speaker-0 (00:00.458) If you love bourbon, if you love whiskey, you’re going to love these conversations. So make sure you subscribe to the bourbon lens starting now. is May the 4th. So may the force be with you today as we embark on the latest episode of the bourbon lens. Derby season’s now over. Who won? We don’t know because we’re recording this before the actual race. Hopefully we won some money. So sit back and buckle into the latest episode of the bourbon lens. Scott, the fourth is with you today as the podcast launches, even though this is prior to the fourth, you know, just thought I’d have a little fun there. No copyright, less than 30 seconds. speaker-1 (00:35.788) Yeah, yeah. Favorite Star Wars movie. speaker-0 (00:39.884) Hmm. So I like road one. I love like the spy element of, of it all. But for me, you know, you can’t go wrong with the new hope. Just the original, just keep it right in the pocket. speaker-1 (00:55.214) was heading that direction too, I feel like there are so many spinoffs now, shows and movies. And it’s just like, back to the basics. speaker-0 (01:07.01) Yep, I give me the first three movies, New Hope, and then I think Return of the Jedi, Empire Strikes Back in that order. That’s kind of how I go. The original three, The Anakin as a Child, you could pass on all those movies because Jar Jar Binks is Jar Jar annoying. speaker-1 (01:25.23) he got like personally attacked and like shamed on all over the place when that when the movie came out the actual actor which is a jar jar binks I’m like he’s a plane a character like come on now speaker-0 (01:40.696) Yeah, it was just weird. and the, the new three, they were fine. speaker-1 (01:46.22) Yeah, I’m not. I don’t even think I’ve watched a lot of the more modern stuff, but. speaker-0 (01:51.244) Now I was in on the first couple of seasons of Mandalorian and then I was out and then I was in on the first and second seasons of Andor. Now I’m out. I just don’t have bandwidth to like care about all these spinoffs. It was like all the Marvel stuff. I was in on Marvel. Now I’m out on Marvel. I just can’t keep up. speaker-1 (02:07.394) Yeah, it’s like how much can you squeeze the turnip, you know? speaker-0 (02:12.27) No, because there’s way too much bourbon news, right? So we’ve got to keep all of that. And so there is breaking news. We’re going to talk Derby here in a second, but the breaking news, it kind of ties into this. The presenting sponsor for the Kentucky Derby is Brown Foreman and Woodford Reserve. And I love how every article is Jack Daniel’s parent company when here in the bluegrass. Yeah. Bourbon, old forester. Woodford Reserve, Brown Foreman itself is no longer in talks with per no record. Surprise? Shocked? Anything going on there in your mind? speaker-1 (02:47.618) I know. It’s such a massive potential deal that it’s, I’ll be shocked no matter who purchases or if it doesn’t even happen. You know, it’s like just, the possibility of Brown Foreman being purchased. Like it’s just, it’s just odd to me. But then again, it’s, it’s not anything we haven’t seen before with, you know, beam and makers. Coming under the Suntory umbrella, you know, that was a slow burn because it was beam Suntory and then it was just Suntory, Suntory global spirits. now it’s, you know, the Ajo, you know, the Ajo has grown over the years, even for now. I it’s, all over the place. Hard to predict. speaker-0 (03:37.492) It is, you know, and speaking of Diageo, while they may have slowed down on the bourbon front, saw today that they opened a giant distribution center in Alabama. So, you know, how does that shake up the three tier system moving forward? What type of money is being thrown at the government to fix or change, you know, what was once needed to make sure that the spirit didn’t get tainted? speaker-1 (03:48.205) Yeah. speaker-0 (04:03.682) You know, it’s three tier system antiquated. I mean, RNDC also big news. They were pulling out of the Northwest as they continue to make some changes. So I’m going to let a bourbon pursuit continue with this week in bourbon. I’ll let them have their think, but there’s a lot of news. And so going back to the Brown Foreman thing, effectually known in our Patreon and Discord chat, Sazerjack. I just can’t see that happening. I just don’t see Sazerac and Brown Foreman coming together, especially with the brand new launch of Sazerac’s Tennessee whiskey. speaker-1 (04:38.412) Yeah, the timing, I mean, it was almost like a week later that it was even, you know, they, announced the, the new, which has been in the work. I mean, it’s been there for a while. That’s just, they’re kind of unveiling it, but it’s like the next week it was like, Sazerac bids to purchase Jack Daniels. mean, what? But I mean, Sazerac has been busy and they have invested in. Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand eight. Yeah. I think it’s what it’s called. speaker-0 (05:11.982) Big money too. That was not a small investment. speaker-1 (05:15.106) Yeah, so it’s like… speaker-0 (05:16.824) They buck our art county or Garrett County, whatever it’s called. speaker-1 (05:20.504) Yeah, I don’t know. Like they have that. What’s the distillery they have over in Indiana? speaker-0 (05:27.47) Yeah, they’ve got the small places on their names and they’ve, know, they don’t do anything with the one in Owensboro besides, you know, bottle, they have a whole distillery, historic distillery in Owensboro. speaker-1 (05:40.846) I guess create more Fireball? That’s what those are for. speaker-0 (05:45.076) I mean, balls, buzz balls, more buzz balls. speaker-1 (05:49.25) Well, BuzzBalls is wine-based, I’m pretty sure. Maybe they’ve changed, but… speaker-0 (05:53.484) No, they are one base, but you know, now they have the fireball buzz balls combination. But it’s not called fireballs, which I feel like they missed an opportunity there. speaker-1 (06:03.8) What is it called? speaker-0 (06:05.688) Buzz ball fire. speaker-1 (06:07.968) Is it actually fireball in a buzz ball? This is great. speaker-0 (06:12.302) It is. I saw it on the Instagrams. It was, but like, and they were like, you thought you had the name guessed, but it’s not fireballs. And I’m like, ah, come on guys. Like you just, gave me a softball and it as a, as a man with a boy heart, all I wanted is to say, like, get those fireballs in there. Just go into a thing, uh, go into a liquor store and ask that question. And then they’re looking crazy. Yeah, exactly. Come on. speaker-1 (06:16.025) April Fool’s joke. speaker-0 (06:42.523) I’m just missing opportunities for men to be little boys again. speaker-1 (06:46.722) Yeah. Great, great, great balls of fire. speaker-0 (06:50.902) Yeah, see the kind of jingle you had it all there. It was just, it was right for the taking. speaker-1 (06:56.066) waiting to be picked up. speaker-0 (06:57.422) Yeah, it was. But, you know, there’s a lot of news, needless to say. So make sure you’re tuned in to your favorite place, which should be bourbonlens.com for all the latest news. And if you like the articles, Scott, make sure all of our news articles are flipped to Flipboard. That’s a great place to find out all the information very quickly. So let’s talk Derby. Derby 152 will have been in the books. It looks like it’s going to be a chilly Saturday. But the rain has moved out of the Louisville region and we look like we will have a good, good Derby weekend ahead of us. So we won’t talk the horse races cause that’s not nor neither of our things really, but let’s talk Derby cocktails. So with the cell of Finlandia, know, the, the Lily has not been retired, but it’s been not talked about as much and there’s been new drinks added. So last year the The Herradura, I don’t speak Spanish. They had the margarita come into it. And then you obviously have the mint julep. And then there was another drink last year too. I’m drawing a blank on what it was. I don’t think about it in a second. And then this year we have the Perfecta, right? So, and then you have the classic mint julep. So when you think about Derby cocktails, I know you’ve had experience making quite a few in your. paths in your yesteryear. Give us Scott Dilley’s take on a mint julep because I heard through the grapevine when we were at the races on Wednesday that people make some bad mint julep. So how does Scott Dilley make a mint julep? speaker-1 (08:36.373) So I’ve had one too many experiences where I’ve stayed at the bar far too long making cocktails. And I gave that up several years back. So batching is the way to go. that way you can, like, if you, if you make, if you make a batch and then somebody’s like, it’s not boozy enough. What, know, you can always add a little bit more bourbon to the mix or if it’s too boozy. You can always add a little bit extra simple syrup, but batching is the way to go. And kind of the way it works is like 0.5 to 0.75 ounces to two ounce of bourbon. So obviously it takes, and that’s simple syrup, but obviously it takes some preparation the night before or two nights before, but you you gotta steep the mint. And I think that that’s a controversial take. speaker-0 (09:18.286) Perfect. speaker-1 (09:32.578) Some people say you just got to slap the mint or whatever and throw it in the glass. But I just don’t think that you get the mint, like the essence of the mint, unless you’re like steeping it like a tea and not like super high. You don’t need to make it like boiling because then you kind of like, you kind of like burn the mint leaves and then the oil is just kind of are kind of gross, but just make it like a, like a really simple, delicate tea, like about 160. And