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Green River Wheated vs High Rye Bourbon Explained with Caryn Wells · Aussie Bourbon Lovers

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  Incredible flavors, even better stories. One Pour,
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  10 Minutes. Aussie bourbon lovers sharing bourbon with Australia.
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  Well, tonight there's no pop. We're still in Dry July,
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  and tonight we're taking a throwback to when we talked
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  to Karen about Green River. That's right. Karen Wells, the national brand ambassador from Green
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  River. We poured the wheated bourbon and she told us about the difference between
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  the rye and wheated expressions and told us a little bit about how to
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  taste and how to kind of enjoy bourbon if you're coming to it new.
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  This is a cool chat. She shares heaps and settle
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  in. And if you're not drinking a water, have a listen and see if
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  there's some pointers you can pick up about how to taste your bourbons. The best
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  one being drink it how you like it. Cheers. I like my water with bubbles
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  in it. Oh,
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  that was a good one. Oh no, it went everywhere.
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  What are we drinking, Dave? It's just— we're joined by Karen Wells
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  again from Green River, the national brand ambassador.
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  This is the wheated bourbon, Karen, is what we're having. Yeah,
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  yeah, this is really good. This one we decided
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  to do something different that most people— most distilleries don't do this, but this
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  is the mirror image of our flagship, which is
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  Our flagship is 70 corn, 21 rye, 9 malt.
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  Today what we have is 70 corn, 21 wheat, and we use soft red
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  winter wheat on this. The grain actually is red
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  in color. It's actually softer and it's actually sweeter.
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  So what you can do by getting both of our bottles is
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  you can literally compare the difference between a wheated bourbon
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  and a high rye bourbon. So I think that's really fun for
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  the consumer. Because so many times I hear people saying, oh, I don't—
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  I like wheated bourbon, or I don't— I don't know what I like. Okay,
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  well, here's 2 that are identical, and now you can decide
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  for yourself which one fits your palate better. Great. And so
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  literally everything. So the barrels, the grain,
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  every other grain except for the one grain that's at exactly the same percentage.
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  Yeast strain was the same. We use number 4 char
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  on all of our barrels. So all of Everything's
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  identical. Uh, and that makes it, that makes it really fun,
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  not only for me, um, as someone who's talking about it
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  and showing people, but again, on the consumer side, you know,
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  I, I talked to so many people and some people are trying to
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  get into bourbon and I'll hear, you know, their friend tell them, oh, we'll start
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  with a wheated bourbon. It's sweeter. It's going to be easier on your palate.
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  But, but that's not always true for everybody. You know, all of our palates
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  are different. So I think when you, when you have a product
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  that is literally identical, same age, same mash
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  bill, same yeast strain, you really can see the
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  difference and decide which is, which is better for your palate.
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  Amazing. That's fun. And I love this because your
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  background is teaching and then you served as a firefighter.
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  And one of the things that we're excited to talk to you about is that
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  the way that you kind of guide guests at Green River through and all
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  around the US through the tasting experience, because over
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  here we, we, don't— most Australians
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  experience bourbon is to drink it with Coke, and that's kind of all they've got.
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  Yeah. So it's kind of a can. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So can you guide
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  us through a bit of like, what should we be doing when we've got some
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  bourbon in a glass, and, and how should we be tasting? What should we be
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  looking for? Yeah, sure. So I think the biggest thing for
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  me is there's, there's 2 ways to nose bourbon, and I always tell
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  people this because you got to figure out which way works best for you.
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  The most common way is everybody puts their nose in the glass and they
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  open their mouth and they breathe in. And they'll go low, they'll go high on
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  the glass, and they breathe. And I'll hear people go, oh my,
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  I'm getting the caramels, I'm getting the brown sugars, I'm picking up the spices,
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  I'm picking up the mint on the north side of the mountain. I don't know
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  what that is, but they say that. You know, so that
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  works for some people, but it doesn't work for me. All I get when I
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  smell that way is I smell alcohol. So I actually prefer
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  to nose it a second way, which is keeping your mouth closed
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  and then slowly going back and forth underside underneath
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  each side of your nose, because one side of our nose has better sensors in
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  it than the other, and it will change, you know, what we've
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  eaten that day, what, what we've, if we take medications,
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  all those things affect our palate. So if you, if you only nose
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  a bourbon one way, you're going to do yourself and that bourbon
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  and Injustice. You really need to try it several different ways,
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  no matter when you're— when or what you're trying. I definitely
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  get that sweeter smell when I go from side to
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  side. Yeah. It's like, yeah, it's really wild, isn't it?
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  It's wild that all of those different things give me— you get different scents.
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  That's kind of crazy, isn't it? Yeah. Same glass and different. Yeah.
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  Yeah. Different things. And, you know, and I'll hear some people say,
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  you know, don't swirl it like you would a wine. That's not true.
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  You know, especially with our product, it's a high corn content. Corn grows
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  with oxygen, therefore corn opens up with oxygen.
