Bourbon Showdown Podcast

In this official Season 5 premiere, This week Jesse welcomes Tim Heuisler to the show! Tim is an expert on all things Booker's and he and Jesse break down the history of the brand and how Booker's helped usher in the current whiskey boom by being one of the first barrel strength offerings! It's a fun episode where Jesse and Tim swap whiskey and New York stories while sharing a pour of some delicio...

This week Jesse welcomes Fred Minnick onto the show! Acclaimed bourbon author and co-founder of Bourbon & Beyond, a bourbon and music festival in Louisville KY taking place September 15-18th! Jesse and Fred hit the ground running with the story behind Fred's famous ascot and from there, dive into how he got involved with Bourbon & Beyond (tickets available at BourbonandBeyond.com) his love...

The Bourbon Showdown is back and right in time for Bourbon Season! It's National Bourbon Heritage Month and we are kicking it off right with Randy Prasse, the President and COO of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival! Randy and Jesse do a deep dive into this years festival and all the goodness (and headaches) that can go into putting on such a massive Bourbon event! Randy shares how he got into the whisk...

Bonus content! As we at the Bourbon Showdown thrive to learn more about all spirits, we were able to do a LIVE tasting with David Sikora from Crystal head vodka. It was a great LIVE tasting and David and Jesse hit it off so well we thought everyone would like to listen in! 

This week Jesse welcomes the Whiskey Raconteur Alan Bishop back to the program! Jesse and Alan do a deep dive into everything whiskey, wrestling, distilling, life, you name it, it's covered in this weeks episode. Producing some of the finest spirits on the market today, Spirits of French Lick has given Alan the platform to bring what he thinks good whiskey can be to the industry and he does just t...

This week we welcome Mike Montgomery back to the show and he brings with him Blue Runs new Whiskey Director, Shaylyn Gammon, it’s a great conversation where Mike talks about what Blue Runs been up to, we talk Shaylyn’s whiskey journey to the company and of course that sweet sweet whiskey, Blue Runs newest expression… Reflection, which just so happens to be dropping today, May 4th at 3pm via blueru...

This week we welcome John Little from Smooth Ambler onto the show! John is the Founder of Smooth Ambler and he brings the heat in this episode! Jesse and John go through 4 bottles of his delicious Rye whiskey all while learning that they went to same college and knew some of the same people 25 years ago! It's a blast from the past while still meeting for the first time. They talk how he started Sm...

This week Jesse welcomes Majure Markow to the show from Cathead Distillery, the maker of Old Soul Whiskey. Jesse and Majure talk Mississippi, the Blues and whiskey! How he got into the spirits game and how Cathead got started. It's one of those great whiskey conversations and neither one of them hold back on how they feel about the state of whiskey and what makes it the best industry to be a part...

This week Jesse welcome Kristopher Hart to the program from The Prideful Goat! It's one of the most fun episodes we've had on The Bourbon Showdown and Jesse and Kristopher really go all over the world in this one. They talk whiskey, they talk comedy, they talk Epstein Island, former Presidents, boxing legends, comedy icons and everything in between! This is one of those episodes that every time yo...

This week we welcome our friends at Redwood Empire back to the show. We have Jeff Duckhorn, the Master Distiller and Lauren Patz, the Head Distiller of Redwood Empire who if you listen to the show you know we are huge fans! They are back for another round on the Showdown and once again its a damn good conversation. We talk about their new Bottled in bond offerings, the Grizzly Beast, their Bottled...

This week we have Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, co-founders of Lost Lantern whiskey! They are doing something pretty awesome in the industry right now, they track down the best whiskey in the country and then they put it out for all us whiskey nerds to experience and enjoy! They are like the Indiana Jones’s of Whiskey, they hunt down whiskies that people haven’t discovered yet and shine the...

This week Jesse welcomes John Rempe, the Master Distiller at Lux Row! We were all so excited to have Lux Row on the show and John did not disappoint! Jesse and John do a side by side tasting of all the Daviess County whiskies plus Ezra Brooks and Rebel 100! They talk about everything from the state of whiskey today to hunting and everything in between. John is a wealth of knowledge on not just whi...

