speaker-0 (00:00.47) If you love bourbon, if you love whiskey, you’re gonna love these conversations. So make sure you subscribe to The Bourbon Lens starting now. Welcome back to another episode of The Bourbon Lens with your host, Jake and Scott. And this week’s episode, we go political. Not really. Kentucky senators joining us to talk all about their brand new release and a little bit about their history. So sit back and buckle in to the latest episode of The Bourbon Lens. We are joined by Damon Thayer, one of the… founders and co-owners of Kentucky Senator Damon. Thank you for joining us and spending a few moments to talk about, you know, the brand that you all have created. speaker-2 (00:38.658) Jake Scott’s great, great to be on the bourbon lens, big, fans of what you guys do. Appreciate your support of our brand. You know, we’re just a small startup company. five, five years now in doing two guys. speaker-1 (00:53.58) releases in an intern by speaker-2 (00:57.88) My business partner, Andre Regard is a lawyer. I’m a recovering politician and a business. And in our, in our free time every day, we make time to run this bourbon company. And as you mentioned, we have a new release out our seventh Kentucky Senator bourbon release. We’re real excited about it. Each release is named after a US Senator from Kentucky. And this one. is named for Jim Bunning, who is actually my political mentor. speaker-1 (01:32.526) You I served 22 years in the Kentucky State Senate. didn’t run for reelection in 2024 after 12 years as majority leader, 12 years in the Senate. And Joe Bunning actually gave me my start in politics back in the mid 1990s when he was a U.S. Congressman. And then I helped him get elected to the U.S. And I’m very good friends with several of speaker-2 (01:57.23) family members, his lovely wife, Mary, and several of his adult children who are in my age range. And so it’s a real thrill for Andre and me to be able to honor Jim Bunning with this release. it’s getting great reviews and so far it’s flying off the shelves and off of our website. We have a Shopify store at kysenatorburman.com and all over Kentucky as our district. speaker-1 (02:22.254) elbow. speaker-2 (02:25.346) Kentucky Eagle is pushing out those bottles and cases even as we speak. speaker-0 (02:31.968) Awesome. Well, that’s all great stuff. And that’s really exciting to see that you all been around five years. Scott, I did not realize it had been five years, had you? That means that I wrote What was it batch one review on the bourbon lens five years ago? So Makes me yeah, we’ve been doing this for quite a while, speaker-2 (02:55.734) You guys, I call you guys prominent bourbon influencers and you were one of the first ones to write a review back in February, 2021. And we were sort of still in COVID. Yes. We were, we were trying to release a 15 year old source bourbon. We’re, we’re a non-distiller producer. We, we don’t try to hide that. We don’t own a distillery, which turns out. speaker-0 (03:10.637) And we will. speaker-2 (03:25.366) was probably the best business decision. speaker-1 (03:27.574) We made Neuron. speaker-2 (03:29.294) Starting a new distillery right now is a bit dicey. We, know, we don’t have all those, startup and costs and ongoing maintenance and employee costs. You know, we, we have great distillery partnerships with places like Castle and Key, Whiskey Thief, Bartstown Bourbon Company, Potter Jane, Bluegrass Distillers, just really, really great partnerships. And, you know, they’re speaker-1 (03:56.171) and speaker-2 (03:57.462) lot of great places where they can make your bourbon store, your bourbon bottle, your bourbon. And, that’s, that’s the route that, that we chose to go. Right now we have 700 barrels of bourbon aging at a variety of distilleries, like the ones I just named. and, it’s worked out really well for us, and, and, and our investors. And, you know, we’re, trying to build a super premium brand, our, small batch. Always one. Always Kentucky. Always six years. term usually longer. had what our second release was six years. Everything else has been longer than that. Our first release was 15. Then we, had the six year, seven year, eight year, nine year. Uh, that was a four bottle vertical. And now we’re two bottles into a three bottle vertical with a seven and a half, eight and a half. speaker-1 (04:59.598) and then next year will be a nine and a half gold release. speaker-0 (05:03.578) Yeah, that’s wild. I can’t believe it’s already been that long. Seven batches, of single barrel. speaker-2 (05:07.586) Yeah. speaker-1 (05:11.854) Thanks speaker-2 (05:12.864) Yeah, it’s, it’s, you know, grown from just an idea I had on my dining room table and I took it to Andre. What happened was one of my fellow senators, Jimmy Higdon from Lebanon. speaker-1 (05:26.806) His district includes Nelson County, Marion County, where 45 or 50 % of the world bourbon is aged. And he brought me this label of this lab bourbon brand called Kentucky Senator. You can view it on our website. Again, kysenatorbourbon.com. It’s just kind of an old classic label with an eagle. speaker-2 (05:46.638) with like an olive branch or something in its beak. And, found out that it had gone out of business back in the early seventies. It started in Covington with Krigler and Krigler distillery, and then moved to Bardstown, Double Springs distillery. And that’s really all we know is a shelf brand. and, and, I went to my lawyer and good friend, Andre Rigaard and said, Hey, I’ve got this. speaker-1 (05:52.514) Did a little research. speaker-1 (06:16.173) Yeah speaker-2 (06:18.04) You know, I’m a marketing guy and a politician. speaker-1 (06:19.822) at the time I was in the Senate, I said, I want to loss this. speaker-2 (06:23.352) brand I want to revive this brand and brand name each release after a US Senator. speaker-1 (06:25.112) kind of a super premium speaker-1 (06:30.158) if he could do the legal work. And he said, well, how about we become partners? speaker-2 (06:34.5) I really like the idea, so… speaker-1 (06:36.902) We were at Malone’s in Lexington out of Hamburg. speaker-2 (06:41.827) But okay, great. Let’s, let’s start a bourbon brand. speaker-1 (06:45.326) And so, you know, we speaker-2 (06:46.978) Made an agreement. does the legal work. Branding. We figure everything else out. It’s gone pretty well. We, brought in some, a handful of, of investors a few years ago. We, once we figured out that this brand had legs. speaker-1 (06:50.166) do the and speaker-1 (07:07.832) You know, we won ASSET awards, we got good reviews from Fred Minick and couple of other influencers. Fred put us in his top 100 whiskey a couple years in a row, wrote about us in Forbes online. You know, and when, you know, when people like you guys and Fred and like our friend Mark Rucker, speaker-2 (07:11.938) you guys. speaker-2 (07:31.468) You know, you know, another podcaster. speaker-1 (07:34.222) the bourbon flight which is affiliated with the lane report it just all started coming together speaker-2 (07:41.602) talk with my hands like that. Tell them a recovering politician and then I still have her. And it just kind of took off and we were like, wow, this brand really has legs. Pardon the pun. And so we, did a private equity cash raise and, raise the money to buy and contract is still more bourbon. And that’s really what we’ve been focusing on the last two years, not only pushing out these annual releases. and and and try to expand our reach into other states as well as our DTC model but also we we spent about a year and a half. speaker-1 (08:24.642) laying down barrels at Whisky T, Castle & P and Potter Dane, which was great fun working with the team at all those places. speaker-2 (08:33.902) Now we’ve kind of refocused on sourcing bourbon as the price of aged bourbon has come down. That’s been great for us. you we’ve got some great contract distilled juice out there. We taste it a couple of times a year. It’s great, but we’re still four, five, six years away from offering that. So in the meantime, you know, we stocked up on some really good sourced bourbon. speaker-1 (08:41.11) Yeah. speaker-1 (09:03.63) and we serve up great bourbon with a side of history. Every bottle tells a story where senators then, there are 66 US senators in the history of Kentucky. speaker-2 (09:03.997) you know we like to say that speaker-2 (09:10.488) We’re seven speaker-2 (09:17.1) Because we were the 15th state, we got an early start back. I knew so we can do this for a while. And, you know, we kind of, you know, we’ve had. Senators from way back in the beginning, some mid some more recent, and we’re just going to continue to do that. And we’re, we’re not looking to offer a consistent mash bill or flavor profile. You know, we, we leave that to the big guys, you know, they’re let them. do the consistency. want to continue to offer a variety. You know, we’re, going to do some vertical series. We’re going to do some one-offs. We’ve got some special releases in mind as the, as the bourbon matures. And we always want people to wonder, you know, what’s next from those guys at Kentucky Senator. You know, we’re, we’re in the, we’re in the super premium or prestige category. so we’re, you we’re going to be in the. speaker-0 (10:05.816) Hmm. speaker-2 (10:13.952) Above $100 a bottle price range, but we’re always going to consumers age bourbon at a high. speaker-1 (10:23.214) very high quality we turned away a lot with a with a great speaker-2 (10:25.57) the sample story. speaker-0 (10:30.35) Well, you answered my question. I was going to ask how many Kentucky senators are there. So you’ve got. Yeah, you you’ve got almost 60. Releases left and then that that clock is still going to be counting. So yeah, you got a lot of. speaker-2 (10:45.388) other ideas for, for some special releases or one offs down the, down the road. So, it, it, it, there’s a ton of possibilities out there and we, we expanded our distribution last year. we’re at Jack Rose dining saloon in Washington, DC. We, we’d been in there right from the start. but we expanded into Florida, Illinois and Louisiana, last year. We’re close to a deal in Texas, which would be a big deal where. trying to get into Georgia, but we don’t want