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LGP 31 - Somm BDX
4 Plays9 months ago
This week, we try out the BDX from Somm Cigars!
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everybody!
00:00:03
Speaker
Get the cameras on Dennis.
00:00:04
Speaker
There we go.
Introduction and Main Topic
00:00:05
Speaker
Hey everybody!
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome back to Let's Get Pairing.
00:00:09
Speaker
It's been a couple weeks, but this is episode 31.
00:00:12
Speaker
We are going to be smoking the Somme BDX Bordeaux, whatever it's called.
00:00:19
Speaker
Officially it's called BDX.
00:00:22
Speaker
And pairing it with some stuff.
00:00:23
Speaker
So grab yourself a cigar, grab yourself a drink, and let's get pairing.
00:00:42
Speaker
And we're back.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome, everybody.
00:00:44
Speaker
It's been a couple weeks without you, but we're glad to be back.
00:00:48
Speaker
I'm feeling mostly better.
00:00:50
Speaker
We'll have some residual effects, but you know how colds are these days.
Show Dynamics and Hosting Challenges
00:00:56
Speaker
Anyway, I'm your host, Tripp.
00:00:58
Speaker
Welcome to Let's Get Pairing, episode 31.
00:01:01
Speaker
I'm here in the Casa de Monte Cristo studios, of course, sponsored, as always, by Casa de Monte Cristo.
00:01:07
Speaker
Here with my co-host, Dennis, from the Dungeon of Doom and Darkness,
00:01:11
Speaker
Man, I love coming up with a new name for it every week.
00:01:13
Speaker
Dennis, how you doing?
00:01:17
Speaker
The Tavern of Doom, if you will.
00:01:20
Speaker
Man, I'm happy to be back.
00:01:22
Speaker
I say this a lot, but it's a lot of times we end up having other we're traveling or so nice to be back.
00:01:27
Speaker
This is like as much as we like making a show, I think it's more of an excuse for us to hang out and have some drinks and talk.
00:01:37
Speaker
And being able to entertain other people is just kind of a bonus.
00:01:41
Speaker
So we like I know we both miss it when we have a couple of weeks where we can't hang out.
00:01:47
Speaker
fart around and have a cigar yeah exactly and we're both the type that unless we have it scheduled the way that we do for a show we'll both be like I'm busy we'll do it next week and just end up never seeing each other again just the way life is unless it end up being randomly Nicaragua like oh why are you no no the question is why are you and that's happened a couple of us too yeah absolutely
00:02:13
Speaker
All right.
00:02:14
Speaker
I just lit my cigar.
00:02:16
Speaker
I think you like while we were talking there.
00:02:18
Speaker
Everybody, this is the SOM BDX.
Somme BDX Cigar Introduction
00:02:22
Speaker
SOM was started by... I was... I meant to... We had some technical issues, which is why we were a couple minutes late starting the show.
00:02:31
Speaker
I meant to send you Vlad's name so that you could teach me how to pronounce it.
00:02:35
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:37
Speaker
Oh, it's Vlad... Stojanov?
00:02:41
Speaker
Stojanov?
00:02:42
Speaker
I'll tell you.
00:02:43
Speaker
We'll get the pronunciation expert in here in a second.
00:02:47
Speaker
But Vlad, he was mostly known for the last few years for being a distributor.
00:02:52
Speaker
He distributed for a number of...
00:02:54
Speaker
brands on kind of the smaller side not tiny brands but uh brands like casa 1910 and castigli castagli sorry and he had been distributing for them for a few years and in 2023 he decided to start his own cigar company for the first time um and due to his background being a somali uh decided to call it some cigars um and it's kind of a of course obviously a reference to his background as a
00:03:21
Speaker
a wine sommelier and kind of a reference to how he brings his wine palette to cigars and, and, you know, that helps his, uh, his cigar making be better.
00:03:33
Speaker
Uh, this is the BDX, which is the second blend.
00:03:37
Speaker
I think I can't remember which one came out first, but this is the, the BDX.
00:03:42
Speaker
which is kind of the more full-bodied of his three Fournette blends.
00:03:49
Speaker
The other one is the Rioja, and then there's a BDX Blanc, which is this one with a Connecticut wrapper.
00:03:55
Speaker
BDX is shorthand, of course, as you could probably imagine for Bordeaux, which is a winemaking region in southwest France.
00:04:04
Speaker
And I didn't know this, but the styles of wine that are popular there, like 85% is Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cigar Composition Details
00:04:13
Speaker
All right, so on to this cigar.
