Caleb's Crossing, Fathertime Precious Small Batch, and Willet 12yr Purple Top- Father's Day!; Ep. 63

Dan and Eric: Good evening and welcome back to ⁓ Bourbon Brass and Beyond. Tonight, Eric is here. He is able to join us for the evening and we're gonna try quite a few bourbons. So happy Father's Day, ⁓ first Yes, you too. Happy Father's Day. I I should start with there is a little sad news. Bob couldn't be here tonight. his dad passed away this morning. ⁓ I did not know that. ⁓ I'm gonna have to Send them a text or call ⁓ that's ⁓ Yeah, it's feel awful. Especially leading up to Father's Day. I that's the day before Father's Day. but I even Bob he he was ready, but you know. ⁓ Yeah, but never ready. Yeah. That's that's the thing of it. So ⁓ condolences. Yep. But ⁓ happy Father's Day to my dad. We're going to breakfast in the morning. ⁓ nice. Nice. Take all the kids and go to breakfast early Sunday morning. Yeah. Yeah. but for reason I thought we would start as a warm up with Father Time. Yeah, you just me about that. I did not know that this existed. So that's Yeah, this is Jim Gaffigan, the comedian, he came out with a bourbon for each one of his five kids. And this is the middle what's that say? It is the precious batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is the middle child mystery. middle children are the mystery, for sure. My my ⁓ middle child, he's wonderful. He just got married last week on Friday. wow. Yeah, so it was an absolutely amazing event. his Now wife ⁓ best thing that's ever happened to him. So yeah, I'm really happy for them. It was a it was a very nice wedding. Very nice. Good. Good. But yes, middle child middle children are a mystery. Wesley the He's generally more quiet, but he always comes up with the one liners that just Yeah. Just floor you. But this one is eighty point proof. It's not the empty nester strength as he calls it. And I've heard good things. This took silver at the IWSC. My pouring has not gotten any better. why we got the splash mat. That's right. It's okay. So you had the wedding. yes. ⁓ so ⁓ fact ⁓ that I performed the ceremony. ⁓ nice. Yes, yes. ⁓ couple years ago, my friend, best friend, asked me to get ordained so that he so that I could marry them. And then I've married ⁓ four other couples. So they are the fifth, and ⁓ it's an amazing journey. The funny thing is, is that They were all there at the wedding. the ones that I married were there. So it's it's friends, it's family, you know, that's yeah and I have to approve of it too. Like I'm not gonna marry people that are basically. Right. I've said no before. So I have my values and to be able to marry, you know, to perform that ceremony for them, I have to agree with it. So yeah, it was a ⁓ very heartfelt moment being able to do that for them. I loved it. So proud. So proud. Mm. ⁓ It's light. Very light. I'm getting some some like some cherry on the nose. Yeah. I think the cherry's more present than the caramel. Absolutely. I'm getting great on this one. ⁓ now I can, yeah. Yeah. Might be the light. But yeah. Could be. So I just I opened these just before we started. the the father time and the Willet. I I took a little smell, but that's it. the Caleb's crossing has been open for all I would four or five days. All right. All right. So it's not gonna change that much. Not after four or five days. No. That's good. It is good. Super smooth. Yeah. Like ⁓ you it's like drinking I'm not saying that it's water, but ⁓ know, you could drink it like water. That's It's got a medium finish on it. Mm-hmm. You could taste some fruit for sure. Yeah. Just like we smelled it, you can taste it. I would say the nose is almost exactly like the palate. Yeah. Yeah. Very similar. And there's little bit of ⁓ a little bit of lasting oak, maybe. Mm-hmm. And a bit of rye. Yeah, a little bit of rye, but it's not there's not that much. That's a good drinker. I'm gonna have to get that. Maybe ⁓ one of my kids will get it for me for Father's Day. You're right. Hint hint. Yeah. Michael. Yeah, I like that. That's good. Well and you're always afraid, know. You get these celebrity or something like that. Yeah, and you pay a little bit more for the bottle and you know, because it's it's a celebrity and and like, ⁓ it's