Two Guys On A Porch

Ep. 56 - 🇺🇸 America at 250…and A Bourbon Older Than WWII 

On this special Independence Day edition of Two Guys On A Porch, Jason and Bradford celebrate America's 250th Anniversary by exploring the ideas, freedoms, friendships, and disagreements that have shaped our nation since 1776. From memories of the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 to reflections on civility, personal freedom, differences, and the enduring strength of the American experiment, the guys consider what still holds us together in a time when it often feels easier to focus on what divides us.

To mark the occasion, they pour a remarkable piece of bourbon history: a 1941 Bottled-in-Bond J.W. Dant, distilled shortly after Prohibition and bottled during a pivotal era in American history. This bottle pre-dates World War II! The vintage whiskey serves as more than just a pour—it becomes a connection to another generation and a reminder of the traditions that endure.

They also compare it with Monk's Road Bourbon from Log Still Distillery, a modern expression tied to the same Dant family legacy, creating a unique tasting that bridges America's past and present. Along the way, a rare Padrón PB97 cigar helps complete a celebration centered on craftsmanship, heritage, and gratitude for those who came before us.

So as we celebrate Independence Day, perhaps the better question isn't whether America is perfect.

It's this:

What has allowed America to survive—and even thrive—for 250 years?

Perhaps it is the exceptionalism of the American experiment. For 250 years, we've stumbled, argued, disagreed, and persevered. Yet here we are. Imperfect? Absolutely. But for all its faults, America remains the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever known—and still the best place in the world that we call home.

Pull up a chair and join us on the porch. 🇺🇸

Ep. 55 - South Africa vs Kentucky: The Corn Whiskey Battle Nobody Saw Coming

Most bourbon lovers have heard of Mellow Corn. But what happens when a Kentucky cult favorite goes head-to-head with a whiskey hand-carried home from a South African safari?

In this quick Porch Picks episode from Two Guys On A Porch, Jason and Bradford compare two very different takes on corn whiskey: the classic, Bottled-in-Bond Mellow Corn and Bains Cape Mountain Whisky, a unique South African pour finished in specialty casks. One whiskey surprised us with unexpected depth and character. The other sparked a debate that got... a little brutal.

Is corn whiskey underrated? Is Mellow Corn worth the hype? And can a whiskey from halfway around the world outshine a Kentucky staple?

Join us for one of the most surprising comparisons we've done yet.

#Bourbon #WhiskeyReview #CornWhiskey #MellowCorn #HeavenHill #BainsWhisky #SouthAfricanWhisky #WhiskeyComparison #PorchPicks #TwoGuysOnAPorch

Ep. 54 -  Porch Picks |  Don’t Be Fooled By The Willet Purple Top

Jason thought he found the bourbon deal of the year when he spotted a Willett Purple Top sitting on a store shelf. But a closer look revealed a surprising twist.

In this Porch Pick, Jason and Bradford compare a young 4-year Willett rye against a mature 10-year Willett rye to see exactly what barrel aging contributes to flavor, complexity, and balance.

The verdict? Same whiskey. Very different experience.

If you're a bourbon hunter, Willett fan, or simply curious whether age statements really matter, this quick comparison is one you won't want to miss.

Willett Family Estate Rye (4 Year vs 10 Year)

Subscribe for more bourbon reviews, cigar pairings, whiskey stories, and conversations about friendship, life, and everything in between.

#Bourbon #Willett #PurpleTop #WhiskeyReview #TwoGuysOnAPorch #PorchPicks

Can passion become a profession? And if it does… does it actually make life better?

Today on Two Guys On A Porch, Jason and Bradford welcome back outdoorsman and guide Chris Nischan for a conversation about work, calling, money, contentment, and the quiet pressure men feel to measure themselves by titles, success, and income.

Pouring Russell’s Reserve 15 Year alongside Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Triumph Rye, the guys swap stories about rare whiskey finds, guiding hunts around the world, corporate culture, and the surprising truth that some of the wealthiest people alive still struggle to find peace.

Chris opens up about leaving traditional work behind to build a life around hunting and fishing, while Bradford reflects on finding purpose inside a career that wasn’t necessarily his “calling.” Together, the porch explores comparison, identity, friendship, and the battle many men fight between chasing more and learning to be content with what they already have.

This episode is full of humor, honesty, exceptional pours, and the kind of conversation that reminds you life is bigger than a paycheck.

Pull up a chair and join us on the porch.

