Bear Wallow Liars Bench Rye!

• Interesting things about the distillery:
  • First NEW distillery to open in Indiana after 2 years of fighting to change the laws. 
  • Bear Wallow has a history dating back to the prohibition
    • Bootleggers used to hide from the law in Bear Wallow because of how many bears were present at that time, and people did not want to normally take the risk with the bears 
  • Out of Brown County
  • All grains are from local Indiana Farmers
  • distill the alcohol a second time in their custom-made (in Louisville, KY) old-fashioned Scottish Gooseneck Copper Pot Still
    • Function: Used primarily for batch distillation, especially for malt whiskey.
    • Small-Batch Model: Modern, smaller versions (e.g., 3-inch) are used for home distilling, typically with a shotgun condenser for cooling.
    • Performance: These stills often produce spirits at lower, flavor-packed proofs, though multiple distillations can raise the proof
  • Family-owned and run
    • Sons are involved, and her husband is also involved
• Our Bottle: 
  • Liars Bench Rye (store pick)
    • Gays 
    • Also, from a couple of years ago
      • The risk of barrel picks
  • 100 proof - 55% rye, 35% corn, 10% malted barley

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to the Whiskey Chasers, where we talk about our passion for whiskey and its history, either amongst ourselves or while interviewing distilleries. Oh, while enjoying a glass. I'm Steve. I'm Nick. And I'm Chris. Please enjoy responsibly while enjoying this week's episode of The Whiskey Chasers.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Oh, that's actually pretty good right there. Is that good? Does that sound good? Can you hear me now? Okay, people. Can you hear me now? We are back. Wonder, did your son give us clean glasses?

SPEAKER_05 0:37

Or is this just gonna be dishwasher?

SPEAKER_04 0:42

Okay. So apparently. My lighter's working again. That's that's a positive. I have lighter. I have another lighter if you want it. You know I think there's one thing that if I've learned one thing, I found a um an old um smoking can like camel. Remember Camel when they had like the racing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So smoking Joe's uh like NASCAR uh thing of my dad's as like a metal tin ashtray, and it has like an insert you pull out and it was full of matches, and I was like, hell yeah, this is sweet. Yeah, I'm like, these are this is they've been in this tin, like it completely sealed, like that everything looks brand new. And uh it was like he had it like in his little NASCAR of his, you know, shit that he got along the way, kind of stuff. And yeah, I was because I was looking for uh an ashtray, and I was like, I think there's an ashtray in that shit at my dad's because I was smoking a cigar the other day, and I was like, I wish I had an ashtray to sit this down. Yeah, you need one. Um yeah, and uh and I was like, Well, I want one for out like outside. Let me see if I already have one. And I went there and looked, and it was like a little this little tin at like tin can kind of like that, and about that same size. Well, he because he was like, that was when all like it was Winston cup, so and he was he smoked Winston cigarettes too. So it was like he would get he would get the like the Winston points and then he would cash them in for Winston points? Oh yeah, oh yeah, dude. Back in the day, yeah, you get points for smoking like every pack you were was like five points or whatever. There were those Marlboro Bucks, there was Care Campbell Bucks, there was Marlboro points. I didn't think Winston cigarette makes cigarettes anymore. Yeah, like 90s, yeah. Remember that? Yeah, Marlboro Man and now they can't even like the smoking Joe Campbell, like it was a cartoon character, like bro, you're marketing directly in case Joe Camel was cool, yeah. It is pretty obvious.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Chris, I don't know if yours is plugged in all the way in the back.

SPEAKER_03 2:22

Is it's not coming in? I don't know. Is that good? Is it better now? No, yes, yeah. It looked like there's some space there. It was it was like Nirvana unplugged. Yeah. Who knows how this stuff works? Probably should pick out a pipe or two. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yeah. We we got uh uh two Indiana whiskies, uh companies out of Indiana tonight. So I don't know, I don't know what whiskies. I don't know what you're gonna smoke with this. I know you've got two different ideas.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Yeah, we're gonna smoke some English, they're both English. One's uh more Balkan. I like that. You like this one? This one's a Churchill. Yeah, this is the Chatholm Churchill. Oh, okay. I thought it was a cool. Yeah, I mean, well, not the shape, it shape shape isn't a churchill. It's a style, yeah. Okay, called a church. Uh so I'm gonna do that. I like that. Uh and color scheme. I'm gonna do the brown with the gold one.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

One of my favorite pipes.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

I was gonna say, have you smoked out of that one for a while? Or you know, you know, that's a big dog. Not Abbott. It's a nice pipe, it's a real nice pipe. Yeah. We're gonna drink and smoke, and you're gonna listen.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And this should be a lot of fun because uh we've got folks. We uh through the podcast, we got connected with a group out of Indiana. The uh what are they uh End of a Watch uh is the organization that they they do. They're like a charitable organization or charity that does um they collect funds for fallen families of fallen officers. And I got a chance to talk to the the owner of the founder of it, and he mentioned a brand out of Indiana. I was like, I've never heard of this before. Bear Wallow. It's the first with what we're having, the first, very first bottle, it's what we're having right now. So Bear Wallow Distillery. They got bigger at one point where they were putting product out on shelves in different stores, and now they've decided to dial it back in to where you really can only get their new stuff from the distillery. So this guy was probably a couple years old. Uh it's a store pick of their rye uh from gaze hoption. It looks like gaze. Yeah, that's a gaze. That's a gaze bottle before they even sold. Okay. So this was like a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Is not like that's probably gaze.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Like it That's their style.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

That's their style. Um, Liar's Bench is the name of this bottle.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

So the brand is Bear Wallow. Yes. Not Bear's Wallow. Bear Wallow. Yeah, I keep wanting to say Bear's. But bear, like not B-A-R-E, but B-E-A-R. Bear. Yeah, like a bear. Bear Wallow. And then Liar's Bench. So I love that name for a bourbon.

SPEAKER_04 5:08

Which is Bench is a pretty cool name. As you're reading the back, have you read Jacob's bench? Yeah, so so it says that uh it says here, uh, the the bourbon or the whiskey here, the rye whiskey is named after uh a bench that sits on the courthouse lawn in Nashville, Indiana, where it is documented that moonshiners and other more prominent town folk used to hang out.

SPEAKER_05 5:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:30

So it talks a little bit about like George Washington and his his prominent rye uh distilling days and how rye um after the revolution uh America switched over from rum to rye whiskey, and and uh and then it goes into talking a little bit about where it's from. So it's out of Brown County, Indiana. So, and they looks like they were established in 2012. So they've been around for a little while.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

They've been around. So this company's fascinating. So Chris, you'll appreciate appreciate this coming from Indiana. Indiana has like blue ribbon laws back, like they're very strict on alcohol and when they can sell it, what that looks like, and they're their uh distilleries, like the law surrounding distilleries opening was very strict. Yeah, it's stifling. Yes, yeah. So they got established in 2012 and for two years fought to be able to actually distill in the state of Indiana and like legally put this out.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

I don't know what that means. That's really wow. Sorry, I'm listening, but uh threw me for a wallop. That was just weird.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

This is Indiana Company, it's a um family that owns it. So this is very much like Jeff the Creed. Okay, so it tastes craft, it tastes very craft. The wife is the one that is like the owner and distiller. So it is very much like Jeff the Creed. Her two sons are involved in the day-to-day process. Her husband comes in on like weekends and helps bottle and those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Now, in our fashion, we have an addition, like a version that you can't really get. Right. But yes, this is like a pick of a version that you could get.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Yes. So Liar's Bench is something that they do put out. So they do a rye, a rye is on their list all the time.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

So it's something they do.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

We'll take a pause on the bourbon and we'll also talk about smoking a tobacco that you can get, but we'll be smoking a version that you cannot get.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

So it's very much like this model. It's very much like the bottle.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

We're smoking a Mississippi River by Seattle Pipe Club. Everybody's like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But this one's from 2009, so it's got some age on it. Considering they came out in 2007. Sealing a little bit more air into the can, essentially.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

I have had Mississippi River. I have not had the other plum pudding from Seattle Pipe Club.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

The aroma though is fantastic. Like if you imagine like Mississippi River, but like feel like this is the one that I got a tin of, but like the newer version of it.

