstrikeouts are the name of the
game.
So it's evolved to be a littlebit more straightforward and
less finesse and get more of theglamour and a strikeout and
(57:03):
homers.
Those are way up in baseballright now, whereas, you know, at
different times the homers aredown and the strikeouts are down
.
So there's a lot of differentevolutions of the bourbon
industry.
But right now people drinkingcast strength when they were
putting cast strength out wayback.
(57:25):
It's just like what is going on.
They're putting cast strengthout and when they did it, when
Booker did it and when peoplewere doing it, they didn't think
people were going to drink itat cast strength.
They wanted to give it to themso they could add water and
drink it at the proof that theywanted to drink it at where they
felt was the best to drink it.
But it's evolved into peoplebuying it and drinking it in
(57:50):
cast strength form.
Speaker 3 (57:53):
Alright.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
It's funny, but this Cellar Aged, which is 119.3, so
very close 10, 10.
This drinks more like what BillJr was trying to do.
It's very easy for 119 proofand that's pretty cool.
(58:29):
All right, everybody, that'spretty cool.
All right, everybody.
Uh, makers, mark, now everybodyon youtube and facebook.
You can hang on afterwards, wecan, we hang out for a little
bit after, but, um, we're goingto end this for the regular
podcast at this point.
Um, I think that was a prettyfantastic Thanks to everybody
(58:51):
who's watching uh rightafterwards.
If you hang on, I am going to,especially if you're watching on
uh Facebook, I will set up the.
I will give you a cut.
Canadian mist represents got afifth in my freezer.
I mean Canadian mist, I meanit's okay.
(59:13):
But you know we're dealing witha lot different when we're
talking about the whiskeys andthe bourbons.
This is more of a pure form ofwhiskey.
But you know what, if you'redrinking Canadian mist, at least
you're drinking something andthat is whatever you like,
whoever you, you are the onlypalate that matters.
(59:34):
My palate don't matter, hispalate don't matter.
My friend's palate don't matter.
Your palate matters because youhave to drink with what you
like.
I get that so many times peopleare like well, I don't
understand how people can dothis.
Well, if you can't, i't.
I mean, I can honestly say thatwhen I was younger I would have
said the same thing that Icouldn't, I wouldn't be doing
(59:57):
this.
But at this point, uh, Ihonestly, uh, absolutely love
bourbon and whiskey and all thedifferent whiskeys and tasting
Irish and Japanese, and justsipping and relaxing and it
being part of the whiskeyculture and, um, that's one
thing that we're always selling.
(01:00:17):
Uh, we are selling therelaxation, the breaking down of
chaos and stress.
This is what whiskey does whenyou use it as a tool, not as a
crutch.
This is something that's to beenjoyed.
(01:00:39):
People put a lot of time andeffort into the spirit and they
want you to taste it, and that'swhat you're supposed to be
doing, and if you do it rightdoing, and if you do it right,
you can.
You can be tasting multiplebourbons and getting to meet the
(01:00:59):
greatest people on the planetwho either are associated make
it or also, uh, friends whoenjoy it just as much as we do.
So, um, with that said, we'regonna end this podcast tonight.
Thank you, everybody.
As always, thursday night, wehave um gin coming on, my son,
(01:01:19):
who really has converted sincethe last time he's been on.
He really does and likes, uh,bourbon over gin.
I I've been sending him stuffand it's been kind of cool.
So, uh, remember facebook andyoutube.
You don't have to go out, butwe are going to end this segment
of the audio podcast.
So here we gowwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for
(01:01:44):
all things scotchy bourbon boys.
Uh, contact me.
Or on the website for theseawesome Glen Cairns.
We also have T-shirts for saleand, you know, from time to time
we put other things up,including bourbon balls, which
we are in the process of gettingready to be making.
Again.
We actually have some pecansthat have been soaking for 18
(01:02:12):
months a little over a year anda half, so that's going to be
interesting to see what happenswith that.
But remember we're on Facebook,instagram, youtube and X on
social media, and then all themajor podcast formats, including
Apple iHeart and Spotify.
(01:02:32):
No, but no matter how youlisten or watch us, remember
like, listen, comment andsubscribe, leave good feedback
and you know we appreciateeverything that you guys do for
us.
So remember good bourbon andwhiskey equals good times and
(01:02:53):
good friends.
Remember to drink responsibly.
Don't drink and drive, and liveyour life uncut and unfiltered,
and little Steve-O is going totake us out.
Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
Let's do it.
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.
(01:03:41):
For if we don't find the nextwhiskey bar, I tell you we must
die.
I tell you we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.
I tell you we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
Good night.
Middle West Spirits was founded in 2008, focusing on
elevating the distinct flavorsof the Ohio River Valley.
Their spirits honor their rootsand reflect their originality
as makers, their integrity asproducers and their passion for
crafting spirits from grain toglass.
Their Michelon Reserve linereflects their story from the
(00:23):
start to the bottle, to yourglass, with unique weeded and
rye bourbons, and also rye andwheat whiskeys, the Michelon
brand is easy to sip.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It might be a grain-to-glass experience, but I
like to think of it as uncutand unfiltered from their family
to yours.
Drinking buddies sipping oncigars we feel it wild.
We're short from the wash.
How could we do with drinkingevery drink, man?
We're caught on some cheap club.
We're technically true.
Yeah, we're the Tashi-Buddyboys Raising some hell.
We're making some noise.
Yeah, we're the Tashi-Buddyboys Raising some hell to make
it some more.
Get out of the scotch and dirtyboys.
We're here to have fun.
(01:28):
We're here to have fun, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
All right, welcome back to another podcast of the
Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
Wait, we're having problems.
Will someone check on Facebookto make sure that you can hear
me?
Someone's saying they can'thear me, but I would imagine
that they should be able to hearme.
(02:13):
I can monitor that real quickto make sure.
Walker, can you hear?
Okay, thank you.
Uh, is anyone had the vanillabean cheesecake private select
from maker's mark picked up,when it's there two weeks ago?
(02:34):
I haven't opened it yet.
