Beast Masters Club

In the first ever Beastly Treats episode, the Beast Masters host and honor long time club member Jeff "Professor Rickhouse" Roth for a night of bourbon he will certainly never forget. We drink and chat about some of the most delicious bourbons around while we test our blind tasting chops. But that's not all... In this riveting episode: Steve sings a song, Ben says "super bourboney", Jake makes man...

The Beast Masters sit down with Chelsea Lovett from the organic, "grain-to-bottle" Koval Distillery in Chicago. Yep, we're digging into some crafty stuff here. Ben and Steve sit in on Dana "Mrs. Beast" Zeller's interview in this episode which kicks off our exploration into the booming world of craft distilleries. Being the first legal distillery in Chicago since prohibition comes with a lot of pre...

After picking the barrel of Wild Turkey bourbon that has come to be known as, "The Hot Pickle" (now sold out), the Beast Masters continued an amazing day of tasting and chatting with Eddie Russell in Warehouse A. Eddie treated the crew to an amazing single barrel Rye selected by his son, Bruce, the third generation of Russells at Wild Turkey. Then we settled in to listen to Eddie tell us about abo...

Ben and Steve welcome Mike Kantor of @thebourbonreview and Dana "Mrs. Beast" Zeller as guest judges for this brutal battle. The Smoky Beast and The Whiskey Warrior are back in the ring again! And this time, the Beast is out for blood! They are battling for the title belt once again as they enter with their choices for BEST RYE UNDER $100. The Beast lost in his own lair last time when the Warrior s...

The Beast Masters were treated to an amazing barrel picking experience at Wild Turkey, hosted by none other than second generation Master Distiller, Eddie Russell. We met Eddie at Wild Turkey's historic Warehouse A to knock open the barrels that he set aside for us to choose from. This oldest of Wild Turkey's rickhouses was built in the 1890's and we could not have asked for a more perfect setting...

Nate Woodruff from Whisky With A View treated the Beast Masters to a stellar day of hiking and sipping great drams in New York's Hudson Valley. Nate has developed one of the largest social media followings in the world of whisk(e)y by combining his two great loves, being in nature and drinking excellent whisky. His Whisky With a View channels feature beautiful photos of whiskies in awesome natural...

On the eve of their annual NYC Whisky Jewbilee festival, your faithful hosts Steve & Ben invite Single Cask Nation's Joshua Hatton and Jason Jonstone-Yellin into the Beast Lair for a private barrel showdown.  Single Cask Nation is a private bottler. They bring two of their all-time favorite whiskies.  Beast Masters Club brings two of our favorites and the audience decides.  Special guest judge: Ro...

In this episode, Beast Masters Club unveils a new private barrel - Elijah Craig 9-year Single Barrel from Heaven Hill.  We talk with Heaven Hill's Bernie Lubbers, aka Professor Bottled-in-Bond, about the BiB act and what it means to the quality and history of whiskey.  Bernie takes us through a tasting of Heaven Hill's five bottled-in-bond whiskies including Parker's Heritage Bottled-in-Bond 24-Ye...

Michter's Master Distiller, Pamela Heilmann sat down with the Beast Masters to talk about building a new distillery from the ground up combining the best of tradition and cutting edge science. As fans of Michter's for quite some time, we were very excited to have Pam in New York to lead us through this tasting.  The whiskies featured were: Michter's US1 Bourbon and Rye, 10 Year Bourbon and Rye (20...

Master Distiller Dave Pickerell joins Ben and Steve to drop some serious whiskey science at our WhistlePig Old World Barrel Premiere.  This episode is a true treat for whiskey lovers and whiskey nerds alike. Dave Pickerell, the man who made our private cask of WhistlePig Old World 12 Year Rye, came in to talk to the club about his history in distilling, the Old World project and all things Whistle...

Steve and Ben sit down to pop open the latest Beast Masters Club Barrel - A WhistlePig Old World 12 Year Rye.  This 12 year American Rye was finished in a custom blend of Old World wine casks.  We created a blend of finishes that we felt best complimented the smooth spiciness of this gorgeous rye: 80% Madeira, 10% Port, 10% Sauternes. We think you're going to love it.  Pick up a bottle in our web...

Steve, Ben and the Beast Masters welcome Chris Riesbeck of Westland Distillery for a very special event at the Norwood Club in NYC. We were very happy to have the club taste through the full line up of Westland's whiskies.  Westland is one of our very favorite craft distillers and one of the leading producers of American Single Malt whiskies. Tune in to learn what makes Westland unique and delicio...

It begins…  These two gladiators have been called to search ceaselessly throughout Caldeonian moors, crags, islands and bogs, accepting no limits and yielding to no obstacle placed in their path, all for the glory of a sacred mission - to find the best smoky malts in the world and bring them back to the Beast Lair in the hopes of becoming CHAMPION of the Smoke Wars.  Few have been chosen, but only...

Hot or Hype? That's the question... The Beast Masters review five of this year's most sought after limited release whiskeys. Steve and Ben once again welcome Jake, "Whiskey Warrior" Cahill, to sip through five of this year's most heavily hyped whiskeys. The lineup includes Parker's Heritage 24 Year Bourbon, Booker's Rye, Four Roses Small Batch LE, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, and Rebel Yell 10 Y...

The Smoky Beast (Steve Zeller) and the Whiskey Warrior (Jake Cahill) combine forces to bring your our Top 5 Whiskeys that will no longer be available after 2016. Learn about the bottles you'll want to grab now to stock your bunker before they go away for good. 

Beast Masters Ben & Steve sit down with Josh Hatton from Single Cask Nation.  Josh is about to launch a line of single barrel malts, the first Single Cask Nation bottles available in liquor stores. Josh specializes in finding special casks, often from distilleries that would normally only produce products used in blends. By showcasing some of these hidden gems in his single barrel SCN bottlings, J...

In our third live tasting Ben, Steve, and the rest of the Beast Masters sit down with Tricia Chimento and taste through a spectacular lineup of single cask selections from Signatory Vintage.     

Steve and Ben chat with James and Peter Wills of Kilchoman Distillery on the opening night of their 2016 US East Coast Tour. After leading a tasting at the Brandy Library in New York covering the full range of Kilchoman's offerings, James and Peter gave us some candid insight into all things Kilchoman from the unique perspective of two guys who literally grew up inside the workings of one of Scotl...

Beast Masters Club sits down with Joshua Hatton, founder of Whisky Jewbilee and Single Cask Nation, as well as brand expert for Impex Beverages. Impex is the importer of Kilchoman, the first new distillery on Islay in over a hundred years. Josh scored us a small allocation of a very limited release Kilchoman. A cask strength version of their Machir Bay single malt bottled in celebration of Kilchom...

Ben and Steve welcome Jake Cahill and Dana Zeller to the podcast for the first ever battle between the "Smoky Beast" and the "Whiskey Warrior." This epic showdown between veteran champions of the spirits world was convened by the Beast Masters Club for one purpose - to determine the best Bourbon under $75. 

At the first Beast Masters tasting event, we sit down with Barrell Bourbon founder Joe Beatrice to learn more about Barrell Bourbon and their mission to find and share amazing barrels from some of the country's best distilleries. During this tasting we will take you through our selection process, tasting their batch product as well as several single barrels including our selection for the first Be...

In the very first episode of Beast Masters Club Podcast, founders Steve Zeller and Ben Paluba introduce the series. Beast Masters Club is a totally new concept combining live whiskey tastings, podcasts, and a bottle-of-the-month club. Ben and Steve explain how members can attend live events and join industry experts in our tasting room as they unveil super limited release bottlings chosen just for...