Latest / The Scotchy Bourbon Boys / Whiskey Journeys: Greg Snyder's Tale of Tradition, Innovation, and Russell's Reserve 13 vrs 15

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Whiskey Journeys: Greg Snyder's Tale of Tradition, Innovation, and Russell's Reserve 13 vrs 15 · The Scotchy Bourbon Boys

• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Hey Scotchy Bourbon Boys, tiny here to tell you all about Rosewood Bourbons and Rye the bourbon that implicated Andy Dufresne in a double homicide he did not commit in the classic movie Shawshank Redemption, initially produced in California by General Distillers in the 1930s and originally called Lewis Hunter's Rosewood Bourbon master blender.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Jason Giles has brought back Rosewood to you by purchasing plus contract distilling barrels of bourbon in Kentucky and Indiana.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Once they mature he ships them to Texas where he ages them for at least another summer in the Longhorn heat.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: The Rosewood Contextian blend and the Rosewood single barrels offer a unique bourbon and rye experience.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Please drink responsibly and never drink and drive We'll be right back.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're the Scotch and Burnin' Boys, raisin' the hell and makin' some noise.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're the Scotch and Burnin' Boys.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: We're here to have fun and we don't want to be ignored.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: We're here to have fun.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, All right, Welcome back to another podcast of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Tiny here tonight with a special podcast.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: We've got a special guest, a jumping guest, a last minute guest.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: We've got Greg Schneider, master distiller at the moment of Chicken Cock Whiskey, Hickencock Whiskey, and he basically is bringing that brand back and doing a fantastic job.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: But he's here in a different capacity.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: But he's here because and he's been on, if you go back, he's been on very many times on the podcast, but we've talked about this the first time that me and Young Nose put Russell's Reserve on the podcast.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Greg gave us a story that just blew our minds and we've known this story forever.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Now you're going to find out all about it, but first I'm going to take care of business.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: All right, wwwscotchysbourbonboys for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys, Glen Cairns and Bourbon Balls plus t-shirts.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Check that out or contact me directly on Facebook.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: You could messenger me, We'll send out anything that you need.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: And then also, uh, we are on all podcast formats apple, spotify in spotify and iheart mainly, but anything anywhere you listen, we're there.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Plus, we are on instagram x and facebook and youtube and what.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: That's what we are right now.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Live on facebook and youtube.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Uh, we monitor the comments.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: We've got John Ritt, We've got Joe Roseman right now and that's how Greg kind of was just jumping in.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: He's like, if you want me to jump in, especially Super Nash who was supposed to be making it back, hopefully he makes it back he was in the process of getting Russell's 15 year.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: But now that I've taken care of all that, welcome everybody on YouTube if you want.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: It's like we are back on a Tuesday night live.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: It's during the festival seasons we kind of use the Tuesday nights to load up the podcast that we do on the festival.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: But tonight we are back for the Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But make sure everybody, our Thursday annual Halloween podcast party is on.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: You can kind of see.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you can see it on YouTube, but you definitely can see it on Facebook.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I've got my.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: We are going to be barrel bashing the Smashing Pumpkins Few special bottle from the distillery Few and their Smashing Pumpkins.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: It is a bourbon that is proofed down with oh my God, a form of tea, A form of tea, some form of.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: It's like.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: It's a cool tea, but he uses tea to proof down the whiskey and it makes a really unique experience.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: So make sure that you check it out.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: We dress up, we do our.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: If you check out our past annual podcast, they get pretty wild and we have a lot of fun.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: But that'll be Thursday.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: We're getting ready for that, but tonight tonight we have Greg.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Welcome Greg.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks, buddy.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Always a pleasure to be connected with you guys and talking about the industry I love, so thank you.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: And you've been in so many different places.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: You know, and you've been in so many different places.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: You know, and we you know, it's like your, your career, and how it's spanned.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: I'm you really pretty much at this point.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: If you got cut, you would bleed bourbon, right?
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I tell people you know, when I go to the hospital for tests and they take my blood and check out you know what type of blood I am.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: I say it's difficult.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: It's 90 proof, so that's good.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: I would have to agree.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: You know you've been doing this for so long and it's just what you love doing this.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Now, would you say that as your career went, that your passion for it From where you were as a kid to where you are now just kept growing and growing like?
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Or was it there all along, or did it evolve?
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: There were some seeds in my life.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: My dad was an avid bourbon drinker and I kind of admired my dad so much and wanted to be like my dad.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: That's why I wanted to get in the business world and so, yeah, it kind of evolved.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: But you're right, I mean, as time goes on.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: You know bourbon's not one of those things that you develop, you know, you create or come born with a palate, for it's a, you know it's a creative palate.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: It's a developed palate industry.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: There's so many companies in different capacities.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: You know that palette has kind of grown fonder and fonder and more, I guess, more discerning.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: So yeah, so one of the things this is a question I guess I have never.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: I've not actually asked you, but you know you ran the, you were at seagram's and then you ran the cooperage for brown and foreman for a long for for eight years I I take it right, is that right?
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Nine years and so that you were making barrels.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Uh, then you were at wild turkey and kumpari and we're going to talk about what, what happened here, but you can give us a time period.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: But also, when you were at Wild Turkey, what were you doing at Wild Turkey?
