Best of Season 12

Episode Transcript
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>> (00:18):
Brought to you almost live from the dude in the
basement studios. Why? Because that's where the
good stuff is. It sips suds and
smokes with your smoke. And host the good old
boys.

>> Good ol’ Boy Barker (00:51):
Suds. Suds.

>> (00:52):
Suds. Uh, it's time for more
suds.

>> Julianna (00:57):
Hello, friends. It's time to wrap up
our 12th season of Suds
segment. Today we're gonna look back at some of the best
moments from this past year. I'm one of your hosts, Good o gal
Juliana. And joining me today is good ol boy
Kendall.

>> (01:13):
Wow, that's a lot of years.

Good ol boy Carl.

>> Good ol’ Boy Benjamin (01:16):
I think I only have 12 pairs of underwear.

>> (01:18):
Mmm.

Good m o boy Mike.

>> (01:20):
That's more fingers than I have.

And good ol boy Dave.

>> Brent (01:23):
I have exactly that many fingers.

So we're gonna play clips in previous episodes and
offer a little comment them. And just because it's us, uh,
we're also going to be sipping a few of our favorites because of
course it's us.

>> Brent (01:37):
Uh, everything we're covering today was rated a
five. Just like me.

Uh, we won't play the full discussion.

>> Brent (01:44):
On each of these, but you can check the show notes to find the full
episode for each of our top picks.

Okay, let's get going. Do you want
some ed drugs with that cider?

>> (01:55):
Oh, this is great episode. This is a really hard question.

It was the, uh, sidra Dupont Reserve
2016. Traditional cider matured for six
months in Cal.
Okay, speaking of some good
cider hard.

>> (02:13):
We need to get back to our core topic.

Yeah.

>> Brent (02:16):
Cider.

Let's go to the Dupont
reserve from, um, domain
Dupont in
Vito Pono.

>> (02:27):
Yeah, France. Sounds good.

6.9%.

>> (02:30):
Sounds like something's caught in your left nostril.

Oh, geez. So
the family Dupont family. The
famille Dupont family estate consists
of 74 acres of orchards in
Normandy. Um, and they've been doing
this for a very long time. They also produced
pomo. Am I saying that right? As well as
Calvados.

>> (02:53):
And, uh, those are varieties of apples.

Okay.

>> (02:56):
Yep.

Gotcha.

>> (02:58):
I think this episode showed why the French
hate Americans.

Um, it's one of
many reasons.

>> (03:06):
Yeah. Isn't it Calvados?

Is it?

>> (03:08):
Yeah, Calvados.

>> Brent (03:10):
Yeah.

>> (03:10):
I always say Calvados. That.

That sounds like avocados.

>> (03:14):
Yes, I know. That is correct. Uh, I. It's a
slut. It's a southern sling. Yeah, it's a
slut. I think it's just a thing
with a nut.

I remember that girl Calvado.

>> Brent (03:24):
She was such a. I love
this.

>> (03:28):
Cider and Every time somebody says, you know, Mike,
what is your very favorite cider of all time? It
was one of Dupont Reserve is, uh, just hands
down the best thing that I've ever,
ever had. And I've had a lot of great cider.

>> Brent (03:42):
If you're going to a cider party, like, I don't even
know if that's a thing.

>> (03:46):
Just take that.

But you need to bring this.

>> (03:47):
Yes. And it was, it was great that we had it on the show. Wait,
there are cider parties?

>> Brent (03:51):
Sure.

>> (03:52):
Oh, yeah.

Underground.

>> Brent (03:54):
Yeah. Deep Insider.

Underground.

>> (03:59):
Great start.

Yeah.

It's like a punk show. It's in some basement somewhere.

Oh, boy.

>> (04:04):
Okay, what's next, jb?

Moving on. Dookers. Our
favorite. Um, it's a dead guy. My Bok.
6.8% ABV from Rogue.

>> (04:15):
So I was thinking it's, you know.

This is one of the greatest albums.

>> (04:19):
Of the 90s and really made a.

Name for Green day in the 90s. So I went with a
beer that.

>> (04:24):
Also was kind of in the 90s and grew
legendary. And that is Rogue's Dead Guy
Ale.

>> Brent (04:31):
Such a good beer too.

Yeah.

>> (04:33):
And, you know, it plays along with the kind of
somber, grungy thing with the skeleton. But he's
also kind of fun.

He's holding a beer, he's having a good time. And
I thought it just really pairs.

>> (04:44):
Well with 90s, uh, craft beer with,
uh, yeah, 90s, uh, 90s
beer.

Cool.

And also a beer that has stood.

>> (04:52):
The test of time. Thirty years later, we're still drinking it.
Very true. So that was from one of
our beer club episodes with, uh, good old boy
Kendall shorter format episodes where
we all listened, uh, to an album and.

>> Brent (05:07):
We each pick a beer that we.

>> (05:09):
Thought paired well with that album.

And that was good ol boy Kendall's pick.

Yep.

>> (05:12):
And we're drinking it right now too.

And I still love this beer.

>> (05:15):
Still great beer. It's such a classic, wonderful
beer.

And maybe slightly off topic, but what
they've done with their can rebranding has also
been awesome.

>> (05:25):
Excellent. Yeah, absolutely.

Focusing in.

>> (05:27):
On the, on the skeleton guy, who's.

Having a great time guy. They, they really. And matte
black cans.

>> (05:33):
It's.

They, they really brought something from the 90s
current into today's market.

>> Brent (05:38):
Very iconic.

>> (05:39):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's really tough to stand
the test of time, you know, with one style beer. And
especially with my Bach, where, I mean, they're probably,
you know, a couple hundred my box that easily have
been produced over this period of time. This beer has
stood the test. Of time. Especially in the American fantastic
beer, the US Craft beer. I think a lot of it has.

To do with the guy on the front. That skeleton dude is what sells
this beer.

>> Brent (06:04):
Non, um, threatening.

He's like the old school king of grunge.

>> (06:08):
Yes, for sure.

I think he's very threatening.

>> (06:10):
I think it's because I think you guys slept there on
site. That's what really happened. That make this work, right?

I did sleep at a rogue, uh, facility one
time.

Yes, you did.

They did.

>> (06:21):
They do have an inn, folks. I did not sleep in the bathroom. I
passed out behind Black Abbey once.

>> Brent (06:25):
I'm not bragging about it.

You too?

>> (06:27):
Yeah. Oh, those pumps are so
good. Wow.

Okay, moving on. You are treating your
body like an amusement park.

>> (06:38):
Great episode.

Oh, my gosh. It was all about the
Wiseacre.

>> (06:43):
I. I will tell you that I love this
pack. Before we even get into it, I seek this
pack out when I'm going to parties for two reasons.
One, it's. It's Tennessee local.

>> Brent (06:54):
Yeah.

>> (06:55):
Two, it's. It's a great pack of
vloggers and craft lagers.

Yeah.

>> (07:00):
And so it is always something just very approachable I
can, you know, bring to a party. I know I'm bringing
something good and it's kind of, you know, it's something that's
approachable for most people, especially Mike. Like you were
saying, you have people that are afraid of hops. You know, this is, this
is definitely, uh, for a lot of that,
uh, beyond Budweiser crowd,

(07:21):
um, is how I would describe this.
Uh, the thing that I like about this
particular choice is having tiny bomb in
any variety pack. I am totally in.
So I, um, consider
the tiny bomb. American Lager, uh,
from Wiseacre is like one of

(07:42):
the top five, you know, standard pilsners
for American craft gray beer.

Right. So this was part of the Wiseacre
Logger Life variety pack. Um, we were doing
an episode on Mix 12 packs.
And I mean, Wiseacre like, knocked it out of the park.
Like, everything in that mix pack was just
perfect for the summer life.

The Memphis Sands is one of my favorite beers.

>> (08:06):
And if you're in Memphis, you can buy a 24 pack of
16 ounce cans. It's pretty great. And
they just want a GABF Gold for Sky Dog.
Yeah. Wow. It's, uh, they are
good for them. Still nailing it on the lagers.

>> Brent (08:21):
Yeah.

Memphis has the softest water in the United
States.

>> (08:25):
It's softer than Pilsen.

So the, the water in Memphis is perfect
for making this style of beer and
Wiseacre absolutely crushes it. Yeah.

>> (08:36):
Yeah. And, uh, I'm, uh, so glad that we,
you know, went through the variety pack because there
are just so many great beers that are really.
They're producing on a repetitive
basis. But I'm sorry, I'm just going to say the same
thing. Tiny Bomb is just the all
time pills.

All right.

>> (08:56):
Memphis loggers,
barbecue stabbing. Yeah, for sure.

Uh, the best thing you could do.

In Memphis is go to a bar called the Slider Inn and get
a Jameson slushie. You're welcome.

>> (09:11):
Called the what? The Jameson slushie. Slider
in.

>> Brent (09:15):
That's what she said.

