Welcome to another edition of Barrel To Bottle with Binny's Beverage Depot. I'm your esteemed host, Kristen Ellis. As always is Jeff Carlin. Welcome. This is the third installment of our Barrel To Bottle on the Road, where we checked out all things whiskey. We started off with none other than Jimmy and Eddie Russell. And then you heard last week our Bourbon Women Podcast, which was a lot of fun to get some insight into the world of bourbon according to women. Yes, which is always the better view. Absolutely, as we learn, scientifically and evolutionarily speaking. Yes, yes, and then the third installment, World of Whiskeys, which is just an all-out blowout of everything spirits. It was a really great time. World of Whiskeys has been around since 2004. Talked a little bit about this when we were talking about the Jimmy Russell interview we did, but this whiskey event, 200 plus whiskeys. Well, I think more importantly, I don't want to overshadow World of Whiskeys, but we debuted Barrel to Bottle on the road. That's kind of what we were doing there is to sort of take what we do, bring it out there to show everybody what we could do on the road. So that's what we did. So World of Whiskeys, amazing tasting takes place during Whiskey Week here in Chicago, and we run it generally in two phases. The first phase where some of the interviews are from is from our trade portion. So for our listeners that are in the business, you come earlier in the afternoon, that gives you a bit more freedom, a bit more room to kind of talk to the producers and hang out with the Al Youngs, the Jimmy Russells of the world, just to throw out I'll pick those names off the floor for you. I'm kind of name dropping for a table here. So, and then we take a break and then of course we have the customer portion later on. It's more recreational, of course. And you'll notice the difference in the interviews because the ones that we do in the evening are just a lot louder. The background is because there's like five times more people there. So we pull something like a thousand people for the day. Yeah, it's a ticketed event for the public portion of it, which is amazing because the line is around the block. So this is kind of just a tour of the different distillers, people of note, things we thought were really interesting. If you couldn't make it out this year, you can tune in to us, obviously, and we'll take you on a tour. Exactly. Just a taste of what we have to offer at World of Whiskies. So to kick things off, Jeff Wright, I think we're going to go all the way up north, as they say. North. To Far North Spirits up in Halleck, Minnesota. So that's 20 miles south of Canada. Now, I grew up in Minneapolis, but one thing you'll hear in this interview is how much better he is at the Minnesota accent than I am. So anyway, Johny Barbosa, cool dude up in Halleck, Minnesota. So it's tropical up there. Yeah. So we talked about their rye experimentation, and that's what they're known for. They got a huge grant from the University of Minnesota to experiment with all these different varieties of rye to see what made the best whiskey, talking about complexity, talking about blending. That was pretty cool what they're doing with those rye varieties up there, especially with their corn. So without further ado, Johny Barbosa from Far North Spirits. So we're here with Johny Barbosa from Far North Spirits, Minnesota. And you know, Jeff, I'm a Minnesota girl. I grew up in Minneapolis. I know I heard that. So this is perfect for you because this is right up your out, your hometown. It is. It's close to my hometown, that's for sure. Home turf. That's right. Well, but then I'm also a Packers fan, so to say home turf, I think frozen tantra. And I'm so conflicted. I need more whiskey to calm me down. I'm hysterical. So Johny Barbosa, thanks for coming. It's my pleasure to be here. It's great to be in Chicago where it's warm, where it's actually over 32 degrees. Only from someone from Minneapolis would say Chicago is warmer in the winter. I think that's awesome. This is like a little kind of spring break for you down here in Chicago. It's t-shirt weather. It really is. So tell me about Making Spirits in Minnesota. Sure. So we're located in Hallock, Minnesota. We're literally 20 miles south of Canada, 10 miles east of North Dakota, so the northwest corner. We're located in the Red River Valley. There used to be an old glacial lake called Lake Agassiz, which left a lot of rich deposits of soil. The soil is so black, it's almost black as your shirt. And so it's a prime farming area. We're a farm distillery. We're 1,500 acres where we grow a specific rye variety called AC haslet. It's a Canadian variety called, a Canadian variety that's non-GMO. And so we plant it in the fall, it goes dormant in the winter, where it survives 30, 40 below, then we harvest it in the summer. We also grow corn, an heirloom variety of corn. It grows 77 days because we have such a short growing period. Then we mill it, distill it all in-house. And we use Minnesota barrels. So they're coopers within 150 miles of the distillery with Minnesota oak. And so our barrel room is on the north end of the distillery. It's non-insulated. So we'll have fluctuations of 90 degrees during the summer to 30, 40 below during the winter. That's too harsh. Continental climate. It is harsh. So what does that mean for you in terms of longevity? Do you have to age your spirits longer than maybe somebody down in Bartstown just because you're dealing with such cold? Actually, the extremes really help us in terms of with the heat, you get the expansion and the contraction of the oak. So it actually really does penetrate the oak really nicely. So we're seeing, especially with, we just released the bourbon. Normal bourbon time for what barrels that we use is generally about 18 to 24 months. Because of that expanding contracting of the heat and the