to grow too fast. we also, we have a DTC model. We can now ship, we have a Shopify store on our website. We can ship legally to 46 states. And we also have a great relationship with the Gus, the bourbon guys with their online store at bourbon outfitter. So a couple of different options there for, people in other States to be able to buy our bourbon. speaker-0 (11:43.726) One of the questions I’ve got for you regarding the founding, said you were sitting at Malone’s. What was in your glass at that? Like what’s your style of whiskey? Like what’s your style of bourbon? What do you drink, you know, when you’re not drinking Kentucky Senator? speaker-2 (12:01.27) That’s great question. It was lunchtime, so I was probably drinking water because I, you know. speaker-0 (12:07.116) the not the three martini lunch. speaker-2 (12:09.102) No, but, no, I’m, more of a, unless I’m at the races and that’s not at Keeneland. at Keeneland, I usually start my day with a bourbon Mary with Castle and Key. and then, later in the day I’ll switch to a Keeneland breeze, which I think they, they make that with makers Mark. Two great drinks out there. Interestingly enough, because we have done. speaker-0 (12:31.164) Yeah speaker-2 (12:37.582) Only rye bourbon recipes so far. I’m my daily drinkers are are weeded bourbons If I’m feeling in a really good mood, I love well or 12 well or antique Which is where we got the 107 proof Idea from like bakers 107 some of the pappies well around table. I do like makers 46 I also like I like Eagle rare 10-year. I like angels envy speaker-1 (12:59.854) and I’ll speaker-2 (13:06.862) Let’s see what what have I been but you know, obviously I drink a lot of my own bourbon, you know, that’s you know, that’s something I’m gonna stick with I like I like to make an espresso martini with bourbon because bourbon is always better than speaker-1 (13:23.79) Father in- speaker-0 (13:24.601) And every cocktail, yeah. speaker-2 (13:26.586) I actually have a hack that I’ll share with you guys. I travel a lot in my, my business, as a horse racing business consultant and I fly Delta. So I spent a lot of time, in sky clubs, usually in Atlanta, because I fly Lexington to Atlanta to get to wherever I’m going. And if you go into Delta sky club, there’s a list of brands, every, every sort of. Brand that has one free drink at a Delta Sky Club, everything else you pay with cash or points. And the free bourbon on the menu in the Delta Sky Club is all Forster, which is a great bourbon. It’s basically Woodford reserve, just maybe A’s in a different. speaker-1 (14:08.78) of the distillery different warehouse. I love Brown Foreman products. speaker-2 (14:11.182) I all the old Forrester expressions. love Woodford Reserve. Great in cocktails too. speaker-1 (14:21.742) regular espresso martini they make with body I think is 12.5 this half I go to the espresso machine I get the espresso I go to the bartender and I think speaker-2 (14:22.984) that could Borghetti, dollar. speaker-2 (14:34.872) You please make me an espresso martini with a Forrester and. speaker-1 (14:38.286) the speaker-2 (14:47.054) And they’re like, okay, I guess we could do that. So that’s, that’s my Delta sky club espresso martini hack with old Porster. speaker-1 (14:56.526) So, bye. speaker-0 (14:57.762) There you go, Jake. That’s you. It’s not me because I don’t do coffee of any shape or form. speaker-2 (15:04.674) The is I have a caffeine sensitivity, so I have to get decaf espresso. So I just admitted a dietary weakness to you guys there. speaker-0 (15:14.082) Hey, but it’s got bourbon, speaker-2 (15:16.408) That gives you a feel for what I like to drink. speaker-0 (15:20.418) Yeah, you’re not afraid to make some cocktails. You’re not afraid to drink a little bit higher proof stuff. I mean, you like a traditional Kentucky bourbon. mean, I can tell that. speaker-2 (15:30.354) It’s like my favorite bourbon cocktail is Kentucky Senator small batch on a big rock. That’s, that’s my go-to. I also like it neat. I mean, our bourbon tends to be on the smooth side cause it’s, it’s a, it starts starting to mellow. But you’ve mentioned traditional Kentucky bourbon and that’s what Andre and I are about. If you like classic Kentucky bourbon, you’re going to like, and especially if you like it a little higher proof. speaker-1 (15:44.392) so speaker-2 (15:58.68) You’re going to like Kentucky Senator. We’re not, we’re not advanced blending, double aging, toasting, flavoring. And not that there’s anything wrong with that. Not to quote, to quote Seinfeld, think not that there’s anything wrong with that. but that’s just not our jam. Our, our brand is. speaker-2 (16:23.63) That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. speaker-0 (16:27.362) Yeah. Yeah. No, I think, we’ll talk about the seven here in just a second. but you know, we’re going to have a new Senator, you know, the 67th Senator will, will come online, later this year. So that’s a, an interesting thing. And, and, you know, it’s going to be, you know, infinite, should be an interesting race down the line. got primaries coming up, not to get too