Yeah. Okay.

Two ends.

Next, Road tripping with Mike,
the say no More Logger, uh, from Hudson
Valley, which we happen to be drinking today.

>> (09:27):
I'd love to talk about Beacon a lot more, and there's a lot more to
tell, but I want to spend some time and talk about
Hudson Valley itself. Great brewery.
Um, I, uh,
had 12 beers, uh, to
taste while I was there. They were all
stunning and even a lot of styles of beer that I
don't like, um, I thought were very well

(09:49):
made. Um, and
I just, it was, uh, it blew me away
the level of quality of everything that I had
there. And I could not wait to see what
I could take home and, uh, package.
Um, and the
ratio between what was available on tap and what you could take home

(10:10):
for packaging was only about a third of the beers
that were on the tap list were even available to take
away, um, in packaging. So
I will tell you that one of those beers that was not
available at the Tap Room was this
beer that we're having. I'm going to let Juliana tell everybody what it
is.

Interesting. So Saint no More is only
5% ABV. It is a black lager
brew with Tettnang and SA hops.

>> (10:38):
So there's also, right before this, a.

>> Brent (10:41):
Very good Mike story about elderly
people on the highway.

>> (10:47):
This is one of the strangest moments I've had with
beer acquisition where this guy was traveling down
this treacherous two lane road, you
know, in town. And, um, it literally just
drifted off into the weeds. You know, it was
really very strange moment. But oh my
gosh, this beer, I
just absolutely love it. Even having it today, it

(11:09):
just, it's. It's fallen off a little bit. But
it just reminds me of how, how
good a black lager really can be. Amen.
And yeah, I just, uh, when I had this, I
was like, wow, this is like cold brew in a can.
Just, it's just Perfectly
balanced. I. I was

(11:29):
so grateful when I found this in a package that I
got to take back with us and share with everybody back
here. And even today, I'm just. I
still love this beer so much.

>> Brent (11:40):
Yeah.

>> (11:41):
And, uh, actually, I think you brought.

Me a can of this.

>> (11:44):
I did. Um, which.

I'm from upstate New York, so the Hudson
Valley is my, like, my stomping ground. But
this brewery opened after I had moved away, and I was just
so.

>> (11:55):
Grateful to see beer coming out of basically
my hometown. That's just absolutely crushing. It is
absolutely. Really good. Um, I just like
that Juliana kind.

>> Brent (12:05):
Of found this place. And then we brought some beers
back, and Mike fell in love with some.

>> (12:11):
Of their, like, sour IPAs and stuff.

>> Brent (12:13):
And, like, that made
him sort of.

>> (12:17):
At some point, a few years later.

>> Brent (12:19):
Make that part of a cool road trip he had with his dad.

>> (12:22):
Awesome. I still love these beers.

Yeah.

>> (12:24):
Um. Yeah, well, everything's worth a beer.
Yeah, everything's. Everything's worth a great.

There's one.

>> (12:30):
Yeah, everything's worth a great trip. And I love the fact that
Kendall and I actually got to visit the same place.
Same place. And I'll be there in a few days, actually, for, uh, for
this next beer that hit our, uh, best of.

Okay. The original three way,
um, Fresh picks, R D,
Italian style pilsner.
Right before the break, we started talking about the. From
the R D series, their Italian pilsner, which is a 5%
ABV Italian pilsner.

>> (12:56):
And I just, uh, asked Kendall.
He, uh, do you, uh, do you go to
Italia and get these hops banned,
or, uh, do you, uh, ship the
hops across the world? Yeah, that
is pretty amazing.

They're getting Italian hops.

>> (13:13):
I'm not aware of many varieties of Italian
hops that would work for something like this, so it's really
cool because, you know, most hops are coming from.

A little bit farther north, so these.

>> (13:22):
Must be grown, I'm guessing, up towards the Alps.

Venice.
Venice, Erica, is a small city and
commune in the metropolitan city of Venice.

>> (13:32):
That's where they're grown to malt.

Right.

>> Brent (13:35):
That was the hops.

>> (13:36):
I thought.

Oh, no, you're right. You're right.

>> (13:38):
Sorry. But either way,
fantastic beer. I just love this beer. It's one of my favorite they've got on
right now.

>> Brent (13:44):
I just had to include Mike's crappy Italian
accent, of course.

>> (13:48):
I thought that was the best part of the story.

That was funny. I thought the best part was Drew getting it wrong.

>> Brent (13:53):
Yes. Well, that was good, too.

>> (13:54):
Well, that was Love these guys. Saunder
out of Cincinnati is now my new favorite Cincinnati brewery.
And I mean, I love some of the others that are there, but they're just doing some
really cool things. I think it's the best Italian pilsner
made outside of Italy. It's the best Italian pilsner I've had
in the past couple years. Really well done. Really well
done.

And last, but certainly not least, you need to touch
it to taste it. This is the
Pumpkin spice walla latte
10W40.

>> (14:22):
A good pumpkin beer.

Shocking.

It's beautiful.

>> Brent (14:26):
This is nice.

This is nice.

>> (14:28):
This is really good.

Yeah. I mean this.

And it's not just because it's compared to everything else that we've had.

No, it is complex.

>> (14:35):
The spice is balanced with the stout. The
stout has its own character.
Got a dryness to it.

Yeah.

>> (14:43):
Soothing to me right now.

Very soothing. But soothing on many levels,
you know, because, okay, this is when pumpkin
is done, right. Because it's a stout which we can
all agree because of the dark color and they make
a good stout to begin with.

>> (14:59):
Yeah, the 1040 is always really good.

Yeah. Um, okay, we're rating this one a
5
now. For those of you that are trying to
catch up, this is the High
Wire Spice walla
Pumpkin Latte
10W40.

>> Brent (15:17):
In a world where we drink a dozen
pumpkin beers or so, such.

>> (15:23):
Ah, a bad idea. Yeah, it was nice
to actually have something. It was a rough show and
I hate pumpkin beers. Everybody knows how much I hate pumpkin
beers. I like this beer.

High Wire did a really good job. It was enjoyable.

>> Brent (15:35):
Yeah.

>> (15:35):
Uh, we've brewed a couple collabs with them and they are
such good dudes.

And I'm so glad to know them and
absolutely, uh, heartbroken about what's happened with
them with the floods and whatnot.

>> (15:46):
But they've been great. Yes.

Well, that's going to end it for us.

>> (15:51):
Hey, this is good old boy Mike once again with
one of my best of picks for
season 12 for coffee.
Um, sorry, we didn't really get to
broadcast enough coffee episodes in season
12. And we had some great, uh,
episodes and I hope that we'll be able to get back
to doing some more of those in season

(16:13):
13. My top pick for season
12 is going to be from Guatemala. Uh, this
is from a state called
Finca, uh, Vista Hermosa, which
is a, um, well known estate, um,
in Weiwei, uh, that, you know, produce a lot of
good couple of excellence, uh, you know,

(16:34):
coffee lots in the past. This
particular version is the reserve
Lot. And they only made this available,
uh, for a very short period of
time, um, in the last year.
And I had a chance to be able to pick some of
this up. Now I've had, you know, coffee
from this estate, you know, quite a bit over a

(16:56):
very long period of time. But the first time that I'd had this
reserve lot and everything really just kind of
got kicked up exponentially. I think
probably the flavor profile, you know, from this
that I enjoy most of the time is there's a
nuttiness that's kind of a, uh, overtone, almost like
walnut that's dusted, you know, with

(17:17):
just a touch of some kind of sugar. You
know, it really just has very
unique, you know, flavor profile. It's
a bit floral, um, kind of on the nose. Um,
but the, the acidity in this, uh, really
has almost like a sweet lemon, almost like an Italian
lemon. Ah, kind of overtone to it and

(17:37):
really fabulous, um, you
know, cup of coffee. So I would certainly
say if you ever see that up on the board, maybe, uh, as a
daily choice, um, or maybe just for
a very limited period of time at your favorite roaster
or, you know, reach out to your favorite roaster and
actually request this bean. So again, it's Guatemalan

(17:58):
way, way finca, uh, Vista Hermosa. It
is the reserve lot. So be sure and check
that. I think you'll be really happy with that. Even if you
don't see the reserve lot, I would tell you to embrace, you
know, coffee from this estate, uh, either
way. But definitely, uh, the reserve lot caught my
best of attention for season 12.

(18:18):
For now, this is good old boy Mike asking you to
keep on sipping.

>> Brent (18:23):
Hey. And we're back. And this is our best of the year
show. So we're the Sips crew and we're going to be talking about
our best Whiskey picks for
2024. We're going to start with Brent. What was your
pick of the year?

Oh, uh, this was, uh, unanimous.

>> Brent (18:37):
It was the brown, uh, foreman King of
Kentucky. 16,
130.4 proof. Awful stuff.
Awful.

>> (18:45):
Yeah, this.

>> Brent (18:46):
I mean, I think when we, when.

