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
Ep. 88 - Behind the Barrel Selections
Imagine tasting a single barrel so good that you try to convince the distillery to bottle it under a different label. That happened to us with a Rock Hill Farms barrel sample, and it became the spark for a wide-open conversation about how great whiskey actually gets made, picked, and shared.
We bring you into the room for private selections at Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, and Nashville Barrel Co., comparing barrel proof to bottled proof and exploring why some bourbons sing at 100–103 proof while others demand the full, fiery ride. We break down a standout two-year honey cask from Nashville, no added honey, just a Beam-made bourbon resting in a honey-seasoned barrel, delivering a fragrant, balanced sweetness that feels like “cheating at bourbon” without crossing into liqueur territory. Along the way, we tackle unicorn culture, blind tasting reality checks, and the very real logistics behind allocated drops, including how a historic flood slowed bottling lines and why the three-tier system can stretch timelines.
You’ll also hear how our club runs: fair lotteries for pick trips, open communication with a growing waitlist, and travel traditions that turn a selection into a story, charter hops into Frankfort and Bardstown, Nashville hoops weekends, and Guthrie picks capped with dinner over the OKC skyline. We preview a stacked lineup: Stagg, Four Roses private selection, 1792 rarities, Larceny Barrel Proof, EH Taylor Single Barrel, and a craft red wheat barrel proof, while returning to the core truth: single barrels have no friends to hide their flaws, which is exactly why the best ones feel unforgettable.
If you love bourbon for the flavor, the hunt, and the people you share it with, this one’s for you. Hit play, subscribe for more deep pours and real talk, and tell us: which bottle would you bring to a desert island?
Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I am your host, Josh Saffron, with my co-host, At Mars, and our permanent guest, Rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bettonville, bourbon, and business. The B Team Podcast. Be here. Alright, I'm excited for this one. Tiny bit. This is at 120 something. What's the number on this one?
SPEAKER_01:122 and a half? 122 and a half. And again, here's and it says your name on it, right? Which is Yeah, so it says um Private Barrel, J.S. Bull Reserve, April 24th, 2025. So this would be the third selection we did as a GRU.
SPEAKER_00:Does that not taste different than regular live Greg U? Yes. It's just not it's just not the same.
SPEAKER_01:So I I've got a uh a habit of I can't remember what's the age on it. It's nine. Nine year, okay. Yeah. And it was it was aged, it's uh I think either third or fourth. Uh and sound here. I think I think it's the third uh level of uh Bardstown warehouse. And um yeah, I it's that's very good.
SPEAKER_02:Now for the Sazerac snob, because there's a lot of them out there because everybody wants Sazerac, in addition to the Rock Hill Farms and the Weller foolproof. You also did a We've done a Blanton's gold as well. Repeat that again. That's not the Blanton's single barrel.
SPEAKER_01:It's the gold version. Yes. So it's it's we're we're gonna get a lot of gold horses, is what we're gonna get.
SPEAKER_02:So when you go when you talk to Saz, like if you can share, like, hey, Bob from Sazerac, hey, it's JS Bull. Listen, I'm coming down with the guys, forget the Blanton single barrel, just get me to the gold, or maybe even like a straight from the barrel, like, yeah, no problem. Like, like, how are you doing that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I've tried for straight from the barrel and haven't I haven't gotten there yet. We're working our way there, though.
SPEAKER_02:Um but to get them to get you to the gold, I mean.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, and and honestly, they just said, hey, look, we'll we'll do a special deal and and offer gold. And then um a little while later, they were like, hey, we've got another kind of special deal. We're gonna offer just a few people the opportunity to get a Rock Hill Farms. And I was like, hey, you know that gold appointment we got? Just bump it a couple months. And and let's squeeze that Rock Hill Farms in now. So we went Rock Hill Farms first, and and both of them, I mean, they're both equally epic, right? Like they're just and these barrels are the best of the best. So I and I joke a little bit and I'm gonna let the cat out of the bank big time here. Oh, we are I said this was gonna be a secret. Are we releasing something on the mark?
SPEAKER_02:For the 18 podcast.
SPEAKER_01:So Rock Hill Farms, we do the tasting, and so they proof it down to what it's gonna be bottled at. So Rock Hill Farms is at 100 proof. And you know, the barrel proof is gonna be closer to 120-ish, 125, and they don't they didn't test it, so we don't really know, but we know that they tested it to get it down to 100 for the the four that we selected from, and there were two that were just ultra, ultra good. Um and so after we had finished the tasting, they said, so uh, I mean, the barrel's right there. Would you like a sample straight from the barrel? And I mean, number one, you'd be crazy to say no. No, thank you. Right? No, thanks. But but in the back of my mind, in the back of my mind, I thought, this is dangerous. And sure enough, we tasted the straight from the barrel, and I spent the rest of the day trying to convince them to put it under a different label at barrel-proof, because this was absolutely the best whiskey I'd ever tasted in my life.
SPEAKER_02:Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely the best I've ever tasted in my life. That's saying something. You've tasted a few. I've got a tiny vial of it at home, so maybe one time you guys are over, we'll I mean it is. I mean, I'm free. It is for you. Like your house isn't far from it. Wow. But yeah, so anyway, it was so good. Now, what we're getting in the bottles is so good, but it it almost ruins it for me because I know just how good it was right out of the barrel. So, you know, the way I approached it is um, well, let's let's put it in a stag bottle instead. And they're like, it's a different mash bill. And I was like, uh, let's put it in a blend straight from the barrel, and they're like, Well, now warehouse H. It's like so what did they do with this? They're bottling it to 100 proof. Oh, God. But let's be honest, this is the most first world problem. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, so we're we're incredibly blessed. It's so good. Now, I'll tell you, when we went a few months later and we did Blanton's Gold, the same thing happened. And I said, You want it straight from the barrel? And I'm like, I've built this, I've lived this, I've lived this, and so let's, yeah, let's do it. Why not? We all looked at each other and we were like, it's better proof to 103. It was really better at the proof we're gonna get it. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Everybody's you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So everyone just they look at each other like what do you think was it? 120. We don't know. I'm guessing 120-ish, right? Yeah. Well, you know, blend strangely, blends is not an old bourbon, right? It's it's like six years all the time, yeah. Pretty much.
