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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome to Notion Here presents all the tour of the World's Champions Here podcast. This is batch number 306.
- [00:14]
B
And the fix is in, like, again, an episode that, like, I was like, I don't want to do stuff like this anymore.
- [00:22]
A
And then 10am Again, and then.
- [00:24]
B
And we got to do it. We just did a Barley Wine Is Life one now. Basically, like a. An even more insane Barley Wine Is Life episode.
- [00:36]
A
So some of these. Some of these whiskeys are like over 140 proof hazmat. You're like, you thought the barley wine was bad, and now it's like, now it's really in the thick of it. The only saving grace this episode is called the top five whiskies of 2025. Is that all five of them are really good. Maybe that makes it a little easier for having breakfast whiskey, but it's. I am excited for this, Stephen. We have many stories to tell about this. Such a journey. Like months and months and months getting this. Do we.
- [01:08]
B
Do we have a bunch of stories? Do we?
- [01:11]
A
Well, you were on the sidelines. I was keeping you apprised.
- [01:15]
B
Yeah, just. Yeah, a prize being a thumbs up emoji or nervous. Haha.
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A
Like, okay, question mark.
- [01:23]
B
Yeah. Hey, that sounds great. This is. If you want to do it.
- [01:30]
A
You're like, yeah, you could just go on zeroproof.com and order some shitty NA beers and just really phone it in.
- [01:38]
B
Yeah. Yeah. What happened to the, you know, like our series on like, you know, three episodes in a row of like, crispy lagers sub 5%. Like, we could have that. I think that's relatable.
- [01:54]
A
What's a really cool theme for 2026 would be just like nothing. 5% for every episode.
- [02:01]
B
Yeah, just. Just a year of. Of moderation and self. You know what? Actually, it'd probably be worse because at least high ABV makes me be like, well, time to dump these down to drain. Like, but then if I'm like, oh, yeah, like, just a bunch of like, like three and a half to four and a half percenters. Like, I'm like, those don't even count. Yeah, I was like, I guess I'll. I'll just finish like a couple of these before I start the rest of my day.
- [02:28]
A
Well, speaking of amazing sub 5% beer. This episode is sponsored by Amory's Tomb Brewing Company in Maynard, Massachusetts. Of course, founded by the lead singer of Tool. Of course, City.
- [02:43]
B
The city. Not the. Not the brewing company.
- [02:45]
A
Correct, Correct. The city. And that they're allowed to operate within, like, that. That Tool Municipality. But no, seriously, Amory's Tomb Brewing Company, they've sponsored this show before. Love them. We've reviewed them, they've been on the show and they recently reopened their tap room after a couple, couple years of operating solely out of an outdoor beer garden. Now they got the tap room open. So perfect for cold weather. Or if you want to sit outside under some heaters, they're cranking out saisons. A winter saison is such a good feeling. Everybody always thinks spring. Everybody thinks fall, winter ceson. Don't sleep on that. And they have a double oak version of their house staple coming out next month. The double oak classic is a Solera blend of three different years of Solera style saison from French oak, Syrah puncheons. And then they also have a one year American oak fotor age petite saison. So if you are in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode island, if you're in that sweet spot where they get distro, check them out or go, go there yourself and just grab, grab, grab some of their delicious canned saisons. Or if you're really feeling frisky. Next week, the best bitter is coming out, which is a collaboration with their friends, Clover Road in Hudson.
- [04:08]
B
You say next week? This episode is coming out next week.
- [04:13]
A
So it is.
- [04:14]
B
So do you have a date? You have a date for that, Alex?
- [04:17]
A
Yeah, February 5th. It should be out. So okay, as, as they're hearing this, it is there next week. And the one that I'm really excited about is they Collabed with readings, MA time and materials, and they made a lightly smoked dark country beer with wild Canadian hops. Think of like an elevated, like refined Cascadian dark ale.
- [04:40]
B
I hate, I hate those words, dude.
- [04:42]
A
No way. That's that.
- [04:44]
B
It's saying elevate.
- [04:46]
A
It's a classy black ipa.
- [04:49]
B
Okay. I also like, hate that too. So
- [04:53]
A
Stephen is joining the ranks of the proletariat. He's like, no. Elevate. Elevated. No. Refined. No. Classy.
- [04:59]
B
Yeah, that's because it's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a do nothing word. You know, it's just a, it's a way of saying it when you don't have the pro, the, the proper adjectives to describe what you, how you're feeling about it. I don't know. At least you're not saying like, oh, these are elite hops. These are elite. It's a. This is elite, dude.
- [05:19]
A
Or in the whiskey world, smooth. These are smooth. Everything's smooth. Like the say Nothing.
- [05:26]
B
Word. No, but smooth is. I mean, you know, I could. I could see that as being like a heat thing, but then elevated is like saying, like. It's like trying to, like. I don't know, it just. It just sounds like. Like I can't really think of anything. So, like, elevated, it's. It seems like it's such, like, a foodie 1.0 term. Just like elite is like a foodie influencer 2.0 term.
- [05:54]
A
Like when wine people describe a wine as austere. I hear that one thrown around a lot. You're like, really? It's austere.
- [06:00]
B
I feel like that would be. Yeah, when you. When you put something on, like, you know, when someone does fusion, it's really, like, elevated because of the. The truffles and whatever. And then you're like, ah, yeah, I guess that would be the same thing as aere. What was austere and vogue in the wine industry in, like, 2005?
- [06:19]
A
Big time. Everything. Everything was austere and stern. All these, like, parental adjectives.
- [06:25]
B
Yeah. Someone. Yes. It felt like someone, you know, like, like food and wine or something. Used elevated. That was their, like, big buzzword in, like, 2003. And. And then it became, like, a word that people couldn't stop using. And now it just means nothing now. Now that there's no gravity behind it.
- [06:45]
A
All right, here's. Here's a little contrast for you. Worst job and easiest job. Worst job being that guy who every two weeks has to come up with new adjectives to describe their hazy ipa. And they've ran through all the citrus. All the citrus is done. And now they're just, like. They're getting to the bottom of the barrel of adjectives. That's. That would be the worst job because you're constantly having to, like, reinvent similar things. Easiest job, the guy who puts the three adjectives on the front of a bag of coffee. Because you can just put anything.
- [07:16]
B
This is unrelatable stuff, Alex. This is. This is something you think about. This is what you think about. I was just like, you know, why. Wait, why are.
- [07:24]
A
Why there's people in the audience.
- [07:25]
B
Oh, my God, I've had so many hazy IPAs. I get. No. Never repeat an adjective. I'm running out of them. No, just say. Just say the same eight boring things that there's only, like, eight flavors that they could taste like. Just say those again. You know, like, yeah, coffee. Coffee, though I feel like at least who I buy my coffee from. Maybe, maybe. Maybe your Folgers when you're buying that big old bucket. You're like, I don't know. I don't know how you feel about it.
- [07:55]
A
Pre ground frozen.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And I keep it in the freezer. It takes up my whole freezer, sir.
- [08:01]
B
Yeah, that's, that's how. That's you, dude. And you. And you look at the three words and you're like, okay, I guess I could taste those.
- [08:07]
A
Yeah, interesting.
- [08:08]
B
But I, I take some of the taste things. Here's the thing. Like, you know, like Tricera, the. Greg. Greg Thomas, who we've had on the show, provides coffee for a bunch of breweries in Southern, in LA area. I mean, he'll, he'll be like, let me see that bag. Like, because I'll bring it sometimes. I brought coffees from Indonesia, brought them coffees from, like Mexico. I'm like, hey, pull these for me because I don't have an espresso machine. Let me know what you think. And then if it's good, he'll be like, let me see the bag. Let me see what they're saying. And then he'll be like, I can't kind of taste that. So, so I would say it's a, it. It's all dependent. At least the coffee. Three adjectives. On, on, you know, the, the roaster. I'm not gonna trust the Stumptown bag. I might trust like, you know, a little. A much smaller producer or roaster.
- [08:51]
A
A little. A little guy owned by Nestle. Like Blue Bottle. Who tells you like blueberry, cinnamon and strudel.
- [08:57]
B
Yeah, that powerhouse. That, that too dark. Those guys. The, the, the, the, the roasts are too dark.
- [09:04]
A
That's what always happens once you get corporate interests, like, everything goes the way of the Petes.
- [09:09]
B
You know, the whole thing with, with blue. My friend works at Nestle. He told me about the, the Blue Bottle acquisition and they said it was basically. They, they didn't do what, like we see with like, you know, like when a brewery gets taken over. Like, they were just like, here's a money infusion. We just want, you know, X percent. But they, they've operated essentially like autonomously since the very beginning. Like, they, there's been nothing like, no, no one's like, gotten fired as far as he's, he's known. Like, they've just kind of just expanded and grown and done it pretty smart. That said, I don't like their coffee.
- [09:45]
A
Well, just wait until Tilray acquires them. Nothing's gonna change. But we got.
- [09:51]
B
Wait, why would Tilray buy a much larger company like Nestle? Wait, Alex, you're not making. Listen, just, just because I, I, I, we need to get back to this Amory's Tome thing because I feel like I keep making these examples and you keep, like you're on your back foot and you're like, oh, no, like, assumption I made.
- [10:10]
A
First of all, tome your ass on out of here. The word is tomb. And then tomb.
- [10:14]
B
All right, Ambrose. Tomb.
- [10:17]
A
Secondly, tomb.
- [10:20]
B
Steven, I'm gonna make you give them back.
- [10:24]
A
He's getting crazy with it. Like free jazz. But anyways, no emerystoom.com shop. Go check out their merch. You can get that shipped directly to you. It has death metal, but without, like the crazy offensive. Have you ever seen, like, death metal shirts? Right on the back? It just says like, your mother. And you're like, I can't wear this anywhere. Like, it'll just be something wildly offensive. That's also not relatable to you, Steven.
- [10:48]
B
You know, I'm just like, whiffing. Listen. Yeah, like whenever I, if, if it does say your mother, it just looks like tree roots to me. Dude, I'm trying to decipher them.
- [10:57]
A
It'll be like the unreadable band name and then something that makes it unwearable in public. Like there's, there's so many instances. But this isn't like that.
- [11:05]
B
Okay. Okay.
- [11:07]
A
But yeah, so go check those out. You can also help support the podcast by going to whatever platform you're listening to us on and giving us a five star rating and writing a review. There are no new reviews. But you know what? I have a feeling that someday a new question will trickle in. You can email us questionsdbquestionsgmail.com and we will read and answer them on the pod.
- [11:29]
B
Yeah. Did we check, did we check for an emailed in question?
- [11:35]
A
I did not.
- [11:37]
B
Well, maybe, maybe let old Steven log in. Oh, my computer's so slow.
- [11:43]
A
And just leave this all in. It's like they're gonna send you a code two factor authentication.
- [11:48]
B
Alex, Alex, phone. And tell me the six digit code.
- [11:52]
A
People are all like, clicking the, the fast forward wheel. 32nd, 30 seconds. Like, okay, I'm still stuck in spam. 32nd, 32nd, 32nd. It's like they haven't even gotten a beer. News. It's at the 29 minute mark.
- [12:05]
B
Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. George Pryor, stop emailing us this. The whole thing about Trump at Davos. All right, let's see.
- [12:15]
A
Oh, oh, you're gonna freestyle it.
- [12:17]
B
Oh, no, I think we, we, we do have one. What?
- [12:20]
A
Let's go. Oh, dude, look. Put, put this to work. No rehearsal, no pre written responses. Just. It's like a call in show.
- [12:28]
B
Yeah. This is from Ivar and the title of the email, Elise is Comparison for the Barley Wine Whales. And they write, hello, I'm assuming you are familiar with Pedro Zimena sherry. Are you familiar with that, Alex?
- [12:44]
A
Pedro, the sherry.
- [12:47]
B
Pedro Zimena's sherry.
- [12:50]
A
No, I am not.
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B
Okay. Well they said until recently I'd only tried whiskey filled in its barrels over the holidays. I had the sherry itself and really liked it.
- [12:58]
A
That's a px. Yeah, I'm sorry, that's the PX sherry. It's like the very, very iconic. Yes, yes.
- [13:03]
B
Okay. Yeah. So it's like. Yeah, they had the sherry itself. Really liked it. I was surprised how thick and rich it was. Completely different from regular sherry. When you were describing the barley wine whales, a lot of flavor notes sounded similar to the notes I found in the sherry raisin date wood. But also a sharpness from the sherry that I also recognize from irs since I've never drinking these whales. But the sherry is fairly available. I'm wondering if you could expand on things that these barley wines do or do not have in common with a sherry like this.
- [13:34]
A
Absolutely. First thing out of the gates, texture. The texture is so much like sherry. And I think that's also if you were somebody who's had like these types of intensely sweet dessert wines. For fortified wines, ice wines, they're, they are concentrated in the way that barley wine is concentrated and the mouthfeel has this heft to it in a way we always talk about like oh, big chewy stouts. But a lot of stouts can be dry and just have an alcohol presence to them or be roasty. This is actually like the way that they sun dry the grapes to concentrate the sugars is akin to the way that you do like a 24 hour boil to concentrate the sugars in the malt. So those are the things that I would say are very similar. And in terms of pairing they always work well after dinner. They stand up really well against like creamy lipids, like cheeses and semisofts and stuff. So I'd say those two are very in the same kind of realm. Where it really diverges is instead of just remaining in that zone or going whiskey, bourbon, caskey, sherry's will have like almost like a, like a light smokiness, like a highlighter, like a like sir marks a lot like it's kind of thing that I don't tend to love. But some people really, really like that. But yes, it is an absolute analog with the exception of the Scotch whiskey characteristics that the PX can exhibit. So super fun. Try that. Maybe we'll try it sometime.
