Bond & Lillard, WB Saffel, & Russell's Reserve 13

Daniel AI: Welcome to Bourbon Brass and Beyond. Tonight Calvin and Noah join Dan to taste the Bond and Lillard WB Saffol and Russell's Reserve 13 year. Please sit back, relax and enjoy the flight. Thank you to Calvin and Noah for joining the podcast. Please like, subscribe, share, and follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Instagram, or our website, bourbonbrassandbeyond.com, and leave a review.

Dan, Calvin, And Noah: Well, good evening. Good evening. Good evening. ⁓ have Calvin and my nephew Noah joining us. And been ⁓ just warming up on a little Russell's Reserve 10 year and we're going to the Wild Turkey But ⁓ welcome ⁓ you for Something I've been wanting to open for a while is that Bond and Lillard. And this is part of Prohibition series, their Prohibition collection that Wild Turkey has done. They've done that WB Saffold, the Bonded Lillard. Those are basically, they also have an old Ripey as well. ⁓ these are all the predecessors to the Wild Turkey brand. So, fresh crack. should have opened this before we started. there's the perforation. You guys are creating these on how easy they are to open. Yeah, the best one's the one that Wally does for Monks Road. the easiest one to open. picked this up in Indiana. There was a store that had a bunch of the Saffels and a bunch of the Bond and Willards. you've got the bourbon hunt kind of all that are surrounding states. Which state has the best hunting? us or? Well, it depends on what you're looking for. I think just have luck out. So we went to Kentucky for my birthday and the nice thing was It was Derby week. So a lot of the places had stuff out and it was even at MSRP. when we came home, ⁓ the Willett 12 year purple tops, mean, we came home with a bunch of stuff. But other than that in Kentucky, ⁓ you some of places can be secondary and ⁓ there's a of Buffalo Trace products you can't find. You always hear people talk about MSRP states are great because you can get bourbon at a better price, but it's harder to get stuff with it being at a better price. More people are willing to buy it. Yeah. Go. Caramel-y. Yeah. Caramel-y. Little bit of a dusty note. You're almost a foreigner to it too. Yeah. I'm not getting any of that peanut though. as it opens up, I'm almost getting some fruit, maybe like a citrus. Hmm. Bye. Getting a lot of the caramel and it's still kind of ethanol-y but. Yeah, not too bad for a fresh crack though. No. But it has that turkey taste. Yeah, that signature funk. Yeah. Sweeter than most other turkeys I've had. Yeah, I'd say. But it's a little lighter in color. Even more than the Saffel Now it's 100 proof. I don't think there's an age statement on it. No, there is not. This is batch number two. but. It's a nice little drinker. real nice sipper. Something after you get done with one you'd want to go back to and have another. Real light on the mouth feel. ⁓ So let me ask you guys this. was talking with some buddies the other day about the most underrated bourbon and best bourbon for your buck. And I said, wild turkey in its entirety was the most underrated. I'm thinking it gets more of a bad rap just because everyone thinks wild turkey as kind of a lower end bourbon and whiskey for their normal stuff, not thinking Russell's ⁓ their higher end products. What do you guys think is the best? ⁓ on her most underrated burden i should say underrated because while turkey cover so much what as a brand and yes i i would have to say underrated probably I would agree Turkey's probably the most underrated of the brands, but I think they also have some really lasting So I don't think you would under ⁓ Russell's reserve is underrated. yeah, exactly. But ⁓ you look at Wild Turkey in its entirety versus like Sazerac in its entirety, like everybody knows Sazerac. Everyone's got their stuff up on a pedestal. But like you look at like even Wild Turkey 101. Yeah, I think that's marketing. Yeah, like Turkey 101. It's a good product. It's a cheaper product, but it's a good product. It's fantastic mixer. You can drink it straight. It's a good starter. I one set I would recommend to start with. ⁓ think Makers is right there with it. I think because Makers gets that mixer wrap that ⁓ lot of people don't think of Makers with like high quality bourbon. But Makers has a lot of high quality stuff out there. Well, I will say that I'm not a big Makers Mark fan. There are qualities to it that I do really love, but there's just to me there's like a small like taste to it that I'm just not in love with. I've tried a wide variety of offerings and I personally just not love it. But I mean, I recommend everyone to go branch out, try every little every brand and see what your palette is. Well, I think some people lean more towards rye than they do the wheat. And that makes sense. I think I probably lean more towards the wheat. Now, just the straight makers, I was not a fan for a long time. finished products though, I think I like those a lot better. ⁓ now starting to even get some of their releases and stock up. to me, I do like it. But I think it just a different flavor profile than ⁓ Other wheated like the Weller line. Yeah. ⁓ example, I mean, I think Weller in and of itself, I