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: When I was at Wild Turkey it was actually owned by Pernod Ricard.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: That was before Gabarri bought the brand or bought the company.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: Actually I left Brown Foreman.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: I was in executive management at the Cooperage.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: It was called Bluegrass Cooper at that time.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: I worked for them 12 years and on those 12 years I worked at the Cooperage.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: So again, I've been blessed to work in this industry making whiskey, aging whiskey, bottling and shipping whiskey.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: But the experience I had at the Bluegrass Cooperage was beyond what any master distiller or anybody in this industry could ever imagine to experience.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: It was so beneficial to my growth and my experience and my knowledge in the industry.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: But then I had an opportunity to leave Brown Foreman and I became the vice president of Austin Nichols and a managing director of Wild Turkey.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: So my friends lovingly call me the head turkey at Wild Turkey Distillery.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: So, as far as working with the still, you know throughout your career you pretty much at this point with the chicken cock whiskey, was this the culmination of everything that you learned, learned, but then you got to basically run the still exactly how you want to run it and make the whiskey and be right there while it's being made at.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: You know, as the master distiller.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I understand that.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: You know nick and everybody are every in, the distillers there are helping out while you're there, but you had as a distiller.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: You know the thing that you're there but you had as a distiller.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: You know the thing that you're looking for is cook temperatures and when you how, how hot you make, you know you.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: You put the corn in and then you cool it down and then you're putting in the rye and then you know then when you put in the barley and then once that goes in and then the fermentation starts, you pretty much is this, is this the chicken cock that you're doing right now the most control you've ever had over a brand.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned the word culmination.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: I don't think it's a culmination, tony.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: It's one of those things that it's an opportunity that I truly have complete oversight for everything that transpires to make chicken cock whiskey.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: You know, from providing them mash bills, you know the work instructions for cooking the grains at various temperatures, the enzymes used, the yeast used, all the specifications for fermentation, beer chemistry, distillation, and complete oversight.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: I love the relationship with Barshtown Bourbon Company.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: They've got the greatest team in this industry and I just appreciate all of them so much because, as I tell people, essentially I use their kitchen, their cooks and I get to orchestrate Everything goes on.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: So it's a wonderful relationship.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Uh, we're making some fantastic whiskey, for those who haven't tried it yet.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Um, but I'm so appreciative as well of of my 46 plus almost 47 years in the industry that I have been blessed to work with so many great people in this industry, so many great distillers you name it.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, I still learn today.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: If a day doesn't go by that I don't learn something, then you know what.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: I might as well just hang it up, because I just love it.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, once you get into the actual, I mean you took your Cooperage knowledge, you consulted on actually, a new cooperage, the west virginia barrel company, um on line.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: You helped them set up everything they needed to do and then you went at it um the barrel making, at a from a master distiller position, but you also have your Cooperage knowledge all along.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: So, combining that and the love of what wood does to whiskey, and then the distilling aspect, where I'm just telling all you people out there, all you whiskey and bourbon lovers, that what Greg has done is very unique to the industry.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Now, I'm not going to say it's the only time, it's, you know, but a lot of what he has added into as far as how he has made those, had those barrels made for him, really paying attention like you can pay attention to the distilling process and the fermenting process and the aging process, but the making of the barrel itself, he put that into it, which then we're just starting to get the results, and the results, I have to say, have been fantastic, freaking fantastic actually.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: It's something that you should excite everybody.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: The round of chicken cock bourbon that's on the shelves right now are from the distillate that Greg has done that, he that greg has done, and it's also straightforward from the initial barrels that he purchased before he got into the, I think you've been doing this, the barrel making.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: You did it for four, three years, right, three straight years where you're just individually actually the first year of the barrels that I actually selected the logs and had oversight from bark to barrel, to bourbon to bottle, was in 2020.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: So this is actually the fifth year.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Okay, so this year you did select the logs also for this last, actually, no, we've got to the point now where Independence Day we had to had to change uh, cooper's producers independent stave company, who's the largest producer in the world.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Brad boswell um used to be competitive minds, a dear friend of mine and he knows my, my attention to detail, and so basically I laid it out I can't be there every month to oversee the log selection, the, you know, the stave cutting, the barrel production.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: So he said here's our specifications, you know.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: And so Brad and I actually called me and said so I just want to understand, these are what we need to do to make your barrels.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: I said, yes, sir, and Brad knows me, I go down when the barrels show up, I look at them.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: I look at the ends of the staves, make sure the tight grain is there, look inside the barrels, make sure they were charred properly, and so you know all the specifications.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: I'm there to ensure that they follow it and they do.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Brad's not going to steer me wrong.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: He's very trustworthy and they've got a great company.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I mean, when you want to sell barrels, you want to be trustworthy, that's for sure.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: All right, so let's get into your time at Wild Turkey, let's go Tonight we're going to be putting this 15-year Russell's Reserve which they just released.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: This year it's $249.99, and then I've got last year's Russell's Reserve 13 right here.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I really love.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Now, as far as what initially came out, what the idea?