- [15:04]
B
Yeah, we should do. We're doing a bourbon episode. Let's do like a sherry. Let's do a port episode. Let's have some of those. Let's expand, you know, the, the. Because we're, they're starting to experiment with so many more like non bourbon, non whiskey barrels. So yeah, I want to try like just a straight up. Like, like what, what's. Like, what's the main thing that they, they put in the amber on a barrels? Is it just. Is it also just bourbon?
- [15:31]
A
I mean, amber Ona is like a relatively like new finishing cask treatment that we haven't seen that much. But I'm glad that you brought this up, Stephen, because we have a crazy secondary casking whiskey that has been put up. Insane Mizunara oak from Japan. And we'll get into that in the bottle.
- [15:50]
B
Excited for that.
- [15:51]
A
So stay tuned if you're into 400-year-old Japanese oak.
- [15:56]
B
Yeah. So, yeah. So email us ddb questions gmail.com. we'll answer those questions. We actually had another question from longtime listener Eric Figaroa. So that'll be teed up for next episode.
- [16:07]
A
Oh, and next episode is so good too. A lot of work being done on the pod these days. Sourcing has been very difficult, but we're,
- [16:16]
B
we're drinking different gasolines.
- [16:18]
A
Yeah. I had to go out of state to get the 93 because in. In California they don't give us the good st.
- [16:25]
B
If
- [16:27]
A
I am your host, Alex Kid, Joining me as always, is the sedulous Stephen Low.
- [16:33]
B
Yes. Leave me and my pod racer out of this.
- [16:38]
A
You're going subulba with that? I thought you were going to go with like sedition January 6th.
- [16:42]
B
No. You know what? You know, I'm still curious about just going back to earlier. What's the difference between tomb and tome?
- [16:49]
A
Tome is a book T o M E. What you're saying is tome, like comb with a t. And that's not a word. That's just you.
- [16:57]
B
Let's comb with a T. Let's.
- [16:59]
A
Okay, so the, the, the. The phoneme omb. There's a whole Gallagher bit about it if you want some really relatable comedy.
- [17:08]
B
He's like, I am having an aneurysm. Is anyone else not understand?
- [17:14]
A
There is.
- [17:15]
B
You're saying things are rhyming and there's a comb with a T and I'M like.
- [17:20]
A
He's like, what. What do you get if you take the tea off? It becomes womb. No, it's womb. And it's like he just goes through and he talks about how this, like this particular diphthong in linguistics makes different sounds and he juices like a 10 minute bit out of this. Rest in peace, Gallagher. We.
- [17:37]
B
Yeah, rest in peace, Gallagher, you fucking nerd. And, and Gallagher too. Especially Gallagher.
- [17:44]
A
To his brother.
- [17:46]
B
Yeah. I don't know. Is he still alive?
- [17:50]
A
If there, if there's watermelons to be smashed, he is the hero. No, sedulous means you're showing dedication and diligence and.
- [17:58]
B
No, I'm not.
- [17:59]
A
You are dedicated to calling me out and making me seem unrelatable. That is your salute dot emoji.
- [18:05]
B
Michael's not here to do it, so someone has to do. That's been, you know, this is, this is a trope that's been part of the mall couture, like general vibe since day one.
- [18:16]
A
So. But now Steven has to do double duty. He has to be both the everyman, the call out guy, the comedic relief. Wow, Just blood for Even though.
- [18:24]
B
Just really, really car heavy lifting dude. Like, I have to not understand words and adjectives and also get the. But the mixing up tomb and tome is like my. It's not. That's not a Michael thing. That's just a me thing. That's. That's the thing.
- [18:40]
A
Like, you know, that, that's, that's just, that's classic died in the wool Steven stuff. But I am so excited for this episode because we start this episode the same way we start every episode by drinking some bourbon so you don't have to the top of the show bourbon. This took me months and months and months to source e H Taylor Jr Bottled and Bond Buffalo Trace Antique Collection edition. The yellow top WMDs. This is 15 years, 4 months old, 100 proof bottled in Bond. Stephen, you have your, you have your big half full rounder and it's going to be tough to describe these because I feel like a lot of these look similar, but. Well, why don't you describe what it looks like?
- [19:27]
B
It's a. It's a light tannish color.
- [19:30]
A
Yeah, it's actually, it's actually.
- [19:31]
B
No, it would be a medium tannish color. It's a light brown color though.
- [19:36]
A
Yeah, like a pale. Honey, here's the thing.
- [19:40]
B
I'm not gonna waste time trying to describe five bourbons that look like almost exactly the same. Like people know what bourbon looks like. Like, I think it's Smell and taste is gonna trump like the. The. The. The. The color notes of. For this audio medium.
- [19:59]
A
I. I think so too. Let's bring you up to speed. We previously reported that they added E.H. taylor to the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, which, if you don't know, Buffalo Ultra luxury line of all of their core brands like Sazerac 18, Thomas H. Handy, George T. Stagg has its super fancy one. And they added, for some reason, EH Taylor, which every year already gets its own special version. And each Taylor is famous for being only 100 proof. So they had to like to stick to the bottled and Bond theory and make it somehow special and interesting and not just a derivative of the other ones like Amaranth of the Gods, which we've had on the show, or Marriage or Warehouse C surviving. So a lot of people at the beginning of this year thought if they're adding a btac, it's got to be Elmer T. Lee or the ultra popular Blantons, right? No, they gave us this. And so immediately you look at it and it's like a little bit older. And the thing that I noticed was nobody was opening this. They. You had some press outlets that got rounders of it, but every single person that got this initially was asking like $3000 2500. And now it's settled down to about $1300 on secondary after months and months and months of these bottles not selling. And still that makes it the most expensive BTAC of them all. More than Eagle Rare 17 and more than WLW. So I figure this must be amazing, right? And then I start to see a few unbiased reviews actually come in and everyone is like, this is fine. And then people that, like, you could tell were really heavily invested in a bottle were like, I love it. Maybe I just don't understand it. It's probably so good that I'm not getting it. Like the way that like a movie comes out, if it has like a high tomatometer score and you don't like it, you're like, I don't know.
- [21:57]
B
Yeah, like Sinners. Dude, you're tripping.
- [21:59]
A
That movie was awesome, dude.
- [22:03]
B
Yeah, for like the first two acts. And then you're like, wait, what is. What is. What is the re. It was like sunshine. They're like, oh, wait, why? It turned into like a weird zombie movie. It was so engaging and, and fun. Like for first 2/3 of it. I don't know.
- [22:17]
A
I Disagree. This is E.H. taylor. BTAC is no sinners.
- [22:21]
B
Like, I'm not talking about E.H. taylor. I'm just talking about what you were just talking about. The movies would justify. Yeah.
- [22:27]
A
Tomato meter.
- [22:28]
B
Yeah. Yeah. I'm just like, I, like, honestly, I watched that and I was so hyped. And I was like, I don't get it. But I watched. I watched one battle after another two days in a row. I was like, this is so good. Like, I'm gonna. That's that now that Instant classic. So they had to give. They had to give Sinners like, a participation award at the Golden Globes. Dude.
- [22:49]
A
What do you mean?
- [22:50]
B
They gave him like some sort of like, like lifetime or like some award that's basically a non nominated, non voted on category specifically to highlight that movie. But honestly, like, everyone, like the, the people I know in the film industry, we're not as jazzed on Sinners as most of the general public seem to be. Like, I like, it looked great. I thought. I thought the. The double acting for Michael B. Jordan was great. I thought that the initial concept for what it was was like, you know, really interesting. And then it. And then it kind of fell off a weird cliff for me about, you know, two thirds of the way through. And then I was just kind of like, okay, this is, this is fine.
- [23:41]
A
I, I will say I've had this debate before, and I. The majority of my friends agree with you. They, they. They agree with your position. Went into it hyped. And then if I'm like, the things that I thought were cool, I'll be like, what about the oner? Like, in the street? Like, what everyone does.
- [23:58]
B
Why are people so obsessed about runners, dude? Like, dude.
- [24:01]
A
Because the Coogler ones look amazing. And it's orchestrated to the score, and the score is representative of.
- [24:07]
B
That's like every runner. That's the whole point of a runner is to do something that. That does that. That it's not. Runners aren't new. Like, Children of Men had, like, an insane one or dude, like, and that was. That was like 20 years ago. Oh, my God. Children making up 20 years ago.
- [24:25]
A
Oh, yeah, but. All right, Stephen, let's get. Let's get back to business here, eh?
- [24:31]
B
Taylor, People are jazz. People are defending it because. Because they paid too much to for it. Alex, this episode is called the top five bourbons of 2025. It seems like you are. You have drank. Literally drank the juice and you're bought in.
- [24:50]
A
I. I am the opposite. No, I wanted to try this because I suspected that this is actually not a top five bourbon. In fact, because one of, like, the most esteemed whiskey rating sites, breaking Bourbon Gave this a four out of five, which for them is very high. And I was like, that cannot be. That cannot be possible. And when you go to the Buffalo Trace website, they show how complex or like. Like, there's a sliding scale, and the bottle shows, and it goes from novice all the way to advanced highest level. And this is set at the advanced highest level. You have to have the best palette.
- [25:29]
B
Perfect. That's why we're here.
- [25:32]
A
So I. I tried. I tried to buy rounders. I was offering, like, $150 a rounder. Nobody would open their bottle, and nobody would come down below, like, $1300. And I was like, I just cannot justify it. Until finally, a listener of the show who lives in Carlsbad was like, hey, do you want to meet up? So we met up in the Pizza Port Carlsbad parking lot in Brissy Ranch, and he literally had this unopened. He's like, yeah, I didn't open it. And I go, how did you get this? Like, tell me the story. And he goes, I was doing Thanksgiving shopping at Albertsons, and I was leaving the store, and I saw in the specialty case, they had this. They had a George T. Stagg. They had a Rick Van Winkle 10 and a lot B. He bought all five bottles. They just put them out, like, for retail.
- [26:21]
B
He just plopped down, like. Like, it was like 1900.
- [26:25]
A
It was like, $900. The wife wasn't happy, but I was like, dude, you just bought, like, $5,000 worth of bourbon.
- [26:32]
B
Yeah. Secondary pricing.
- [26:34]
A
Like, it was crazy. So he's like, yeah, take as much as you want. And I was like, I don't. I don't.
- [26:38]
B
As much as you want.
- [26:39]
A
He literally. What? He was like. And so I was like, I. I don't need a lot of this. Like, I was like, and I will pay you more. He's like, no, it's great. And so. And I actually met up with him. Since we're leaving this on a cliffhanger from the previous episode. I brought him the open bottles from the Barley Wine Is Life seven. And I gave him those. Like, I parafilmed them all. So he's like, this is the weirdest trade I've ever done. And, like, it's like, imagine him keep
- [27:05]
B
listening and keep trading with Alex. It'll get weirder.
- [27:09]
A
It'll get stranger. But. So finally, we got the rounder. And after months of planning, this was the final, like, Infinity St in the top five that I was like, even if this thing is horrible, it has to be on the Top five episode just for how much work we put into this. So, Stephen, let's get into it. The smell, the taste.
- [27:30]
B
Yeah. I mean, I've been swishing it in my glass. Like. Yeah, it's a, it's a. There's a good amount of heat coming off of it, but initially it's, it smells. It's like, it smells like sweet and like, a lot like, you know, like, like caramel molasses. Yeah.
- [27:47]
A
Big time. Graham cracker.
- [27:48]
B
Yeah. So it's like smell wise. Makes me, makes me excited for this.
- [27:56]
A
Stephen, do you know what a Jordan almond is? They like give them away at weddings in little boxes. They're like the real. They're like an almond with a really hard candy coating. They're usually in pastel colors.
- [28:06]
B
Yeah. Like. Yeah. They put them in like the lace bags and then like. Yeah, yeah.
- [28:11]
A
This, like, I get big time Jordan almond notes, like on the nose. It's like sweetness with a little bit of like dryness of like the almond. But let's, let's taste it and see if this holds up.
- [28:21]
B
All right.
- [28:26]
A
See, for me, it disappoints because it doesn't disappoint enough. It's like, it's the ultimate disappointment because it's not so bad that I'm like, oh, I was right. But it's also not so good that it's like, stops him in my tracks. It's like, it's fine. Like, I, I get some, some tea and I get like again, that cinnamon, red hot kind of hot tamale thing going on, and it closes out really, really dry and tannic. Steven.
- [28:56]
B
I mean, that was kind of. It, like tasted almost just like how it smelled.
- [29:03]
A
Yeah.
- [29:04]
B
And it's really hot. And yeah, it's like. Because it was like, it was at first, the first pour I smelled it. I'm like, okay, I could get the sweetness. And then it kind of sat for a few minutes and then switched it around. And then, and then like, then it started really like hitting my nose. That again. Little, little. That burn in the nostrils and then. Yeah, it's like, it's a little sweet at the top. It's a little like, like cinnamon, like fireball, like red hot, hot tamale candy. Like, you know, rolling the. To the back of my tongue dry. And then afterwards, like, my lips are going a little numb. So it is so.
- [29:46]
A
It's so weird. I thought this would be over oaked. It's not for the 15 years, so that's good. But the weird thing is, at 100 proof, it exhibits A lot of these characteristics that I find in bookers, which is like always at 126 proof. Like, why is this so hot for being bottled and bond 100 proof. I really do not get it. Like, let's say Sazerac 18 is the worst BTAC. I would put this like just above Sazerac 18, like in the middle to lower tier of like, like this. This is not the, the thing that needed to be added to the Buffalo Trace Antique collection. And anybody who says that this is some elevated experience is the same dude who has a bunch of minty tubes, like converted into fleshlights. Like you have to.
- [30:31]
B
Yeah, they would be a type that say elevated for a thing.
- [30:34]
A
Yeah, they're the guy who tastes blueberries in their coffee. Get out of here, liar.