then just, you know, one-to-one simple syrup, super simple. then, you know, batch it in an old bourbon bottle, right on it, mint juleps, and then make sure you go pick up your crushed ice. How do you use crushed ice? You can’t be doing Q. Just not the same. So go to Sonic or Thorntons or wherever, you know. speaker-0 (10:28.878) I’ve got I’ve got crushed ice. Now the question is do you go with this beauty right here old Forrester 100 make a little bit more proofie cocktail or do you go old Forrester 86? speaker-1 (10:40.926) Usually it’s the Hunter Proof and I feel like it just stands up a lot better. speaker-0 (10:48.012) Especially with all the crushed ice, right? Cause when you do a mint julep, you don’t do just a little ice. You’ve to do a lot of ice. Like you’re making a snow cone. Right. speaker-1 (10:56.238) Right, and the first drink is not always the best. Usually it’s about like the fifth or sixth sip, you know, once it’s had time to like that would absorb into that crushed ice and like kind of meld and water down. I mean, it’s meant to be a boozy cocktail, but you definitely got to let it water down. speaker-0 (11:15.256) Yeah. It’s interesting. know, and, so to balance that, right. A traditional drink, little sweet. The branding team is, is refreshing that it’s not the, it’s not dirt, the Derby season cocktail. It’s actually the beginning of summer. That’s how they’re rephrasing the mint julep, right? It’s good all summer long, lot of ice, a lot of, a lot of flavor and that mint plays to, to a summer experience. But they also introduced the. Perfecta. And so the perfecta is a twist on a Kentucky buck. and it’s a bourbon pineapple, ginger mint beverage, kind of plays into Tiki drinks a little bit, which are really kind of all the rage right now. And having that pineapple can get a different type of consumer in right. The female, right. And having that, that, that almost mule style beverage, right. That can get them into it because the ginger beer can. take away some of the astringency of bourbon, whatever it is, but they make it with the 86. You know, now it’s going to be a light delicate. You’re going to get all the tropical notes out of old Forester and their yeast. And then, you know, that’ll play with the pineapple, so on and so forth. So I think it’s an interesting cocktail. took one sip of it yesterday when we were at the track. It was fine. Not the biggest fan of ginger beer. but they had a good ginger beer. So it wasn’t like. bitter or like bitey. That’s my issue with, with ginger beer in general, in general. But, I think, you know, what they, what they’re doing is being creative, like lean into whatever the cocktail is. Like you have your tradition in the mid julep. It’s always going to be at Kentucky Derby. They go hand in hand, but why not play with a margarita? If you got heredera, why not play with, a, you know, a Tiki drink with an 86, like, you know, have fun with it. Right. think that’s the, that’s the big thing that I think is, is unique and interesting. speaker-1 (13:14.594) never thought I would see pineapple and whiskey or bourbon. But then like Jim Beam released Jim Beam pineapple. And that kind of came out of nowhere. you know, the Blackberry, I feel like that that’s like, you know, with Eben Williams and Jack Daniels, they both got Blackberry right. pineapple. It’s just, it’s interesting, but it does show that there are people being creative about, you know, mixing up cocktails and making new expressions based upon classic cocktails and, you know, little variations here and there. That’s all, that’s all every cocktail is. It’s like go back to, you know, the cocktail evangelist, like everything is like a play on something. Yeah. So speaker-0 (14:06.06) Phone a basic. So if you’re interested in making the Perfecto, it’s one and a half ounces of bourbon, 86 or our preferred, four store hundred, you know, get 14 more proof points for like a dollar more. One ounce pineapple juice, three ounce ginger beer, garnish with a lime wedge and fresh mint sprig. Combine the bourbon and pineapple juice in a highball glass filled with crushed ice, top with ginger beer, stir gently, and then garnish. And do what everyone else does, bet, potentially lose, and enjoy your cocktail. So I think the Perfecta would be a perfect drink kind of year round. It’s something a little bit different, a little bit more enjoyable, and that I think people might be able to play with. speaker-1 (14:49.25) Yeah, it’s super simple. You know, it’s not complicated at all. It’s three ingredients. I mean, a three ingredient cocktail is like a classic. There’s no, there’s no need to, you know, steep your mint and simple syrup the night before. you can just do it right there. I would still, I would still probably batch it and then top it with ginger beer with each