This week we welcome Barry Brinegar from RD ONE to the Bourbon Showdown. Barry is a co-founder and National Brand Ambassador for RD One and we sit down and do what we do when we get together…. We talk whiskey, then we drink whiskey! We talk about how he got started, how the brand got started and what RD One has in store for not only the whiskey loving public but for Lexington Kentucky in 2025. Then we dive into a bottle of his 10 year Amburana Straight Bourbon Whiskey and let me tell you guys, it is a super tasty pour! Its a great conversation this week as we welcome Barry Brinegar and RD One to the bourbon showdown podcast!
This week we welcome WhistlePig back to the show to talk about The Boss Hog XI: The Juggernaut! We sit down with chief blender Meghan Ireland and Research and Development Distiller, Mitch Mahar to talk all things Boss Hog! Whistlepig always delivers with The Boss Hog and Meghan and Mitch walk us through how they got to this years signature release. It’s a globe traveling episode this week as they take us through their journey to India and how that inspired the flavors you find in The Boss Hog XI. How they were so hyper-focused on putting out the best liquid possible that they went straight to the source of the flavors they were looking for and utilized that Indian influence to craft a rye whiskey unlike any other Boss Hog put out before it. It’s a fantastic episode this week that will take you to India and back through the drinking glass on this weeks Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
High West is back! This week I get to sit down with Isaac Winter, the Distilling Manager at High West and he walks me through this years Midwinter Nights Dram. We talk about how they start the process each year and what goes into making one of their most sought after annual releases. Then we crack a bottle of act 12 and (spoiler alert) it's really damn good! It’s a fun episode this week on the Bourbon Showdown podcast and I think you guys are really going to enjoy it!
This week we welcome Heath Schneider from Sextro Rye to the show. Sextro Rye, steeped in whiskey history, Heath and his Whiskey making bootleg partner Whiskey Rich discovered that Heaths Grandmother, Lorine Sextro had supported the family through the Great Depression by learning how to distill and making her own rye whiskey during prohibition. This rye became very popular in certain circles, becoming known as one of Al Capones favorites. Cut to 2015, where Heath is now making whiskey and carrying on the family legacy with the release of Sextro Rye, a rye whiskey made from his Grandmothers prohibition recipe. This is a fun interview with a lot of honesty from Heath about his family’s connection to bootlegging and his own whiskey journey. It has all the elements of a classic whiskey story, bootlegging, long lost family recipes, the mob…. the beauty of this story is that it’s true! So sit back and pour a tall glass of rye as we go back to prohibition days on this weeks Bourbon Showdown podcast.
This week we welcome Found North Whisky to the show! We sit down with co-founder and head blender Nick Taylor to talk all things Found North! This is my favorite kind of whisky conversation. Found North has their finger on the pulse of what the whiskey consumer wants right now and Nick walks me through how they got it there. Their Batch 10 Wheated whisky should be hitting stores next week and we are so grateful to Nick for coming on the show and giving us a sneak peak of this awesome bottle of whisky. It’s a damn good episode this week! So sit back, pour yourself a tall pour of some Found North and get ready for Nick Taylor and Found North on this weeks episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Rick and Ricky Johnson from 15 Stars Bourbon to the show and they walk me through everything 15 stars. We talk how they got started in whiskey and how this whiskey got as good as it is. It’s a great conversation where we do a deep dive on good whiskey! We talk blending, secondary finishes and good business as it pertains to this industry. We drink through their Three Kings and Triple Cask II expressions all while talking about how they got this goodness in the bottle. It’s a good time with 15 Stars Bourbon on this weeks episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast
This week we welcome Jodie Filiatreau, Artisanal Distiller for Evan Williams and The Evan Williams Experience in Louisville Kentucky to the show! Jodie is a wealth of whiskey knowledge and we sit down to talk all things Evan Williams! We talk about how Jodie got started in whiskey, how he became the Artisanal Distiller for Evan Williams, all the good whiskey he is making in Kentucky, the Evan Williams Experience and some of the fun things he has coming up next. It’s a fun conversation with Jodie this week on The Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Mystic Farm & Distillery to the show! Whiskey made in North Carolina is always one of my favorite topics and we sit down with co-founder Michael Sinclair to talk Broken Oak whiskey and what it takes to make whiskey in the Carolinas. He walks me through all the wonderful things they are doing at Mystic right now. We talk about how he got into the whiskey game, the story behind the name and how the whiskey gets made. Throw in some comedy and some wrestling and this episode has it all this week on The Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we welcome Caryn Wells and Green River to the show! It’s always a blast having Caryn on and this week we sit down and do a DEEP DIVE on all things Green River! We talk about the bourbon, the wheated, the rye, the full proof, we talk barrel picks we talk “make mine an 85”, we talk about everything under the whiskey sun! It’s a phenomenal conversation with Caryn Wells and Green River on this week’s Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Number JUAN tequila to the show. Thats right Tequila! We celebrate all good spirits on The Bourbon Showdown, and today we sit down with the entire Number Juan team and do a deep dive on all things tequila. We sit down with Alex Reymundo, Rich Espe, Master Distiller Nestor Rivera and a surprise call-in from Ron White. We talk about literally everything in this episode, we talk tequila, yachts, dental work…. You name it, it comes up, all while drinking Number Juan’s, Juan in a million! It’s a Tequila showdown today on the Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we welcome Whiskey Journalist and American Whiskey Magazine contributor, Maggie Kimberl