#PurposeDriven #CareerGrowth #Leadership #WorkLifeBalance #EntrepreneurLife #MensMentalHealth #Brotherhood #SuccessMindset #PassionProject #Contentment #BourbonPodcast @TwoGuysOnAPorch

Jason and Bradford gather back on the porch for a Memorial Day episode centered on honor, sacrifice, and the complicated reality of sending young men and women into harm’s way. As the guys raise a glass, they pause to remember those who gave their lives in service to this country — and to honor the men and women currently serving around the world today. 

The conversation becomes deeply personal as Bradford reflects on his father enlisting in the Navy during World War II because, in his words, there was a stigma around waiting to be drafted. He wanted it known that he was willing to serve. Decades later, Bradford now has a son deployed in a dangerous region of the world while Jason shares about his son preparing to enter military life through The Citadel with hopes of becoming a Marine officer. Together, the guys wrestle with the question every parent eventually asks: Why do they willingly go?

From brotherhood and belonging… to purpose, identity, challenge, sacrifice, patriotism, and the desire to prove yourself capable of something difficult, the porch conversation moves through both history and heart. Jason and Bradford reflect on how military service shapes men, creates lifelong bonds, and calls ordinary people toward something noble and costly. 

For this Memorial Day release, the porch pairing felt especially fitting. The featured cigar is the rare Arturo Fuente Opus X Opus Society — a luxury 2024 release with only 30,000 produced worldwide. Wrapped like a work of art and built around the idea of craftsmanship and lifestyle, the cigar sparks plenty of debate on the porch about whether beauty and exclusivity always equal greatness. The guys pair it with Peerless Toasted Bourbon, a rich 108.4 proof pour from Kentucky Peerless — a revived 1889 distillery known for hand-charred and hand-toasted barrels that create deep caramelized oak flavors and a smooth smoked-orange finish. They also crack open American Eagle 4 Year, the mysterious Tennessee bourbon whiskey rumored to contain George Dickel distillate, leading to conversations about craft whiskey, tradition, and hidden gems. 

By the end of the episode, the guys raise a final toast — not to bourbon, cigars, or the porch itself — but to the men and women who have stepped forward to serve, especially those who never made it home.

“To the men and women in service for this country… we toast you.”

#MemorialDay #SupportOurTroops #Veterans #MilitaryFamily #HonorTheFallen #BourbonPodcast #WhiskeyLovers #CigarLife #Brotherhood #TwoGuysOnAPorch#MilitaryMoms #MilitaryDads

What happens when you put a world-class outdoorsman, a signed bottle of Russell's Reserve 15 Year, two porch philosophers, and a couple cigars together?

You get one heck of a conversation.

On Part 1 of this special two-part episode of Two Guys On A Porch, Jason and Bradford welcome back repeat guest and longtime friend Chris Nischan — legendary hunting and fishing guide, former host of Tennessee’s Wild Side, and the very first winner of Field & Stream Outdoorsman of the Year.

Chris may know more about turkey hunting, tiger fishing, and the outdoors than just about anybody we know… but this episode isn’t really about hunting.

It’s about vulnerability.

Over pours of Russell’s Reserve 10 Year and the unicorn-level Russell’s Reserve 15 Year — personally signed by Wild Turkey icon Jimmy Russell himself — the guys blind taste the pours and quickly realize one of them belongs in the bourbon hall of fame. (Spoiler: the 117-proof Russell’s Reserve 15 drinks dangerously smooth.)

But between cigar smoke and plenty of porch-level trash talk, Chris opens up about growing up searching for identity, being the class clown, finding purpose in the outdoors, and the mentors who helped redirect his life before it went sideways.

There’s also:

Somewhere between the caramel, oak, rye spice, and laughter, this episode lands on a truth most men rarely say out loud:

Vulnerability doesn’t weaken men. It connects them.

Pour something worthy. Pull up a chair. And welcome back to the porch.

Today… we’re talking Chicken Cock.

We picked up these bottles at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, and what started as a joke turned into a legit surprise:  From a 130 proof Cask Reserve that hits fast and disappears just as quick… to a Miller’s Reserve blend that might just earn a permanent spot on your shelf—we break it down the only way we know how: honest, unfiltered, and probably a little inappropriate.

Somewhere between the laughs and the history, we remembered why we do this—

👉 Join Two Guys on a Porch

Because what’s better than bourbon and friendship? Not much.

#bourbon #whiskeyreview #chickencock #porchpicks #twoguysonaporch

What does it actually cost a man to be vulnerable — and is it worth it? In this candid continuation of the conversation with Nashville therapist Steve Jackson, Jason and Bradford go deep on what men are really carrying, why so few of them ever put it down, and what it looks like when they finally do.

Steve unpacks the quiet crisis playing out in men's lives today — from the isolating grip of screens and social media to the way pornography rewires the brain's capacity for real intimacy and relationship. The conversation tackles why men tend to suppress emotional pain until life forces their hand, and how that unavoidable breaking point can actually become the doorway to lasting healing.