drink, but speaker-0 (15:17.166) Still super simple. A lot out of a bottle, you know, only an ounce and a half poor, you know, be able to enjoy it. And it’ll be fresh. all day long. was funny though, we were leaving the track and they brought out Jack Blackberry and my wife has really enjoyed Jack Blackberry, Evan Williams, Blackberry and lemonade with a lime or a lemon peel with some fresh Blackberries in it. speaker-1 (15:18.558) One ounce to speaker-0 (15:44.876) See a little boozy blackberry on the back end. So I’m slowly, slowly getting my wife into whiskey. speaker-1 (15:50.614) Yeah, one event at a time. speaker-0 (15:53.224) One event in time. It’s the only way to do it. you know, how do you get an elephant one bite at a time? Right. So, you know, when you think about this, can you believe that Derby is already over though? I think it’s kind of, it’s so interesting this year. It falls on the second, you know, May 1st is Oaks, May 2nd is Derby. It feels like it kind of snuck up and it was here and then it was gone. speaker-1 (16:14.53) Yeah. I don’t know what even happened to the first quarter of the year. Honestly. mean, we’re entering into Q2 or we’re already well into it. mean, sheesh, but it’s, yeah, it does. It’s like, it used to seem like two weeks leading up to Derby was like a lifetime. Now it’s just like over in a flash. speaker-0 (16:40.11) Correct. another fun thing that we got to do in addition to joy, enjoying the horses, this year was they had all new finish line suites. So we’ve had the opportunity to go to the suites a couple of times with different brands. And this year we were with Brown Foreman and the remodel that Churchill Downs put into the finish line suites was something sort of remarkable. Like that place was antiquated at best. But it looks amazing. speaker-1 (17:13.272) Yeah, but now it looks even more classic. Like it looks very. like nostalgic. It just feels like an old, I don’t know, it was incredible. I mean, I had a blast obviously, but they did a good job. And it’s always like for that place to only operate how many months a year? Like two, two months a year. feels like the amount, the amount of remodels and renovations they put into it. It’s, crazy, but. speaker-0 (17:42.174) absolutely insane. And I would say the other thing that I learned is I don’t know what they do with their normal food. The normal food is okay, but their chocolate chip cookies are out of this world. speaker-1 (17:57.592) How many did you eat? speaker-0 (17:59.338) I had two, Lauren tried to tell me I three. was like, no, I had two. I was going for a third and then I decided against it. But the, cookies are phenomenal. The other thing what happens in that beautiful suite is we get to try some, new things. I’m not going to tell people what’s happening, but Woodford’s some cool stuff. That’s what I’ll leave it at. And then new latest old Forester 117 series will be really cool. And then. It’s always fun to see the other brands that they bring in. They had Hyora Dura again there this year and you know, it was cool to drink some Inyeho and Raspasado tequila. So a lot of fun, pay attention to what’s happening with Brown Foreman. While they may be in merger talks everywhere, they still are the heartbeat of the Kentucky Derby, whether it’s through cocktails or the same commercial that they’ve been playing that Woodford Reserve has 33 different flavors and it’s their little bubble through the bottle. We can all recite it at this point because the Derby plays about 55 commercials in between each race. speaker-1 (19:00.492) Yeah, gotta get it in. speaker-0 (19:02.766) gotta get it in. And so you’re gonna pay for that sponsorship and boy do they get their money’s worth. speaker-1 (19:07.032) Like the Super Bowl, this, two and a half hour game takes four. Yeah. Cause how many commercial breaks. speaker-0 (19:15.662) But the one, the other fun thing that we got to do is we were at the bar and they had regular Woodford. So we drank, we poured a flight, regular Woodford, double oaked 1910 and then double double oaked. And that was fun. And it was also really fun because our good friend, Steve Coombs was standing there next to us and he just snows the ball and he’s like, and he like three card money dumb. Kyle bartender, which who’s awesome. and Steve was like, boom, boom, boom, boom. He’s like, you just got them. All right. And, it was, was pretty impressive to watch, him just kind of nail the match bills and the double up finishes from, from old Forrester and Woodford reserve. speaker-1 (19:57.966) Yeah, I’m most excited about that 117 series. speaker-0 (20:03.182) It’s, it’s still, that might be the best 117 series I’ve tried. speaker-1 (20:07.552) If you’re a fan of the Old Forester Distillery on Whiskey Row, that’ll be a bottle that you have to