We tasted it, everybody said like, oh, uh, if we. We could all have this as
our.

>> Brent (18:51):
Our pick of the year for sure.

>> (18:52):
You know, it's either this or arcane.

>> Brent (18:54):
Oh, barely beat that
out. But this is everything you want
in a whiskey and in a bourbon, and it's just
beautiful. It's so mouth coating.

>> (19:05):
The.

All the flavors are there. The vanilla, the.

>> (19:08):
The, uh, tobacco, the wood, the leather.

>> Brent (19:13):
And it just coats your Mouth, it gives
you that big Kentucky hug. I mean, as far as
I'm concerned, this is probably up
there. I mean, one of the best whiskeys I've ever
had. And that says something, you know,
I mean, look how many we've tasted. I say, yeah, as much as you
drunk. I'm not

(19:34):
even talking about the show.
Yeah, it was pretty good. Um, it was pretty good when anything
else sort of struck your fancy, Maybe a runner up. Yeah, I have
a runner up. I have the, the Bernheim Kentucky straight
wheat whiskey barrel proof. The
A224. We tried that. That was like
a new product. And this is, that's one that
really caught my fancy.

>> (19:56):
Loved, uh, it.

>> Brent (19:57):
I mean, I might have picked that one if I.

If this one hadn't come along.

>> Brent (20:01):
All right, well, we're going to go.
Harm's, uh, pick was the old potent
21. So we're going to, uh, play a clip
from that episode when he was.

>> (20:11):
Talking green fennel,
sandalwood, lemon, orange, licorice.
It just keeps coming and coming. Oh, wow.
Yeah. This is crazy. How soon can you get this Harm
creamy note? How soon can you get this? It's Friday.
Skip the mortgage payment. By the.

>> Brent (20:28):
I hate to admit it, he's right. There is green fennel.

>> (20:31):
Yeah, it's all there, dude. My fennel is always green. What
about you have any fennel at all?
Yeah, none. I mean, to
me, green fennel is redundant. It's like saying now that you can get
black fennel too.

>> Brent (20:44):
I mean, we're recording this in January for
broadcast sometime later in the year. But, um, we've
already, I'm telling you right now, I've already hit one of my candidates
for best whiskey.
So that'll tell you right there. We were on in
January, so it's the test of time
on that one.
Well, um, Justin, what was your pick for best of the year?

>> (21:05):
It was the Jack Daniels Single Barrel
special release Koi hill Barrel
House 8. This was a
firebomb.
Unbelievable
sweetness, heat the
finish. It goes on for many
minutes. It's an all day

(21:26):
sipper.

>> Brent (21:29):
That's about most words we've got out of him in about five
years. That was pretty good.
I'm impressed. I'm not even. I know I'm gonna poke him or anything. I'm afraid
he'll, like, take some of them back. Well, we're
gonna go, uh, we're gonna go and see what Maury picked. And
Maury picked the old Forester birthday
bourbon. So let's see what he had to say. About that one.

>> (21:50):
It's improved in the glass quite a bit. I mean, I thought it
was great when I poured it, and it's only gotten better
with a little bit of air. Um, it's
really just beautiful.

>> Brent (22:00):
The fruits are juicy.

>> (22:02):
They jump out in the front palette. The oak, the warm
cinnamon. I mean, you guys really nailed it on all the
notes. And then the finish just goes on.

>> Brent (22:09):
And on and on.

>> (22:10):
That sweet tobacco is really neat. The ground
cinnamon, the cocoa, uh, I just think
that it's delicious. Uh, is the best birthday
bourbon ever. I don't know that I could say that, but it's never
disappointing. Cocoa.
I think that's what the guy screamed when 35 went
over his house.

>> Brent (22:27):
How did we let him get away? How did we get away with
that? I. I don't care.

>> (22:31):
Oh, we rip on him now.

>> Brent (22:32):
Oh, yeah. Well, that's true.

>> (22:33):
Not too late. It's the best of the year show.

>> Brent (22:36):
Yeah. It's only 9:00 at night. It's the best rip of the
year. So that was, uh, so the Old Forester
birthday. That was Maury's pick. And we
actually have a pick, uh, with
good old boy Mike.

>> (22:49):
Hey, thanks, Bob. I appreciate it. Every
year we have so many wonderful things we get to try
here on sip, suds and smokes. And it seems like
there's always, you know, an exceptional product that just
kind of jumps out at you. And this year it's from
Glenmorangie, and it's the ice cream.
Um, it is the tale of ice cream. You know, it's

(23:10):
basically remembered by Dr. Bill. And
I think that's what I really love about this particular product.
It's just really, um, it's very decadent, it's very
sweet, has an awful lot of peaches
and vanilla on it. And part of it is
that they actually chose to use a
toasted, uh, new oak barrel for the first time

(23:31):
as a finishing barrel. And, you know, I
think for people that are making things in
Scotland and, you know, working with new, uh,
casks is not something that they do on a regular basis.
So I really enjoyed the innovation. But more
importantly, the finished product was just really
amazing. So if you get a chance to try this,
um, I really think it's a great rendition. It's a

(23:53):
tale of ice cream, again by Glenn Morangie.
My SIPs rating for this is going to be a
5.

>> Brent (24:01):
It's hard to argue with him on that one as that really
was an excellent whiskey. I,
I got a hold of a sample of that and
really, uh, really delicious. So that's going
to take us to uh.
My best pick. So my best pick of the year
was the William larue Weller.
Um, 2024 release.

(24:25):
Always um, every year for me it's the stag. But this
year, oh, that
Weller is so good. It's just,
it's, it's molasses and
toffee and it's just, it just smells
dark. But there's just
so much.

>> (24:45):
There'S so.

>> Brent (24:45):
Many layers to this thing and it just goes on and on
and on and on and on. I um, think this
is, I mean they've, there's been some great Weller but I think this is one
of the better ones I've had in the last four or five years.
This one is, this one is really, really
top notch. So um, that's my best
pick of the year. But we had some amazing whiskeys

(25:06):
this year as well. I mean just looking
through the list, I mean that Kavalon
Vino Barique private barrel that we had, that thing was
insane. I mean just
so, really just so well
done. Um, and
Jack was very kind to us this year not
only was that coy hill but we did the twice

(25:28):
barreled special release heritage barrel rye if you remember
that.

That was a really good one too. That was, that one
stuck out a lot.

>> Brent (25:35):
And then we also that same show we had the single barrel
barrel proof rye which I'm pretty much
convinced. Uh, no, no offense. Just stop making
old never seven. Just make that, make nothing else.
Just make that. That's all you ever need to make again.
Barrel proof. Leave it alone. Single barrel, don't do anything else.
And me and Brent will buy pretty much everything you make.
So um, the Ben React 40

(25:57):
this year. Wow. I mean, oh
my God. The you know the Jack 10 and 12
year old batch three and two and
and I can't go without mentioning that last
drop 40 year old 15th anniversary blend.
That thing was amazing.

>> (26:13):
All ah, the last drops we had this year were off the chain.

>> Brent (26:16):
Well we did that 32 year old single malt Irish
whiskey too. Uh, that was good but that really good. But that
40 was just. Yeah that was other world that
was up there. That, that Ben Reocc was
just ungodly
good. I mean, I mean even I think Harm was even talking
about. Hold on.

>> (26:34):
Color is a beautiful dark amber with reddish
glints, the nose
raisins and a little bit of heat which was
surprising to me at uh, 87 proof. That was
before the air got to it. Now with air
it's gorgeous. It's surprisingly gorgeous. I
mean it's, it's just gotten better. It's
raisins and plums and cherries

(26:55):
and cedar and some
little bit of chocolate on the palate. It's all about
stone fruit and uh. Hold
on.

>> Brent (27:06):
Yeah, I mean. Ah, that one was, that one was
fantastic. So it's been a good year for whiskey boys, a
great year and a really good year for whiskey. So
that's our whiskey picks for best of the year. So
let's go over and shift to our wine picks.
So Justin, what was your pick for best wine of the
year?

>> (27:24):
So this year I picked the Alpha
Omega Cabernet Sauvignon Beck
stoper to Cologne 2018.
It's 14.8% alcohol by
volume. It's 100%
cabernet sauvignon, 90% barrel
fermented. 10 stainless steel
tank fermented, age 22 months in

(27:45):
French oak. 80% of its new
20 from a one year old barrel.

>> Brent (27:50):
What'd you think about it?

>> (27:52):
It was really complex
but balanced. And those are two
really difficult things to pull off.
On the nose I got like lilacs, matchbox, uh,
cantaloupe, sawdust, pencil lead, chocolate
powder, wet steel underbrush,
pencil shavings on. The

(28:14):
palette was silky
yet fresh. Evolving on fine
tannins, lingering to elevated
tannins on the finish
notes of fruit punch, lavender
hints of rosemary, toasted rye bread,
uncured bacon, black currant, key lime

(28:35):
pie, orange peel, white peach, pomegranate,
candied cherry
off the chain and to balance all
those weird notes.
Wow.