- [30:41]
B
Get out of here.
- [30:42]
A
You don't even like Ryan Coogler.
- [30:44]
B
You're peach ring hazies. Yeah, get out of here. But here's the thing.
- [30:50]
A
Austere of you, Steven.
- [30:51]
B
Here's the thing though. I, I don't mind this, this bourbon. Like, I feel like this is like, this is kind of how I imagine. Like if I had to pick like, you know, like the Mario the Ryu of a bourbon, I'd be like, at least like at this point in, in my drinking adult beverage journey, like, this is. This would be like a good starting place, like if it start. So that probably doesn't speak volumes about like justifying the cost of it.
- [31:20]
A
Let's. Let's give some context. Okay. So Breaking Bourbon gave this a four out of five. They gave a perfect score. The highest score that they gave all year for this year was Eagle Rare 17 from this exact same collection, which obviously has two years more aging. And I, So I, I did my, my mandate, like dinner, hangout with some buddies and we went to Arrow Club and I was like, oh, you got to get the eagle rare 17. It got a perfect, perfect score. And so I actually got to offensively swish and spit eagle rare 17 in front of the Baro Club. And it honestly is like very similar to this. Like, it's, it's like a low proof, like innocuous. Anybody can drink it. These are the ones that like Forbes Men's Health, they love writing about these ones because anybody with like the dollars can just like plunk the card down and go, oh, I guess I am a whiskey expert. This was not hard to drink at all. And like, yeah, I think that this, I think, I Think Eagle Rare 17 is like kind of the same, same as this in the middle of the pack at least for me. Yeah, it's. It's not that disappointing, but it's not that good. Which is the most disappointing.
- [32:36]
B
I think that's the thing. Yeah. I kind of like, it almost feels like there is a. A large lack of complexity and I don't know. I mean. Yeah. And I had it, like, I had it right. We started the episode like before we started the episode, you know, had had a little sip, a couple sips, and then. And it kind of. We kind of just let it sit out, you know, for the 10 minutes while we were getting around to tasting it, and it still tasted pretty much the same.
- [33:07]
A
Yeah.
- [33:07]
B
So not. Not a lot of. Yeah. Even like kind of. Yeah. Don't hold against me 10 to 12 minute, like decanting, like, okay, maybe, like, maybe it needs more. Maybe. But it like. Yeah. Was kind of, kind of hoping that it provide a little bit more oomph.
- [33:26]
A
Yeah, me too. And I don't think that saying that, oh, it's only 100 proof as like an excuse to say it doesn't have like enough depth or complexity because it's throttled by the bottled and bond. There's plenty of stuff that is lower proof than this or that that does interesting, cool stuff, especially at that age statement. So I just think it tastes like Eh Taylor, if you like Eh Taylor. There's like a. There's a moderately better version for like a 10x price increase. If you're in the market for it, you get like a 10 improvement at 10 times the price. So, yeah, that's. That's where I would peg this. Let's see how this thing power ranks against four other absolute titans in the bottle share. But now it's the perfect time to take us straight into beer news. But first, Beer news is sponsored by Amory's Tomb Brewing Company. And we previously talked about how the outside area was closed. Well, it's back. And you know what else people missed
- [34:26]
B
canned me talking about the beer news sponsorship segment. That's what people missed.
- [34:32]
A
Steven, you got to let me link it so that it feels organic when I toss it to you. I can't just. You're already wearing so many hats.
- [34:40]
B
But it always goes tell about Amory's Tomb.
- [34:44]
A
Steven even. Yeah, all right. I just wanted to do my little can Cezanne thing so that you can. You can glide right into it. So tell them about these can saisons, Stephen.
- [34:56]
B
At the tap room, people miss the can seasons a lot. Now, now, I'm not even jazzed about owner Alan Quinn notes. I prefer the okay. No, this is good. Alan Quinn. Owner says I prefer the bottles if I am going to pair with dinner. Okay. There's a typo in there. That's not me being illiterate.
- [35:18]
A
Wow, way to figure out Alan Quinn. Just really drag him over the cold.
- [35:25]
B
I was, I was like, that could be. That could be ginger. That could be. I thought he was gonna drop an ingredient in there or sit and contemplate. But we always like to can the stuff that is best for traveling, hiking, barbecues, time outdoors, things like Kettle Hole or Cezanne 42. And a secret gem that they have that the locals love are the low ABV grisettes and table beers which seem to sell really well in both hot and cold weather. So doesn't matter what time of year, it's always an appropriate time for low ABV grisettes and table beers. Finally, barrel age seltzer cocktails. Yeah, that's right. You think, you thought like, oh no, barrel age, something horrible gonna happen. Oh, no. Seltzer's a thing that, that people kind of stop drinking. Well, no, but when you combine them,
- [36:13]
A
when our powers combine.
- [36:15]
B
Yeah. It's like a new thing. It's elevated. It's good. They have long sought a gluten free option and offerings other than beer, but their license type doesn't allow for it in Massachusetts. So they've been R and D a seltzer line for the past year. Yeah. So they are starting to release these in their tap room. So go there, check it out. If you're in the area, go down there and be like, hey, I'm gonna have a low abb grisette or table beer, maybe three or four of them. And then my friend here or partner or whoever, parent, perhaps they're gluten free and give them the barrel aged seltzer cocktail and everyone will be happy.
- [36:58]
A
Yeah, I think, I think that you get, yeah, you go have that, have their cocktails, try their draft offerings and then leave with the canned saisons. And then you could get into some mischief. A mere 10 hours away is the nearest national park, Acadia national park in Maine. So you can go, go tear that up. Go check out.
- [37:17]
B
That's the closest one to them.
- [37:19]
A
Yeah, the, the New England only gets like one national park. That, that, that part of the country
- [37:25]
B
has like none doesn't like the Appalachian Trail, like run through that area.
- [37:30]
A
There's, there's surprisingly few national parks over there. They're all like, it's like Utah has an embarrassment of riches and then even New Mexico gets two and then there's, like, entire states that they get none. What a ripoff.
- [37:48]
B
Well, yeah. Well, I mean, you have the St. Louis Arch. That's cool.
- [37:52]
A
They. No, they get a national park.
- [37:54]
B
Yeah, they are. The arch is a national park. That's what I'm saying.
- [37:58]
A
Okay. Yeah. I thought you were saying that St. Louis was getting ripped off.
- [38:02]
B
No, no. Yeah, they have the arch. They have the arch. And what's the one with the hot spring? What's the hot spring one?
- [38:08]
A
It's hot springs in Arkansas, an hour outside of Little Rock. I'd love to go to that one,
- [38:13]
B
but that sounds pretty cool, too.
- [38:14]
A
That one is extremely difficult to get to as well. But. Yeah, so write your congressman. Say, listen, there's nothing else going on in the government right now. We need a national park in Massachusetts. It could just be like, where the clam chowder was made, and then just. Just make it a UNESCO heritage site all around that this is where the gravy that people scoop up with spoons is made. But. Yes. Thank you, Stephen. Now it's the perfect time to take us straight into Beer news.
- [38:46]
B
Alex, what is in the beer news?
- [38:49]
A
Garden Path fermentation. Shout out to Ron Extract of Jester King fame in the Pacific Northwest. They have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a TTB rule that blocks cider, mead, and fruit wine producers from listing vintage years for the harvest, but they allow it for grape wine. Clear, clear, austere conditions that favors the wine industry capriciously and disadvantages other people.
- [39:16]
B
All right, so. So let me get this straight.
- [39:19]
A
Yes. All.
- [39:20]
B
All these. So the ttb, that's. That's like. That's like a national blanket. Like, they. They. It's like on a national level, this
- [39:30]
A
rule that's like Mr. Battle, the guy who approves all the.
- [39:33]
B
Yes, the one that was retired for years. Well, we kept talking about him as still being.
- [39:39]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [39:40]
B
But I'm saying. But this is. But they make the rules on a national level.
- [39:44]
A
Correct. And so there is some interplay, but go ahead.
- [39:47]
B
Okay, but then. So. And then. And. And so this whole time. This whole time that we've been doing this show, ciders, meads, and fruit wines other than grape wines have not been allowed to put the year. The vintage years on their. Their labeling.
- [40:03]
A
Right, exactly.
- [40:04]
B
That's crazy. That's. I didn't realize that they did that because they weren't allowed to.
- [40:09]
A
Yeah, that's why you have these crazy things. It's like statement reserve, batch 21. Whereas, like, I'm sure Ken Shram would Rather be like fall harvest, blah blah, blah. Like, because it's. It is provides information that is correct, not misleading. Like, here's why. Similar to what Jester King got caught up in the early 2010s where everything under 5% was labeled as a logger in Texas and everything above 5% was labeled as an Alex. Everything under 7% is regulated by Food and Drug Administration insider meat and fruit wine because it's considered like produce driven. But everything above 7% is TTB, so the FDA doesn't allow it and the TTB defers to them. So. So you get this like, conflict of like, like absolutely arbitrary line drawn in the sand where it really makes no sense because you have like statement reserve, which could be 14, which is like a mellow mel. You're like, why, why is that so dissimilar from wine? Because the sugars are rendered from honey. It truly does not make any sense, like from a production or anything like that. And plaintiff's counsel Justin Lee, he said vintage information is basic agricultural information. Consumers understand what a vintage year means, regardless of whether it's made from grapes, apples, or honey. There's no rational bas to allow this information for grape wine while censoring it for other wine products. And this guy's the best lawyer because this lawyer is an owner and farmer of his own cider fruit orchard. Like, could you have more crazy specialized knowledge?
- [41:46]
B
And.
- [41:47]
A
And he, he certified classes against the TTB for other stuff like this. So that this guy's niche is. So.
- [41:54]
B
Yeah, he's like one of those, you know, like those like, like, like the people that go around and they're like a lawyer, but they're also like have a disability. And they go around like bars and
- [42:04]
A
restaurants forcing them like an adhroll patent troll.
- [42:08]
B
Yeah, yeah, like that. Or like people that go around saying, I'm a lawyer also. Like, I don't like that this bar is doing a ladies night. That's. That's your. You're being discriminatory towards men. Yeah. And then they file lawsuits. That. But then, see, it's like that. But then this one's good. Yeah, this guy's doing good. As opposed to just being a troll and making life miserable for, for small businesses. He's attacking the TTB. Get him.
- [42:37]
A
He's somewhere there's like Mr. Battle and he's like, he's like looking at his newspaper. He's like, they better not be talking about me again. I haven't been in the game for like a decade.
- [42:44]
B
Yeah, he's like, just Sailing across like the Atlantic for like the 20th time since retirement. And he's just like, like one of
- [42:52]
A
his like five boomer houses because it's like that's what you do, you just collect houses. But here's how you know that this plaintiff's counsel, Justin Lee is a good guy. He's not even seeking damages. He just wants declaratory relief so that they can put it. He's doing this for the good of
- [43:10]
B
the love of the game. Love of the game.
- [43:12]
A
So I think that's awesome and I, I don't see, I don't know how they're going to distinguish this but if we do get declaratory relief, you can garden path maybe releasing some, some crazy cool stuff that distinguishes themselves and creates a niche for the industry. Because I think that that is important and also. What was the word? It elevates. It elevates mead and cider to be more austere.
- [43:41]
B
Like here's the thing. I feel like this is like, because I do feel like the, this whole like, like you know, meads being like as good as they are. Like basically not being like Chaucers, you know, not being like the Ren Fair Gross Meads that yeah, you probably wouldn't want to drink an like of older vintage of something like that. But now in the last like 15 years like there have been fruit, wines and meads. Insiders that are like, you know, like you can like age a bit. This reminds me of like the new media deal that you know, the film and television industry had. Or it's just like stuff like you know, made for, for streaming services fell under the new, the new media banner and you could pay people less and like the residuals work differently and stuff like that. And then you have the big strikes because they're like, well the new media deal is like 15 years old now. Netflix is not a small time player nor is like Hulu and all this stuff. Like it's like now they've like come into their own and they're just, and they're just as powerful and they're just as big and they're making just as
- [44:52]
A
much money more with the $75 billion certification if that Warner Bros. Did.
- [44:57]
B
Yeah, I'm saying yeah, but it's like, but it's like they're, they're basically the same as any major studio at this point. And like, and streaming is, is probably bigger than like cable television at this point. Like you know, it actually, it actually
- [45:11]
A
happened three months ago. So you're, you're absolutely correct. Streaming is is far more consumed now than.
- [45:17]
B
Oh like it actually like eclipse.
- [45:19]
A
Like there was a tipping point. It just happened. Oh yeah.
- [45:22]
B
Yeah. So I feel like that's what this is too, where it's just like, you know what? Probably when this, this like law was, was in, it was probably just like stuff where you're like, oh yeah, like fruit wines. You mean those, those, those drinks that the hillbillies make in their backyards, like Barnard Boone's Farm. Yeah, who cares? You know, like. But then, but then now it's like all these people have, you know, these producers have started making stuff that is like, like, you know, having these processes where it allows the, these drinks to be. To be aged and yeah, it's like, it's kind of like the TB TTB has to like recognize and catch up rather than just, you know, like, kind of like ignoring the problem.
- [46:09]
A
I think his biggest misstep is when Justin Lee tried to call it the Mead 2 movement. It was, you know, it's just like a little much.
- [46:15]
B
You know, I, I want to get. Me too. I love two meads instead of one. That sounds great, dude.
- [46:22]
A
That's also.
- [46:23]
B
It doesn't sound like there's like wine. The like grape wine produces like lobbying against this, like. Right. I don't, I don't feel like there's no issue. I don't see like. Yeah, they wouldn't have an issue with it. It's just more the TTB just dragging their feet and being like, like, yeah, more paperwork or like it was fine. No one cared before. So.
