Happy New Year!

Today, the Boys celebrate the start of 2025 with another installment of the Beginner Buys series.

Matt brings the easy drinking 90-proof Green River Wheated Bourbon and Drew brings the 100% agave, traditionally made El Tequilieno Platinum Blanco.

Each bottle has a special kind of *nuance* and the QuickSips™ are fantastic in both directions!

The Boys also take this opportunity to review 2024 and look ahead to what's next in 2025.

These bottles are available everywhere, so scoop 'em up, invite your friends, listen and sip along, and Make It A Happy Friday™!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  The Boys welcome you to another Holiday Edition of the 'cast, an attempt to repeat last year's "12 Minutes of Christmas" that fails by the clock, but excels with the bottles.

Matt brings a single barrel he found in, of all places, the local grocery store!  The Jefferson's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon is a smash hit!

Drew brings the Suerte Tequila Great Lakes Tequila Club Single Barrel Reposado.  This one has been on the show before, but not with a suitable whiskey for the QuickSip™.

You may not be able to find these exact bottles near you, but these are two brands with a long line of single barrels so an approximate replacement is not far away!

The Holidays are best enjoyed with kith and kin, so invite your friends and family to sip these bottles, listen along, enjoy two fantastic QuickSips™, and Make It A Happy Friday™!

Today the Boys welcome a special guest, Ryan Thompson, Founder and President of the 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirits Co. in Vail, CO.

10th Mountain is on the shelves in 20 states, and available nationally via their online shop.  So pick up a bottle or three, sip and listen along.  While you're at it, pick up a Tequila Ocho Anejo and play along with some delicious QuickSips™.

Follow the 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirits Co. in their production of top-shelf and support of our Military by finding them using the @10thmtnwhiskey handle on all the socials, in-person at their tasting room in Vail Village, and online at https://10thwhiskey.com/ 

Be sure to check out their new Affiliate Program at: https://10thwhiskey.com/pages/become-a-10th-mountain-whiskey-affiliate

This episode is good time so crack these bottles, invite your friends, listen and sip along, and Make It A Happy Friday™.

Welcome, and Happy Friday!  Today the boys bring two beautiful bottles that pair perfectly, perhaps unexpectedly.

Matt brings the Murray McDavid Single Malt Scotch Madeira Finish, an affordable scotch that will appeal to everyone, even to those who are not yet fans.  

Drew brings the Tequila G4 Blanco Madera which has a few production differences than the regular G4 Blanco, namely fermentation in a wood cask.

So why would a wood cask fermented tequila match so well with a barrel finished Scotch?  Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, that's just Matt's palate genius!

Both of these bottles are around, although the tequila may be a bit harder to find.  Go on the hunt, scoop 'em up, invite your friends, listen and sip along, and Make It A Happy Friday™! 

Today the Boys are honored to be joined by Doug Price of The Agave Social Club Podcast! 

Doug quickly established his podcast as the go-to source for the stories and people behind our favorite tequila brands. 

In this episode, Doug shares his story, as well as his behind-the-scenes knowledge of the tequila industry.  He and the Boys sip two beautiful spirits: Doug's own Single Barrel pick, the Volans Reposado Agave Social Club Single Barrel, which was aged in a used Basil Hayden barrel, and of course a Basil Hayden Toast Bourbon to complete the pairing.

The conversation is lively and insightful, and the QuickSips™ are truly a perfect match.  While Doug's Volans Single Barrel sold out in just a few hours, you may find a pour at your local watering hole, or another Volans Reposado on your liquor store shelf.

So listen and sip along, invite your friends, share a pour, and Make It A Happy Friday™.

Find Doug and The Agave Social Club at:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1KHKNgeXcp/?mibextid=K35XfP

https://www.instagram.com/agavesocialclub?igsh=dXY1N3J3ZHN0eGFn

https://www.theagavesocialclub.com

Today an old friend of the show stops by for his 2nd visit! The Boys welcome again Mike Barad, Founder of the Great Lakes Tequila Club, to talk all things tequila and share the GLTC Single Barrel Picks to date: Reposados from Suerte Tequila, Codigo 1530, Yeyo, and El Gran Legado de Vida.

Listen along as Mike reveals his dedication,  thoughtfulness, and intention in building an inclusive community and curating a line of single barrels with something for everyone.

These bottles are on shelves only in the Chicagoland area, but luckily these brands likely have other single barrel picks in your area.  So scoop 'em up, invite your friends, share a dram, listen along, and Make It A Happy Friday™.

Today the Boys teach you how to get active on the Tequila Matchmaker App by walking you through the nose and palate notes and scoring process.

Featured are samples of Siete Leguas Blanco, Nueveuno Tequila Anejo, and El Tesoro Extra Anejo from an earlier tasting and training event hosted by Scarlet and Grover Sanschagrin.

If these bottles are available near you, then scoop 'em up, listen, sip, and score along.  If they are not available, then pick up another bottle and follow the steps to score your choice!

And as always, the Boys hope you'll Make It A Happy Friday™!

Download the TequilaMatchMaker app available on Apple and Android.

Find more at:

https://www.tequilamatchmaker.com

https://tastetequila.com

https://additivefreealliance.com

PS - there are updates in the Additive Free vs CRT saga that occurred shortly after recording this episode.  Stay tuned for the latest news and gossip!

Today the Boys are joined by a giant in the bourbon world, Col. Steve Akley, aka The Bourbon Sasquatch, owner and founder of the ABV Network and the ABV Barrel Shop.

Matt has been lucky enough to stop by the ABV Barrel Shop to pick up a few of Steve's Single Barrel picks that they Boys and their guest enjoy on the show:

• Deerhammer American Single Malt

All are bottles personally chosen by Steve Akley, and exclusively available at his ABV Barrel Shop.

Not near the shop?  No worries - these brands have bottles on a shelf near you.  So scoop 'em up, invite your friends for a pour, sip along and listen to a true expert in the industry share his insights to the past, present, and future of bourbon. 

A sip with friends and this podcast are sure to Make It A Happy Friday™!

Find Steve and his endless passion projects online:

http://abvnetwork.com/

http://abvbarrelshop.com/

http://steveakley.com/

Today the Boys celebrate Terroir with two bottles that have plenty of, bring it in, nuance to spare.

Matt brings the Laws Whiskey House San Luis Valley Straight Rye, highlighting the grain in a high-altitude valley in Colorado.  Drew brings the Lagrimas Del Valle Plata 2022 Palo Verde, a single-field agave release.

The QuickSips™ have a clear winner in one direction, and even a surprising realization.

Listen and sip along as the Boys share their tasting notes and random wanderings.  Invite your friends and Make It A Happy Friday™!

Happy Friday, folks!  The boys sure are glad you're here as they revisit an old pairing that just never got released to the public.

Today, Matt brings the Henry McKenna 10 Year Single Barrel Bottled in Bond Bourbon, another from one of his favorites, Heaven Hill.  And Drew brings the Lalo Tequila Blanco from a family that is not too short on pedigree themselves!

The boys have had this re-do on the list for a long time, and with good reason.  This is one of the best pairings ever!

The QuickSips™ are sublime, with one direction vying for the title of All-Time Favorite.  Will it make it?

These are two bottles that were once hard to find, but becoming more present on the shelves.  So scoop 'em up, share them with friends, listen and sip along, and Make It A Happy Friday™!