Monk's Road Boiler House, Bill Samuels, Jr., and Wally Dant Dinner; Ep. 41

Daniel AI: Welcome to bourbon brass and beyond crazy week here last week after our podcast with Jason from Cleveland barrel hunter Dan traveled to Louisville for dinner at Monks Road boiler house with Wally Dant president of log still distillery and Bill Samuels jr. Former CEO of makers Please back relax and enjoy the flight A special thank you to Wally Dant for hosting the Distillers Dinner. The next one will have Chris Morris. Thank you to Bill Samuels Jr. for the stories and thank you to you for watching. See you after Spring Break. ⁓ and check out the pre-Prohibition Purr from Justin's House of Bourbon.

Dan And Bob: Good evening. How's everybody tonight? Wow, what a week. Yeah, busy. Yeah, been real busy. So we did the podcast with Jason from Cleveland Barrel Hunter Tuesday of last week. then Thursday. think I'm still trying to recover from this, by the way. yeah. I took us such a nice long nap after that one. was a great one. Yeah. But that bourbon was. Yeah, they were all great pours. I think that's why it was as bad as it was, they were all easy to drink. Yeah. A great, great nap. Yeah. And then ⁓ drove down to Louisville and bust Buffalo Trace. ⁓ Really? Both total bust. So because they didn't, you didn't need anything or because it was, ⁓ you were hoping for specials or? Yeah, Reds are specials. Okay. And then, so Thursday there was nothing. And then Friday, I went back and stood in line for an hour, 40 degree, pouring down rain. Nothing better than that. And then they came out and they had a cigar special. Way to stay in the rain, totally worth it. Yeah. I think they even felt bad. Yeah, they're like, sorry everybody. But Thursday night, One more backup. So first, so I met my buddy Alex down for lunch and went to a place called North of Bourbon. The pictures crazy. Awesome. that in ⁓ the restaurant, the you know, they're playing like New Orleans jazz. Yeah. Just brass in the wall of But it's owned by a buddy of mine's brother. Another buddy of mine who works for UPS, I called him Patrick. And Patrick said, well, you should check out my brother's restaurant and bar. What a good time. Great food. Alex and I enjoyed a cellar aged. So that was nice. And then... From there I went back, got ready, and walked over to the Monks Road Boiler House. Where I had dinner with Wally Dant and Bill Samuels Jr. That's it? And there was about, I want to say 14 other people there. That's awesome. But what an experience. First off, the food was fantastic. The chef came out, introduced each course. I'm gonna post a picture of the menu, but that's the menu. Now, I'm allergic to shellfish, so I didn't have Skip the first, yeah. But what he did was he made a mushroom one instead. that's nice. It looked just like an oyster. So funny. Yeah, they took care of me. course, I'm the only one with a technology. And then, Jeez. It just so good. The Star Hill one, the short ribs. Fantastic Yeah. This is of those ones we talked about when we were down there, Wally said you should go out of dinner here and we should have listened better. We had other plans, but still, this looks awesome. Yeah, experience was fantastic. While we were sitting, Bill Wally took turns telling stories. It's funny. Stories about the families. I think made the that You know, everybody's related. Yeah. But in so many ways. Literally and figuratively. Yeah. Between the Beam family, the Samuels family, the Dant family. I mean, their histories go back. the start of these distilleries. Yeah. And all in that similar area. one of the gentlemen at our table that was sitting by was the farm where Maker's Mark gets all of their grains. And Bill was telling the story of when he was with his father, and Bill said he was about 12, and they were going from farm to farm, seeing who they could get. And while they were at this one gentleman's farm, was talking about how his sons were learning be farmers. They were going to college for agriculture. And that's when Bill Samuel Sr. turned to his son and said, anybody that's sending their children to school for farming, that's going to be a long-term 60-something years later, ⁓ ⁓ the only provider of grains