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Greg, just talk about that aspect of what was happening at the time, what you were dealing with and kind of how you know what you came up with.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: You know, all the distilleries love to make things romantic and they have different things.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: But let's just, we're just talking about reality here.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Um, what, what happens, you know.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: So I want you to get let everybody know what the real story is, because we all know it's being told a little bit differently.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: But we but I also understand marketing and everything and as you go through um time, uh, some things, just if it, some things would sound better for the distillery.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: That's how they do it, but it would have been.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: You know it.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: It still sucks.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: So tell, tell the story how it went down so thanks for this opportunity time.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I, despite what Campari posts on Facebook and social media and that I would encourage your listeners, don't believe everything you hear.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: Okay, I started working as the vice president of Austin Nichols, the managing director of Wild Turkey, in 1998.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Started there in March and at that time they were going through a complete package change.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: I didn't know about it until a couple months later.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: Nobody told me about it and I find holy cow.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: We got all these bottles and labels and materials we got to use up.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Otherwise we're going to have a huge obsolescence cost Anyhow.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Anyhow, long story short, we went through that and during that time period it was owned by perno ricard.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: At the time, campari wasn't even involved and perno ricard came to me one day and he said you know, we think we have too much whiskey.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Would you mind taking a look at our inventory and let us know if we've got too much whiskey?
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: And so I can do that, but I need to know what your sales forecasts are going out several years later and they said, okay, yeah, figure 2% growth on all of our brands for the next three years.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: I said, well, that's fine.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: But I said you have products that are at least 12 years old.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: So I need to know how 12 years in order to plug it in my model and figure out.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: You know what you need, what you got, what you're going to use up and what you got left over.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: And he said, well, just figure 2% growth in all of them.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: So I did that and I have this Excel spreadsheet pretty simple spreadsheet.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: Takes into account how old the whiskey is, what the yield should be based on, angel share and so on and so forth.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Matches that up against the case sales that are forecasted and the proof gallons how much whiskey you need to supply those case sales.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: And so I came back to him and had a meeting in New York City at the corporate offices of Pernod Ricard America.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Actually had all the top brass from Pernod Ricard Americas and Pernod Ricard France came marketing accounting, you name it.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: We had everybody there and I did this presentation.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: I said you know you don't have too much whiskey, but you got too much old whiskey.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: What was happening was the finance group in New York, at the corporate office in New York, was telling the folks in Lawrenceburg, kentucky what barrels to pull to dump for the various products.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: Well, wild Turkey 101 was about 75 to 80% of the total volume of Wild Turkey sold, and every year the finance group would use six and a half year old Wild Turkey bourbon.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Well, that's fine, but six and a half years ago they laid down a heck of a lot more bourbon than what was being sold in the current day, and so they had a surplus.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: The next year we roll around and the finance guys go well, you know we can't use that seven and a half year old now because you know it's another year older.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: You know it's, it's increases, our, our, uh, component costs.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: Um, you know it's, uh, uh, we've got another year of evaporation, another year of avalanche taxes, so you know we can't add to the cost.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: So we just got to keep using six and a half.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Well, they kept doing that and nobody even called them on it.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: And so what I told them?
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: I said, look, number one, we got to start using up some of this older product to blend with the 101 and some of the other products, not so much at a high percentage that it will change the taste profile.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: But we've got to use it up, so it's going to take a heck of a long time to do that to where it doesn't change the taste profile.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: Number two I said you know, if the market were available, we could sell some aged whiskey.
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: Well, in 1998, 1999, no, nobody was buying aged whiskey at that time, not like it is today.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: I said the third option is let's create a new brand.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: I said we got some great bourbon.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: I said it's high time this company paid tribute to one of the greatest master distillers that ever walked this earth.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: That's Jimmy.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: Russell and I mean I looked around the room and every one of them from the top brass of France to New York and the entire company they said, yeah, that's a great idea.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: What do we call it?
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: I said, for lack of a better term, let's call it Russell's Reserve.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: I said we've got some fantastic 10-year-old sitting in those warehouses.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: So Jimmy Russell didn't know it.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: So the next week it was on a Friday I flew back to Kentucky and came home on Monday morning and went to Lawrenceburg at the distillery and like usual I'd throw my computer bag on the desk.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: First thing I'd do is go out, check the distillery, see how things went.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: I'd look at the beer chemistry over the weekend and see how things evolved, make sure everything worked good.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Then I'd go over to bottling see how things got started up over there.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: Then I'd get back to my office.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: But I hooked up with Jimmy that morning.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: I said you know, jimmy said the company and Jimmy didn't know this said the company's looking at starting a new bourbon brand.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: I said you know, we got some fantastic whiskeys I did some research Some 10-year-old whiskey on the fourth floor of B Warehouse, fourth floor B warehouse.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: I said you might go up and pull a sample of that today and let's take a look at that, see if that's what we need to use for this new bourbon brand.
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: And so he did so.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Later that afternoon I was in my office, heard a knock on the door and Jimmy knocked on the door and said Greg, you're busy.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: I was just wrapping up a meeting with the union that day and I said, yeah, no problem, jimmy, come on in.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: So he brought, come on in and he had this little snifter glass of this bourbon sample he pulled and he said here's that sample you want to try.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: And so I grabbed it out of his hand, I got it a foot away from my face and the smell the caramel and vanilla smells just took my head right off my shoulder.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: So, holy cow, I stepped in and I looked at Jimmy and you know, you got to know Jimmy, jimmy wouldn't cuss if he had a mouthful of whatever.