political, but go out and vote. Right. I think that’s the most important thing. Yeah. speaker-2 (16:55.982) primary on May 19th. We’ve got a couple days of early voting now, so no excuses. I’ve endorsed Andy Barr. He’s been a great friend of the bourbon industry. I think he’ll be a great US Senator. But it’ll be, this will be a unique time. think it’s January 7th. We’ll have a new Senator and for the speaker-1 (17:01.518) . speaker-1 (17:13.55) come a change. first time since 1984, Mitch McConnell will not occupy a seat in the United States Senate. speaker-2 (17:25.165) A lot of opinions out there about leader McConnell. happen to be a big fan. I’m a Reagan Republican. And so I, I want to make that clear. I’m a red publican, kind of old school. So I have a great deal of respect for leader McConnell. He also has been a big friend of the purpose and got into a little spat once with Chuck Schumer, who was drinking New York rubber one time and, and, Mitch gave him some grief over that. was pretty funny, but we, I can’t get into it too much, but we are, we’re in talks with leader McConnell. once he leaves office about potentially doing a, a special release of Kentucky, Senator bourbon honoring him with some very special age bourbon, Senate rules don’t allow use of a Senator’s name for until they’re out of office. speaker-1 (18:19.31) commercial purpose. speaker-2 (18:22.474) We’ve talked, his chief of staff, Terry Carmack is a very good friend of mine. And we’ve talked about doing something. A one-off, but it wouldn’t be part of our rec release schedule. Yeah. would age would be double digits for sure. speaker-0 (18:39.786) You’re 40 year old bourbon line around. speaker-2 (18:43.17) Well, to honor Senator McConnell’s length of service. but, but you have some really special juice aging out at whiskey thief right now that we were able to acquire recently. And, we tasted it back at Christmas time and it is delicious. And, so we’re going to let it continue to age out there at whiskey thief. Our friends, they’re taking really good care of it. And, you know, maybe next year we might. We might get to do a special one-off honoring leader McConnell and you know, whether you like his politics or not, I happen to like and respect them very much. Some people don’t, that’s okay. I respect that. I mean, I served in the Senate for 22 years. I learned to respect his opinions, believe me. But I think you have to respect his service and, and, you know, what he’s done for Kentucky. He, we’ve punched above our weight for a long time in the Senate for a state with eight. electoral votes and look, we’re about telling history. speaker-1 (19:46.346) stories. We’ve had bourbon named for Democrats. first speaker-2 (19:50.414) released was named for Albin Barkley, one of the most prominent Democrats in the history of Kentucky. was minority and majority leader in the U S Senate. He served as vice president under Harry S. Trimmer. Some of my Republican friends gave me a little grief about that. I’m like, look, when it comes to selling bourbon and telling the story, we’re going to be bipartisan or ecumenical actually. And the is until, until John Sherman Cooper, speaker-1 (20:14.271) The truth. speaker-2 (20:20.13) who was released number four for us until he was elected to his second term in the U S Senate in the sixties. We’d never had a Republican in Kentucky elected more than once. So if you go back to pre 1960s, very few speaker-1 (20:39.342) Republicans to pick from. It’s full of Democrats. speaker-2 (20:41.952) And back in the early days, wigs, W H I G, which is the pre to the modern Republican party that led to Abraham Lincoln getting elected in 1860. was the Lincoln Republican party included the, mug wants and the no nothings and the wigs. And they formed a new Republican party and got behind. I think it was John Calhoun, a history boss may correct me on that. speaker-0 (20:44.055) Yeah. speaker-1 (20:46.574) Cursor. speaker-1 (21:08.799) the speaker-2 (21:10.286) 1856 and lost to Buchanan. and then Lincoln ran as Republican one in 1860, first Republic elected. was the wigs apart. So we’ve got some wigs in our history that, that we might use. Henry Clay was a wig. so, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re going to tell stories. It doesn’t matter the party affiliation of the senators and rock on through. and continue to tell the great history of Kentucky through our U.S. And you know, on the back of every bottle, you know, and people can go to the website or click on the QR code, and this is the short form version, and there’s a long form version of every part of our senators on our website. speaker-0 (21:58.326) Yeah, it’s really interesting. as I’m not as a Kentucky historian as I’d probably like to be, but you know, whether Democrat, Republican, independent, whatever, it seems like the, the Kentucky, like a regiment that shows up in Washington, you know, punches above their weight class, you know, what, no matter what they are. and I think that’s really cool for being in a small state, you know, with a couple million people where you have. our leaders having