SPEAKER_02:I think with Blanton's every it's the hype more than I mean it it's good. It is really good. But I would rather drink Eagle Rare. Like I would rather drink EH Teller small batch if I'm picking if you put them on side by side. Blends is good, but the other ones are now. If you go straight from the barrel or the gold, I mean you're going up a whole different tier. Yeah. But everybody's chasing the blantons because that's you know the horse and filling out the the the sp or whatever. But it it's good. Yeah. It's good, but that's the one everybody chases.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and it got a lot of people into bourbon. Yes. Into real bourbon, yeah. Right? I mean, you know, that old adage of you start with like Jack and Coke, and you move, you know, you finally get to like makers and water, and then finally you're at Blanton's meat, and that's like when you really go, okay, now I'm into bourbon. Um peppermint, yes. What what's is that the candy you're catching on? Cinnamon is what I was getting on the front.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:It's like it's but it's almost like uh cinnamon. It's like uh hot tamales candy, right? It's like it's not like it's not like cinnamon itself. That's what I'm catching on. Yeah, yeah. That's candy. That's very good.
SPEAKER_02:That's very good. So if somebody wanted to be a part of this exclusive club, um so year one sold out, fantastic. Year one did. Assume most people, unless they're idiots, are gonna stay in for year two, or unless they have budget carrying issues. You or some people have gone sober.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. You know, or other things have happened with health out to them, yeah. Health in their life, right? Yes, yes, yeah, yeah. Um, and so absolutely. And and for some people, they may have joined because a friend talked them into it and they really don't even like bourbon that much, but kind of want to be in on it, and they just went, yeah. But I've not had anybody cancel except for uh a dear friend of all of ours in the group that passed away. And um then the guy who went sober, which I'm like, power to you. I gave him a full refund, and like we're we're still friends, we're good, right? That's a smart decision for him if that's what's needed. And so uh he's a better man than I.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Um I try every week. I can do it. I tell my wife, I'm not gonna do this again. And the next day he comes up and goes, Oh, you want to try this? Yeah, we're gonna try to do it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. A buddy of mine uh is in for the weekend uh from Dallas, and and we were up till 2 30 in my bar, and uh he was not faring, and I had a client first thing this morning, and so must have been a great meeting. It was if you know I've learned if you do not if you do not know how the the proper hydration technique works with bourbon, you will have some rough mornings. You can have a rough morning. And he was he was in that position. What I saw but yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But if uh so so what we've done is pretty much everyone in the group is like a connection once removed from a friend of mine, right? So it's my friends and their friends, and somehow we got to you know fill it up. Uh, we've since kind of gone another level of folks on the wait list. We've got about 30 people on the wait list right now. And so we've we've even like with the Elijah Craig and uh even with the honey barrel, we offered bottles to the wait list, right?
SPEAKER_02:Because they're not a membership fee, but they're paying the price of the bottle.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and one of the things that you yield was higher. So every so every selection we do, we go somewhere to select it, right? Which is also super cool. And we do a lottery for them from the membership, and we pick seven members to join me on that trip.
SPEAKER_02:And again, uh you're not doing yourself justice here because you're not flying on American on this trip, right? Like, no, we're all chipping in. And but you know what?
SPEAKER_01:I mean it here's the thing. If you're going like um Frankfurt, Kentucky, right? Or Bardstown, Kentucky, like you're going into Louisville or Lexington, you're staying the night, you're renting a car, you're driving yourself to the distillery to do this crazy thing, you're staying somewhere local, you're driving back the next day and flying home. I mean, it's a three-day trip that's going to have multiple layers of cost, food, organization, everything else. We all chip in like$1,500 each, and we get on like a King Air, and we fly directly into Frankfurt, directly into Bardstown. And if somebody doesn't want to, they don't have to need to go.
SPEAKER_02:It's okay. It's okay. That to me is almost as cool as going to pick the barrel that you're you're flying like this with this group of people.
SPEAKER_01:Right. It's first class. Oh, and we've got a tradition that we always drink a bottle on the way home of the airplane, right? Like, eight of us, one bottle is not that bad. Uh sometimes it's more than one, but you know. Um, but we we have a great time with it. But so we're we're doing this very fairly, right? And so we're selecting, and if you get picked for a trip, your name is out for the rest of the trips that year, unless we can't fill it or something, and then we reach back out. And everyone has had two chances this year to join a trip. Every one of our members has had at least two chances based on someone not able to make it, that I had to last minute say, hey, somebody had to, you know, back out last minute. Who can go? Or um, you know, the Nashville Bell trip recently, we even postponed it because we were gonna have like four people there. Oh, you didn't you didn't go to the we didn't go. So, you know, but we'll still get it done this year and it'll be great. But it was just a weekend that was tough on people, you know, between it was crazy outlanded. So anyway, so be flexible with it, make it work. Um, but all is to say, next year I expect to be able to bring in additional memberships.
SPEAKER_02:So of a hundred members, uh eighty to eighty-five will stay, and then you'll open up 15 spots.
SPEAKER_01:So so I still have a few spots reserved for charity.