- [46:43]
A
Yeah. And I'm, I'm sure that there's been no cuts to their budget. So this is the top of the top of the docket for the things that they have to deal with.
- [46:51]
B
Yeah. Trump Golf Course in. In vineyards. And then suddenly to ttb, Trump Golf Course in meadery.
- [46:59]
A
Huge, huge subsidies to like Bartlett pear farmers. We gotta get these pear wines out, flood the streets. But if we do find out what happens with, with the garden path, we'll keep you guys updated. But we're gonna jump across the pond with some monastic news. The world's oldest monastic brewery is to be sold as German beer. Sales slide. If you remember, last year, we did a whole battery of different types of Trappist breweries. And we did all of them except for that one. Because I have yet to pay €130 for a 12 ounce bottle of decertified Trappist beer from Spain. But when we get Cardenia, then we will have tried them all. So now we have to Update you not on Trappist, but just regular old monastic. So the brewing tradition of nearly 1000 years at Weltenburg Abbey in Bavaria is going to be bought up by the company Schneider Weiss, which everybody knows Schneider Weiss. And surprisingly, if you look at Weltenburg Abbey, Stephen, it's so classically German that you're almost like, is that AI. Like, I feel like I've drank that beer before, but it's so. It's got so many elements of German beer as an aggregate that it's hard to tell. I think I've had one of these beers in my entire life. But that actually is a testament to how German beer culture is structured. There is no monolithic giant besides the likes of like the Schneider Vices, the Aventus. There's like a few big boys, but even them, they are not like on par with the, the huge like Yinglings or like things that, things that we entertain on this side of the pond. So this facility is still owned by the Catholic Church, but the Benedictine monks, they handed over production of the award winning lager and dark bruise 50 years ago to Bischoff Shoff Brewing, who also has been acquired and sold to Schneider. Here's why this matters. They have to sit down the Catholic Church and then the people who currently are contracting to work with Schneider Weiss have to sit down with Schneider Weiss and agree they agreed on the sale. And the, the craziest thing is the Catholic Church is kind of like bankrolling the direction of this with Schneider Weiss. And so what they ended up doing was till Heydrich was at this meeting and they just did not want to lay off the 21 employees. That was the main goal. So all of our other American that's on our American stories are all about like, like for example, last week in the Rogue story, they got hit with the Failure to Warn Act. Remember we were talking about you have to give 60 day notice before layoffs if you have more than 100 employees. So rogue got hit with that. Like in America you're like sue your employer because they like Iron Hill. You, you show up and there's like a printed out note on the door. This is like, no, we are, we are fighting. We are working with the Catholic Church and Schneider Weiss, like the, the collab you never thought you needed to to make sure that there's a connection to the region. The person who owns it respects and basically does what Nestle did with Blue Bottle. And what they're going to do is the purchase is going to be done in January 2027. All 21 employees keep their jobs.
- [50:22]
B
There we go.
- [50:24]
A
Yeah. And the reasoning for the Weltenberg Brewery set on its website. The reason was because it's. This is sustained several fires, floods, destruction, secularization and a World War II order to demolish it that it also survived. It was supposed to blow up the entire complex and it was narrowly avoided. And over 500,000 people visit this place a year.
- [50:49]
B
Yeah, it's fucking huge. And it's like on the banks of a lake or like no river.
- [50:55]
A
The Blue Danube River. Like it's. It's mind blowing how gorgeous this place looks.
- [50:59]
B
Yeah, this is. I mean, I'm surprised they don't just. Oh no, they do have the brewery on the label. Oh yeah? Yeah. See, that's great.
- [51:06]
A
That's what I'm talking about. This label. You're like, maybe I've had a hundred of these beers. I can't even tell. It's like it's. It's so. It's so iconic that you're like. I don't know, maybe I'm accidentally a huge Welten Burger fan. But I. I thought this was funny because they were hammering out the details. And the monastery's head abbott, Thomas M. Freihart, said when they were celebrating their 975th anniversary in May, he said the enjoyment of barley juice should be seen as a gift from God. And I would love that in German.
- [51:37]
B
Like that.
- [51:38]
A
That just sounds he. Like I'm. I'm assuming that's a literal translation, but using the word barley juice is like chef's kiss. And now maybe we can add one of these Welten burgers to the Cardenia box and we can justify the shipping a little better. But that's gonna be added to our hit list of like across the seas randoms that we need to hit just the same. The same way we remember with Zundert. We reported on Zoondert and then we had to chase it down, setting off a whole Trappist series of dominoes and like episodes of Trappist beers. Maybe. Maybe we get to dig a little deeper into the German scene. So we shall see. All right, our final story brings us back to Kentucky and Russia at the same time. Curious. So Stoli Group usa, they are the ones who own Kentucky Owl. They now have been ordered to get kicked out of chapter 11. Couldn't get certified to go to straight up old school Chapter seven, Liquidate everything. Bankruptcy. Let me just give you a quick rough breakdown of what happened with this. So Stoli, the famous vodka purveyors. They are based out of Russia. And there was this. There was this place called Kentucky Owl, which was a bed and breakfast that had a still that in the late 18th, 1900s, early 1910s, had this famous, like, distillery that ran covertly. And just like they do with all of their bourbon, they steal some elements of, like, bourbon culture from, like, antebellum south, and then they market it. So the first batch of Kentucky Owl was mind blowing. It was like this 16 year sourced, like, basically what will. It did with all of their wax purple tops and stuff. And so they hooked them. Everybody was like, whoa, this new brand Kentucky Owl is amazing. Then stole. He bought it. And every bottle after batch one was like, you know, beer nerds complain. Like, batch one was better.
- [53:38]
B
Never heard of beardner complaining.
- [53:40]
A
Wait, a beer. First of all, they're very gracious people, beard. So complain in general.
- [53:45]
B
Yeah, they're just grateful to receive, you know, product.
- [53:50]
A
Oh, wow. This is. This is so. This is so cool. Which of my eight adjectives for this hazy am I going to use?
- [53:57]
B
You know what? Let's not even say eight edges. I'm just gonna say I enjoyed it and leave it at that.
- [54:03]
A
That's it. That's enough. Anyways, all of the subsequent ones were both overpriced and horrible, and they kept getting worse and worse and making more and more of it. And like, wait, okay.
- [54:14]
B
It was so they. They. This Kentucky Owl brand got bought out after just batch one. Slowly was like, wow, that was so good. Like, we must buy this, this whole brand after one batch of one batch release.
- [54:30]
A
Kentucky Owl was like an upstart using. Using the branding. This was not continuous since 1911. Like, basically, they rebooted Kentucky Owl and they sourced the casks, and the casks that they sourced were amazing.
- [54:42]
B
Yeah. But I'm saying. So this, like, the reboot of it, though, like, it's like they did one batch and then slowly was like, we're here. Here's a ton of money we owe career Kentucky Owl now. Okay. Okay, that's crazy. That. That's it. Wait, that makes it sound easy. Alex, you and I, we. We should go just get a couple casts with our amazing palettes, and it will be. We're in the money. We do get canes. We get top hats. We get the suits with the. The tails, the penguin tail things.
- [55:13]
A
Five watches.
- [55:14]
B
Yeah.
- [55:16]
A
Russian time zone. Kentucky time zone.
- [55:19]
B
Yeah. We're gonna be like old rich dandies.
- [55:21]
A
Yeah. I'll be able to have a big lolly.
- [55:26]
B
Alex, you're not paying attention to what I'm saying. It's the guys in the suits that the lollies. Are the little boys or girls in. In the sailor outfits with the curls around? Okay, where are the rich guys doing the dance with the. With the canes twirling them.
- [55:41]
A
Okay, got it, got it. I just. I was unclear who. Who in the Music man cast? I was. Am I. Am I selling the trombones? Am I in the band?
- [55:49]
B
Where are they in the money, guys. We're in the money. We're two of those guys. Does the. Does the baby licking the big lolly sing that song? Doesn't that just go lollipop? It's a good ship. And then, like, you throw nickels at the kid and, like, all right, go off to your. Your fucking orphanage or something.
- [56:10]
A
I guess. I guess. Stephen, in my fantasy, I was the Shirley Temple in Paper Moon. I was like, I get to be that guy. And you're like, you're missing it.
- [56:18]
B
Yeah. Alex, pay attention. I thought you did advanced improv, like, you have to. Yes, and does not make up a new thing when something's. You have to support. Come off that backline and support me, Alex.
- [56:28]
A
But, you know, on the Buffalo Trace website, super advanced improv palette is just a picture of a lolly. It's all the way to the right. It's off the scale.
- [56:36]
B
So listen, stop. Again, you're just. You're justifying your choice as opposed to supporting my choice, which was. Which was what was introduced and what the audience has context for. And now. Now they're all confused. They're like, wait, what's the scene?
- [56:51]
A
They're playing two games. He's a little kid, but he has money. I. I gotta check out. Somebody wipe this. All right, let's wipe it. Steven is correct, though.
- [56:59]
B
Yeah, we should. We. Yeah, we should.
- [57:01]
A
Liner notes. We will. We will wipe this scene.
- [57:03]
B
I was gonna say. I was gonna say. I thought you were gonna say I was correct that we should go taste some things, start our own brand, and then just immediately sell it off and become rich.
- [57:11]
A
That's true, but what we should not do is start a bourbon company in Russia. Here's why.
- [57:17]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [57:18]
A
A federal judge in Texas rejected the group's plan to exit Chapter seven and basically forced them to say, no, you're going to liquidate everything and you're going to like, pay who? The investors based on whatever the breakdown order is. And Stoli group cited over 25 years of protracted legal disputes with the Russian state over the Stoli brand owner leadership and control. With pressures that intensified since the company's Condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When was the last time you heard a bourbon company get destroyed due to a Russian cyber attack? Like E. H Taylor with the keys. Like the Russians really interfering with his 1886 warehouse sea batch. He's like, damn you.
- [58:03]
B
I mean I feel like that would just. Yeah, wouldn't that just up the. The secondary value of the next batch that comes out. This is post cyber attack.
- [58:10]
A
Like Kentucky Owl cyber attack. Surviving? Yeah, like instead of a tornado or a flood, it's like, it's like. Yes, they survived a data breach.
- [58:19]
B
Yeah, yeah, that. The. The whole warehouse got like. Like 0.3 degrees like hotter because the, of all the, the heat from all the data center.
- [58:28]
A
Yeah, that's this one. This one was just by those like high frequency vibrating terminals built just outside the distillery.
- [58:38]
B
Yeah, the substations. This is what's causing all the injuries. The substations.
- [58:42]
A
That's right.
- [58:43]
B
Hear about that. Alex, did you follow your Bay Area sports?
- [58:47]
A
Actually, I do not, I do not know what a substation is. Unless you're talking about those data centers that give people headaches because they.
- [58:54]
B
No, the people are blaming the. The 49ers injury prone season on the fact that their practice facility is next to a large power substation. And then all the, all the, the. The woos. The anti vax types, you know that take your, take your magnesium and iron. I don't have Covid types.
- [59:12]
A
Or like just say my, My friends. Yeah, all of my friends. Yes, continue.
- [59:17]
B
All of my, all of my friends that have college degrees. They all. But no, they started coming out and they're saying oh, you know, the, the. The substation, the frequencies that come off of those like, like weakens the tendons and, and the muscles and that's why they're all getting injured. Because the substation has been next or the practice facility has been next to the substation all these years.
- [59:40]
A
Well that's crazy because the Saints practice right next to the Verizon Towers and it. The 5G gave them superpowers. So listen, who's. Who we gonna believe? But basically. So in 2022, Stoli was cyber attacked by Russia by a large scale sophisticated cyber attack that targeted its international operations and impaired the systems vital to global distribution. We've heard, we've heard Gen Z blamed before. We've heard health conscious people, but a vodka conglomerate getting taken down by a cyber attack is. It's certainly new for this show. And Stoli had 78 million on hand and they were like, like, well we'll sell everything we have, and then we'll just give the 78 million to the creditors. And then the. The judge was like, no way. Because Fifth Third Bank N.A. has 60 million themselves. That's not fair. So they got locked into chapter seven and we're gonna see maybe, maybe in Costco, like Kentucky Owl liquidated version or some. Some tax pun or something. But they need to sell. Sell everything they have on hand. And the problem is all of their bottles are already so overpriced that like, they. They already weren't moving and now they're supposed to use that stock to pay off the creditors in an increasingly downturning bourbon market. So it doesn't look good for. For the stuff. How them stolen boys gonna get out of this one?
- [61:09]
B
Yeah, I mean, they're probably, probably still gonna be like super rich and stuff, right? Like, I'm sure. Yeah, I mean, they're, they're, they're making vodka for the country of Russia. I don't think that they're gonna see a downturn in. Well, I mean, how many more wars can they get into in. You know what? It's starting to get sad. The more I think about it, the Freakonomics of this is kind of depressing. Alex, let's move on.
- [61:37]
A
Yeah. All right. And that's the perfect time to take us straight in the DDB multiple share. But first, the DVB malcouture bottle Shear is sponsored by Emory's Tomb Brewing Company. They have a lot going on in the near future, so if you are anywhere near Massachusetts, strap in because they are hosting an 80s themed apres ski party on March 14th to wrap up Massachusetts Beer Week and kick off the beer garden season. I don't know if like in Massachusetts, that's like the pucks of Tony Phil or something. Like, so a Southie sees his shadow and it decides if you can drink outside yet. But they're gonna have special releases on draft, and they also are participating in a couple events. The New England Real alex position on March 25 is the longest running cask festival in the United States. They set the gold standard for cask beer in America. And Emory's Tomb is sending two casks to that. I want to go to that. That sounds so awesome. I. I know. I was joking about UNESCO and chowder and stuff and nothing but real ale. That would be so fun, Stephen. And it would be right in your ballpark of 3 to 4% beers.