for It's crazy. It's probably how they get as consistent as they get. One farm, one family, maybe more of it. Yeah. And some of the people there were Wally's legal team and dealing with the Heaven Hills lawsuit and whatnot. but there was that firm had been representing Wally's family for a long time. Yeah. And to the way back. So they were like the farmers. Yes. So they were telling stories about, you know, some things growing up in the sixties and seventies and it And Bill was chiming in too, because Bill was part of that era. then Bill, he telling the story that he originally was an engineer for NASA. ⁓ wow. And he that every single project that he worked on at NASA failed. That's not a great track record. So he came back to the family distillery. And his dad got him an office, a 10 by 10 office out at the airport. Not at the distillery. Not at the distillery because he didn't want him to mess up the whiskey. ⁓ his job was going to be selling whiskey, not making it. So funny. But eventually, you know, he came in. Bill a storyteller. Yeah. And it's just what a great experience. awesome. So. ⁓ Bill did bring a Star Hill Farms. ⁓ nice, ⁓ that's the, I did see it on there. And he ⁓ they gave me four bottles. ⁓ goes, so I brought two tonight. And goes, and I can't seem to get it. ⁓ He ⁓ this what I brought and that was fantastic. Of course, started off the night, I mean we were doing, the barrel finished gin fantastic. I had a nice, it was like, I think it was an old-fashioned, but we did it with a barrel-finished gin and it was really good. We did the Star Hill Farms, we did Wally's Monk's Road Kentucky Rye, and then do believe we did the, we did the Weed-It. I had a when I got there too. It says household fashion maybe. Yeah. ⁓ Monk's Road Small Batch. Yeah, that was this. But when we were down there, I didn't get a Kentucky Ry. So I got one while I was down there. then, signed it for me. So that was But I didn't have any Maker's Mark with me to get Bill to sign a Maker's Mark, because he was signing bottles. And one of the things somebody asked him was like, when you cross out your son's name and sign yours. So he was doing it he was doing it real big. He'd just cross out his son's name and then sign the It was hilarious. Because he said he got, Bill makes the joke that how he knew he was officially retired. was when they took his name off the bottles. That's a bad sign. Yeah. But it fantastic. I mean, the whole experience. It's awesome. great time. feel like between the podcast we did with Jason with the Cleveland Barrel Hunter and going straight to that. It's an awesome week. Yeah. ⁓ wow. Yeah. And then week, I mean, I've got other news. We've got other Yeah. ⁓ Big stuff working. stuff in the Yeah. But I don't want to talk about it. Don't jinx it. So yeah, I'm real happy. That's awesome. I'm gonna have, don't know if you want to smell one or? actually, what are you opening here? I I wanna. Is that the heart? The heart release. Yeah, I'm down for that one. So these are both open. We both have both of those. Let's. ⁓ they don't make them easy. No. all the extra wax you can get. I also picked up barrel pick from Warehouse Liquors. And I tasted that ⁓ the store in Chicago. And that was actually, I tasted a few. And that was fantastic. one of the I miss about Ohio just can't Yeah. was coming out for 50 minutes before it decided to come out. So this is the 2024 heart release notes of caramel, chocolate, and maple. This is the one that the employees at distillery proper. Okay. All picked a staving. ⁓ okay. The profiles and everything. Yeah. This is 112 proof. don't know if there's an age statement on it, but... as you opened it up, you smell it. can smell it. Yeah, as soon as you started pouring, I could smell it. was, I believe, the Rick House. Yeah, they've, everyone's a different one every year. Hmm. Getting the vanilla. Yeah. Caramel in there too, I think. Yeah. It's really sweet though. Yeah. and vanilla. wow. Especially, yeah. I get a little bit of maple on the finish. Wow. And a hair of the chocolate on just on the top of the tongue. That's good. I was just trying to see if it said which staves they chose. yeah, nice. Volume 105, virgin toasted French oak