SPEAKER_02:I do want to talk about that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, which will have at Gent's giving. And because the way I'm kind of planning on opening it up for 26, um, uh open up a few more spots for 26, I don't want to just auction off 26 and it go for a lot of money, and then someone will be able to get it easier, right? And so um what I want to do is is do all the bottles from 25. Because, like you said, it's a it's an epic lineup. And by the way, so let me go through the whole lineup real quick. Yes, please. Uh Nashville Honey Barrel, Nashville Bourbon will be coming, um Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, that we're drinking now, uh, Rock Hill Farms, Blanton's Gold, Weller Foolproof, and uh Same Old Moses in Guthrie, Oklahoma. All right, and have no folks at uh same old Moses, and their barrel finished stuff is absolutely off the charts good. This this Amarone barrel they've got and and their PX sherry cask finished, those are two of the best. Like I just drink through a bottle in a couple weeks. Like that, I just don't go to anything else. Right? No, I haven't tried that one, but I the those those finishes are all they seem to. It's just really cool. And they do everything they do is double barreled, and they've been doing it since before it got popular, right? Um, and so we're gonna take a crew over, uh, stay the night in Oklahoma City, um, do the pick um in Guthrie, eat dinner at the top of Devon Tower, right? That's cool, staying at the Omni over there, and then come back the next day, and we're gonna be the first barrel selection they have ever done.
SPEAKER_02:Ever.
SPEAKER_01:Ever. That's cool.
SPEAKER_02:That's cool. Now, to date, you del two of the bottles have been delivered so far. The rest are all because I do want to ask, because now we're coming towards the end of 2025. So remember, remember, two bottles so far, excited, thrilled. When you move to 2026, some of these bottles are still gonna be coming from 2025, right? Like the bottles that were were the Rock Hill fellows.
SPEAKER_01:God, I hope not. So here's what happened, right? Well, the flood. Someone someone asks you, would you like three barrel selections at Buffalo Trace? Yes, mate. Absolutely. I guess there's zero chance you're gonna turn that down, and then God bless their hearts, they deal with the largest flood in their history. It absolutely goes two stories up on Rick Houses. It's so bad, right? And shuts down their um distilling for three months, shuts down their bottling for over a month, then they're trying to catch up with production orders, which is where they make their money, especially Fireball, right? It's gotta have your fireball.
SPEAKER_00:To moneymaker little single barrel picks don't really equate to the millions of bottles that they're yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you know, uh like they're bourbon, like these these amazing brands that we all enjoy and seek out and b tech and everything else. Like, this is the house that Fireball built. Like the money they made off of Fireball, they've sunk into good bourbon. Well save the company.
SPEAKER_02:Hence why they just made with Apple, Fireball Apple isn't it? Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_01:The new one?
SPEAKER_02:The new flavor. Go get it at your local just in time for the fall.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, just great insider. Um, so you know, anyway, it we have still not received our Weller Foolproof that we picked at the end of February. And it has shipped, then you deal with the three-tier system of challenges to get PO's and different things and move it around. Sounds like a full-time job on the you know, I I love and appreciate what the distributors are doing to help, love what Sazerac's doing to help, but I really wish it all just worked more smoothly. Yeah. So you'll have youth believe the end of the year. I'm hoping they are all in. So Samuel Moses will pick in December, and we're supposed to be able to take it with us. Oh wow. Nashville will ship in a day. One of the cool things about Nashville is they bottle while you're there. You pick the barrel, and they bring you like some other samples and some weird stuff that they're experimenting with, and we're all just having fun, chilling, and they're back here filling bottles and labeling them right beside you, and it's your barrel. That's cool. That is cool. It's super cool.
SPEAKER_02:Do you have any teasers on what's coming for 2026 yet that you can share? So, so we're gonna have to have a tough decision. Do we want to renew for 2026? Well, I gotta think about it. Yeah, do you have any plans on what that could look like?
SPEAKER_01:So, on on this note, I'm gonna pull out one that Mike's gonna be offhand.
SPEAKER_00:So I got dibs on taking the bottle. Yeah, right. I'll do whatever it takes to take this bottle home. I saw you walk in. The first thing I thought is he's gonna try to take this bottle with him. What's to what's giving the keys to move? What's so special about this bottle? He'll have to tell you. All right. That yeah, there's just there's a lot of history with this. So I mentioned um I learned a lot when I went to his house. Like I thought I knew stuff, you know, dude. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01:Like so humbled by all right. So this bottle, this is TS warehouse. Uh, it's an OES V recipe. So Four Roses has two mash bills, five different yeasts. So they can make 10 different recipes of bourbon. And they make all 10. And then different small batch is a blend of a few. Um, some are reserved for special things, some do single barrel comes from the same every time. I think it's OBSV. But um, anyway, so this is the OESV recipe. Um, and uh, I'll show this in a minute. Let's pour it first. And this was on one of my trips with uh crown liquors out of Indiana. So I went two years in a row. Happened to be on my birthday both years, which made it even cooler, right? You probably want a bigger board. Well, here I'll just treat you this. Oh, this is a many year old. Like taking a slice of cake and taking all the rest of the cake and leaving the slice. Just put a straw in it. All right, and so um, so I'm there, and uh, you probably recognize the name, Al Young. All right. Well, Al was an ambassador for Four Roses at the time, so this is the second year we went. First year we went, um, they let me pick my favorite barrel out of the 21. And so I bought a barrel, and it was actually an OBSV. And then um at the end, there was a barrel that I loved that they didn't pick. And they were like, I mean, do you want it too? And of course, the smart answer, the answer the wife would have wanted me to get. Absolutely not. I've got one, I'm good. Thank you. Thank you very much. But none of us are that smart. So I said, Absolutely, I wanted that thing's awesome. Yes, yes, I'll take two great barrels. Great, and so anyway, um, their bottling was super backed up back in the day. And so I they were nice and they prioritized, and the the first one I bought, they bottled as the first one for crown and sent it to me. And then um we went back the next year, and uh my wife gives me a hug and a kiss as I depart on the little trip to the distillery and says, Whatever you do, don't buy two, don't buy another barrel. You still got one more coming because it still wasn't bottled yet.
unknown:Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01:And I said, Of course not. I we're like, yeah, I get it. I overspent last time. Like, I'm not gonna do it again, right? We're good. And so I go. And at this, at this tasting, we did 18. And so we we went around, and so so Brennan, uh, the leader of the crown group at the time, who invited me and was hosting me there and stuff, came over and he says, Um, so all right, let's compare notes. What are you thinking? And I'm like, oh, barrel 10, by far the best. He goes, you know what, I'm thinking the same thing. Uh he goes, problem is we were backstocked on OESV orders from last trip, um, so we can't buy it. And I went, You're not gonna buy that? And he goes, Do you want it?