I have not.
But, uh, walker, are you saying, okay, you're good now?
Good, uh, that should be good.
Um, so tonight we are doing themaker's Mark the wood finishing
series.
We're going to give it a littlebit of a history on that.
We're going to be tasting andopening this 2025.
(02:56):
Let's see, I want that forward.
Yeah, let's take this back back, back back.
Perfect and going through that,perfect and going through that.
But first we are the ScotchyBourbon Boys
wwwscotchybourbonboyscom.
For all things Scotchy BourbonBoys.
You can get our t-shirts, youcan get our glens.
You also can get the t-shirtsand glens by just leaving a
(03:20):
comment on Facebook and youtube.
I'll get your address.
Uh, we'll set up the venmo andyou can pick it up.
Uh, we also have, um, a barrelpicks right now from one of our
sponsors, which is the lilliansinclair and the william dalton,
available to anybody who wouldwant to uh, get your hands on
(03:42):
this.
Give me a call.
And also, and I can set you up,the Lillian Sinclair is the
last from the Spirits of French.
Lick is the last batch orbarrel that Alan Bishop was
associated with his own whiskeybefore he went off to old
homestead.
We're going to quick.
Do our other sponsors.
(04:05):
We've got Middle West Spirits.
They're in Columbus, ohio.
This is on the shelf in 48states.
The cast strength that they'rereleasing of their Michelon
Reserve brand has been fantastic.
They've got this straightweeded bourbon whiskey.
They got straight weededwhiskey and then they also have
(04:26):
a great pumpernickel rye all atcast strength.
You got to check them out.
Uh, what they're doing downthere, uh, in columbus, having
their two distilleries, theirmassive uh distillery, producing
right now.
They've been doing it for abouta year.
(04:52):
Can't wait till we get to tastesome of the stuff out of there.
But what Ryan Lang has set upand what he's doing, um, you got
to check it out.
Middle West Spirits in ColumbusOhio, and if you visit their
original craft distillery.
They also have a fantastic finedining restaurant called the
Service Bar, so check that out.
(05:15):
Then we also have Whiskey ThiefDistilling Company with their
two locations their one mainlocation at three boys farms in
frankfurt, kentucky.
A fantastic experience thatwhen you go there it is a barrel
pick all day, every day, andyou basically get to choose from
(05:39):
five different barrels uh,thief, your own, uh, taste them,
taste them again, and if youlike one of those barrels, for
the cost of emission of a tour,you can then bottle your own in
375s or 750s.
Uh, it's a fantastic, fantasticexperience, uh, that you don't
(06:01):
want to miss out on.
And they also have uhexperience now in louisville,
kentucky, in the new loo area,their tasting room exact same
thing barrel pick all day, everyday.
Remember whiskey thief and thescotchy bourbon boys are uncut
and unfiltered also.
Then we have um rosewoodbourbons and Rye's.
(06:25):
You got Jason Giles who hasbasically worked out distilling,
which hasn't hit the shelvesyet, but he's also purchased
barrels that have aged inIndiana and Kentucky.
He drives them down in a semi946 miles to I want to say,
(06:51):
houston, texas, and he lets themage there for at least one of
those hot seasons in Texas andhe comes out with some fantastic
bourbons and rye.
So you got to check outrosewood bourbon and rye.
Uh, alan bishop is also one ofour sponsors and he does.
(07:13):
If you have ghosts, you haveeverything podcast, plus the one
piece of the time distillinginstitute on youtube, and if you
are a home distiller or haveany interest in home distilling,
that's the show for you.
Love and history of bourbonmaking that he has then
portrayed into his own, uh rightback into his own distilling
(07:51):
and it's fantastic.
So, anyways, all right.
So, uh, there we go.
For that.
We were the scotchy bourbonboys.
Remember, we're on facebook,youtube, instagram and x.
You can watch us there, see usthere, see our posts, see, see
our shorts, see our lives.
And then we're also on all themajor podcast formats Apple,
(08:12):
iheart, spotify mainly, butanywhere you want to listen to
us.
But no matter how you do it,whether you listen or you watch
us, remember, listen like,comment, subscribe and leave
good feedback.
Um, that feedback means a lotto us, especially if you can go
to apple and leave a.
You like what you're, whatyou're uh seeing tonight.
(08:34):
Just please go to apple, checkthat out, and that will help
with us becoming higher than thenumber three whiskey podcast in
the world according to.
And I will get that.
Let's see according to.
And we can do this right here.
I am going to share the screen.
(08:56):
Let's do that according to.
It's great, but you can do this.
I had it here.
Okay, we'll hit share and thenwe'll hit of the 60.
It's according to Feedspot, ofthe 60 podcasts, the 60 best
(09:20):
whiskey podcasts in the world,the Scotchy Bourbon Boys are
ranked third at feed spot.
So check that out.
Uh, the link is there on.
I included in on the link onyoutube and I'll put one down on
facebook when I'm finished.
You can check us out and theother podcasts there.
But that's really kind of cool.
I, I, I love that part of it.
(09:43):
So, so, being third, I amhonored, we are honored and we
love the fact that we've beenranked third.
I don't know how it is, okay.
So Hash Green chug the bottle.
My boy, yeah, and then the guysout.
Yeah, that's what I do.
I chug bottles on the podcast.
You know it's funny because ifyou watch early, early on, when
(10:06):
I used to be on TikTok, I did doa bottle chug of, I believe,
elijah Craig, but that just gotme, it was Elijah Craig toasted
and that just got me in troubleon TikTok.
So no bottle chugs here, myfriend.
We've got Mashi.
It's on Mr Smith.
It's like I on mr smith.
Uh, it's like I don't, whatever.
(10:26):
It's like I have no idea whereall this political stuff just
comes on from the.
It's like the we, us, uh,people here, uh, we.
We keep our whiskey and ourpolitics separate, especially
here on the podcast, becauseeverybody, I believe the whiskey
is the ultimate.
(10:49):
What would you say?
Go between people withdifferences.
If you're sharing a pour withsomebody, you've got something
in common.