and and unfortunately sometimes you get a bad bourbon. Yeah. Right. And you put it on the the wall of shame. The wall ⁓ the of shame. The table of shame. But no, that one ⁓ that stays. Yeah. I I like it. I like it. It almost it's almost close to like ⁓ seventeen ninety two. Yeah. Or even Buffalo Trace. So he does source his stuff. You know, he's an an NDP or a non distilling producer. but he picks all the barrels. So it be. Could be. ⁓ It be. I would say it's a little bit sweeter than Buffalo Trace. Yeah. Definitely. But like the aftertaste. Yeah. Except for the rye. The aftertaste. It's it's very close. Yeah. You said how many bottles he has? He's got five different bottles and some of them he does them in cask strength. Okay. All And I he came out with a sixth for Mother's Day. Did he? Yeah. But ⁓ this is the only one I've been able to find so far. I've been wanting to try it for a while. Yeah. He did that whole comedy set, you know, at Old Forester. Yeah. And and and that was hilarious. I we a good kick out of it. Yeah. Real good kick out of it. Dude's funny. The next is called Caleb's Crossing. David Jennings, Rare Bird one ⁓ one. He's the one that does a lot of the He's written a number of books. Okay. follows wild turkey very closely. He but one of his books was about wild turkey. ⁓ he ⁓ has this is his second label. He he's done a a previous label with somebody else as a collaboration, but this one is him and his dad. what he did was sourced for this batch, the Caleb's crossing was a 12-year rye, 95-5 rye, so that's Indiana. Right. And A seven year bourbon. From I believe he said Barton. So Okay. Okay. it's a small batch. You know, there's I think you six hundred and forty bottles or something ⁓ in this batch. Yeah. But I had it and I texted David. I said, Wow. I mean, ⁓ this really ⁓ on point, huh? Yeah. And and I'm a rye person. Me neither. ⁓ But The way that this comes together. Yeah. I'm I'm so much into the wheats now. Like any wheat I will try. I don't care what it is. And they always are hitting my palate exactly I want it to. well, except for Castle Key. Yeah. We talked about that the last time I was over. ⁓ Table shame. but no but ⁓ That I mean this last one that we had, Jim Gaffigans being rye, it was really good. Yeah. Yeah. Very subtle. So this one, I mean, y you can tell that I get an initial Michter's smell to it. Mm-hmm. Totally. Yeah. But It's twelve year old. You start to get that little bit of that oak, the little bit of that wood smell. A little bit of a dusty f like a funkiness that Like a cinnamon almost. Yeah. There's fruit in there for sure though. And the legs. ⁓ it's that's what that looks compared to this one. It was it's ridiculous. is just staying on that glass all the way up here. Now this is BBR2, so this is the his second batch. This is bottle three ninety-two of six fifty-eight. It ⁓ one and fifteen point two proof. I and I've Dave and I have sent messages back and forth. He is gonna come on at some point and talk about this. ⁓ very nice. and I've listened to a couple of podcasts with him about the bottle, talking about the coin and and the his family heritage. That's why where they came up with this. ⁓ Caleb was actually his multiple great grandfather. All right, all right. so it was named after him. A big family history. Yeah. Nice dark amber color on there. It is. Instant fruit. Yeah. Instant. It reminds me of that nineteen sixty two old Fitzgerald. The fruit on it. Yeah, yes it does. And that's where I get that dusty funk smell and and taste to it. Yeah. That's exactly what it reminds me of. Yeah. It definitely ⁓ the nose, it's definitely like you said, dusty. And you can smell that little bit of fruit, but you know that that's gonna come once you put it on your palate. Yeah. And it did. It was instant. It's almost like ⁓ There's a little maybe some cherry, but it's it's a lighter fruit. Yeah. Alright, second sip was totally different. I got more spice on that one. Right off the bat. That's cool. That's cool. Yeah, And I'm getting a little bit darker fruits in the back. Mm-hmm. And the how it lasts. Like that's the finish on this is spectacular. It's crazy. Wow. That's impressive. Yeah. ⁓ and and you can buy these online. Yeah. Great work, Caleb's Crossing. That's amazing. Yeah. Cheers to David and your dad. Cheers. Mm. And now finishing it now is a spice. Yeah. 