SPEAKER_02:So this this is like a scene from Animal House where like the devil and the angel where the wife's on one shoulder telling you, do not do it. Don't do it.
SPEAKER_01:So you've got the the angel and the devil arguing, and then behind you you've got like grimace from from McDonald's going, I'll take it, I'll take it. Yeah, everybody in the back going, I'm gonna say no. I'm like, shut up, grimace. Yes, I want it. Oh my god. So I take it. So anyway.
SPEAKER_02:And this is you taking it by yourself, you wanting to buy it. Buying it. I'm buying it. This is you buying 200 bottles.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Well, and in this case, not splitting with five people. What? So in this case, it was 126. Okay. We only got 126 out of this. But at the time, I'm thinking I got 165 out of the first one I got. So I'm thinking, you know, I met it for you're pretty solid on four roses for a minute. Pretty solid on four roses still, right? But the uh so so as this happens, um Al Young walks over. And for those who've never met Al, Al loves to rib folks. Like he will give you a hard time. Like he just he doesn't hold back. And so he he had already ribbed me a little bit, right? And I joked back with him and he liked that. And so we got chatting and hanging out for a while. Well, he walks off and he's talking to some other folks. He walks back over and Ben goes, Hey Al, uh, we want to put your name on one. Um, which one is the best? And he goes, Oh, barrel 10, hands down. And I went, that's what I said. He goes, Yeah, he's buying it. I'm not. And he looks at me and he goes, Nice barrel. So that's a quick side note. Uh, this is during the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, the music till. And they got years ago is this? Oh man, this was 2016, I think. Right. And so uh we're at um, so we're at oh I say yeah, 2016 is probably right. And so they've got this bourbon lodge there, this like a VIP thing, right? And so all the folks from Crowd have got tickets to it, and Amy and I got tickets to it, my wife and I. And so we go, and Al's in there, and they're doing they're selling tastes of Al Young's 50th, the legendary Four Roses release to celebrate his 50th year at Four Roses. And uh I said, Al Which is by the way, currently like a$1,700 bottle.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. And and pro and worth every penny, yeah, honestly. But it's amazing. And so I say to Al, I go, Hey, they're serving your uh it was actually the day before when we were testing. I said, something like, What did I hear your bourbon's coming, Al. Um, what are your thoughts? He goes, you know what? I still haven't gotten to try it since they bottled it. Like I helped come up with the formula and I helped do this, but I still haven't even tried it. I said they haven't given you a bottle of your own bourbon yet. And he goes, Not yet. And so we're in there and I see they're selling it, and I see Al and I'm like, hey, Al, have you tried your own bourbon yet? And he goes, No. I go, can I buy you a pour? And he goes, absolutely. And so I literally buy Al Young, his namesake bourbon, is his first pour ever inside the bourbon lodge at Forecast. That's so when this bottle came in, I thought, all right, I gotta come up with a label, cool name for it, or something, right? And so, um, and I don't do a lot of the tater stuff these days. This is kind of before the tater stuff was even out there, right? Um, there's no massive peppermints on bottles and crazy stuff these days and fudge Sundays. But uh I named it the Triple Crown because we were with Crown Liquors. It was Crown's favorite, it was Al's favorite, it was my favorite, and um, of course, Kentucky is you know all about horse racing.
SPEAKER_02:So first time I met you, I think I you had one of these bottles in the back locker at at uh um White Spider. Like you had one of these. Oh yeah, yeah. I definitely kept it for and I was like, oh, as I saw the back lip, I go, oh, there's more of those floating around. So you probably have a bunch at your house still.
SPEAKER_01:For the since 2016, my group of friends has done their best to empty me out of them, right? This is like everybody's favorite to this is special. I want to take it to somebody's house and share it, and you know, everybody's like, wow, what what in the world?
SPEAKER_00:And again, for you to be impressed, because that's say a lot. I have an oo young bottle that was given to me. I didn't buy it, but uh uh the guy that got me into bourbon, he came down for a bottle share. And um shout out to Ken Park because he's he's the guy that got me into. Well, I don't know if I shout out to him. I don't know if I like the guy or love the guy. Damn near bankruptcy. He's cost you a few dollars. Don't shout him out. I'm not sure if my wife loves him or hate him, but uh anyway, um, he comes down from uh wherever he's at. He's got multiple houses in different parts of the country. He's just one of the best people I've ever met. And um he shows up for a bottle share, and when he opens his bag, it's it's kind of like Jay Hush. You know, he's BTAC stuff, but not BTAC stuff from 2024. It's BTAC stuff from 08 to 2000, you know, coil for, you know, just great stuff. And he pulls out a half, you know, full bottle of Al Young, and we sip on it, you know, he shares it with everybody. And so there, you know, there's probably you know eight ounces left in it. He says, No, you just keep that for your bar. Like, okay, well, no one else is gonna get to drink it. I'll just save it for when you come back and we'll just sip on it, you know. So yeah, it's it's amazing stuff. But this but your face went out, because again, you brought a Mickers 20. Your face, when you saw that, you could tell this this is I mean, that's that's some special stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you know, and so people throw around the word unicorn for boggles a lot, right? Too much, yeah. Well, honestly, very much too much. But for somebody who's not super into bourbon, uh a unicorn to them is more achievable, right? Like that that's more available. And so they truly think they want it.
SPEAKER_00:And that's great. And they're willing to go out and spend five hundred, a thousand, twenty five hundred dollars on something they've never even tried. They've just been told they need it. I'm a victim of that. Yes, right. We all know we've all done that. And then there's something wrong with that. You know, okay, you you crack open a$3,000 bottle and it's like that's not playing that game. Oh, yeah. You know, I mean, I could have done better with you know$45. The quality of bourbon and the price of the bourbon don't have much of a correlation. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And then there's some that just like, oh my god. But which is why I like doing the blind taste test, because if you're opening a bottle of papy, fill in the year$15, 20, 20, whatever it is, oh, this is great. Well, you're you're telling yourself it's gonna be great because it's papy. Yeah, right. Your head's already telling you it's good. But when you do the blind taste test, you're like, well, that's a$40 bottle. It is, it's amazing. Happy$23.
