BBM: AFTER HOURS

EPISODIO ONCE: CÓMO SE HACE UN PURO

AFTER HOURS — CÓMO SE HACE UN PURO

Lo enciendes. Lo fumas. Quizás conoces la capa, el país de origen y el nombre que aparece en la anilla.

Pero ¿alguna vez has pensado en todo lo que tuvo que ocurrir antes de que ese puro llegara a tus manos?

Esta noche en Bourbon Barrel Mafia: After Hours, volvemos al principio de la historia.

Desde el cultivo del tabaco hasta el curado y la fermentación.
Desde la tripa, el capote y la capa hasta la mezcla y el torcido.
Desde algunas de las grandes regiones tabaqueras del mundo…hasta Tampa, Florida.

Y aquí es donde esta historia se vuelve especial.

En 1885, Tampa era un pequeño pueblo de aproximadamente 700 habitantes.

Entonces llegaron Vicente Martínez Ybor e Ignacio Haya.

Llegaron las fábricas de tabaco. Llegaron miles de inmigrantes. Y alrededor de ellas nació una comunidad entera.

Ybor City también se convirtió en parte de la historia de la independencia cubana a través de José Martí.

Con el tiempo, Tampa llegó a ser conocida alrededor del mundo por sus puros hechos a mano.

Hay una razón por la que nos llaman Cigar City.

Y detrás de ese nombre hay una historia increíble.

🔥 Cómo se Hace un Puro — Del Campo a Cigar City

Sírvete un bourbon. Enciende un buen puro. Y disfruta la historia.

El tabaco ayudó a construir esta ciudad.

🥃 Two Fingers. Neat.

#BourbonBarrelMafia #BBM #AfterHours #CigarCity #YborCity #Tampa #TampaBay #CulturaDelTabaco #Puros #Tabacos #HistoriaDelTabaco #JoseMarti #VicenteMartinezYbor #IgnacioHaya #HistoriaDeTampa #BourbonYCigarros

EPISODE 11 - Anatomy of a Cigar - From Field to Cigar City

AFTER HOURS — THE MAKING OF A CIGAR

You light it. You smoke it. Maybe you know the wrapper, the country of origin and the name on the band.

But have you ever thought about everything that had to happen before that cigar ended up in your hand?

Tonight on Bourbon Barrel Mafia: After Hours, we're going all the way back to the beginning.

From the tobacco field to curing and fermentation.
From filler, binder and wrapper to blending and rolling.
From the great cigar-producing regions of the world…all the way to Tampa, Florida.

Because this story gets even better when it reaches my backyard.

In 1885, Tampa was a small town of roughly 700 people.

Then came Vicente Martínez Ybor and Ignacio Haya.

Cigar factories followed. Thousands of immigrants followed. An entire community grew around them.

And Ybor City became part of the story of Cuban independence through José Martí.

At its height, Tampa became known around the world for its handmade cigars.

There's a reason we're called Cigar City.

And there's a hell of a story behind it.

🔥 The Making of a Cigar — From the Field to Cigar City

Pour yourself two fingers. Light something good. And settle in.

The cigar helped build this city.

🥃 Two Fingers. Neat.

#BourbonBarrelMafia #BBM #AfterHours #CigarCity #YborCity #Tampa #TampaBay #CigarCulture #CigarLife #Cigars #CigarHistory #CigarMaking #JoseMarti #VicenteMartinezYbor #IgnacioHaya #TampaHistory #BourbonAndCigars

AFTER HOURS: The Biggest Misnomers About Bourbon

Bourbon has to come from Kentucky.
Older means better.
Higher proof means harsher.
“Small batch” actually means something specific.
The company on the bottle made the whiskey.
And bourbon keeps getting better the longer it sits in the bottle…

Yeah… about all that. 😂

Tonight on Bourbon Barrel Mafia: After Hours, we’re stripping away the marketing, myths and bullshit and getting back to what bourbon actually is.

