Community Updates - More Barrel Picks!

What’s up Whiskey Noobs! It has been a great month since we last spoke, with the successful release of our first “Whiskey Noobs Crew” barrel pick of Old Elk 10yr Wheated Bourbon. Thank you so much to everyone who bought a bottle - I have been floored by the positive feedback from it! I’m so glad everyone is loving as much as I do.

We have a few more barrel picks booked for this year, so if you missed out on the Old Elk, have no fear! It looks like our next one will be a half barrel, so I highly recommend joining the Whiskey Noobs Crew if you want first dibs on it! More news to come in the coming months!

Know the Terms - Dram

At some point in everyone’s whiskey journey, they hear someone say they had a “dram”, and they are caught a bit off guard. “A d*mn what?!”

No, they didn’t just curse, they said “dram!” This one confused me quite a bit when I first got into the hobby, so I wanted to break it down. To put it as simply as possible, a “dram,” when speaking about whiskey, means a pour. A glass of whiskey. Some undisclosed amount. It’s really that simple! Often times, this refers to a standard(ish) pour, so roughly 1.5-2oz, but there is no fixed volume for it.

Now, you know I have to give you some more fun info than that. The reason I included this term this month is because there is actually a pretty cool backstory to it. The term “dram” doesn’t come from the world of whiskey - it came from medicine! A “dram” of medicine was originally something like a “dose.” Today, it is actually a specific measurement, but most of us whiskey lovers will be disappointed to hear that it is a measly 1/8oz, or 3.7mL - barely a sip! Don’t believe me? Check out these adorable little single-dram medicine bottles for sale!

Review - Green River HONEY?!

I just recently did a “gut reaction” review of this for the Whiskey Noobs Crew, and I thought it worth talking about here as well. Green River released a new whiskey that they are calling “Green River Honey finished Bourbon Whiskey.” As with most releases from Green River, I was excited to try it.

Here’s the scoop: it isn't exactly the same as some honey finished bourbons that you’ve probably had, which use barrels that previously held honey to age the bourbon. But it is also a far cry from the honey flavored whiskeys you’ve likely seen on the shelf, which could have any amount of flavoring added to them. Instead, Green River added real honey directly into their barrels. As the press release states:

“To create Green River Honey, we took real bourbon and poured real honey straight into the barrel — then let time do what time does best. That’s it.”

It later states that they used four year bourbon for this product.

I have some mixed emotions about this. On one hand, I do think it is a really tasty release and a phenomenal deal for only $24.99. For those who sometimes find honey or maple finishing too sweet, it will be too sweet. That said, if you like the occasional sweeter glass of whiskey, there is a lot here to enjoy for the price! You get some of the oaky bourbon flavors (admittedly not quite as much oak as I like, but for that MSRP, I am certainly not complaining) accompanied by a delicious, yet not overpowering, backbone of sweet honey. For those wondering (like I did), this is NOTHING like the honey flavored whiskeys on the market. It is much closer to the honey-barrel finished bourbons out there, although maybe just a shade sweeter.

On the other hand, I do wish this was labeled as a honey “infused” bourbon, or something similar. To me, adding honey directly into the barrel is a bit different from what I think when I hear “finished,” and with Booker’s also getting into infusions with their cinnamon-infused Booker’s The Reserves 2026 Rye Whiskey, I am concerned with the possibility of the “Straight Whiskey” category being overrun with “Straight whiskey infused with…” This is made more confusing by this release, which is labeled as “finished.”

All of that being said, I have been a fan of every release that I’ve had from Green River, and this is no exception. At the super affordable price point, this makes a great dessert pour, and I suspect it would be a great mixer. As much as I could sit and gripe about the label, I have to give Green River their flowers for the whiskey inside.

That’s all for this month! Thank you all for the continued support, and we will see you in June!