- [62:50]
B
Sign me, everybody. Especially because they want Amory's Tome. Like, I mean, so tasty. I Love their stuff. Honestly. Like, they, they sent us a bunch of stuff during, like, when we were like, in like heavy lockdown.
- [63:03]
A
Right.
- [63:03]
B
Era, and I was just, I reached for like Amory's Tome, like pretty often because it was just like, like, I'm just sick of all these once, you know, hard to get hazy IPAs. Just super, they're super common and it's making my stomach hurt and I'm like, I just want like something that's a little bit more that I could like, sip on slowly and think about. And that's what these guys totally like, were, were, were great for. Just like a beer I could just spend 30, 40 minutes with like, and like, think, think about, I don't know, nasal swabs.
- [63:44]
A
Stephen, if you ever needed a reason to go to Massachusetts, they're going to be pouring at this thing called Widowmakers Hop Smoker Fest in April. It brings together bands, breweries, wrestling, and weed in a multi day format leading up to 420.
- [63:58]
B
Oh, my God. Most of those things I'm like, my doctor says I'm not allowed to indulge in anymore. Weed, alcohol, loud music. Your hearing is already bad. It's like I could only, I could only enjoy wrestling.
- [64:13]
A
I, I like in my oncologist's office. I'm like. So I did a dab and then I got Goldberg speared. Is, Is that gonna derail my chemo schedule? Yes, probably.
- [64:24]
B
Is this through Widowmaker Brewing? Because they have a beer called Hop Smokers. This like the release for that?
- [64:31]
A
I wonder. Like, this is their dark lord day. That would be very ambitious to have like an entire festival around, like an IPA or something that even, even current Citra doesn't, doesn't go that crazy.
- [64:43]
B
Yeah, well, also current Citra isn't in a, in an area that could support like, professional wrestling. I think, like, you know, locals would be like, we don't want, we don't want to be bothered by any outsiders coming in, especially not from big city like Los Angeles.
- [65:00]
A
Like, if, if I want to see two lumberjacks beat each other up, I'll just go to Pizza Bar two doors down. We don't. We got the real deal here up in Kernville. But yes, that sounds amazing. So it looks like it is.
- [65:15]
B
It looks like Widowmaker Brewing, they do their Hop Smoker Fest every year. Last year is a three day event, man. Okay, maybe, maybe I do want to go to Hop Smoker Festival.
- [65:28]
A
That's. That is. That is on the table.
- [65:31]
B
And so 45 bucks for, for ticket to Hot. Sorry, I Know this. I know this is Amory's Tome thing, but I'm just looking at the Widowmaker Brewing website, so. Oh, this is for the. The previous one. Anyways, it looks really affordable. People should go. People should go and then drink Amory's Tome there until Malcouture sent you.
- [65:51]
A
I know. $45. My son wants to go see Monster Jam this weekend and to see Grave Digger. It's a hundred dollars.
- [65:57]
B
Yeah, monster trucks are fucking expensive. I was trying to go to one of those and I was like, dude, no way. Yeah, that's like, that's like, that's like a Rose bowl music festival ticket price to go see cars get destroyed, like
- [66:11]
A
flip and spin and stuff. And I asked like four other dads. I was like, you guys want to go to this? And every one of them was like, no thank you. They all hugged me out to dry. So it's going to be Smoker Fest
- [66:22]
B
April 17th, 18th this year. Share.
- [66:24]
A
So yeah, so go check that out. And that's the perfect time to take a strain. The DDB market.
- [66:30]
B
Yeah. Bottle share. Vial share. Dude, like four more vials. Yeah, it looks like I'm like about to dab essential oils right now. Alex, what's the first next vial of top five bourbons that we're getting?
- [66:45]
A
Whiskeys go straight out the gates with almost everyone's favorite bourbon of 2025.
- [66:52]
B
Okay.
- [66:53]
A
Russell's Reserve 15 year. Now I know what you're gonna say. Hey, that dropped fourth quarter in 2024. That's technically not. The vast majority of people did not have access to this. They said the air quotes release date was in July of 2024. Most of the reviews came out like in early 2025, so stop complaining. And Breaking Bourbon did review this. Gave it a perfect 5 out of 5 perfect score. And basically it came down to it between this and Jack Daniels 14. For most people's opinions on forums that I saw about what was like the best pull from this year. So I already have Jack Daniels up next in a different format. So I wanted to do Russell's Reserve 15 year because this is 117 proof. 15 years old obviously 250 retail and it's flipping for 800 or 900 on secondary. Stephen, we're not going to talk about how it looks because it looks almost identical to the 15 year. Eh, Taylor, we just tried but excuse me. Let's go into how this thing smells.
- [67:59]
B
Yeah. And this one, this one smells spicier than the last one. Like the last one was like sweet, you know, you get like burnt sugar, molasses. But this one's like. This one is peppery. Like I.
- [68:11]
A
And that's one of the things I love about Wild Turkey. Okay, so if you don't know, Russell's Reserve is Wild Turkey may be seen as kind of the RC Cola to like the Buffalo Trace, who would be like Coca Cola. And then Heaven Hill, I would say is more of like the Pepsi. They got some weird stuff, some edgy stuff that sometimes hits, but those are the two giants. Wild Turkey independent. I don't want to put it on a lower tier like Shasta or something, because it's not that It's. It's just a third party that is different and does its own thing. Amazing.
- [68:44]
B
It's not just. Let's just be frank, Alex. It's not for. Okay. It's fucking Wild Turkey. It's. It's. It's a higher like proof point.
- [68:56]
A
Oh, man. In undergrad 101 was seen as like mind blowing. Wild Turkey 101 proof.
- [69:02]
B
That's a. I remember like, you know, Hunter Thompson used to call Wild Turkey his iced tea. It's like I could get my glass of iced tea, like three or four of them every day. Big tall glass of ice, pour Wild Turkey all over it.
- [69:15]
A
If so, if. If Booker's does the classic cinnamon, it always has like a cinnamon undercurrent. Wild Turkey always has like, you just alluded to an ultra dry. They're never decadent with a heavy mouth feel or anything like that. So when I saw a 15 year, that was a higher ABV, I was like, this is not what Wild Turkey excels at. A lot of their special diamond masters keep all those are at like 90 proof. Like because they're dry and they don't need crazy age statements. They're like nuanced, nice, like riffs on like doing their own thing. So this I looked at skeptically, but this was almost universally just like praised as like it's. It's markedly better than the already celebrated 13 year. And this, this was the one to get that. I was like, I literally got to get this. And we paid 120 a rounder for this. So yeah, this, yeah. And the one thing I will say though, so the previous one in The Russell's Reserve 13 year, everybody loved it. It was $70. And everyone's like, this is one of the craziest deals of all time. And then this comes out and it's two years older and it's $250. So everyone was like, like, well that's Nuts. And then it would be nuts if not for the fact that it goes for three or four times that on secondary. So it's. It's already. It's saying even at 250, it's priced below market still. Like they're trying to chase secondary and do like what will it did. And it's still not enough. That's how good this is.
- [70:52]
B
Well, it's also because it's like, you know, if they're just like, let's price that 500, then the secondary would be like 1500 50.
- [70:58]
A
Yeah, it's just, you know, it's like all. All shitlords raise all boats.
- [71:03]
B
Yeah. So it's like, it's like, yeah, but I think, you know, 250 for. I don't feel it's like that. That weird. Like if you saw it on the
- [71:14]
A
shelf, you absolutely would pay it.
- [71:16]
B
Like. Yeah, it's just like, yeah, the. In the world of like. Because I also feel like, yeah, like, like bourbons have this like, you know, for talking about like, you know, like the like meads and fruit wines in comparison to wine. And people revere wine so much. I feel like that is like. Like there's always this weird thing of like whiskeys and scotches, like get this like, like, oh, people like, like hold them higher. Like bourbon is somehow this, like this like redheaded stepchild of.
- [71:43]
A
Right.
- [71:43]
B
Of that pantheon of drinks, you know, where they're like, oh, bourbon's like for like the, the. The hillbilly.
- [71:50]
A
Yeah.
- [71:51]
B
I'm also trying to get my like scotch and whiskey friends to be like, dude, can we drink more bourbon? Like I want something like sweet. I just don't want like peated. And it's like I've grown an appreciation for peated and, and smoky things, but in the last like couple years. But. But still bourbon, I feel like bourbon is like the most fun to drink still.
- [72:09]
A
Yeah. And now like where we're at is like now bourbon over the past 10 years, 10 plus 15 years, has got like more of that acceptance. All the bottles went up and now we're seeing those like clip downward. And all those people who were the early adopters who shitlorded bourbon then went to high age statement rums because they're like, oh, these rums are going to be crazy. And vintage chartreuse, those were like where the money went. And then all the money was gone after Covid and like Bour collapsed. So then now all these people have like 25 year via. They're like, oh man. They just have like because they were like pro, like they were trying to like short the rum world. Cuz like rum right now is in, in high demand. So there's all these crazy high age statements and because the age statement is high they're like this is equals money equals good.
- [72:54]
B
Yeah. So it's probably because they're like you know, during company it was a time we're like yeah, let's buy rum. So we could spend 15 minutes making one tiki drink and we had all the time in the world and then, and then now it's just like I just need my like my 2oz nightcap and then binge watch like a show and then fall asleep on the couch
- [73:16]
A
just, just sitting adding your own crackling fire dust to your scorpion bowl on your lap.
- [73:22]
B
I don't have time to pull out the, pull out and then later wash like the, the blender and then also like pick the leaves off of the, the mint plant and yeah, too many steps.
- [73:36]
A
That's why Gen Z is not drinking. Most Gen Z don't even own a mortar and pestle for their sugar cubes. They don't own any absinthe spoons. Like all these elaborate rituals like did you consider maybe paying Gen z more than $16 an hour?
- [73:51]
B
No.
- [73:51]
A
There's no reason why they're not drinking.
- [73:53]
B
They can't even be bothered to pack down tobacco and then use a lighter. They just like we just want one thing that we just, just press a button. Some of them you don't press a button, you just suck on it and automatically it'll sense it. You know it's just convenience. It's a, it's. What's the most convenient way to get, to get their, their kicks off?
- [74:11]
A
Yeah, 100%. And in terms of the value proposition on like weed based things like they, they have like 100 milligram which for most people would be like 10 plus servings, maybe 20 servings like a tall boy. And it breaks down to like $0.89 to get like the equivalent of very like pretty drunk. You know like if you broke that into 10 servings. And so like yeah, they're not buying 250 bottles of Russell's Reserve 15 year. But we are kinda, yeah, we're not rich enough to get actually in the game but we're, we're, we have enough to buy some rounders And Steven, I think this is very very good. But five out of five is very very high praise. I want to hear your take on it.
- [75:02]
B
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Wild Turkey and I'm gonna say I'm a big fan of this. I. I, like, yeah, it's. It's there. It's. It has, like, everything that the. The E.H. taylor had in terms of, like, sweetness and being dry, but then there's like, this, like, like, like, pepperiness. It's kind of like, Like a, Like a more complex sweetness. Like, I'm getting, like, Like a little bit of, like, yeah, like, like, spices in there. Like, like the licorice, like, anise and then. But the finish of it is very reminiscent of Wild Turkey. Like, yeah, like, I'm just. Like, the finish is just straight up. Like, like, yeah, the. The normal, off the shelf, you know, Wild Turkey.
- [75:54]
A
But the Wild Turkey shorthand is usually cherry notes and extremely dry, and this has those both amped up. One of the biggest complaints I have about the EH Taylor is that the finish is so succinct. I switch it around, spit it out, and it's like, boop, gone. This goes dry, dry, dry. It's like a bourbon version of, like, a white burgundy. Like, there's, like, a minerality and length to it that really hits that. That, like, Darjeeling tea kind of right along, like, your, Your gum line, that. And oddly, this feels less hot at 117 than the 100 eh Taylor. I don't. I don't. I can't reconcile that either.
- [76:32]
B
Yeah, yeah, it does. It's. It's less hot. It was even on the nose. It wasn't as, like, wasn't getting that burn in the nostrils as much like. It was still, you know, still pretty hot, but, But. But, yeah, no, I, I, I am enjoying this one significantly more. Like, this is this one. Like, I've been. I've been. I would. I did, like, my initial pore, and I was like, okay, that's pretty good. And then. And I went back for, like, two more small pores because I'm like, keep wanting to taste. Taste things, and. And it keeps opening up. So real good stuff.
- [77:06]
A
Yeah, it's it. For me. It. It lived up to, like, what I. What I was expecting. Very, very high standards, but five out of five is very tough. And so I'm curious to see how this ranks with the rest of these Titans that are basically, like, the most highly celebrated of this past year. And no stranger to it, we have a convergence of so many factors to make this thing straight out of the gates, our next whiskey. We call this a whiskey episode because two of them arise, and I didn't feel like getting caught up by some, like, bourbon nerds. But we are going to Tennessee Jack Daniels single barrel Special release Tanyard Hill Rye. We previously talked about Jack Daniels their Koi Hill series. And the Koi Hill series is the most insane. Sold in a 375 tiny format. Hazmat plus plus some of the batches were 151 nuclear proof. This one is close to that. Not only is it a Jack Daniels rye which is not very common in itself, it's a single barrel rye and it's at well above hazmat at 145.9 proof. This was released in October of 2025 and everybody went nuts on this thing. Speculation was rampant. Now it's kind of fallen back down into a more reasonable realm of about $5 for the 375 bottle. So this would comparably be about where you're at with some of the other ones. But no age statement. It is rumored to be about 10 years old. And I'll just give you a quick pop from Jack Daniels to give you some foundation. Tanyard Hill, which is located next to Koi Hill at the Jack Daniel Distillery. They're using this as like a their Rye special series. It was is Tennessee Rye whiskey entered new handmade white oak barrels in November 2015 and matured at top tenured hill. And there's approximately 15,000 bottles of this. Stephen, the nose on this. The nose I could talk about for so long. Like what. What do you think about it?