to the show! Recently named 2024 Bourbon Women Spirits Writer of the Year, she is one of the premiere whiskey journalist in the industry and she is helping shape the narrative of the current whiskey landscape through the articles that she writes. I can’t think of anyone better to have on the show as we get ready for September and National Bourbon Heritage Month! We talk the current state of whiskey, we talk how she got into the industry, some of our shared influences, our love of vinyl and everything in between. Its a super fun show to kick off Bourbon Heritage Month on this episode of the Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we welcome Widow Jane for the SEASON 9 Premiere of The Bourbons Showdown Podcast! We sit down with Head Distiller and Blender, Sienna Jevremov and we do a deep dive on all things Widow Jane! We talk whiskey, we talk New York, we talk blending, we talk process all while sipping on some damn good Widow Jane whiskey! This is my favorite kind of conversation because Sienna’s passion for what she does comes out in every story she tells and every sip we take! She walks me through how she got started in whiskey and what led her to the big chair as head distiller at Widow Jane. Its a super fun episode for this SEASON 9 Premiere of the Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we have the return of SMOKE WAGON, that’s right, I sit down with Aaron Chepenik from Smoke Wagon and him and I do what we do, we talk whiskey, we talk music we talk classic cars all while sipping on some damn good smoke wagon single barrel whiskey! So go pour yourself a big pour of your favorite Smoke Wagon Whiskey, light up your favorite cigar and get ready for Aaron from Smoke Wagons return to the Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we welcome Tim Heuisler back to the show, Tim is a wealth of knowledge on all things Jim Beam and is currently an international brand ambassodar for Beam Suntory, bringing the good word of Jim Beam to the masses across the globe. And he is BACK to talk more good whiskey with us today as we do a DEEP DIVE on Old Overholt and how it is being given its well earned day in the sun. We talk about the history of this brand and dig deep into its Pennsylvania rye roots and how Beam is paying homage to that PA Rye with the new Old Overholt coming out of Kentucky. We also talk to Tim about what it’s like being an international man of whiskey and how he spends his days globe trotting from one country to the next with good bottles of whiskey in tow. It’s a fantastic episode of The Bourbon Showdown this week. Tims one of my buddies and it’s always good to catch up, especially when we get to talk about good whiskey. So buckle Up buttercup as we talk about Old Overholt on this weeks Bourbon Showdown Podcast.
This week we welcome Ray Franklin from Garrard County Distilling Company to the show and they talk All Nations whiskey! Him and Jesse do a deep dive on how to stand up a distillery and what it takes to make good whiskey. They start from the beginning and Ray walks Jesse through everything he had to work through to get All Nations on the shelf (including a pandemic) and then they dive into three amazing bottles of All Nations Bourbon! It’s a great conversation and we can’t thank Ray enough for being on the show. He has really put the time in on this whiskey and it has totally paid off which is evident in the fantastic whiskey going into the bottle for All Nations bourbon right now!
This week we welcome Carter Collins from Pennington Distilling Co., and Master Distiller of Davidson Reserve to the show! Him and I sit down and talk all things whiskey! We talk distillation, we talk maturation, we talk blending, it is truly a master class on whiskey production! He walks us through the Davidson Reserve Grain to Glass mentality and we have a damn good time on this episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Redwood Empire back to the show! Thats right, we welcome Jeff Duckhorn and Lauren Patz back to the Bourbon Showdown and we talk about all the good whiskey they have on the shelves right now! We talk their new Screaming Titan, their Rocket Top Bottled in Bond Rye and we bring it home with their Cask Strength Lost Monarch! And what do we do on this show after we talk about good whiskey? WE DRINK IT!!! As always it’s so much fun talking to Jeff and Lauren about Redwood Empire. We share some good pours, we talk about what’s next and spend as much time laughing as we do sipping. It’s a fantastic conversation and I think you guys are really going to enjoy this episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Carey Bringle to the show from Peg Leg Porker! Thats right, on this episode we are talking WHISKEY AND BBQ! We cover everything from how to smoke the perfect boston butt to how Peg Leg Porker came to be and of course we do so all while drinking some delicious Peg Leg Porker whiskey. It’s a tasty episode this week on the Bourbon Showdown with something for everyone as long as you love whiskey, bbq and good conversation.
This week we welcome Tara Lindley and the return of High West! Tara is of course High West’s Director of Sensory QA & New Product Development, one of the coolest titles in whiskey and her and I sit down and we talk BOU-RYE! It’s a fantastic conversation with Tara this week as we talk about what brought her to whiskey and how she has built her palette and developed her sensory skills. She also lets me geek out on how she puts her blends together and how people just getting started in whiskey can set their palette up for success, it’s a great episode and we can’t thank Tara enough for coming back on this weeks episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast!
This week we welcome Oaklore Distilling to the show! Coming to you straight from the distillery in North Carolina, we sit down with cofounders Matt Simpkins and Tom Bogan and head of sales & commercial operations Jack Shute to talk NC whiskey! We talk about how this North Carolina whiskey brand came to be, what it takes to stand up a new brand in todays whiskey landscape and all the good whiskey that is coming out of Oaklore right now. We drink through Oaklore’s Bourbon and Rye whiskey with a surprise Port finished whiskey to take us home. It’s a fantastic conversation that we got to do at the distillery, which is always special because you get to sit and share whiskey in person and that’s really what it’s all about. We were excited to have Oaklore Distilling on this weeks episode of The Bourbon Showdown Podcast.