legit conversations or leading conversations, you know, with New York or California or wherever. And that’s the history of Kentucky. It’s not just been, you know, a one-off thing. So I think it’s really cool to see that we’ve had really good representation at least in Capitol Hill over the 200 years of the state being a state. speaker-2 (22:49.122) You’re right, Jake, we have always punched above our weight. I Henry Clay, one of the greatest statesmen this country has ever known. And he ran for president four times. was secretary of state, US Senator, delayed the Civil War with the Compromise of 1850, delayed the Civil War by 10 years. Even, and then, know, speaker-1 (23:11.576) through history, people like, like john Sherman Cooper. speaker-2 (23:15.566) Happy Chandler. speaker-1 (23:18.242) Mitch McConnell, Jim Bunning, these are people who were prominent in national. speaker-2 (23:24.052) And you know, you, very few people could name a Senator say from North Dakota, not that what the code. speaker-0 (23:33.124) We might right now, but that’s okay. That’s beside the point. speaker-2 (23:36.462) Pulling up a name, just pulling up a state that, so you go back to our first Senator, John Brown, who was the Senator for our 2024 release, our nine year release, our most awarded, uh, uh, bourbon was four different, uh, uh, spirits competition awards. John Brown was the Congressman from the district of Kentucky when we were part of Virginia and he. Sponsored the bill that made Kentucky the 15th state. That bill was signed into law by George Washington, C-92. And then back then we didn’t have the direct election of U.S. senators. We only had been doing that for about hundred years. So back then, the legislatures decided who the senators were. And so the legislature met, the General Assembly met. I think they met in Lexington then, maybe before Frankfurt was passed. speaker-0 (24:12.131) Yeah. speaker-2 (24:36.76) What was built, the old Capitol was built and they named John Brown, the first U S Senator from Kentucky. And then later that day they named John Edwards from Bourbon County as our second U S Senator. So, release number seven and eight are named for John Brown and John Edwards. speaker-1 (24:56.398) Kentucky spurts to us senators. And then we did a time jump and moved all the way Jim Bunning who was elected in 1998. there’s work. not going to follow any sort of. Uh, Andre and I, we read up on the history. We talk about it, you know, a couple of years ago on it was the 125th anniversary on that. So we named our, our seven year release. speaker-2 (25:00.942) ahead to. That’s what we’re gonna do. speaker-2 (25:09.043) a reason. We’re just gonna… speaker-2 (25:18.926) through the bottom. speaker-2 (25:23.95) For John Carlyle who was the father of the bottle and bond act so, you know, what we’ll just We’re gonna kind of just we speaker-1 (25:33.186) We don’t have anything planned out. I can’t even tell you who next year’s release is going to be named for. We’ll start thinking about that. speaker-2 (25:40.109) ball. speaker-0 (25:41.996) spin the wheel and find the next story, right? speaker-2 (25:44.654) We may spin a wheel. speaker-1 (25:46.819) Are we? I mean, who knows? speaker-0 (25:50.062) It’s It’s pretty cool. It’s awesome. So let’s talk a little bit about the liquid here. So this is the second bottle in this vertical, right? And again, 107 proof. And this is what’s the mash bill on this one. speaker-2 (26:08.238) Yeah, so this the the the bunning release. Technically, a three bottle vertical, eight and a half years old. It’s 75 % corn 21 % rye 4 % malted barley. speaker-1 (26:22.85) and speaker-2 (26:24.776) It, if you, if you ever taste it side by side. speaker-1 (26:29.826) with the Edwards. speaker-2 (26:31.438) Collectors might want to start. You can still find the Edwards release out there. Said be a three bottle vertical. You can definitely taste. speaker-1 (26:36.748) It’ll be like a… speaker-1 (26:41.026) the differences in the aging and you know these these summers and winters we’ve been having lately are so extreme. speaker-2 (26:50.722) You know, it’s been super hot in the summer, super cold in the winter. Who really likes that variation in temperature? People who are in the bourbon producing business because, you know, you, get the cold, you get the heat, you get the extremes, you get the expansion and contraction. speaker-1 (26:53.422) but as you speaker-1 (27:09.014) all that flavor out from the wood. We’re really seeing it as this book ages. It’s really starting to mellow. And I hope you guys like it. I can see that you’ve got some in your blind parents there. speaker-2 (27:15.438) and stock. speaker-2 (27:19.416) like it. speaker-2 (27:23.148) And it’s got a great amber color. speaker-1 (27:27.663) And we’ve been… speaker-2 (27:29.944) getting some good feedback on it so far. speaker-0 (27:33.206) Yeah. I mean, I like the nose. I think it’s, it’s kind of, you know, straightforward. It’s it’s honey, honey cornbread. Like that’s kind of what then the note I get maybe a little caramel drizzle. There’s a little bit of fruit there, but