The Mash Up

It's kind of crazy to think that the Blood Oath series has been around since 2015 -- yet we've never talked about it on the podcast. A "limited" annual release from Lux Row Distillers, Blood Oath is a unique offering that changes each year and showcases the ability of master distiller and industry veteran, John Rempe. Each year, Rempe selects the base stocks of whiskey for this p...

On the heels of our Patreon launch last week, we were planning business as usual and then we heard our friend David Jennings aka Rare Bird 101 would be in town. Just as we were making plans to record, Alves aka Alvisss said he would joining us as well. The result? A really fun hang with some epic pours. Even though this is an incredibly long episode, we promise that it is worth the listen. You&#39...

RD1 spirits recently built and opened a brand new distillery right here in Lexington, KY. In a past episode, we talked about their Amburana finished bourbon. For this weeks episode, we focus on their newest limited release which is a blend of straight whiskeys finished with mizunara and french oak to honor Lexington's "Sister Cities." This innovative and unique blend is exactly what...

Just last year (E231), we discussed EverNorth Spirits Co. and tasted through some of their offerings. Kenny went on a recent buying spree and got his hands on a number of 2025 releases from EverNorth which include Spirit Walker, Night Stalker, and Essence. With three bottles to review, this episode turned more into a "medium" rather than a "short." We hope you enjoy our review and commentary about...

We are still working through all the blinds we've received from listeners and friends. Our listener, friend, and fellow podcaster (Todd Ritter) sent us four blinds samples. Todd is the co-host of The Bourbon Road podcast and he has become a good friend of ours. This episode was recorded late into the evening and we spent quite a bit of time trying to dissect these whiskies. How did we do? You&...

The Mellwood Legacy Collection is a recent release from Pursuit Spirits. The collection is comprised of Mellwood Bottled-In-Bond (6 year old; 100 proof) and Derby Town which is a 7 year old bourbon at cask strength (122.8 proof) sourced from Bardstown Bourbon Company. The MSRP on this 375ml bottle is $49.99 and we give it our honest take in this weeks short. We also want to thank our listener (San...

Dark Arts Whiskey House recently opened its brand new tasting room right here in Lexington, KY. We took a trip down there and were delighted to see Batch #2 of the famed "Blunt Blend" which is an 8 year old rye whiskey that is finished in Madeira and Armagnac casks. Back in E153, we got to hear about this whiskey and Dark Arts in general from the Chief Alchemist himself, Macaulay Minton. Dark Arts...

Buffalo Trace shocked the world on Father's Day by releasing the highly anticipated 12 year version of Eagle Rare. Coming in at 101 proof, this extension of the product line has been met with much fanfare. Going for as much as six to seven times MSRP on the markets that don't exists, you knew we had to put this through it's paces with a big ole blind. We meant for this one to be a vide...

Jim Beam recently launched Old Grand Dad Bottled in Bond with a 7 year age statement. This product joins the trend that we've seen recently with legacy distillers returning higher age statements to bonded products. Old Grand Dad used to carry an 8 year age statement, but enthusiasts and newbies alike were happy to see the return of the age statement at an MSRP of $40. But how does this taste?...

Fancy a trip to the West Coast? For this week, we taste and review two different bottles of Bull Run American Whiskey with unique finishes and a surprise blind from our friend Shawn (Camas Whiskey Club). Since 2010, Bull Run has been sourcing and finishing some amazing whiskeys. While Bull Run is known to us for the whiskey they produce, they also dabble in rum, vodka, and other spirits. One of th...

Anyone else experiencing some deja vu? About this time last year, we reviewed the Father's Day release from Four Roses. Still dawning the language, "raise a glass to the man who raised you well," this years limited offering was made up of numerous OBSF single barrels that were roughly 15 years old and between 109-118 proof. This distillery only release has become a tradition, but, is...

Star Hill Farm American Wheat Whisky is a new offering from Maker's Mark and it also represents something that is wildly different from what we've come to expect from such a storied brand. The mash bill is comprised of predominately soft red winter wheat and malted barley. While the lack of corn means that this cannot be labeled as a bourbon, it is an Estate Whiskey Certified product which means t...

