Bottom of the Barrel: A Bourbon Podcast and Blog

So we swear the plan was to record the first part of our Prohibition Trilogy this weekend while we were both in the same place, but due to some additional sources being found and Judas Priest blowing our minds, we didn’t get it done. Never fear, we did get something recorded for our loyal Bourbon Evangelists though! Enjoy as we review a couple finds from bourbon season and get Darren’s opinion on Maker’s Mark Cask Strength. Guest taster Michaela joins in on the fun (not the gymnast).

We also introduce our new rating system in this cast. In an effort to combat traditional 1-100 scales where even the likes of Colonel Lee and Yellowstone seem to manage 75/100, we are starting a 1-5 barrel rating. We describe it in the cast, but basically a 0.5 is rubbing alcohol (or Yellowstone) and a 5 is something reserved only for transcendent bourbon experiences. We also introduce our rarity scale, which goes from Squirrel to Unicorn. I’ll let you listen to the cast to get how we came up with that. Hope you enjoy!

Listen here!

Here’s what we’re tasting:

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2014

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Barrel Strength 2014

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength 1st Release

Boy did we have a great time sitting down with one of the legends of Lexington bartending and bourbon curating, Chris Evans of Bluegrass Tavern. We highly recommend checking them out if you are from Lexington of just passing through. Their bourbon collection is nearly impossible to beat and the drinks are strong and well made. Hope you have as much fun listening as we did interviewing, cheers!

Listen here: Interview with Chris Evans of Bluegrass Tavern

Bonus recipes!

Pre-interview Chris gave us his summer Gamechanger recipe. We love it and made our own little riff for you to enjoy!

The Gamechanger by Chris Evans

Handful of frozen fruit (cherries, blackberries, peaches, whatever you like)

Two shakes of bitters

Top with bourbon and enjoy!

The BOTB Gamechanger

2 oz. Bourbon

1/2 oz. Gran Gala (or Cointreau or triple sec)

1/2-3/4 oz Lemon Juice

3/4 Tbs. Basil Simple Syrup (recipe here)

Dash Balsamic Vinegar

Shake above ingredients and strain over frozen blackberries or frozen blackberry ice cubes, garnish with lemon and basil and enjoy!

Listen Here: Bourbon Limbo Minicast

Here it is, Bourbon Limbo! We took 5 of the scariest Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskies we could find on the shelf and put them to the test. OK, so we cheated a little and went with the higher proof expressions if they were available. We did this tasting blind, so if you want to know what we’re tasting as we go, check out the spoilers below. This was our first ‘on location’ recording, so we do apologize for the background noise. 

Special thanks to our friends at Big Earl’s Beverage Co. for hosting. Check them out on Facebook or if you’re down in Nicholasville, stop on by and tell Ben we sent you! We’re also joined by Bill Straub from over at Modern Thirst. Cheers!

In order of tasting: 

1) Ezra Brooks 90 Proof

2) Very Old Barton 6 Year Old 86 Proof

3) Yellowstone

4) Ancient Age 90 Proof

5) Rebel Yell 80 Proof

Hello loyal listeners! As promised we did a tasting of some Bowman Brothers offerings. Herein we talk about the Small Batch, Single Barrel, and Double Barrel versions. All great stuff, but give it a listen for our full opinions. We’re joined this time by guest taster Anne Davis!

Bowman Brothers tasting here!

It has been FAR too long. We apologize for our absence, but we really think this is a solid cast. We did a lot of research and have tried to do a thorough explanation of what the flavor compounds are in bourbon and where they come from; down to the molecular level! Special thanks to Tom Collins at UC Davis for helping me find his research! Our tasting is of commonly available rye whiskies. If you want to play along at home, here’s the list: Bulleit Rye, Sazerac, Michter’s Rye, Rittenhouse Rye BIB, Jefferson 10 Year Rye, and Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Cask Strength Rye (8 year old).

Thanks so much for being patient! Text post to follow with some good links to the research papers used for this cast as well as our quick hit impressions of the ryes we tasted. Cheers and enjoy!

Podcast Number 5: Listen here

Also, we now have Twitter, so follow us at @BOTBBourbon!

Hurray, we’re finally back on the air! In this mini-cast we tackle the question of whether or not it matters what quality of bourbon you put in your Coke. And we’re using the bourbons you voted for! We’ve both got new audio setups and a new way to interlace the recordings, so hopefully you’ll notice a difference. We tasted these in random order blind (spoilers below if you want to taste along with us). Enjoy! Here’s some pictures of our new setups to give you time to stop reading if you don’t want to know the order we tasted.

