BourbonOn

022 - Staring Down The Barrel - Ghost Coast Distillery

Shoutout to the wives for bringing the Ghost Coast name to life! In this 3rd episode of Staring Down the Barrel, we meet Chris Sywassink, co-founder of the Ghost Coast distillery in historic Savannah, Georgia. The story of how the first legal distillery in Savannah since Prohibition came into being includes everything from moonshiners to General Oglethorpe’s affinity for oranges to a lesson about the impact of storms on barrel aging.  Ghost Coast’s Master Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a cozy bourbon with a lot of taste – created with a wonderful blend of four barrel-aged unique bourbons that include some not-so-traditional ingredients, like Saison yeast - which happens to provide just a hint of an apricot flavor.  This bourbon is a must try when you find it (available online) and the Ghost Coast distillery is a must visit when in the Savannah area. With a motto like “in the good times people drink, in the bad times people drink more”… you can’t go wrong exploring the many spirit flavors they offer.  @ghostcoastdistillery #BourbonOn 

021 - Oh the places you'll go

Episode 021 - Oh the places you’ll go

 

This is Episode 021. Each time we travel out of state, we all bring back a souvenir from a local distillery. Hard to believe we haven’t recorded since November in The Whiskey Prison. Did Kurtron lose a tooth in a prison fight? You be the judge. But since then, we have traveled to Utah to ski, The White Mountains of New Hampshire for Christmas and a weekend getaway to historic Savannah, Georgia. That’s a lot of ground covered and a lot of bourbon sampled. We share our thoughts on Sugar House Distillery out of Utah, Old Man of the Mountain from Tamworth Distilling in New Hampshire and Savannah Distilling from Georgia. There’s a lot of country to see and even more bourbon to sample. Plus, Kratt takes us back to college professors who left lasting impression on us with Last Call. Pour yourself a dram, put on the headphones and laugh your ass off as shots are fired and the banter continues. Kratt can't quit Kurt.

@shdistillery @tamworth_distilling @savannah.bourbon #bourbonon

020 - Staring Down The Barrel - Conviction Double Oaked

Our visit to Whisky Prison uncovered a two-grain mash bill, a haunted rickhouse, a bourbon premier, and a wedding toast. What a great fall day. We went looking to hear about the Life Lore and Libation threads that make Conviction bourbon whiskey, and we were not disappointed.

The distillery is actually in a former prison in use from the 1920’s until 2010. It houses 1 of 2 remaining isolation boxes in North Carolina. Fortunately for bourbon fans, it’s current residents are some select barrels aging toward a 4-year release.

The Bourbon Boys sat down with Master Distiller Sebastian Correa to taste the sweet flavors derived from Southern Grace’s high corn blend.  Sebastian shared highlights from his  journey from App State’s Fermentation Science program to his first role at Southern Grace.  And, as a special treat, we raised a whiskey pour to his fiancée, Hailey, for letting him spend time with us only a week before their wedding.

Sampling three versions of Conviction’s new Double-Oaked bourbon release, the flavor profile did not disappoint. Notes of banana bread, vanilla and caramel left us wanting more...so we each bought bottles in the gift shop!

For spirit enthusiasts this distillery tour in Mount Pleasant, NC is a must see. Enjoy terrific bourbon and Sun Dog cocktails poured by the friendly staff.

@southerngracenc @convictionsmallbatchbourbon @sebcorrea #bourbonon

019 - The Jim Beam Family Tree

In the bourbon world, Boehm doesn’t carry as much weight as Beam… but that’s where it started 225 years ago. With a rich family of spirits under the Beam family tree, we took a tour of a wide range of bourbons – Old Tub, Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, Bakers and Bookers. We were all a bit surprised at our rankings at the end of this tasting. Listen in to hear our scores and let us know your thoughts...and your opinion on country ham. #BourbonOn @jimbeamdistillery 

018 - Larceny, Conviction and Redemption, plus Kurtron goes to prison

Episode 018 is all about crimes, punishment, redemption and the biggest question never asked..."who in your family would go to prison?" We sample them in order starting with Larceny - a wheated bourbon who's taste was made famous by an infamous act, then followed by North Carolina's own Conviction by Southern Grace Distillery, the first bourbon legally made behind bars in a former prison and wrap up the cycle with Redemption - not quite the Green Mile, but man this is a good bourbon. Hear our recommendations for Last Call as we send Kurt to prison, not sure what he did to deserve it, but this was a fun episode.

Oh, and Amanda has Kurt's back. Nice to know someone is looking out for him.

BourbonOn!