it’s definitely corn sweetness up front. And I think the palette matches pretty spot on. Like if you’re looking for, you know, what I think Scott and I align on Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, this kind of fits into that purview of what Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. is I think that’s what, if you’re looking for a representation of that, I think it’s not going to be like a beam that’s really nutty. This kind of fits more in like the heaven hill mold of things, I think. but I think that mash bill is, know, widely used for a lot of reasons. and I think, this hits a really, and you said this is, eight, eight years old. It was, mean, speaker-2 (28:30.062) distilled and barreled in July of 2017. Not far. speaker-0 (28:34.926) Yeah. So mean, eight and a half years old, I mean, I think this is a really good like age proof balance. Um, you’re not getting over-oked over tanned, uh, Scott, you know, I think this is your speed from a bourbon perspective. If I would have to guess. Yeah. I mean, it’s definitely got the sweetness that I expect, uh, from, know, um, moderate aged whiskey. mean, I don’t know, you know, it’s not a super age whiskey, but like sweet spot whiskey. Like it’s got. The molasses, like the brown sugar notes, like that you would come to expect. Um, you don’t really get any like sharpness or like a stringency or bitterness, which, know, sometimes I it’s, it’s okay to have a little bit of that, but other times I’m like, it’s, it’s a little bit of a turnoff, but like, this is just like coats the tongue. Like it feels like an eight and a half year old whiskey. Like it should. Yup. Like, I don’t know how, like it’s a Kentucky bourbon. Like that’s the way to describe this. I think, you know. speaker-1 (29:41.614) label. speaker-0 (29:42.68) Ducky Senator Bourbon, it should be a traditional product. It should be something that’s like representative of the long standing heritage of the state. Yep. speaker-2 (29:52.858) You just, I mean, you just wrote our marketing unique selling proposition. You know, a, I’m a communications major. took a lot of marketing classes. Bill Birnbach, who one of the founding fathers of the modern advertising movement said every product or service has to have a USP unique selling proposition. just said our unique selling proposition. speaker-1 (30:16.494) We are traditional, classic, Kentucky State bourbon whiskey. No gimmicks. that’s okay. There’s room for everybody out there in the market. And I think all these different flavor variations and techniques are great. And this is our lane. speaker-2 (30:23.96) And speaker-2 (30:39.0) This is where we’re going to. speaker-1 (30:43.5) we’re going to work it speaker-2 (30:45.154) We’re going to put our stake in the ground and build a brand based on what you just said. Traditional age. speaker-1 (30:52.021) and it’s- speaker-1 (30:56.8) It’s not super aged, it’s always going to have an aging state in it, by the way. Minimum six years, usually more. 107 fruit. It’s an expensive bourbon, so we want to get people a little more for their money. Tell a great story about the history of Andre and I are both science scientists. Louisiana. He is a descendant of Basil Hayden, by the way. speaker-2 (31:16.45) He’s from speaker-2 (31:21.902) which is pretty interesting that he’s coming back to his roots. I grew up in Northern Michigan. and went to Michigan state, go green coaches. and just one more championship brother. That’s all we want. But I moved, I moved here in 1992 to work at turf white park and then worked there for eight years. And then I did. speaker-1 (31:34.082) My name is… speaker-0 (31:38.572) Hahaha. speaker-1 (31:44.961) And, speaker-2 (31:49.676) Another long stint at the Breeders’ Cup in Lexington. This is why I moved to Georgetown where I live now. Andre lives in Southern Scott County. I live on the sort of East side of, Scott County and he lives on the far West side, almost into Fayette County. He has a farm out there and, you know, we’re two guys who moved here. speaker-1 (32:12.59) to pursue working in the horse business. And I sort of accidentally stumbled into politics and sort of stretched parallel universe and then discovered bourbon while I was in the legislature. speaker-0 (32:27.598) And, you so the other, the other thing you mentioned it right. As we close this out, there’s a, this podcast is going to drop the week of the Kentucky Derby. Right. So I’m going to, have to ask as, as a, as a horse guy, right. Um, I’m not, uh, I’m going to ask a kind of more interesting question. The question is, isn’t who’s going to win the Derby, right? Yeah, I want that. That’s gonna be the last thing you say. speaker-2 (32:58.19) Alright. speaker-0 (33:00.258) How I have a hundred dollars, right? How do you go? You know, I give Damon a hundred dollars. How do you go about betting a big race like that? 20 horses. you know, cause there’s multiple ways, right? You can win, play show, you know, you can bet them across the board. You can do whatever, right? You could will you could box exact trifecta superfecta high five, right? how do you