Bourbon Lens

  Grab your favorite bourbon or whiskey and listen as we discuss our experience on a private distillery tour at Jim Beam. The Jim Beam Fire Chief showed us around  The James B. Beam Distilling Co. and  their Craft Distillery. We sampled a 9 year old Knob Creek straight from the barrel; a unique whiskey tasting experience. We discuss what the Jim Beam has in the works for the future as they look to...

  Today, we take a trip out west to the High West Distillery. We sample 6 different High West whiskies and provide our impressions of the products and the brand. High West Whiskey We would appreciate you giving us a 5 star rating on your podcast app of choice and please leave us a written review.  This helps others discover our podcast and will help us grow. Also, be sure to follow us @BourbonLens...

The Bardstown Bourbon Company is looking to mix things up in the Bourbon and American Whiskey industry.  It's taking on the big names like MGP (Midwest Grain Products) and becoming the new source of high quality spirits for non-distilling producers.  The Bardstown Bourbon Co. is also producing its own products and is mixing in some into older bourbons to produce blends that drink like much older b...

Do we still need "bottled-in-bond"?  Stay Bonded! The motto of Bernie Lubbers, the "Whiskey Professor" and brand ambassador for Heaven Hill Distilleries. Bernie is a wealth of knowledge of all things bourbon and The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. We attended a tasting event at Liquor Barn recently and we are reporting back on the event.  We discuss the products we sampled and compared. We also discu...

A detour from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail for the podcast. We toured Louisville's only brandy distillery, Copper and Kings, for this week's episode of the podcast. We discuss how to make brandy and how Copper and Kings is innovating and staying relevant in the city that runs on bourbon. Copper & Kings does not ignore the influence of Bourbon in this city and they embrace it in some of their pro...

Whatever you do, do not call it Bourbon!!  It's Tennessee Whiskey and they get very protective of the name.  Although Tennessee Whiskey and Bourbon might share some characteristics, do not confuse the two. Rival states and rival whiskies.  What is Tennessee Whiskey and how does it differ from Bourbon?  Find out in today's episode.   Flight of Whiskey from Tennessee: Uncle Nearest 1856 George Dicke...

Are age statements on whiskey labels a thing of the past?  Or are they making a comeback in the bourbon world? We have seen distilleries remove age statements from bottles over the years, but it seems that some distilleries are making a return to the practice. Are age statements valuable to you and your purchasing decisions for bourbons? We discuss the relative importance of age statements to othe...

Happy Michter's Monday! We love bourbon and visiting bourbon distilleries. On this week's episode, we feature our tour of the new Michter's Fort Nelson Distillery in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky. We've toured a lot of facilities and we always find something that sets a distillery tour apart from the rest. Sometimes its the process of whiskey making, other times it's the history of the American wh...

We discuss the brand new bourbon from Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company. Peerless decided to never source their whiskey and have had a lot of success with their rye whiskey.  Their bourbon has been aging for 4 years and is finally ready for release to the public. We grabbed a bottle and will give our thoughts on the bourbon as well as Kentucky Peerless as a brand.   We also discuss Heaven Hill...

The bourbon industry was hit with some bad news when a portion of a multi-story rickhouse collapsed at Owensboro's O.Z. Tyler Distillery.  We discuss this and some other bourbon news in this week's episode. Facebook cracks down on bourbon sales and the bourbon secondary market is scrambling. The new visitor center for the Bulleit Distillery is opening on June 25, 2019 in Shelbyville Kentucky.  And...

As promised, The Bourbon Lens visits another distillery as part of its summer travel plans. This week, we discuss the James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, KY. There is some history to this revived brand and while we discuss some of it, we recommend you visit and learn more for yourself.  There is also a connection to Woodford Reserve for the Pepper Distillery and the Pepper lineage.  We discus...

The whole crew is back and enjoying some bourbon together. The weather is changing and summer is near. We discuss whether bourbon is a summer drink or if we should mix up our drink of choice for the next few months.  Do you lean towards bourbon on the rocks or a bourbon cocktail?  Or do you find a lower proof bourbon to sip neat?  We also discuss what happens when you go off the deep end and pour...

Grab your favorite bourbon and pour a glass as we invite a recurring guest to the podcast. Landon from The Brothers Bourbon Instagram joins us to discuss the current trends in whiskey marketing. We discuss a transition from less traditional forms of media to the influencer marketing of today. Is this trend harmful to the bourbon industry, or is this just a sign of the times for all industries? We...