@larcenybourbon

@southerngracenc

@redemptionwhiskey

@bourbonboysnc

#bourbonon

#AmandaHasMyBack

017 - Staring Down The Barrel: Blue Note Bourbon

Welcome to our first edition of Staring Down The Barrel: Blue Note Bourbon. We have a conversation with the founder about what it's like to start and grow a young spirits brand.

When a bourbon’s brand, heritage, and flavor come together to tell a full story, there is reason to take note. And take note we did, with 3 great pours out of Memphis, Tennessee - two amazing bourbon whiskey’s and a rye that will change how you think about ryes… “Smoother than smooth” are the words they chose, and we kind of agree.

We had the pleasure of spending some time getting a peek behind the scenes of some great flavors coming out of BR Distilling – Blue Note bourbon and Riverset Rye – with co-founder McCauley Williams. Distribution is expanding (as early as September for some) and you’ll hope that your state is on the short list. 

Enjoy! BourbonOn

@bluenotebourbon

016 - New England Bourbon Trail

Talk about a wicked episode, kid! We take a trip up to New England and make our own Bourbon Trail. Which BTW is much more interesting than the Freedom Trail field trip in 7th grade, just sayin'. Aggressively, we tackle 5 bourbons in one episode. We don't recommend that. But we start with Berkshire Mountain Distillery in western Mass - The Bay State, then head 30 miles off the coast to Nantucket for Triple 8 Distillery's Nor' Easter. After that we head up to Vermont - the Green Mountain State - and try both Mad River bourbon and Snuggler's Notch (purchased in NH - Live Free or Die) and wrap it up with the Wiggly Bridge from Maine - the Vacation State. Early appologies to fans in CT and RI, step it up and send us bourbon if you got it. There is so much good bourbon out there and some of it is coming from a few New England states. I tellya kid, theyas some tasty bourbon up theya.

@wigglybridgedistillery

@tripleeightdistillery

@berkshiremtdist

@snd_spirits

@madriverdistillers

015 - Flaviar Craft Bourbon Vials and HOA Rage

In this episode we sample our first shipment from Flaviar. These three vials of small, craft bourbons do not disappoint and the presentation from Flaviar adds some flair to the experience. We taste Alamo from San Antonio, TX; Koval from Chicago, the first distillery to open following prohibition; Journeyman from Michigan. Then something happened and Kurt's rage against HOA rules and signs in his yard came out. Here where it goes and how you can bribe your HOA president in a pinch.

Plus use our link below to get a free bottle of bourbon ($50 credit) when you sign-up for Flaviar.

http://fbuy.me/v/derrick_338

@flaviar_com, @kovaldistillery, @alamodistillingco, @journeymandistillery, #BoubonOn

014 - Willett taste better than Weller?

This is our third attempt at episode 014. We really suck at Zoom, so attempts 1 and 2 turned in to catching up, drinking bourbon, losing wifi, timing out at 40 minutes because we are too cheap to buy a real Zoom account. But hey, it was great to get back together as the country is opening back up. We tasted three really great bourbons, didn't have a ton to argue about, still found ways to poke at Kurt and caught up on how we made it through the quarantine. Tonight we sampled two Weller wheated bourbons (red and green label - none of us are willing spend $10 on Zoom upgrade so do you think we'd spend $800+ on the Weller blue label?) and as a bonus, Kurt threw in Willett Pot Still edition. Really cool taste, not your typical bourbon, but a real cool gift idea too. Join us, let us know what you think and #BourbonOn!

@willettdistillery

@wellerbourbon

For summer merchandising, visit www.bourbonon.com

013 - This is getting OLD

Whether it be in life or with bourbon, getting old is all relative. And depending on who you ask, we BourbonBoys are older and dare we say, better. So we took the challenge to see if Old is Better. We're sampling three bourbons all starting with "old" in their brand name - Old Forester 1870 Original Batch, Old Elk, Old Nick Williams. In this episode, we learn about cutting and heat, some top female blenders, what contributions rye makes versus wheat. These Old brands harking back to the 1800’s -- the first ever batch processing, to a 200 year-old recipe resurrected right here in NC. The exploration takes us across rye and wheat based bourbons with some very opinionated viewpoints on tastes and whether we’d put it on the shelf.  Embracing old is our motto - facing it straight on like bourbon served neat. For last call, we talk about what we’d ask our grandpa’s if given the opportunity again. What would you ask him if you could today? I bet we'd all learn what life was like when time moved just a little slower. Let’s take a ride on the slow train and venture in to life of the OLD.

@oldnickwhiskey @oldelkbourbon @oldforester #RememberWhen #OlderIsBetter #WhoYouCallinOld