We’ll walk through how bourbon is really made—from the mash bill and fermentation to distillation, the barrel, aging and finally the bottle—and knock down some of the biggest misconceptions along the way.

You don’t need to be a bourbon expert to enjoy bourbon.

But it helps to know when somebody’s feeding you a line of shit. 🥃

Two fingers. Neat pour.

#BourbonBarrelMafia #AfterHours #Bourbon #BourbonWhiskey #Whiskey #BourbonTalk #BourbonEducation #BourbonLife #WhiskeyLife #BourbonCommunity #DrinkWhatYouLike

AFTER HOURS — EPISODE 4: WHY NOT SCOTCH?

I’ve tried Scotch.

More than once.

And every damn time, I come back to bourbon.

So what is it? The peat? The smoke? The malt? The fact that some of it tastes like somebody filtered a campfire through an old leather boot?

😂 Maybe.

But this episode isn’t about trashing Scotch. It’s about figuring out why somebody who loves bourbon can pick up a highly respected Scotch and still think… “Yeah, this ain’t for me.”

We’re talking flavor, production, grain, barrels, geography, expectations — and why your bourbon palate might be fighting you the whole damn way.

And if you love Scotch?

Good. Pour one.

I’ll be over here with my two fingers of bourbon trying to understand what the hell you see in it. 😂🥃

🎙️ Bourbon Barrel Mafia: After Hours
Episode 4 — Why Not Scotch?

Listen now on Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you follow BBM.

🥃 Be bold. Join the family. Rep the pour.

#BourbonBarrelMafia #AfterHours #WhyNotScotch #BourbonPodcast #BourbonLife #WhiskeyTalk #BourbonCommunity #ScotchWhisky #WhiskeyPodcast #TwoFingers

AFTER HOURS: WHEN BOURBON WAS MORE FUN

I picked up a bottle of 1792 Small Batch recently—something I hadn’t had in probably six or eight months.

I poured two fingers, took a sip and immediately thought…

This doesn’t taste the same.

But then I started wondering:

Did the bourbon change…or did I?

Remember when drinking bourbon was simple?

You bought a bottle.
You poured it.
You liked it or you didn’t.

You weren’t worried about secondary prices, allocations, mash bills, batches, laser codes, proof points, hype, rankings or what some guy on the internet said you were supposed to taste.

Somewhere along the way, bourbon became a hell of a lot more complicated.

So tonight on Bourbon Barrel Mafia: After Hours, I’m talking about whether learning more about bourbon has actually made us enjoy it more—or whether sometimes all that knowledge, hype and chasing gets in the way of the reason we started drinking it in the first place.

Maybe we don’t need a rarer bottle.

Maybe we don’t need a higher proof.

Maybe we just need to pour two fingers, stop giving a shit what everybody else thinks…

and drink the fucking bourbon. 🥃

#BourbonBarrelMafia #AfterHours #Bourbon #BourbonWhiskey #Whiskey #BourbonLife #BourbonCommunity #DrinkWhatYouLike #TwoFingers #BourbonTalk

EPISODE 8 - Bourbon Through The Generations.

How did your grandfather drink bourbon? Was your dad a "bourbon on the rocks" guy? Did someone introduce you to an Old Fashioned? Or are you part of the generation that discovered bourbon through YouTube, TikTok, and bourbon groups?

Every generation has had its own relationship with America's native spirit.

The Silent Generation drank what they liked and stayed loyal to one bottle.

Baby Boomers made bourbon part of backyard barbecues, golf outings, and business dinners.

Generation X watched bourbon fade into the background while vodka and rum took over.

Millennials helped spark the modern bourbon boom through craft cocktails, social media, and bottle hunting.

Generation Z is learning about bourbon faster than ever—but they're also entering one of the toughest markets to find great bottles.

In this week's After Hours, we're taking a walk-through bourbon history, sharing fun facts, a few laughs, and looking at how the way we drink bourbon has changed over the decades.

One thing hasn't changed...The best bourbon has never been about the label—it's been about the people you're sharing it with.

Now I want to hear from you.

