Bourbon Pursuit

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Latest Episodes:

174 - Expert Talk On Four Roses Private Barrels and Recipes with Brett Atlas and Travis Hill Nov 08, 2018

Show notes

I don't know a bourbon enthusiast that doesn't love Four Roses. But this one goes into the depths of expert level opinions behind mash bills, hype behind certain runs, single barrels, mutated yeast, and more. Brett Atlas and Travis Hill join the show to talk about their experiences with Four Roses, their 10 recipes, and how they blend and create their own Limited Edition Small Batches.

Show Notes:

Farewall to Dave Pickerell. Enjoy our podcast with him http://bourbonpursuit.com/2018/03/29/man-behind-100-distilleries-dave-pickerell/
The Lounge with Will Chambers - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lounge-with-will-chambers/id1440284845
This week's Above The Char with Fred Minnick reflects on the past of Dave Pickerell.
Was it cask strength that got you hooked into Four Roses or was it a standard offering?
Give a break down of how to decipher the recipe for something like OBSQ vs OESF
Do you think the tasting notes on the back of the hang tag is inaccurate?
How often have you tried all recipes side by side?
Do you have a favorite 4R recipe and why?
Have you ever had a bad barrel?
Does the hype factor just play into a particular recipe?
How come everyone thinks OESK is the best?
What do you see as the typical recipe selections at a private barrel pick?
Have you ever walked out and never picked a barrel?
What do you think is a misconception of larger stores and their selections?
Do you think picks done by Brent Elliott are better or worse than ones done by a store?
Some words for Brent
How do you go about trying all 10 recipes?
Talk about trying to create your own Limited Edition Small Batches
Why do you think Four Roses doesn't put out barrel proof Small Batch?
The ages of barrel picks have been exponentially decreasing. Can they still keep this pace?
Would you lose your mind over a Four Roses pick?
Do you think the tags on the bottle showing the rack and details of the barrel are for the distillery to trace back anything for quality purposes or is it for the bourbon geeks?
Are higher aged Four Roses that are 17 or 23 years old any good?
Can you talk about the mutated yeast that contributed to the 125th anniversary bottle in 2013?
Has the ME warehouse fad passed?

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173 - Angel's Envy at the Legends Series Nov 01, 2018

Show notes

This Legend Series brings podcast guests, Wes and Kyle Henderson, back on the show with the newest face of the clan joining the family ranks, Andrew. The focus on family touches on the impact Lincoln Henderson made on Angel's Envy before his passing and what the generations after him remember the most. Fred also tries to squeeze out some juicy details behind sourcing, acquisitions, and favorite bourbons outside of their own.

Show Notes:

Are you paying more for barrel proof whiskey? Wade Woodard breaks down the math https://tater-talk.com/2018/10/29/value-proposition-of-higher-proof-us-whiskies/
KY Derby Museum Legend Series are on sale. First one begins in Jan buy your tickets at derbymuseum.org/legendsseries
This week's Above the Char with Fred Minnick discusses bourbon at large retail chains and it's impact on local business
What's the story about a pickle?
Talk about your dad, Lincoln Henderson, for a moment
Was bourbon a part of your childhood?
What was some nasty stuff you used to drink?
Andrew, talk about your science experiments
Is Kyle a good teacher?
What are the moments you miss Lincoln the most?
During the initial launch, talk about the process of choosing port barrels.
It's a never ending discussion, is this bourbon?
Would you like to see a special designation for barrel finishes?
Take us through the process of putting it through the port barrel finish
Is the barrel dry or wet?
Where can we purchase the bourbon you use before port finishing?
Wes, what's your official title now?
Let's try the rye whiskey finished in rum barrels
Is rye more flexible to blend?
When Bacardi acquired you, when did they come in as a minority investor?
What was that time like when you needed capital and needed to raise funds?
What's your favorite bourbons outside of Angel's Envy?
Lets talk about the Cask Strength Limited Release
What is your future on an individual basis?
Where is your warehouse growth needs?
Talk about the design of the bottle.
Past Angel's Envy Podcasts

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172 - BULLITT COUNTY, Lottery Dreams, and Buy/Sell/Trade of Brands on Bourbon Community Roundtable #25 Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

I guess this is our silver anniversary! We are joined by Josh Reidford who is the producer for the new AMC movie, BULLITT COUNTY, that opens in theaters this Friday the 26th. We discuss the fears of what would happen if a bourbon enthusiast won the 1.6 Billion Mega Millions lottery then wrap up the show talking if we would ever see a buyout of another large brand.