SPEAKER_04 7:57

Probably, yeah. It's uh the I think you got the special reserve, which their special reserve is aged in whiskey barrel or whiskey barrel.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

And the smell of it, I love the smell of that one.

SPEAKER_04 8:06

Yeah, Nick is uh they're both they're both English blends, I believe, right? I actually, now that you say that, I'm trying to think about when because I I bought a tin of it, but I never opened my tin. I got a sample from you. My first time here.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

I love Mississippi River. Actually, I was here for the podcast that night. That comes in more of a flake, though, versus like a plug.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Yeah, yeah, these are all like broken flakes. This is one of my more favorite ones, smell-wise, because it reminds me of like beef, like smoked beef jerky. Like a mixture of like smoking meat and then like beef jerky, like meaty, hardy.

SPEAKER_04 8:42

Yeah, that's that's one of my that's one of the the Englishes I like. That's kind of like the I think that's one of the endearing qualities to a good English bun, is that that smokiness and that that rich, like kind of bacon, you know, bacon on the grill. Savoring or something. Yeah, yep. So I'm I I'm curious to see. Have you had the new the new kind of versions of this from Cornell and Deal?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

Is it from Cornell and Deal? Yeah, I was I'm curious if they changed the recipe at all. Um or if that quality may have improved even. Yeah, this the the nose on this on the 10 note is really, really good. It's uh it reminds me. So for me, I think I get like kind of come going back to you're talking about smoked meat, it's it's brisket bark. It's like that black bark on a brisket that hasn't been no sauce or anything. It's very much good that bark. It's got some vinegar, a little bit of like a hint of vinegar note to it as well. This it very much smells like a uh like a brisket that somebody has, you know, or like a you know, somebody's been barbecuing and you've got those burnt ends and they've been spraying, you know, the vinegar mix. So I am gonna rub this out just because these are some big old chunks, and my bowl's a little deeper than I think yours, so it might be a little more challenging. Oh, it's fairly dry. It's not terribly dry, but it is good. It's it's got a good consistency. It's not petrified wood yet, but it's it's close, it's on its way. Well, and I like it too. It it's breaking up nicely, so it's not it's not like kind of breaking into disintegrating. Yeah, it's also not powdering either as I'm breaking it up.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

That's the worst, is when like, and I like my stuff on a drier side as far as smoking goes, but if you're breaking up a flake and it starts becoming like dust, that's too dry. Yeah, like that is too dry. Because then you're just gonna end up sucking it through your pipe. Like, you can't smoke dust. You can, it's just not very enjoyable. You might have to not in a pipe, you might have to do it in something else. Like we throw a screen down there. I don't know. Those keystones or whatever they do. You ever had you ever smoked a pipe? Keystone pipe? You ever done that? A keystone pipe? Yeah, have you ever you ever had that? I don't know. I had one, I don't even know if they make them anymore. I should have kept it. I got rid of it. Does it have like uh some type of filter on it? So it's it's a Nording. Nording, I think, came out with this. Okay. It was a fairly cheap pipe. It was like a briar bowl on a plastic kind of uh thing. And uh what you do is you they literally came with like a little tin of these little pebbles, like actual like river rock pebbles, they're tiny. And you would drop them into the bottom of your bowl, like a like four or five, and you throw the tobacco in on top, and then you would smoke it. And is it not working? That's that's the whoever edits this is gonna be real happy. Is that better now? Or you said so you said that that norting made it called keystone? So yeah, it was basically they it had a briar bowl, and then it was a fairly cheap kind of like ABS plastic type, but kind of uh like under, like and then you it would it was kind of like a uh falcon pipe. Oh, yeah. So the bowl would screw in or with an o-ring, it'd plop on. Then you take three or four or five of these little pebbles and you drop them into the bottom of the bowl, and then you threw your tobacco on top of that and you smoked it. And what would would happen is as the moisture builds up, these pebbles would absorb the keystones would absorb the moisture. So you wouldn't get any uh moisture through your pipe.

SPEAKER_05 12:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

And it was actually a fairly dry, cool smoke, and probably more even more so than like a falcon pipe, which has like a little um, you know, little moisture barrier at the bottom of their pipes or whatever. So it was actually I I should have kept it because it was a cool pipe. I don't even know if they make them anymore. I'd have to look it up.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

Yeah, I've I've never heard of them, but yeah, I mean, it sounds like a that would make sense. You're basically lifting the tobacco up over above the stone so it's not getting wet.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, and as it gets wet versus because it's most people think a wet pipe is their saliva. It's actually not, unless you're like literally drooling in it. Most of the time, it's just the moisture off the tobacco as it's being burned is coming out through the stem. So that goes down into the stones and then literally it's like a sponge that absorbs. But I mean, keystones, they don't burn up and they don't go through the pipe. So it's kind of a ingenious thing.

SPEAKER_04 12:47

So then you just take it, you just pour them out of the pipe and when you're done.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Yeah, you know, uh, you could keep them in there for uh you can try to keep the keystones in there if you want. Um, I wasn't one of those guys. I'm like one of those guys like clean your pipe when you're done. Yeah, you know what I mean? And like it's it's like shaving. Like I'm a I do the double-edged safety razors, always have. I use a new razor every time I shave. Yeah, because they're like 0.25 cents. But some people will like, you know, three, four, five shaves out of something, try to squeeze it for all it's worth. I'm like, dude, I get it. You know what I mean? So I would dunk it out, yeah. I'd I'd knock it out, and then every time I smoke that pipe, I'd throw a few keystones in there. And I don't know. I should look into if they still make those. They're pretty pretty cool, they're weird looking, a little bit weird looking, but yeah, it'd be interesting.