cold, we were able to pull it at 18 months and it's absolutely beautiful. Wow, that's awesome. And I hear, Johny, that you're the guy that's experimenting with rye. So we are experimenting with rye. What we have here today, we have our Minnesota rye, which is 80% rye, 10% corn, 10% malt barley, aged in New American oak, once again, Minnesota oak. Once it's done aging, we finish in Cognac. Then I have the same one, same mash bill, but instead of being finished in Cognac, we finish in Saturn. And we have a Maryland style rye, which is George Washington's original recipe. It's a 65 rye, 25 corn, 10 malt barley. And we also have a 100% rye, 95 rye, and 5% malted rye. But as well, we partnered with the University of Minnesota. We got a grant of $188,000 to do a three-year rye study, where we're growing 18 different varieties with the ultimate goal is to have this matrix of the different varieties so we know what the flavor profiles are. So that way we can present it to distillers and brewers, say if you want this specific flavor, you want somebody to grow this kind of rye. That's really amazing. I've never heard of something like that. That must be one of a kind. With rye, we think it is. We've done the research and we haven't found anything like that. But in terms of corn, in terms of wheat, and barley, it's been done. So it might be proprietary, but we want to make it public. Open source, as they say. I have a really important question. What spirit out of your product range pairs best with hot dish? Do you even know what that is? Hot dish, I'm not from Minnesota. My wife is originally from Minnesota. So we moved back there three years ago. So this is all cultural shift. Hot dish is kind of like a casserole, but hot dish is specific to Minnesota. My mother-in-law makes this killer hot dish. Makes this killer pizza hot dish. It's just like pizza in a casserole dish, baked. It's just amazing. In terms of pizza hot dish, I would say our Sartre's Venice, because you get the sweetness. And so when you pair it with a good pepperoni, it's really nice. In terms of catered to our hot dish, I would say our Maryland-sized rye is really nice. You get a little bit of the sweetness, you get a little bit more of that earthy flavor from the rye. I love how serious you took that question. Oh yeah, that turned in a hurry. That was very sighted. I mean, you were on the point there. We talk about hot dish a lot in my household, so I'm happy to have you here. That's great. I look forward to tasting through your products. Thanks for coming. Yeah, thanks for having me. It's really cold up there. Apparently, their growing season is 77 days long. Can you imagine? It's not even enough time to get your tan on. Well, what's seasonal depression order like up in Hallock, Minnesota? It's seasonal non-depression. They have the inverse. Well, they've got Far North Spirits. I think that's the cure. It's like, you can keep the Wellbutrin. I'll take the Far North Spirits. That's what I'm about. It was a really cool conversation with him because the idea of figuring out and using the science to determine which is the best grain for getting the best profile or different flavor profiles. A lot of people focus on just the mix, the rye versus corn and wheat and all that, and then the barrel, they put it in. That's where everybody kind of thinks of. They don't really necessarily think about different types of rye or different types of corn. It's not only the different types of rye, but it's what is the best for Minnesota, which is cool because every time we're talking about, you know, rye or bourbon, we're looking south. And now this time we're looking north. Even as far north as we are, we're still looking up there. And so I think that that's really, really cool. It's kind of putting Minnesota on the map. It's awesome. Yeah. And it's one of those things that everybody thinks about Kentucky or they think about Tennessee for whiskeys. Minnesota, it doesn't come to mind. But you know what does come to mind? Illinois now. I mean, there's a there's a distillery in Illinois is doing some good stuff. Oppidine Spirits out in Wheeling. So we got to talk to Jeff Walsh. I love their product and I've really liked for a couple of years now, their Solera bourbon offering. So that expression is aged. They take the name Solera that comes from Sherry in Spain. And it's a Sherry's wine that's aged fractionally, which means it's a blend of many different barrels that end up in that final final bottling. And that's kind of what they're doing. It's a play on that. It's not as fractional. It doesn't take as long. It's not as intricate as they do in Sherry, but more or less the concept is still the same. So their Solera bourbon is killer. And we tasted that together. And then they took a riff off of that recipe of theirs and they finished it in an Isla barrel. As I like to say, Isla. I hated it when you did that. I yelled. I think that was the only time I ever yelled at you in our work relationship. Yeah, so I kept saying, because Roger had a bottle of of the Goose Island Island. And I was like, oh, give me some more of that Isla. And I was like, no. I almost slapped it out of my hand. I levitated. I was so mad. But these guys, this is really good. The whiskey tones that we are used to, the bourbon barrels and beers here, it's different. This is a much more complex flavor profile. Well, it adds that kiss of peat, right? And peat, I don't like it. I don't like peaty scotches. I'm not a big fan of Arbeg unless it's mixed in a Bloody Mary, apparently. Like I just don't, it's never been my thing and I just don't care. But the way that it played well with kind of that sweetness, that Christmas cakey, you know, sort of expression in the bourbon, I really made for a very interesting, very well put together spirit. So that finish for me was the right time. It wasn't too little. It wasn't too much. It wasn't overpowering. It just sort of picked it up and gave it lift. And that's what I really enjoyed about that. Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's let Jeff tell us some, Jeff Walsh, not Jeff me. He's a good guy. Tell us a little bit more about one of Illinois' very own. All right. I'm here with Jeff Walsh from Oppenhead. Hey, Jeff, how are you? Very good. How are you? Good. Thanks for coming back to World of Whiskeys. Oh, it's always fun. Is this your third time with us at the CEC? This is my third or fourth. OK, good. So you're kind of becoming a household name here at Binny's Beverage Depot. Well, I'd like to think so. I'm proud of what I do and I hope everybody enjoys the product. We do not mind. So I want to talk about a couple of things. Before we get into your new products here, I want to talk about Solera, right? One of your, for me, one of my favorites that you do. I think that Solera might be a confusing term. Can you explain to our listeners what Solera aging is all about? I would say most traditionally we're seeing this technique being used in the sherry industry and then you see it used in the rum industry. You don't see it used very much in the whisky industry. In this case, on our Solera aged bourbon, it's a five-grain mashbill looking at corn malted dry, chocolate malted dry, special B in two rows. So already the craft brewers approach on the mashbill, then aged in American oak, then French oak, then Oloroso sherry cask. In this case, the Solera comes in that the French oak and the Oloroso cask never drop below half before the next batch moves onto it and goes down the line. So in sherry, it's the same thing. You'll see some cool sherrys where it says like, aging since 1918. Because some amount of batch one is always in there. We did it in this case as a newer distillery. How do you, one, create complexity, and two, how do you have continuity as you go from smaller barrels to, at this point, we only lay down full-sized casks. When you were, originally we were in 15-gallon barrels on that for just over a year before going into full-sized French oak, then into Morosso casks. You were looking at a total age originally around two years. Now it's, you know, the blend at this point is averaging probably more around four. The youngest part is going more like three years, and then the oldest part is still there from where it started five years ago. Cool. It's delicious. I love it. Thank you. But you've had something new on the table today. I do indeed. So this was stealing a little bit from our Solera. So we took five barrels, four of which were from our Solera, and one of which was coming from our forthcoming four-grain bourbon. Then we took it and we dumped it into Islay Scotch barrels. So this was following on, we did a few bottlings, one of which was a Delilah's single cast, where we took our malted rye and it went into an Islay Scotch barrel. It was very well received. It was a lot of fun to play with. I asked Mike Miller at Delilah's, well, what do you think about doing that with bourbon? He's like, well, why are you asking the question? I know I'm going to like the idea. I was like, yeah, I agree. So we brought in five barrels to just do it as big as we were willing to steal from our Solera without running into problems. And I think it's really cool. You get all the traditional bourbon notes plus the non-traditional Acuminara Solera from that chocolate malted rye and the Special B. But then you're getting that iodine and peat in a more subtle way than you see on some of the other ones in the markets. It's more on the finish. Now you have that lingering peat. And I think it adds a cool note. If you're not a Scotch fan, you might not like it, but it's subtle enough that you can say, I know I'm not a huge peat fan, that you still might like it too. So it adds a cool, complex note and it's been a lot of fun. Well, that's exactly what I said. I'm not a fan of peat, but when I tasted it, I was like, this is perfect. It really is such a great little note on the end. You can kiss the peat, it's perfect. I don't really like to kiss peat, but today I will. If it's opulent, I'll kiss it. Thanks, Jeff. Really appreciate it. Hey, Jeff, do you know when you've had a long day in the studio, and you're hanging out with Ro and you're hanging out with WGN? What time do you get home normally? You get home kind of late, like 10 at night? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, okay. That's not true. It's like bartender late. Right. Not bartender, but it's still late. But it's still late. And do you ever come home and you just like, you wish you had a cocktail, but you don't want to make it? Yes, all the time. So you have cocktail problems, right? I do. Speaking of bartender late, I got to interview the, I mean, world famous Charles Joly. I get a little bit kind of nervous with some people with these interviews and things. Most of the time I can play it off as pretty cool because I talked to them beforehand, but I didn't get a chance to sort of pre-interview. Exactly. And just like whatever. So I walk up to Charles and first I'm just like, hello, the best bartender alive. But he's so sweet, so nice, so very well spoken. We have to talk about his Craft House cocktails. Craft House basically is, as far as I'm concerned, in the premixed cocktail world, one of the best products you can buy just because, well, not only because he sources from Chicago. I mean, it's pretty sweet, but he's using CH Distillery, but very high-end, well-made, ready-to-drink spirits and cocktails that are just fantastic. So just ice in a glass and pour and go, and you got Charles Joly literally in your living room. And for those who don't know, Joly, I mean, he's a legend, but he's got his background in... He was the beverage director at Aviary. So, I mean, okay. Yeah. Right? So we're relating it to Alinea and that whole family