Weller and Eagle Rare Barrel Picks; Ep. 73

Dan and Eric: Good evening. Welcome back. Bourbon Brass and Beyond. It's been a crazy three weeks, I think it's been. Yeah, since last time I was here. Yeah. Absolutely. you were you were gone. You had a the wedding and then vacation or Yeah, we we went to Jupiter, Florida for almost two weeks. And yeah, it was it was nice. It was a nice vacation. at the same time with our condo there was a lot of maintenance I had to do. And you know, I'm I'm doing the maintenance and I think, okay, I'm almost done. I get to enjoy the weekend and we're driving back home, hot water tank goes. Yep. Pipes start leaking for our washer and it's like, Okay, yep, not done yet. Not done yet. No. And it's always it's always something. I week and a half ago I was mowing the grass and they were coming in installing all new fiber optic internet. Yes. Well they left a plastic coated steel wire, braided wire. So I hit that with the mower. Didn't see it. And so that that broke. somebody came to look at the old Mercedes, the the 69, they're gonna buy it. Okay. And he broke the shifting linkage. So I'm having to replace that. He's still interested in the car, but I have to of course. had that. And had that out today. it's just been one thing after another. yeah, yeah. And then of course we get home and the weeds It's ridiculous. And they they come in spurts, they come in different kinds. You Pull all the weeds, you think you got them all, and you're like, okay, I'm good. And then next thing you know, a n different kind pops up, and it's everywhere. So being gone for two weeks, especially during this time of the year in Ohio, it just the weeds are awful. Yeah. So bad. So I'm glad you came over. so the long story short, did a Weller foolproof barrel pick last week with Jason Kern from Cleveland Barrel Hunter. and went down to Buffalo Trace and did that, did the tasting, ended up picking a barrel for a gentleman named Jared and his barrel group and then we ended up coming home but and then had to go to Dave Matthews concert in Pittsburgh. Just have to huh? Yeah. But in doing so It it's like three to four months before you get your your bottles. Right. And I do have two barrel picks, one being an antique one hundred seven, the other one being a foalproof. I'm like, well, I think this is a good time to open these. Uh-huh. Absolutely. Good pop. See if these need to air out at all. Definitely a stronger smell than just a regular antique. I'm getting a lot of that caramel sweetness. Almost floral. Yeah. Like it. It does smell good. Real good. Sounds like a little bit spicier than the regular antique too. Well, and I think that's the interesting thing, you know, with a barrel pick. the four different barrels that we did all I think were night and day different from each other. really? they were four very different profiles, noses, mouth feels. Yeah. And they were all about six years old. Just a hair over. they're all similarly located in the warehouse, mm-hmm, but they were very distinctly different. Wow. Interesting. I was warm right away. But then sweet. But very sweet. Yeah. Yep. Definitely taste that caramel. Yeah. And it is a fresh crack. Mm-hmm. So this could oxidize a lot. yeah. Absolutely. But I do get Not just the sweetness and the floral. I wanna say Almost like a pear. You know, like a a a pear sweetness in the on the nose. Yeah. And I don't get that floral on the taste, in the palate. No, not at all. No. It goes straight hard caramel. Hard hard caramel. Hard caramel spice and then yeah, toffee and then finishes off pretty sweet. Yeah. That was much better. Mm-hmm. Yep. Second sip, absolutely. And it's got a good finish on it. That that's where it stays. It doesn't turn bitter. It doesn't and that's what I like. Because I feel like some start to get a little bit of bitterness at the end of the finish. And this one does not. No, no, not at all. No, it stays sweet. And this was picked by fine wine and good spirits. Okay. So to do a barrel pick, it's it's a lottery and you have to get points. You approve points and you put in for how many entries you get for whatever they pick. Okay. And sometimes it's just a buffalo trace, an eagle rare, you know, type pick. Sometimes it's the Weller pick. And the guy that we were with, Jared, he had won a Buffalo Trace pick. Did the pick. And then the barrel was shipped to one of the liquor stores in Indiana. All right. And he was supposed to get it and it disappeared. So b Sazrak and Buffalo Trace. make up for it, then offered him the choice between the foolproof or the antique one seven to do a up pick. Yeah. And so nice. Well I mean winning either way. Yeah. Either way if he would have gotten a Buffalo chase, but that sucks if that happened. Somebody saw that come in, one of the employees was like, huh. Yeah. Look what I'm gonna steal. Man, that's really good. And it's not hot to drink. It's I mean you get a little bit of the just a little bit of the bite. Yeah. It's not but like you said, I think it just it just needs to breathe a little bit more. Yeah. You know, it's I don't think that it's anything to do with I mean it could be a bite just because of the bottle and the barrel pick being a barrel pick, but