Show Notes:

Pursuit Series launch by Pursuit Spirits
This week's Above the Char with Fred Minnick examines the "dad tax" and encouraging more bourbon and food pairing to raise the bar
Did anyone else realize is Sober October or Mocktober or whatever
Bullitt County Producer Josh Riedford joins as a special guest
BULLITT COUNTY tells the story of four friends who reunite for a bachelor party in the Fall of 1977 to hunt for buried Prohibition money on the Bluegrass Bourbon Trail only to become ripped apart by greed, corruption, and murder. Winner of SIX BEST PICTURE AWARDS from film festivals nationwide
Trailer - https://vimeo.com/278106182
Do you see more bourbon coming into your world of movie production.
Lottery at 1.6 billion. If you had enough money for bourbon, what would you do?
What distillery has the most American whiskey interest?
Fred gave his lowest score of all time in Forbes

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171 - Tasting The Oldest Bourbon in History with Buddy Thompson, Former Chairman of Glenmore Distillery Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

When you see a 45 year old bourbon priced at $1800 retail, do you ask yourself, "Who are they kidding!?". That's exactly what Kenny thought before sitting down with our guest today. James "Buddy" Thompson brings more to this story than a bottle of bourbon. He was the Forman chairman of Glenmore Distillery and donated over $300,000 from the profits of James Thompson & Brother Final Reserve to charities that support Veterans. This episode will capture not only the history of Glenmore Distillery, but also make you intrigued to know what something that has aged 45 years in an oak barrel tastes like and the journey those barrels took until they were actually bottled. Show Notes:

The “Private Labels” Ruling Whiskey’s Black Market from PunchDrink.com
Join our Private Barrel Club at https://www.patreon.com/bourbonpursuit
We are now on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5Z3v7diyoqu0Zx7naH29jc
This week’s Above The Char with Fred Minnick is a short list for 2018 American Whiskey of the Year and a Call to Action for listeners to tell him what to drink!
Scott Scinta, how did you get into it?
What was your initial reaction to the product or story?
Buddy, tell us about your path into the spirits industry
What happened between Brown and Thompson?
Talk about your time at Glenmore Distillery
Can you talk about Kentucky Tavern history and during those times at Glenmore?
Were you overseeing operations? What was your role comprised of?
Why not a 50 year?
Are you a veteran yourself?
Talk about your military past?
How often were you going back and testing these barrels?
Are they sad about losing their best tenant ever for resting these barrels?
Talk about the extravagant packaging?
Why a snifter rather than a glencairn?
So this really wasn’t a big profit game?
What's the release cycle of these look like?
Why not make one big batch?
How did Bill Thomas of Jack Rose become involved?
Let’s start sampling
This nose is incredible!
It says "double oaked". So it's been barreled twice
What was the entry proof 40+ years ago?
What were some of your go to whiskies back then?
Were you trying to find a target consumer?

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170 - Bourbon Bunker Transformations with Michael St. Pierre and Aaron Stine Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

Lets face it. We go over to a buddy's house so we can try bourbon we don't have or because their collection is better than ours. How did they get their hands on it? Why are they so cool about sharing it? Michael St. Pierre and Aaron Stine are familiar names in the Facebook bourbon community. You've probably seen them buying, selling, or trading bottles but what's their end game? Learn how these seasoned vets have transformed their bourbon bunkers into what many would call, a bourbon candy land.

Show Notes:

Get your copy of Bourbon Justice
Subscribe to Bourbon+ for only $30 a year
This week's Above The Char with Fred Minnick tries to define "What's a bourbon asshole?"
Michael and Aaron, talk about how you got introduced to bourbon
When did the itch hit you to start getting high end bourbons?
Talk about your collection so we can baseline
Talk about how you amass to the point where you have these crazy bottles in your collections
Do you see Van Winkle bottles as being the ace in your pocket?
You don't think the new Van Winkles are worth their weight now, so do you look at it as trade bait?
Is there a shelf bourbon you even go to anymore?
Do you waste your time getting Elijah Craig Barrel Proof or Elmer T Lee for for trading up?
Have any of those open bottles turned into sample swaps?
Given the expense of the rarities, what is your price limit for a bottle?
What's your white whale?
Do you have one more piece of advice for transforming your bunker?