now. If Grant Decatz is like, dude, run my beverage program, then you pretty much know you've made it. Like, he could have hung it up at that point. Absolutely. But he didn't because, you know, he's hungry for more. He does the cocktail program for the Emmys and a lot of award shows. He basically is the guy for the Kentucky Derby. Everybody who knows anything about anything is looking at Charles Joly to make their cocktails, if they can get them. I'm here with Charles Joly. Hey, Charles, how are you? I'm fantastic. Thanks so much. We really appreciate you coming to World of Whiskeys and participating in Barrel To Bottle with Binny's Beverage Depot. So tell us what you're doing here at World of Whiskeys. Cool. I'm here with my bottle cocktail line, Craft House Cocktails. We're a Chicago-based company, all-natural, fully prepared cocktails made with excellent spirits, stuff that I would use even if we didn't have it prepared in the bottle for you. We work with great local distilleries, CH Distillery right down the street. From here, makes our vodka and our gin. Traverse City makes our bourbon for us. And we have a tequila cocktail as well. It's a beautiful blanco from Tequila Town. Awesome. And if people don't know you, they might be able to find you where? Around town. If they're not drinking Craft House, where can we see you in Chicago? I've been behind the bar for 20 years now. And the last couple I've been working independently. So my very last gig, I was a beverage director at the Aviary in Chicago. But now I work on all sorts of big events. We just wrapped up the Academy Awards. I designed the specialty cocktails for that over the last few years. I do the awards for the Emmys and the specialty cocktails there. I'll be down at the Kentucky Derby. I've done that the last few years, creating the signature cocktails. So we're definitely in the whiskey mood. And so that's fitting and really just around the corner. So yeah, I'm doing all sorts of events. Craft House pops up at all sorts of charity events. We pour a lot of cocktails there. But yeah, I'm just kind of working on a lot of those fun projects right now. I'm not full time behind the bar at the moment. So has your schedule changed yourself? I mean, you used to probably work a lot of late nights. Are you a little bit more on the other side now that you've kind of jumped to the supplier side more or less of the business? I am both vampire and daywalker. Oh, man. So I do both because I'm out bartending parties and events and things like that. But then I'm also, yeah, I get to see a whole different side of the business dealing with having essentially what's a spirit brand works exact same way. And so it's fun, though, but I get to come out here. I was excited for this, obviously, a lot of friends here pouring whiskey. And so it's a very small community, not even just in Chicago, but globally, we all kind of know one another in the business. And it's a pretty, pretty fun business to get to know everyone in. That's great. Well, besides Chicago, where's your favorite place to travel for cocktails outside of the United States? Oh, man, that's a very good question. Top three. I would say Edinburgh, Scotland is excellent. And, you know, you obviously they're known for their whiskey up that way. But it's just an incredible city and has a really fun and vibrant cocktail culture. I think one of the most underrated is Mexico City. You're only a four-hour flight away from Chicago to get to Mexico City. And I think it is a city that... There, they certainly know that they are a world-class city. Arts, food, spirits and beverage, all of it, entertainment. It's so vibrant and so much fun. There's a lot of cool underground stuff happening there. And it's really easy to get to. So I say skip Playa del Carmen, skip Cancun, get into the heart of Mexico, and check that out. And then, beyond there, I think another sleeper where I've had a lot of fun is when you get into the Mediterranean, everywhere from Athens to Tel Aviv to Beirut. I mean, the cocktail movement is not only isolated to London and New York and Los Angeles. This is every city all around the world that it's reached to now. And it's not just about this niche bartender thing. It is about people are making cocktails at home. They're entertaining more and more. Nobody has a wedding or a party without a specialty cocktail. And so it's really a fun time to be a bartender. And it's been amazing to watch it grow over the last decade or so. Well, congratulations for your success with Craft Ass. Oh, thank you so much. I love the product because sometimes, you know, I come home late at night, not as late as you maybe. But it's just great to have something that's ready to rock, poured over ice and, you know, I'm chilled out. So, I appreciate it and I think we all do too. We'll see you for Continuing Education and some other events at Binny's down the line. Yeah, I look forward to it. We hope so. Thanks so much. Thanks. So, there you have it, Charles Joly. I mean, just a lovely guy. But what a good idea. I have to actually take it back. It's the pre-made cocktail has been around for a long time, since, you know, much longer than I've been legal to drink, to consume alcohol in the United States. But, you know, when you come along with something and you just take an idea that's already there and you improve on it so much and you make it so accessible, and then you've got a guy that's so nice and cool and then also is the brand itself like that's a recipe for success. All right. So I needed a break. So I went to go eat some oysters and you took the reins on the next interview, which is Lorna Rumley from Glendalough over in Dublin. Oh my God. First of all, she was our the best accent of the night. I mean, Minnesota was good, but we went international here. I'm not getting on your train, buddy. Minnesota, choo-choo. I mean, they're close to Canada, but