I don't know. I'd try it again in month. I'll bet you it changes a lot. Yeah. So The full proof it it's one hundred and fourteen proof. It comes out of the barrel about one eighteen. And they add just a little bit of water to get it down to one fourteen. Okay. that's what we learned, because then we're what we were tasting was one eighteen. Yes. And so we're we're kind of curious how that would How it changes. Yeah. But I think the one seven is such a nice mm-hmm. It is. Perfect proof for One is the cork was a little tighter. Why would that be? I don't know. Just the difference in the make of the the size of the cork or is it I noticed that one was a little bit fuller. Yeah, I I I just think that No, I'm sorry, this one was fuller. Dunno. Maybe just variations, size, supplier. Yeah. Type the air back in too. Yeah. Now this one was picked the the Weller Fool Proof was picked by seventy four package. Okay. I don't know who that is, but Does not smell nearly as strong as what it's gonna be and what it is. Right. I I don't think it's this smells stronger. I I think the one seven had a more ethanol y lipid nose than this. yeah. I think this one smells a little s sweeter and more rich. Mm-hmm. More caramel on the nose versus the floral of the other one. Yeah. It's almost like g I I smell a little bit of butterscotch even though it's probably not in there, but it Yeah. Like the caramel going into the butterscotch type. Yeah, that's nice. And I think that's one of the things, you know, everybody's like, I I prefer the one seven if I'm gonna drink weller. Or I prefer prefer the the full proof. Mm-hmm. I I think there's so much variation that there is. There is. And everybody's gonna be different with what they like and their taste buds and everything. It's like I I prefer the single barrel over the CYPB and other people were like, you're absolutely crazy. Yeah. Yep. Wow, that's smooth. That's smoother than the one O seven. I agree. A lot smoother. And the aftertaste it's there to you t have a little bit of maybe smokiness. I yeah, smokiness. It does you do get a little bit of that bitterness that at the end as it's coming through but But then dies off and goes to sweet. Yeah. good mouthfeel too I very good and and normally just the regular antique and the regular foolproof if I was to sit down and drink choose to drink one I would go with 107 and not tonight I think the the foolproof is much better tonight than the antique but again it probably needs to breathe a little bit give it some time Great legs on this one too. yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's gonna be on the glass until you wash it tomorrow. Yeah. Mm. I I really like the nose on this. Yeah. And I don't know that of the four that we did, I only had one that I was like, I really like this nose. but I would have to say this is Along those lines. Yeah, it's on point. It really is. Yeah, I could sip on that all night. Definitely. Yeah. Cherry. Second sip. Cherry in the back corners of the mouth. Yeah. Not like a sweet sweet cherry, but you can taste the cherry. Yeah. Almost like a like not a ripe, totally ripe cherry. But like a grape. Almost yeah. yeah, it's somewhere in between there. It's like a a ripe cherry and not so ripe. It's like right there. I mean we've all had Mm-hmm. You eat a cherry and it's really sour. You throw it out. But no, that was That was different. I like that. Yeah. 74 package. Wonder who that is. I don't know. Mm. Is really good. And staying with me too. It's Yeah. And it's a nice day. It's not it's not bitter. No. And you know, even Buffalo Trey said that these are both right around six years. That's where they do the barrel picks right now. So The other barrel pick that I have. Yes. Eagle Rare Tenure. This one was picked by Crescent Springs Tobacco. You said we weren't gonna do this one tonight. Yeah well I know why not? This one, Crescent Springs Tobacco is right on off of the buttermilk parkway exit, just south of Cincinnati Cincinnati on I seventy one. Okay. And when I used to be in the SIM buildings down in Cincinnati, this was always my stop on the way home. And then even coming home this past weekend, gotta stop. We gotta stop and see what they have. And I didn't end up getting anything this week. From there, but in the past, you know, you'd show up and there'd be these Sazerac Crescent Rings tobacco bottles that just sit in there. Yeah. Wow. And if we could all get so lucky. Yeah. Wow. I remember talking to you while I was in Florida, texting you about the the liquor stores and the prices down there. I mean they had some really good bourbon on the shelves. but so like with Total Wine, you have to be a member and get so many points. Right. Once you get those points, you can go ahead and get something like a Weller Antique. so but you can go to these Family owned small liquor stores and find these bottles. But they had a bottle of stag. Just a regular bottle of stag. $400. I'm like that. I walked out of there with nothing. I didn't well okay so take Buffalo Trace. Here it's what, 27, 28 with tax? Yeah. That store, that same store had it for sixty dollars. I mean it's awful. But then you go to an ABC carry out right down the street. And theirs was 29. Yeah. So