>> Brent (28:49):
Well, it was definitely, I mean I was
extremely impressed with all of their wines. But, but
it's, you know, it's a token. It's,
you know, it's going to be good. And uh, it did not
disappoint.
So let's see what did Harm pick? He picked the
Catherine Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2019. Let's see what he had to say in the episode.

>> (29:11):
There's a reason I like this wine. I'm just saying,
uh, this is all about ripe black fruit,
herbs and chocolate and licorice on the
nose and
so beautiful, earthy, dark
chocolatey blackberries, graphite
that you know, the, the tannins are there. You get that beautiful

(29:33):
grip. Um, it starts out
lush and then it gives you, it gives you that good
grip that you know you're drinking something with age worthy
and the finishes with tobacco and fruit.
And it's long and I could drink this all
day. There's a Reason I like this wine.

>> Brent (29:50):
Yeah, it was, it was fantastic wine.
And, uh, Justin and I went and visited them earlier this
year and, and had some other wine there that was
just as good, if not better. I mean, it's a beautiful winery. If you're out
that way, definitely check out the Hall Winery. They have one
in the valley and then they have the one up on the mountain. And so,
so our next pick was from good old
Galtonise and she picked the Pine Ridge

(30:13):
Stag Sleep District Cabernet Sauvignon.

So, yeah, it should turn into a fabulous wine.

>> (30:19):
And it is, um, you
know, it.

Has that deep, dark garnet red color, which is
just so beautiful. And the
nose has a really
interesting Coca Cola,
I don't know, aromatic, um,
presence. And it's also, for
me, a little herbal. And I
always love herbal notes. I think I've mentioned

(30:44):
this several times today.
So the nose is
fantastic. But then when you try it
and you get these chocolate
covered fruits like.

>> (30:57):
A deep, dark blueberry or a BlackBerry.

BlackBerry. And then more
herbal notes on the palette.
But the kicker is the tea. I'm, um, a
teetotaler myself. I love tea. I
especially love Earl Grey tea. And to get that
note into a.

>> (31:16):
Wine glass is just amazing.

And I've seen Earl Grey,
um, itself blended with many things, even
though it's.

>> (31:25):
Not in here, but you get those notes and I just think
that it really balances it out and it just makes it, uh,
interesting and delicious wine.

>> Brent (31:33):
Yeah, that was a good one as well.

>> (31:36):
Remember we went to Napa and we had that Earl Gray
champagne? That M was insane. You
wouldn't think it would work, but it worked.

>> Brent (31:44):
Shandon. Yeah. Yeah. Her description just makes you
want to dive into it. Oh, yeah. You know.

>> (31:49):
Yeah.

>> Brent (31:50):
Well, and our next, uh, wine for Best of the year was Maury.
And he picked the Croix estate. 12
rose, chartreuse. So let's see what he had to
say in the episode about that one.

>> (32:00):
Thank you, Bob. This is a really light, pale
straw color on the nose.
I get all kinds of things going on. I've got some
citrus, I've got vanilla. I've
got creme brulee on the palette. It's got a
beautiful mouth feel. It's got everything I want
in a Chardonnay. It's got some butter,

(32:21):
it's got some oak, it's got some vanilla.
You didn't get pear. I got pear, too. Everything
you said is right. I agree. I didn't get a lot of pear.
But now that you mention it, I.

>> Brent (32:31):
There's a hint of pear.

>> (32:32):
It's yellow pears. I just thought it was delightful.
It's got a long finish. It's everything
I like in a California Chardonnay. I
thought it was well made. I thought it was fantastic.
Um, it's really improved in the glass. It was a bit cold
when we first poured it. It's warmed up to room temperature. It's
had a chance for a little air in the glass. I find

(32:52):
this delicious.

>> Brent (32:54):
Yeah, that one. I mean, all the wines from Croix.
And we also went to Croix when we were out in January, and.

>> (32:59):
Oh, yeah, that was.

>> Brent (33:01):
I love. Uh, it's a little winery. It's sort of like
a passion project with Kurt Vangie. And the
wines were fantastic. But that Chardonnay
was the one that stunned me.

>> (33:11):
Yeah.

>> Brent (33:11):
Because I don't think we had that when we were out there. And all the other wines
were really good. But compared to that shard, it was that. That
thing was far and away just insanely good.
And I'm not a big shard guy.

>> (33:23):
So cry really blew me away.
I think that's my favorite Sonoma winery.
May not be big, but it's mighty.

>> Brent (33:30):
Well, that's what I like about it. It's not big. You know, I
like. I like the little ones. You know, they're a lot more fun
than the big corporate ones, but they'll.

>> (33:38):
Give you a blanket if you're cold.

>> Brent (33:40):
Yeah, that too.

>> (33:41):
That's service.

>> Brent (33:42):
So for me, my pick of the year.
Well, I had. I had, uh, a
couple of runner ups that I thought were
particularly good. The Royal State Cabernet
Sauvignon was fantastic.
Um, I've had Roy Estate once or twice before,
and it was always right, but it was fantastic. That was the

(34:03):
2019 cab. And, uh, recently, I don't
even think this shows went out on the air yet. It's going out, I think,
before the end of the year, uh, from Stuart Sellers, their
2021 NAPA cab. And it was
fantastic. And it was maybe a
third of the cost of everything else that was on the table. Yeah,
I mean, not inexpensive, but
wow, what a punch for the money. But for my

(34:25):
pick for best of the year,
I got to go with the Dow. Sold the Lion.
Um, that one was absolutely fantastic.
They never miss with that one. Um, they
are one of the kings of Paso, and we did that on our
Paso Robley show.

>> (34:41):
And.

>> Brent (34:42):
But we've been doing Dao now for several years. Thankfully,
they're kind enough to always share some of their wines
with us, and they're always just off the chain. Great. But
that Soul of Lion was fantastic. I mean, 22
months and 100% new French oak.
Um, Cab, Uh, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Frank, and Petit Verdot. It was
just grapefruit and cherries and

(35:04):
blackberries and
currants and. And just some nice sage and a
little bit of, uh, earthiness and maybe a little bit of graphite on
it. Um, on the palate, it was just
blueberries, tobacco barn, some
vanilla, toasted oak. I mean, just so well put together
like they always are. But we also had some
other great wines as well. I mean, we had, uh, some

(35:27):
fantastic wines from the folks at Gargiulo.
Love that winery. Love that winery.
Um, Ehlers Estate.
Um, great wine. Fantastic
wine. Their 2019 was just picked as the. As
the number two wine of the year by Wine Spectator,
and well deserved.

>> (35:44):
Yeah.

>> Brent (35:45):
Um, the Tapas Creek, uh, that we did was
very interesting from Paso. So it's been a great year,
and hopefully
2025 will be a great year as
well. So that's our picks for
best of the year for best whiskeys and
best wines, and that will pretty much do

(36:06):
it for us for 2025. And we'll turn this
over to the folks, uh, at our other
studio up Nashville, to give you their thoughts on their
picks for best of the year. Take it away, guys.

>> (36:18):
Hey, this is good old boy Mike once again with
a best of season 12 for
another Sips category with Jen.
You know, this is a category that we always love
coming back around, and we do. We didn't refresh any of our
content on gin this year. That doesn't mean we weren't
tasting a bunch along the way. And we've probably had

(36:38):
a quite a few, uh, online
reviews as, uh, you know, seasons gone
by. This particular gin that I'm
declaring my best of choice is from
Africa. It is Pro Sarah
blue dot gin. Uh, I believe that is
the correct pronunciation for
Pro Cara or Procera. I've heard it both

(37:01):
ways. It is from Kenya,
and it really has a unique
characteristic on most of the,
you know, spices. Uh,
and, uh, the flavoring components for this
gin are sourced in
various parts of Africa. And
the thing with juniper, um, is very

(37:22):
unique, uh, for this particular
gen. The juniper they use
is from Procera, and it's at a super
high elevation in the highland forest of, uh,
Kabi. And, um, it's, uh,
actually with, uh, Pixi lime and Swahili
orange. Uh, for additional botanicals
around this, um, they have some other

(37:44):
ingredients that come outside the area from
Morocco, um, that provide the
coriander and the orris root in this, um, there
is some pepper, uh, there's some aci
honey in this, um, there is a
cardamom and mace from Zanzibar
and finally pink pepper from Madagascar.
So really fascinating blend

(38:06):
of flavoring components in this. This
is not particularly a cheap gin, but
I think it's well worth the money. Definitely, uh,
drink this neat. I wouldn't bury it in a
cocktail. Um, just, just, it kind of loses all
these wonderful botanical elements that you get
to uh, work with. So I would definitely
encourage you to uh, find this, seek uh, it

(38:29):
out, try it at your favorite bar and
uh, then go pick up a bottle. For sure. I think you'll be
very happy with this. Well for now, this is good
old boy Mike telling you to keep on
sipping.
Hey everyone, this is man made Jeff.