It seems to fix a lot ofproblems.
So that's where we're at there.
Um, so here we are.
Uh, we're at the maker's mark.
Uh, we've got the, these twowood finishing series.
(11:12):
But honestly, um, one of thecool things about maker's mark
is becoming an ambassador andthey have a program there and
you could sign up on mercury.
Chug them both, yeah, okay, hey, gate said hi.
Um, what I wanted to say isthat their ambassador program is
(11:33):
pretty.
Why is that?
Oh, because we shared thescreen, so now I'm not getting
any.
So, wow, let's just keep goingthat way.
We'll go that way.
All right, sanford Joseph, okay, oh, I can't say that I have,
but I have the same favorite.
Mine is the okay Ice CreamSocial.
So, all right, yeah, I do, wehave Ice Cream Social.
(11:56):
But the ambassador program isreally cool.
You can download the app or youcan go to Maker's Mark and sign
up for their ambassador program.
It's what they do, is they?
Basically, you sign up and theyfill a barrel and put your name
on it with, I believe, six orseven other people, and you get
(12:19):
updates on that barrelthroughout time.
Plus, you get a certificate.
You get all this, a letter andeverything as part of being in
the ambassador program and afterthe barrel matures which my
barrel should be maturing youcan buy bottles from that barrel
.
It's the barrel that when Ifirst started in 2019, it went
(12:41):
up.
I can't wait.
I'm going to buy all thebarrels I possibly can from that
barrel.
Maker's Mark, these barrels areaged till they're ready.
It's a little bit more aged.
It's a single barrel, so it'sreally kind of cool.
It's not a blend like Maker'sMark.
It comes out the barrel, outthe barrel.
(13:10):
So fantastic, fantastic programand it's all.
Honestly, it's it's free andI've gotten uh, christmas
ornaments, I've gotten, socks,I've gotten.
There's so, so much that theywere able.
You know that you've gottenthrough them through this
ambassador program, plus everyyear that you go there to keep
up, and this is my, that you sawmy one ambassador, but this is
my makers mark ambassador.
That now I didn't.
(13:31):
I went there in 2025, which iscrazy, but you get these pins,
so they went to these pins andthen you used to get the ribbons
.
So I really love that part ofthe program and that part of the
program.
So, up until your barrel isready, but being an ambassador,
once your barrel comes due andyou go down and you get the free
(13:54):
ambassador tour, but we'regoing to be going down and
getting the tour.
But also we are going to behopefully having Rob Samuels on
the podcast that day when we godown and we'll celebrate that
the barrel came due.
And the scotchie this is thescotchie bourbon boys um, you
could buy more than the ninebottles that they normally
(14:15):
prepare.
Okay, but that's really cool.
Um, yeah, well, if you are anambassador, they did not close
it, they, they, you can get upto it's.
It's there, we were there, youcould.
It's a couple podcasts ago withAmanda Humphrey that we did.
And then we're talking let'ssee Blake.
(14:39):
Oh my gosh, I knew, let's seeif I go down.
Let's see how far that was.
Abe, all right, I can't, I'mlooking for it.
Blake Layfield is their masterdistiller, so that's kind of
cool, um, but have missed.
But have missed everything.
I need to figure out what to do.
I've been signed up but havemissed everything.
(15:01):
Oh, okay, anyways, so when wewere there, we were there, uh,
last time when we had amandahumphries on and she's their
event coordinator and she is incharge just the in charge of a
lot of stuff helping withblending and helping with
everything around the distillery, helping with the farm.
(15:25):
The farm is amazing.
That is one thing.
That's really kind of cool.
The farm there and I've gotthis is a little bit older, but
it still is good.
For let's see what I did.
Oh, my God, I just I'm looking,all right, I thought I wait,
(15:50):
did I, did?
I, did I?
I don't know?
No, no, no, nope, that's the.
How do you lose your glasses?
The glasses should be in thisarea.
Did I lose them?
I do not see the glasses.
So that's going to be.
I did not take the glassesanywhere, all right.
(16:14):
So, oh, there they are, fell onthe floor.
So we'll get the glasses offthe floor, because that's very
important to do the read off thefloor, because that's very
important to do the read.
Uh, for all the all you newguys, this is about how it goes
all the time we're just hangingout and at the end, uh, it
becomes kind of a a party.
(16:34):
So let me, let me read frommichael jackson's whiskey the
definite, the definitive worldguide scotch bourbon whiskey,
new edition.
This, I believe, came out in 20, I want to say 2019, but I will
let you know, let's see.
And so he definitely.
(16:54):
I have no idea what the hellthat is Interesting.
My wife has come home.
Let's see.
It was updated, he had passedand he had done the world guide
and this was the new edition.
So, um, it's like maker's mark,founded in 1805, it's owned by
(17:21):
centauri.
Now it used to be Beam Centauri, but it's Centauri method,
column and pot stills.
Capacity 1.8 million gallons,but I do believe they have much
more capacity now.
So American's first premiumspecialty bourbon of the modern
era, a soft and easy dram, lieshidden in the rolling hills of
(17:41):
Marion County.
The distillery site is one ofKentucky's oldest.
In the rolling hills of MarionCounty.
The distillery site is one ofKentucky's oldest, amid the
rolling hills of Marion County,in a broad and fertile hollow
with sycamore trees, standingsentinel in the organic cluster
of buildings that compriseMaker's Mark Distillery.
Maker's Mark occupies one ofKentucky's oldest whiskey-making
(18:02):
sites, dating back to 18055,and is designated a National
Historic Landmark.
The black and red trimbuildings straddle the banks of
Hardin Creek, the stream thatdissects the serene valley floor
of Star Hill Farm.
On the road leading down to thecreek, the visitor's pass is
the Courthouse, one of America'soldest remaining retail package
(18:25):
stores.
In a period before the darkcloud of prohibition, marion
County neighbors would swing byin their horse and buggy and
have their corks jugs filledfrom the whiskey barrels inside.