00:04:14
Speaker
We are smoking the Corona Gordo, which is kind of the 2024 release size for this BDX.
00:04:23
Speaker
The wrapper is Mexican San Andreas.
00:04:26
Speaker
Binder is Nicaraguan Vizohalapa.
00:04:30
Speaker
And the filler, I think, is really interesting.
00:04:33
Speaker
It is Mexican San Andreas, so the wrapper.
00:04:37
Speaker
Nicaraguan Viso Jalapa, so the binder, and Honduran Broadleaf.
00:04:44
Speaker
So kind of a different blend from this cigar.
00:04:48
Speaker
The size of a smog is a 5 5 8ths by 46.
00:04:52
Speaker
MSRP is around $12.
00:04:55
Speaker
And one of the other interesting things about this is that it is actually made in Honduras at the factory that makes Cavalier cigars.
00:05:04
Speaker
Uh, there's a different name for the factory.
00:05:06
Speaker
That's not the Cavalier factory, but I couldn't pronounce it.
00:05:09
Speaker
So I decided to just call it the Cavalier factory.
00:05:12
Speaker
That's a fair bet.
00:05:12
Speaker
I'm scaring to assume you have a name that's hard.
00:05:15
Speaker
And I'm usually pretty good at the pronunciation thing, but, uh, I wasn't feeling confident on this one.
00:05:19
Speaker
Um, I was going to ask for your thoughts on the cigar, but I see you're just lighting it.
00:05:23
Speaker
So I'll kind of go through my thoughts.
00:05:25
Speaker
Um, welcome, Sam.
Pairing Cigars with Wine
00:05:27
Speaker
Sam's drinking a monster paradise and smoking a great cliff.
00:05:29
Speaker
G2.
00:05:30
Speaker
Love those great cliffs, man.
00:05:32
Speaker
Um,
00:05:34
Speaker
All right, so this cigar, for me, it's starting off with kind of a...
00:05:39
Speaker
cocoa, chocolate, earth, like kind of those typical Mexican San Andreas flavors with a little more sweetness than I think I usually get.
00:05:50
Speaker
Like a little less of that dry, dusty chocolate and a little bit more of like a milk chocolate, dark chocolate kind of sweet.
00:05:57
Speaker
I'm curious how the spice is going to come up in this because I think that Nicaraguan Fiso could add at least a little bit of kind of a spicy body.
00:06:06
Speaker
So we'll see how that goes.
00:06:08
Speaker
Um,
00:06:09
Speaker
Dennis, have you smoked enough to have any thoughts yet?
00:06:12
Speaker
You mentioned that milk chocolate, like Hershey's chocolate, it has that twang to it.
00:06:16
Speaker
It had these vats that part of the milk, which sort of, not exactly that, but in vain.
00:06:21
Speaker
No, I see what you mean.
00:06:22
Speaker
It does remind me a little bit of something like that.
00:06:24
Speaker
Like, there is a little bit of acidity to this.
00:06:29
Speaker
I'm trying to think of what the acidity reminds me of.
00:06:31
Speaker
Like, something a little fruity, but not really, like, sweet fruity.
00:06:36
Speaker
Maybe just, like, you know, when you put a little squeeze of lime on something, not enough to really taste it, but you just get that little hit of acidity.
00:06:43
Speaker
Maybe something like that.
00:06:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:46
Speaker
And for pairing tonight, I think it's kind of a... This was a very obvious opportunity for me to get back to wine pairing.
00:06:53
Speaker
So I'm going to try it with a wine.
00:06:55
Speaker
Hopefully a decent wine.
00:06:57
Speaker
I don't know.
00:06:59
Speaker
As I always talk about, I don't really know a lot about wine.
00:07:01
Speaker
I just kind of gravitate to...
00:07:05
Speaker
Well, not gravitate.
00:07:06
Speaker
I drink wines I already know I like.
00:07:08
Speaker
So if I taste a wine at my father-in-law's house or something like that, then I might buy it.
00:07:16
Speaker
I do not have the confidence to just walk into a store and buy some wine.
00:07:21
Speaker
I have no idea what makes wine good or bad.
00:07:25
Speaker
I just know whether I like it or not.
00:07:28
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:07:29
Speaker
Wine is remarkably, like many spirits, it's remarkably subjective.
00:07:32
Speaker
Some people, even though it's still the same animal, specifically because they prefer the flavor that comes from that particular cut, and the important because everyone smokes differently, right?
00:07:43
Speaker
This is the thing that I try to connect, like eating the way you like your steak, that someone else may enjoy.
00:07:49
Speaker
You and I tonight are smoking the same cigar.
