Beast Masters Club

Steve-the-Smoky-Beast and Ben sit down with Eric Kaye, the Holmes Cay founder and rum connoisseur. He is a kindred spirit, traveling all over the Caribbean to seek out small rum distilleries and setting up import for them under his label. He's a man on a mission - seek out the world's best rums and release them unadulterated at cask strength. How hard could that be?

Really f**ckin' hard, it turns out.

On Holmes Cay (Part I), Eric Kaye and the Beasts sample the first bottle of Beast Masters Club rum! This one comes from Travellers Distillery in Belmopan, Belize. It's 100% natural, no additives, no coloring, aged in a bourbon cask.

They've done it. The illustrious Barrell Bourbon is the "Bees Knee's" two years running, but this year they don't just sting, they slay. They don't just maim, they murder. Join the #SmokyBeast and Ben on the pod as they sample a trio of their MGP ryes, and preview our this year's Bee's Knees…or Murder Hornets.

Hello, degenerates! Welcome to the Corona Party Bunker. Pull up a chair and join us for a beastly feast of bourbon and brainfood. This week, the Beast Masters taste and review the Spinal Tap inspired Elijah Craig Single Barrel Trilogy, "SMELL THE BEAVER". This one GOES TO ELEVEN!

The Beasts are joined on the pod by Josh Feldman (of Coopered Tot fame) for a sampling of the Hazmat bottle series, along with a few other surprises. The men discuss the pressing issues of our time, such as, "the papery skin of nuts," and, "swampy spice cajones," and answer the seminal question on everyone's mind: are pimp hats for everyone?

What happens when Lil' Beast is away? Mom and Dad drink whiskey, of course! Mrs. Beast brings her brilliance to the table to review the new barrel trio - 1792, Eagle Rare, and Buffalo Trace - and to pick a name from amongst your clever BMC submissions.

The Beast Masters meet again for a holiday special - and their four favorite ryes of 2019 meet each other in the octagon. Who will emerge victorious? Will it be Steve the Smoky Beast's pick, Parker's Heritage? Ben's Wild Turkey? Jake the Whiskey Warrior's bottom-shelf sleeper pick, the Pinhook? Or the group's classic pick, Redemption? Let the sleigh bell ring, and the fight begin!

After a 6 month podcasting hiatus The Beasts are back! The cast took a bit of a back seat to some serious barrel hunting so to settle the books Steve and Ben sat down to properly catch up on the club's picks over the last half year.

2019 has bestowed some amazing barrel picks upon our beastly club, but unfortunately, they have remained unaddressed in this forum… until now. Tune in for reviews and tasting notes on Wild Turkey picks, Morning Wood and Return of the Pickle (picked with Bruce Russel in August 2018), Knob Creek Double Barrel (two 14 year bourbons picked by the club in Nov 2018) and our latest Bee's Knees release of 14 Barrell Bourbon (picked by the club in April 2019). Can crack into your bottles and sip along as we catch up past barrel scores and preview some of the tasty treats we have coming in the second half of the year.

We've been hearing that Armagnac is the "next big thing" but we didn't believe it. That is, we didn't believe it until Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits poured us the most incredible 30 year single cask we've ever tasted. Armagnac is incredibly diverse becase in addition to the different distilling and aging techniques, there's a vast difference in grape varietals. Nicolas has discovered some true gems in Armagnac production. These are tiny family operations that produce only a few casks per year. The 1988 Chateau de Leberon was placed in a "black oak" cask made from local timber straight out of the small traditional column still with no water or additives. It aged beautifully for 30 years and was bottled unfilitered, at cask strength. It's totally undiluted, pure, straight from the cask spirit, and was one of the most stunning drams we've ever tasted!

Under the pretense of tasting some rare whiskey, the gang quickly decends into a referendum on the appropriation of the word "damp" into a Hip-Hop phraseology, Amanda's penchant for mass murder podcasts, Jake's dubious use of bottom-shelf bourbon as mouthwash, and a contest for the worst old-timy 1950's television accent. On the table: Smooth Ambler Very Old Scout 14 Year Old Fitzgerald 11-Year Heaven Hill Select Stock Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Wild Turkey Original Decanter

Tasting through five different casks of various ages, the Beast Masters choose their next private barrel and learn about Heaven Hill's whiskey-making methods. Is older whiskey necessarily better? The boys taste casks from 8-12 years old. FInd out which one makes the cut.