but but then most of the time the ABC carryout's not gonna have it. Right. Well they are actually stocking Buffalo Trace on the shelves in Florida right now. Well right. Well they are here in Ohio too. I mean they're getting everything, right? Yes. Yes. which is and and I almost wonder, I mean, is this going after the secondary market? Is this something that they're Finally up to production. Now when when we were down there, we did a tour and they were saying that a lot of their production that they've started in the last couple of years is finally coming online. Okay. Well they had the flood too. Right. And that so that you know they were probably ready then, but then the flood happened and maybe I don't know. Yeah. Buffalo Trace was already shut down for the summer maintenance. They shut down for six weeks every summer. Okay. So six weeks turned into almost three months. Mm. They weren't that far behind in their total production. but they nearly doubled their production capacity in the last four years. okay. Okay. So as this stuff ages, you know, this stuff's gonna start coming online. True. You know, you you figure their their single barrel picks. or about six years old. Yeah. You know, and now Eagle Rare's a little harder to get. It's not at released as much. Right. But you're gonna start seeing more and more of the single barrel picks and more and more of just regular but bottles on the shelf. But this the base offering of Eagle Rare is ten years old. Yeah. So it it takes that ten year spool up just to get Yeah, so let's say two to four years it's gonna maybe be as read readily available as just a regular buffalo trace. Yeah. Yeah. I hope so. Eagle Rare's one of my favorite. So I I really like the twelve year Eagle Rare. Twelve year. Yeah. Just the Eagle Rare, ten year off the shelf, I think is your best personally is the best bang for the buck. Yes. In Ohio, you're gonna spend forty bucks right for a ten year old bourbon. I agree. I I I think that honestly, yeah. You can't beat that. The twelve year you can't buy in Ohio. but I think the flavor and taste of the twelve year is better than the ten year. Mm-hmm. You know, I I like it more. Okay. I really like the tenure, but I like the twelve year more. I've never had the twelve year. boy. Well looks like we're going for four years. We'll we'll we'll compare yeah, we'll compare the twelve year to the ten year barrel select. Okay. 'Cause so Ohio had a barrel select and I actually took it to a bottle share. but I got one. And I liked it better than the regular tenure. Okay. All right. I got but then again it's all gonna be to who chose the barrel, right? Right. I do like the nose on this. It's pretty fruity. Yeah. man, is that good? That is really good. Yeah. A little thin in the mouthfeel. Mm-hmm. It is. Has a little burn going down. Yeah. It's only ninety proof though. I mean, we just had one fourteen and then we're going down to ninety. Right. So why did I get the burn? Well, this one is mash bill number one, which has rye in it. whereas the weeded mash bill does not does not have the rye. So I would say that's more of the baking spice. Yep. Yep. But I think the sweetness and Caramelization in this is really good. I I I like this better than the regular Eagle Rare, I will say. Yeah. The second the second sniff of it, that caramel's there. Yeah. A little bit of ethanol. I mean that could be the fresh crack. Yeah. But the caramel's there for sure. Yeah. But it is I would say that The legs aren't as mm mm. It's not it's not hanging on as much. And that's where you get that that mouthfeel. Yeah. It just feels thin to me. Yep. You can smell in an empty glass the ethanol and rye. Yeah. That's weird. I sometimes do that after I finish one. I like to smell the glass and see like, you know, what is left in there. It's an ethanol and rye. Just a hint. Of the cherry cola. Just just to taste it. I couldn't taste it. But then it backs off. Like I feel like Well our foolproof was a lot more grape. yeah. Definitely. But this one I get more of the cherry and the tannins than I did from the six year. Evil Rare Twelve Year. Yeah. This is the standard issue twelve year, if you can find it. Where'd you find that at? So had a buddy who had another buddy who was going through customs in Aruba. Okay. And they had it for sixty bucks a bottle. What? Yeah. Definitely. yes, sir. I'll take one. I'm buying two or three if I can. Yeah. And interestingly Chicago Duty Free has Eagle Rare twelve year for 150 bucks. That's not bad. I'd I'd buy it for 150. Maybe. Yeah. I I mean it it's le just less than secondary for that bottle. Because on the secondary it's selling for like two hundred. Okay. But I did end up getting two bottles. Of course. Mm. Now, granted this one's been open for a little bit. Some of that floral comes back. Yeah, more floral than like than caramel or anything. Yeah. wow, that's smooth. And a darker sugar sweetness. Yeah, almost like a cinnamon going into a brown sugar. Yeah. Wow. That's pretty amazing. I like it. Big month. Big month is for you? Yeah. Alright, what do you got going on? So Steph and I are going back to Louisville. Okay. And August 17th, we are interviewing the Van Winkles. Yes. And so Bob's