What generation introduced you to bourbon?

What's the first bottle you remember seeing in your parents' or grandparents' house?

Has the way you drink bourbon changed over the years?

Drop your stories in the comments—I may even feature a few in a future episode.

After Hours with Bourbon Barrel Mafia - Where the conversation is as good as the pour.

#BourbonBarrelMafia #AfterHours #Bourbon #Whiskey #BourbonCommunity #AmericanWhiskey #BourbonLife #WhiskeyHistory #BourbonCulture #DrinkBourbon #BourbonLovers #Cheers #WhiskeyGram #BourbonTalk #AlwaysUseTwoFingers

Episode 7 – The Problem With Bourbon Hype

When did bourbon stop being something we drank and start becoming something we chased?

In this episode of After Hours, we dive into how hype, FOMO, social media, and even the COVID boom changed the bourbon world forever. From overnight lines and allocated bottles to skyrocketing secondary prices and Instagram-worthy collections, we'll talk about how the culture shifted—and whether it's made the hobby better or worse.

Has bourbon become too expensive? Are influencers helping or hurting the community? Is the chase more exciting than the pour? And are we forgetting what bourbon was meant to be in the first place?

Whether you're a seasoned collector, a casual drinker, or someone who's just getting started, this is an honest conversation about where bourbon has been, where it is today, and where it might be headed next.

So pour yourself two fingers, pull up a chair, and join the conversation.

Episode: Does Bourbon Really Make People Angry?

You've heard it your whole life: whiskey makes people mean, tequila makes people crazy, wine makes people emotional, and beer just helps everyone relax. But is there any truth to it?

In this episode of After Hours, we pour a glass and explore one of the biggest myths surrounding alcohol. Does bourbon really change your personality, or does it simply lower the filter that's already there? We'll dive into the science of how alcohol affects the brain, why some people become aggressive while others become the life of the party, and how culture, expectations, and even country music have shaped what we believe about our favorite drinks.

Whether you've always blamed the bourbon—or defended it—this conversation might just change the way you think about what's really in your glass.

Grab a pour, settle in, and join the conversation.

Episode 5: Bourbon Economics – Is Expensive Bourbon Really Better?

Is a $200 bottle really twice as good as a $100 bottle—or four times better than a $50 one?

In this episode of BBM: After Hours, we take an honest look at the economics of bourbon. I share my experience with a few premium bottles that cost around $200 and compare them to the bottles I find myself reaching for time and time again.

Then I count down my personal Top 10 Favorite Bourbons. Surprisingly, only two of the higher-priced bottles made the list. The rest are readily available shelf bottles that deliver incredible quality without emptying your wallet—proving that great bourbon doesn't have to come with a high price tag.

We'll also talk about value versus hype, diminishing returns as prices climb, why availability matters, and how to build an outstanding bourbon collection without chasing every allocated release.

Whether you're just getting into bourbon or you've been collecting for years, this episode is all about getting the most enjoyment for your money.

So pour yourself two fingers, pull up a chair, and let's find out whether the best bourbon is really the most expensive—or simply the one that's worth every dollar.

Episode 3: The Dirty Palate – Is Your Mouth Ruining Your Bourbon?

Ever wonder why the same bourbon tastes incredible one day and completely different the next?

In this episode of BBM: After Hours, we explore the concept of the "dirty palate"—how everything from your last meal and morning coffee to spicy food, toothpaste, cigars, and even the time of day can dramatically change what you taste in your glass.

We talk about palate fatigue, resetting your senses, why first pours can be deceiving, and how your environment, mood, and expectations influence every sip. You'll also hear practical tips for getting a more consistent tasting experience without taking the fun out of drinking bourbon.

Whether you're reviewing whiskey, building your palate, or simply trying to understand why your favorite bottle suddenly tastes different, this episode will help you separate the bourbon from everything else affecting your senses.

So pour yourself two fingers, cleanse your palate, and pull up a chair.

Because sometimes the bourbon isn't the problem... your palate is.