Also known as the whiskey fellow.

>> (38:47):
And one of the most interesting whiskeys I've tried this
year is Nearest Green Tennessee
Whiskey.

One of the reasons I love it.

>> (38:54):
Is it showcases Victoria Edie Butler's
remarkable skills as a master blender.
Despite being only 84 proof,
nearest green.

Can hold its own in a cocktail. However,
if you reserve it for mixing.

>> (39:08):
That'S going to be a huge mistake. For only
$30, you're getting a Tennessee Whiskey with real
character.

It not only earned my bottle rating.

>> (39:17):
But also my 2024 budget whiskey of the year
award.

Cheers.

>> (39:23):
Hey, good o boy Mike here with my
top sips pick for rum
in season 12. A very
unusual choice. This is not a product
that we were able to review on the show
this year. And in fact it even
hasn't made an online review. This product
is Old Monk XXX

(39:45):
rum. Now the first thing you're going to be
seeing is I've never seen this before. It
comes from India. And while it
is widely distributed, uh, in and around India
itself, it's slowly making its way
to other parts of the world as well. So
I would tell you to definitely check this

(40:06):
out. The uh, other uh,
designation on the bottle is
uh, very old vatted. And there are several different
versions of this and I'm sure that the some of the other
versions are equally good, but this one really caught
my attention for just how
unique it was. So much of the rum that

(40:26):
uh, we enjoy here, uh, on the show
hails from uh, Caribbean island or from
Central America. And uh, this
particular product certainly has a very unique flavor
profile. Sweet. A uh, lot of vanilla on
this. I am
probably going to declare this has been
adulterated in some way, uh, with some

(40:48):
adjunct, um, for flavoring purposes.
But it is very sweet, it's very dark.
It has kind of a coffee overtone to it. So there's a
little bit of, I don't know, ah, floral and
bitterness, um, that is on top of
this, uh, flavor profile. The
interesting, uh, thing about this product is the
price. It, uh, probably retails for about $20

(41:11):
U.S. uh, so very affordable
and uh, certainly if you see it, definitely
pick up a bottle and uh, try it out. For now,
let's just go to Boy Mike asking you to keep on
sipping.

Welcome to this smoke segments as we cover the best of
20, 24. You asked for it. And here we are
to fool one another again tonight.

>> (41:33):
Our host is Benjamin. Did he just call us a fool?
Because that's the way I heard it.
Uh, I think that's what he said. He said.
Did he say you're the fool or I'm the fool?

I think he's trying to fool it. Shame on.

>> (41:50):
Fool me once, shame on me.

Fool me m twice, you never go fool me again.

>> (41:54):
I'll let him introduce the fool.

Yeah, uh, the foolish are good old boy Mike
Audi.

>> (41:59):
I'm here.

And good old boy Benjamin.

How's your dog Nelson?

Welcome back, folks.
We are the best thing on at 2am right before
you wake up with that damn leg cramp again.
And just after you fall asleep while
watching Jeopardy reruns. I'm talking to you,
Janet.

>> (42:18):
I, I, that's the best part of my day is jeopardy.

So yeah, that's the old folks
home. We got you locked in. That's far right though.
M. Our smoke
episodes for season 12 were epic
of great cigars.

>> (42:34):
They were so freaking good.

So many great brands and so many great cigars. We
got the, the joy of being able
to, to smoke. Several of our hosts are going to pick some
of their top choice cigars. Some of these will
be featured on the show and some of these didn't make it on
air this season. But still a good smoke
and uh, we're just gonna kick right into it and let Mike

(42:57):
take it away with his one favorite cigar.

>> (43:00):
Yeah, so I only picked one cigar is kind
of my best of, um, you know, everybody
smoked one. No, I, I smoked several.
But you know, this particular cigar we
did not have on the show, uh, although it is
slated for maybe a, uh, an episode
we're going to cover on uh, season 13. It
is from Adventura Cigars and

(43:22):
it is the Navigator.

Uh, real quick, did you say Ace Ventura?

No, bumblebee tuna.

Bumblebee tuna.

>> (43:30):
So the, uh, the rapper on this is San
Andreas, uh, Maduro, the Binder,
Sumatra, Indonesia. And the filler is
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua. And it's
aged for five years. Um,
you know, uh, you know, sometimes when I read
something like this ran across, uh, you

(43:50):
know, kitchen sink is the first thing that runs
in, across my mind. And you sure it's not Woody?
We've. We've had a lot of cigars
that, you know, have this. A lot of things going
on. And it really comes down to, you know, is it
really have all of this great balance. I
loved this cigar. And I

(44:10):
just, you know, the first thing that I
really was very oily, was
leathery. And, you know, probably one
of my favorite cigars is, uh, CEO,
uh, Cao's Amazon, uh, Basin. And
this was as close to that same taste
profile that I really enjoy
out of the Amazon basin. And, uh,

(44:33):
this is one you can find this, uh, the
price point is about half what you would probably
have for Amazon Basin.
So that's what I really enjoyed about this. The
size that I enjoyed is called Cabral.
That's kind of a new term. It's, uh,
56. No, I know.

Yeah.

>> (44:52):
So, but listen, uh, it's a very,
uh, good cigar. Um, it's an interesting makeup
of a retailer, um, out of
Switzerland and hooked up
with, uh, the guys from
the Henderson Ventura is
the, uh, blender for this from, uh, Tobacco,
Lara William Ventura in the Doctor.

(45:15):
Um, and the retailer is Marcel Noble
of, uh, Switzerland. And, uh, so these guys kind of
hooked up, you know, to create this line. You
know, we've had a lot of things, you know, where the
retailer kind of steps into the manufacturing process, and
you kind of scratch your head and go, I don't know if this is your
calling, man. Uh, but, you know, I think

(45:35):
this is the time where it has worked really exceptional. So I
hope you'll definitely, uh, check out the Navigator
by Aventura Cigars is my top pick for
season 12.

Yeah, yeah, it
was a good cigars. I don't know. That didn't make my list, but it was a good
cigar for sure.

>> (45:52):
That's okay.

Is that because they don't make it in a Petite Lancero?

That is correct. That's right. If they made it in a Petite
Lancero, been great.

>> (46:01):
Well, they do make one that's called the Francis D, which
is 44 by 6, which is pretty close to a
Petite Lancero.

So I'm listening.

>> (46:09):
Yes.

I think he's more intrigued by
Francis's D.

You got me. You got
me.

>> (46:22):
Benjamin, what were some of your top picks?

That puts me in the hot seat. So uh,
I, I couldn't pick just one. So I've got three, uh,
and these were late season picks for me. These are
uh, some sticks that I ran to a little bit later in the year,
but very glad that I did. The first one is
going to be the Belgian Blue by Crown Heads. We uh,
all know and love Crown Heads, especially here. It's a local

(46:44):
brand for us. It's a good friend of ours,
uh, in the industry. Uh, so this one is
um, Nicaraguan, it's country
of origin Mexican San Andreas
wrapper, uh, Maduro with uh,
Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan and Dominican Republic
binder and filler. Um, this
thing is a awesome long

(47:06):
smooth sip, man.

Awesome.

Um, just all the
perfect aged woody tones, the, the
leather tones that you want. Um, maybe even
a touch of like
overripe, uh, like stewed berries
to it. This thing hits.
Um, but yeah,
definitely enjoyed this smoke. Definitely something that uh,

(47:30):
I will be picking up as long as it's available
now.

>> (47:33):
I think this was a new introduction, a new product
from Crown Heads this year, right?

It is a brand new product. Literally
hit shelves maybe a month ago.

Yep. Um, that was about a month
ago.

It came out after the
Belgian Blue Bull.
So it's a, it's a breed of beef.
Um, but yeah man, it's a soft box press
situation. Nice, uh, oily
wrapper. Uh, and I mean this thing just stacked
dimes all the way through from front to back.

(48:08):
Um, just well constructed.
Um, and, and yeah, I think every time that I've been back in a
tobacco shop that has one, I've picked up at least two.

I think they're a 12 count box too.

Yeah. So definitely one of those.

Yeah.

Um, user friendly situations.

Yeah. You know, under 200 bucks you can
get, you know, some good cigars.

Yeah.
And then the second one for me is
the uh, Matilda, uh, special edition
2024. So different than the limited
release. Uh, and I was literally in the
humidor at our local tobacconist picking up the
Belgian Blue. Uh, and
our good friend old Nader salad pretty
much ran in the humidor

(48:52):
and was like, hey wait, you have to smoke
this. And I'm like, well I'm smoking both of them. So this is perfect.
Um, but this is Ecuadorian Sumatra
wrapped, um, cigar with a Nicaraguan,
Dominican, Peruvian binder and filler.
It smaller ring gauge. So uh, it's a,
it's a six by 50. Um, so still a

(49:13):
Toro, but that smaller ring gauge. And I think
this is probably one of my hands down favorite things about
Matilda cigars is it has,
if you've ever had any type of
seafood dish or if you've ever had any
type of, like, Cajun dish with.
With the perfect amount of
spice, the perfect amount of, like,

(49:36):
cayenne pepper, um, that kind
of hits on the back end, but then lights your. Your whole
palate up in. In the best way possible. That's what this
smoke was for me. Um, you
know, it's. It's always one of those things where, like, it's a special
edition, right?