- [79:20]
B
Yeah, I mean I'm not getting any of the sweetness that we got from the first two. It is not at all. Yeah, it is like all just like, like kind of like, like like nail polish, like rubbing alcohol like in rye. Just like peppery and alcohol like so. Yeah, definitely.
- [79:39]
A
I get a lot of like eucalyptus or like Vicks Vapor rub. Yeah, it's like it like really presents itself as like if you took an
- [79:48]
B
herbaceous elemental like methol.
- [79:51]
A
Yeah. Cools crush. And the taste of it is icy. It's weird. It's so hot that it's like cold. Like it just burns but in a way that like wintergreen gum is hot.
- [80:08]
B
I mean, you know, I almost feel like it's like less hot than the other ones. I'm almost, I'm more getting this just like this. Yeah, like, like a lot of like like winter warming spices at the end of it.
- [80:23]
A
Yeah.
- [80:24]
B
Like it's kind of. But it. There's like less of that. Like. Yeah, like that like burnt sugar molasses sweetness. The sweetness just feels more like just you know, like, like table sugar. Right at, right at the very beginning and then into like winter. Like warming spices.
- [80:42]
A
Yeah, no, I, I, I totally agree.
- [80:45]
B
And not so, not so much like, like peppery. Like when I, when I think rye, I'm like, you know, like cracked pepper, like black pepper. And not so much of that.
- [80:55]
A
No, it's, it's weird. It almost like occupies like a similar space the way gin can go like juniper or like that. It like it feels like it's like George T. Stag Christmas tree edition for me. It's like, it's so big and massive, but instead of being hot, warming and sweet, it goes like, like on Tik Tok. I've seen these challenges where this guy's like, I eat an entire tin of Altoids, slam ice cold water. It's like, like it's like a cold challenge type of thing. And that's really like what it reminds me of. It's just, it is hot, but in the other way, like the way that icy hot is hot, like. And something interesting. We covered this at length when we were talking about heavy char. Phc. Heavy char about three years ago was like the, the hotness. And we talked about how what level of char the barrels are and interestingly the charcoal Me charco. The charcoal mellowing for rise is only about like, like a third of what they do for the charcoal mellowing in the Tennessee whiskies. And famously the charcoal filtration is what makes you can't not call Jack Daniels actual bourbon. That's why it's Tennessee whiskey. And this, this got a four out of five on breaking bourbon. And to my mind that to say that this is, is as good or on par with the EH Taylor like blows my mind. Like I, I do not think that those two are in the same realm,
- [82:24]
B
but I don't sway better. Yeah, because, yeah, because, because it costs more. That's why it's better.
- [82:32]
A
And the bottle count. Let's, let's not. I can taste the bottle count.
- [82:35]
B
Yeah, the more rare it is, the better. Yeah, no, this is, this is really good. It's a, it's super fun to drink this one too. Like. Yeah, especially with that. You know, it's, it's funny because it is the like getting the Wild Turkey may. Maybe I'm just talk exposing how much I drank like in college, but, but like it's just like the Wild Turkey, like you know, at the finish of the Russell Reserve. And this one has like a very distinct like kind of like Jack Daniels character to it too. That's like you know that's just, just a lot more complex. And, and, and yeah. Just like all these like, like these spice notes at the end of it. But it, but there is something dis distinctly like Jack Daniels DNA.
- [83:23]
A
Yeah.
- [83:24]
B
In this.
- [83:25]
A
Yeah. And for all of the money we wasted on like the Payton Manning Tennessee Whiskey and like the other hyped up Tennessee whiskeys. It's good to see this thing come in and, and Jack Daniels absolutely dominating the luxury space after spending no time in it for decades. They're just like suddenly like here's our Pappy, here's our btac. Here's and like just crushing it. And I did finally see one bottle, 1375 bottle of the nuclear Coy Hill. The 153 proof. Because I was like oh that'd be so cool to have for the show. It resells the 375 resells for $2,400. So I noped out of that. That and I don't think we'll ever get a rounder of that. So this is as close as we'll get. Steven 145. You cannot fly on an airplane with this. It needs to be checked as hazardous materials not safe for human consumption.
- [84:19]
B
Cool. Love it.
- [84:21]
A
So let's get weirder. The last two picks are going to be even more non standard. Bardstown. Bardstown. We've had them on the show before. We love them. They're an upstart that is well capitalized. They have a gorgeous facility. They continue to offer their discovery series and other high quality casks blended and sourced and they also do weird stuff. And this I would say is one of the weirdest things that I've seen and I expected this to be like a dogfish head wheelie that doesn't really stick the landing. But this is Hokkaido Mizunara oak barrel finish. This was released on 07-11-2025. 109.3 proof. It's a blend of 9 year and 18 year barrels and it $100 retail for a 375. There are approximately 3,000 bottles of this and it was a distillery only release which you also don't see that often. Exclusively at their distillery and their downtown Louisville locations. And here's what makes it special. So 9 year and 18 year casks married. That alone is pretty cool. You know you get like little book does that in the booker's realm. You get some interesting component blends. PHC does it. But this is really interesting because they took 28 months of finishing over two years. Most finishing is like three, four months. This was a full, like two plus years finished in six 66 gallon barrels made of rare Japanese Mizunara oak, which I had never heard of in my life. Like, I don't see any other distilleries or wineries doing this. It's one of the rarest woods in the world. To harvest it, you have to. The trees have to be 200 to 500 years old because there's strict Japanese laws about harvesting, like, saplings. And so, like, if. If they're. If it's made out of the youngest Mizunara trees, we're talking like, crazy. Like, pre gilded Age, like, insane all the way back to like, maybe it was like Spinoza was grinding lenses when this tree was planted. Usually you see this in Scotch and even then it would be ultra rare to finish it in this. And it's also very hard to harvest these trees because they grow in the way, way tall Japanese mountains. And the trees themselves are over 115ft tall. So, like, every aspect of this is crazy. It's like, if you thought ambarana was, like, hard to get, hard to source, this, this goes nuts. And it's not just for fun and games. And the way that ambarana imparts gingerbread, allspice, nutmeg, this is like a very, like, they're porous, and so a little bit goes a long way. The mizunara oak gets its hands on it, and it contributes the flavor very fast and it makes it less dry. But, Stephen, let's quit talking about it. Let's be about it. Let me get this in my glass. Glass here.
- [87:27]
B
Yeah. I will say this is.
- [87:28]
A
What do you smell?
- [87:29]
B
Yeah, this reminds me of, like, you know, I got a group of friends that they're really big on, or at least one friend he's really big on, like, Japanese, like whiskeys and scotches and stuff like that. This kind of has that. That, like, I'd smelt it where it's. It's. It's like more like, like, like, like minerality. Like in a weird way.
- [87:59]
A
Yeah. It, it. First of all, if we're just talking straight bourbons, it's not as sweet. This is. This is definitely, like, interesting in its execution. It goes like, I get like, like you said, kind of like a white grape. I'm trying not to sound like blue bottle, like, where you're imparting a crazy term that usually isn't applied to that, but it's like, it's like cantaloupe and white grape. Grape in that it has, like, a light, like, fruitiness in addition to the caramel. It's. It's very interesting. And I will say this also got a four and a half on breaking bourbon. So this is. Yeah, one of those, like, nuts. Like.
- [88:36]
B
Yeah.
- [88:37]
A
Absolute top, top, top, top bottle releases of 20, 25. And I don't see them replicating this. This was probably so costly and so weird and rare that.
- [88:47]
B
Well, yeah, I had to do a little, like, you know, I did like, very, like, light Google search on the. This Manara wood and cast, and they said that, like, one cask of this Mizara wood is $6,000.
- [89:04]
A
Oh, my God.
- [89:05]
B
Yeah.
- [89:06]
A
That is insane.
- [89:08]
B
So do you want to hear the. The three adjectives or tasting notes that they said we should be tasting from this type of wood?
- [89:15]
A
I. I hope it's not just like, sweet, honey. Let's hear it. All right.
- [89:19]
B
Sandalwood, coconut, spice, and J. Incense.
- [89:23]
A
See, that's. This is one of the few times where I'm like, okay, the. The adjective guy is like, is on there. The incense is really interesting as a descriptor because I think of that as, like, musty or like, you know, like you're at like, a. A tarot card shop or something or seventh graders bedroom. I don't get, like, full on incense, but the other two, like, I get that, like, like, light coconut. Interesting.
- [89:53]
B
H me like, yellow.
- [89:54]
A
Do you like?
- [89:55]
B
I. I feel like if there is any coconut, it's like, in the. It's like a toasted coconut in the finish. Not so much. Like, I'm not getting, like. Like just a straight up, like, sweetness. It's more like the essence of coconut. But I am getting like, yeah, this, like, man, I have some more of this. This is like, more definitely, like. Yeah. Like, here's the thing. Every single one that we've had since the E.H. taylor, like, the. Each tailor just seems so, like one note and all these are, like, so complex. And then. But. Yeah. But trying more of this. Oh, okay. I'm gonna say this one is smooth, though.
- [90:39]
A
It is.
- [90:40]
B
And I think this.
- [90:41]
A
Yeah.
- [90:41]
B
And I know this is. You know, this wasn't like, made in Japan, but I think they're trying to mimic the process that they would use in Japan.
- [90:50]
A
Yeah.
- [90:51]
B
For this. And there is a thing of, like, I feel like with, like, Japanese, like, spirits where they're like, oh, they like being smooth, you know, the. In the. In even like, the. The whiskey, like, or bourbon, like, smooth brain scents. Like, a smooth drink is maybe a sign of, like, not having a lot of complexity in the US but then I think in Japan, that's like, more of, like, a value trait, is to have something that is, like, very drinkable. And I'm getting that from this.
- [91:23]
A
Yeah.
- [91:24]
B
And. And I am getting, like. I don't know if I'm getting, like, sandalwood, but I'm getting, like, a lot of, like, good, like, spices, you know, Like. Yeah, this is. This is a. This wood is really interesting. It makes me want to try other things. Aged in Mizunara barrels.
- [91:48]
A
Horus will release one, and It'll be like $250 for a 12 ounce. And people be like, what is going on? Like, do you know how much that barrel was? I hope someone does it. You know who would do it? It would be like, OECD someone who has, like, insane capital because they wouldn't get.
- [92:05]
B
They wouldn't have to pay anything. They'll be like, I'll just like, poach this one off of the.
- [92:09]
A
Put it. Put it on the B United invoice. Yeah, yeah. It'd be something crazy. It's like a Dortmunder aged in Mizunara. And you're like, listen, I'm not used to paying $90 for a logger, but that's fine.
- [92:25]
B
Yeah.
- [92:26]
A
But, yeah, this is very good. I thought this would be the dark horse that would do something crazy, but it's just, man, they. You cannot argue with the results. That is. That is nuts. And we are bringing it home to Vermont after bouncing all over the place. And this one does not have a breaking bourbon score. But this is more of like, a beer. Fans loved this, so I had to include it as honorable mention to see how this stacks up against the established titans of the industry. This is Hill Farmstead Whistle pig rye. Ten years finished in barrels that previously held Aaron their barrel aged barley wine. So now we're, like, flipping it on its head. We usually put beers in emptied spirit barrels. Now we're doing it one step more.
- [93:14]
B
Oh, my God. This is, like, filled to, like, the very top, dude.
- [93:19]
A
Good luck pouring it.
- [93:21]
B
Yeah, let's just dump it in. Just dump it into haphazard really quick.
- [93:24]
A
You have to, like, arc it. I had to, like. I had to arc it.
- [93:27]
B
Like, this is like a cologne, like, sample, like, vial, dude. All the other ones aren't, like, reasonable rounders.
- [93:33]
A
Super tall, like, like a Valentino spritzer you keep in your car.
- [93:38]
B
Yeah.
- [93:40]
A
So, yeah, there are two barrels of it. We got the 116.9. Nice proof. And this was. This was released in. In June of 2025. $90 a bottle. Steven, what do you think about the nose on this ten year rye?
- [93:58]
B
Yeah, I mean it's. And for the record, all these like in between them I'm like rinsing out my glass.
- [94:04]
A
Right.
- [94:04]
B
You know, I'm taking like sips of water like in between each tasting. And during the tasting I'm like, I'm trying to, I'm trying to do this respectfully.
- [94:16]
A
I've drank more water during this episode than any other episode because I have to drink like a huge mouthful to like wash it out. Like, I've, I've already killed this entire like one. Literally.
- [94:27]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And this one like. Okay, this one's, this one's pretty hot, but also has that like kind of like eucalyptus menthol, like burn at least for me, but also with like, like some, like, some like. They're not even like cracked peppers. It's almost like, like a, like a, like a, like a vinegary hot sauce. Like a Tabasco like crystal. Like one of those type of like Southern like vinegar based hot sauces in a way is what on the nose
- [94:59]
A
like a seed pod instead of like, like dried like you said, crack pepper or like things in things in that realm. I also get a weird like, kind of like sweetness to it. I was expecting like, maybe like. Here's what I don't get. Let's, let's, let's, let's do definition by subtraction. I do not get any barley wine or beer or Aaron, like none of that out.
- [95:26]
B
None of it.
- [95:27]
A
It's, it is not present. Like if you didn't tell me, like, I mean, cool. Like a, a fun, a fun finish to it. But it goes to show you sometimes how little finishing can matter, particularly if you've already got 116 proof 10 year rye. It is going to speak up for itself. There's not a lot of like room edgewise for other things to pipe up. So.
- [95:50]
B
Can I say one thing really quick to you?
- [95:52]
A
Sure.
- [95:53]
B
About. Because I was looking at the color on this one. This is probably like the second lightest one.