staves. So they all I think this is up. So this like the second or third French oak I've had for sure. Maybe there's something in there that I like We might have to that other one. Yeah. I don't. Man, one of those samples we had was French oak too. Man, I think it just makes it sweeter. Like I think that's what I, I know if it's whatever's in the pores or what grows around it. that like your Bartstown one? Yeah, the Bartstown, which one is that? That's the one with the cathedral. Yeah, cathedral. And I think I have the Hokkaido as well. Those are both, yeah. Man. Well, that's... Look at the legs on that. Nice creamy mouth feel. It's good viscosity. Nice lasting finish. ⁓ agree. Yeah. I That's nice. Is this 112 It's 111 proof. Same difference. This one has one the baked. This one has a combination, so 11422 of the 10 staves, but this was bottle number 92 of 246. I think we'll just do for a person. might as well. And that's a neck port too. Yeah. You you think about it. That's. Mm-hmm. Pop. working hard to get out that bottle. very similar profile on the nose. Do know what the ear this was? it's going to be. Doesn't say. So I think this one is a little more. almost like I get a little bit more orange to it. I was gonna say chocolate, is a little bit different, I'm getting a little more of a fruity profile. ⁓ a softer profile. Same thing, it really holds the glass on this thing. Mmm. Yeah. Nice. This one I think I wouldn't mind letting air out a little bit. think that neck pour is a little bit harsh for me. Yeah, I was going to say this one seemed not as bad, but it could be just... I don't notice it on the nose, that's for sure. I I think that they're really, really nice. Yeah. Mmm, man. I think that's a really nice sip. I think that's the part that stands out is that, again, I think that they do a good job making sure they're consistent. I think they do a good job making sure. mean, these private selections, private single barrels are always pretty darn good anyway. Yeah. I'm going to guess that the retail on that is less than this too, isn't it? Well, even as a store pick, it probably was because this is harder. Yeah. But I think very similar, I guess. I think they're both. Yeah, they're both nice bores. ⁓ Nice Yeah. Well done. would like try this. ⁓ I tried the aged. I liked it. Yeah. I would like to find one. Yeah. I think that's my next. OK. my next Find a way to fit it in here. The 18's both speared along. Yeah, there you go. And as as a shipment from Ode. ⁓ OK. So nice. Yeah. Ticking the table, waiting on the UPS guy. They're both nice. Yeah, good finds. good. And opened... Yeah, those ones we both had. We both liked the Monks Road stuff. And that rye was ⁓ really But yeah, don't know. I Maybe Rye's. Yeah, he's sneaking in on us. Yeah. That's like we did the Jason. That one was crazy That bone snapper. Did he leave them here? And the river roots. Yeah. So ⁓ I the bone snapper and that whiskey. Yeah. And then, ⁓ cause that's straight Rye. then that river is the. Yeah, they were both really good. Well, thank you. Yeah. Thanks for coming over. I figured we'd do a. Pre-spring vacation. five kids. Oof. ⁓ a man than me. Vacation. We're going to. We're though, so not as I'm excited. Yeah, that'll be nice. Yeah, we're excited. Well, ⁓ and with kids, I mean, you can't afford to feed five teenagers. Four of them you know, boys. They're going to be. So doing a cruise was like, yeah, this is the cheapest option to go to the night do their thing. Yep. Have at it. It's funny. We're looking forward to that. Good. Seeing some warm weather. Yeah, for sure. After the last couple of days. It was nice today, but it's going to be cold again tomorrow. Chicago was. Horrible. ⁓ they were storming today, too. Yeah. Yeah and delays and cancellations and I was not fun out of there fun So ⁓ cool. Yeah. Thanks for coming over. Thanks Appreciate it. Yeah, like follow subscribe. We have ⁓ really great things coming up and forward to Sending off to you guys. So please like follow subscribe, please share We're on Instagram, so please follow Listen, it's Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. ⁓ we're out there. Find us. Thanks. Everybody have a great night. Have a good night.