Yeah.

Uh, so, you know, get them while you can.
Uh, but this thing is
aces.

Matilda's just got bangers of cigars.
All their cigar line is just bangers. And that
dude that owns it is salt of the earth,
man. Just salt of the earth.

>> (50:08):
Yeah. I've had some solid sticks from Matilda as well.
I know I haven't had this limited release, but some other
ones in their line. Really great.

Yeah.

Um, and then last, uh, for me is, um, the
Intergalactic Event Horizon from Black Label Trading
Company. This is. This is a brand that
I'm circling, um, back
to. The first couple of encounters that I had with them were
some sticks that I didn't necessarily enjoy, uh,
that had a lot of height, but I just think they weren't necessarily my

(50:39):
palette. Um, but this Intergalactic Event
Horizon, um, this is desert
island smoke for me. Yeah.
100, man. It's in the right size.
Um, so I smoked the Petite Corona, uh,
so 4.75 by 46.
Um, you're really getting the concentration

(51:00):
of that Pennsylvania broadleaf wrapper.
Um, and it just. All
of the. The big, bold chocolate
coffee, black pepper,
um, you know, kind of also
fruit and raisins kind of scenario. It's the
perfect mixture of spicy and
sweet, um, with the Ecuador

(51:22):
Habano and Nicaragua binder and filler.

>> (51:24):
Easy to find, this one.

No, not anymore. It's another, like, it's a
yearly release. Kind of like the morphine is for
them. Um, so,
yeah, actually, uh, had a heartbreaking moment. I was.
I was at our favorite, uh, you know,
cigar shop here on the east side of
Nashville and went in and the
box was still there. Right? It was like the last

(51:48):
box they had. The last couple times I've been in there, they were out.
And, um, one of the guys that
works at Brady was like, oh, man, there's one more left in here. And
somebody had decided to put back
a cigar into this box. That wasn't
the cigar that went in the box. And I was like,
uh, I'm gonna kick over a shelf. That's it,

(52:09):
that's it. I'm about to wreck this thing to.

Do is to play grab bag and just put them back randomly.

Dude, I knew it was you.

Yeah.

Sly fox. But yeah,
very big heartbreak. Um, you know, I normally don't cry
in public, but I was really close
and uh, if, if I do find
them. This is boxworthy
only, um, share with close friends. But if you,
if you find one, smoke it, smoke

(52:37):
it, smoke it, smoke it.

Yeah, no, that's great, man.

So, yeah, those are, that's, that's as far as I could
narrow it down, uh, without
getting in trouble.

So I could talk for days.

Yeah.
Go over your seven cigars that I've got.

I actually took one out, but I've got a list
of my top four now.
Um, and you know the. I
did not expect this one to get on my list.
Uh, and I just smoked it a week
ago. And a week
ago, my God, I. When I tell

(53:15):
you angels from heaven start singing
when you light this cigar. You better believe
it. So from foundation, which
is one of my
rapidly becoming one of my favorite brands now,
it's the High Claire Castle series. And this one's
called The CentenJer

(53:37):
sin Jer s e n E
T J E R um, I'm, you
know, I was not a good geologist.

Good with the words we know.

Yeah. But it's, it's to celebrate
100th anniversary of this discovery of the
Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. His
tomb. And so like they come in a tomb
shaped box, a sarcophagus box. And
it's really cool. Um, now
it's, it's interesting the way they do things.
Um, like, so their wrapper is a Habano

(54:08):
Ecuadorian 7th Priming
and their um, binder is
Brazilian Matafina. And they don't
disclose the filler, but it's a
six, six and three quarter by
52. Uh, and it's like a
perfecto. It's got a, you know,

(54:29):
um, and it's, it's fantastic. And
I'd say if you get a chance to get any of these at your local shops, you
need to pick them up because this thing smokes
slow and low. It doesn't
get, it doesn't get hot on you. It
didn't, it didn't get any. The
flavor changed beautifully throughout it. It was nice and
oily, just very consistent.

(54:51):
And I, uh, was really surprised by smoking it have you
guys had a chance to smoke any of them?

So I haven't smoked this edition
of it, but I smoked the one last year.

Okay.

And, and could not echo that sentiment
anymore. Specifically from foundation
perspective. Nick, uh, and his team,
uh, fantastic, absolute bangers,
man. And, and everything from
something that is very price
approachable, um, to, you
know, all the high end sticks, you know, that you can

(55:24):
smoke, uh, but, but they tend to
consistently land somewhere in the middle. From that
perspective, man, they couldn't be more accessible,
uh, for cigar smokers. And so if you've been
out there kind of looking for a brand that's going to
do that for you, uh, it's
foundation cigars.

Well, we look forward to doing an episode for season
13 coming up, I believe. Yep,
season 13. I can't believe it.
Um, next on my list is gonna be the
Illusion group of five, which we did in our blind
episode.

Some of us haven't got a chance.

To listen to that episode where Benjamin missed out.
Just uh, go ahead and circle back
and, and type in your comments. The blind episode and it'll
bring it. Pop it right up. I can't think of the name of the episode
because Mike names them all these funny things
and I don't remember them sometimes.

Did I miss out or did somebody leave me hanging?

Uh, I think that I might have had a few too
many drinks and smoked your blind stick by mistake.
That's my fault and I apologize.
Anyway, so next on my list is going to
be natural cigars.
Their first harvest. I don't know if you remember that at
all, but it, um, they

(56:39):
are in a colder
climate. Um,
and they're all in like a valley. The, the,
all their stuff is grown in the valley of a cold
climate. Um, man, I can't think of where
they're from,
but they are just fantastic

(57:00):
cigars. Um, here you go. I got them pulled
up right here.

>> (57:05):
Yeah.

Uh, Dominican. They're grown in, in the mountains of the
Dominican Republic at a higher climate, at a higher
elevation. And all their greenhouses are open
air greenhouses and they control the watering with the
nutrition up there. It's crazy. Um, but
I got to talk to them at the pca and they had one.
They only give us one of these cigars at the pca.
Which good. Uh, I mean they only made a few 100 boxes

(57:28):
of it, so. But man, this cigar will ever
be in my memory. Like I smoked it
in my front porch, just hanging out and
had a good bottle of bourbon with me.
And uh, man, it was just a
Fantastic experience. Like, the cigar itself was an
experience. And. And they're piros, so I.
And being that colder climate and the soil that

(57:51):
is, man, it just makes for a totally different
smoke. And, uh, if you guys find
those in your cigar in your lounges, it's called the First
Harvest. Y'all should pick those up for sure.
And, uh, lastly on my list is going to be
Peter. Uh, the. Peter James by
Luciano. You guys remember that from

(58:11):
PCA and. Which is also on the PCA episode.
We talked about both of these cigars on
the PCA episode, which you can go back in our back
catalog and listen to those episodes also.
Um, do you guys remember that one? So Peter James has.
Is a. Like a leather. He makes leather
goods.

Yeah, I think I've got one sitting in my humidor.

Yeah. Yeah, I believe you do as well.
Um, he partnered with him to make a luxury brand, is what
they're kind of calling it.
Um, but, man, that's probably the
best thing that Luciano's ever done.
And I'm a big. I'm a big fan of Luciano. He makes great
cigars.

Can we say it looks like it's in a lipstick box?

Yeah. Yeah, it does look like eyeshadow
almost, you know, but,
like, gold and white. But it's like the luxury. They're going
the whole styling for it, so it's
like. I wouldn't have thought there was a cigar in that box,
but there was, and it was fantastic.
Um, and they don't really tell you much about it either.

(59:13):
Binder, filler, rapper. They don't really tell you much about it,
so. But you can listen to what we talked about it on our
last back episode, uh, for the
PCA of 2024. And we're looking
forward to doing PCA of 2025 this year in New, uh,
Orleans. Is that right?

Yes.

Yeah. And I believe it'll be more than just
myself and Rich there this year, so. Looking forward
to that. Have a good time with the
boys.

Yeah. Nolan's in July. Can't wait.

Yeah, I thought it was March. Is it
July?

>> (59:46):
I think it's March.

Okay.

Yeah, it's March. Yeah.
But speaking of Rich, we've got his top four up here,
too. You guys want to. You guys
want to do one? I'll do one. How do you want to do this?