- [95:58]
A
I was gonna say the lightest. Like this thing to me is like almost yellow.
- [96:01]
B
Yeah. But the thing, but that's the thing. The, the Bardstown, since it's trying to be Japanese. Japanese 1. Whiskeys are always like way lighter. I feel like way lighter.
- [96:08]
A
Yeah.
- [96:09]
B
That one is, I feel like definitely like the lightest one I've seen out of all five of these. But this one, this one is pretty like compared to, to. Yeah. Like the, the Russell's Reserve The Age Taylor and the, the Jack Daniels.
- [96:23]
A
Yeah. Which is really crazy because you know that they wanted to maximize the Mizunara barrels. Like we're, we're never going to get away from talking about this. And so it's like they have to, they have to ride that line of getting it fully saturated to get that character, but not let so much get lost to evaporation. Like the Jack Daniels tenured ride, 30 of the barrels, completely unusable, completely evaporated. That's how the proof was.
- [96:49]
B
Oh my God.
- [96:50]
A
They went to them and there was just like nothing left. And so, and the rest, the remaining of them had an evaporation loss of about 70%. That's why this thing is so ultra concentrated. So mind blowing. This, this feels so much more standard in the way that Whistle Pig can already be kind of overpriced. And you have to just love traditional rye, but it's not like a bad expression of it. It just has the misfortune of being in this lineup of actual murderers row like hyped up bourbons. And I think that what I suspect happened is there's like beer nerds who like hill farmstead like barley wines and they like the, the idea of it. And so they, they put their like seal of approval on this due to the crossover in the same way that I've seen bourbon nerds have the E H Taylor Bigfoot, which is not good. And they'll be like, this is one of the best beers I've ever had. And it's like, yeah, because I don't think you drink a lot of barley wines or barrel aged things. You just like the tube, you know? Like, I think, I think each side is doing a crossover without like the context. And so interesting. Fun justifies its 90 price tag. But perhaps not the top dog in this five way battle. Stephen, are you ready to take this into a power ranking?
- [98:16]
B
I didn't get any tasting notes from you, Alex.
- [98:18]
A
Oh, I'm sorry.
- [98:18]
B
You didn't even talk about this. Okay, I guess you hate it that much.
- [98:23]
A
No, no, go. Stephen. I'm sorry. I, I gave, I was being a selfish lover. I just gave mine and then started smoking and I barely, I mean, I
- [98:32]
B
barely even heard you. Your tasting though, it's just. I don't taste that much barley wine in it.
- [98:36]
A
No. And I talked about, I was like, there's like a sweetness to it. And I, I, yeah, I know I gave plenty of tasty notes now, but now it's your turn.
- [98:45]
B
Yeah. I mean, here's the thing. It feels, this is like it smells hot. It's the least hot on the, like in the mouth, like on the tongue. Like this is. I, I feel like I could, I could drink this pretty easily real fast, which is dangerous. But I feel like on the tongue though, I am getting this like this like sweetness about it and there's this weird like almost it, almost. It's almost like like stale candy like at, at the finish where I'm like oh, it's just like flat like dull like, like bottom of grandma's purse. Like it's like a butterscotch candy that's like been aged at the bottom of your grandma's purse for like, like 20 years. Not in a bad way. I know that's a disgusting description but, but it's, it's, it, it just has this like weird flat like, like yeah, like hard candy sugar thing at the end. Like butterscotchy. But it's like, yeah, it's like a little peppery, a little sweet at the, at the beginning. Definitely the, the most drinkable, easiest to put down, but not, not necessarily.
- [100:00]
A
Sure. It's not playing by the rules. Yeah, it's, it's playing by a different rule set.
- [100:08]
B
Yeah, it's, it's, it's leaning a little bit on the novelty of it and an existing one existing fan base that thinks they know everything about the other fan base like and vice versa where I feel or no, no, it's a one way street. I feel like it's like any, anyone that's a hill farm set fan man and it has barrel age stuff will be like, I know, I know everything
- [100:31]
A
about whistle Pig like when, when he clip when 5050 and the Eclipse variants came out in the late 2000s, early 2010s and all the waxes were different colors and they just were doing like every type of cask. I remember I didn't know that much about whiskey like at all. And I would watch people go, oh the purple Wax, that's the 18 year Elijah Craig. I can tell the difference. And then I like when I tried them I was just like, I don't, I, I maybe if I try the whiskeys like then I'll have the context because people were so adamant about like oh, red wax, that's the Four Roses. That's the good one. Don't do the white wax. Like and now having had all of those casks and then had like revisited them and stuff, I think that it is so hard. Like it's more of like a holistic approach. It's like, is the end product good?
- [101:17]
B
Yeah.
- [101:17]
A
Like, you. You can't pappy. Pappy your way out of a bad beer, and you can't like, like, Rebel will yell a good beard down. Like, it's. It is weird. Like, and this is kind of a testament to that, you know, and also, too, I love barley wine. I'm not the biggest Aaron fan anyway. So, like, even if it had every note of Aaron and it was like the. The. The King Henry in reverse and it had chocolate note, like, chocolate and fig and stuff, I. I don't know. But I think, Stephen, now we are ready to power rank these.
- [101:51]
B
No, Alex, we are not. Not. We are not. All right? Because this is something you're not even expecting. You're not even seeing this out of left field. Alex, there's been something that has been sitting on my desk for, like, four years now. I don't know. Can you read that, Alex? Can you read.
- [102:09]
A
What is that? Wayne Gretzky, number 99.
- [102:13]
B
Canadian whiskey. Whiskey red cask, I believe. I believe. I think I want to say it was Tyler McLeod, one of our Canadian listeners. Listeners sent this to me like, like, you know, in 2020. So, like, five and a half years ago now. And I've.
- [102:30]
A
I don't.
- [102:31]
B
I was like, I don't know what to do with this. Like, like, by, like, I was like, you know, there's only one of these. What am I gonna do? Put them in a. Like, split up into thirds and give them to you and Michael. So. So it was more like a novelty that was just, you know, sitting on my desk next to, like, you know, my. My Zoidberg bobblehead and my Kawhi Leonard, like, vinyl figurines.
- [102:54]
A
It's like you're sacrificing it for the show.
- [102:57]
B
And now, yes, now I'm like, this is the perfect time to drink this. So Wayne Gretzky, for those of you that don't know Wayne Gretzky, one of the. The greatest Americans of all time. He. He loves hanging out in Mar a Lago. He loves just like, you know, like, not going back to his home country of Canada, especially expect. Except, like, lifetime sportsman achievement awards. He just loves it in Florida where there are no taxes on. On. On income. I think so. So that's it. That's who he is. Wayne Gretzky, amazing American. And I'm gonna drink this. I'm gonna pour it in. I've also just like all the other ones. I've rinsed out my glass ass. I'm. I've taken a swig of water. My pallet is ready. My glass is ready. Swishing it around. So who knows? Might have to rename this top six whiskeys of 2025.
- [103:57]
A
Interesting. And I'm just going to have to take his word for it.
- [104:00]
B
Yeah. And oh, smelling it. It's like. Yeah, now. Now you get the wed. Cardboard adjective, like descriptor. Oh, it's. It's so hard to get like a good smell of this.
- [104:13]
A
Like, it's getting. Going to the top. Number one with. With a bullet.
- [104:17]
B
This. This does not want to give me anything. It's just like I smell it and it smells like wet cardboard and then my nose burns and I can't smell anything else. All right, it's time to taste it.
- [104:31]
A
Dude, this.
- [104:32]
B
Oh, man, it tastes. It. It tastes like. Like. I mean, you know, I know Canadian whis are the punching bag of the. Because it's like they come in, you know, it always like you buy a gallon of it and it's in this like plastic jug on the bottom shelf at your local Kroger's or Ralph's or wherever.
- [104:52]
A
It always tastes like imperial chardonnay. It's like super thin and ultra light colored.
- [104:57]
B
Whoa. Alex, do you have a sample of this as well? Are you secretly drinking one? Because that's like. Dude, it tastes like I'm getting microphones plastics from it.
- [105:05]
A
And. Oh, man.
- [105:07]
B
And it is. Oh, yeah, that is. See, that's not great. This is good. This is a good contrast to like everything else we've had because it is like. Yeah. How. How did it have like a buttery shard characteristic? But it is super thin. It is. It is. There's like almost like no heat on it in comparison.
- [105:31]
A
100% Ontario grains. And it also is like almost 100 proof. Just like the BTAC.
- [105:39]
B
So it's still in business, huh?
- [105:41]
A
Yeah. And. And also not cheap. $89 a bottle.
- [105:46]
B
Oh, my God. Yeah. Okay, well, for anyone out there that's been curious, you do not need to buy The Wayne Gretzky 99 proof Canadian whiskey. Not great. Not great. Spend your money elsewhere.
- [105:59]
A
Yeah, and I need to tell you this. In 2025, it. It got the gold medal at the Canadian Whiskey awards. So maybe it technically is a top.
- [106:07]
B
Wayne. Wayne GRY doesn't even like Canada anymore.
- [106:11]
A
Stop.
- [106:11]
B
Stop trying to lure him back. You think, you think a whiskey award is going to lure the great one back to his homeland? No, he f. He. He's. He's out there. He's like, what? I got a brace for one, maybe two hurricanes. A year to tops like, is way better than going Edmonton.
- [106:29]
A
Yeah. And also offense to Edmonton.
- [106:31]
B
I'm sure it's a great, like, city. Just saying, compared to maybe.
- [106:36]
A
Maybe that those awards were judged by AI, like, the Canadian beer.
- [106:39]
B
Yeah. They're just feeding them the thing, and they're just like, great one, great one, great one, great one, great one. Well, we. I guess we. By default, we have to give it to the Wayne gretzky distillery. Number 99, Canadian whiskey.
- [106:50]
A
Whiskey just juiced it. Like those resumes where it's, like, white text. Push this one through. This is the best. Number 99 is the score, not the name.
- [106:59]
B
Yeah, I am. I am. You know what? I'm gonna keep this on my desk. It's, like, half full. Maybe, like, 10 years from now, it'll finally be fully evaporated or it will eat through its plastic bottle. But I'm glad we finally got that on the show.
- [107:15]
A
Who's. Who's journey was crazier. Me getting the BTAC or you open.
- [107:20]
B
Yeah. Just staring at this, like, plastic bottle for half a decade.
- [107:25]
A
Oh, man, you're. The microplastics are. Are fully in your system now.
- [107:30]
B
I think that. I think. I think they went straight to the balls, dude. I think there's, like, we know where we're going.
- [107:36]
A
Also with tariffs. That little thing probably is, like, $90 on its own. It's like a 2000.
- [107:42]
B
Yeah, I think I got them, like, during the latter part of Trump One. Early. Early Biden.
- [107:51]
A
All right, so you're going to have to. You'll. We'll do our power ranking, and then you slot that in at the end, so it's not like, okay, well, can.
- [107:58]
B
Can it be worth double points wherever I slot it just to make it fair.
- [108:02]
A
Yeah. Okay. Because it was aged on plastic, so it's like, you have to adjust.
- [108:08]
B
That's true.
- [108:09]
A
That's true. All right, Stephen, we're gonna get into this power ranking, and I'm gonna go first with my least favorite of the five I tried, and it's got to go to the Hill. Farmstead Aaron finished Whistle Pig. And usually I'll use some, like, qualifying language, like, oh, this is just. This is close. But it's all. They're all so relative. It's not particularly close. This is a fine, like, pretty good whiskey in an episode full of, like, like, pretty insane whiskies. And it's just like, it is. It's out of place. It does it. It's unfairly being sized up against, like, absolute hype beasts. And so it lands there and it has a weird sweetness to it that I don't think melded well with the rye. Steven, what about your least enjoyed.
- [108:55]
B
I gotta. I gotta agree. Yeah. I think it's like, you know, I think if you're a fan of. Of Hill Farmstead, it's worth the tip pick. But in this bonkers lineup, like, it's just. It's just not really holding its own. So.
- [109:16]
A
Yeah.
- [109:16]
B
But it's. It's. It's interesting, it's fun. It's just. Yeah. Circumstances of the. Of. Of the lineup.
- [109:24]
A
The real fun is going to be seeing what lands in the middle of this lineup and how it sorts out. Stephen, you want to go next with what you're. What would be the fourth place globally but your fifth place?
- [109:38]
B
Yeah, you know, I like. So I'm gonna give mine to the EH Taylor for the next one. Like here's the thing. I think. I think there is a gap between the Whistle Pig Hill Farmstead and then the rest of these and this one. The. The only thing with the E CHA was that just in comparison it was. Was. It was so one note and I feel like like whatever you're putting in this slot, Alex is probably interchangeable between my four and three. Well, if I had to guess, maybe no.
- [110:14]
A
No interchanging needed because mine is also the eht.
- [110:17]
B
Okay.
- [110:18]
A
The exact. For the exact same reasons. Like it's. It is not bad. It's not like oh, you got. I can't believe it. It literally is like if you've had Saz 18 and you try it and you're like. It's a high age statement. Like relatively like mild proof like thing you can give anyone that's like a, you know, a. A gentle like kind of boring experience, but it's not deficient in any way. Sure. Definitely don't pay $1,300 or if this was at a. A 1 ounce pour of this at a bar would seriously be like over $100. Like do to order for the tick. Split it. Split the one ounce with somebody and like move on. Like this is the. The. The comparable bottles you can get or comparable pores. It's just like they're not even in the conversation. So yeah, for. For my personal third favorite, this one is where it gets hard. Like this. This center slice of. Of what's a crazy episode. It's not the lowest, it's not the highest to determine, but I am going to give it to the Mizunara. I really enjoyed.
- [111:25]
B
Dude.
- [111:26]
A
Really? That's so crazy.