SPEAKER_04 13:30

Like at the one at like the pipe show next this coming year, yeah, to see if we can find one of those would be interesting. That would be cool, yeah. Get our hands on.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

I'm pretty sure that the tint I have of this Mississippi River is from Cornell and Deal. You oh, you might have a new one. Yeah, I have a new one. We've opened it yet. Yeah. Well, no, we have. We have, yeah. It's it's I didn't smoke it. I haven't smoked it yet. I'm pretty sure you did. Did I? Yeah. I mean, it smells amazing. It's one of my more favorites of the ones that I have. You're right.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Did I you're right. I think that was the one we tried in the basement. The last one, okay. Yep. Maybe I did. Yeah. Maybe I did. The Cornell and Overviews. Yeah. I do smoke a lot of things. So maybe I did. So I might have lied to you, Herm. Um I may have actually tried this. I may have actually tried it, which means it wasn't enough for me to remember it, but it wasn't like enough for me to remember it being bad either.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

So it's probably just decent. I don't think it's I don't, it's not bad. I I mean, the smell is about the same, in all honesty. But we're we're we got a a version of uh tobacco that we can't we can get, but it's different now. Uh same with this bottle. Again, there's a lot, a lot that I was thinking about when researching this, the topic-wise to talk about. So I'm very curious to bring all this up. But we've got a company, Bear Wallow, family-owned, out of Nashville, Indiana, not Tennessee, Indiana.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

The other Nashville.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Other Nashville. I didn't know there was a Nashville, Indiana, which I grew up in Indiana, but that's fine. I didn't either.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Yeah, so did I for part of my life at least.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Didn't didn't know that. They do everything, all the grain that they use is all locally sourced. Again, they fought really hard just to be able to legally distill in Nashville, Indian, and Brown County. They named it Bear Wallow. So it's a weird name, right? Bear Wallow seems like a weird distillery name to have, but they draw a lot of their history from the region that they're in in Brown County or the area that they're in, had a ton of moonshiners, bootleggers that would run through there. And bear wallow is an actual location there that, as I understand it, is like a much like a forest, like a bunch of wooded area, but it was very populated with bears. And so bootleggers would run into these woods uh to get away from all the sheriff and everyone, because the sheriffs didn't want to be attacked by bears, so they would run into this forest forest and hide in there with the bears, and so that's how the bear wallow came to be.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

So is this southwestern Indian? This gotta be south, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Yeah, for bears. It's gotta be south again. They they are small, small, small distillery. Of course, you've already hinted on their flavor being possibly unique. So they use an old-fashioned Scottish gooseneck copper pot still. And we've seen these, like pictures of these. Very common for like Scotch companies to use these, but they're designed, they're really designed for like small batch product to be put out, but to retain a lot of like earthy flavors along the way. It is not the gooseneck copper stills, from what I understand, are not utilized for large mass production companies. You know what the max is. Uh, so I don't know the max. What I do know is that they're typically used for home distilling. There's smaller versions, even smaller, yeah. Like small. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

What did is there an age statement on this? This one, I believe so. Yeah, what's the age? I'm guessing it's a little higher proof, too. Like maybe around 120 or something.

SPEAKER_04 17:08

It's 122. Okay, I was like, it definitely drinks higher proof.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

It's got a lot of that rice spice, but it's oh it's a little under uh it's a little, it's young yet. I think I don't think it gives an age. I'd be surprised if it's more than a few years. I would say probably four years, maybe at the max.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah, yeah. No age statement on it, but 122.4 proof.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Young, young, not in like it, not in a bad way, but in a uh in a noticeable way.

SPEAKER_04 17:32

Yeah. I think the because you it's kind of that you have that two parts to the whiskey. There's that flavor on the front end, and it's very, I mean, it's it's got a great nose on it, and it has a like that first part of that that flavor profile is really good. It's more of that rice spice, but then it finishes really hot. A burn.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Yeah, which I don't say very often. Yeah, but it is a bit of a and it's not a bite, but a burn.

SPEAKER_04 17:54

I would say it drinks like hotter than like even like a booker's. Yeah, in a way, yeah. Yeah, it does, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

And those are maybe as much nuance in the flavor, yeah. Or maturity, I should say. So it hasn't had time to kind of meld together quite as quite as well. I bet, yeah, given some time, now that would be interesting.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

That would I don't know what age statement they normally put out, maybe a straight ride that they do.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

And you said that this so is the cask strength a regular release by them, or is it is it typically just a like if they have a lower proof release that they do and this is their barrel pick. Yeah, is it normally this hot? I would be curious, yeah, because I would be curious if they if this is normally released at like a 101 or even like a like a 95 proof. I wonder what how how that flavor changes.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

And while he's looking that up, it it's it's interesting. It is a lot of like vinegar to this, which I've never gotten from um like an English, an English or or Mississippi River before. I think it's the age. Yeah, it's vinegary, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

When I think in a good way, a lot of that like latachia, like that the um I think when I think of English, I think a lot, a lot of like that uh like uh incense type like a Catholic church. Yeah, yeah. There's some kind of incense to it, and then that a lot I feel like a lot of that has muted down and it's more like the tobacco now.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Yeah, it's almost more yeah, it's more like real tobacco and vinegar, yeah, and mature maturity. Like uh feels a little bit like a Virginia, like like the way leather is like very old.

SPEAKER_04 19:30

Like a dark, like maybe like a Virginia with some dark fire.

SPEAKER_03 19:32

Yeah, well, like well, because like aged Virginia for sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's more tobaccoy, which is an interesting thing for a such a hard English. This is because this is a hardy English, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 19:41

Oh, yeah, yeah. It's yeah, and I feel like the in usually you get a lot more of that, like that with the Mississippi River, like at least from what I remember. I haven't had it in a while. But you get a lot more of that like traditional English. There's that like kind of richness, bolt, like robustness to it. Yeah, this doesn't have as much of that. It's I I do think it's muted down a little bit, but it is very it's got a really good flavor, and it is more of that your, like I said, your traditional without having a flavor.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Like like you said, it's normally richer than this. This isn't quite as rich, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:12

But it's all yeah, like the flavoring has kind of died out a little bit, but in a good way.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

It's more to bank and it's smooth. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

And it's burning pretty nice too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

Well, I'm gonna stuff mine in or you see how it's.

SPEAKER_04 20:23

I want to say, yeah, I was I was curious as to how you were how you were working with it and stuff. Now that I got it lit, it's really behaving. Yeah, I thought I had mine packed fairly tight, and then I got my first draw, and I was like, oh, this is this is good draw still. So it's just where it's it's a real kind of dense, dense tobacco.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

It might be the best smoking, like you know, sliced cake or whatever this is technically that I've ever stuffed like that without rubbing it out at all. Yeah, like I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_04 20:49

I wasn't I didn't dare even try to do that. I I've done the stuff the folding stuff once or twice with a Virginia or with like a uh takes a little practice with like a coin, and I'm like, this doesn't burn very good for me. I have the hardest time with Virginia's anyway because I want to smoke them hot, and that's not that's a no bueno with a Virginia. You're gonna get me burned. You're gonna burn your mouth for sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Yeah. So bear wallow, the uh rye whiskey that they do is a straight rye, so at least two years. So we know it's at least a two-year-old that they do, always at a hundred-proof. So normally, I would say normally it's at 100-proof. Anything that's a uh pick is probably gonna be higher because this one's a lot higher than a hundred-proof.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

Yeah, I would be curious to see what that I would be curious as to what that tastes like at 100 proof. I wonder if it's better or if there's not as much flavor, because usually you're gonna lose flavor when you lose proof.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Right.