coming down for that. And buddy of mine from Louisville is gonna meet us there. He's really who got me into tasting different bourbon. Mm-hmm. So Alex is gonna be there. Give credit where credit's due. Definitely. yeah. super excited for this. This is something that, you know, when when I got into this, it was like, wouldn't it be nice? Or wouldn't it be great if we got Yeah. Yeah, like what's what's your end goal? You know, yeah is to do something like that. Right. Yeah. Right. Then it's like, well what do I do after that? You know. Hopefully start getting free bottles from him. Well I'm just kidding. Well, I don't even think he gets free bottles, to be honest. No. No. But I I think that Talking about the stories and and then actually meeting and talking with the people who do it. Yeah. You know, what is what is their intention with their brand or what is their intention with their their bourbon? What what are they trying to produce? Right, right. Yeah, 'cause everybody tastes things differently, everybody has different opinions on on the very same brand. But you know, like they actually have not just the pedigree, but they've been developing a certain taste for decades. Where is that leading them? Where do they wanna take that? You know? And that's that's kind of the stuff I wanna know. But also if they are trying to stay true to a A taste that they are familiar with. Mm-hmm. Like, well, how do you do that? Right. How do you continuously get that and produce that? Yeah. Water's different. The barrels are different. The wood is different. The rick houses are different. Like how the weather is different. How do you continually put out such a fine product? Yeah. It's it's an art. They have it down to an art. As most of these places do. But that's that's they are like the OGs. Yeah. And they know exactly what they're doing. So our tour guide that did our barrel pick last week, Lee, he said that they have eight specialists that will try the one Van Winkle barrel versus seven other similar barrels. And if one of those eight on that panel cannot pick out the Van Winkle barrel, it's pushed back really to Waller. Really? Yeah. So every one of those eight I have to agree that that's that the Van Winkle one. Yeah. Wow. That's crazy. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for them to know that and have those taste buds and be like, Yeah, this is it. I want that job. Yeah. Yeah. yeah. That'd be a pretty damn good job. Hopefully they only do it once a week, twice a week. Right. Well, you know, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I have to go in and do a Van Winkle pick three times this week. Man. Exactly. More karma on that one. Yeah. And smoother. Yeah, yeah. Just I I think that the the twelve year Eagle Rare, you can you can sip that all day. yeah, definitely. Definitely. It's it's a lot better than the ten. And it's you know, only two year difference, but it's a lot better than the ten. You just start to get a little bit of that oakiness. Mhm. That's what I got on the second one. And you can smell it now on the third. Now that you've got it in your taste buds, now you can smell it. Yeah. Mm. Legs are great too. Hmm. That is good. Mm. Thanks for letting me try it. Mm-hmm. You bet. Thanks for coming over. So my oldest, Michael, turns twenty-four tomorrow. So we're gonna have a little get together, a couple people coming over. Family. Mainly family. Yeah. And yeah, he's he asked I asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He's like, Give me a couple cases of PBR and I'm I'm like, Michael, okay. Okay, that's what he's enjoying right now. And he said, I'm gonna go ahead and start doing my own podcasts. Cause I talked to him about this. Yeah. I said, All right, go ahead. He's like, but it's gonna be with PBR, and we're gonna start off with a warm beer. And if it's good coming out warm, then we know we got a good batch. I'm like, dude, he's way too much. Too funny. So I have a buddy, he and I went to college together, just retired from the military. he was reserves, but Fulbird Colonel. but he's also a captain for an airline that I won't say its name, but its logos shaped like a triangle. Okay. And huge P VR fan. Yeah. Like like tons of swag. He's got all the stuff PBR. Like that's it's it's absolutely hilarious. But I'll I'll have to ask him if if you know if there's a If you get a good batch of P V R it's warm. Yeah, I don't know if there's a good batch of P V R. I ha I drank it in the past, but I am not a beer drinker. I just I had to get away from it. I was. And as I got older it started you know, my stomach was affected by it. I started to get bloated a lot. Yeah. Couldn't eat. Yeah. So it's like switch. I think I like some of the Belgian malted beers, you know, like the Chimay. Yeah. I like Chemae. You know, the Grand Reserve, blue label, ch Yeah. But the problem is, for some reason, beer and wine knocks me on my ass. Really? Like it I I'll have one Chimae and I'm I'm done. Like I'm I am beyond done. half glass of wine. And I'll be asleep on the couch. It just puts me out. I I and some people say it's the sulfites. I yeah, yeah. I'm not really sure, but I I just know that I can't do it. Well, I went from like a light beer and