Lorna was international, so that was very cool. Glendalough. The exotic Dublin, Jeff. Exactly. That's right. International. Hey, you should cross a large ocean to get there. Yeah, for sure. But I didn't get a chance to interview, but I listened to the interview and she talks about a product that was going back to 500 AD, and that is an Irish whisky coming out of a Poitrine still. So they call it Poitrine. And I guess it used to be illegal. Now, I wish I could have spoken to her. I'm going to get her email because I wonder how any whisky is ever illegal in Ireland. That's oxymoronic. Well, yeah. What does that mean? Whisky illegal. Yeah. And then who stops you? What's the penalty? Right. Off with your hand. Sobriety? Yeah, right. There you go. But it was really cool. And it looks, I mean, the whisky itself is clear and it's not necessarily, it doesn't have the whisky profile we think. It was almost closer to like a brandy. It was a little sweeter. Yes, yes. Still had a lot of heat on it. It was made with 20% beet sugar distiller. Right, which was pretty cool. That's going to give you that kind of roundness, that viscosity and that sweetness, I'm guessing. No, absolutely. You get a chance to taste it. But yeah. But yeah, so now it's legal. So now they're making it. They're bringing it back. One of just a very few producers in the country that are bringing back the poichin. And then they also did, the other product was the first, one of the first Irish to be finished in a Japanese cast. So they're messing around over there at Glendalough Distillery. They're killing it. They are. Some unique stuff. So here is Lorna from Glendalough. Lovely Lorna. So tell me who you are and why your whisky is unique. I'm Lorna. I work with the Glendalough Distillery, based out of County Big Low and out of Dublin. We have two special single malts that we just brought into the market here in Chicago. Our 7-year-old single malt is actually finished in Porter Pits Cast from Dublin Brewery. And our 13-year-old single malt is the first Irish whisky to be finished off in Japanese Nisenera Oak Cast. Earlier I was trying this and I'm going to murder the pronunciation of it. It's actually Poitin, so it's an Irish word for a little pot or a pot still, which is distilled in. So it's actually an ancient ancestor of Irish whisky, dates back to like 580, was distilled by monks in ancient monk settlements in areas like Glendalough. So 80% malted barley, 20% sugar beets, it's stored in Virgin Irish Oak, it's actually 120 proof. So it's really wild and different. And I tasted it earlier, and it's unlike anything I've ever tried. I mean, it's got some really unique flavors to it. Did you say beets in there? Is that what it is? Sugar beets? Yeah, so sugar beets and malted barley. So you get really sweet and sour flavor profile, great for cocktails. That's incredible. So that's something that's new. I mean, I haven't seen that anywhere else. Yeah, we're one of the first distilleries to bring it back in as a legal spirit. It was actually illegal many years ago, and it was only brought in as a legal spirit back in 1997. And Glenn's Laugh Distillery is one of the first distilleries to make it a legal spirit. That's awesome. Thank you so much for your time. You're welcome. Thank you. So it's called World of Whiskeys. And we hit the world. We did. But there's a brandy producer in house. Wait a minute. Explain that to me. Well, so Dan Farber, he owns Osa-Colos Brandy down near San Francisco, just south of San Francisco in California. Probably one of the smartest people, like presidential smart kind of thing. Yes. I think it's cool because he's been collecting whisky since the 80s. He talks about the difficulty of blending because it is difficult. I mean, everyone knows like champagne is no secret. I think about what is called the assemblage portion of making a champagne, and you've got a hundred different lots to blend together to make one product. A lot of times these houses are trying to make consistency. So that's the same kind of thing with whisky. So I think Dan Farber coming from brandy is coming from a grape derivative, and then he's also really, really deep in the whisky worlds, who's kind of bringing those two houses together to talk about complexity and nuance in the art of blending. Certainly, and an authority on blending to say the least. So, amongst other things. Right, absolutely. So here's Dan Farber. Dan Farber, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, I'm here with Dan Farber from OsaColus Brandy. Hey, Dan, how are you? Good, how are you? I'm awesome. It's world of whiskeys, so I couldn't be better. You've been here a few times now. I think this is our seventh or eighth year. Have you been here every single year? No, but I have been here for the last four or so years. And I participate in this and then some events that are around it. And really, it's a great opportunity, although I'm a brandy producer and I don't produce any whisky, I have been interested in whisky since I was a boy and actually have collected whisky since the early 1980s. So I've always had an interest in whisky. And I do think that ultimately even though what I do is not whisky, it's brandy and it's fruit based, that the people who understand a bit about whisky and understand the diversity of whisky and the varieties of whisky will ultimately be a consumer who will be attracted to and understanding of brandies. It's really a matter of showing them the differences in style, production techniques and what we're trying to accomplish. But I really think that that's a very fertile ground for consumers of brandy. So it's really fun to be able to be here and show them something that they are absolutely, positively not interested in at all. Well, they're not expecting it, but they're pleasantly surprised. Usually, yeah, they either don't know anything about brandy and are pleasantly