SPEAKER_04 21:41

In a lot of cases. But in this case, because it's so hot, I wonder if it would have a little better flavor profile with a little bit lower proof.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Well, and they also their whiskey, their mash bill for it is 55 rye, 35 corn, 10 barley. So it's a very high rye, low, or sorry, very high corn, low rye. Rye for a rye whiskey.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Okay. Yeah. I mean, that's a lot of barley too. Yeah. And we talked about last time. I feel like barley tends to kind of soften things up. And it, I don't, I don't get that with this one.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

No, it's not very, it's not a very soft whiskey. Not saying it's aggressive either, but it's uh it's it's like it's uh kind of a roused about. It's like a young roused about roused about. Dude, it's like a 21-year-old that's just kind of sewing his oats. You know what I mean? That's what I feel like.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Okay. But but like not but maybe not like a not like he's going nuts.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

You know what I mean? Like not like a 21-year-old that's like going nuts, like uh, but one that's maybe was raised the right way. But he's kind of like he's fine, like a like he's entered manhood. Now he's like, you know, trying the diff, you know, he's going to bars and like he's doing, you know, doing like, you know, like man stuff, like like like an adult. You know what I mean? That's what I feel like. Like that age, that version of age. So like you're not an adolescent, but you're not a an adult quite yet, but you're old enough to know better, you just don't experience to finally experience the world as an adult.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

So you're like a roustabout.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Is the roustabout something you just made up? No, it's a it's a phrase. No, you can look it up.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

I'm not the only one. I'm just letting him talk and just wondering what's the way he's going to be like, yeah, like a rambler, dude.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Like uh what's that country song that talks about somebody who's uh no, not rambling. Well, there's rambling man, but there's uh what's the word that they use for that one? Um it's a Zach Brown band song. You know what I'm talking about? Uh there's a word for that. Rowdy? No, it's it's somebody who kind of wanders from place to place and he's experiencing life just as it comes. And hitch. There's a word. Somebody, somebody listening to this is like screaming at the thing, like it's so-and-so, you idiot. You know what I mean? But uh, I know that word, but uh, I don't know the song, it's on the tip of my tongue. But anyway, it's that's a roused about. It's somebody who goes from place to place. In the 50s, they made a lot of songs about that. You know what I mean? Like, I'm a ramblin' man. Oh, is that what it is? No, it's not rambling. That's another version. Is it Brambler? No, no, Ramblin' Man is another one. But uh anyway, anyway, I'm not really sure the words.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

It doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Uh Elvis Presley did a song called that he was like roused about, but anyway, that's what I that's the age that I think of. It's not mature, it's not young, it's it's a little wild, it's trying to feel itself out. It's kind of sewing its oats, you know what I mean? It's experiencing life. So that's the age that this whiskey is, and it kind of tastes like that, which is interesting, young, vibrant.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Because on their website they say Liar's Bench straight rye whiskey is not for everyone, but for those who like rye whiskey, it's a real treat. Great for sipping neat or on the rocks and can be used as a mixer and it on all traditional rye whiskey cocktails.

unknown 24:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

I think that this would do well in a whiskey cocktail. Dude, that sounds kind of like a like what I'm describing.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Yeah, like it's kind of like an all-around, like it's experience experience, like it wants to experience all the different versions.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

And those that are experienced under rye are gonna be like, okay, I I can appreciate it's a treat uh for understanding and appreciating what it is. But new people, no, this is not great. This is this a bit much.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

It was Zach Brown band, it's colder weather, and you're thinking of gypsy. Uh is gypsy the word? No, he does. He's he talks about being a rambling man, or maybe it was rambling, but then he also talks about as a gypsy, yeah, his gypsy lifestyle.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

Also, the song by Fleetwood Mac, Gypsy. What a fantastic song, by the way. We're just side note. Sideboard so good. Like, nobody talks about Fleetwood Mac anymore, but oh, they had a little they had a little resurgence not too long ago. Fleetwood Mac? Yeah, yeah. Gypsy is a great song. I don't even know if that's the name of the actual song.

SPEAKER_04 25:37

I think it was like a TikTok trend, and it was that was the Fleetwood Mac song, was uh big one.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

That one's a good one. That one and Rihanna, obviously, are like two big ones. Rihanna. Rihanna.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Oh, you know what I'm talking about? I thought you were just doing a really bad job of pronouncing Rihanna.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

It's no, it's Rihanna. That's a different thing. That's just Derbia.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

I was like, wow, you you were just you are blistering.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Rihanna, which actually Rihanna, like what happened to her? She got married to like a billionaire. Yeah, yeah. And she's she's I mean, she was big, and then now she's like she doesn't need anymore. She's gone, she's off the market. She's yeah, she got all of her money, and she's she did what she's gonna be on, and now she's yeah, she's just she's good to go now. Yeah, G2G, yeah, good to go.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Anyway, she's G2G.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

What is it? Anyways, before we get into more tangent.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Yeah, so what's interesting about this bottle is the reason I picked it up and got so excited was the conversation I had with this guy from EndoWatch. He was like bear wallow, one of his favorite distilleries. They're uh offensively unique. And the offensively is the way we described.

SPEAKER_03 26:47

Did he cut did he get that from us or did he say that?

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Uh, I think that's how I would describe it for him. As he described it to me, it was very much it's not for everyone. It'll it'll challenge you, but it's really good.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

Offensive in a good way.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

It's it's offensive in a good way, it's offensively unique. I would agree. Yeah, I would agree. I like it. I don't know that I would grab it every day.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

I was gonna say when we poured this, I actually poured myself a like a pitiful amount. Did you notice that? Like, like it for most people, I think it would have been a lot, it's probably a two-ounce pour, but like I looked at it and I was like, ugh, like I should have poured more. Yeah, but now that I'm drinking it, I'm like, I think that was a respectable amount. So if that tells you the way I've I like it, but like what you're saying, I don't know how much of it I would drink in one second.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

And I I often wonder, so there is using Indiana rye. We we talked with Iron Vault when we interviewed them about how they hate Ohio rye because it's very pungent and very hot and very spicy and and not uh not full of flavor as much as spice. It's not well rounded. I wonder how much Indiana rye is like that MGP rye of just rye spice, but not a whole lot of complexity to it. Could be. And I wonder why I wonder what might change for them if they decide to use a different type of still. I appreciate what they're trying to do.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

I will say, for anybody listening though, I don't want you to liken this to MGP. No, no, because it actually is quite a bit different. Um, at least like for the the way that the flavor hits you, it it reminds me of kind of like that that Olympic sport of the like what do they call that? Like the downhill skiing, where no, not downhill skiing, but it's one where you go down that ramp and you go up. Yeah, you jump because it's like you drink it and it's a very quick kind of, but then it kind of the flavor builds like the way that they would come off that ramp and it just keeps building and building and building and building. Then at some point it's like gone. Yeah, but it does leave you a really interesting kind of uh I don't want to call it an aftertaste. I hate to use the word mouthfeel, but it's kind of like a coating, you know, it's like when you put your teeth together after you drink it a little bit, like it lingers with you, like it there's a presence there, a lingering presence. And I wouldn't call it an aftertaste because there's no finish. No, but I but it's almost like a coating. It's nice, it's pleasant. Like the way that you eat, like when you eat custard, the way it kind of sticks to your mouth a little bit after you're done eating it in a good way. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 29:17

It's kind of what I would expect for like a weeded bourbon or a weeded rye, where it like kind of coats the inside of your mouth.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

It leaves you feeling creamy, like your mouth feeling creamy. Yeah, like the way a cream savor would after it's gone. I I like it. It's it's good. Uh it's just it's not young, but it's not matured.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

This would be a nice, this would be a nice whiskey for a cold fall night. Yeah, dude, it is. It this is a it's chilly, you're out like by you whether you're out by the fire or you've been outside doing something.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

This is a warm-up kind of, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:46

This is a come back inside and you're trying to warm up a little bit for the evening.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

This is this is a like a go, a stiff drink. You know what I mean? Like it would be one, but like the way you would have one stiff drink and be done, kind of a thing. That's what this is. But it's good flavor-wise. I don't know, it's just what rye, a little bit, it's a little creamier than most ryes.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Right. So here's the other thing that I I kept thinking about, and I'm very curious on your guys' thoughts. This is a store pick. We talked about it store pick from gaze. Gaze changed names, was bought out probably three or four years ago. It was it was gays, hobbs, and schnapps. Yeah, just that it was just Hobbs and Schnapps. Hobbs and Schnabbs.