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  So if you let it— I like to make my pour and let it sit
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  for about 10 minutes. If I, if I haven't let it sit, then I like
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  to just go ahead and, and swirl it and let it get some oxygen in
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  there. Because again, you go back, you'll get a whole different set
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  of aromas. It's crazy. It's really wild.
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  And then, so then we're— so once we've kind of got it kind of on
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  the nose, then, uh, what, you know, and particularly people who are like new to
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  having it in their palate and their mouth, what's the best next thing? Yeah,
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  so you, you know, the— I always say you got to take 2 to 3
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  sips. The first sip is going to hurt. There's just no way around it,
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  especially if you're not used to drinking high-proof alcohol. You know,
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  uh, high-proof alcohol sits different than beer and wine. And,
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  and so the first— like, this one is 45% alcohol, so you
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  know, that, that ABV is going to be really a shock to your palate.
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  So you got to shock the palate and then you come back for your second
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  and third sip and that's when you actually taste the bourbon.
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  And the Kentucky chew, is that the right way of
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  thinking of this? Yeah. Yeah. You call it Kentucky chew.
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  I say swish it around like you're doing mouthwash. You know, you're, you want to
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  hit all of those sensors in your palate. And, and for some
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  people, it's gonna have that when you swallow, you're gonna go, dear God,
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  what did I just do? But yeah, you know, the rest of us, the rest
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  of us are gonna go, oh, that's, that's not bad, you know, and then you're
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  going to come back in a couple of minutes, and you're going to take another
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  sip, and you're going to go, oh, wow, now I'm starting to understand
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  this, I'm starting to get those flavors. And, and it's
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  really not as bad. It's, but it's very intimidating at first when you're trying to
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  drink high-proof alcohol. Yeah. When I
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  first in uni started drinking whiskey, I always had it with Coke.
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  It was like just as a mixer. Yeah. And then I
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  think it was our adventures to Kentucky and New York that
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  I would have it like on, on ice.
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  And then very recently I've decided that it's much better neat.
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  It's been a progression over a long time.
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  Yeah. A favorite way of drinking it. So don't
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  judge me, but when I first started drinking bourbon, I drank it with
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  Mountain Dew. So the origins of Mountain Dew, it was
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  made as a chaser for whiskey. So I still encourage people,
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  if you're trying to like bourbon and we're talking about the sweets that
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  are coming out of it and you're like going, there's nothing sweet in this,
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  it's just harsh. Well then if you add the Mountain Dew to it,
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  you will start to, you'll You'll get the flavors of the bourbon, but it's
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  not going to be the, the harshness to your palate. And then ultimately you
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  will start backing off. Like I would do bourbon and Mountain Dew, and then it
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  was bourbon and Mountain Dew and bourbon. And before you know it, I didn't have
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  any Mountain Dew in there because my palate understood the flavor.
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  So Sprite, ginger ale, you know,
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  Mountain Dew. I tended to go to the clear spirits only because I
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  could see how much was in there. Versus the dark spirits where
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  it could get ugly real quick. Yeah. But that's the
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  dark mixers there. The mixes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
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  The dark mixer. So yeah, do, do what fits you. I mean, cranberry juice
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  is a, is a great mixer. Um, there, there's a lot
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  of different, you know, different things. Start with a, with a cocktail,
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  you know. Um, I don't know how big, um, espresso martinis
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  are over there. Yeah, but are they big?
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  Oh yeah, then get it with bourbon. With bourbon? So what are we swapping
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  out the vodka for bourbon? Wow, have you tried that, Dave? I don't think I've
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  ever had that. I'm not a coffee drinker. Dave loves coffee. I can't stand it.
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  But espresso martini with bourbon. Yeah,
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  once you do that, it's really hard to go back. Okay. It's,
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  it definitely adds all those different flavors. Like if I want my,
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  my espresso martini sweeter, I'll use our wheated bourbon. If I want it
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  to have a little bit more oomph to it, then I'll use our high rye
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  bourbon. So yeah, that's, that's one of my go-tos.
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  Um, a good old whiskey sour is great.
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  You know, you're, you're going to get those flavors, but you're not, it's not
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  just all up in your face. So yeah, enjoy it however you
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  want to enjoy it. I always tell people, taste the bourbon neat to help your
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  palate start to understand it, but you enjoy it however you want to enjoy it.
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  There's no right or wrong. Yeah, I think that's one of the things I love
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  about bourbon, like the people, the stories, but the fact that it's kind
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  of like, have it so many different ways, but have it how you like it.
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  How you like it. Yeah. If you're wanting to, if you're
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  wanting to become more of a connoisseur on it, then again, taste it neat.
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  And if it just isn't sitting right, then, then mix it. Who cares?
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  You know, the fact is, is that there's, there's a lot of history
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  here. There's a lot of great stories and you can
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  always share some good times with people over a nice pour, whether it's
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  on the rocks, neat, or in a cocktail. There's no right or wrong.
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  Yeah, so true. That is, that's so good.
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  And, um, I, do you have a
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  favorite way that you like to enjoy it yourself? Do you still sometimes put Mountain
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  Dew with it? Are you mostly always neat now? Yeah, no,
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  I don't. I haven't tried the Mountain Dew thing in a long time. I may
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  have to go back and revisit it though. That's, that's been many years ago now.