surprised or know something about brandy, but certainly not about classically produced brandies from the United States, because there are so few of us. So do you think that brandy is kind of on an upswing right now in terms of popularity? Or where are you guys in the market? I mean, bourbon is hot, but where's brandy? So since I thought brandy was going to be on an upswing 30 years ago, I don't want to doom the industry to like my failed crystal ball. But indeed, there is a lot more interest. There are a number of large projects coming out of California right now, brandy projects coming out of California, including wonderful spirits from Gallo. It's released some of their older liquid now with Argonaut. Francis Ford Coppola has released a new brand of brandies. There are some other projects in the work. We have some projects in the East Coast, and even our own distillery, which has been around for a few decades now. This will be the first year. Last year, we stopped buying fruit from any outside sources, and this will be our first year to produce commercial volumes off of our own vineyards. What grapes are you growing? We are growing in decreasing order of abundance. Faux Blanche, Pinot Noir, Montiel, Sémillon, Vionnier, and Faux Lignon. Wow. Vionnier. I mean, do you ever make a brandy out of just Vionnier? Yes, we always have, and we have some Vionniers going back quite far. It's something unique to California. It's a very, very floral brandy. If you know wines, it has that kind of very honeysuckle flower-like character to it when distilled, when fermented nicely and distilled correctly. And it can add a very nice upper tone to a blend. I've never released a single varietal of Vionnier. I am much more a fan of blends with whiskey as well, unfortunately. I must say I am in a small group of aficionados for blended malts. I am in that group. Good. You know, to me, the beauty and clarity of seeing something single or solo, like a single barrel of Vionnier or a single barrel Pinot Noir, it has a kind of clear character to it that is intriguing. But I don't think you ever really... This is not 100% true, but it's mostly true, that you never really get the depth and finesse and structure that you could if you could put components together. And think of it, we would never do it with perfume, right? You would, I mean, you know, those that wear, you know, 100% patchouli perfume stand out for sure, you know? Right, for many reasons. For many, many reasons. And yet, if you look at many of the real elegant perfumes, there will be a base of something like patchouli or cedarwood oil or sandalwood oil or one of those, you know, woody earthy base notes to build that beautiful complex perfume on top of. And in the same way, when we're blending either whiskeys, I mean, I'm here, we should really think about how these things relate together rather than not. Or brandies, we're really approaching it in the same way, trying to, you know, bring a palette of things together that can make a much more rich combination. Well, awesome. Thank you for that insight. Thanks for participating in Barrel To Bottle. Thank you. Always a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much. Jeff, you and I are standing in the middle of the tasting room, and we're kind of trying to pick out Xpony for the interview. We get a tap on the shoulder, and he comes out from behind his barrel, and he's like, hi, I'm Turner Wathen. I have to be on your podcast. I'm like, it's happening. It's happening. We're famous. Yeah. Did you hear that last name? It's a Wathen who wants to be on our podcast. Exactly. That was awesome. That was very cool. I got a little bit pink. Yeah, me too. I got flushed. I was surprised, actually. It was. It was cool to see. We've only been doing this for, we've got 30 episodes. Six minutes. You know, everyone else was very glad to talk to us. Everyone else was like, who? And he was like, you. I mean, that was pretty cool. And he's got a great story, great backstory. Yes. So he is a Wathen. His great grandfather started the old granddad distillery. So I love the way he talks about the regs to riches and lost it all. And he drank all our stock and very cute. So he knows he's got the last name, right? So he's got the nobility of birth, if you will. And so now what he's trying to do is not just take that name, but also make something else of it. So he is making high end rum in bourbon country. You know, like that's just not the obvious thing to do. You have to think, OK, my great grandfather started the old granddad distillery. Our family name is pretty famous down here. I could very easily just fall back into the bourbon. People would buy it. I could do all these things to just sort of make it more successful, quicker, I think, if you just kind of did what the norm. But he really likes rum. So he's like, you know what? I'm going to flip it on its head. I'm going to make awesome rum in bourbon country. Very cool. It's very unique. And coming from there, known, you never think of bourbon country and rum. No, but you but you can now. Yeah, because of Turner Wathen and Fertuitous Union. So we're here at Turner Wathen, Fertuitous Union. Thank you guys so much. You have a pretty cool backstory, don't you? Some would say I got kind of lucky with the heritage. I'm trying to bring it back. So my great great grandfather built the old granddad distillery. We were one of a few families that could sell during prohibition. And just like good blooded Americans, we drank and sold ourselves out of all our assets. Is that fair enough? I've spent the past decade with my partner trying to figure out my way back into this industry. I want someone with the last name Wathen running notable brands and producing high quality spirits. And so we are Rum Evangelist out of Louisville, Kentucky. We're in Bourbon country and we love rum because we want to do something different, but it's