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: And and he just kind of smiled and granted, nodded and says that's pretty good bourbon, it's absolutely that's what we're going to use.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Well, again, he didn't know this, this.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: So I worked with packaging design, I worked with a marketing sales group and the original Russell's Reserve was in the standard old tall wild turkey bottle.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: It was 101 proof.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: It was gold screen printed.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: It said wild turkeys, russell's Reserve, 10 year old, 101 proof.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: And it was phenomenal.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: And so when we finally finished up and we were getting ready to bottle it, we did a little presentation ceremony and Jimmy shed a few tears and was pretty proud of it.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: But the price of it, that's what blew me away.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: I mean, when I was working with marketing and they said well, you know, our Wild Turkey 101 is $18.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: At that time Rare breed was $32.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: So let's pick a price niche of $24.99 in between the two and I blew a gasket.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: I said you've got to be kidding me.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: I said this is a $40 bottle of bourbon.
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: This was in 1999 when it actually hit the shelf and they said, no, no, we've got to hit this price niche.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: Okay, even today, I mean it's, it's a fantastic bourbon, especially at the price point.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: The regular 10 year old.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: I'm talking about regular, I'm not talking about the single barrel, any of the 13, the 15, any of the barrel picks single barrel picks it's, it's.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: The value is phenomenal and again, it all boils down to a tribute to one of the greatest master distillers that ever walked this earth.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: So love Jimmy, proud of Jimmy, and and he will be a friend for life.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: So yeah, Well, I, okay, so that that's a that's.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: That was phenomenal, there's no doubt.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: And the only the time I have to thank you for we got to meet Jimmy and Gisetta, right, you, you, you, jaretta, jaretta, thank you, and that was because of you.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, you texted him.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: You never.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: He didn't send a text back, but when we showed up at the distillery I said I would be there between you, said we would be there between 12 and 1.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: When we walked in that day, jimmy and Jaretta were right there signed a bottle of, uh, rare breed.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: He signed my, uh, I bought a decanter, a turkey decanter, and Jimmy and Jaretta signed that.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: They were fantastic.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: I mean, jimmy's in the gift shop constantly, all the time.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Now, that's, that's his thing to do.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: And, uh, it's just a great experience down in Lawrenceburg now and I have to thank you for setting that up because you know, I don't know how much longer Jimmy has, but he's.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: I was so happy I got to meet him and talk to him and him give me crap because of the T-shirt I was wearing.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, I mean that man, that man knew exactly what he was doing.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: He's like, what's that on your t-shirt?
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: Like he'd whatever, and he's he knew he loves to pick and tease.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: I'm telling you what Jimmy so many stories about him picking and teasing with, with the media folks and whatever.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: But you know I I again I've been truly blessed Jimmy.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: Having the opportunity to work with Jimmy, even though he reported to me.
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: I learned so much from him.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: Okay, and that's what you do.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: You know you get around those guys.
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: And of course, he was close friends with Booker, who I got to be Booker, and O, who I got to be close friends with, elmer T Lee Parker Beam.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: You know all the old icons of this industry who are no longer with us.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: God rest their soul.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: And Jimmy's the last.
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: He's the last of the true Mohicans that grew up with corn dust under their fingernails and you know making bourbon from scratch.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: And yeah, he's such a prince of a guy.
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Jaretta, his wife is salty as earth as well and love them both dearly.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Yes, so the single barrel I have right here is an eight-year, so since the 10-year came out and that.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: But now there's a Russell's Reserve 6-year, there's a 10-year, there's single barrels that are 8-year, so they're probably selecting from a similar place in the rickhouses right to come up with the flavor, or they just got the flavor.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: When you think about a Russell's Reserve 6-year and then you're talking about wild turkey 101, which is six, six and a half years, I mean it's the same distillate, correct yeah, the mash bill is all the same a 75 corn, 13 rye, 12 maltobarley, that's just one mash bill.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: But again, you know, in marketing and sales you know they're always looking for another skew, another opportunity to extend the brand.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: You know, get more bottles on the shelf so you got a wider presence.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: And again, that's not my jam.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: You know, you and me, I love making whiskey, I love making great whiskey, and the 10-year-old Russell's that was the initial flagship of the Russell's line was absolutely phenomenal.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: I've actually tasted the 13-year-old, which I thought was awesome.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: I have a bottle of 15-year-old that my son got me recently.
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: I haven't opened it yet but I'm looking forward to it.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, and then just know that John Ritt asked you the question and he said you've been in the industry for 47 years.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: I know the answer to this because you've told me many stories, but he wants to know between the master distillers, is there any?
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: You know all around Kentucky, but then also throughout the world is there?
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Is there um, do they get along or do they have animosity Like?
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: I know the answer, but you can take it.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: You know, animosity that's a pretty strong word.
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: I um, I don't think there's any animosity.
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: There may be some disagreements with with uh, maybe how they do or what they do, but but in in my experience, in my years of experience, all the sellers get along.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: You know they respect others' opinions and and you know their, their thoughts and guidelines on how they make whiskey.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: It may not agree with theirs, but they respect it.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: So that's the key.
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: It's all about respect.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Awesome, um, what I would say welcome Jamie.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: And then, um, there was another one.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Uh, what was?
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Oh, as far as that, uh, smashing pumpkins bottle.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: The tea is called Madam Zulu's Midnight Rose Tea.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's a creative, greg.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: I think it's a creative thing to do when you're proofing down to use a tea blend.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: I think it turns it into whiskey, there's no doubt, and it's like it's not a those.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Those tea blends are tea leaves purist and it actually has, uh, I think, a quite night, a nice taste to it.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I've, I've tasted what he's done with it and it's kind of.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: It's not something that's being done consistently right no, not that I'm aware of.