Bluegrass Distillers was founded in 2012 in Lexington, KY. Starting with a dedicated leader and a 250 gallon still, Bluegrass Distillers persevered and truly got better with age. After expanding as much as they could at their original location, they recently purchased Elkwood Farm in Midway, Kentucky, built a state of the art distillery, and curated an award winning bourbon tour experience. For th...

Oak Bowery is an unincorporated community in southern Chambers County, Alabama, United States. It lies along US Route 432 just north of Auburn. But for uz, Oak Bowery is the very first release by TJ Gamble who most of you know as Brewzle. This inaugural expression is a bold offering that is a blend of wheated and rye bourbon bottled at 123 proof. Only 1,061 bottles were produced. This whiskey refl...

You've heard us talk a lot about River Roots Barrel Company. In a short amount of time, this brand from Cleveland, Ohio has taken the whiskey industry by storm. For this week, we taste and review an 8 year old 132.77 proof bourbon that was recently released by River Roots. The liquid in the bottle comes from an ultra short barrel. What did we think? Well...you'll just have to listen to fin...

Laws Whiskey House is located in Denver, Colorado and it is the official whiskey of the University of Colorado. Even though this brand has been around for quite some time, most of us are not super experienced with it. In fact, we all remember seeing some their A.D. Laws Four Grain Bourbon on the shelves, but none of us tried it. Fast forward to this weeks episode. We were able to get our hands a 1...

It's been a minute since we had a guest to just hang, talk about bourbon things, and share in the comradery of the spirit. If you were expecting a short this week, buckle up, because we've got a long for you. When we heard that our friend JD Fritzges was going to be in town for a barrel pick at Wild Turkey, we knew that we had to record with him. JD is a co-host of The Bourbon Hunters Podcast whic...

Even though it's 2025. the 2024 batches of Stagg (Jr) are still just now hitting certain markets. It's hard to believe that there are four batches of Stagg now! How the times have changed. Uncut and unfiltered, Stagg is a classic bourbon that is approximately a decade old, carries a high proof, and represents the one of the pioneers of what we now know as modern day Buffalo Trace. This whi...

For this weeks short, we taste and review a product that is brand new for 2025. Bomberger’s PFG (Precision Fine Grain) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a meticulously crafted spirit. It starts off as aged Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey and after it's matured, it's transferred to a second new, custom, proprietary toasted and charred French fine grain oak barrel of the most exacting s...

To celebrate 100 years of Calumet Farm, the famed racehorse breeder and (more recently) proprietor of delicious liquids, released a very special 18 year blend of their finest stocks in one of the most attractive decanters we've seen in modern whiskey. Calumet Farm has a history of Kentucky Derby, Belmont, Preakness, and Triple Crown winners, and has a staggering 11 horses in the National Museu...

For this week's short, we head deep into the rickhouses and distilleries to explore another bourbon that was nearly forgotten about. When rare whiskies or bourbons are lost, Diageo helps get them back to their intended place with their Orphan Barrel series. The newest release in the Orphan Barrel series is Fanged Pursuit Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This bourbon is aged 17 years and has...

“Be good to the land and the land will be good to you.” Frey Ranch was started by Colby & Ashley Frey. The Frey family has been farming in Northern Nevada since 1854 and they knew their grains were extremely high quality which is part of the reason they started a distillery. Despite their reputation and acclaim, none of uz had ever really tasted their product. For this weeks episode, we got a chan...

What do you get when you mix the world's largest teaching distillery with the finest students on the planet? The answer is: "Kentucky WildCask Bourbon!" If you are an astute listener, you've heard Anthony reference the "esteemed institution" and the James B. Beam Institute. The bourbon we taste and review this week was the created by a group of students at the Universit...

If Larrikin Bourbon Company is unfamiliar to you, then you are in good campany. Prior to this week’s episode, we had never heard of this brand. Well, we thought we had never heard of them — but it turns out that we did. In 2022, Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company was founded, but after only a short about of time, the company rebranded to Larrikin. The distillery is proudly owned and operated by Greg Kee...

For this Tuesday short, we decided to switch it up a bit and engaged with our extensive backlog of blinds. Our listener and friend (Evan) sent us a three blinds samples that were supposed to correspond with each of out palates. He also threw in an extra sample that was "just for fun." You'll have to listen to find out 1) which sample we liked the best 2) if we came anywhere close in...