>> (01:00:00):
I'll start. Uh, so the first one on
his list is. Was on the Wildfire
episode. We covered the whole product line. And,
uh, he, uh, picked the Hook
as, uh, one of his top picks. Great cigar
and uh, yeah, really, uh, great line.
Um, should definitely, uh, check out

(01:00:20):
our episode where we covered the entire product
line from Wildfire. And, uh, that
was, uh, definitely one of the better sticks in the, uh,
lineup.

>> Good ol’ Boy Barker (01:00:29):
Yeah. And then on his. His next pick was the,
uh, Crown Heads Coronada
Habano, which was the new release this
year for Crown Heads. They did a Habano and a Maduro
version of it. Um, both
fantastic cigars. I mean, I'm
a fanboy of Crown Heads, as we all know. And, you
know, I. I'm just. He makes such great cigars.

(01:00:52):
He's got a really, really good palette. And,
uh, I love what he's doing. So if you guys get a chance
to try those, you guys should definitely try those.

>> Good ol’ Boy Benjamin (01:01:01):
That's truth. Um, and then the.
The last one, uh, we already kind of got into foundation
a little bit, so the last one on his list, um, is
the Herbert Spencer, uh, by Jake Wyatt
Cigars. And actually, I. I stole
one of these out of your humidor, uh, Barger.
And I know, um, now you had

(01:01:21):
multiple of them, which is why I chose it, but this thing.
Dude, this thing rocks. Yeah.
Beautiful. San Andreas Maduro rapper.
Demonic Dominican. Dominican
binder. Sound like Barger over here.
Um, can't help it.

I just got a tooth pulled.

Yeah, you just can't read. Dude. It's
okay. We still love you.

I know.

Uh, but not. Not only is this a great smoke, man. So it's a
beautiful cigar. So, um, it's not a
classic barber pole, but on the
foot, um, and on,
um, the heel of the cigar,
there's a lighter wrapper that's
just kind of makes this, like, spiral design
around, you know, the. The pole

(01:02:07):
ends, uh, of the smoke. And
so makes you. It makes you feel fancy
smoking it too, because it's got a little bit of that cool
artistic flair and is a real nod,
um, to the skill of the people that
put these things together. You know, uh, these premium
tobacco, man, is handmade.

Yeah.

Start to finish. And it takes a real.
It's a, you know, very akin. It's a
trade.

Right.

Like, it's a. It's a learned skill that takes time to
perfect. Um, and they've definitely
embodied that and paid, you know, homage
to it with, ah, with that Jake Wyatt smoke.

Yeah. And the Herbert Spencer part of it. Do you guys know a little bit
about that as well?

I went to high school with Herbert Spencer.

Well, it's, uh, it's a nod to the, uh,
aa
Alcoholics Anonymous. It's Herbert Spencer's.
I Don't know, Rich. Rich can tell you way more about that than I can,
but it's kind of a nod to aaa. And being
sober.

>> (01:03:08):
Huh? Interesting choice.

Which is. Which is really cool because, you know,
I believe that, you know, the owner of that company is also
sober. So, like, it's. It's cool
being able to incorporate multiple aspects and
avenues into this business.

You know, uh, Herbert Spencer also
originated the expression survival of the fittest.

Oh, there you go.

Uh, which he coined in Principles of Biology in
1864.
He was in, uh, obviously being heavily influenced by
Darwin.

Yeah. Oh, Charles.
Well, you guys want to take a minute and talk about the state of cigars this
year?

>> (01:03:49):
Yeah, sure. You know, just,
uh, there were some continuations of a theme, you know,
I think definitely, you know, across
the spectrum of a lot of things we cover here on sip.
Suds and Smokes are celebrity endorsed products.
And I don't think there's been a massive
invasion, you know, of celebrity
cigars. Um, we covered

(01:04:11):
one, which was the
Knucklehead. Um, that was
from, uh, Guy Fieri.

Knuckle sandwich.

>> (01:04:19):
Knuckle sandwich, right. I'm sorry. Thank you.
And, um, you know, I just
don't. I don't see a whole lot of those coming
into this space. You know, uh, we did one with,
uh.

We did one with, uh, Escobar.
Yeah, well, Escobar did one, but then we also did
one with, uh.

Oh.

Oh, what's that? Not. Not
Camacho. Starts with a C.
Korea. Uh, no, it's one of
the, uh.

>> Brent (01:04:50):
Oh.

>> (01:04:50):
Anyway, drawing. I think my point is
that I just don't, uh. It's been a
trickle, and I think it's gonna stay like that.
I'm expecting, you know, a lot of continuation
of really high quality products that are doctor based.
I really think that, you know, that
seems to have the hot hand of innovation right

(01:05:10):
now are a lot of tobaccos that are, you
know, uh, sourcing.

Sorry.

>> (01:05:18):
Yeah. Thanks.

Squirrel.

>> (01:05:20):
Four HOURS later.

Come see me, man. I'm sorry.
Yes, I. I agree with what you said.

>> (01:05:29):
I'm sorry.

What were we talking about?

You were talking about the state of cigars and how interesting it's feeling.
It seems there's not a lot of
celebrity. There's not a whole lot of celebrity
intertwining. But, you know, I think if you.
If you really take a look there, there's. There's a decent amount,
but it's not as heavy as you think. Not as much as the spirits
realm.

>> (01:05:49):
Yeah.

Or the beer realm, or any other realm. I think we
cover.

>> (01:05:53):
I think the flood is going to continue for,
you know, puro products that are all, uh,
the way, you know, sourced, uh, from Nicaragua across the
board. And, uh, I just don't know
if you can look at, at that approach and
say, is the 47th
product that is coming, you know,

(01:06:15):
uh, that is a puro across the board, is
it really going to stand out? You know, in the humidor? I
just feel like that space is just
packed, you know, and I,
every time I pick one up, I go, okay, so what's gonna be
different about this one than the other 46 that I've
had?

You know, I love puros, man. I, I
think so. I, I mean, maybe
spicy. Well, our palates are a little different. I
like certain things you don't like. And so, like,
I pick up on some nuances from puro
standpoints, like, you know, elevated in
soil, like where it's grown, what region it's from. Like,
it makes the difference. And you can, it's

(01:06:55):
subtle, but the same could be said for, for
bourbon. You know, it's. You
could put the same ingredients in the same type of
still in two different places and it come out
different. You know,
that's just my opinion.
Yeah.

Uh, you know, I, I think it's also from there
too. It, you know, the,
the thing that, that really also
drives that
puro, you know, engine
is.
Tobacco is, is terroir driven, right?

(01:07:33):
It, it depends on elevation and rainfall
and, and soil composition and, you know,
so all of these factors are going to change, you
know, year over year, you know, depending on
what's happening in those regions. Um,
and, and then, you know, then they have to go to be,
you know, fermented. Right? And then they've got to spend
time, you know, mellowing out and becoming

(01:07:56):
the things that, uh, you know, are finally rolled
up and we enjoy. Um,
and, and so it's also something that you can,
you know, if you want to nerd out about it, you can, you can
start to deep dive into it. And I think we're seeing
especially some of these, you know, newer
brands. Um, you
know, like, you were, you were talking about the natura being

(01:08:18):
a little bit more transparent about, you know,
exactly what's happening. There's a couple of cool, you
know, documentaries, um, situations on YouTube
where you get to go behind the scenes at, you
know, dab it off, you know, fields and, and
see these things, you know, come from seed to shop,
which I think is incredible.
Um, you know, but even then,

(01:08:41):
you know, blending is, is still the
spice of life and to have the opportunity,
you know, to pull things from different
regions, um, even though they
may, um,
really thrive in one region versus the
other is, you know,
the, the journey to get

(01:09:03):
to all of
those complexities that, that you're, you know, trying to
nail down when, when you're smoking a cigar. If, you know,
if, if you're trying to get into the weeds about it.

Yeah, no, I definitely agree with, with all of
that. You know, it's, it's flavor distinct. You
can tell lots of different things just by, you
know, where something's grown and how it's coming out.
You know, I think the big question.

>> (01:09:29):
Mark for me is what is going to happen
with the Cubana market
with a massive change in administration and
approaches on tariffs, uh, in the US
Market. And even if those
things were to change and alter the landscape,
would the, would those, would they choose to

(01:09:50):
distribute to the US because
they're just sending the vast majority
of those products from Cuba to China
and the, you know, so many
other parts of the world are
just not being able to enjoy those
products. And I really wonder if that

(01:10:10):
landscape is going to change and alter. You
know, um, that's a big
question mark that I have.

You know, back when it was opened up or we could go,
you know, back and forth,
um, there, it
never changed in my opinion. I didn't see a big
incorrect.
I, I honestly I, I see it
slowing down almost. And the number of fakes
that are being produced right now are

(01:10:40):
outweighing all of
the, the whatever they're producing per year down there
anyway. And so most of what people are,
are getting are second
rate, you know, floor cigars
with a Cuban wrapper on it or
Cuban label and, and packaging. And it's
just like, it's so hard to even realize

(01:11:02):
they're making the fakes so good now that, that
you, you have to know to be able to
tell.