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, again, that's part of the beauty of today's whiskey lovers, you know bourbon lovers, you know there's there's a lot of interest in innovation and different flavors and so forth, and you know it's like chicken.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: You know, every year we try to come out with, with LTOs, limited time offers where we finish our whiskey in different barrels to kind of give it a unique flavor and new taste.
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: And so you know, that's part of the beauty.
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: I haven't really tried any tea, tea finish, tea flavor stuff.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, he actually, instead of proofing it down with water, he brews the tea and then proofs it down with the tea.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: It's not you know that it's different tea leaves and whatnot.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: It's not like he's adding flavored tea, but it does add a certain flavor to it.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: You know, like it's like unsweet iced tea, but you know some of the more exotic ones.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: So I've had, I've had a couple, couple that he's done and I'm excited to try this one.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: He did this with the band, the smashing pumpkins and and they tried all different types of teas and different things and that this is what they thought matched their brand.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: Anyways, all right, so I'm going to get down to it on this.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going to pour in the Russell's 13, and honestly, for me, when they came out with the 13, so one of the nice things about the Russells 13, it's barrel proof.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: So now you're talking about barrel proof.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: So when you do the singles and whatever, it's not a proof down thing.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: Like you said with the 101, it was right at its sweet spot and whatnot.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: But this one, when this came out, this was the first batch that I tried.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, I coveted that bottle.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: It was the caramel on it was so amazing.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: They did a really nice job and it was reasonable Right now.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: I think the newest batch sold for $149.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: I think the first batch they put out was $79.99.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Then the second one I want to say was $99.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: And then I think this one right here went to $129.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: That I was able to get, and then the last one was one.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: I mean it's just kind of crazy what the prices have done.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: I got to tell you, tony, the first time I tasted it I was down in Sarasota, florida.
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: I was doing a chicken cock tasting event Not really dinner, they had kind of finger food but kind of a dinner tasting event at the Gator Club.
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you ever heard of the Gator Club.
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: It's an old, old club in Sarasota.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: If you ever get down to Sarasota Florida, you got to go by there.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: It's so cool.
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: They got this old old bar upstairs.
• 36:09
  Speaker 3: But after we got done we were talking.
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: Of course my history came up and my involvement with Brussels Reserve creating and so forth came up.
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: And a guy says have you tried the 13 year old?
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: Yes, no, I haven't.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: I've been wanting to, I just haven't had an opportunity.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: So he brought out a glen cairn of of, uh, the 13th.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: I thought it was phenomenal, it was so good I, I agree, I mean, it was just it blew me away and this bottle here.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: It's starting to go down a little bit and it makes me sad.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: All right, so I'm going to start off.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Take a little water.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: I'm going to start off with the 13-year.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Now, if you look at the two in the glass, the 13-year is dark.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: They're both dark, but the 15 15 year is just a little bit more.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: The 13 year has a reddish color where the uh, the darkness is a little bit more brown on the on.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: When you compare the two now, I don't think there's going to be a huge difference in viscosity.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Uh, did he write the proof?
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Uh, he likes to Nope.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: He just put 15-year.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: All right, so I'll try the 13.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: What it does in the glass glass, I would say the difference between that first batch that year, greg, and these batches.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: The first batch, when you tasted it, it was just caramel and you didn't pick up the heavy-duty barrel strength that you get from like a Booker's, or what you get from a rare breed.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: You know that there's a little bit.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: There's a, I think in Kentucky, in standard Kentucky bourbons, of the big guys, when they do their barrels, their barrel strength.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: There's a consistency throughout that that barrel is adding, even though their mash bills are a little bit different.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: But that barrel and that aging in Kentucky seem to always be what ties them all together to be where you think you have that barrel strength.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: It's not so.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: It's that part stays that adds in.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: And the first Russell's 13,.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: I didn't get that.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: I got more of just the caramel and the sweetness and then it was easy, easy on the palate, easy going down.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: It was just easy, whereas the other ones since then.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Not that it's bad, but you pick up a little bit more char, a little bit more of the wood and then you get that big.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: You know you're picking up the barrel strength aspect of it.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: But, it's still there.
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: You know I haven't tried the 15 yet, tony, but you know that's my concern.
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: You know so many people think that the older the whiskey gets, the better it gets, and that's not true.
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: That is not true.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: Well, it can be true.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: It can be true, but it's somebody.
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: There are variables that play into that, okay.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Somebody has to know what they're doing.
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: They don't know where that barrel sits.
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: Somebody has to know what they're doing.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I mean chicken cock.
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: We had a 15-year-old single barrel here several years ago.
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: It was absolutely phenomenal, one of my top five ever.
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: But typically a 15-year-old can be way over wooded, I mean way too much wood in the, in the profile.
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: I just depending again where it's located in the warehouse can have a huge impact.
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: And so you know, every year it gets better, better, better.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: Then it kind of softens up a little bit and then at some point in time the age, the wood overtakes the flavor, the profile of the whiskey and so it gets overwooded.
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: It tastes like liquid oak.
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: So you got to be careful.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: I like when somebody says, well, what do you do at that point?
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Well, you let it age a little bit longer and see what happens.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: I'm like, well, okay, that is a good, that might be a way to go, but at the same time I don't.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: I know I'll put it this way.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Just like with everything in this world, there are just there's people who can appreciate good, good things and people who appreciate the good thing because they're supposed to.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Other people appreciate it, but they don't really know what they're appreciating.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: People appreciate it, but they don't really know what they're appreciating.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: And then there's people who just don't need to appreciate anything.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: They'll do, and that makes up the majority of the whiskey drinkers.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: So the classic of all time that you were just talking about is Crown Royal.