SPEAKER_05 30:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

They still have the game, they they still have the name Gaze, but they're owned by a different company, and all their stuff comes from them. Is it still called Gaze?

SPEAKER_04 30:30

They're are they owned by a distributor?

SPEAKER_01 30:32

No, they're owned by uh big red liquor, just like a huge liquor store ownership, like a total winery. Yeah, yep, it's very much like a total wine.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

It was like a family-owned run kind of gaze was like like the last name gay. Gaze parentheses, hops, hops, and schnapps, and schnapps, yep, yeah. But now is it just gays? Do they start?

SPEAKER_01 30:54

It's gay, it's gays, hops, and schnapps, but okay, yeah, but they they kept the store name, like just the name for people.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

It's owned by Ambed. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Yeah, it's kind of like we kept the name because people recognize the name. Well, good for them for getting that. But everything that they do, like store pick wise or bottle, like it's all from this this big red liquor. So this is from them prior to that buyout from actual gates. And I think I paid twenty five bucks for it.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

They they I didn't expect you to say this was that cheap.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

For a store pick is for a store pick. I mean, but they've had it on the shelf. But they've had it on the shelf for a very long time. They couldn't move it, I see. So the question is the the store picks that we have had. I don't know that we've had a disappointing store pick that I would say, oh, this is disappointing enough that I can understand it sitting on the shelf for four years.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

You could be disappointed in this at all for that price.

SPEAKER_04 31:47

Not for that price. I wonder what that price makes everything.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

It was probably 81. What was the MSRP before? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

I'm gonna guess 80 bucks it was marked down that much. Oh, it was marked. It was really marked down. Yeah. Like they they were trying to get rid of it. They trying to clear it off the shelf.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

Well, that changes kind of a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that I mean, because you don't get a wax top bottle for 25 bucks, period. The closest you used to come was the um a lot or the whatchamacallit, um Evan Williams single barrel with like 30, 35 bucks. It was like wax top, you know.

SPEAKER_04 32:21

Yeah, I mean, I mean, that's with the proof point being what it is, and they being a rye whiskey and a store pick, you're probably, I mean, you're I think you're at least looking at $60. You're over 50. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Yeah. But uh we'll never know. And they're also may never know.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

But gaze is also one that samples out all their stuff.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

I was I was just about to say, so that means did you try this before you had it?

SPEAKER_01 32:41

If I tried it, it was years ago.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

Because they always so the cool thing about gaze, and there's other stores that do this, but if it is a store pick, you can try it. And to the point where they will open a bottle for you to try it, which is so cool. Like, I love that about store picks. Right. Like it's something that people don't take into account, but where else can you try something like that before you buy it? Not a whole lot of things with no pressure and no cost.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Yeah, like that's a great thing. Yeah, that's a great deal.

SPEAKER_04 33:07

Well, no, that's what I thought was really cool about how the the store in Pennsylvania, when we're in Pittsburgh, that the store, anything that was in Pittsburgh, or that place. I can't think of the name of it, but I know it was like it was like a bigger chain of liquor stuff.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

I wouldn't mind shouting that place out for anybody that goes to that area because they actually they treated us really well.

SPEAKER_05 33:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

Uh, with and you could tell that they there's plenty of people that go in there with no intention of buying anything. They will still let you try just about anything and everything in that store.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

And really had, I mean, some good, like the bartenders had some good input input on some different things. They were acknowledging. It was really cool. You could try anything from that was made within Pennsylvania, and I mean, which was their pretty much their entire the entire store. I don't think they carried anything.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

It was within walking distance to to wiggle. Yeah. If you want to wiggle it, like like like not and not far because it's not like we were walking. Like it was like a block and a half, maybe a couple blocks, yeah. Cool place, great people, lots of a big place. It's such a cool concept.

SPEAKER_04 34:02

For such a small little place, it was I would love to see a place like Ohio Liquor have something like that where you can go and you can try. That's what I really liked about when they did OHLQ um partnered with they did the craft um event up in Delaware. And we went, you were able to go to different booths and try them, and and uh you had tickets or whatever, but you got to try the different booths and talk to the people, and a lot of times it was the distillers that you're talking to. Iron Vault was there, and that's how we got introduced to them. Um yeah, yeah. And then it was like, oh, if you want this bottle, you can go buy it, um, which was super cool because it was kind of like visiting distillery without visiting, it was like multiple distillers in one place, right? Yeah. I mean, if you were done Ohio, which was cool.

SPEAKER_03 34:44

I always recommend that to people because if you've never done something like that, it really is kind of a great way to kind of try new things and it'll kind of expand your knowledge and everything, and then also network with people and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

I just thought it was cool because we, I mean, it was bottles that I would probably never have bought or never considered, or probably like hesitated or bulked on buying a bottle, and the night was nice because you got to try it. And it was like, oh, this is really good. I will I'll buy this. Like, and there was a handful of bottles that I bought, and then some other ones that I went and bought later when I saw them on the shelves.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Same thing with so thing, same thing with the pipe show. Um, and the one in Columbus is the one we've been to is good. They have other ones, obviously, in other states in Chicago and Vegas and stuff. I also I think they've they've had other ones in Columbus that have been even better. But like you will meet people that you've never heard of, and you will buy, you know, you that's where I really got into handmade pipes, was at a pipe show like that. You start seeing like what people are making, that's one of a kind, and then you get to try a lot of different tobaccos that maybe you never would have picked up otherwise. And it's just a really cool, like a whole nother element to like something that you think you already kind of know all the ins and outs of until you holy cow, dude, that thing must be out almost out of butane. You guys miss Arm just about burned his face off with his pipeliner. I think it's out of butane, bud. Oh no, maybe not. Or it's about dude, that would burn. Don't burn your mustache.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

It's like a flamethrower right there.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Dude, I've never seen anything like it. Usually mine does that when it's about to run out. Uh, Pennsylvania Libations, by the way, was the store. Libations.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

What a great Pennsylvania Libati. And there was all Pennsylvania local uh distilleries that they had there.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

Well, if you're in Pennsylvania and you were there you go, that looks like a respectable flame. That's controllable. Pennsylvania Libations, it was a good spot. It was. It was downtown Pittsburgh. Final thoughts on this tobacco, Herm, as you you narrowly burn your face off.