>> (01:11:09):
Well, and I think the big thing that's entering this
space is bang for Buck. And I would say that
even if you were to alter and change the
distribution lines or the tariff, you know, control
elements that are in place right now, would they
even, would they even approach to,
to have bank for Buck? That would be

(01:11:30):
on par. I mean I, I absolutely would have that
adventura cigar all day long over the
vast majority of Cubans that I've had.

Oh, 100. I would definitely take a
Dominican Nicaraguan, uh, over
Cubans. And people give them to me all the time. And I'm like, cool,
thanks. And I'll just Put up my humidor and smoke something
else.

>> (01:11:49):
Yeah, as. Yeah, we all do that, you know,
quite a bit.

Yeah. And so it's just like I'll give them to somebody for a
Christmas gift if they want, you know. Oh, I've never had
this. Well, here, just take that one. You know, Merry
Christmas, you know, But
I mean, honestly.

>> (01:12:05):
But don't touch my Bolivias.

Yeah, right. That's right. Yeah, leave those alone. But
like, the ones that say finka.

>> (01:12:12):
Uh, aren't for you.

Yeah, right, that's right.

>> (01:12:14):
No touchy.

But like, if I'm gonna, you know, day to day smoke cigars,
I'm gonna smoke something I like. Like something from crown heads or
wildfire or foundation or, you know, Jake
Wyatt or, you know, somebody. Even the
adventura stuff, I'd rather smoke something that I
know. One, I'm gonna enjoy the flavor and
taste of and two, it's gonna be consistent.
And that's, that's really where it gets me is

(01:12:38):
that if you can get a consistent product and you
can do, you know, you can make your point
across without having to 1 break the bank or
2 copies what someone else is doing, then
you. You got me, you know, Sounds like.

A pretty well sought
after American whiskey
brand.

Yeah. Uh, which one would that be
a.

Lot of, A lot of hype for?
You know, some, some things that you can pick up on a more
consistent basis.

Oh, yeah, you know, does it rhyme with damn
tinkle?

You know, our home, our homies at the, at the
Sazerac house, man.

Yeah. You mean the Lord and
saviors of the bourbon world.

My fireball, folks. By fireball.

That's right. That's right.

>> (01:13:29):
I personally like the, the, you know, barrel pick
fireballs.

Yeah. Yeah.
So what do you, what are you guys looking forward to next
year?

>> (01:13:42):
Oh, I would just love a,
a better measure of innovation. You know, I love
the fact that um,
there were so many products here, even on
our best of that were brand new products
that were introduced. But it just,
it felt like a trickle, you know,

(01:14:03):
at the end of the day. And I just.
Is, is this
a shockwave on lack of demand?
Uh, you know, in the base of
consumers, you know, the onslaught
of regulations
to consume and enjoy cigars and restaurants

(01:14:24):
and bars and you know, it's just, has
just been attacked at every waking
moment and you know, are,
uh, we still going to be relegated to private clubs
and you know, having to always go outside,
you know, or something else? And I,
I would like to think that

(01:14:45):
there is just there, there are a lot
of Things that can be done, you know, in
accessibility and enjoyment
and innovation. New products.

Yeah, and I, I definitely agree with you on
the, um. All the litigation and stuff needs to
just calm down. You know, like, we're not trying
to tell you guys what you can and can't do.
We're just trying to have our freedoms. Right.

>> (01:15:13):
Until it moves in my space.

Yeah, that's right. It's
just we want to smoke cigars and hang out
and. And being so limited in
locations of where you can do that is really troubling as well, even for
the industry.

>> (01:15:26):
Well, I'll throw at a topic that we,
uh, that, you know, I think is worthy of our, you
know, our best of episode here is
do you think that THC products are
displacing market share for
cigars?

Well, that's, uh, Absolutely, they
are, because you've got younger generations
going towards those products instead of
quality tobacco.

>> (01:15:54):
So they're going straight from Swisher Sweets directly to
thc. So.

Yeah, well, they're using the regulated THC in the swish
or sweet.

And. And I think. I think another piece
to that puzzle is, you know,
consumption of, uh, alcohol
is down in that demographic also.

Right.

Like, you know, and. And
where.

Because they're smoking more weed, that.

That handshake, you know, kind of happens is. Is
between, you know, a glass of wine or a whiskey or
rum, you know, so kind of
iconically, if you will, with a cigar,
um, you know, you don't. You don't get stoned
and then go, man, I'd really like to, you know,
spend 40 bucks on this
Nicaraguan puro, uh, and.

(01:16:39):
And sit here and try to smoke this thing for an hour and a half, two hours.

>> (01:16:42):
I'm gonna say that that is a. That's effect
versus experience.

Yeah.

>> (01:16:47):
Yeah. That's the difference between that choice. And
I. I think as a
consumer, uh, I will choose experience,
um, you know, first. And
that is probably a component of age, you know, as
well.

100.

>> (01:17:02):
Yeah.

Well, I mean, here's the thing, though. I'm. I'm a purveyor
of all things, as we know. I. I dabbled in the
THC as long, and I, uh, love my
cigars. But those two things can
coexist.

>> (01:17:14):
I like feeling my feet.

We'll save that on. I can't swing my golf club
for.
But no, I think with all things, there's a
moderation for sure. But, like, I mean,
those two things can coexist, and they can
coexist well. And I think that there is
a Demographic for that, and we are that

(01:17:39):
demographic. You know, our. I guess
my generation would be the demographic that can weave
those two things together. And it's up to us to educate
the people that are coming into being able to
smoke tobacco now and being able to do these things now
and to point them in the right direction. You know, I mean, but
is it.

Is it a good thing to weave those two together? Right? I mean, I
think that as stringent as, you know,
a lot of the legislation is on premium
tobacco, um, you know, I think
it, especially in our region of the
world, tends to be just as much, if not
more stringent on, you know, THC
derived products.

Yeah, yeah.

>> (01:18:19):
And I think when you get into that, you know, bang
for buck, and you talk about it from an
ah effect, you know,
um, perspective,
uh, do I want to spend 20 bucks
to get stoned, or do I want to spend 20
bucks to have a nice, you know, leisurely hour
smoke?

Why can't I spend 10 bucks and. 10 bucks.

>> (01:18:44):
Good luck with that.

Yeah, you do. You do whatever you want to with that.

You can listen to our $10 blind in our back
catalog, and that will help you make a better educated
decision.

>> (01:18:55):
All right, well,
uh, let's wrap up, uh, for today. Burger.

Yeah, man. I'd like to thank both of you guys for being here. Good old boy
Mike. Thank you for being here.

>> (01:19:05):
Hey, uh, thanks for joining us for this, uh, best of
discussion. Come back, enjoy another great episode
of Sip, Suds and Smokes. We have a really good back
catalog, and I'll ask you to keep on.

Sipping and, uh, good old boy Benjamin.

Dude, it's been, uh, it's been a great, you know, full calendar year
with the Sip Suds and Smokescast
and hanging out with you guys and really getting to
dive into something that was just more of a
leisurely hobby that's. That's turned into a really cool
passion. And, uh, man, you know, I can't be
more of a proponent of people not only

(01:19:38):
checking us out and. And forming their own opinion with
all of the rants and side conversations we
get into. Um, but I look forward to
2025 and continuing to hang
out with you awesome dudes, you know, and as
always, man, smoke me if you got them.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And definitely thank you guys for
listening and thank you all the brands that have been a
part of our catalog this year of season
12. Hats off to all of you. You've all done
a great job in, in
making quality, good cigars for this year.
And, uh, we look forward to smoking a lot with

(01:20:15):
you this next coming year pca. Getting
a handshake and get in yalls faces and tell
you what we don't like. You know, and I'm sure you guys
are gonna love that too. But you know as
for every day I always say
keep on smoking no matter what it is.
And uh, we're gonna sign off and we hope you all have a good

(01:20:36):
evening.

We hope you enjoyed this episode. If
you're listening to us online, do yourself a favor
and tap the subscribe button.

>> Brent (01:20:48):
Give it a little tappy tap tap
taparoo.

The easiest way to listen to our show is to ask Siri,
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(01:21:13):
is always buzzing with lots of news.
You'll also be able to interact with the thousands
millions
of other fans on those social media platforms.
Do us a favor, take the time to rate this episode. If you're
listening to us online, that's a big help to us and we
get to see your feedback as well. Come back,

(01:21:34):
join us for another episode and keep on
sipping.

>> (01:21:48):
This has been a one tan hand production of
Sips, Suds and Smokes, a program devoted
to the appreciation of some of the finer slices
of life. From the dude in the Basement studios.

>> Brent (01:21:59):
Your host, the Good Old boys.

>> (01:22:01):
We'll see you all next time.

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.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Best of Season 12

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

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On Purpose with Jay Shetty