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: Put out a 25-year Crown Apple.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Now, if you know anything, anything about whiskey, there's nobody in their right mind on a good 25-year-old whiskey that is going to flavor it with apple.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: Nobody in the world.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: Those barrels went too far.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: It's going to flavor it with apple.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Nobody in the world those barrels went too far.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: They had their 25-year.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: That was really good, but they probably had a bunch of barrels when they were doing.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: It went too far and they're like well, let's just add the apple flavoring and sell it, and we can sell it for $250 a bottle.
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: And it worked.
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: Let me give you my spin on that, because most a lot of not saying most a lot, if not most, canadian whiskey will go into a barrel five-time use.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: Age your whiskey and use barrels and they will age them in five-time use barrels in canada, where it's cold.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: Yes, and what happens is every time you use that barrel there's less color to extract, less flavor to extract.
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: So you get a five-time used barrel.
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: It can sit in there 25,.
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: It can sit in there 50 years.
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: It's not going to pull out much flavor or color because it's not there.
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: So what do you do with it?
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: You add flavor and then put a huge price tag on it and guess what.
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: You've got a monumental.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: Now my thing is is they did put out a regular 25-year-old crown that I had the nice ability to be able to have a pour of it and I would have to say it was decent.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: I understand scotches at 25 year, I understand, but I don't think.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: Well, maybe it just didn't, maybe the barrels that they put it in didn't have flavor and it was just too bland, or it over-oaked, or whatever it did.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: It wasn't working after 25 years.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: So they tried to make it work.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: I'll agree with you on that.
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: Crown is typically a pretty good Canadian whiskey and what they do is they have flavoring whiskeys.
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: They'll take bourbon whiskey, they'll take corn whiskey, they'll take rye whiskey from the States, ship it to Canada and then they blend it with this light whiskey that they put in the used barrels and that's the base whiskey, and so you can get some great flavors.
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: But a lot of times when the bulk of the whiskey has been sitting in a five-time used barrel, it's not going to get a lot of flavor.
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: So that's when you kind of add the flavor I got to believe.
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: Don't know for a fact now, so don't quote me but uh, I've worked for seagram's, uh used to own that company, uh, the crown product and and uh, I know what they used to do.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: So well it was.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: It's a great story what the guy who made it had 900 different.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: He chose and did 900 different blends and picked the perfect blend.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: In 1939 when the king and queen came, they went to Canada first and then took a train down.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: There's a movie made when they visited Franklin and Delano Roosevelt and they ate hot dogs.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: But on that train he gave them seven cases of whiskey fit for a king.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: The 900 blends.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: He picked one and that's what crown is based off those blends.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: Now the state of ohio and I'm not a fan of crown, I I think it's a good, it's a good everyday kind of whiskey.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: I can, you can, but it's just there's not a lot of things going on with it.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: It has a flavor but you're not looking when people are sipping it and whatever.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: I'm like what are you sipping?
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: But the state of Ohio went and did barrel picks up there and they picked 10 different barrels, single barrels, and distributed them throughout the Ohio and I got one called Elephant Ear and I'm telling you it was freaking fantastic when you drank that one single barrel.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: It tasted like a fried elephant ear with the sugar on it that you get at the fair and it left a taste in your mouth as, after you know the oil kind of thing, it was like an oily mouthfeel, it was the most.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: It was delicious and I'm like I said that's what they should be putting out there.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: They're single barrels.
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: So time out Time out.
• 46:22
  Speaker 3: Tony Crown Royal is a blend.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure how they could do a barrel pick no no, no, they did a barrel pick of the barrels they used to make the Crown.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: They took the percentage out of every barrel.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: No no, they took one barrel.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: So they used different Crown uses different barrels.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, and they use barrels to make it.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: They did single barrels of the whiskey that they use to mix Crown.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Okay, there's like all different you know ages and different barrels and whatever to make the blend and they did single barrels of the barrels they used to make the blend.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: They didn't do the blend, it's pre-blend.
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: And I'm telling you because what?
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: They do.
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: They're distilleries in the States.
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: They will dump what they call a blending batch.
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: They will dump bourbon, they will dump corn whiskey, they'll dump rye whiskey and they put that in a tanker and they ship it to Canada.
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: And then they take their Canadian light whiskey and they blend it with it into a tank.
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: So I'm not sure how they can say it was a barrel blend.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: No, no no, not a blend, just the barrels that they were aging and used to mix and make the blend.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: They did 10 of them and they were.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: They were crowned.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: They came out and they were absolute.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: I was.
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: I didn't know what to think of it, but I was impressed.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: I'm like this is the stuff they should be putting in the bottle, not what they do in their blend.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: So I actually gave it.
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: I gave the rest of the bottle to my son-in-law.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: He enjoyed it because he's a crown fan, but it was.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: It was good barrel, it was barrel proof and it was good.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: So there you go.
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: All right, so I'm I'm going to do the 15.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: Here we go.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: I haven't had this in a while.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: I know what.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: The 13,.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: Look at that 13,.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: That's really good.
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: Now this one there's a little bit.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: You know, I know what is on this one.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: There's a caramel, but this one has like a toasted marshmallow added to it.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about?
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: That, like that charred toasted.