A special southern alchemytakes place at Maker's Mark, an
alchemy that creates a trulyhandmade whiskey, america's
first premium quality bourbon ofthe modern era.
(18:46):
The president of Maker's Mark isRob Samuels, who took over for
the charismatic and inventiveBill Samuels Jr in 2011.
Samuels is the eighthgeneration Kentucky bourbon
maker and the link stretchesback to his ancestors, stretches
back to his ancestors RobSamuels of the 1780s, robert
(19:06):
Samuels of the 1780s, neighborof Baptist preacher,
entrepreneur and pioneeringwhiskey maker, elijah Craig.
In 1953, bill Samuels Sr boughtthe Star Hill Farm 200 acres of
fertile farmland with an oldcountry distillery on site and a
deep spring-fed lake on thehill above it.
Walker, you tell me what thename of the lake is now.
(19:31):
Bill Sr had no interest inselling the pedestrian bourbon
of his competitors, so hescrapped the old family recipe
and set out to produce a premiumsipping bourbon.
My dad's goal was to create abourbon that was more refined,
palatable and yet flavorful,explains Bill Jr, something that
(19:53):
did not have the hot aftertastetraditionally associated with
bourbon.
The purpose was not about money, it was about bringing good
taste to bourbon, and he'sdesignated it for a palate of
one.
Himself.
Bill Sr experimented withdifferent grains for bourbon,
developing a recipe based onlocally grown corn, winter wheat
(20:13):
, softer and gentler flavor thanthe traditional spicy rye and
malted barley.
Mr Samuels, meanwhile, came upwith the name Maker's Mark,
based on the tradition ofEnglish pewter markers who put
their marks on their finestpieces.
The mark of bill samuel stilldecorates every bottle and as
does another mrs samuel'sinnovation the hand-dipped wax
(20:36):
seal that spills down the neckof maker's mark bottle.
So right here you can seepeople on, you can on the audio.
But there's that embossed inthe glass, their stamp and then
every single bottle and this isdipped in red wax and it drips
down the side.
So you get to, in some cases,do this yourself, they'll talk
(20:58):
about it.
Came up with an okay tradition,okay, okay.
In 1958, the first barrel ofMaker's Mark handmade whiskey
spelled without an E in tributeto the Samuels' Scottish
ancestry, because Scotch isspelled without the E and Irish
is with and American is with.
But this is the one exceptionin America where it's spelled
(21:22):
without the E.
And it was ready for the market.
Sales of the early makers weregradual and local, spreading
slowly by word of mouth amongthe whiskey connoisseurs of
Kentucky.
By 1980, maker's Mark hadbecome a Kentucky icon, bill
Samuels Jr says.
And then the Wall StreetJournal ran a front page article
(21:44):
about us that year and thephone rang off the hook.
The article was huge for us.
It created consumer interestoutside Kentucky and gave the
brand credibility.
Maker's Mark was acquired byBeam Global some years back and
now a part of Beam Suntory,which then became now Suntory
Suntory also owns Jim Beam.
(22:07):
Maturation is in black metalside warehouses ranging from
three to six stories and Makersis one of the rare distilleries
that rotates barrels in the samewarehouse.
It's a costly andlabor-intensive process.
In the early part of the newmillennium the company broke
from tradition with thewonderful new whiskey Maker's 46
.
The numbers did not refer tothe strength of its proof or 47
(22:28):
ABV, but to the specific tastingand charring of the wood used
in the maturation process, whichinvolves emptying the casks,
adding French oak staves andrefilling for further maturation
.
Maker's Marks has a stylish,modern visitor center and a gift
shop which includes a waxdipping booth so the visitors
can dip and seal their ownbottles.
So there you go, man.
That is kind of.
(22:50):
Matt Lyson says he's anambassador.
I suggest anybody who'slistening to go and be an
ambassador because honestly it'sreally kind of.
It's a fantastic thing.
But let's get back to this.
This is the wood finishingseries, which is similar.
So what happens in the woodfinishing series is exactly what
happens in makers.
Uh, 46 is the makers, 46 is thestaves that they use.
(23:15):
French, they use a bunch ofdifferent, um, french oak, they
use american, they use alldifferent types to come up with
their barrel, private selects.
But in this case the woodfinishing series is the Kentucky
straight bourbon whiskey barrelfinished with 10 virgin oak
staves and maker certified corpmisting.
(23:37):
So I've got a little bit ofthat on.
This is one thing, because forthe I don't have it on the, I
have it on the heart batch.
This is the heart release andlet me share that on the screen
for everybody.
That is on and we'll go overhere.
This is a breaking bourbon, myone of my favorite places.
(24:01):
Um, it is straight bourbon,finished with virgin oak straves
.
Uh, centauri, maker's mark.
The heart was released on julyof 2024.
111.7 proof.
No age statement.
Mash bill 70 corn, 16 wheat and14 malted barley.
Amber color.
(24:21):
Okay, maker's mark woodfinishing series a collection of
bourbons that undergo a woodstave finishing technique that
is meant to enhance distinctivecharacteristics already present
in the brand's iconic bourbon.
The previous set of fivereleases in the wood finishing
series were considered chapterone.
The heart release kicks offchapter two and focuses on the
(24:42):
teams behind the creation ofmaker's mark bourbon according
to maker's mark.
This year's release is meant toshowcase the unique taste
vision inspired by thedistillery team.
The bourbon is finished withtwo different types of virgin
french oak staves 10 staves each, with one set inserted in the
bottle for five weeks and theother for nine weeks.
(25:04):
The finishing takes place inthe distillery's limestone
cellar where maker's mark cellaraged is aged.
So this is really kind of coolhow this finishing series works.
And, um, this, the 24.
Now this release here and I'mgoing to read about that.
Hopefully now I'm going to getoff the share because I do not
(25:26):
need to keep sharing that.
There we go and we're back herefor the second chapter of our
limited released wood finishingseries.
Now, this is for now.
That was the heart release, okay, of our limited.
Okay for the keepers release.
It says series pursues uniquetaste visions that celebrate
(25:50):
those who craft our handmadebourbon at star hill farm the
makers of makers.
