To help share more of this story, we've invited Barry Brinegar on the show. Barry is a Co-Founder and National Brand Ambassador and gives us the scoop on how their business plan that was only going to focus on gift shop sales got completely disrupted by covid and they had to look at new ways of doing business. We talk about their mission as a company and how they are taking a modern approach to whiskey to find new customers and how a that football coach I talked about landed them a premier placement on ESPN's college football gameday coverage.

This non-age stated whiskey is 96 proof and $150 MSRP.

James B. Beam Distilling Co. announces several new visitor experiences, Widow Jane releases Baby Jane, and Angel's Envy releases a Cask Strength Bottled in Bond non finished bourbon.

There's one guy that does all this research and that's Andrew Wiehebrink from Independent Stave. This is his third time on the show and this time he brings different aging experiments for us to taste through. We taste the same whiskey from different levels of a warehouse and even the same american single malt aged in texas and scotland. We also dive into the state of the barrel shortage, our shared distain of amburana, the shift to char 1, and what new innovations are coming from the barrel and oak alternative market.

This 10 year old bourbon is 100 proof and $90 MSRP.

A new record for the highest price bourbon bottle ever sold at auction, Chicken Cock Whiskey has announced the grand opening of its brand home, Circa 1856, and Green River Launches Full Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

It wasn't until we started diving into it that we discovered Ari Sussman. He's a whiskey maker for many brands like Whiskey JYPSI, Three Chord, and Mammoth Distilling, but his history with spirits will fascinate you. He's truly a student of the art where he spent years overseas bartending, discovered vintage cocktail books, and was an integral part of the first ever university distilling program at Michigan State. We talk to Ari about his past and then dive into the Whiskey JYPSI brand and how Eric Church and himself are trying to change the face of celebrity booze.

This non-age stated rye whiskey is 100 proof and $55 MSRP.

Will consumers become tired of Kentucky bourbon? With the rise of non-Kentucky brands gaining recognition for their quality whiskey, Kentucky bourbon still holds a strong position in the market due to its long-established reputation and consumer perception of safety and acceptance.

So have we finally eclipsed the peak of bourbon? A few years ago, there was a flourishing secondary market, droves of new people getting into the hobby, more options on the shelf, and massive expansions from all the big player. We've talked about this being a side-effect of the COVID boom but we also saw american whiskey get into more gimmicks and inflated prices. But we all still need the category to grow, so what's it going to take to reinvigorate more people to get into bourbon?

This 5 year old whiskey is 116 proof and $100 MSRP.

The maker of Ozempic is investigating its effect on desire to drink alcohol. Woodford Reserve releases Toasted Bourbon, and the oldest Beam bourbon ever bottled will be an astounding 20 years old.

Bobby Finan is the Founder and Organizer of Whiskey Riot Festivals across the country and we get into his past of getting into the distilling business and how he took on personal debt to hold his position at his first company and launch Whiskey Riot simultaneously. Now Whiskey Riot is expanding to more cities so if you're looking for a new event to attend, put this one on your list.

This 7-9 year old whiskey is 125 proof and $65 MSRP.

Four Roses introduces two new bourbon mash bills, New Riff Distilling has announced the dual release of Ol’ New Riff, and Bardstown Bourbon Company’s award-winning Collaborative Series will debut The Amrut Collaborative Series.

Jim Gaffigan needs no introduction because we've all laughed at his jokes throughout the years. Family life is a facet of his standup, and food obviously, but Jim loves to say the things we're all thinking and it's what has made him so successful in his comedic career. Jim Gaffigan joins the show to talk about how he made the switch from beer to bourbon and what drew him in to becoming a bourbon connoisseur or as he likes to call it, a professional alcoholic. From there we dive into his new brand of Fathertime Bourbon and what it meant to incorporate generations of his family and his comedic focus into the story and design.

This 6 year old bourbon is 103 proof and $100 MSRP.

Wild Turkey is back open for visitors, Maker's Mark and TravisMathew collab on new golf gear. Prairie, American Solera, and Pursuit drop Not Subtle.

Turner Wathen has a deep family lineage rooted in bourbon, and that originally piqued my interest because I used to own a bottle of Wathen's bourbon. Turner dives deep into his family history and how when he wanted to get into the whiskey business, he couldn't even use his family name. Turner shares his wild decision in 2014 by analyzing the whiskey market and feeling there is too much saturation so he dove into rum. But not just any rum, but he set himself on a mission to become the upmost recognizable independent bottler of amazing, high age stated rum, that is now Rolling Fork Spirits

This 4 year old whiskey is 96 proof and $45 MSRP.

Beam Suntory is now Suntory Global Spirits, Blue Note Bourbon has announced a multi-year partnership as the official bourbon of Major League Pickleball, and Whiskeyland Season 1 premiers on May 14th.

It's Bourbon Community Roundtable #93 and this time we're talking about vintage labels. We've seen a resurgence of them over the past few years and there are more coming out from big distillers and smaller lesser known brands. I wanted to ask if there is any value in doing this before focusing on something more modern. There is a feeling of nostalgia but it also made me think about movie reboots and if all the good ideas are taken.

This 3 year old whiskey is 100 proof and $55 MSRP (375mL).

Master Distiller Alex Castle will be leaving Old Dominick, the bourbon spirits market size to rise up to US$12 billion by 2030, The WoodWork Collective and David Jennings announce Raconteur Rye.

There's probably a lot of brands out there that think of themselves as a whiskey company but in reality they are a marketing company. Here's the thing, there's no wrong answer. Marketing plays a crucial role in whiskey and it could be the marketing that's in your face through point of sale, it could be bottle shapes, or even the lack of marketing to keep the mystique alive. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and it probably requires us to hit this topic again in the future if you send us your feedback.