SPEAKER_04 36:38

Hey, it lit it quite well. Yeah. Lit this bowl. Freaking flamethrower in your bowl.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

I'm curious how what you guys think about this with the rye. This rye we have had store pick rye. It's good, it's I will say I don't typically smoke English with rye.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Typically, I have done it, it's not my go-to. I think it's going fine with it.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Is it more pungent?

SPEAKER_03 37:00

This is less of an English than I would have. I mean, this this smokes like a dark fire. It smokes like a yeah, like a very dense tobacco blend, like a like a natural tobacco blend, not like a latte.

SPEAKER_04 37:12

Yeah, it doesn't have the strength of a dark fire, but it has that similar flavor profile, which is the one that you like. It's like that bacon smok, you know, smoked meat or I think I honestly think dark fire smells.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

I mean, for Ford English, it's like the least English, and I've had Mississippi River a number of times. This is like the least English Mississippi River I've ever had. It also could be the old recipe, part of it, part of it, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:35

I think the age probably kind of allowed some of those other flavors to kind of dissipate.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:43

2009.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Okay. So however old that is.

SPEAKER_04 37:46

18, 17 years old, something like that, 16 years old.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Good amount of a good amount of age on it. And they're not normally dry at that point. It depends on the tobacco.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

I mean, it could be better preserved, but I feel like Mississippi River, like the it was fair, it's fairly dry in in general. Doesn't it also come in like a ribbon cut as well?

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Is it always comes like that? It's not like a plug, it's like um it's like a really thick sliced cake. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. I wouldn't call it a flake, but it's close to a flake. And usually it breaks apart like a broken flake, but it's thicker cut. And it's not a crumble cake, exactly. It's a good like it's an eighth of an inch thick. Yeah, really thick sliced flake, kind of is what I'd call it. But with the consistency of a crumble cake. A plug is really like you gotta use a knife, and I mean you want to talk about a dry tobacco. Usually plugs are pretty dry. Yeah. And you really gotta take a chunk off with it with a knife and I think I got one as a plug. You know, and uh I'm I will say, out of all the I'm not a huge fan of and I, you know, I love knives and stuff. I like I don't like to to cut my tobacco like that. I just don't.

SPEAKER_01 38:54

Why not?

SPEAKER_03 38:55

I don't, I don't know, I just don't. I just don't. I I don't mind crumble cakes, I don't mind cakes. I don't mind in most cakes you can break apart.

SPEAKER_04 39:01

There's something about the tactile feel of breaking apart the tobacco before you smoke it.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Yeah, I don't like cutting it up like that. Yeah, uh I love gaslight, but gaslight is about as far as it gets for me. Because and I would like gaslight more if it wasn't the problem is it's kind of like a flake that's into a plug. You can kind of break up with your hands, but then it's got like these big square pieces that I'm not a huge fan. I would love if they came out with a um gaslight in uh and it it doesn't have to be ribbon cut, but I wouldn't mind it being in something else. Shag cut would be nice. Dude, I love shags. Oh yeah. I love shags, but anybody that smokes for a long period of time, you start to appreciate more shag cut. Because it's just easier to it's easier to smoke, it's easier to pack, it's easier to play around with.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

But I was gonna say, do you think that the different cuts come with age? Like the beginner, like a plug, I have to use a knife.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

Like there's something about like if you smoke a shag cut too fast, yeah, you are going to have problems. It will burn the crap out of you.

SPEAKER_04 39:55

It's gonna burn really, really fast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

And like, and I love like a penny farthing is the one I can think of that most people would have. It's a very fine shag cut. Um, and it's a Virginia as well, on top of it. So, I mean, if you're not careful, you you can burn your butt off.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

Esotericas is a shag cut, too, right?

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Most esotericas are shaggy.

SPEAKER_04 40:14

I was I I was like trying to remember. I'm like, I think of the the Margate is fair or something.

SPEAKER_03 40:18

Penny farthing is even shaggier than that, and and uh or finer cut, I should almost like it's like almost it's it's almost like it's it's like tender.

SPEAKER_04 40:26

It's a very long, yeah, it's very like yeah, it's very like corn husk.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Yeah. Almost like a thin.

SPEAKER_04 40:31

It's it's interesting, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

Yeah, I mean, so but it but it does, you're right, it comes with if you're not careful, right? It's like anything else, it's right, it's actually like one of those things that you might have it and then not smoke it right and don't appreciate it, and then later on you realize, okay, there's a certain way to do this. And once you learn how to sip tobacco, it's a lot easier on any tobacco in general. You know what I mean? So but this is uh one that you I mean, you could really puff it as hard as you want, and you're not you're probably not gonna at least the way I packed it, you're not gonna kill yourself because it's dense. I threw straight up like clumps of tobacco in my pipe, and I'm smoking it.

SPEAKER_04 41:10

So I mean, I broke mine up and it broke up fairly fine, but yeah, it's still got some some chunkiness to it for sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

I I see you uh you haven't really been drinking your your whiskey there, Harm. I've been enjoying this pipe, actually. So I'm very curious about it's the whiskey's growing on me. Like the more I drink it, the more I sip on it, it's actually growing on me. I don't think it's something you rushed through.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

We all have still someone on our glass. Normally we're on our second by now.

SPEAKER_04 41:35

Yeah, well, I also did more of a crisp pour because I watched you guys pour the glass and the color was like, I was like, ooh. Yeah, it's very nice, it's very like burnt caramel, like should like car like brown sugar, like very, very dark. Um, for something that doesn't seem like it has a ton of age on it, is kind of interesting. Yeah, but I when I saw it, I was like, that's gonna be good. Yeah, it looks real nice, yeah, and it's a I'm gonna pour a nice empty pour. And uh, I mean, it's good, yeah, but it's it's definitely something that you're gonna sip on and it's like a one and done.

SPEAKER_03 42:05

Um you're not gonna reach for a second class.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Yeah, and not to say I wouldn't drink it again, I just wouldn't drink. Just not back to back. Right. Yeah, yeah. But also, it could be that, you know, I think maybe if we had revisited this after having a couple drinks of something else, this is the first drink of the day. That's always uh uh kind of a factor too. It's like once you've had a dr a drink, then you can kind of bump it up. It's like you're grabbing a booker's after like all day at work, and you're like, whoa, that's hot. Yeah, yeah, hold on. Let me put some hair on my chest here today. But uh, I think if you have, you know, you have like a glass of something that's lower a little bit low, a little bit lower proof, then you can kind of bit of an appetite appreciate the the proof a little more. Um, but yeah, I mean it is it's it's very good. I I love the nose on it.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

What's interesting is you I never really thought about the color for flavor until you just mentioned it. I was like, looked at yours and I was like, wow, it is really dark.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

Yeah, it just looks really good, really dark.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Like it, I mean, it looks like that horse soldier, like very dark, like that.

SPEAKER_04 43:02

Yeah, no, I wouldn't say it's as dark as that horse soldier. The horse soldier looks like coffee in a glass. That is I've never seen anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

So, what's crazy is this is one of those distilleries that I haven't mentioned this yet, Chris, but this is one I think you would appreciate and respect even more because all they do is whiskey. So they don't do any vodka, they don't do any any kind of tequila or gin or clear spirits. The clearest that they get is moonshine. They're big moonshine and aged whiskey. They on their website even have aged whiskey and moonshine. Like it's it's labeled out as aged whiskey. Um, so they're they're big in like that moonshine, the flavored shine.