The keepers release is aone-of-a-kind expression
inspired by the people whooversee the maturation of our
whiskey, the true, true keepersof Maker's Mark.
Through cold winters and hotKentucky summers, they deploy a
deep knowledge of the agingprocess, hand-rotating casks to
(26:13):
ensure every single drop of ourwhiskey emerges from the barrel.
At its very best, this is abold expression with hints of
oak toasted sweetness.
We hope you enjoy this one asmuch as we have enjoyed making
it.
So that is the Keeper's Release.
Now this one which is the HeartRelease that the makers of our
(26:37):
makers, if you will, in this2024 release known as the heart
release, will have crafted a oneof a kind expression that
celebrates our team thatdistills our whiskey.
This team is the center, theheart of, if you will, of our
whiskey making process.
This stage in the processserved to guide all other stages
, ensuring our taste vision isrealized fruit forward with
(26:58):
caramel, maple and chocolatenotes.
This expression features a rich, creamy mouthfeel that it's a
pure delight.
We hope you enjoy this one asmuch as they enjoyed making it.
So that's the two of them.
Now I am.
That gets us to the maker's markand I gotta get back to
comments.
Doing all this is older thanwalking forward.
(27:20):
Oh, let's see, don't look agift horse in the mouth.
Hi, bro, hey, uno, barrelproof.
No, I believe the heart releasewas a 111.
I want to say the keep.
I do believe they keep it there, but let me see.
Want to say the keep, I dobelieve they keep it there, but
(27:47):
let me see.
Um, this one is 109.3 for thekeeper, so a little bit less.
Um, warehouse wh2-5, it is109.3.
Release, a two of five 109.
Okay, 10 virgin oak stays and,uh, the mash bill would be the
same as I read on on both ofthese, because it's the maker's
mark mash bill.
So that brings us to this partand this section of the podcast,
(28:13):
and it is the old louisvillewhiskey company's barrel bottle
breakdown.
The Old Louisville WhiskeyCompany's Barrel Bottle
Breakdown.
This section of the ScotchyBourbon Boys is brought to you
by the Old Louisville WhiskeyCompany in Louisville, kentucky.
Amin Khar there does a greatjob of purchasing barrels.
(28:41):
He's done it for a long timeand he purchased those barrels
and then he bottles them rightthere while you're there at his
distillery.
He's just added a brand new potstill so that he can say that
he's at the distillery.
But you got to go see Amin atOld Louisville Whiskey Company.
(29:03):
Tell them the Scotchy BourbonBoys.
You know this is where youheard about it, but what Amin
does there is a fantastic joband if you've never been able to
thief or get into a barrelgetting over to Amin at Old
Louisisville whiskey company, um, there's a good chance you're
going to be able to tastesomething right from the barrel
(29:25):
and even bottle your own rightfrom the barrel, just like you
can.
So, um, tonight's barrel bottlebreakdown is of the keeper's
Blend 2025.
This bottle is going to be putup against our Barrel Bottle
(29:46):
Breakdown rating scale, whichconsists of nose, body, taste
and finish.
But the Barrel Bottle Breakdownis a series of knocks on a
barrel that we put out and themost knocks that you can get for
(30:08):
the nose or the aroma or thesmell, is four Four knocks for
that category.
The most knocks you can get forthe body is four knocks for
that category.
But in the taste and the finishyou can get up to five knocks.
And that is because, if it justwhat we've evolved the rating
(30:32):
scale to be, so that's a totalof 18.
But if there is one exceptionalcategory, you can add a, but up
up to it to just one per time.
So a perfect score is 19 out of18 for exceptional bourbons.
But I'm going to tell youhonestly, I'm going to tell you
(30:55):
that this right here and I don'tknow why it's doing that it
shouldn't be doing that Well,let's get that in this
particular bottle right here.
I purchased on Sunday.
I purchased this bottle lastyear and I wonder what's
(31:16):
happening with the internet,with the YouTube.
I hope I don't lose it becauseit's absolutely doing really
well tonight.
But this bottle right hereSunday between me and Roxy we've
got this at least a third gone.
This is a good bottle.
So I was excited to do thebarrel bottle breakdown of Of
(31:37):
Makers, the Keepers Release of2025.
So let's get this going.
I have this great.
There's the pewter stamp Of theStar Hill Farm SIVs, which is
(31:57):
four.
This is Hand blown glass thatwhen we did the podcast, Amanda
Humphries gifted us this glass.
It's special from that and weare going to taste this in that
glass.
But remember we also have theScotchy Bourbon Boys Glencairns.
If you need one of those, get ahold of me for that.
(32:18):
But I'm going gonna put it inthis maker's mark awesome glass.
And I was like I said, first I'mgonna do the barrel bottle
breakdown and then I'm gonnacompare it to last year's
release.
Um, how they drop in thosestaves is pretty damn cool.
Uh, I wonder what is going on.
(32:41):
Uh, let me try something realquick.
I'm gonna text my wife.
Let's see, are you on theinternet?
(33:01):
There you go?
All right, get back here.
Let's see it seems to be.
Let's see, seems to be.
Let's see it's still working,but it's all.
(33:23):
Uh, I swear to god, is it okay?
Let me see if that's a thecamera I must have.
Maybe that's the camera rightthere, but I'm looking.
Am I gonna look at?
Look at that.
That is not blurry.
So whatever's happening, um,with the internet now she said
she's not, so hopefully I getback over here and there we go.
(33:47):
All right, anyways, all right,so we'll back at this.
So we'll start the barrelbottle breakdown now.
Um, everybody got it in theirglass.
They all do.
You all have something.
I gave her a glass in return.
All right, the nose on this.
(34:10):
Let's see, it's had breathingtime.
This is perfect.
It's got a nice.
There's a nice oaky, almostlike a wine, but there's a, a
caramel apple and the apple isstrong and the nose has a really
(34:38):
, really fresh.
For 109 proof, it's got areally, really fresh.
I'm gonna switch over here backinto, switch back into that.
All right, there we go.