something that applies and appeals to Bourbon and whiskey-syngeric audiences. Our first product, called Fortuitous Union, was a mistake. We were taking an older-age rum, we were moving it from Bourbon to Port Barrels, when we dumped it into a dump tank that had 90 gallons of rye whiskey. So it's kind of a mix-up or F-up, which is why we call it F-U. It is a cast-strength rum that is blended with 95% rye whiskey. And the original concept was a rum that would go into used bourbon, port, and then sherry barrels. We are doing that. That will be out later on this year. But we think it's a unique story. There's only 1,600 bottles made because we can't replicate it. And we are very lucky to be here. Is this your first world of whiskeys? Yes. Awesome. So how does it feel to be in the largest whisky tasting in the Western Hemisphere? I've spent about 5 years dreaming of something like this. Honestly. I've known of Binny's for a long time. You all support the most knowledgeable staff, some would say in the country. You all have a very astute whisky and barrel pit program. And I've watched you guys for years. So the fact that I can be here today means more than you two will ever know. Well thank you so much and congratulations on the success. Well we won't call it success yet but we sure as hell are happy to be here. Hey man, you're on your way. Great to have you. Thanks so much. Cool. So hey, isn't that awesome? Good for him. Really super sweet story. Keep your eye on that. It's a different unique product that I think is going to be very popular. I enjoyed that very much. Cool. Coming back local. Yeah, take it home here. Let's take it back home. We're going to finish up our interviews to more local people. First is Victoria Fitzsimmons and she comes to us from Quincy Street Distillery in Riverside. They are Chicago natives that started this distillery and she's here to show kind of the other side of the product range that we offer at World of Whiskeys and she talked a lot about, you know, the barrel-aged bourbon but also the barrel-aged gin and That was something. I loved it. I love barrel-aged gin. I mean, that's one of those things I found recently in my life and it is one of my favorite things and they do a great job with it. I mean, in Riverside, Illinois is, you know, just a stone's throw outside of Chicago. And to find something like this and she had such a passion for what she was doing. She was genuinely super excited to be talking about her little, their little brand, if you will, because they are a younger brand in the grand scheme of things. Right. And they do this great gin, but they're not just that. They do some other thing that they're really proud of. So I was excited to sit down with her for a few minutes. It's quite a prolific product range that they have, but for me, those gins kind of were a standout. So let's talk about some rye finished Barrel aged gin, baby. So I'm here with Victoria Fitzsimmons from Quincy Street Distillery. And you guys are here in Illinois, I mean you're born and raised here in Illinois. Absolutely. So I grew up in Desplains Mount Prospect area, lived in Lakeview for a while, now I live in Riverside, which Quincy Street Distillery is in Riverside, so it's a very convenient commute for me. Sure, sure. So some of the unique things here, I just tried your Barrel aged gin, which was awesome. And the two different varieties, tell me a little bit about those. So the Barrel aged gin, it's actually made from our whiskey distillate. So the base is 83% corn malt barley and rye. We age it in a, or we distill it in a pot stove, we do a double distillation. We age it in bourbon barrels, a small 10 gallon barrel for 9 to 13 months. The other one that we do is a duck style gin, it's called a geniver. What we do is we age it in a one year, one year in the barrel, a rye barrel. And that base is 100% malted barley and we have winter botanicals infused in that batch. And you guys are right here in the Chicago area. Where is the location again? So, it's in Riverside, so it's just south of Oak Park, east of the Brookfield Zoo, so it's in the western suburbs area. And what else do you guys, what else is your signature for you as a distillery? So we also have a couple different style bourbons, a couple different unaged corn whiskies, artisanal cinnamon whisky, artisanal vodka, and we also have single malt, single malt whisky, and we have, what do you call it, some brandy and honey spirit. Awesome. And what's the history behind the distillery? How did it get started? So the distillery got started because our owner originally wanted to open a distillery in southwestern Michigan. He could not find a property, but he has lived in Riverside for 25 years. As space opened up, it was like, I'm going to open a distillery here. So we served up with a four-month bourbon and a gin that was not aged. And over these six years, because Illinois is very new in craft distilling, we have certainly expanded. So now we have over 16 different products. We have distribution all over. We offer tours, full cocktail bar. So yeah, it's been awesome. Well, thanks so much for your time. Well, she's a wealth of knowledge and I'm happy to have her as a local producer here. You know what I mean? Yeah, someone that makes you happy to know and have met and really good gin. I love gin. Ginny gin gin. Ginny gin gin, exactly. Can we say that? We just did. Yeah. And we're taking it home. We're staying local. Our good buddy from Goose Island, Mike Siegel, came in. You guys maybe heard him with our Bourbon County Stout Podcast. He is the research and development manager over at Goose Island. And he was there doing a little mission recon bourbon barrel. He was like a kid in a candy shop talking, running through there. Every time you saw him, there was a big smile on his face and he was, I just tried this. Oh my God, I just tried that. Oh my God. Did you see