SPEAKER_04 43:42

And it has a very like the the bottle is is nice. I like the bottle, like the labeling is is nice, but it has a very like when you look at the bottle, the label is a little crooked. Yep, it has a very like oh, we do this in our garage kind of feel, and which is cool. I like that. Right. You know, it gives the bottle a little bit of it could just be this one off bottle. But my guess is it's probably hand labeled and and they probably bottle it by hand and it's probably very small batch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

But it looks classy still with the silver and whatnot.

SPEAKER_04 44:09

Yeah. I mean, and well, the front of the front of the label is like very old apothecary style, but it I mean it's being silver labeled is a little different, but it has a lot of that like the font and things like that, or kind of put that, give it that feel of that prohibition style feel.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

So we also have a a bottle for later on when Steve is back. Another one of theirs, gnawbone, which is their bourbon.

SPEAKER_04 44:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

So they're like you gnaw on something. Yeah, and it's a weeded, so they do a lot of this is the strangest company in the sense that they do a weeded bourbon, no rye, and then they do a rye with no wheat. Very little rye, like rye, the rye content is much lower than what I would expect. Like we're barely hitting that rye whiskey. So they're like going on the extremes. And then they've got a four-grain.

SPEAKER_03 44:59

Oh, four grains are always nice. We always appreciate a four-grain.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

And it's a four-grain whiskey because they do 40 corn, 40 wheat, 10 rye, 10 barley.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

That's a really interesting proportion.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Right. So they they their proportions are very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 45:13

Uh, and they're all using that small still. Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

They're all small batch, small. I mean like tiny, tiny. And the fact like I said before, they they did put stuff out on they did distribute out to stores, and then they said, nah, we're just gonna keep everything in-house because our batches are so small. What we put out is so tiny compared to if we go too far out, we have nothing now at the store to sell, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 45:41

I wonder we don't have any prices on like their standard bottles or anything like that, like those bottles and whatnot.

SPEAKER_01 45:46

I can probably find it.

SPEAKER_03 45:47

It's curious. Yeah. I mean, I I want to say, yeah, it's a br as a brand, try it out. You know? I don't know, but I don't know how much they're going for. Like if they're like being stupid and being like 80 bucks a bottle or something, I I don't know. Right. Which they could be because they're it sounds like they're pretty limited in their production, which I get, but I don't know. Uh I mean, because I think if I if we had gotten this bottle for say 70 or 80 bucks, would we be disappointed? You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 46:14

So uh if they do, so Liar's Bench, they do some single barrels just at the distillery as well. So they not barrel picks uh not picked by stores, but they do like just single barrel releases of it. And at this at the distillery, it's 70 bucks. There you go. Yeah, for MSRP.

SPEAKER_03 46:31

It's craft, those craft prices.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Okay, yeah. That's their that's for their single barrel of it. This but single barrel. And this is single barrel. This is like I mean, this is a single barrel pick, yeah. This is store barrel, too. So this probably went for that 70. Because it could be a store pick and not be single barrel. Right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 46:45

It says single barrel on it, yeah. Okay, well, I mean, 75 for this, would we be like would we be feeling different now? You get what I'm saying? Like that's a good question. Would you? I I want to say yes. I might be judging it harder than I am. Not saying that this is terrible, but you gotta take in the price of uh the count the price into account.

SPEAKER_04 47:05

For me, I don't I wouldn't, I don't know how disappointed I would be if I bought it for 70 or 75 bucks. Um, are the is there other stuff better? Well, I that's what I'm getting at. I'm not saying I really enjoy that's cheaper than that.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Yeah, maybe disappointed is not the word. I guess I'm I would be judging it more harshly. Yes, okay. That's what I'm getting at. Like, I'm not saying I would be disappointed. I'm honestly, are we disappointed anytime we drink something?

SPEAKER_01 47:29

Oh, we've been disappointed in something.

SPEAKER_03 47:31

Like at the end of the day, you're still drinking. So do you remember Runnels Mill? I mean, that's but I mean, you do judge something hard. Oh, so okay, case in point, if your six-year-old gives you a drawing, oh, maybe that's not a good if somebody else's six-year-old gives you a drawing, you're gonna judge it in this realm, right? But then if like a 35-year-old man gives you a drawing, you're gonna judge that a little bit harder. You get what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 47:55

Like, I think I think the judgment comes into play of why am I being given a drawing by a 35-year-old man? It was a gift pod, and I'm taking it away.

SPEAKER_02 48:05

It was a gift, yeah, it's a gift pod, taking it with me.

SPEAKER_03 48:09

Let's play tummy sticks.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Yeah, I yeah, I if it yeah, I can I can see what you're saying. Like it would be we would probably be a little more harsh in our judgment. Yeah, but also we tend to like if it's craft, you made it open-minded, right?

SPEAKER_03 48:24

It's your it's this is your distillet, this is your bottom. I'm not saying we'd be ripping it to shit, right? But we would be judging it a little bit hard. 25 bucks. I mean, this is pretty damn good. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, we'll say pretty dang good. The the I mean you're talking about wild turkey prices, like, yeah, like like look, I like 101, but this is a single barrel store pig. Like pretty, yeah, it's pretty, yeah, it's pretty cool, you know. But for 75, I'm like, I'd be curious to try this in a cocktail, which is crazy for a $70 bottle. But for a $25, it sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 48:53

Taking $25. I think this would actually be really good in a iced tea kind of cocktail. A Manhattan. I was thinking Manhattan, yeah. Like some of the things that we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

We're just we're working our way into summertime. I'm starting to think about, you know, fair.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Unsweet tea or sweet tea? Oh, it's always unsweet. I just had to ask.

SPEAKER_04 49:12

I think yeah, in Manhattan, I think the some of that sweet vermouth might take some of that alcohol edge off. Yeah, Manhattan would be good.

SPEAKER_03 49:19

And I think the proof being there would have give it some give it some backbow. I'm just, you know, I am I go against the grain. So I think weeded Manhattans are better. But uh sure. Well, that's wrong. Rye is wrong. Uh yeah, rye for Manhattan is what you're supposed to believe. You just admitted to everyone. Are you but have you had have you had weeded Manhattan?

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Sorry, but I think the better question is have you had a Manhattan the wrong way?

SPEAKER_03 49:44

Yeah, a maker's Manhattan is just about as good as it gets if it's done right.

SPEAKER_04 49:50

I will hold judgment on that. I'll let you make me one. How about that?

SPEAKER_03 49:53

All right. He's asking for it. I don't, I don't think I'm the right guy. I'm just saying, well, I'm also not a cocktail. If you're drinking a cocktail, you're already kind of in the fru-fru realm, in my opinion. And uh you might as well just you know go for whatever.

SPEAKER_04 50:06

Like a Sazerac, you would consider to be all fruit fruit.

SPEAKER_03 50:09

Look, if you're not drinking straight, it's fru-fruit. I mean, it's a cocktail.

SPEAKER_04 50:14

Yes. I'm not saying cocktails a lot to it.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Still a cocktail.

SPEAKER_04 50:19

It's not a uh umbrella drink.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

I feel like cocktails are the beer for whiskey drinkers. Yeah, I mean, uh I'm just saying it's like I can sit down and have like a pint and be fine. I'm not gonna drink a pint of whiskey, but like cocktails. I could I could have a few cocktails like that.