Today we welcome Ashley and Colby Frey of Frey Ranch Distillery onto the program! We talk about how they got started in the whiskey game and how they are producing some delicious farm to table whiskey in their home state of Nevada. Its a great conversation and we want to thank both of them for coming on the show. We love people that make things and Colby and Ashley are taking their passion for far...

This week for the Season 4 premiere we welcome back Rob Dietrich, the Master Distiller and Blender of BLACKENED - the official whiskey of one of the best bands in the world Metallica! We always love having Rob on the show and this time was no different, Rob and Jesse talk about everything from whiskey to vinyl records and everything in between. It was a great conversation where we talk Blackened’s...

Happy New Year! In this first episode of 2022 Jesse welcomes Ryan Perry from Heaven's Door Whiskey! They hit it off and start talking about how Ryan got into spirits and how Bob Dylan came into the picture to create Heaven's Door all while drinking some of the deliciousness they produce. They sample the bourbon, the rye, the double barrel, the Redbreast finished and the Cask Strength! It's a great...

This week we welcome Brandon McCraney from Olde Raleigh onto the show! Brandon and Jesse talk about what led Brandon to start Old Raleigh and what it takes to start a distillery in North Carolina. His passion for whiskey really shows in this interview and we want to thank him for coming on! Located in Zebulon NC right outside of Raleigh it is fantastic to see Brandon representing North Carolina as...

This week Jesse welcomes Caleb Kilburn from Peerless to the program. The Master Distiller of Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., Caleb and Jesse talk about Peerless’s return to the whiskey landscape and the history behind one of the old brands in bourbon. They talk about how Caleb got started in distilling and his path to Master Distiller. It’s a fun episode where they everything from whiskey to Gre...

You asked for it and we listened! This week Jesse welcomes Jay Erisman, the Vice President and Distiller of New Riff Distilling onto the show! They talk about everything whiskey under the sun. They talk about how he got into whiskey, how New Riff got started, what kind of liquid they produce and what they have coming up next. On top of that they talk gin, cars and guitars, it’s a damn good convers...

This week Jesse welcomes Michael Hinds and James Davenport from Nashville Barrel Company onto the program, or we should say they welcome him! Jesse was in Nashville to perform at Zanies Comedy Club and Michael and James were gracious enough to invite him into their facility to talk whiskey. They spent the morning barreling whiskey, then spent the afternoon talking and drinking whiskey! From the so...

This week we welcome Bruce Russell from Wild Turkey onto the program! Jesse and Bruce drink some Russell’s Reserve 13 and talk about how Bruce's family got started in whiskey. Bruce also talks about what Wild Turkey has coming out in future releases and what it was like growing up in a household full of whiskey legends. It’s whiskey fueled episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast and we want to tha...

This week Jesse welcomes Amir Peay to the program. The owner / operator of the historic James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky. Amir is the man responsible for bringing the iconic James E. Pepper brand back into the public focus and its beautiful whiskey back to the whiskey world. Jesse and Amir talk about the history of James E. Pepper and how one families legacy continues to mold the...

This week we welcome Mike Montgomery from Blue Run onto the program! He is a fascinating guy and him and I break down how Blue Run has quickly joined the ranks of some of the best whiskey brands on the market today. We break down how the company enlisted the help of veteran whiskey maestro Jim Rutledge to create a super tasty whiskey that goes outside your whiskey norms in terms of the story they...

This is a special week on The Bourbon Showdown as we welcome someone that you guys have been asking for us to have on the show for a while now! We have JACKIE ZYKAN on the show! Thats right the Master Taster for Old Forester sits down with Jesse and the two of them go all over the place. From how she got started in the industry, to her first release for Old Forester, to stories about why neither o...

This week we welcome Ed “Eddie the Eagle” Belfour onto the show to talk about everything hockey and everything whiskey! Ed has done literally everything you can do in Hockey, from winning a NCAA Championship to winning The Stanley Cup to winning a Gold Medal in the Olympics and we were thrilled to have him on the show. He walks Jesse through how he got started in hockey and what led him to wh...

This week we welcome Michter's own Master of Maturation, Andrea Wilson onto the show. Andrea walks us through the bourbon philosophies that make Michter's whiskey the juggernaut that it is in the market today and we were absolutely thrilled to have her on the show. She explains the art-form that is whiskey maturation and how the time spent in the barrel affects the whiskey and creates those unique...