'Cause before it was the fruit that stayed with me. And now it's a spice. They always say that it's like the third sip but I get on my second sip it was completely different. ⁓ yeah. Then on my third it was completely d ⁓ so I Yeah. Like even have a little bit of spice burn going on. Yeah. Which is amazing. But it's not like I'm not dying over here, know. Really like that one. What's that bottle cell for? I don't even know. He sent that to me. No, well. Nice. Yeah. one twenty. That's about right. I would say, I mean it's it is a blend of a twelve year and a seven year, but Yeah. But That's a hell of a blend. That is fantastic. Mm. I like that one. The legs are still on my glass. So I had this the other night, I it in the mail. I'm like, you know what, I'm cracking this. I wanna Of course I wanna see what it is. As anybody would do. And I tried it. I'm like, Wow, that is good. I poured a second glass, took it upstairs, had Steph try it. She's like, That is fantastic. And then an hour later, I still had the taste in my mouth. Still there. It was still there. I'm like, This is fantastic. No, that doesn't happen. I mean you you could have had water definitely and it still wouldn't have taken it away. Right. So I I to me that is one of the most exciting things that I've had a long time. I agree. I totally agree. Good one. Which is why I the only reason I think I had to follow it up with this next bottle. Yeah. you me that we were doing this tonight, and I'm like, ⁓ boy. That's ⁓ well, you know what? There have been a lot of Willets that I'm not a fan of. Agreed. Agreed. Yes. Very skunky. And I actually learned that is. Because of their pot stills and how how they use them. For a long time, when first got the pot stills, they were having issues 'cause they were doing it like the Scottish do the Yeah. Which bourbon is a lot more acidic than scotch. And it was etching the copper and causing that taste to leach into the bourbon. Really? Yeah. So I was at Tom Foolery's distillery they were using old Michter's's pot stills. And he was talking about the issues of the etching and when, you know, in the past other distilleries have have had i issues with it ⁓ and you need to do to correct that. 'Cause when he was setting up from the nineteen seventies, these pot stills. And when he was setting them up at his place, he had Dick Stoll, who was the original master distiller for Michter's come up and help set them up and teach how run ⁓ Okay. And the way they did it, it was like, Yeah, you have to do this, otherwise you will get this ⁓ this product. And ⁓ it was it was interesting. I didn't know that about the Willet Pot stills. ⁓ they have since fixed that. Right, right. But I think, you know, when I first had it, probably ten, fifteen years ago, I was like, Whoa. Yeah. Yeah. Something not right. So so and I think that because of that, a lot of bottles s sat on the shelf. Yeah. So I had a friend that grabbed a bottle. I don't even know when you it was probably about a year and a half ago. ⁓ drank it and it tasted great. I had another friend get a bottle and he said that it was the worst. Yep. And it went on the table of shame. Yeah. Well, and it's sad because you know what? It is their their regular glass bottle offering. It's a beautiful bottle. It is. It's like genie style. Yeah, I I love that. a great, what a great marketing for a bottle. Agreed. The first time I had it, everybody's talked about Willet. And I had it, I I just wasn't wasn't impressed. Yeah. I'm with you on that, for sure. But this is the real purple top 12-year Willet bottle 44 of 128. I actually have two bottles of it. I saw it behind you. test. Steph says, I don't care what you do with yours, but don't touch mine. So this from ⁓ this is years old from barrel number 7438. It is 64.8% by volume, 129.6 proof. Like I said, I I went ahead and dropped the perforation off and Well, it makes it easier for the podcast. Nice and dark. Yes it is. Mm. What are you getting on the mouth? Like toasted. ⁓ yeah. Like a a toasted. Sugar, brown sugar. Spice. Yeah, but not a lot. No, and I don't think it's gonna drink like spice. Yeah. Got