SPEAKER_00:Whether or 107 was actually better. Yeah. Yes, yeah, yes, yes, yes. Well, and that's and that's why uh we've had really good reception with the the high-end tastings that we do. Yes, it's a few hundred bucks, but you for a few hundred bucks, you get to literally try eight to twelve thousand dollars worth of bourbon, so you don't have to go out and spend that. You probably saved yourself ten thousand dollars. Right, right. Because in front of you, you may not like the MiChus 20, or you may not like the double eagle rare or the whatever, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Um and why why okay, so you look at like the five big distillers that are true, right? Not the ones that are non-producer, you know, packagers, right? NDPs, and like non-distiller producer is what it stands for. But the you you look at those and you say, okay, each one has like eight brands. Why? Well, it's because it's different profiles. Why do they have a bunch of different profiles? Because not everybody's tastes are the same. All right. So one person may think one bourbon is the best, and another thinks another. Yep. And both are right.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Right? It's like proofs. Yeah. You know, some people don't like 80 proof, they only like 120. Other people can't get past 100. You know, if you're drinking it neat, you know, you're choking on 120 proof.
SPEAKER_01:I guarantee you this this year, at the end of the year, when we've got all of our bottles, none of them, any I don't think anybody's gonna think any of them are bad. They're all gonna think they're all really good. But if you go member by member, I bet different members pick different bottles as the best of the year. Absolutely. Right.
SPEAKER_02:But I would tell you, knowing the community, no one's gonna pick the old Moses because it's called Old Moses. But if you did a blind taste test with that in three or four other songs, there'll be some people that picked this is the greatest thing ever. What is it? No way. That's the one we picked in Oklahoma?
SPEAKER_01:No. We don't we had 11 people sign up to go to same old Moses. Folks are excited about it. And one of the things I want to do in the group, too, this is one of the kind of my founding principles, is each year to do one brand that people have not are not that familiar with. I think that's very smart. Um, and I think let's let's try to grow it. The craft distilling stuff is really doing well. Yep. Like, let's try to get a little bit more notoriety to folks who deserve it that might not get it otherwise because they don't have a big name. They're not owned by Sazerac or Heaven Hill or somebody.
SPEAKER_02:Well, the Sazerac's gonna be a draw to get people in. Wow, this is cool, right? And the old most be like, all right, I'll I'm in the club, I'm gonna try it. And they go, This is really good. Why didn't I ever try this before?
SPEAKER_00:Well, great example, uh, some really good friends of mine from Nashville. Um, they're they live not too far from Leapers Fork. I don't know if you've heard of Leapers Fork Distillery.
SPEAKER_03:Oh no.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so uh earlier this year, you know, when we we we do our our annual big barn party. Amazing. They both buddies show up, they show up together. They had gone on a trip to Leapers Fork Distillery, and they at the time they were there, they just it was happenstance. They had just put out like they had only produced let's just call it, I think it was 40 something, but it was high, like under 50 cases of whatever this barrel was. And they both got they, they, they tried it, they were blown away by it. It was so good. And these are bourbon guys, they they know what they're dealing with. They loved it so much, they both bought a bottle from themselves, and they're like, hey, Mike would love this. So they both bought me a bottle, they show up at the barn party, they neither one of them knew that the other one bought me a bottle. And so they show up with different sacks and go, hey, here's the story about this. And then my neck, the other buddy showed, you know, he he hands it to me like 25 minutes later. With the same story? With the same story, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that, you know, Scott, it's the same thing. We cracked that thing open and it was unbelievable. Unbelievable. And this is probably a$70 or$80 bottle. And and we all loved it so much. When he got hung, he went, he drove back, it was a 20 minute drive for him. He drove back down there and it was all gone. He's like, oh my gosh, are you guys gonna run this again? And they said, Well, you know, everything's different. Had we known, we'd look at cases of it. But it was, you know, you just it was sometimes they're just that good. Yeah. And then sometimes die. And
SPEAKER_01:And single barrels are super special. Like you know, like romanticize it for a minute, right? It's like okay, a small batch, you're you're talking hundreds or thousands of barrels going into a small batch, right? They're not all small. And with a small batch, you can have barrels that carry the aroma. And you've got barrels that have the body that you want. You've got some that have the beginning flavor, some the finish. And you can piece them all together to create that awesome profile, right? A single barrel has no friends to help. It better carry every one of those pieces of the experience. It's gotta have a great color, it's gotta have a great aroma, it can't be hot, right, and burn. It needs to, you know, have a good mouthfeel. And so it's like it's hard to find. And so, like, I know Buffalo Trace, for example, they've got a testing panel of like 12 people, and at least six have to taste every barrel before it goes into the single barrel program to even get a chance to be selected by someone. And they set up the sample bottle behind it, and if anyone doesn't think it belongs in the program, they just tap the bottle, knock it over, and if it's sitting sideways, that barrel's out.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Any one of those twelve people can one out of twelve and it's out? One out of twelve and it's done. Jeez. One and out.
SPEAKER_02:All right. We we're so much content we're gonna have we're gonna do a part one and part two. That's how good this one's going. So we're already into part two because this is we can go on forever, which is wonderful. So we need another bottle open. Sure. All right, question for you, and then I'll do a couple rapid fire questions for both of you guys. Okay. 2026 lineup.
SPEAKER_01:Is there anything you can share? Just yeah, I can. So we we've actually already picked uh stag. So stag was our first pick. Junior or senior? Well, it's it's no longer junior, but it would be stag junior, right? Okay, yeah, we're not gonna get a big attack.
