Beast Masters Club

Beast Masters Club gathers with a live audience at our podcast studio to talk with our special guest Joann Street - Wild Turkey American Whiskey Ambassador and granddaughter of bourbon legend Jimmy Russell.  We talk through the ins and outs of Wild Turkey's production methods, aging, what it's like to grow up in the Russell family, and finally we select Beast Masters latest private barrel, a 9-year Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon!

Pour a glass, settle into your favorite chair, and join us with our special guest, Joe Beatrice of Barrell Craft Spirits. 

It's been a long while since the Beasts were able to gather in full pack formation for a live barrel picking event, but we couldn't have been happier to sit down with our guests in the new Beast Lair in NYC to pick this barrel with Knob Creek Brand Ambassador, Allie Klug. 

The beasts sit down with Zhana Londoner from the Brooklyn-based spanish food market Mercado Central and Nic Palazzi from PM Spirits (exclusive importers of L'Encantada Armagnac) to talk about pairing tapas with unique hand crafted French & Spanish spirits.

Some spirits are not meant to be sipped in a vacuum. They're meant to be paired with rich, spicy, and delicious foods! We recreate the bar scene from San Sebastian in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain where they serve boquerones with Cognac-infused grape juice, Iberian Jamon with Armagnac Vin Mute, and cheese with cidre eau-de-vie. And we wrap up with dessert - chocolate paired with Armagnac D'Esperance!

In one of the most random and amazing trips of our lives, the intrepid Beast Masters Club heads to the Gascony region of France and meets Jean-Phillippe from Domaine de Charron.

In a sheer act of blind faith, four faithful Beast Masters follow your's truly The Smoky Beast on an adventure through Armagnac country. In this first of three half-hour podcasts, we deplane to discover tiny french automobiles, missing Chateaux, a very old part of the world, and a great new friend who makes some of the most incredible Armagnac we've ever tasted!

The first Beast Masters Club Armagnac barrel was a 1988 Domaine de Léberon, which we released in 2018 at 30 years old. It was a game-changer for us and many other folks in the whiskey game, showing how Armagnac could compete in terms of flavor with our favorite bourbons and ryes. Right now in our shop (www.beastmastersclub.com/shop), you can pick up a 1994 Léberon single cask that mirrors much of what we loved about that original 30-year. When we heard that the latest generation of Armagnac-makers Caroline Rozes and her husband Roman were in New York, we were lucky enough to persuade them to join us at the Beast Lair for a super informative and fun podcast. We talk about the Armagnac region, the multi-generational family estates of Léberon and Aurensan, their completely traditional and organic techniques of farming and distilling that create these brilliant spirits, and even an old-fashioned French country romance!

Steve the SmokyBeast is joined in his dining room by friends new and old - L’Encantada Armagnac aficionados Vincent Cornu and Frédéric Chappe, and self-proclaimed spirit nerd Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits. 

Calling all beastly francophiles - this episode is for you.