some good legs on that one, nice. I'm getting more sweetness. More caramel. Yeah, yeah. Once it's kinda opening up a little bit. Yeah. All right, I'm excited to try it. I'm going for it. Fruit again. ⁓ wow. Right off the bat. Cherry. Is that what you taste? Yeah. Like a cherry coke. You know, that that is No, you're exactly right. Wow. That's pretty amazing. I I I mean it tasted a little a little hotter than the Caleb's crossing, but not much. Not much. No. I wouldn't say it drinks almost 130 proof at all. No, no, no, no. I would say that even like the old Forester nineteen twenty is hotter than that. Yeah. For sure. And it's a lower proof. Yeah. All right, second nose, I got a lot of spice. That is crazy how that happens. And there's the spice. So I wonder if it's when your tongue gets saturated. with the sweetness, then you don't detect the sweetness the next time you're getting more of that. It has to be. Like, come on, scientists, figure something out. It's gotta be that. Yeah, more the spice. if we were to have a palate cleanser in between, I think it would do the same exact thing. Yeah, I agree. wow. Okay, I like it. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I I Yeah, I agree. I would say that I like the Caleb's Crossing for different reasons. I like the sweetness on this, but I like the oakiness and the what comes out in the Caleb's crossing a little more. Yeah, I too. I do too. It's almost like it was a like a I don't want to say nectarine, maybe like a peach. Yes. that's why I said a lighter fruit. Yep. It was super, ⁓ super light. Not overbearing fruit, but the cherry and that first sip. It was overbearing. Yeah. That's the first thing you tasted. I liked it. It's like a spicier William LaRue Weller. I've never had You didn't have one of Bob's? wow. We're gonna have to do that one. All right. And then at the end there's that spice. Again, it's hitting my chest. Not as bad as Caleb's Crossings. Yeah. Yeah, I could see me an hour from now, like you said, still having this on my palate. Right. Mm-hmm. Still tasting it. That's pretty amazing. I would say that's worth it. Yeah, definitely. So we found these. We both bought one down in Louisville when we went down for my birthday. So we went I mean, we went a bunch of places and we came home with a bunch bottles. Well yeah, that every time you go down there you come back with a bunch. Yeah. but w we went to Evergreen Liquors and they just put these out on the table. Really? Yeah. And which I'm like, wait a sec. Where's the catch? no no catch. So she and I both bought one ⁓ I got bottle forty four, I sh she got bottle forty eight of one twenty eight. Nice. this is The nose is getting Is it getting better? Yeah, it's opening up even more. I probably should have waited a little bit longer. that sit there a little bit longer. But that's okay. I just got from my cousin, He came to the wedding and he brought I asked him if he would go to ⁓ Shannon's store, the liquor store that we talked about the last time. Yeah. ⁓ And he up a bottle of stag for me. And so I actually just got my first bottle of stag. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. soon as he brought it in, I opened it. Well, no, he got there in the morning, so it was a little bit early, but I did have some before ⁓ went to the rehearsal dinner. Well, as you should. I Right. Right. And ⁓ yeah, amazing. So I actually am going tomorrow up Buffalo to move our other cousin back to Pittsburgh Buffalo. So That's gonna be a nice long day moving. But I'm hoping I can stop and see Shannon. See what I can pick up. I know he's got Eagle Rare, I know he's got Weller. I dude, he's amazing. Yeah. ⁓ so tomorrow, Russell Reserve barrel pick is supposed to come out. I don't know where yet. Okay. But I think it's multiple places. Maybe Chalet. I don't know if Chalet is gonna partake in the Saturday drop or if it's gonna wait until Tuesday, but I think it's coming up. Do they partake in Saturday drops sometimes? Yes they do. I did not know that. Yeah. I thought it was only Tuesday. Well, that's the standard delivery, but when they have a bottle drop like this they'll So we'll see. I'm All right. Well if you can get a couple bottles, I'll buy one. 