go about approaching that? If I gave you a hundred dollars, how would you approach betting something big like the Kentucky Derby? speaker-2 (33:29.71) I’ve never been asked that question before because most of my horse racing friends know that I’m a terrible handicapper. I at my core, a horse racing fan. I’ve been to 70 racetracks across the world. I I’ve been to five Derby preps already this year in four different States. love horse racing, you know, worked in racetrack marketing and operations and now do consulting, in my post legislative. speaker-1 (33:57.486) career. speaker-2 (33:59.306) As far as a strategy goes, I’m a, I’m a wind place show type better. And the great thing about the Derby, it’s a, it’s a once, once a year opportunity. got 20 horses. speaker-0 (34:04.237) Mm-hmm. speaker-1 (34:12.32) and you’re going to get big odds, right? speaker-2 (34:14.424) Cause that many horses, there’s not going to be a one to 10 favorite or one to nine favorite. Probably not even three to five favorite. Favorites probably going to be two, three to one. So you’re going to get some good horses at some longer odds. We’re actually betting across the board, win place show. You could, you could actually get a horse, you know, sort of gallop up into second or third at a decent price and get some of your money back. I would do, I would do. speaker-0 (34:39.831) Yeah. speaker-2 (34:42.592) I would find a horse you like at longer odds embedded across the board. we also know from horses like RIP strike and mind that bird, bird every sort of 10 years or so, a long shot, you know, the race falls apart. A horse wins, wins a Kentucky Derby, never wins another race. no. speaker-1 (35:01.262) The other thing I’d like to watch out is the back of the box. speaker-2 (35:04.622) Um, with, cause you could, you could do that for moderate, uh, uh, investment. Yeah. Exactly. The box with 84, five horses. And again, you know, maybe do a couple of the favorites and then a couple of the horses with longer odds. So my disclaimer is I’m a terrible handicapper. It’s Nope. Nobody should, should bank more than that hundred more than Ben Franklin that you suggested on. speaker-0 (35:26.062) and speaker-2 (35:34.54) on either my picks or my strategy. speaker-0 (35:37.25) Well, so, mean, I do like the strategy. So I typically, will do the same. I’m up on the Derby the last several years and Oaks. I would say I’m a decent handicapper at best. wouldn’t say I’m great by any stretch of the imagination, but, it all depends on how Churchill runs, right? Churchill’s a finicky track. If you get a lot of rain, it can mess it up. And then all of a sudden you get a country house from several years ago, even though it got bumped quote unquote. Uh, I have my opinions on that one as the guy who had won the, all of the pots with the winner of that race. Uh, but, uh, have left the party. I should have, uh, but it was at my house. That was the bad part. Uh, but you know, um, I’m, I’m with you. I think, you know, you, you pick two or three, you know, and you throw five across the board and that’s a $15 bet, you know, on two or three long shots are the ones really, really like. And then I’m, I’m a. I like trifectas, but I hear you on the X-Acto box, but the exotics are so hard on these that it’s really hard when the field is so pivotal. have literally the 20 best horses in the world running all eyes on them. Six o’clock, 6.57, I think typically is the go off time. And 20 million eyeballs are on Louisville, Kentucky, which is absolutely insane. speaker-2 (37:04.91) It’s crazy. I’ve been to 37 Kentucky Derbies. went when, uh, let’s see, I went in 1987, Ali Shiva, and I’ve been a Derby since 1989 except speaker-1 (37:18.734) then to every derby 89, the COVID derby in 2020, which was run on Labor Day weekend and they wouldn’t let fans in because of pandemic and the riots that were taking place in Moorville at the time. speaker-2 (37:33.555) So, you know, I bend. speaker-1 (37:36.11) This will be my 38 derby. think, you know, COVID is an asterisk. So, you know, six in a row, you discount that. And, uh, I’m looking forward to going again this year. Last few years, it seems like we get rain more often than not. I’m hoping we don’t cause there’s nothing to be more glorious than a 70 degree and sunny, rain, Kentucky. speaker-2 (37:59.928) Huge fan. can tell by what I told you about my travel and how many times I’ve been to the race. So it’s a great day. I, you know, I feel like I’ve got the Kentucky trifecta, bourbon horses and politics. although the, the, the, the political part is in the rear view mirror. I still dabble in it. speaker-1 (38:03.029) and speaker-0 (38:19.166) You just need you need basketball. You need basketball somehow. speaker-2 (38:23.202) I went to Michigan State. I sorted. speaker-0 (38:25.078) Yeah. Well, you, need a Kentucky basketball, ta. we won’t talk about the Spartan. speaker-2 (38:31.458) I did have season tickets for 22 years and went to a lot of games at Rupp Arena and cheered for the Pats many, many times in my life. speaker-0 (38:38.862) Do you want to speak in a politics from