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169 - The Birth of Empire Rye Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

Empire Rye was founded by a group of distillers out of New York to create something so unique that it requires grains and a footprint in the Empire State. We're joined by Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distilling, Christopher Williams of Coppersea Distilling, and Allen Katz of New York Distilling Co to discuss the culture of rye in New York and the regulations set forth by the Empire Rye act.

Show Notes:

Shout out to Brad Bonds of Cork N Bottle for hosting us after our New Riff barrel selection
Patreon Barrel Picks -> http://bourbo.nz/BarrelPicks
This week's Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about Trump, Trade, and NAFTA
Chris thanks for coming on today because you about lost your voice this weekend too
The oak is new and interesting. Are you sourcing from Independent Stave or somewhere local?
Are you looking at different stave widths to adjust for micro-climates?
Why culture of rye of NY? Can you talk about the history of it?
Who came up with the idea of Empire Rye? And what is the sole idea behind it?
During the drafting process, what are those elements that make something an "Empire Rye"?
What are the stipulations about grains or can someone in a different state distill an Empire Rye?
A rye whiskey is able to develop more flavor and mature faster than a bourbon at a 2 year state. Agree?
What about the grains of NY make it interesting or fit that definition?
What other grains are you experimenting with that other 25% that's allowable in the mash bill?
Were you trying to find commonalities between bottled-in-bond act as well?
Is there anyone actually enforcing the standard?
When it comes down to the bottling proof, is there an expected standard or is it up to you all?
Is there going to be a collaboration or plan on selling barrels with the standard of "Blended Empire Rye Whiskey"?
What's the next phase to bring more NY distilleries on board?
What's your distribution plan right now?
Purchase Finger Lakes Empire Rye at Seelbach's - https://seelbachs.com/search?q=McKenzie

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168 - Bourbon & Beyond Wrap Up, Master Distiller Shuffle, and 1933 Old Taylor on Bourbon Community Roundtable #24 Sep 27, 2018

Show notes

A first ever, in-person recording of the Roundtable crew! We got rained out from Bourbon and Beyond but we're not going to let that stop us from sharing some funny stories and cracking open a 1933 Old Taylor. We also take the time to talk about the Master Distiller shuffle happening at Heaven Hill, Maker's Mark, and Jim Beam. Show Notes:

This week’s Above the Char has Fred Minnick discussing his Super Bowl
We have a funny story to tell from the Speed Art Museum's rare bourbon auction
Bourbon and Beyond talk
Brian and Blake ask us the hardest question they were going to ask from their cancelled sessions
We start talking about the actual roles of Master Distillers and the transition we've seen from Four Roses with Jim Rutledge
Denny Potter from Heaven Hill is transitioning to Director of Operations to Master Distiller at Maker's Mark. Was this the right move?
Brian from Sipp'n Corn brought a 1933 Old Taylor for the roundtable to open and try. wow.
Thanks to Blake from Bourbonr.com, Nick and Jordan from Breaking Bourbon, and Brian from Sipp’n Corn for joining this week.

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167 - EXCLUSIVE: 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame featuring Freddie Johnson, Matt Shattock, Pearse Lyons, and Max Shapira Sep 20, 2018

Show notes

BP EXCLUSIVE! Get the inside experience of the 2018 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. Hear from icons in the whiskey industry as they stroll down the red carpet and listen to the heart warming speeches delivered by inductees from Freddie Johnson of Buffalo Trace, Matt Shattock, CEO of Beam Suntory, and Max Shapira, CEO of Heaven Hill. The first time ever this event is being made available to the public. Show Notes:

This week's Above the Char has Fred Minnick discussing friendships and choosing that right bottle to celebrate
The show starts off interviewing Fred Noe, Freddie Noe, and Matt Shattock of Jim Beam on the red carpet
Transitions to the ceremony where Eric Gregory, President of the KDA, introduces everyone
Louisville Mayor, Greg Fisher, gives an introduction of Matt Shattock
Matt's speech is delivered unedited
We transition back out to the red carpet to interview Freddie Johnson
The ceremony then kicks off with Eric Gregory talking about Freddie's history
A.J. Hochhalter, Film Producer of NEAT, introduces Freddie
Freddie delivers his speech and talks about his dad and family - completely unedited
The red carpet is alive once again talking to Mark Coffman, Master Distiller at Town Branch
The ceremony resumes with Eric Gregory giving a history of Dr. Pearse Lyons of Alltech
A short story from Jerry Summers, HOF 2017 inductee, about Pearse Lyons
The final red carpet appearance features Andy Shapira talking about his father Max, as well as Larry Kass with a brief history of Rittenhouse 21-25 year single barrels
The ceremony begins the wrap up with Eric Gregory giving Max Shapira's resume
Donn Lux, Chairman and President of Luxco, shares some funny stories of Max's attention to the bottom line
Max Shapira talks about his family, the history of Heaven Hill, and that growth will continue
Listen to all of our Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, Town Branch, and Beam podcasts