SPEAKER_02:I was I was like for a second, I was having a heart attack before.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, you know the E.H. Taylor B tag? It's actually our barrels. No, I'm joking. Well I'll take two memberships. Yeah, right. All right, let's go honey next. How about that? Now it was that the first is this the first bottle of the year? This is the first one that we received. Okay. Uh it was the second one we picked, and it's all flood. Well, and it's also Nashville being able to just um bottle on site, right?
SPEAKER_02:We picked it in March and I like how in Eric's studio, by the way, you just threw garbage on the floor. Like that's how we that that was difference between Eric and I is I'll pick it up before I leave. Excellent point.
SPEAKER_01:Shout out to Eric Howerton. Yep. He would let staff handle it. He would. All right, so this is the honey. This is honey. And before I explain it, I'll um explain next year's lineup.
SPEAKER_00:So I'll say something about honey finish real quick. Is it seems to be the thing right now, right? I mean, everybody is either wild for sure. Their own craft, honey, their whatever. And some of them are just trash. Well, they're most of them are blending honey in with burger. Yeah, it's not what this is. It's not good. When I got to taste this, I was like, wait, wow. That's it's not too much honey. No. I mean, you could you could call this unicorn.
SPEAKER_01:Like because I mean there's a hundred and there were eighty bottles, eighty bottles. Passed out. Like it's on the nose. And not a lot of honey finishes have that. That's incredible. So okay, I'll go here and then we'll get back to the lineup next year. So um what with this how Nashville does their honey cask. A honey cask is somebody produces bourbon. In this case, it was Jim Beam and it was uh Nob Creek, and they bottle that Nob Creek, and then they sell that barrel to any number of places, Scotland to Scotch, Mexico tequila, rum, whatever. Um, but also to age honey in so that after about four months, they can pull the honey out and bottle it as bourbon barrel-aged honey and sell it. But then guess what? They've got a cask, they got something to do with. They need to do with they resell it. So Nashville bought it back, and then they've put bourbon that was already six years old in it for two years. And so this is a very long that's long time to cask one. Usually it's what, like six, eight months, right? Usually. Yeah. And so this is two years in the honey cast. No honey added, just the honey that's in the barrel soaked in, right? Maybe some residual on the bottom or whatever. But um that's very unique.
SPEAKER_02:That's like nothing I've ever tasted before.
SPEAKER_01:I I I say it's cheating at bourbon. Yeah, it's just some of the my favorite flavors that I get out of bourbon are just amplified in this honey cast.
SPEAKER_02:But the thing is, if I was walking and saw something like that on the shelf, I probably wouldn't buy it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Now that I've taped it. Unless they had it sitting out where you could taste it, yes, yes, yes. That's my point. Without tasting it, it would sit on the shelf and collect it.
SPEAKER_00:There's there's a million skews for bourbon and whiskey. And there's just like, oh my gosh. I had to stop. I literally I mean, now I don't buy anything that I'm not drinking that I've tasted or know of, or if it's you know, that oddball that I'm chasing, right? Or something that I'm gonna uh purchase for the next you know, tasting event or something. Right, right. But I mean you it's unassuming, right? On a shelf. But then it's it hits. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And and this is not what you get out of a Jack Daniels honey or something like that. No, this that's really this is just this is a craft way of doing it.
SPEAKER_02:Like my wife who doesn't drink bourbon would like this.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. She would like she would like this. All right, next year's lineup. Hold up, do I drum roll? Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna pull out a cheat sheet so we don't mess this up. I mean, we started with stag. I mean, we're where do you go from stag? You know, and there's a funny story. I'm not gonna I won't get into it because of privacy stuff, but um we had a different plan for the first uh pick of the year where we ended up having to push it out. Um, but it we're still gonna do it this year, which I'm excited about. So there um pick plan, there it is. All right. So um we're and the whole reason that I got out the four roses is because we're gonna do a four roses single barrel pick next year. And so my old my old buddy who hosted us um at Brian Krieger at Four Roses for those old picks, he's now in charge of the U.S. barrel program. Nice to know people. Talk talk about like serendipitous.
SPEAKER_02:But networking is incredible. Yeah, that's incredible.
SPEAKER_01:It's such a good dude. So we're doing stag. We're gonna do a uh Nashville barrel again, because we're gonna do that in March to coincide with the tournament because that's such a fun trip for the group. Um and well, I have to hit the lottery.
SPEAKER_02:If I hit the lottery, I'm gonna go like, yes, I miss.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I mean, and truthfully, on that one, I kind of prioritize like if you if you want to go to all the games like with us, right? Then I I can get like eight tickets um to the game. And so usually like the folks who step up and say, I'm going to the games and we're hanging out for the weekend and we're absolutely. I mean, I guess we're gonna go ahead and raise our hand now. 18 podcasts. So I mean sometimes logic, you know, circumvents. That's amazing. So that is that a Thursday through Sunday? Yeah, you usually go up on uh Wednesday and if Arkansas's gonna play on Wednesday, we'll go up on Wednesday and then come back Sunday, and we usually do the pick on like uh Thursday morning. Does that not sound like an amazing weekend? I mean Oh, it's epic. And there's so many good restaurants in Nashville, so many good restaurants, and you love Nashville too, right? Oh, I love Nashville. Nashville is such a great place to hang out. All right, experienced. So I'm just gonna go straight through these real quick. So uh from uh Sazerac, we're gonna do a uh uh 1792, and I'm gonna call it a a rare. So we've got a special deal worked with them where we may we'll bottle it in one of their normal labels under the correct rules, but it may be a very old, it may be a foolproof that's actually sweet wheat mash bill, it could be a lot of different things, but it's gonna be something special and cool.