mean, tends to overshadow most wheated. Well, ⁓ in same discussion we were having about most underrated, we said that Weller green was probably best bang for your buck bourbon ⁓ on market. We were that and then just Elijah Craig small batch. So we said the Elijah Craig small batch. Like it's like bare bones what bourbon should be. Like it's not special. There's nothing crazy great about it, but like that's old traditional bourbon and it's cheap. think for 40 bucks, ⁓ best deal is probably the Eagle Rare 10 year. For year each statement for right around that 45 ish. Yeah. Yeah. I think had talked about Eagle Rare. The only reason we said the Weller green and the Elijah Craig was cause they're a little closer to that $25, $30 range. You know, save $10 a bottle or whatever. Yeah, $30.05 with tax for the Weller Green. Yeah, yeah, and I think Elijah Craig's small batch right now is right around $25, $26. Yeah, I do like a little bit of the oak flavor, and I think you get a little more of that with the 10-year statement of the Eagle Rare. where you're looking at four to six years for the Weller Special Reserve or... Yeah, I think Elijah Craig's right around that five-year mark. Yeah, it just it was one of those we got in a long cut because we were pulling bottles off shelves. We were trying different things. We were like, maybe we're misremembering this. And terms of the big brands, we kind had it narrowed down to Weller Green, Elijah Craig and then we were all over the place. What we thought was underrated. had somebody say that Sazerac wasn't hot enough rated and we thought they were crazy. And then we EH Taylor and. My whole thing was ⁓ Taylor doesn't have a bottle around that 30, $40 range. Everything starts around 50 bucks. it's just, it's hard to get. Like you just gotta be at the right store at the right time for allocation season. ⁓ thankfully, at for the small batch, it's getting a little bit easier to get just because more production out of it. that's a positive thing. Yeah, I was watching a video and a guy was saying that he thinks ⁓ that batch ⁓ will become a stalker here soon and move out of allocations. ⁓ yeah, it's already there in some states. Yeah. And the distilleries got ⁓ every day. It's just, you know, you go down there and they do limit the Weller and the Eagle Rare. I think almost day I've seen Blanton's and ⁓ Taylor. I think it's now just gone to where it's at that price point where people, you know, is it worth the bang for the buck? And for most people, it's not. I mean, don't get me wrong, ⁓ they're very good bourbons, but. It's just there are better offerings that Sazerac puts out. I think Woodford's getting that way too. A lot of people are saying that the prices Woodford's rolling out on some of their bottles just aren't worth it. Like you have to really enjoy the Woodford product for it to be worth it. Well, especially with that Woodford double looked, I mean, you see the price jump from where just a regular double looked to going to that barrel proof. I mean, for just an extra two proof points, I mean, you've seen it marked up to 80 bucks and it's just, you know, how much different can it be? Yeah, but that double double is fantastic. I can see why they have the $200 price tag on it. ⁓ does that make it more available? Yes. And don't mind that. Yeah, I'm not saying they shouldn't put price tags on for quality stuff, but it's the way Woodford's kind of jumped in the last couple of years that have got people up in arms, I guess, about Woodford. Well, everything's jumped. Yeah. mean, cost of production has jumped. It just has. This is the WB Saffle. This is 107 proof. I don't know if you guys listen to the Bourbon Hunters, but JD Fridge's, this is one of his favorites. And actually listen to their podcast is why I'm like, oh, I should pick this up. And I do like it. I smell a little more of that old dusty on this one than I did the last one. I get more caramel, I get more vanilla the nose. Now has been open for a while, so it's not as hot. significantly less ethanol on the nose. There's something else down in there I'm getting like a I don't want to say a peanut but it's ⁓ More like a pretzel almost Get a little bit of that bacon spice, the rice spice. Yeah. It's a little warmer than the last one, I think. I think the finish is a lot better. Yes. of sticks. A little bit better legs. Yeah, I really like the finish on that. It's really nice. Mm. Well, you guys got any fun plans this weekend? busy weekend. Tomorrow, I'm doing a barrel pick with Jason from Cleveland Barrel Hunters. We're going to Tom's Foolery Distillery in Burton, Ohio. There we go. Nice. And then Steph's me to the Wynton Marsalis concert in Pittsburgh. that was... like great weekend. Yeah. Looking forward to that. What do you guys You want to trade weekends? I'm just planning a wedding. Trade, you can make a seating chart if you want. No thanks. you want to do my job and then I'll make the scene chart for you. You just gotta stand in control for 12 hours. Sure. Sure, can I play music? You can play music, watch music. Hey! Play some music, watch a YouTube video or two. That is really nice. The palette and the nose are almost identical. I will say though that on the nose you don't get as much