then to something like say Yingling. And then once it started to affect my stomach, I went to Kentucky Bourbon, barrel ale. Mm-hmm. And 'cause it's Which I do like there's less carbonation. Yeah. And it and it still got me and I'm like, all right, I need to change something totally if I wanna keep on drinking something. Well, I j I learned early on that, you know, as as a a mixer or even straight that that bourbon was just yeah. It's good no matter what. Yeah. It takes a while to get your taste buds used to it. When I first started drinking it, you know, even going from a Kentucky bourbon beer to that, it it takes a while and I think that there's there should be a how to on it as far as like, okay, this is the bourbon that you want to try first if you're gonna be starting into bourbon, wanting to try bourbons. Like even a buffalo trace, something super mild, you know, not a wood for don't no no, go to something super smooth, maybe even a weeded. Buffalo trace, weller special reserve. Yeah. any of those would be a good mm. And I would probably s not say Maker's Mark because I feel like Maker's Mark has a little bit of a bite to it. Yeah, it does. The Heaven Hills old Fitzgerald has a little bit of a bite to it. Jefferson's. Jefferson's would be a good one to start with. Yeah. 'Cause you can get like not the ocean, but even single barrel Jefferson's. I have one on my shelf. It's the perfect one to start with. Yeah. I I would agree with that. what else do we have? I I think that you know, d depending on your palate or your taste buds, I mean I think the Monks Road, America's forty seven is a great one. It's it's two rise and a wheat. Okay. But it is just such a smooth drinker. Even the Remington, I I think the Remington is a good one. It's it's only eighty six proof. But it okay. it's got great flavor to it. Yep, there needs to be a how to. Definitely. Yeah. But I think that You start down that path, it's a easy path to to follow. It is. Yeah. It is. Start with one and end up with Huh. Yeah. a few. A few. Yep, I've seen a couple of videos about that. It's funny. I think I sent it to you. Maybe I sent it to Bob. But it's you know, you Start trying bourbon and then you go down the road and then you're waiting in line and the for the drop and I saw the meme today, especially with the the Senate stuff that happened the last couple days. The the meme was when my wife asked if I bought another bottle of bourbon. And then it's Fauci giving the I have to take the Fifth Amendment. Yeah, I plead the fifth. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, She's like, she she looks at me and she goes, You didn't buy another bottle, did you? I'm like, No, no, I haven't. I plead the fifth. The one that I keep seeing is the with the bug that's out right now, the explosive you know what. Yeah. And it says, What does not cause explosive? And they're going, That's right. Nope. No. Lettuce will though. Exactly. Vegetables. Well, it's gonna be a busy week and probably gonna try to get another podcast or two out before we do the Van Winkle interview. Okay. And that's only a couple weeks away. but yeah, we've got some stuff to talk about. I did bring home that single oak rye from Buffalo Trace. Mm-hmm. I brought home the Oak and Age, which is a hazmat. 11 year okay and 142 proof, but it was a Jim Beam eleven year. Now I'm not normally a Beam fan. No, no. Beams they always to me taste the same. But I pick just like Jack Daniels. But I picked this one. It it is Yeah, it's good. It's off profile enough that it's just fantastic. Okay. Y you still can tell. You still get a little bit of that dusty beam funk on it, but but it's just so good one. Yeah. All right. So we'll have to do that one. And yeah. Look forward to it. Well, let me know. I don't think my week during the evenings is too too busy coming up. So Okay. Well Days are I'm I'm completely booked. but during the night's not that bad. All right. Well we'll be back What are doing tomorrow? birthday party. Birthday party. Yeah. Yeah. So Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe we'll do another one here this weekend. Yeah. Check back Saturday or Sunday. Yeah. Thanks, Eric. Of course. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks for watching. please leave a comment, review. Give five stars if you can. If you can't email us, let us know. If there's something else you wanna see or have us do, appreciate it. I am supposed to be getting a wild turkey CGF, the Austin Nichols archive collection. I'm supposed to get a sample of that. So I'm still looking for a bottle. have to. but I did try it. Yeah. Good at Wild Turkey when we were down there. And I'm a fan. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I I think that it was a very bold flavor profile. But I think it was so good that Yeah. Interesting. There's something to be said with just, all right, we know this is gonna speak to you. We're gonna make it speak loud. Yeah. So yeah, it was fantastic. Okay. but hopefully have one of those coming up. And then doing the Van Winkle stuff. So that's I'm excited for you. Yeah. It's gonna be nice. Looking forward to it. So stay tuned. Please like and subscribe once again. Have a great night. Thanks for watching.