SPEAKER_02:So if the B team boys were here, they break my balls all the time because 1792 Balin Bon is my daydrinker. Like I love I love 1792 Balan Bon. It's$40, still allocate, can't find it. It's suit it's because it's got a nice caramel finish really nice. I love 1792, big fan. I love those caramel. Big fan.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and and they make great stuff, and I mean their their team is amazing as well. So 1792, we'll call it a rare, um, Fort Roses private selection, Nashville, uh, bourbon, or rye. We did stag already for next year, and this is to kind of get the bottles landing at the right times, like unlike this year. Uh Heaven Hill, we're gonna do a larceny barrel proof. So I want you to think of that as a um like an old fits barrel proof. Because same mash pill, same stuff, it's the exact same stuff. Yeah. Um EH Taylor single barrel. And then I've got to fill the the craft kind of distiller thing, and where the where the group's kind of landed is we want to do a red wheat barrel-proof from holiday in Kansas City. And we've got an opportunity to coincide it with a NASCAR race up there. And we've got a guy in our our group that is head of F1 uh engineering for um like technology for uh GM, clear F1 team.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know that you and our L adding a lot of value to the group. We got all these people in the group that have this.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm we we have to pick up. Well, it's a hundred people, so you end up with a few that that have something kind of cool, right? Yes, yes. We got one guy that's got a uh a sprinter van that's super cool that we're gonna take over to Sam O'Moses. I mean, that's just like we're just trying to find ways to utilize. Heck yeah. Like who has the opportunity to either add to an experience or generate an experience? I've got some connection at Brown Foreman.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there you go. That's something that King, Kentucky, baby. I don't know if we can get a private barrel, King of Kentucky. That would be epic. That would be like six.
SPEAKER_01:I'm so I like alright, this getting geeky, but I think 1792 is sitting on King of Kentucky barrels. Based on the old Barton and how ownership changed. Because they've got like 18 plus year barrels there and like anyway. All right, question for you, stuff that produces question for you, and then I'll do some rapid fire.
SPEAKER_02:So if somebody wanted to get on the wait list, if somebody was interested in a spot for 2026 that's 30 deep, how would they get in touch with you?
SPEAKER_01:Um, they would go to jsbullreserve.com and simply apply for membership. Um, and then in that there's a uh who referred you, and um they would need to put someone in the group's name in or a team podcast. They put B team, we know they didn't watch. Yes, correct. So A-Team podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Did Matt put me as a referral when he started? He did. He did?
SPEAKER_01:All right, we're just probably why he's not in.
SPEAKER_02:That's probably why he's out. All right, and then um 2026 number of spots again, weightless. Yeah, we're gonna figure that one out.
SPEAKER_01:So, so like I said, we've got a few reserved for charity still, so we're not at a hundred members. And some people signed up for double memberships early on when I thought it was gonna be really hard to fill this thing. Um, and so you know, we've got, I don't know, 80-ish total members. Okay. Um, and so what we'll do is if we can expand it a little bit, my current thought is that if we run short, if we get a short barrel and there's 110 bottles and we've got 125 members at that time, the 15 last members are just gonna get a sec a prior year release or a second of something else that year. Got it all figured out, or something else, just so they still get enough bottles, but you know, it's gonna be like the the benefit of being in the club beyond what the initial cap was, is you know, getting to go on the trips potentially and this kind of stuff. The trips are the hidden treat.
SPEAKER_02:I didn't realize like all this stuff is going on on top of going to pick a barrel. Honestly, like just NASCAR, basketball, private jet. Like I didn't realize all this was on top of it. Like that's really cool too.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_02:It's a fun experience. Rapid fire questions, okay? Let's do it. Rapid fire. All right, ready? I'm gonna start with you. Uh-oh. Tequila or no tequila? No. No.
SPEAKER_00:But you're starting to get some of those. I get a lot of tequila because I keep I teach I I have a lot of people that will come to the bar that like tequila, that are tequila connoisseurs, whatever.
SPEAKER_02:So I'll the Corzone, like CYPB, like you're getting really cool bottles.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I I try to anytime I get an opportunity to buy cool bottles, uh, whether I'm traveling or whatever, if I get an opportunity and I know somebody else that know that wants that, I'll get it and then I'll reach out to those people that want it and say, hey, I had an opportunity to buy X amount of bottles of Core Zone CYPB, and whatever my cost is, that's what I pass it along to you. I don't care about making money. I mean, it's not that's not what it's about. Yep. Me and a bunch of other guys that that are bourbon guys, I'll get a I'll get a text message. Hey, I'm in whatever state. I just walked into the slicker store, they just got their allocation, they've got a private barrel uh OWA, and I can buy two of them. I can buy me one and and somebody else. Would you want it for 70 bucks? Like, well, yeah. Yeah. And I'll do the same thing for them. You know, so it's it we just reciprocate that. It's not about you know, jacking the prices up. That's not what this is about for for me, certainly. Very generous. Um, and so if if if I know somebody that's looking for tequila, yep, I'll get it and then pass it along. I'm not tequila. Tequila?
SPEAKER_01:I like tequila. I'm like, it's it's one of those like once a month, I'll sip on it instead of bourbon or something. It's not like it's as high a priority.
SPEAKER_02:Because Russ, our our connoisseur who's normally, he said bourbon is starting to slow and morph to tequila. And I didn't know if you guys were starting to jump on the tequila craze as well. So not quite yet. Okay. I've got a lot of good tequila. Okay. I'm gonna start with you now. Okay. Your top three all-time favorites. If you get if you're if you're on a desert island and you can pick your top three, that's all you're gonna drink for your time there. I'd like to hear what they are.
SPEAKER_01:You should prepare us for that. Yeah, I mean, can I get that Rock Hill Farms barrel proof? That doesn't exist. You have a vinyl. You have a vinyl. I mean, if this is a genie that's asking, then you know, that's that's gonna be my answer. Non-existent bonus or non-existent bonus. No, I I mean, honestly, this this blue label uh four roses of mine is absolutely on it. Um Thomas Handy Rye 2011. And it's second that. Yeah. Shared with Mike at the house. And it I it goes down as my favorite whiskey I've ever had. And it's not a bourbon, it's a rye. So are you able to find those bottles anywhere? Yeah, they're they're finding Unicorn auctions, they'll come up once in a while. Some Facebook groups they'll come up once in a while. They're usually under a grand. No, we're drinking Thomas Handy at Genskiving in a couple weeks, but it's not the 2011. Yeah, the 2011 was just very so I actually um but Thomas Handy always is good. It every year is good. So so earlier this week, I I sampled a couple of the handies a night, and I worked, I started working my way back from last year.