of the baking spice and that rice spice ⁓ you would on the as you do on the palette. Yeah, it's still there though. it. Yeah, it's very rare I get a bourbon where I smell it and then drink it and exactly what I smell is what I taste ⁓ It's just I don't know. It's. It's not real common for me. just my power in my nose I guess aren't always in a line. I have to remember to let you try that ode stuff too. Cause you were asking about the Armagnac I that podcast too. mean, I was, as soon as saw it, was like, gosh, right now I need to go get a bottle. Yeah. Now you guys sit and figure out what, type of Armagnac you like. Yeah. Did you try the Armagnac? No, When you got those in. ⁓ Forget what we did, but we tried something different that, ⁓ I think you had just got the birthday bourbon the first day you got a sample. I think you got those around the same time. I'll let you guys try this. before we go to the big guns. So this is the 39 year, Armagnac. And I'll tell you, the finish on this is fantastic. So the main in this is ⁓ grapes, you were Yeah. So this is OADE Armagnac. Almost smells like a perfumey. about to say you definitely get that grape note. Yeah. Yeah. Like a fruity floral. This is a serendipity, correct? That's the serendipity. That is the 39 year. So then he was saying their stuff as old as 70 year that they were eating. Yeah. So I think he's got 60 year stuff coming in. So we're going to do a barrel pick with him. Hopefully be able to meet up soon. Whoa. That's wild. I don't know it's because we're going from bourbon to this, but they are polar opposites. That is nice. That really good. And I'm not a wine drinker. Yeah, I hate wine. I'm not, but this is absolutely fantastic. I tell people if you're having me over, if it's not beer or bourbon, don't tell me that there's going to be alcohol involved. ⁓ I do not wine. Like I can get through a glass of champagne if we're celebrating, but I just don't like it. But this. is dangerous. Yeah. And then he said it's all French oak over there. don't out. Toasted French oak. Yep. Well, some financial decisions are going to be made later. Yeah. And he's got this on the website. Yeah. It's even worse. You don't have to go to a liquor store to buy it. Yeah. And you know, you think of like a 20 year bourbon, spending a lot of money. Yeah. But to then spend less that on a ⁓ 40 Armagnac, that's probably barrel from year. ⁓ I. Well, that you get up with bourbon that old, lot of times it's just, it's a lot of oak. Like there's not a ton of flavors in with it that really stand out because the oak is very strong. It's me and satin that wood for that long. What's also like this. It's still sweet. It's sweet. There's different stuff to pick out of it. Like you get a grape, you get a, you know, not necessarily a raisin bitterness, but there's like just a teensy bit of bitterness in there. And then you get a little bit of that French Oak on the back end. And it's just, it's incredible. But it's like with what Dan Hakker said during the podcast. I mean, he said that they don't really age it in new charred oak barrels. said that it's toasted, used toasted up barrels. So I mean, it's not going to get. It's not gonna get as much of that. oak impact in and plus they said once they feel like it's about to get over up They take that out and then they put it in those glass containers. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's definitely more of a science to make it but it uh It's got a good product. Yeah Yeah, that's good stuff. I just love the whole story behind it. I mean just finding these small producers that he and because you're not I mean You probably won't ever be able to find that bottle ever again. Because once it sells out, it So now when he goes and finds these producers, does he just go through the back hills of France and start knocking on some doors and cold calling? Absolutely. That's what he does. And that was the thing with this one, the serendipity was this farm wasn't online. They didn't even have a phone number listed. So they actually had to go and knock on the door and ask if they were producing. and they actually hadn't been on the market selling stuff. So that's why they called it serendipity. But believe it or not, that's almost 109 proof. Yeah. And you would never, never think that. No. So you could give somebody that in a glass, like a wine glass, and they would drink it as if it was wine. Like you don't have to sip it if you didn't want to. No. Now, that being said, if you saw somebody not sipping it, probably get you a little irritated. Yeah. But it's nice. Yeah. It's like a halfway point between like, not going to say like a mead, but like kind of like a mead where it's like, it's a wine, but it's got that more. Yeah. That closer to a whiskey feel. And I don't think you'll find, don't think I've had a ⁓ finish than that 39 year, what you're drinking. That's, yeah, it's It's not overwhelming either. Like the lingering taste in my mouth, it's not overpowering. Like you can get into like a rye. ⁓ If take a couple sips of rye, you'll taste that rye for an hour after you drink it. But that's nice. then, And Dan, who started OADE, I mean, he's a bourbon lover, you know, at heart. that's, is the direction he went