(34:59):
Now it's feeling better, butthe nose is apple and fruity.
Now, I did pour a decent pourand this is not a glen.
So, um, when you're looking atwhat it does in your glass and
how it the, the body of it, the,the one telltale is you read
the legs.
It's when you it coats the sideof the glass and then what?
(35:22):
How it drips back down, tellsyou how thick and the um, the
viscosity of the actual bourbonwhich tends to, when you get
some really nice legs droppingback into that glass, forming,
you know, a longer leg you get.
It tends to have a little bitmore um, a better mouthfeel,
(35:48):
which is part of that body.
Um, I also rate body based offwhat it does in the glass like
this.
But I also rate the body basedoff of how much the flavor
spreads out throughout yourwhole mouth.
It's cheeks, you know, a full.
(36:08):
If you were going to give a bodyat a full four or with a bit up
, the flavor would have to.
It has to go and you have tofeel it in your cheeks, on the
roof of your mouth, underneathyour tongue, the bottom back of
your throat.
It the flavor has that's.
That's to me what the body is.
So here we go.
I'm gonna taste it.
Wow, when I taste, and you cansee what that's doing in that
(36:42):
glass, how long those legs are,there's a cherry.
So the first part is definitelyon the front of your mouth, on
the front of your palate.
I'm gonna do this again.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
On the front of your palate there's a ton, a ton of
caramel, but then as you go andyou go back to that back palate,
then it picks up a little bitof cinnamon, there's an apple
aspect of it, but then there'salso a really, really sweet um,
(37:33):
like a frosting, um.
It goes from caramel to like asugary frosting with, then gets
the.
The hug is really, really full.
You taste it in your cheeks,you taste it roof of your mouth.
Everything the body isfantastic.
The flavor is everywhere and Iwould say that in that all, all
(37:55):
of that, you pick up the flavorof the wood also.
There's some of those woodtalons, tannins in there.
Now, let's see about this onemore time.
There's a lot of maker's mark.
(38:19):
Honestly, there's a ton ofmaker's mark, at least the ounce
.
The glass is made from recycledmaker's mark bottles blown into
shape by um, a specific artist.
Yes, a fantastic glass body.
Three.
Okay, we just cracked the 2025,okay, so you're, you're
(38:40):
drinking it right now with me,right now, matt right, all right
now.
The finish is still there's alittle bit of cherry, like
cherry apple, but the wood is.
There's a decent amount of woodthere and the part that stays
for a while is that oaky flavor.
(39:01):
Now, if you are a fan of achardonnay, this is, this is a
fantastic, fantastic whiskey,because the sweetness at one
point changes from sweet on thatfinish and it's there cinnamony
(39:22):
.
You pick up some of that likecherry apple and then you pick
up the, the wood.
I would say mid to long palette.
So all right.
So here we go.
I love the freshness of thisnose and so I'm gonna go with a
(39:54):
three out of four out of thefreshness because of that apple
kind of flavor, whateverfreshness that's existing.
Three bangs or not bangs.
Three knocks, all right.
Three knocks on that body.
It goes everywhere.
(40:17):
I would have to say I won't get, it doesn't get.
I would say that the body, thisone is a 109, it's Maker's Mark
, it fills every aspect of you.
Pick up that Maker's Markprofile.
(40:38):
I got to go with a four on thebody, randy, I think's a little.
I mean it hits, it's not a buttup up, it's not one of those
that you could give like a lotof the barrel strength stuff,
but this one.
Seven out of eight, all right.
We go to the big, the bigcategories, the taste, where you
(41:24):
maker's mark with extra caramel, then, uh, a little bit of, a
little bit of, uh, like a applekind of chardonnay kind of
cinnamony thing that happens.
So, from the taste, I, this,this is, this is fantastic.
I will give it the full five on.
(41:46):
This is what I love aboutbourbon, and this one's at a
five now we're talking.
So right now we've lost onepoint.
So out of 13, it's 12 out of 13.
Yeah, um, I don't know.
(42:09):
Matt says they might step.
I just think the batches allare different.
I mean, we pulled out a batchout of there when we did it that
you get when you do the farmtour for everybody, and that one
I was able to pick up and dipmyself.
Um, I will say that where thisdiffers, where like a seller,
(42:29):
aged excels beyond this, is onthe finish.
The finish is good and so, like, if you're, if you're talking,
it's, it's, it's good, but it'sprobably medium and in the end
it finishes with an oaky flavorthat I would get with, maybe,
(42:49):
like it.
Like there is the sweetnesshappening of the apple and the
cherry, but then it goes to thisoaky Chardonnay kind of finish
and I kind of like, I like it,but I'm not going to say that
that's what I want from abourbon.
So of the five, I give this onea three.
(43:11):
Here we go.
I don't know if y'all can hearthat, but that's, I'm kind of
hitting that on.
Pretty good as those knocks are.
So I'm going to rate this year's2005 Keeper's Release, maker's
Mark.
I have given it 15 out of 18.
(43:36):
Because I think that would havebeen 15 out of 18.
I think that's, yeah, thatwould have been, yep, 15 out of
18.
So pretty damn good whiskey.
Um, thank you for old listeningto the old louisville barrel.
Bottle breakdown for tuesday,april 22nd uh, makers mark.
(44:00):
Keepers release 2025.
There you go.
So we got people from all overthe place.
Uh, on youtube and whatnot.
Um, what did you think about it, matt?
Uh, I'll probably put that.
Put that part out.
Uh, now I'm going to put thisup against last.
(44:23):
Now this has only been opensince Sunday the keeper's batch.
Let's put the two there.
Put one here, one here.
Let's do it that way and I amgoing to put.
I'm going to try.
I haven't tried this for awhile, but I'm going to put a
little bit of this.
Uh, heart release.
(44:49):
Now I'm I'm definitely biased.
I might be able to get Roxy tocome down here and pour me a
blind on the two.
I know what they are right now.
Let me see.
Yeah, totally different Both ofthem, although that heart
(45:16):
release is pretty damn good Offthe first, after it sat.