SPEAKER_03 50:37

Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker, right? So that's I mean, cocktails are fun. That's what they are. They're fun. Yeah, but they're not different, they're not, you know, they're not serious, you know.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

You know, it's interesting. I don't I don't know that I see you getting very many whiskey cocktails.

SPEAKER_03 50:50

It's normally like rum or you don't see me because they're supposed to be fun, dude. It's a dessert, it's candy, it's fun. It's supposed to be like, oh, we're partying there having a good time. I think that's why you think of cocktails as like a frou-fru system.

SPEAKER_04 51:03

I don't I only drink like like really liquor forward cocktails. So you're not adding straight. But okay. I mean, Nick Nog.

SPEAKER_01 51:13

I mean, I do like margaritas. I do like margaritas.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

My martinis.

SPEAKER_01 51:16

Your martinis? It's literally just vodka. You look at the vermouth and sit it down and shake it up.

SPEAKER_03 51:22

Shake it up with some ice, and that's it. That's it. And that is still a cocktail. Like I'm getting a little frufu with it because I threw some ice in there. You know what I mean? Shook it up.

SPEAKER_01 51:30

That's yeah, so whatever you put ice in your glass of whiskey, it's now a cocktail, like a frufu cocktail.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

Yeah, I'm being extra. I'm being extra, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 51:39

Uh, I need some ice in that. It's like you're being extra. There's poor you anything more than pouring something into a glass and giving it to somebody is extra. It's like a glass of whiskey. All of a sudden, you deserve a tip. You know what I mean? Like, like I had to do something to like, okay, dude. You're being a little like laziness showing you about, you know what I mean? It's like a steak, salt and pepper, that's it. Anything more than that, well, butter, that just yeah. See, now you're making that foo foo, right? No, no, if you don't put butter in a skillet, then if the skillet's not worth like ready, you know what I mean? Like, that's just you I you can't have a skillet without butter in it. Like, that's stupid.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

You can.

SPEAKER_03 52:14

You cannot. Like you can't cook anything in a skill without butter. If you're cooking anything in a skillet without butter, you're an idiot.

SPEAKER_01 52:21

Like, do you also butter your grill before you get it? Italians everywhere are offended.

SPEAKER_03 52:25

Uh huh. Well, don't get me. Okay, so a steak on a grill is not the preferred method, in my opinion, unless it's a flat top. Like, you need to get a good sear, you need a solid surface.

SPEAKER_01 52:38

We should, we should, we should do an experiment where we smoke a steak like low and slow.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

And then but you're being super extra. That's cocktail. Frou fru. Like, it's good.

SPEAKER_02 52:47

Not saying I don't enjoy souvita. There's nothing wrong with it.

SPEAKER_03 52:52

And I guess anybody that's like listening, there's nothing wrong with a frou-fru. There's nothing wrong with being sometimes I I am an extra type of person. Sometimes being extra is fine. Yeah. Look, sometimes it's fine, but it is a fun, it's so it's an aromatic. It's fun. Like it's extra. It's a cocktail. You know what I mean? It's not real tobacco, like it's an aromatic. You get what I'm saying? We're having a little fun out here, dude. It's it's it's it's uh mini putt versus golf.

SPEAKER_01 53:17

It's not serious, it's not serious, it's not serious. I've known some people. Wait till you play your kids. Well, you still want to win.

SPEAKER_03 53:24

Wait until you play your sons a putt. I play hungry, hungry hippos.

SPEAKER_02 53:28

I still want to win, but it's a fun game. You get what I'm saying? Like it's not playing blackjack.

SPEAKER_01 53:33

I thought growing up that my family having four kids in it was pretty intense with their putt putt until I went on vacation with the Diagostinos and Bob brings his own putter.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

Yeah, you gotta bring your own putter.

SPEAKER_01 53:46

But uh you don't have to. No, you can just go, they provide them for you.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

Yeah, I bring my own putter.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

Well, but but I've yeah, I show my skill by yeah, I show my skill by taking the one that's there.

SPEAKER_03 53:57

Yeah, well, yeah, there you go. Yeah, I'm not extra. There's again, batches, just uh old school, you know. Anyway, then I could do this. I think we've probably talked this one out.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

I well, I was about to say the last thing I was gonna say that the guy that introduced this to me or got me on to Bear Wallow is from Indiana.

unknown 54:17

Right.

SPEAKER_03 54:17

Well, that would make sense, right?

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Yeah, it makes sense, right? Indiana whiskey, Indiana. But trying this and I'm thinking about who would buy it, the people from Indiana are gonna go crazy for this. They're out in the country, middle, they're used to shine, they're used to, but not for the price. No, I mean I'm not saying for the price tag, but flavor wise, like people are cheaper than that. Yeah, flavor-wise, it it's something that either it's a polarizing flavor. And I think that for Indiana Ride, which is what this is proponing to be.

SPEAKER_03 54:48

Yes. Um yeah, it's it's different.

SPEAKER_01 54:51

If this is all you had and then you had MGP, I think I'd take this over MGP. Yeah, yeah. Flavor-wise, yeah. Uh price tag wise, it'd be kind of hard to beat. But flavor-wise, it's not 95 and 5, I'll tell you that. Yes, yeah. It's good.

SPEAKER_03 55:05

I like it. I love it for 25. I would love, I would like this uh for 50. I'd like it for 50. Hard sell at 75. But I do like it. Also, this is one you can't get. I would like to see, like again. Uh I mean, maybe they're I don't know. I'd like to go check them out. Like their non-store pick stuff. I don't know. Well, I'm here's the thing. I'm intrigued by the brand. I'm I want to try more. I want to see. I would agree with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:33

This this bottle has enough of that flavor of a good flavor profile to make me want to say, I would buy their regular lower proof, their hunter-proof uh whiskey. And I'd be open to trying to do it. Just to try it, yeah. And then I and then if I get more of what I like than trying their bourbon or trying something else. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:52

And Indiana uh does a most places in Indiana do a if they do a four-grain, they do it really well. Yeah, I'd like to try that. I'd really be interested in that.

SPEAKER_01 56:00

Four-grain whiskey sounds weird, like it's not even a bourbon. Yeah, but it the interesting, like you said, is the proportions. Like that's the interesting part. Four grains are typically not bourbons, yeah. But you do have some four-grain bourbons, but it's like compromising what the other three are.

SPEAKER_03 56:15

Yeah, like the they're like so small, the proportions are so small. It's like, is it really four-grain? You know, but um, yeah, I don't know. I'd be I'm interested. I'm interested. It's piqued my interest. This brand, I like it. I want to try more.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

I'd be curious on what the club thinks, the guys in the club.

SPEAKER_03 56:28

Well, we we should we'll bring up a good amount left in the bottle, so you should find out.

SPEAKER_01 56:33

It'll it'll be brought out.

SPEAKER_03 56:34

Yeah, yeah. We'll but bust her out. Yeah, we we'll bust her out. And we'll be busting out another episode with Herm with Herm back on the podcast. It'll be fantastic. Come back. See you then.

SPEAKER_00 56:52

Thank you for listening to the podcast. If you want more great content and other perks, be sure to support the show by clicking the link in the show notes. We can be reached on our website, whiskeychasterspot.com, with any ideas for the show. Thanks again.