with it. And I just think that you get those notes in that just fantastic. And Harry Potter, his aunt ⁓ will always ask brandy, have a glass of brandy. If this is what is supposed to be like, ⁓ then I could see she was drinking it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. All right. So I'm excited to try this Russell's Reserve 13 year. I have not had it, but that is your bottle. I'm gonna let you do the honors. So this is the Russell's 13. This is batch six, I believe. This is 123.8 proof. I picked this up actually in a hunt in New York. I was just went up there just for travels and do some, lot of fishing up there, went to the stores and they had this for MSRP. I was like, Alright, it's over. Yeah. It's always nice when you go in just looking around and then find something that you actually want. So it happened the last couple of times I went through the liquor store. wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but came across something I wanted to try. Yeah, it's good. Bob always makes fun of me because how much I which is normally the case. That's just the angels here. That's right. to contribute to the bar. ⁓ Yeah, it also keeps the bar nice and seasoned and smelling good. Okier than the last two for sure. Yeah. You're looking and you get a little bit of a touch of touch of that funk. I like the oak. mean, longer been doing this, the more and that I like the oak. That's good. ⁓ You're almost becoming Scotch man. You got to be careful. No, I'm not liking that is good. It is really nice. was little nervous. There was a good bit of ethanol in that nose, I didn't get too much of it in the palate. Yeah, it doesn't drink. To me, it doesn't drink that 123 proof. No. And especially for a fresh crack. it's pretty good. ⁓ that's a nice sweet caramel. Hmm. Yeah. I'm getting something else there too. Like, I forget what we were drinking, but you said it tastes like a fig Newton, but not the fig, the, just the outside. Yeah. I'm getting, I'm getting a little bit of that too. Yeah. to You know, that's nice. We'll say this is one of the best noses I've had on bourbon in a while. Yeah, that's a bottle that can get you in some trouble. ⁓ yeah It has got me in trouble. cuz like we ⁓ When we had that whiskey war cigar cast, ⁓ good, but you can't ⁓ back for a second one. You have one and Like you're good for a while this you could Finish it up. Look whoever you're drinking with or just look at whatever you're doing and go. I'm gonna have another one It can lead down a slope. Well, that cigar cast was the carnauba wax. Yeah, well, this the smell. I mean, as real as if you were smelling it from the container, it smelled like carnauba wax. Yeah, it is the most unique thing I've ever had. Definitely sounds interesting. Yeah. But after I have one, it doesn't really drive me to go have another. So I like the finish. Definitely getting a little bit of the Kentucky hug. Yeah. You know, and that's that warming in the chest and you can feel it, especially when you breathe it out. But yeah, that's really nice. It's nice and balanced too. Like the flavor stays strong throughout the whole palette. It's not like you get them at the front and then they fall off. The flavors are nice throughout the whole thing. Yeah. Oh, I'd say. So what older they have? have what a 15 and an 18 for Russell's? So they have, they put out a 15 in 2024 and that was a special release. They haven't put out 18 yet as far as I know. No, I have not seen one. But, you know, you never know. Give it another couple of years. They'll put on 18. Well yeah, with what's going on now, I mean, it's not here while possible. Yeah. It seems like everybody's like, they're dropping something new. They wait a couple of years and all of sudden they're older. Like Eagle Rare's doing it, all of sudden they're dropping it 30 year. Knob Creeks done that the last couple years, every couple years they drop one that's another two, three years older. can't wait to get that eagle with her in here. Good luck. I hate to see the price tag on it whenever it comes out. So I think this has probably become one of my favorites. This is a 1972 Yellowstone. Hundred proof Bottled in Bond, 6 year. top. ⁓ top. Just this down at ⁓ Revival Spirits in Kentucky. And blown away the flavor. You get lot of vanilla custard on this. Yeah, yeah. Like a creme brulee. Yeah. I'm almost getting like little like cheesecake. See, yeah. That's what you mean. Got like a cheesecake filling. I said, flan, you know, nice Mexican flan because it's got that caramel. Wow, that's different in the mouth. Nice creamy mouth feel. Well, pause. And flavor just stays. the entire mouth. It's just, yeah. Yeah, it's almost like a a deserty flavor too. Like it's, it's sweet, but not in the traditional whiskey way. it's, it's sweet, but it has that like, you can definitely get that oak presence behind it. Yeah. So I was going to that. It's not too sweet, so it helps balance that out. It's only a six-year-old, know? That lower barrel entry proof. It makes you wonder when you're tasting some of this older stuff too, like why the flavors in it are so different than what they are today if they're using the same like oak, charred oak barrels, you know, it's the same general