Bourbon Showdown Podcast

This week we welcome Barry Brinegar from RD ONE to the Bourbon Showdown. Barry is a co-founder and National Brand Ambassador for RD One and we sit down and do what we do when we get together…. We talk whiskey, then we drink whiskey! We talk about how he got started, how the brand got started and what RD One has in store for not only the whiskey loving public but for Lexington Kentucky in 2025. The...

This week we welcome WhistlePig back to the show to talk about The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut! We sit down with chief blender Meghan Ireland and  Research and Development Distiller, Mitch Mahar to talk all things Boss Hog! Whistlepig always delivers with The Boss Hog and Meghan and Mitch walk us through how they got to this years signature release.  It’s a globe traveling episode this week as the...

High West is back! This week I get to sit down with Isaac Winter, the Distilling Manager at High West and he walks me through this years Midwinter Nights Dram. We talk about how they start the process each year and what goes into making one of their most sought after annual releases. Then we crack a bottle of act 12 and (spoiler alert) it's really damn good! It’s a fun episode this week on the Bou...

This week we welcome Heath Schneider from Sextro Rye to the show. Sextro Rye, steeped in whiskey history, Heath and his Whiskey making bootleg partner Whiskey Rich discovered that Heaths Grandmother, Lorine Sextro had supported the family through the Great Depression by learning how to distill and making her own rye whiskey during prohibition. This rye became very popular in certain circles, becom...

This week we welcome Found North Whisky to the show! We sit down with co-founder and head blender Nick Taylor to talk all things Found North! This is my favorite kind of whisky conversation. Found North has their finger on the pulse of what the whiskey consumer wants right now and Nick walks me through how they got it there. Their Batch 10 Wheated whisky should be hitting stores next week and we a...

This week we welcome Rick and Ricky Johnson from 15 Stars Bourbon to the show and they walk me through everything 15 stars. We talk how they got started in whiskey and how this whiskey got as good as it is. It’s a great conversation where we do a deep dive on good whiskey! We talk blending, secondary finishes and good business as it pertains to this industry.  We drink through their Three Kings an...

This week we welcome Jodie Filiatreau, Artisanal Distiller for Evan Williams and The Evan Williams Experience in Louisville Kentucky to the show! Jodie is a wealth of whiskey knowledge and we sit down to talk all things Evan Williams! We talk about how Jodie got started in whiskey, how he became the Artisanal Distiller for Evan Williams, all the good whiskey he is making in Kentucky, the Evan Will...

This week we welcome Mystic Farm & Distillery to the show! Whiskey made in North Carolina is always one of my favorite topics and we sit down with co-founder Michael Sinclair to talk Broken Oak whiskey and what it takes to make whiskey in the Carolinas. He walks me through all the wonderful things they are doing at Mystic right now. We talk about how he got into the whiskey game, the story beh...

This week we welcome Caryn Wells and Green River to the show! It’s always a blast having Caryn on and this week we sit down and do a DEEP DIVE on all things Green River! We talk about the bourbon, the wheated, the rye, the full proof, we talk barrel picks we talk “make mine an 85”,  we talk about everything under the whiskey sun! It’s a phenomenal conversation with Caryn Wells and Green River on t...

This week we welcome Number JUAN tequila to the show. Thats right Tequila!  We celebrate all good spirits on The Bourbon Showdown, and today we sit down with the entire Number Juan team and do a deep dive on all things tequila. We sit down with Alex Reymundo, Rich Espe, Master Distiller Nestor Rivera and a surprise call-in from Ron White.  We talk about literally everything in this episode, we tal...

This week we welcome Whiskey Journalist and American Whiskey Magazine contributor, Maggie Kimberl to the show! Recently named 2024 Bourbon Women Spirits Writer of the Year , she is one of the premiere whiskey journalist in the industry and she is helping shape the narrative of the current whiskey landscape through the articles that she writes. I can’t think of anyone better to have on the show as...

This week we welcome Widow Jane for the SEASON 9 Premiere of The Bourbons Showdown Podcast! We sit down with Head Distiller and Blender, Sienna Jevremov   and we do a deep dive on all things Widow Jane! We talk whiskey, we talk New York, we talk blending, we talk process all while sipping on some damn good Widow Jane whiskey! This is my favorite kind of conversation because Sienna’s passion for wh...