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: That's actually some of the caramel flavoring that has kind of evolved into more of a toasted marshmallow.
• 48:57
  Speaker 3: You're right, yeah, hmm, toasted marshmallow.
• 48:58
  Speaker 3: You're right, yeah.
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: So on the 15, I would say, compared to the 13, the char's more right there.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: That char flavor is out.
• 49:16
  Speaker 3: A little more oak.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a little more oak, yeah, so if you're put it this way, if you're a fan of bourbon and when you know, you know what I'm talking about.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: Some bourbon tastes just like bourbon.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: There's it's got a little bit of the caramel, but realistically the barrel and the distillate and the whiskey is front, and then you've got the caramel a little bit in the back, whereas some bourbons the caramel's way up in the front and the bourbon aspect of the distillate is in the back.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: I would say that's this one.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: If you would think that the Russells 13 was too sweet, you would be a fan of the 15, because they didn't.
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: It's not over-oaked.
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: There's no doubt that it's not over-oaked.
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: Good, that's the primary, that's the biggest concern I have because, you know, some of that stuff was on the upper floors.
• 50:29
  Speaker 3: I don't know where they're pulling it from now.
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: They're actually pulling it from all over, but the original Russells, like I said, came from the fourth floor of B Warehouse and to me A and B Warehouse were in the ideal position for aging some great whiskey.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, I honestly Wild Turkey has just they've, they've rose to the occasion and they've really been killing it with their rickhouse select um.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: You know that they've been doing right, yeah.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: And then, uh, I think kentucky spirit as a single barrel has really been coming on Like there's a lot.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: You know, it's like it used to be when you go to the distillery and you'd be in the gift shop.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: There was not.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: If they didn't have, if the release of the day wasn't there, there wasn't a lot to grab.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: But now there's a lot to grab when you're there.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: The Russell's, the Kentucky Spirit, the Russell's Reserve single barrels are all out too.
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, have you been to the new visitor center yet?
• 51:40
  Speaker 3: No, not.
• 51:41
  Speaker 3: Since they opened up the new one, I haven't been there yet.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: no, yeah, you and Susan have to go over there.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: I would love to, yeah for sure.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: Well, and just say hi to Jimmy.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: Find for sure.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: Well, and just say hi to Jimmy.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Find out a day.
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: Go say hi to Jimmy.
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: I did again.
• 51:52
  Speaker 3: I'm I'm been busy, but uh, I'd love to just go over and connect with Jimmy Jaretta.
• 51:57
  Speaker 3: We'll go out to lunch or whatever, but yeah, he's, he's such a an icon in this, uh, this great industry.
• 52:04
  Speaker 3: And you know, I have fond memories when we would travel internationally.
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: I didn't go a lot of promotional events back then, but every now and then we'd have meetings or whatever and jimmy would go to do a promotional event and I mean, you know, talking about you're an airport in japan and people would come up to me because they recognize him and just hug him.
• 52:28
  Speaker 3: And oh, mr Jimmy, mr Jimmy, I just loved him because he was just such an icon in this industry.
• 52:34
  Speaker 3: It was so cool to see that and experience that.
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Well, and people in this industry.
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: They liked him because he was a lovable, he loved the people back.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: He loves the people back, you know.
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it.
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: So I would say that 14 versus 15 head to head, which 15, 15.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah Right, 13 versus 15 head to head, thank you, I would say.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: This is what I would say.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: They shouldn't be compared to each other.
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: This is like a heavyweight fighter fighting a middleweight fighter.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: It's not like you should be comparing the two.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: I would say the class.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: They're both in the barrel strength class, but the 15 takes itself out of the class of the 13 because you're now dealing with some of those flavors that really older whiskeys give you and the complexity of what an older whiskey gives you.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: But the 13, you're still dealing with the sweetness of, uh, bourbon.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: That's in its wheel, you know, right in its peak, you know what I mean.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: It's not yet putting on the age of the barrel.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: It's still dealing with the sweetness of the whiskey mixing with the barrel, where I think the 15 now you're getting into the, the flavor of the barrel, but you haven't overdone it.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: So it's very, two different, very whiskey experiences up against each other.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: Now here's the big and this I this is where I gotta be honest.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: Um, I, I, you gotta you're gonna take the 13 because it's a hundred dollars less.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think the 15 at a hundred dollars more.
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, when you think about it, the 13 at149 is already up there, compared to your Russells at whatever $39.99.
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: And it sits in the 30s right now.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: You still can pick up Russells Reserve in the 30s.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: Then you go to Russells 13, and I think the 149, you're peaking at.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: I don't think I would want to pay more.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, I like it enough where if I have to.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: That's what it comes down to.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: But the 15 at 249, I'm kind of happy that I missed the opening and I was just able to get a sample of it and enjoy it.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: The opening and I was just able to get a sample of it and enjoy it.
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: I don't think the $2.49 price.
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: That's really, you know, $250 for a bottle of whiskey.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: You know a bourbon you got and you know it comes in the same bottle.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: It just says Russell's 15.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: There's nothing extra special.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: That you're adding in, you're not adding a different topper or you're not adding Now, I'm not saying any of that justifies anything.
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: Now at $259,000, do you think that because that 17-year is so hard to obtain that there's just that much less so that's why the price is there.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: Or do you think it's just marketing, saying right now, with the way the market is we can charge.
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: That I mean.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: What would your opinion be on that?
• 56:15
  Speaker 3: Yes to all the above.
