The B Team Podcast
Talking all things Business, Bentonville, and Bourbon. Hosted by Josh Saffran, Matt Marrs, and Rob Nelson. New episodes every Thursday!
The B Team Podcast
Bourbon Tasting: Frank August
Ever wondered how the age of bourbon can transform a classic cocktail? Join us on the B-Team Podcast as we chat with bourbon aficionado Russ, who unpacks the enigmatic backstory of Frank August, a Kentucky-born bourbon that intrigues us with its notes of cinnamon, clove, and stone fruit. Discover why Frank August’s youthful charm is perfect for Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, and how even your nostrils have their own role to play in this sensory adventure. Through lively discussions, Russ sheds light on how factors like weather can change your palate, making each bourbon experience unique.
The thrill isn't just in the taste—it's in the discovery. We relive the moment of uncovering a hidden single-barrel whiskey gem stashed behind the counter in Jane, MO, and the excitement it brought to our whiskey journey. As we transition from small batch to the nuanced world of single barrel, camaraderie and shared passion take center stage. We cap off the episode with birthday cheers and the promise of more shared experiences, proving that whether you're a seasoned connoisseur or a curious newcomer, there's always something new to savor in the world of bourbon.
Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I am your host, josh Saffron, with my co-host, matt Morris and our permanent guest, rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bentonville, bourbon and business the B-Team Podcast Be here. Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I'm your host, josh Safran, along with our co-host.
Speaker 2:I'm co-host today Matt Mars.
Speaker 1:And our permanent guest Bobby, and we are here every Thursday for all things Bentonville, business and bourbon, and we have Russ, the taskmaster, the OG, the man of the bourbons, and we are going to try something that these guys have not tried before. Yeah, and I'm a fan of this. So a little Frank August, small batch.
Speaker 3:Perfect and you know good to see you, josh. I'm glad you're doing well after your surgery. You know, matt, you're always looking good. You look at Dapper with that hat on and that nice velvet jacket.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I forgot, I didn't get my hat on. You know, rob, good to see you guys there we go, good to be back. And you know, again, the last time I did this, you know, I came from the Jets place just by accident, and again I got my haircut. Today you look good, you know, and so it's all perfect timing. So, you know, sounds like a detective assistant from the 1930s. So there is no Frank August, no, it's just a guy who came up with the name, actually Jonathan Crocker. He was in the fashion industry and the denim industry, in fact it's a perfect outfit that we're wearing.
Speaker 2:I know the fashion industry.
Speaker 3:Dottie is familiar with the denim company that the guy worked for, but he developed this brand nondescript, this non. We don't know what distillery in Kentucky it comes from, but we know it's Kentucky Distillate. There's a small batch, you know again. Frank August, what did you buy this for? Is your local favorite package store? About $45 to $50?
Speaker 1:Yeah, first of all, I don't think you can find it here. I don't know that it's allocated.
Speaker 3:It says it's from Bardstown yeah, so it could be. It's not going to be Bardstown itself, oh, it won't. Well, it could be. But it could be another heaven. It could be heaven now, okay.
Speaker 1:But this is not on the shelf. I don't know the. Vanilla can status Emily bought it for me. Shout out to Emily.
Speaker 2:Shout out to.
Speaker 1:Emily, she bought it for me in Kentucky. Oh, here, okay, so I did find the cinnamon.
Speaker 2:You began after some of something. Yeah, you like it, right, I do like it.
Speaker 3:yeah, wow, this is what are you getting in there? Well, I tell you what you're going to think. I'm crazy. I do get the cinnamon, I get a little clove. I do get the stone fruit. It is there. No cracked vanilla bean in there. Not because it's too young. Yeah, this is a young spirit. This does not have a lot of age on it, so you're not going to get all that depth and all that complexity that we would normally get out of a bourbon with age on it. This is young and very approachable. I would put this in a Manhattan or an old-fashioned, I think it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Where's it, Bobby? It's woody. I'm picking up a lot of wood notes.
Speaker 3:The tannins you're putting in the wood tannins. It's not bitter. No, definitely not bitter. Again, that's a negative analogy when describing bourbon, because this is I haven't ever noticed this until today.
Speaker 2:They say each nostril smells differently.
Speaker 3:And guess what? But even though I do it this way, I can't taste.
Speaker 3:Let me say this before I can't taste out of my right nostril. Excuse me, I cannot nose out of my right nostril. My twin brother kicked me in the womb and I couldn't alleviate his symptom, so I can only taste. The 30,000 spirits I've wanted have tasted in my career have all come out of here and again. When we taste, as I told you in the past, this is for the viewers. When you taste a brand, you don't taste here, you don't taste with your heart, you taste with here, here and here, because the heart is telling you maybe you had a bad experience with a brand in the past and the heart, heart's going to guide you.