that? I love that guy. And Pat Brophy came in and he sort of bombed the interview with Siegel, but that's what he does. That's what he does. He bombs. Kidding. Love Pat. So anyway, you guys here, here's Mike Siegel talking about what it's like to be an R&D guy, beer guy at a whiskey tasting. Jeff, look who we found. Oh my God. It's Mike Siegel from Goose Island. How are you doing? Great to be here, guys. Oh, man. How are you? We just can't get enough of you. Yeah, this is my first world whiskey, so. Really? Are you surviving so far? I think I'm doing all right. Thank God it ends at four. What standouts so far? I just had the Compass Box. I can't remember the name, but it's basically a blend of the Ardbegs, 14-year-old Ardbeg and some others. You know, you can't go wrong with... I'm trying to taste some new stuff, but also the Angel's Envy Barrelproof was very nice and kind of coming out from the shadows. Really just trying to get a nice... Pat's been kind of guiding me down the right path. Mr. Brophy here. He is the guide of all guides. Plus he's so white, he basically glows in the dark. Can we say that on the podcast? I think you just did. I'm not white, I'm clear. Translucent. I'm not quite novice, but I'm in that camp of very exploratory. I'm a bourbon lover, whiskey lover, but not one that has a huge amount of knowledge. Since we use a lot of barrels, I feel like this is proper R&D here. Absolutely. I'm actually giving a couple of cards out. Hopefully, we can work with some of these to stories in the future. Cool. Get some barrels with. Network it up, man. Yeah. That's what it's all about. Thanks for stopping and chatting again. Hopefully, we'll see you for another podcast down the line. Please. Invite me and I'll be there. Absolutely. Ciao. That is it, ladies and gentlemen. I hope that you've enjoyed your interviews here. We took a show, we took a tasting that's been around since 2004. We talked to as many people as we could and tried to give you a little bit of everything. The typical whiskey, American whiskey, the Kentuckians, all the way up in Minnesota, all the way over in Ireland, and then right here in the sweet home Chicago. Pretty cool, man. From not just whiskeys, we saw there was some some brandy knowledge laid on us. There was some rum knowledge, some gin tasting. I mean, it was a lot to take in. And literally, this is just a dipping your toe in the whiskey barrel of World of Whiskeys. Exactly. Way to bring it home. I'd rather dip my face, but whatever. Right. Dip my cup and take it in. Let's bop for apples and whiskey barrels, man. Why is no one doing that? That would be cool. Probably because it would be expensive. Let's see what Turner Wathen will say. He'll let us do it. I'm sure he would. He's a fan. The alcohol will take all the germs away. Just bop that barrel. There you go. Well, is that time in our podcast where we have to... It's time for our customer Q&A. It is that time. A World of Whiskeys edition of the customer Q&A. So folks, write in to us at Binny's Bev on Twitter. You can win a $20 gift card if we pick your question. What we did though for World of Whiskeys and Bourbon Women is we just fielded questions and have people write them down. So we've got Kathleen Hoppe. I hope I'm saying that right. I think I am. Kathleen Hoppe. She asks, what is your favorite non-peat single malt Scotch under 100 bucks? So we've got a couple. First, we like the Edgerdower. It is a signatory bottling. It's 11 years old, finished in Saturn cast. What's cool about Edgerdower is they are the smallest distillery in Scotland. They use the smallest stills rather. So the type of distillate that they make is kind of oily, has a lot of body, it's not like gross, oily like, you know, but it just adds a nice viscosity to it. And the sweet kind of ripe flavor of the Saturn finish, it just is a match made in heaven. So Edgerdower, Saturn finish, bottled by signatory. It's 11 year old, single malt scotch. And we also like the Glenn Farkless 12. It's kind of an overlooked kind of an unsung hero. If you like the McCallan, but you can't spend $225, come on in and get this cherry aged, chewy, round, unctuous Glenn Farkless 12 year. Single malt. It is delicious. Most of these names of the distilleries are actually quite fun to say. So as a wordsmith like you, I can see why you like that. So Kathleen, thanks for writing in. 20 bucks coming to you. I hope that you enjoy. Go get yourself some Edward Dower or some Glenn Farkless. And we have one more, but this was a kind of a give me. Well, there's another one, a guy called Tom. Oh man, hold on. Yeah, we have a Q&A 2.0 here, Jeff. It's Tom Parenhag. Sure. I hope. Sounds about right. His email, though, is Dr. Wolf, Dr. Wolf, which is pretty sweet. So I'm going to go with that. He said, just talk about Terroir. Well, Tom, we did a whole episode on Terroir, buddy. So we're going to need you to rewind. Let me check the feed. I got it. 19. It's episode 19, man. It's a successive episode to our pappy one. So between episode 18 and 19, you should be pretty well entertained in your car for about a half an hour. So episode 19, Tom, all about Terroir. We will just talk about Terroir right there for you, buddy. So it's not a type of dog. You got 20 bucks just for playing. So Tom and Kathleen, the winners of $20 gift cards. Absolutely. Very cool. Jeff, it's always a pleasure. Thanks for coming out to World of Whiskeys. It was a good time. Thank you for having me. You looked fantastic that night, too. The ladies can't see, obviously, because we can't go back in time. But if I were Marty McFly, I'd take us all back just so they could see. Back in time. Yes, like what I did there. I see what you did there. I kind of don't, but whatever. Anyway, hey, man, thanks for coming. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening to another edition of Barrel To Bottle. Keep tasting and we'll see you later.