• 56:16
  Speaker 3: You know, when I was there, we did a 17-year-old it wasn't Russell's, it was a 17-year-old wild turkey and it was in a beautiful bottle.
• 56:25
  Speaker 3: It had a pewter base, the glass was molded into a beautiful mahogany box.
• 56:32
  Speaker 3: It went in and I think this was in the early 2000s and it only sold in Japan.
• 56:39
  Speaker 3: But it was like $200-something a bottle and it was great whiskey, very unique.
• 56:45
  Speaker 3: But again, you know, that's the fallacy, unfortunately, of our industry is that the greed and some of the arrogance is kind of boiled down into.
• 56:59
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, this is, you know, one, two years, three years older.
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: We've done this to it.
• 57:06
  Speaker 3: We put it in a special box, special packaging, and so we're going to add, you know, another hundred bucks to it.
• 57:12
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I'm a purist, I've been in this industry a long time.
• 57:16
  Speaker 3: People are getting the money for it, but but is it selling like it should?
• 57:20
  Speaker 3: You know that's to be debated.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: So yeah, um, it's, that's, that's free enterprise, right?
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: If it was truly overpriced, they would.
• 57:33
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: It's what the market will bear.
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 57:37
  Speaker 3: So you throw it out there.
• 57:39
  Speaker 3: And if the market doesn't bear it, what do you do?
• 57:41
  Speaker 3: You cut the price.
• 57:43
  Speaker 3: You got to move it.
• 57:45
  Speaker 3: You can't sit there on the shelf, otherwise your retailer, your distributor, won't order any more of your product because it's sitting there collecting dust stuff they already ordered.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: I would agree they're such a what would you say tightrope.
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: But I mean they shipped 15-year up to Ohio release in the on a Saturday morning and at Saturday at between nine and noon every single bottle that they shipped to Ohio was gone.
• 58:18
  Speaker 3: So that's, right.
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, people yeah, and you know it's.
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: It's just like a secondary market of bourbon kind of was shown at one point.
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: It was so disproportionate on these that it was only a matter of time that the distilleries were going to raise the prices so that you could eliminate the disproportion.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: Because I know for a fact that, secondary, when you buy a 250 bottle, it's not like you're then charging $750 for it.
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: If it was an $80 bottle, they'd be charging $300, $400 for it, and it doesn't work that way.
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: With the $250 bottle they still can only charge $300, $400.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: People have kind of gotten wise to that, and the distilleries and the people who make the whiskey are making the money.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: So I think that's the way it should be.
• 59:10
  Speaker 3: For sure.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: Yep, all right, thank you, greg, for coming on tonight and giving the story and talking about everything.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: Uh, russell's uh, it's really kind of cool overall.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: Uh, uh, everybody, you should uh check out Greg Schneider and Chicken Cock Whiskey, because there's no doubt everything that they've been putting out.
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: But what's on the shelf right now?
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: If you see a bottle of Chicken Cock bourbon on the shelf, that is right.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: I believe it's right around $55, $59 right there at the moment and well worth every penny, because what's in there now is what greg distilled and uh, there, even though before it was good, but now it's great.
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: So I would definitely tell everybody to update their bottles of chicken cock bourbon, because now you're talking about a different level, because it's what our good friend is making and not I mean Greg, you're an awesome friend and it's only a plus that you make such good bourbon.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: I mean you would be my friend if you didn't make you just made average bourbon.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: But it's just we're it's so exciting to go along this journey with you and I hope, as you, we keep going that it just keeps getting better.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 3: So as I've told you, buddy, I'm I'm just an old man trying to make good whiskey, and that's what I do.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 3: I I.
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: I remember when you said, um, when we were first doing this and you were putting it and I think it was the second year that you were putting it in your barrels and you're like I just hope I get to be able to taste it, because who knows?
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: You know, you don't Everybody you know, and that's from a perspective of somebody who's been.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: You know, when we're young, we just don't have that perspective.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: And when you're older, you know, when we're young, we just don't have that perspective.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: And when you're older, you just start.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: It's just like you have the ability to appreciate things so much more, because you've watched a lot of people not appreciate things and what happens.
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: And so I think our generation is one of those generations.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: As we grew up and we worked hard, saw a lot of people work really hard and not take time to appreciate stuff, and I think we really take the time to appreciate the things that are worth it.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much for joining me.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: Everybody cheers man.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 3: Always a pleasure.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: Yep cheers.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: Remember everybody to check us out wwwscotchiebourbonboyscom for all things Scotchie Bourbon Boys.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: Also, remember to follow us on Facebook, instagram, youtube and X and all the major podcast formats mainly, I heart Apple and Spotify, but everywhere else.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: Remember, good bourbon equals good times and good friends.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: Make sure you drink responsibly.
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: Don't drink and drive and live your life dangerously.
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: Little Steve-O is going to take us out if I can find it.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: Here we go, all right, there we go.
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: Here we go, all right, there we go.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: Remember, Thursday is our Halloween special.
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar.
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 4: Oh don't ask why.
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 4: Oh don't ask why.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 4: Oh don't ask why.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 4: Show me the way to the next whiskey bar.
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 4: Oh don't ask why.
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 4: Oh don't ask why.
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 4: For if we don't find the next whiskey bar, I tell you we must die.
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 4: I tell you we must die.
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 4: I tell you we must die.
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 4: I tell you, I tell you, I tell you we must die.