SPEAKER_02:Because he's got everything.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say, I was gonna say, for those fortunate enough to have a Thomas Handy from every year, you look at his TH lineup and it's like I got two shelves.
SPEAKER_01:It's it's crazy. But keep in mind, I've been collecting since 2013, right? So, you know, I got a little bit of an advantage there when they were a lot less expensive than our now.
SPEAKER_02:And nobody else was collecting back then.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was just easier to like I was buying TH two 2011 and 13, like eight at a time from people who were just cleaning out a liquor store up to make 10 bucks a bottle selling it to me, right? Like and I'm the sucker that worked out well. Insane worked out well. That's your second bottle. So that's my second bottle. And uh, if it's not the Rock Hill Farms fantasy bottle, um, then it would be age Hirsch Reserve Goldfoil. So age Hirsch Reserve Goldfoil. So Chuck Cowdery wrote a book titled The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste about this bourbon. And the history of it is I mean, you can learn business stuff from this history. It's unreal. He makes a short book about it, and it's awesome. So I encourage people to go look it up. I mean, you're you're talking a couple thousand dollar bottle now at this point. Um, but there's there was a lot more of it than I think he thought there was when he wrote the book because it's it's one that I share with folks. It's usually the first sip of the night because you don't want other stuff tainting the palate before you get a chance to really experience it. Uh, but it's a special burden. Mr.
SPEAKER_00:Hodges? Well, I I get asked this all the time, especially at my my place. It's like, what's your top? And it's usually more of a top ten, but top three, I would probably say Mictor's 25. Just I've heard other people say that. And it's either not true. So next level, and there's no P. Is it that much better than 25? It is, it is. Um, and unfortunately I would have brought the 25, but I unfortunately I only have like that much left of my 25. Uh-huh. And they're so hard to find and they're dumb expensive.
SPEAKER_01:So you're saving it for people who really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00:That'd be the one plus team. Yeah, yeah. Save it for people you really like. Probably got seven of them. And you know, but so Mixtures 25, in in in in no necessarily order, you know, top three just random, but uh Mixtures 25, uh, the wild turkey donut, 88, 89. You should you shared that with me, and that was just honestly a good incredible port. Everybody that tried it, you know, at the last tasting that we did was just blown away. And and the hype was worth it. You know, there's a lot of hype around that bottle, and it was and it lived up to it, honestly. And then that's usually the case. And so, like when we after we opened that bottle, so when we do these tastings, by the way, they're all fresh cracks, so everybody sees that they're fru brand new fresh cracks. The next day I started looking for more, and I within a week I ended up with three more of them. Jeez. I mean, I just uh 1600, 1800. Okay. Um they're out there, but they're they're a little more difficult to find. So that that thing just hits on another level. And they range from about 115 proof up to about 119 proof. Um and then third, oddly enough, people think I'm crazy when I say this. And and and anybody that comes to my bar hears this, Crown Royal Cas 16. Oh, I'm with you. That's vanilla. You talk about vanilla carols. Oh my gosh, the vanilla bomb. It it's it's it's 80 proof like all crowns, like most crowns, but and they retired it in 2012. Um between the the crown XR that retired in 2002 and the Cas 16. That Cas 16, it's it's done in cognac cask. So it's a cognac cask finish. It is it has got so much flavor out of all the bottles in my bar, it's got as much flavor as anything in there. It's it's tough to beat. Interesting. And and everybody, I say everybody, very few people have ever said they didn't love it.
SPEAKER_01:And and when the fact that you just mentioned that, and it's one of those kind of secrets I keep in hidden in the back of my mind. I never really think about when we're talking about something like this. But it's one of those where I'm always, if I if I ever see one, it's like it's almost at any price. It's just such a special by the time that I tried it, and I tried it at 21st Amendment in Fayetteville, back when I was living on Dixon, right? Like, I don't know, 10 years ago. And like it just blew my mind. It's it's and at that point you couldn't find it anymore.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right. And it's cra it's it's it's crazy on the nose and even more so on the palate today. Yeah, it's just unreal.
SPEAKER_02:Boy, you yeah gosh, me. No, I'm not in your guys' camp. Um that's a good one. Um, when we opened Gents the other day, I had a bottle of uh Eagle Rare 17, which is absolutely always great. Every year is great. Fantastic. Um huge fan. We liked the lot B quite a bit when we had it in here. So again, I haven't had the Pappy 15, 20, 23. The lot B was exceptional. Third one. Oh gosh. I'm drinking, I'm telling I'm drinking a lot of Fortilazer repasado today, which you know that. So I'm gonna have to cheat a bit. I eat that's me to keep. That that's been my go-to. Like I am drinking a crap ton of that. Um, anytime I could find one, anytime somebody gets one for me, I am that that's all I'm drinking right now. I'm not drinking a ton of bourbon. Um, that's that's been something. The seasonal uh Fortalezas, which again, uh if either of you can end up finding whenever you can for one. Yes. I've never seen one. I would love, love, love, love to get my things on.
SPEAKER_01:Barrel proof at home that I haven't opened and haven't really heard much about. I have a still still strength. Still strength.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I have one open. If you want him to come try it, I've been curious about it though.
SPEAKER_02:Would love to try it. All right, you guys, thank you guys so much for coming in. This is two podcasts worth of content. Uh, thank you for being part of the A team. Unfortunately, the B team missed out on an amazing day today. I feel bad for Matt. He missed two podcasts in one. He missed two. And Rob. He missed one and two. And that's going to push him further down the wait list. Yeah, right. Cheers, boys. Thank you so much. Great job.