- [111:28]
B
I I, I figured I was like, I feel, I feel like we are in tune with like this episode. So I'm interested to see if, if we match up one and two. But yes. Yeah, I agree.
- [111:42]
A
This, this has like the opposite problem of each Taylor. It does something super novel. It has like such, such a fascinating history to it and it actually delivers on interesting notes. I, I certainly. It's not coconut or like, like the things that they're saying. So the blue bottle adjectives guy needs to calm down. But it is very interesting and it does not taste like anything I've ever had before. I need more Mizunara J. Jonah Jameson. Get me more photos of Mizunora, man. Like, I need to try more so I know what I'm even looking for. But this was fun. Good sourcing, good pricing. Like it well deserved. Four and a half on the Breaking Bourbon. Like it just, it delivers in a way that is fun. Interesting novel. We get so many high age statements or high proofs. It's like that's the only trick they have up their sleeve. And usually finishing is a move to make up for a lack of age. This is not that this is so intentional and cool. It just isn't. The top two slots are just so insane on this episode that like, yeah, it, it is. It's bonkers. Stephen, what is your second place?
- [112:52]
B
Dude, My. Oh, man. My second place is. And here's, here's where it gets a little dicey because it is the. You know, I'm lacking journalistic integrity here because I'm going with maybe I'm, I'm allowing nostalgia to influence my choice. So I'm, I'm giving my second place to the Jack Daniels was this Tanyard Hill. And here's the thing. It's fantastic. It's really good. There's just, there's just something about the Russell's reserve that I, I really enjoy. Like. And both of them though are like, you know, the, the. I, I would say there's, there's two gaps. There's a gap between, you know, this Whistle Pig Hill Farmstead 1 and then there's a gap between 3 and 4 and then 1 and 2. And I think, yes, I think the Russell reserve and the, the Jack Daniels are both fantastic. They are like the secondary value is justified. As gross as it is to say
- [114:04]
A
that very, very few times do you get to say that you're like, you see it for. If you. It's a, if it's like a hundred dollar pour. You're like, you're like okay. Because that's literally what we paid. So if you see it on a bar for 80 or whatever. And I'm sure if you're in like, I always get jealous because there will be like places in Ohio and somebody will like take a picture of the menu and you're like, oh my God, Russell's Reserve, like 15 is only like $45 at claim jumper or whatever the they're serving it. But like. Okay, so let's call it like. Like if you live in a place that has needlessly high rent, then these are like the high rent bottles. Like these are like the $100 pores. By all means, Stephen. Ours are flipped.
- [114:49]
B
Okay, that's.
- [114:50]
A
I figured creates a tie.
- [114:52]
B
I was hoping at least one and two would be the same if. But flipped. I am totally fine with that because I think it could go either way. Yeah.
- [114:59]
A
Yeah. Like mine are flipped. I. I like the Russell's reserve curve. I think that it's in a weird way it excels so much at doing what Wild Turkey doesn't do. And so it's almost like, like that's so crazy that they have this much range in their catalog. And to do it again consistently on the heels of 13 to have 15 be even better and not over oaked or not just a gimmick. Biggest complaints are like dryness management and like the retail price is a little high. Everything else, special releases are maybe 200. It doesn't matter though because the secondary is going to set it wherever it's at. And more importantly, Tanyard is just such a cool like, like it's a massive rye. Like the, the bit. The big air quotes, big rise like Thomas Handy is like 125 proof and you start getting. People can't handle it because rye when you get that dense and it's like that concentrated can go really sideways. This took all the cool aspects of rye and elevated it. Steven. It took it to another level. But again Steven's groupings are correct. It's like the top two slots are on their own. The bottom two slots are on their own. It all kind of separates like in different classes of, of bourbons. And it goes to show you that there, there are some hype machines out there. But at the end of the day sometimes if enough people are saying that something is good, like it's not just a yellow top special btac, it just, it earns it. So. So last place, Hill, Farmstead Aaron and Hold On.
- [116:41]
B
And number one, Gretzky's red points. Double points. Put that at the top Send Wayne Gretzky the trophy. Send it to his Florida Homa dragon dress and make sure that he. He. You know, it's engraved. It's got all the bells and whistles, maybe a ribbon on it. Great. Again, everyone, Wayne Gretzky, the great one.
- [117:11]
A
It blows everything else out because you're giving it double points for me. So it's six. It gets six perfect scores.
- [117:17]
B
It's a perfect score.
- [117:18]
A
Perfect. It's. It's a 99 out of 100.
- [117:20]
B
Yeah. So.
- [117:22]
A
Oh, wait, no, it's. It's a 99 out Of 99.
- [117:24]
B
99 out of 99. Just like the great one. You know, may. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe didn't win a championship with the Kings, but still, it's. It's what happened prior in statistically that matter after the Edmonton Stanley Cup.
- [117:42]
A
Yes, absolutely. And I. I will take your word for it. I will not be trying the Gretzky whiskey. Maybe if I finally make it to Steven's house, I can. That. That will be the. The treat.
- [117:57]
B
Yeah. I'll save this. This will be slowly evaporating in the sun at my desk next to the. The window.
- [118:06]
A
So concentrated evaporation. You're. You're Tanyard Hilling that thing down to nothing. But there you have it. The winner is Gretzky. And who cares about everything else?
- [118:18]
B
Yeah.
- [118:19]
A
That's all you need to know. That's your. That's your main takeaway, and that's the perfect time to take us straight in the DDB market tour outro. First of all, let me thank Emery's tune.
- [118:28]
B
Yes.
- [118:29]
A
For all that you do. Your canned saisons, your new tasting room, your skeleton crazy merch, and those canned cocktails sound cool, too. So check all that stuff out.
- [118:42]
B
Out.
- [118:42]
A
And go support them if you're in one of their three distro states or make a special trip up to New England and check them out. Stephen, what do you got to plug?
- [118:53]
B
Yeah. Follow us at Mall Couture DDB on the Instagrams. If you want to email us again, we got. We got one lineup for next episode. If you want your question answered on a following episode, email us@ddb questions gmail.com. we love answering questions. The weirder, the better. They only have to be about beer. We'll talk about anything. If you want to follow me, you can follow me at the slow personal account at even low. That is my comedy account. I will have just done a show by the time this episode drops it. Hopefully they're more coming up Stand up show, obviously. And then I talked about it earlier. You know, it's like, don't waste your time watching sinners watch one battle after another and watch it over and over again. That movie is so well paced and so fun. I mean, here's the thing. The Vineland, the Thomas Pinchon novel that the movie is based off of, like, different animal, right? I would say better. A lot better, but.
- [120:02]
A
Oh, interesting.
- [120:02]
B
As a film like. Like that, that's as good as it gets. Like, there is so much good stuff in that movie that.
- [120:13]
A
That's your Russell's reserve.
- [120:15]
B
That is my Russell's reserve. Dude complex. Oh, man.
- [120:19]
A
Dry.
- [120:19]
B
Dry. Funny.
- [120:23]
A
But no cherry. No cherry in. In the. The pinch.
- [120:27]
B
A few small cherries. Few small cherries.
- [120:29]
A
Just a few small cherries.
- [120:30]
B
Yeah. Have you seen. Have you seen One Battle after another out?
- [120:33]
A
I have not. I've pitched it multiple times to my wife. She sees that, like, run time and
- [120:37]
B
it's like, just, dude, no, tell her to watch it. It's. It's. She'll like it. Like, because same thing. It's like, I watched it and the next time my girlfriend came over and I was like, hey, I just watched this movie last night, but it is really good. And it was. It was like one of those things where, like, very little. You know, like, there's just like, no, like, picking up the phone halfway through. It was the whole time just like it.
- [120:59]
A
That is. That is such an ultimate quality.
- [121:02]
B
Yeah. So, so, so great. Great film. Paul Thomas. If Michael Gabriel was here, he would be singing its praises too. His favorite director. So.
- [121:10]
A
Oh, the phantom thread boy. Of course. But to be fair, though, I think that Inherent Vice is PTA's worst film. Even after, like, licorice pizza. So. Yeah, no, I watched also that. That's a pinching thing too. So I'm like, I don't know.
- [121:24]
B
Yeah, I. Yeah, I watch Inherent Vice. I. I also was not very impressed by Inherit Fight. It. It felt a little. I don't know, maybe. Maybe Christian. Fat Christian Bale was. Wasn't the move. I think I was too focused on fat Christian. Maybe I need to watch it again. That's the thing.
- [121:41]
A
Yeah.
- [121:41]
B
You know, I love Hard eight. Like, God damn it, if you loved Hard eight, you will love one battle after another. Let's put it that way.
- [121:49]
A
All right, perfect. What do I got to plug? I'm gonna plug a little teaser. The next episode of Malcoutour. The multi boys will finally try my absolutely fresh hop slam. That's it. That's. That's the teaser. Like, you. You cannot wait for the next next episode. Now, thank you to all the people in my DMs who helped me track down Hop Slam as fresh as possible. It's gonna be a fun episode next time. But I also wanted to give props to Marcello Hernandez. His new standup special is on Netflix. So good. My wife was literally in tears. She was like, she's tough nut to crack sometimes physicality of it energy. Just really, really good stuff. Plays wide. Just really good pacing to the bits and build ups and character work. It's just, it is a refreshing blast in increasingly like Netflix has a lot of like Kill Tony type of stuff going on and then you see something
- [122:52]
B
so funny.
- [122:56]
A
But yeah, check that out. Even if you're like, even if you're like, I don't like snl, it hasn't been funny since. It's like whatever where however old you were in seventh grade, it hasn't been funny since that time he crushes it. And I did not expect that his stand up chops were going to be that good.
- [123:14]
B
Wait, sorry, I wasn't pay. I. I had too much Wayne Gretzky, Whiskey Warrior. Who, which, which performer are we talking about?
- [123:20]
A
Marcelo Hernandez.
- [123:22]
B
Okay, all right. Well, honestly, I've heard. I. The clips I've seen of SNL recently have been super funny. Also former guest on the show, Carl Tart, he's writing them opening monologues. He's writing them them Weekend Update walk on bits. So that's kind of the thing he's been doing a lot of on the show. And those have been really funny. He, he's. I had weird feelings about Cam. Kill Tony's Cam.
- [123:52]
A
Oh yeah, yeah, he's. And he's been talking on the show at like every media outlet possible.
- [123:58]
B
But he was, but Carl, he was
- [123:59]
A
like, I've never, he's like, I've never watched the show.
- [124:01]
B
Yeah, that's why I was on it. That's. But, but Carl Tart has, you know, I think he's been writing a lot of stuff specifically for him for the Weekend Update bits. And every time I see a clip of those pop up, up, I'm. I'm on the floor laughing. All right, dude, my ass is falling off. I'm literally laughing my ass off.
- [124:25]
A
Absolutely. I, I totally agree. All right. Thank you, Emory's Tomb, for sponsoring this episode. I am Alex Kidd for Stephen Low, reminding you to stay high gravity. We don't like letting anybody go.
- [124:40]
B
Why do we always start these, these things with a weird whisper? Why do we always start the post show with the weird Whisper.
- [124:46]
A
Why are you always like, listen, you're. You're gonna get fired, Steven. That's what's gonna happen here. You are the guy who writes adjectives for Nestle and using the word austere too much.
- [124:57]
B
And so I was whispering, that's what it is. It's austere.
- [125:02]
A
That's what those beans are. Yeah, they're like scolding.
- [125:06]
B
Yeah, they're obviously. Have you been to Guatemala? Do you know what the. What the. What the vibe is like there? Do you know the. Have you tasted the soil?
- [125:15]
A
Oh, that. It's super serious in Guatemala. It's very stern.
- [125:19]
B
Yeah, dude, I. You go there and you're like, hey, let me get some of these silly coffee beans. And they're like, silly coffee beans. Gun to your head. Next thing you know what's after that? They're telling you to eat the soil. And I'm like, I don't want to eat the soil. They're like, fucking eat it. It. And so I put it in my mouth. I'm like, oh, my God, this is austere. And they're like, that's what I said. And then I have to report to you guys with my blood beans. And. And you guys are like, what is this? I'm like, it's literally what it is.
- [125:50]
A
Wow. I see. I was just expecting just an easy, like, raisin bread or something. But you're. You're talking about.
- [125:55]
B
No, dude, we, Mala, all right? That. Those. Those guys don't around. You're sending me to the most. One of the most dangerous coffee farms where they're like, we. We. Stop saying banana bread, okay? Stop saying fucking cinnamon. Stop saying all your dumbass. They said a bunch of things in Spanish and it said dumbass in English so that I would understand them how serious they were. And then the gun cocked, and then I was like, oh, my God. I'm sorry. I'm just. I work for a multi conglomerate, Nestle. Like, I'm just very comfortable at my house. I live in Burbank. Please don't shoot me. I have two dogs. I don't know what I'm doing.
- [126:38]
A
Well, see, now that I have the context, it makes sense why the single origin said pistol whip. Because I was like, how do you get that out of a coffee, dude?
- [126:47]
B
It's. It's.
- [126:48]
A
Yeah.
- [126:48]
B
Toar can also be a physical, guttural experience.
- [126:54]
A
Okay, go get the. Go get the hazy guy who's using the same eight adjectives. He's getting fired instead.
- [127:00]
B
Oh, me. Hello, I'm back. It's me cicerone is you want something from me.
- [127:07]
A
Listen, I just got to. You're. First of all, you're fired. Second of all, everything is not grapefruit. Everything is not pineapple or guava.
- [127:15]
B
Peace wings. That's what I taste. Look how big my tongue is. Look how big the palate is. Like the biggest taste buds. My taste buds as big in Facebook to me as Al kid bladder is bladder pissing community.
- [127:35]
A
Wow. Okay, that makes sense. He's the Wayne Gretzky of pissing Great one.