Listen here: The Great Bourbon and Coke Throwdown Minicast

Chris’ setup:

Darren’s setup (look at that sexy pop filter):

The Challengers in order:

1) Maker’s Mark

2) Weller Special Reserve 90 Proof

3) Knob Creek Single Barrel

4) Early Times

Hurray, finally! It’s podcast #4. Only took us twice as long as last time. We had some technical difficulties with Skype so please excuse any audio glitches, we tried to fix them. I suppose I should just marvel at the fact that I can video chat with someone 100s of miles away rather than yell futilely at the computer screen. If you’d like me to put up text reviews of the BIBs, let me know. Enjoy, cheers! 

Listen to the cast here!:  Bottom of the Barrel Podcast #4 

What we tasted: 

Kentucky Tavern BIB

Very Old Barton 6 Year BIB

Old Fitzgerald BIB

J.W. Dant BIB

Old Grand Dad BIB

Heaven Hill 6 Year BIB

Henry McKenna 10 Year Single Barrel BIB

Bonus: Rittenhouse Rye BIB

Drink recipes from the show:

Buffalo (Bufala) Negra

3-4 basil leaves

teaspoon balsamic vinegar (this is like your bitters)

½ oz simple syrup (brown sugar makes this interesting)

MUDDLE THIS

Fill glass with ice, preferably crushed, and top with :

1.5 – 2oz bourbon (Buffalo Trace is my go to here)

and 1.5-2 oz Ale81, or ginger beer/ale

Chris’ Mint Julep – for derby season

4 mint leaves, preferably chocolate mint (or mint simple syrup for parties)

½ oz simple syrup

splash warm water, splash bourbon

MUDDLE ME BABY

fill with crushed ice

top with 2 oz bourbon (I use BT)

garnish with slapped mint sprig

If you wanna get crazy you can make an orange mint julep by muddling orange and two

splashes orange bitters then follow the above instructions, garnish with both mint

and flamed orange zest

Below freezing weather and long week got you down? Cheer up with our tasting of some Smooth Ambler products. These guys are NDP’s in Maxwelton, WV who don’t hide the fact that they purchase delicious barrels to pass them on to the consumer. Everything I’ve had from them has been pretty impressive, but the single barrel products we picked up at the distillery are definitely the stars of their line so far. That is, of course, with the exception of the Very Old Scout 14 year special release which is easily in my top 3 bourbons of all time. But it is gone forever as far as I can tell, and I can only get a taste every now and then at the Bluegrass Tavern. 

Listen to the tasting here: Smooth Ambler Tasting Minicast

Since we don’t do a rating system, here is an arbitrary way for you to get a feel of how we liked these without listening to the cast (but you should probably just listen): 

10 Year Batch 3: Pretty good stuff, nothing particularly unique but solid. Would consider buying again if nothing else struck our fancy at the store, but wouldn’t seek it out. Seemed slightly overpriced. 

10 Year Batch 8: Much fuller and more complex than batch 3, great expression of bourbon without gimmicks. Would definitely buy again, but probably not seek out specifically. Felt much better about the price point with this batch. 

8 Year, Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon: Sort of like what you wish Booker’s could be. Excellent traditional bourbon flavors, great complexity and mouth feel, but somewhat lacking on the nose. Would buy again for sure, and would seek out. 

8 Year, Single Barrel Cask Strength Rye: Wow! As interesting on the palate, if not more so, than the Angel’s Envy rye of the last tasting. Fantastic flavor, complexity, nose; the whole package. Find this and drink it right now!

If you want more, just give it a listen! Also, do note that we have no affiliation with Smooth Ambler and paid for these ourselves, so as always, we are your unbiased bourbon ambassadors. Cheers!

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but as promised here is a mini-cast of Chris and guest co-host Alicia tasting and waxing Quixotic about the Angel’s Envy line! Also, by absconded we didn’t mean stole, but rather took our tastings back to somewhere quiet we could record. For those of you with short attention spans or no time to listen, the 2nd release rye was our clear favorite. Cheers!

Angel’s Envy Tasting

Bottom of the Barrel Podcast #3!

Hurray, it’s podcast number 3: What about the Beams? Wherein we discuss the Beam family in distilling, non-traditional bourbon cocktails, our experiences at the Bourbon Classic and Bacon and Bourbon South Carolina as well as a tasting of some widely available bourbons. Enjoy, and as always, cheers!

Links of interest

Beam Distillers Family Tree

Bourbon, Straight by Chuck Cowdery (great little read)

Beam, Straight Up by Fred Noe

Bourbon Classic

Bacon and Bourbon South Carolina

Billy Goat Strut Revue

Postmodern Jukebox