fun fact? Matthew nun. Who took your seat in the Senate? Is a fraternity brother of mine and actually a pledge brother of mine from Eastern Kentucky University. speaker-2 (38:55.96) the speaker-0 (39:06.464) I gonna ask. I was gonna ask. I’m assuming you’re a patron and a few bottles of Kentucky Senator have flowed through that place. speaker-2 (39:15.182) Yeah. And Matt, you know, Matt, when I, when I decided not to run in 2024, Matt, uh, I asked Matt to consider running and he, and he did, and it won in a landslide and both the primary and the general, and he’s doing a great job. I’m really proud that he’s my friend and proud that he’s my Senator and everybody really likes him. He’s, he’s a really likable guy and really hardworking and he’s doing a great job as the new Senator from Scott. And I’m really, I’m really proud of him. speaker-0 (39:45.422) Yeah, no, he’s a great guy. I’ve known him for 20 plus years now. yeah. So, all right. You got your fun fact. And now the big reveal. Damon, who’s going to win the Kentucky Derby? speaker-1 (39:58.894) speaker-2 (39:59.246) So I’m very biased. I’m very good friends with. speaker-1 (40:03.854) couple of Hall of Fame jockeys, Mike Smith who rides Pappy, John Velasquez rides Brother Ado and Javier Castellano who rides the Puma. speaker-2 (40:08.216) So. Don’t blast this you speaker-2 (40:16.91) And, those guys are really good friends of mine. And, I would like to see one of them win the Kentucky Derby. think so happy will be a little bit of a sleeper. Further ado will be one of the favorites. I think the Puma is kind of a hot horse. he, saw him win the Tampa Bay Derby and then he just got beat a nose. A great race. I think a lot of the wise guys will be. speaker-1 (40:30.67) A speaker-1 (40:40.993) in the Florida Derby Ranch. speaker-1 (40:45.198) We’ll be on the Puma. That so happy. Be like fifth or sixth choice. And you know, there’s a reason they call my friend Mike Smith, Big Money Mike. speaker-2 (40:46.716) And I think probably you. speaker-0 (40:56.812) Yeah, no kidding. speaker-2 (40:58.246) And, he was 59 years old and still got the three I like, but mostly because, you know, I’m friends with those guys and I’m, I’m, 58 years old. So I always cheer for the middle middle-aged guys too, you know, speaker-1 (40:59.053) We’ll see you next time. speaker-0 (41:02.958) Wow. speaker-0 (41:14.35) There you go. Churchill. I always my one bet at Churchill is Corey Laner or Kirk Corleoneer. Like always. I always bet. Yeah. speaker-2 (41:26.926) I’m in a race horse partnership called CJ thoroughbreds and Corey’s, Corey’s ridden some horses for us, won some races. Matter of fact, he rode a race for us this past weekend. and our horse stumbled coming out of the gate, went to his knees. speaker-1 (41:42.312) and Cory came off. speaker-2 (41:44.374) And luckily he and the horse are both okay. I was really worried about Corey. He did get kicked a little bit, but he’s fine. And is that was back riding races the next day. yeah, I cheer for Corey, another middle-aged brother. And so I always cheer for him too. Great job. speaker-0 (42:03.988) sure. Well, Damon, I appreciate you spending this evening with Scott and I as we talked about a lot of things from bourbon to politics to history and to the greatest two minutes in sports entertainment, which is the Kentucky Derby happening next Saturday, first Saturday in May, always besides COVID. So Damon, really appreciate you hanging out with us and telling us the story of Kentucky Senator. speaker-2 (42:31.052) I really appreciate you guys having us on, you know, we’re just a small startup. Like I said, we’re two guys and an intern and just trying to build a great brand with Kentucky Senate offer people great bourbon with a side of history, classic. speaker-1 (42:39.64) Bill. speaker-2 (42:54.434) lot of products out there and we appreciate all the support people have given us. we’re, are single barrel picks at liquor barn, Justin’s house of bourbon. speaker-1 (43:04.686) Kroger Liquor in Northern Kentucky. speaker-2 (43:07.599) Frank and Dino’s restaurant speaker-1 (43:09.108) and Axiom 10 blinkers tavern in covington speaker-2 (43:12.79) and bars and restaurants and liquor stores around Kentucky have a small batch. And it’s also available at bourbonoutfitter.com or at our website, kysenatorbourbon.com. And we, can ship to 46 states from our. speaker-1 (43:27.694) from our store. speaker-0 (43:29.207) Awesome. Well, thanks for joining us. Thanks everybody for listening to this episode of the Bourbon Lens. We will catch you next time. Cheers. Cheers. Thank you for listening to this episode of the bourbon lens. If you want more exclusive content, go over to patreon.com backslash bourbon lens and join our growing community. If you just want to stay friendly with us, you can go over to Instagram X and Facebook and follow us there. Also our YouTube page is growing and we’re producing more content there like Thursday thoughts and five minute Fridays. So don’t forget to smash the subscribe button and catch all the content that we are producing every week until next time. Cheers.