This week we have the return of SMOKE WAGON , that’s right, I sit down with Aaron Chepenik from Smoke Wagon and him and I do what we do, we talk whiskey, we talk music we talk classic cars all while sipping on some damn good smoke wagon single barrel whiskey! So go pour yourself a big pour of your favorite Smoke Wagon Whiskey, light up your favorite cigar and get ready for Aaron from Smoke Wagons...

This week we welcome Tim Heuisler back to the show, Tim is a wealth of knowledge on all things Jim Beam and is currently an international brand ambassodar for Beam Suntory, bringing the good word of Jim Beam to the masses across the globe. And he is BACK to talk more good whiskey with us today as we do a DEEP DIVE on Old Overholt and how it is being given its well earned day in the sun. We talk ab...

This week we welcome Ray Franklin from Garrard County Distilling Company to the show and they talk All Nations whiskey! Him and Jesse do a deep dive on how to stand up a distillery and what it takes to make good whiskey. They start from the beginning and Ray walks Jesse through everything he had to work through to get All Nations on the shelf (including a pandemic) and then they dive into three am...

This week we welcome Carter Collins from Pennington Distilling Co., and Master Distiller of Davidson Reserve to the show! Him and I sit down and talk all things whiskey! We talk distillation, we talk maturation, we talk blending, it is truly a master class on whiskey production! He walks us through the Davidson Reserve Grain to Glass mentality and we have a damn good time on this episode of The Bo...

This week we welcome Redwood Empire back to the show!  Thats right, we welcome Jeff Duckhorn and Lauren Patz back to the Bourbon Showdown and we talk about all the good whiskey they have on the shelves right now! We talk their new Screaming Titan, their Rocket Top Bottled in Bond Rye and we bring it home with their Cask Strength Lost Monarch! And what do we do on this show after we talk about good...

This week we welcome Carey Bringle to the show from Peg Leg Porker! Thats right, on this episode we are talking WHISKEY AND BBQ! We cover everything from how to smoke the perfect boston butt to how Peg Leg Porker came to be and of course we do so all while drinking some delicious Peg Leg Porker whiskey. It’s a tasty episode this week on the Bourbon Showdown with something for everyone as long as y...

This week we welcome Tara Lindley and the return of High West! Tara is of course High West’s Director of Sensory QA & New Product Development, one of the coolest titles in whiskey and her and I sit down and we talk BOU-RYE! It’s a fantastic conversation with Tara this week as we talk about what brought her to whiskey and how she has built her palette and developed her sensory skills. She also...

This week we welcome Oaklore Distilling to the show! Coming to you straight from the distillery in North Carolina, we sit down with cofounders Matt Simpkins and Tom Bogan and head of sales & commercial operations Jack Shute to talk NC whiskey! We talk about how this North Carolina whiskey brand came to be, what it takes to stand up a new brand in todays whiskey landscape and all the good whisk...

This week we welcome Rifino Valentine, founder of Valentine Distilling and Mayor Pingree Whiskey. We sit down and talk about how he got into the whiskey business and all the changes and growth he has seen since starting Valentine Distilling. He has an awesome perspective on what it takes to make good whiskey and has been in the game since before the boom. It was great having him on the show, learn...

This week, Jesse welcome Ari Sussman back onto the show to talk the new Whiskey JYPSI, Explorer. The first in a series of whiskey releases that embodies that JYPSI spirit for whiskey adventure. Him and I dive into a tall pour and he walks me through what went into this inaugural Explorer release and how this whiskey truly embodies that EXPLORER spirit. We go everywhere from the forests of France t...

This week we welcome Mike Montgomery and Blue Run back to the show, that’s right my buddy Mike is back on to talk all things BLUE RUN!  We talk  Trifecta and Emerald Rye, which both recently won double gold and gold respectively at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. We talk about how Blue Run got started and how Mike assembled a whiskey dream team when starting the brand, how the living...

This week we welcome Elizabeth McCall, the Master Distiller from Woodford Reserve back to the show to talk all things Kentucky Derby! We talk about how Woodford is the Presenting Sponsor of the Kentucky Derby, “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” and we talk about the release of the 2024 commemorative Derby bottle, featuring the artwork of Kentucky native Wylie Caudill, and of course we talk their...

This week we welcome Kyle Merklein from Holladay Bourbon to the show and we sit down and talk everything Holladay! We talk about how how the brand got started, how he got started and what it takes to make whiskey in Missouri. It’s a great conversation and we dig deep into how Holladay has created such delicious whiskeys and how enamored the whiskey loving public is with them. It’s Kyle Merklein an...