Okay, so the Keeper's Releaseisn't as maker's marky.
The heart release is very thathas evolved into something
(45:38):
really good.
That has evolved into somethingreally good a little bit more
cinnamony than I think the 111proof.
The heart release is a lot morelike the classic barrel
(46:01):
strength bourbon that you get.
I'm telling you, in my opinion,the 2025 pulls in right next to
each other, is pulling insomething that's a little bit
different that I like better.
(46:23):
They're both damn good.
Uh, after it sat for a littlebit, once it's open, has turned
into a.
There's a.
It has way more oak.
It's got that rich charred oakthat you pick up in a beam or on
(46:49):
any cast strength.
That's what the Heart Releasehas.
That group of people loveKentucky Cast Strength bourbon.
That's what the Heart Releasetastes like.
Where this Keeper's Batch, ithas way more white frosting.
(47:13):
The sweetness is not theclassic Kentucky barrel
sweetness and the two of themare both fantastic.
But if I had to pick betweenthe two.
I'm pulling in this.
Uh, keepers, it'll beinteresting to see after I let
(47:35):
it sit in the bottle like thatfor a while.
All right, so we got that outof the way.
Um, I did want to talk about alittle bit tonight about what I
did last Thursday.
It's kind of cool.
The state of Ohio likes toinclude whiskey podcasters,
(48:01):
influencers on their state picks.
That they do.
They do a lot.
Picking a barrel with the stateof Ohio is completely different
than picking a barrel with agroup or for yourself.
When you're picking for a groupor yourself, you're trying to
pick that one barrel.
I like to think that, as theScotchy Bourbon Boys or when I'm
on barrel picks, where you'repicking that one barrel for
(48:23):
Kentucky Bourbon Festival, thedistillery is putting out some
damn good barrels, because whatyou want to showcase at the
Kentucky Bourbon Festival orthrough the podcast a podcast
where you're going to comethrough and promote the brand
when you make the pick you wantto have good barrels available
(48:45):
for the publicity.
So a lot of the times whenwe're picking, we get to pick
some damn good barrels, and thesame thing with the state of
Ohio.
But the state of Ohio is alwayspicking multiple barrels.
They're in it and theyunderstand that palates are
(49:05):
different.
So when they're picking they'rejust trying to pick for good
whiskey picking.
They're just trying to pick forgood whiskey.
But I believe on Monday I wantto say on Tuesday Andimic
contacted me and asked if Icould do a barrel pick with the
state of Ohio in Columbus, abouttwo hours away, and on Thursday
(49:26):
, and asked me what I wanted to.
You know if I wanted to do thatand I was like, yeah, cool.
So last Thursday I met withDark Arts and Macaulay Minton
(49:48):
and we did.
We chose from 10 barrels, Ibelieve we picked four and uh, I
got to Macaulay Minton.
I've known he is the person whoon my first initial uh bourbon
Stewart on the bourbon Stewartuh class.
(50:09):
I did it at wilderness trail,withaulay and I met Macaulay.
That's the first time I evermet Macaulay.
But then I was on barrel pickswith Macaulay.
Alan Bishop knows Macaulay,royce Neely knows Macaulay.
I ran into Macaulay numerousmore times and then when he left
Wilderness Trail and he startedDark Arts, we went and saw him
(50:32):
down at Dark Arts and went andtasted through some barrels.
Put up a ton of social media onthe barrel thieving, but we're
going to have him on coming up.
But in the state of Ohioeverybody Dark Arts he had
(50:59):
Macaulay has done so much topromote this brand and it's
becoming very, very successful,but it's not as successful
successful in the state of Ohioas I would like it to be,
because this is some damn damngood bourbon you're drinking
from his, his batch releases orsingle barrels or whatnot.
Dark arts is, uh, whiskey houseis fantastic whiskey.
So we were able to go down meetwith macaulay.
(51:21):
I'm working out having him onthe podcast now I'll also want
to say I'm also working to godown and see Dan McKee and
Andrea Wilson at Michter's.
And then we're also going tohave Bernie Lubbers May 6th I
(51:44):
want to say it's a Tuesday May6th we will be having Bernie on
the podcast.
He is the brand ambassador forHeaven Hill and Mr Bottle and
Bond and he's a fantastic,fantastic ambassador.
When we did our Elijah Craigbarrel proof you know barrel
(52:04):
proof pick at Heaven Hill, wehad Bernie come on and do the
pick with us and that wasfantastic.
Got to do meets more than justpassing time, got to spend some
time with Bernie.
So he's going to be on.
But dark arts I'm telling you.
(52:26):
This is what Macaulay is goingto bring to the finishing
industry.
He's taking it to the finishingindustry.
He's taking it to a differentlevel.
All we know is when someonesays French oak, they're putting
French oak in.
Macaulay will explain to you.
There's three different majorforests in France and each
(52:48):
forest yields different oak thatdifferent wines use, so each
forest is different.
So if you just hear aboutFrench oak and you don't know
what forest it came from, that'ssomething that is important,
because they yield differentflavors and tastes, and Macaulay
(53:09):
has taken it upon himself tounderstand where all of his
finishing barrels come from.
What was finished in themexactly?
Um, it's like if it's an orlarosso.
He even he'll know the brandsand everything.
So what he's done is fantastic.
So look forward to um, the darkarts podcast coming up.
(53:31):
I'm excited.
Hanging out with Macaulay andAnn Dimmick, two of my favorite
people, was fantastic.
Also, greg Schneider announcedthat he was going to be at Four
Branches.
That is now going through.
They made it official on theiron their website.
(53:53):
It was posted on Facebook.
Greg is just already starting.
The brand had started and therewas some things, and he's
already getting and using hisknowledge and expertise to start
what Greg does, and what had hehad done for chicken cock he's
now going to do for fourbranches.
(54:14):
I'm looking forward to it andvery excited about that.
So we've got a lot happeninggoing forward.
I'm still gonna sip on this.
Yeah, the heart release is waymore powerful.