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166 - The Pitfalls of Private Barrel Picks with Brett Atlas and Luke Castle of Bourbon & Banter Sep 13, 2018

Show notes

Private barrel selections are becoming the hot new item. These carefully selected barrels are brought into a store and chosen for a particular audience. However, can every one be a winner? Do you trust who picked it? Just because a label said it was chosen by a master distiller, did he really pick it or was it leftovers from other barrel picks? And of course, we have to cover stickers because it's the hotness. It's a podcast that is both fascinating and intriguing and will make you think twice about going into a unknown store to purchase a random barrel pick.

Show Notes:

This week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about family and the new Bourbon Hall of Fame inductees.
Ryan, when you go into a store and look for a single barrel pick, what do you gravitate towards?
Back on Ep 124 we covered creating a barrel picking group and we've talked about individual barrel picks before but we're going to deep dive today
What makes barrel picks more special than their standard bottling counterpart?
Are all barrel picks always better than their standard releases?
If a store picks samples out of a box, are they all just rejects?
Is three samples really enough to go off of?
What about stickers that say "selected by the Master Distiller"?
Michael Iurato asks "I have not had that many store picks but from my experience it seems like the single store pick is usually better than when a major chain or the state run liquor outlet does a pick. Would you agree?"
Talk about what it means to have a bourbon group together vs having a store pick for you
Is it really possible to pick a barrel based on the tastes of the customers for a store? I mean everyone is different
Is having "after market" stickers a good thing?
Is there too much hype train on them?
Let's speculate. Lets talk about store picks that are no longer available. Is there a false sense of demand or are they trying to play the game?
Why can't there be just a few single barrels of Weller 12 or Elijah Craig Barrel Proof per year?
Heaven Hill used to plenty of private picks, but now all you see is Elijah Craig. Why are they holding back?
Why even continue a single barrel program is the bourbon is going to sell anyway?
Frank Mentlick asks What is the first taste that turn you off a pick? Sweet? Lack flavor? What makes you excited about picks?
Do you do a baseline by sneaking in a flask with the standard offering?
Any tips on going on your first barrel pick?

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165 - It's Turkey Time with David Jennings of RareBird101 Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

Is he the biggest Wild Turkey super fan out there? Without a doubt. David Jennings goes by the alter ego RareBird101. In this episode we explore his obsession with older dusty Wild Turkey and even some of the newest Russell's Reserve offerings. We also spend some time speculating on our theories on what has changed over the years and if Wild Turkey is headed in the right direction with premium offerings.

Show Notes:

Before we dive right in, what's your bourbon story?
What got you into Wild Turkey?
What keeps you interested in Wild Turkey?
Talk about your blog for a minute and what you do at Rarebird101
Think about some of those reviews you’ve done, because I’ve seen some real turkey unicorns in there from tradition to split labels to Christmas Rye. Do you have any standout favorites?
What is it about cheesy gold foil?
Jimmy says nothing has changed. But Be honest, do you think dusty Wild Turkey is better than today?
Since you’ve tasted almost everything in the turkey lineup, any thoughts on recreating that dusty flavor profile?
We posted on Instagram a while back about waiting in line for a Weller107 store pick because people like us are dumb. You were playing the angle that if everyone focused their attention on Russell's Reserve picks you wouldn’t have to stand in line. I know you have an article on the 10 reasons why you should be buying Russell's Reserve picks, what are some of those favorite reasons of yours?
How many different Russell's Reserve picks do you have?
It seems that Wild Turkey limited releases don’t get many accolades. From Diamond to Master’s Keep. What’s you honest opinion? Do you feel they don’t deserve the high dollar or do you?
Did you sleep on Russell's Reserve 1998 like I did?
When are you getting your chance to meet Matt McConaughey?
Support RareBird101 on Patreon

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