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  Typically, I drink my bourbon neat. I do like an Old Fashioned
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  every now and then. I like a Paper Plane. That's another one that I enjoy.
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  And more recently, if I'm out and I know I'm going to be up
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  for a long time at night, then I get it in an espresso martini because,
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  you know, a lot of places now are making it with real espresso. So I
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  know that that shot's going to keep me up for a while.
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  But But, you know, it all depends on the mood. If I'm sitting at home,
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  then it's usually neat and I'm just sipping on it.
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  And I typically, my go-to is going to be our original,
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  our Black Label High Rye Bourbon. I just really enjoy that.
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  I enjoy how it opens up. But there's, yeah,
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  it all depends on my mood really. I mean, and I'll be honest
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  with you, a good bourbon cream. I was playing around a
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  couple of years ago. I was playing around a couple years ago and I got
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  some raspberry preserves that were seedless,
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  and then I added a little bit of the Demerara sugar
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  and muddled that up together, added some chocolate bitters,
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  and then muddled all that really good. And then I added like
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  half-and-half or heavy whipping cream, and I shook that,
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  and obviously had bourbon in there. And then poured it
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  over ice and it was like a really good chocolate raspberry bourbon
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  cream. I want a glass of that right now. Yeah, yeah,
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  it's, it's kind of addicting. I'm not gonna lie. It's like you
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  can suck those things down really quick. So yeah,
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  lucky we're recording. We can play that back as a Make a Recipe.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everybody
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  always asks me how much. I'm like, I don't know. I just threw it in
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  until it looked right and I tasted it. Now I need a little more of
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  this. So yeah, great. The way every good
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  cook should be cooking. Yeah,
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  yeah, a bit more bourbon probably is what the answer is. Yeah, yeah. Um,
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  that's it. And, and so we haven't had a chance yet to get to Owensboro
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  to check out Green River. If, if Australians hop on a plane and get over
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  there and can get to Owensboro to come and hang out with you guys,
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  there's some cool experiences you guys have. What can we do? Yes,
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  so we're— we are on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, so we do tours 6 days
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  a week. So we do tours Monday through Saturday. We have everything from
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  a full tour that you see everything at the distillery to what
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  we call a sit and sip, which is if you, if you
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  have trouble climbing stairs or you're just not in the mood that day, you can
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  sit, get all the history, you just don't walk around the distillery. We have
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  cocktail classes where you learn how to make cocktails and then you get to take
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  glasses home and, and the recipes so you can make it at home.
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  We have barrel thieving tours so that you can go and do
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  a standard tour, but instead of going back to the tasting room, you stay in
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  the rickhouse, you thieve from the barrel, and you get to taste the product right
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  there, which is really cool. So our rickhouses are pretty,
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  pretty neat. And then once a month we do a distiller's— head distiller's
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  tour. So once a month you can get a whole private tour with Aaron Harris,
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  our head distiller. If Aaron isn't available, because, you know, things happen.
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  And then you'll either get myself if I'm in town,
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  or you'll get our single barrel coordinator, Wes James.
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  And any— those, those tours are just great because
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  you, you don't go in the standard rickhouse, you sit out there,
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  and it's just really a fun time. So yeah,
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  any of those you would enjoy. Yeah, well, I would say Sorry,
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  you go, Kat. No, I was gonna say, we're, you know, we're part of the
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  Bardstown Bourbon Company family. We're 2 separate distilleries. Our Bardstown campus
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  is state-of-the-art, brand new. Uh, our Green
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  River Distillery here, we're, we're old school. So you get to walk back
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  into time and our buildings are from the '40s and the '50s and, and it's
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  really cool. It's a, it's a unique experience for sure. Awesome.
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  Well, it's definitely on our list and, you know, we, We're so delighted
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  to get to hang out with you a little bit at Kentucky Bourbon Festival,
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  and this has been so much fun. So thank you so much. And we'll be
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  back. We'll be over there. We'll come, we'll come do a tour and hang out
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  in the rickhouses and thief from some of those barrels. That sounds so cool and
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  definitely like something we want to do. If you can get your hands on,
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  just jump on Google because you'll be able to find where the, where the Green
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  River Bourbons, the wheated bourbon or the high rye bourbon. Yeah, we're lucky enough in
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  Australia to be able to get them here. Yeah. Easy to get your hands on.
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  Grab a bottle, get a coin to shoot the seal and enjoy some delicious bourbon
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  from Green River. Or make yourself a cocktail. Yeah, exactly. An Old Fashioned or espresso
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  martini. Really? Yeah, skip back a few minutes and make yourself
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  something delicious that's dessertier for us too. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.
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  Thanks so much for joining us, Karen. Unreal. Thank you,
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  guys. Cheers.
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  Thanks for listening. Make sure you connect with us on TikTok, Instagram,
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  and YouTube, and stay connected with us by clicking subscribe on your favorite podcast
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  app.