Bradford shares his own story — how he thought he'd worked through his past, only to find himself blindsided by divorce and called into a deeper, more honest kind of vulnerability than he'd ever allowed before. Steve walks through what that healing journey really looks like in the therapy room: earning trust, peeling back layers, moving a man from shame to self-compassion to forgiveness.

The guys also dig into the tension of being vulnerable in the wrong room — what happens when you open up and the people around you aren't ready for it — and why that risk is still worth taking. Spoiler: it's still worth it. Unlike Bradford's ability to tell King of Kentucky from Leiper's Fork after two pours — that ship has sailed.

All of this unfolds over a blind taste-off between King of Kentucky and Leiper's Fork, two exceptional Tennessee bourbons that prove great brown water rewards the effort you put in. Paired alongside a Padrón Presidente — a full-bodied, box-pressed beauty that burns as slow and smooth as a good conversation — it's the kind of afternoon on the porch that reminds you why fellowship matters.

If Part 1 is still on the to-do list, go back and start there. Then settle in — this one's worth the time.

Join us on the Porch.

Like, subscribe, and let us know what you're drinking and smoking at twoguysthentheporch.com.

#TwoGuysOnThePorch #MensMentalHealth #Vulnerability #KingOfKentucky #LeipersFork #Padron1964 #BourbonPodcast #Therapy #CigarLife #BourbonAndCigars #MensWellness #FellowshipSticks #NashvilleTherapist #BourbonTasting

Ep. 47 - More Than Smoke & Bourbon: What We’re Really Building on the Porch

Every good place has a beginning.

For Mission Cigar and Social, it started with an idea from Monty Collins—create a space where people could slow down, sit for a while, and enjoy a cigar.

Simple enough.

But like most things that matter, it became more than that.

What Monty built isn’t just a cigar lounge. It’s a place where conversations happen. Where people come in one way and leave a little different. Where you can sit down, not have to perform, and just be around others for a bit.

That’s not all that different from what we’re trying to do here on the porch.

This episode moves through cigars, stories, Tennessee Collective, Franklin Distillery and a few laughs… but it keeps circling back to the same idea:

Most people aren’t looking for more noise.

A place where connection isn’t forced… it just happens.

Come visit Franklin, TN and be sure to spend some time at Mission Cigar and Social. You’ll experience what we are talking about here and on all episodes of Two Guys On A Porch.  

That’s the point.

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Monty—so if you haven’t yet, go back and listen to Part 1 featuring Franklin Distillery, Tennessee Collective Whiskey, and Padrón. It’ll give you the full picture.

So whether you’re listening on the way home, sitting on your back porch, or lighting one up with a friend—thanks for being part of it.

#TwoGuysOnAPorch #BourbonPodcast #CigarPodcast #WhiskeyPodcast #MensPodcast #CigarConversation #BourbonTalk #CigarCulture #MensMentalHealth #BrotherhoodMatters #PodcastClips #franklintn #franklintennessee #downtownfranklin #visitfranklintn #Franklin #TennesseeCollective #TennesseeWhiskey #TNWhiskeyTrail #FranklinDistillery

This episode is anchored in one of the South’s most iconic towns—Franklin, Tennessee—where history, hospitality, and a damn good pour all collide.

Jason and Bradford sit down with Monty Collins of Mission Cigar and Social, now firmly planted just off the historic downtown square. If you’re visiting Franklin—and you should be—this is where you land. While the shops, restaurants, and charm pull people in… Mission Cigar is where conversations actually happen. Also visit their Spring Hill, TN location.

And on this porch, the pours are as local as it gets.

The guys light up a Padrón 50th Anniversary—a top-shelf cigar that might just be “last smoke worthy.  Additionally the boys crack into a rare Franklin Distillery 20-Year—a true “sleeper” bottle that drinks far smoother than its proof—and a one-of-a-kind Tennessee Collective Whiskey, a 12-distillery collaboration that might be the most uniquely Tennessee pour you’ll ever taste.

This isn’t just whiskey—it’s a snapshot of what’s happening across the state right now. From heritage names to rising players, Tennessee is building something real:

Together, they represent a growing movement—one that blends tradition, innovation, and a whole lot of Southern grit.

Along the way, Monty shares his story—from chemist to business owner to selling the family company—and the unexpected weight that comes with success. It’s real talk about work, identity, and what actually lasts when the deal is done.

This episode is about more than bourbon and cigars.

So if you’re headed to Franklin:

We’ll save you a seat on the porch.

Pour always good whiskey… or pour nothing at all.

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