get. Yep. I mean, there’s any other way to describe it. It’s just, it’s like a tribute to that distillery. speaker-0 (20:24.386) Yeah, with a pretty good age statement on it. speaker-1 (20:29.048) So Brownform is in the news for one reason or another, but their whiskeys still keep kicking. speaker-0 (20:30.402) Now it’ll be speaker-0 (20:36.877) 100%. Uh, they keep, they keep doing the thing, which leads us to, know, while we teased some releases may we’ll bring a few new, new bourbons in late April did as well. Last week we had the peerless 10 launch and we have some, some other things on the cusp coming up soon. Is there anything you’re looking forward to in, in may from a release perspective? Cause it seems like while bourbon may be in a downturn quote unquote, the opportunity for these brands to drop bangers is at an all time high. speaker-1 (21:16.686) I don’t know. It’s just like you look around every corner and there’s something different or new or interesting. Like obviously there’s a lot of storytelling and like going back to like, you know, historical or this is the first time that we’re doing, you know, whatever. speaker-1 (21:36.716) A Smith Bowman, like coming back out with a first rye whiskey in like 16 years. It’s like, damn, I really would like to try that. Sour mash barrel strength. Like the mixer sour mash is a sleeper. Even at, think it’s like 88 proof, but high proof whiskey. I don’t know. It’s just like, there’s a lot going on. speaker-0 (21:59.778) We got widow Jane finished in tequila Ocho barrels. Penelope Rio comes back out. Elijah Craig barrel proof B520 suburban and right now you can talk about both of them. Buffalo trace continues to do some different and unique things like different Weller reserves coming out or William Daniel Weller to whatever it is. So I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how many new bottles come out. Because the TTB has been busy. looks like, mean, if we all see Jacobson, you know, there’s some other people that do what Jacob does as well. from like coming whiskey, like they go on TTB, they find the colas and they post the pictures, right? Like, the one I’m most looking forward to, it might not be made, but that Kentucky boy really celebrating Chris Morris. think it’s gonna be awesome. 107 proof. It’s like an ode to Chris Morris. I think it’ll be really cool. speaker-1 (22:54.267) Forgot about that one. I was hoping we were gonna get to try that but yeah, it’s probably still way too early speaker-0 (23:01.902) Melissa said that I asked her and she was like, I’m surprised we didn’t poor Kentucky boy. And she goes, no, it might’ve been a miss. Um, I was like, it’s. speaker-1 (23:10.818) Yeah, I mean, we were, we were tasting out of clear bottles, so I guess they wouldn’t have had to have it bottled to know. speaker-0 (23:19.022) But I do love the label on that thing. think it’s a, it’s a cool looking bottle. just heard from Ricky, have a new bourbon coming out for, you know, first West and they’re putting on a new, was it Kentucky? speaker-1 (23:33.242) County? speaker-0 (23:34.414) Kentucky County, right? With an EE. Kentucky County. So yeah, mean, it never ceases to end when it comes to bourbon whiskey and never stops. But man, it’s always fun. This time of year goes by so quick. And I think it’s all more nostalgic with our kids growing up right in front of our eyes too, right? It’s like, the bourbon whiskey world’s changing. And then we look over, your oldest is going to middle school, we had two complete kindergarten. It’s crazy time right now. speaker-1 (24:09.634) Yeah, definitely. Yikes. speaker-0 (24:12.854) Yeah, I know. Makes you feel old in a heartbeat. speaker-1 (24:16.782) Where somebody asked how long have you been doing bourbon lens? And I was like, eight years? speaker-0 (24:21.826) Yes. speaker-1 (24:23.832) Yeah speaker-0 (24:24.27) Crazy, crazy. But we’ve got some cool stuff coming up. You’re going to hear us live from Peerless Distillery coming up in May. And we’ve got some cool stuff with Suntory, actually Suntory. So talking Yamazaki and some other things there. So excited about the Japanese whiskey and trying to get some other things scheduled with like Augusta and Hard Truth. So bourbon lint is going to be on the go a little bit this summer. So, you know, maybe if you’re around, you’ll catch us when we’re doing a podcast, but we will go with where the brands want to take us, right, Scott? Yeah. speaker-1 (24:57.902) Let’s hop on a plane and fly somewhere next. speaker-0 (25:01.454) Hey, if you’re listening, Brand, we’ll come, we’ll podcast, but really appreciate you all listening to this episode of the Bourbon Lens and May the 4th be with you, even if you don’t listen on May the 4th. We will catch you next time. 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.