Speaker 1:The heart also helps impact it when you go oh, this is supposed to be really good because it's a $200 allocated A hundred percent. Which always screws everything up.
Speaker 2:Which is why the dining in the dark throws you off because, you're not already judging what it should taste like? Like she said, you go get pizza and you expect it to be, so whenever we spend a lot of money on one, we want it to be really good, whether it is or not, but when we did the Lot B and all the 12-year, that Lot B was a surprise.
Speaker 1:But what's interesting again, we did the best one to the worst one from a price standpoint and I think if you would have just blind taste tested them, I still think the Lot B was that much better than everything else I do too by far, which is rare, because I think some of that Russ can probably tell us.
Speaker 2:some of those high-end aren't that much better than everything. I don't think.
Speaker 3:But it also depends on when you've tried it during the day and what you've had to eat and the experience. And again, think about this it's been a really bad few days here with the heat and the humidity and the ragweed and all those allergens in the air. It all flushed out last night, so my palate is completely cleared up today. If we had tried this yesterday, my palate would have been shut down. Yesterday. I couldn't taste anything. But today all these aromatics of what I expect to find on a nice burger like this Frank August small batch is right there. So do you guys like this? I do like it. It's good, it's a pleasant surprise. And again, what we talk about all the time is new discovery. So this is about you know, when we were in Kentucky weeks ago. So have you had this before? Yes, it's really nice, it's approachable, but again, one of those things where you walk by on the shelf you might not pick it up until you have a reason to. Well, you know I bought it.
Speaker 2:Number one because Josh told me to. But number two just looking at the bottle and I know so many people have said this and we have too is like the whiskey game is as much about what. What's the the bottle looks like as it is. What it tastes like like. This to me is like I. I mean, I think they hit it out of the park on the design when I first saw it's a hundred proof.
Speaker 3:When I first saw the bottle, you know, don't get out, I go. This is a very generic, very perfume-esque type of model. But you hit the nail on the head before it went to tape is. It looks like an infinity bottle that you then can continue and go back to. But I think sometimes less is more.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:This is a great example.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but I tell you what, just because it's less is more with the package, I think the bourbon speaks for itself Again, for my palate. It's young but it's very approachable for again, an old-fashioned Manhattan. You know, just put something on the rocks at your pool in the summertime. I really enjoy it. This is always a pleasant surprise to find something that potentially can go back into your cabinet as another one and then show your friends and neighbors or the bourbon bullies on your block and show them this blind it with them, and then they go. Oh my God, that's a pleasant surprise because this would be one I would like to put in a blind with somebody who's a bourbon bully, a bourbon hound, and they would not really pick this up and tell you what they really think about it unless they tasted a blind with a couple other nice brands in the line.
Speaker 2:Well, it's an easy drinker. It drinks like it's an 80 proof and it's 100. I already drank on mine. I haven't even put a drop of water in it. Do you like it better with water? I didn't even put water in it. What did you think of the water guys? I feel like it didn't change it much.
Speaker 3:Isn't it kind of funny that on this is one of those, Really no See, I didn't miss out on it. The water for me, the water really did not have that big effect on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what Russ? You and I are always on the same page.
Speaker 3:That's right. That's where we're right across.
Speaker 2:Russ and Rob Harmon, not so much Bob and Rob, bobby and Josh.
Speaker 3:We'll get there. But this is always one of these again, we talk about this all the time, or just reinforce it because you can't get enough information out is 10 guys walk into a package store here in northwest arkansas. This is a joke. 10 guys? Well, no, it could be. I mean we could workshop it for another time but 10 guys walk in and this is on the shelf. I'll bet you nine guys or ladies would walk right by that without picking it up. And because there's no reason for them to pick it up? Because, number one, they've never tried it, they've never seen it. They look at the package and go. You know, it's kind of an odd package here.
Speaker 3:But I think, once you taste and try, it.
Speaker 2:See, I would pick it up. What took me so long? I think it's neat, just because it's simple.
Speaker 1:I was up in Jane and they had behind the counter the single barrel. So and they had behind the counter the single barrel, so it was again allocated kind of hidden back there type thing and I bought it. It's sitting at home and I'm dying to try it. So that's the next one, once this bottle is done. Why didn't you bring that up here for us? I mean, I have to ease you guys in. We go small batch to single barrel. We'll do that one next time, but I'm excited for that too.
Speaker 2:It's always a pleasure. John Mizz Cheers Bobby, thanks for showing up. Yeah, it's amazing Happy birthday Cheers and happy birthday to you, Josh.