Community Updates

This one’s IMPORTANT!! If you watch the podcast on Youtube, it has now moved to a separate channel! Since podcasting is a pretty specific medium, I’ve decided to keep the @whiskey_noobs channel on Youtube as only Shorts and horizontal videos, and then move all of the podcasts to a new channel, @whiskeynoobspodcast. Make sure you subscribe to both if you want all of the content!

One other important update - Our first Whiskey Noobs Crew Barrel Pick is finally being bottled! I don’t have an exact release date yet, but it is looking like it will go on sale toward the end of February. I don’t know how fast it will sell, so I highly recommend joining the Whiskey Noobs Crew to get priority access to it! The link will go live to the highest tier, then the next tier, etc, and then I will send it to the free members of the crew as well as this email list! We picked a really special barrel, and I can’t wait for you guys to try it!

Know the Terms - Bourbon vs Finished Bourbon

It seems that this is a hill that only I am willing to die on, but hey, here I go dying on it. These days, lots of distilleries are taking bourbon and doing some extra stuff to it. And I love it. I think it tastes great and has really helped keep people’s interest in American spirits.

All of that being said, when you take a bourbon and you put it in a barrel that once held any other liquid in it, it’s no longer “Bourbon.” It is now “Bourbon finished in…” or a “Finished Bourbon,” which is an important distinction.

There is one really big reason that I am happy to die on this hill, and it’s for the newer bourbon lovers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people tell me they love bourbon, and then describe a finished bourbon. If that super sweet, wine finished bourbon is your only experience with whiskey, and then you go try Wild Turkey Rare Breed because you think it is the same thing, you’re going to waste your $50 on a bottle you won’t like! I really feel for the people who have this experience, and there is a really easy way to help - we just need to be more careful about what we call a “bourbon” and what we call a “finished bourbon.” Anyhow, there’s that hill that I keep dying on… let’s talk about something more fun, like the bourbon trail.

Trip Recap: Town Branch

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Lexington and tour the Town Branch Distillery! It was a great time, and I will be making a podcast episode recapping the whole thing. For now, here are a few of my major takeaways:

1) Their Head Blender, Dave Bob, has a real passion for the art. It was great getting to know him better and hearing the way he talked about his blending methods, and how passionate he was about continuously improving their portfolio. I love seeing that in any distillery I visit (you may recall me saying the same about High Bank’s Adam Hines, as well).

2) Their campus is gorgeous. I’m not sure what I expected, but from Irish-Pub inspired décor to huge copper pot stills, the whole place was really nice to tour. Add it to your list next time you’re in Lexington.

3) They have some real potential in the American Single Malt category. Thanks to the vision of the founder, Pearse Lyons, they have some really old single malt aging, and it is delicious. You guys know I’m a geek for ASMs, and they are making some great ones.

For transparency’s sake, it’s worth noting that they did allow me to come down and stay in Lexington for free, but they didn’t pay me to make any content - my opinions are my opinions. I just like supporting cool people doing cool stuff.