'Cause I won't be able to do it. I'll be in Buffalo. Yeah, yeah, I will we'll look. plan on going out. I mean I for a split second I considered driving down to Buffalo Trace tomorrow because they're doing a CYPB. Yeah, I saw that. But thinking, all right, all day. Long lines. lines. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So ⁓ what time that kick off and what time would you have to leave? So they open the parking lot at eight AM. And then I I don't think it opens until nine. like the last drop that I was there I got the four grain. The E. H. Taylor four grain and went down, got that, and ⁓ they opened the lot at six AM and they actually opened the shop an hour and a half early at seven thirty. Well, y you'd have to leave at two AM. Yeah, we did. We we actu actually I think we left at We left at ten PM, got down there early and then tried to figure out where to go. Okay. And then we were actually the first car into the parking lot. No shit. It just worked out just right. So do they respect the first car in the parking lot as the first guy in line thing like we do here? No, the car behind us was ⁓ going for a handicap spot and gunned it and tried to pass us, hit a curb, ripped the front bumper off But kept going going, dragging the bumper, right into the first handicapped spot, which was right at the by the first spot. Good, I'm glad they lost their bumper. Right. Right. So were it's not that serious, folks. Yeah, so we were the second group in line. All right. Well I I was back the car by seven fifty eight AM with the foregrain. Really? Yeah. All right, after this I might like to try a sip of that 'cause I missed it whenever was supposed to come down. I think we can do that. ⁓ All right. Might be able to grab it knocking everything over. You know, we always end up adding something. Yeah, we we drink too much. Beautiful bottle. Four grain. I've gotten a lot of things that I've seen here. You have. You really have. Like I could probably stay here all night and try everything that you've gotten. So ⁓ We also picked up seventy one old tailor. And a nineteen seventy-one Yellowstone. That Yellowstone's fantastic. I've heard the Yellowstone is coming on strong and like they've always been there and great. And you just look at the ball, you're like, ⁓ Yellowstone. But ⁓ it's really good drinker. Yes. But old Dusty is just something. Crazy good. Crazy good. man. So the first time I had it, I was like, the second time I had it, I was like, okay. On point. Now you know. So you gotta let it breathe a little bit. Right. It's a nice note. Wow. Sold Wow. Yeah. is amazing. That's really nice. It's right in between ⁓ the barrel proof and just the regular E. ⁓ H. Yeah. It's right in between it. Yeah. This is ⁓ that's an amazing blend. Ten year old. Yeah, I That may be the best bourbon I've ever tried. ⁓ Yeah. I mean I haven't tried nearly as much as you. but in my my rookie stages of bourbon tasting, that might be the best. It is fantastic. I love the nose on that. ⁓ it's ridiculous. Thank you for letting me try that. Appreciate it. One more. ⁓ Not the mellow corn. Not the mellow corn. The Yellowstone. Okay. Six years old. Six years old. a six year old I wouldn't expect much. And will blow your mind. Greatest American whiskey. Six years old, I'm mean in comparison to everything else that we tried tonight, twelve years. ⁓ So keep that in mind. Ten years. ⁓ This was the number one selling bourbon and whiskey in nineteen seventy one. Is the bottle from nineteen seventy one, 'cause you're screwing that cap off. Of it is. Distilled fall of nineteen sixty four, bottled spring of nineteen seventy one. How you find this shit? So I found this at Revival Vintage Spirits in Covington, Kentucky. And ⁓ look how dark that is. Is it because it's been sitting since nineteen seventy one or was it that dark whenever they bottled it? It was that dark when they bottled it. ⁓ it's gonna be smooth. I can tell. And it's 100 proof. It's the same as that four grain you just had. Okay. So we're doing a comparison now between the E. H. Taylor four grain and the Yellowstone. Six year. Mm-hmm. And this doesn't have any wheat in it compared to the four grain. Really? Right. It's fruity. Very That blows my mind. Really? Yep. way a six year as this is the