We've hit a milestone in podcasting. This bourbon podcast has hit 20 Episodes and we are happy to toast some whiskey to our listeners and followers.  In this episode, Michael and Scott challenged themselves to find a bourbon for $20 that they've never had before. We try to figure out if some whiskies are overpriced or if cheap bourbon is cheap for a reason.  Scott picked up a less well known Bourb...

Bottled-in-Bond. What does this designation mean when it is on a bourbon or whiskey label? Are you more or less likely to pick up a bottle of liquor when it states that it is "under U.S. Government Supervision"? We discuss the Bottled-in-Bond Act and whether the law's requirements are still necessary today or if it is just a marketing gimmick. Scott shares why this is one of his favorite types of...

Four Roses Bourbon and the Kentucky Derby! It's a great time to be in Kentucky for bourbon lovers. The Kentucky Derby is here and a new bourbon just released from Four Roses.  We discuss some of the events surrounding the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports.  And we partake in a side-by-side whiskey tasting of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon and their newest product, Small Batch Select.  Learn about the...

We discuss the controversial aging process of double barreled whiskeys and "bourbons". Does this aging process produce higher quality whiskey than traditionally aged whiskey? Is this a fad or a trend that will gain in popularity? We also dive into how much science is too much science when it comes to making whiskey. And finally, will flash or rapid aging ever gain the acceptance of purists in the...

  We put the bourbon away for a night and explore Japanese whisky thanks to a friend.  Landon from The_Brothers_Bourbon on Instagram joins us for the podcast. We discuss some of the differences between various whisk(e)y from around the world, including scotch, bourbon, and Japanese Whisky.  Landon was generous enough to share some samples of Hibiki Harmony and a 12 year old Yamazaki Single Malt Wh...

The winner of our Tournament of Whisky is finally announced. If you've stayed up with us on Instagram and our live feed, you may already know the winner.  We discuss the "controversy" surrounding our pick for best whiskey from our 16 selections. We also discuss if larger bourbon producers, like Woodford Reserve and Jim Beam, have a stigma in the industry.  We dive into another controversial produc...

It's April, Fools! Scott pulls one over on Michael and Jake for April Fools Day in embarrassing fashion. We also continue the Tournament of W hiskey, completing our 1st round of 16 whiskies.  We announce the Elite 8 of our tournament. Listen along as we give a full recap of our notes on each whiskey and why we advanced each one to the next round. There were definitely some surprises in this tourna...

We recorded this podcast on International Whisk(e)y Day and discover that there is an important purpose for this day. It is not just another "Hallmark Holiday". We also discuss our thoughts on the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, which recently named its "Best in Show Whiskey":  Heaven Hill's Henry McKenna 10 Year, Bottled In Bond, Single Barrel Bourbon. We also discuss the opening matchup...

In the style of March Madness and the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Bourbon Lens creates a bracket of 16 whiskies from our home bars. We discuss the regions, seeding, and matchups of the 1st Annual Bourbon Lens Tournament of Whiskey.   Matchups by Region: 4 Regions (names only, not indicative of whiskey type) Rye Thomas H. Handy (1) JTS Brown BIB (16) Weller 107 (8) E.H Taylor Small Batch BIB (9...

With the St. Patrick's Day holiday, what do we think about Irish Whiskey? Should we try Proper Twelve?  We discuss a bit of nostalgia with WWF and WCW wresting. And the crew weighs in on Jim Beam's newest whiskey,  Legent, a collaboration between Jim Beam and Suntory.   Find out our thoughts on whether  Legent can bring the Japanese whiskey drinkers to bourbon. And finally, we reveal our March Mad...

The fellas take a trip to up-and-comer craft distiller Rabbit Hole Distillery. Rabbit Hole is located in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky and they are taking a more modern approach to the bourbon industry. We discuss our experience, their whiskies, and their Overlook Cocktail Bar and event space that will be open to the public as a swanky new place to hang out and socialize on weekends. Cheers! Rabbi...

We discuss some of our recent travels, including Disney World and the bourbon selection you will find there and some drinking stories from the west coast. We also dive into budget bourbons under $20. You will find out some of our favorites from the "bottom (sic: budget) shelf" and some random banter.   Be sure to follow us @BourbonLens on Instagram , Facebook , & Twitter .   If you have any co...