process, obviously. Mashbill is probably a little different, but. I mean, it's also, you know, palates changed. mean, you said that's 1972, correct? Yeah. So I mean, we're 2026 now, so that's 54 years. So people's palates changed. You're now in the age where people look for that barrel proof and they're not looking for that around that hundred, hundred ninety proof. So, mean, it's one of those interesting things. I mean, maybe in another 20 years, we'll be back down to lower barrel entry proofs. I it's always curious to see what's going to go. Even look at it, it's almost redder than the other stuff around it. And it's around older stuff. Distilled in 1964. So that It's sweeter. think it has a little bit less rye compared to like this old Taylor, that old Taylor. Yeah, I get a hit of the rye on the front of the pallet, but it goes away real quick. It's not real strong. There's no bitterness. Yeah. It just stays real nice and sweet, consistent. And that's what I like. ⁓ like that sweet. No ethanol. I think the nose on this is in the running for your candle set whenever you guys make one. The nose on this would be nice for a candle. You want a stone cheese cake? Yeah. But now you got to throw OADE into that mix too. The noses on those are nice. They're fantastic. And we talked about this one of the past. podcast is like at this point, I consider myself so lucky because we've had ⁓ real ⁓ no what, some fantastic bourbons that on the on palate, that it's just so nice. I lucky. I mean, guys put in work. I mean, you got a couple over there on the table of shame that table of shame. ⁓ You know, you bad noses, palates and Yeah, you've had to work for it. But yeah, I mean, I've come over and tried some stuff and then I'll go to like my brother in laws and be like, dude, you got to try this. It's so good. I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Alright, finish off old school. I think this is probably going to be one of my favorite pours. So it's not even ⁓ it's just old Taylor. this. This was the other birthday ⁓ got me the Yellowstone and an Old Taylor for my birthday. and that was some good stuff. And this was 1971. I think it was a five year old. So 66. But you get a little bit of the Taylor Yeah, it's got that Taylor kind of profile, but it's not as present as with. Yeah. But I think it's sweeter than most of the other tailors, like on the nose. Obviously you've got that dust aspect. Yeah. You get spice. You get a lot of spice. Yeah, it's not an ethanol spice. No, no, no. Like ⁓ it's a baking spice, like a ⁓ cinnamon ⁓ of palette. not getting too much vanilla. It's almost cinnamon forward, like real cinnamon, though, not like fireball or ⁓ candied cinnamon. That's nice. It's real it's like cinnamon and brown sugar So what's interesting is the Yellowstone, Schenley had moved all of their distillation from the old J.W. Dant distillery after 1962. So that one was distilled in 1964, which meant it had to be an either old Stag distillery or the Bernheim distillery. But I believe because that one says, Louisville on it that it's going to be the old stack. So these were probably distilled and ⁓ in the same place, little different. It's different, but in, I think, the best possible way. This is almost what ⁓ is missing out of their current lineup is that, like, baking spice, brown sugar, because out of their stuff, you don't really, like, you get baking spice, because that's kind of like EH's profile is having that baking spice in it. But it's rare I get an ⁓ and I get that brown sugar hit. Right. The you're going to find is like the barrel proof ⁓ to me, And you get a little bit of that raisin, that little bit of that deep fruit flavors. And I think like sip three or four in this, you start to get it. It's like, oh wow, okay. Yeah, as I was getting to the end of that, I was getting more of like a nougat almost. I mean, it's nice. mean, look at the legs on it. Yes. It just lasts. Yeah. I think we cut back in 30 minutes and those legs will still be there. And the funny thing is like, It'll be 10 minutes from now. You'll still have that taste in your mouth and not the bitterness. Yeah. Um, it doesn't turn to that bitter. Like a lot of bourbons, think after a couple of minutes, it starts to change. Yeah. They all kind of blended that same backend flavor and that ethanol is more apparent. No, this one stays sweet. It just stays that real nice. Get a little bit of the rye flavor, it stays real nice and sweet. It's weird having gone through all these and then every couple minutes here, I just get that little bit of pops up in the back and it just says, hi, I'm still here that it goes away. Yeah. And that's how long that, that pallet lasts on, on those OADE's mean, it's just, yeah, it's nice. It's like, we'll be sitting here talking and all of a sudden this little bit of grape will just peek up and then it'll disappear. Yep. That's nice. Yeah. I can't recommend that enough, but yeah, thanks for coming guys. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks for doing the share. Thanks for bringing the Russell's Reserve. That's nice. That was incredible. Now I want to try the 15. Yeah. Let the hunt begin. Let it begin. Thanks for watching. Have a good night. Have a good night. Have good night.