(54:44):
And you know, it's funny becausewhen you um think about maker's
mark and what we talked aboutwith what bill samuels jr said,
that Bill Samuels was trying todo when he started Maker's Mark,
and when you think about that,I need some water when you think
about that he's talking about.
Back then he wanted to makeMaker's Mark a smooth, easy
(55:08):
drinking whiskey, one thatdidn't have that bite that some
people love but other people'sdon't.
But it's funny now.
Up until a while ago, beforethe private selects, you
couldn't get one.
You couldn't get barrels agedany further than what they were
(55:30):
aging the barrels and they werejust making Maker's Mark all
along.
When Maker's Mark 46 came along, that was their first ever
change in what they were doing,but they also weren't changing
the proof.
Now we have barrel proof.
We've got the cellar aged,which is further aged because
(55:53):
forever maker's mark wouldn'tage it any longer.
And uh, this is the cellar ageand I'm sure this is one of my
favorite.
You can see this is a greatbottle that got dipped.
Um, but my, my thing is is thatthe newer higher proof makers
(56:17):
marks don't exactly fit the bill, because whiskey has evolved,
because a lot of people likethat higher proof, they like
that little bit more age, theylike that little bit of bite and
that's kind of just like, ifyou take the sport of baseball,
there's different time periodswhere things are happening
within the sport Right now.
(56:39):
You know, in the 70s and the80s average was very, very
important.
People would hit for average,didn't want to strike out, but
right now home runs andstrikeouts are the name of the
game.
So it's evolved to be a littlebit more straightforward and
less finesse and get more of theglamour and a strikeout and
(57:03):
homers.
Those are way up in baseballright now, whereas, you know, at
different times the homers aredown and the strikeouts are down
.
So there's a lot of differentevolutions of the bourbon
industry.
But right now people drinkingcast strength when they were
putting cast strength out wayback.
(57:25):
It's just like what is going on.
They're putting cast strengthout and when they did it, when
Booker did it and when peoplewere doing it, they didn't think
people were going to drink itat cast strength.
They wanted to give it to themso they could add water and
drink it at the proof that theywanted to drink it at where they
felt was the best to drink it.
But it's evolved into peoplebuying it and drinking it in
(57:50):
cast strength form.
Speaker 3 (57:53):
Alright.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
It's funny, but this Cellar Aged, which is 119.3, so
very close 10, 10.
This drinks more like what BillJr was trying to do.
It's very easy for 119 proofand that's pretty cool.
(58:29):
All right, everybody, that'spretty cool.
All right, everybody.
Uh, makers, mark, now everybodyon youtube and facebook.
You can hang on afterwards, wecan, we hang out for a little
bit after, but, um, we're goingto end this for the regular
podcast at this point.
Um, I think that was a prettyfantastic Thanks to everybody
(58:51):
who's watching uh rightafterwards.
If you hang on, I am going to,especially if you're watching on
uh Facebook, I will set up the.
I will give you a cut.
Canadian mist represents got afifth in my freezer.
I mean Canadian mist, I meanit's okay.
(59:13):
But you know we're dealing witha lot different when we're
talking about the whiskeys andthe bourbons.
This is more of a pure form ofwhiskey.
But you know what, if you'redrinking Canadian mist, at least
you're drinking something andthat is whatever you like,
whoever you, you are the onlypalate that matters.
(59:34):
My palate don't matter, hispalate don't matter.
My friend's palate don't matter.
Your palate matters because youhave to drink with what you
like.
I get that so many times peopleare like well, I don't
understand how people can dothis.
Well, if you can't, i't.
I mean, I can honestly say thatwhen I was younger I would have
said the same thing that Icouldn't, I wouldn't be doing
(59:57):
this.
But at this point, uh, Ihonestly, uh, absolutely love
bourbon and whiskey and all thedifferent whiskeys and tasting
Irish and Japanese, and justsipping and relaxing and it
being part of the whiskeyculture and, um, that's one
thing that we're always selling.
(01:00:17):
Uh, we are selling therelaxation, the breaking down of
chaos and stress.
This is what whiskey does whenyou use it as a tool, not as a
crutch.
This is something that's to beenjoyed.
(01:00:39):
People put a lot of time andeffort into the spirit and they
want you to taste it, and that'swhat you're supposed to be
doing, and if you do it rightdoing, and if you do it right,
you can.
You can be tasting multiplebourbons and getting to meet the
(01:00:59):
greatest people on the planetwho either are associated make
it or also, uh, friends whoenjoy it just as much as we do.
So, um, with that said, we'regonna end this podcast tonight.
Thank you, everybody.
As always, thursday night, wehave um gin coming on, my son,
(01:01:19):
who really has converted sincethe last time he's been on.
He really does and likes, uh,bourbon over gin.
I I've been sending him stuffand it's been kind of cool.
So, uh, remember facebook andyoutube.
You don't have to go out, butwe are going to end this segment
of the audio podcast.
So here we gowwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for
(01:01:44):
all things scotchy bourbon boys.
Uh, contact me.
Or on the website for theseawesome Glen Cairns.
We also have T-shirts for saleand, you know, from time to time
we put other things up,including bourbon balls, which
we are in the process of gettingready to be making.
Again.
We actually have some pecansthat have been soaking for 18
(01:02:12):
months a little over a year anda half, so that's going to be
interesting to see what happenswith that.
But remember we're on Facebook,instagram, youtube and X on
social media, and then all themajor podcast formats, including
Apple iHeart and Spotify.
(01:02:32):
No, but no matter how youlisten or watch us, remember
like, listen, comment andsubscribe, leave good feedback
and you know we appreciateeverything that you guys do for
us.
So remember good bourbon andwhiskey equals good times and
(01:02:53):
good friends.
Remember to drink responsibly.
Don't drink and drive, and liveyour life uncut and unfiltered,
and little Steve-O is going totake us out.
Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
Let's do it.
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.
(01:03:41):
For if we don't find the nextwhiskey bar, I tell you we must
die.
I tell you we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.
I tell you we must die.
I tell you, I tell you, I tellyou we must die.
Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
Good night.
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