most caramelly rich sweet bourbon I think I've had. That is amazing. And for a six year old six year old. Impressive. Do they still make it the same way? don't know. So they went out of business when so is the Dant family started Yellowstone. The Dants and the Beams together. And Shenley sold off JW Dant, they sold off Yellowstone. The Dant brand got sold to Heaven Hills. Yellowstone brand kind of sat in limbo. It was picked up by Michter's Yes. And then Luxco. And Limestone Distillery Yellowstone in collaboration with Luxco, because the Luxco still owns the brand. But the Beam family, Stephen Beam. is who restarted limestone branch distillery to make the Yellowstone. Hmm. Because I've seen it on the shelves. Yeah, yeah. And I've I did a whole comparison of of of the Yellowstones. Bob has one too, so we did four of ⁓ including this one. But this is just That's amazing. Crazy. So rich and deep sweet No. That's it's got that dusty, that dusty funk on it. It does, it does. Like you could tell, even you could tell some bourbons try to make it make taste like they're old even though they're new. You can tell that that is an old bourbon. Like 1971, that's an old bourbon. and I've never had an old well, no, I I take that back. I have. You've you've let me try a couple old bourbons. And you could taste that old It's it's that lower entry proof. Yeah. You know, with more water that it's getting more of that flavor, that wood, over that shorter period of time. It's just And it almost tastes like a barrel proof. Yeah. Wow. But there's no ethanol in this whatsoever. ⁓ no, I don't taste any. No. None. That's pretty impressive. Good stuff. I love sharing it. ⁓ Revival's got a few more bottles down there, so All right. Well I don't get to Kentucky much, so I'll take another one of those too. Yeah. So bought me this Yellowstone and that old Taylor for my birthday. nice. Nice. Very nice of her. Which I didn't tell you, happy birthday. about that. Mine's in October, so don't worry about it until then. When in October? Twenty ninth. Okay. Yeah. We've had so many Halloween parties that my birthday. And before drank bourbon, kegs and kegs of beer. Like we were ⁓ definitely partiers. Great time. We'd have a costume party, costume party, and there'd be eighty people. And then it started to as the years went on, it was like, okay, now there's fifty. Now there's twenty. But now now it's a kids' party, but we're over in the corner drinking. Yeah, we had kids and then like, okay, we are drinking and we have to have a babysitter to put them to bed and But ⁓ yeah. Yep, October twenty ninth, I'm a Halloween baby. Right. So maybe can help me then. I got a tap set up. Okay. From Steph's grandpa had a a ⁓ set up and they've been cleaning out the estate, you know, yeah. Finding everything, selling ⁓ her grandma and grandpa's house. And she came home with a double tap CO two container. So I'm seeing if I can actually mount it to my bar. I have the guy for you. My mother in law's boyfriend has ⁓ a tap in his garage with the same exact what you're wanting, a CO two cartridge, everything like that. And he can tell where to go to get everything. And he can probably set it up. So let me talk to him. Okay. I'll yeah, I'll give him a call probably Sunday and ⁓ let him know you're For some help. He'll probably just do a free charge. Sweet. As he should. Give give him a a ⁓ bourbon a beer or something like that and he'll do it. Absolutely. I'm just I'm still enjoying what I just drank what, eight minutes ago, ⁓ minutes ago? Yeah. It just lasts. ⁓ I mean everything up here has been fantastic tonight. I'm Pretty pretty happy with all of them. I really like the flavor on the Caleb's Crossing. I ⁓ even I'm not a rye guy. But I think the the the age comes out on that will it? Yes. Yes, absolutely. But that four green and that yellow stuff. Yeah, that's good stuff. Yeah. good setup for Father's Day. Absolutely. Cheers. Happy Father's Day. Happy Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to everybody else. Happy Father's Day everyone. for watching. Please like and subscribe. ⁓ share. Five stars. All that stuff. And if you can't get five stars, send us an email. Tell us why. But Thanks for watching. Have a good night. Good night.