Chasing the Unicorn: Bourbon & American Whiskey

Garrison Brothers and Texas outdoor brand Duck Camp are releasing a 400-bottle single barrel bourbon on Halloween morning with no lottery mechanic — 200 bottles at the distillery gate in Hye, Texas, and 200 online, both opening at the same minute. The Cut also breaks down what "single barrel" actually promises, and looks at 2XO's new national Sugarhill Gang collaboration bourbon.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Kentucky's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control closed its second confiscated-bourbon auction of the year tonight — seventy seized bottles, including a complete eight-bottle Blanton's letter set and a four-bottle E.H. Taylor set, going to the highest bidder with no distributor or store standing in the way. Winners must collect in person in Frankfort. Also today: Angel's Envy prices its first-ever dual-cask rye, blending peach brandy and toasted oak finishes for the first time.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Wanderfolk Distillery married seven-year-old straight bourbon from Kentucky and Tennessee into a single $25 bottle called Tallbird, built for the cocktail glass instead of the sipping shelf. Because the blend names one of its source states, federal rules require it to name every state in the mix — which is why Kentucky and Tennessee both sit right there on the label. A second story: a Sedalia, Missouri cigar festival adds a tiered whiskey tasting to its first-ever lineup.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Silver Brothers Distillery bottled a rye whiskey using nothing but grain grown on its own Hudson Valley land — no broker, no backup supplier if the harvest had gone wrong. Six 30-gallon barrels of Hazlet rye, bottled at 92 proof, sell for $78. A second story: a new federal order stops new bottled Canadian whisky from entering the U.S. starting tonight.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Franklin previews the week ahead: a New Hampshire charity raffle closing Wednesday, two Blue Note honey-cask releases from B.R. Distilling on shelves now, a low-ticket-count Project EverGreen raffle open into December, and a numbered 1,776-bottle release from Hooten Young opening for pre-sale October 14. One pairing worth pouring this week, and every date filed where you won't have to remember it yourself.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

This week's Cut Weekend centers on WhistlePig's Boss Hog: The Golden Pharaoh, a rye finished on a recipe carved into an ancient Egyptian tomb wall. Alongside it: Four Finger Distillery's three-town Finger Blast Party, Bourbon & Beyond dropping "bourbon" from its name starting in 2027, a Ruffian mural unveiled ahead of Bourbon County's free Sunday festival, and VP Racing Fuels' purchase of Alamo Premium Distillery. Franklin closes with the week's export numbers and an invitation to weigh in on which story stuck.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Refuge for Women, a Kentucky charity for trafficking survivors, is raffling an E.H. Taylor Warehouse C "Tornado Surviving" bottle signed by Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley — a thousand tickets at $100 each, twenty-five total chances to win. It's a rare case where a ticket, not a store relationship, is the whole path to an allocated bottle, and it raises the question of whether that's actually the fairer door in.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

New Hampshire's state liquor stores are raffling off 34 rare bottles — reportedly including a Pappy Van Winkle collection — for a $100 ticket, proceeds going to a veterans' nonprofit. It's a rare case of allocated bourbon access that doesn't run through a distributor or a store relationship, which raises the real question: what does "allocated" even mean, and who decides who gets a shot at it?

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Root Shoot Spirits released two six-year American single malts from barley grown on its own Colorado farm — one a single barrel at 123 proof, the other a Bottled-in-Bond small batch at exactly 100 proof. Bottled in Bond is a strict 1897 law: one distillery, one season, four years aged, exactly 100 proof. Most whiskey never has to clear that bar.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.

Knob Creek's new 12 Year Old Cask Strength ($90, no lottery) and Buffalo Trace's Elmer T. Lee 40th Anniversary ($99.99, lottery, 124.8-138.6 proof) both say "cask strength" — but one is ten barrels blended to 121.2 proof, the other is one barrel's own number, unblended. Same phrase, two different mechanics, and it changes how the bottle should be read.

The retail detail — the where, the when and the numbers — isn't in this episode. Platform rules for alcohol content don't allow it here. All of it is in the American Whiskey Industry Brief, free every morning at chasingtheunicornpodcast.com.