00:07:51
Speaker
No doubt we have difference.
00:07:53
Speaker
Yeah, of course.
00:07:55
Speaker
So that's the really
Subjectivity in Tasting
00:07:56
Speaker
fun part of it is that the preparation and the enjoyment of wine is very much like that.
00:08:00
Speaker
Cigars.
00:08:01
Speaker
Dude, I smoke cigars way too fast.
00:08:02
Speaker
So for me, I'm smoking firecrackers 90% of the time where people spend a normal amount of time, arguably.
00:08:11
Speaker
I can hit that cigar in 45 minutes.
00:08:12
Speaker
It's going to be a different experience.
00:08:14
Speaker
You can.
00:08:15
Speaker
I've seen it.
00:08:16
Speaker
I've seen it.
00:08:17
Speaker
Hey, I'm a three-time, by the way.
00:08:19
Speaker
Let me throw it out there.
00:08:20
Speaker
Drew Estate, three-time winner, longest-ass Nicarus.
00:08:24
Speaker
I held the title for a while.
00:08:26
Speaker
It's true.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yet again, I seen it.
00:08:29
Speaker
All three of our Drew.
00:08:33
Speaker
All right.
00:08:34
Speaker
So on to...
00:08:37
Speaker
Thoughts on the cigar, I guess.
00:08:39
Speaker
I'm just kind of circling back here because I feel like I went in real quick for it.
00:08:44
Speaker
Definitely a little bit of that black pepper, red pepper kind of spice that I usually get from San Andreas.
00:08:51
Speaker
Right now, this is kind of a typical-ish San Andreas cigar for me.
00:08:56
Speaker
There's a little more nuance to it, I think.
00:08:59
Speaker
But I'm still kind of working my way to figuring it out.
00:09:04
Speaker
Personally, for me, I'm not quite there at the San Andreas.
00:09:08
Speaker
And I think that's just because off the light in the first third, it takes time to warm up together.
00:09:12
Speaker
I do think you're right.
00:09:13
Speaker
There is kind of that typical Jalapa sweetness, now that I'm thinking better about it.
00:09:21
Speaker
I forgot what I was going to say.
00:09:23
Speaker
So anyway, I'm going to move on to my first pairing of the night.
00:09:26
Speaker
You can tell I haven't done this in a couple weeks, and I'm just feeling a little off, but that's all right.
00:09:31
Speaker
My first pairing, as I mentioned, is a wine.
Chateau St. Michelle Winery History
00:09:33
Speaker
This is from Chateau Saint-Michel.
00:09:36
Speaker
I have no idea correctly.
00:09:37
Speaker
Oh, Jean-Michel makes wine.
00:09:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:40
Speaker
Chateau Saint-Michel.
00:09:41
Speaker
Jean-Michel.
00:09:43
Speaker
All right, so Chateau Saint-Michel.
00:09:45
Speaker
So this is the kind of wine, like, you can get this wine anywhere in the world, man.
00:09:49
Speaker
Like...
00:09:50
Speaker
You're going into an Applebee's.
00:09:52
Speaker
You're finding this wine.
00:09:53
Speaker
You're going into a wine bar.
00:09:54
Speaker
You're finding this wine.
00:09:55
Speaker
You're seeing this wine all over the place.
00:09:57
Speaker
Sato Chateau St.
00:09:59
Speaker
Michelle, man, I fall over that word every time is, uh, one of the bigger, you know, more widely distributed wineries out there.
00:10:10
Speaker
Um,
00:10:11
Speaker
And they are actually the oldest winery in the state of Washington.
00:10:14
Speaker
So they started as in a merger of two companies in 1954, and they were called the American Wine Company.
00:10:23
Speaker
Then in 1967, they released a line of wines called St.
00:10:28
Speaker
Michelle Vineyards.
00:10:30
Speaker
And then nine years later, in 1976, they purchased a 118-acre farm about 20 miles west of Seattle.
00:10:34
Speaker
And they
00:10:41
Speaker
Started construction on a French-style chateau on the property.
00:10:47
Speaker
Kind of focused on French-style wines and changed the name of the company to Chateau St.
00:10:53
Speaker
Michel.
00:10:53
Speaker
These days, they're one of the biggest wine companies out there, like I said.
00:10:57
Speaker
They've had many different owners.
00:11:01
Speaker
I was trying to remember because I forgot to put on my notes who owns them currently, but I think it's like some conglomerate that you wouldn't even know the name of.
00:11:09
Speaker
But I did think it was interesting that until 2021, they were owned by Altria.
00:11:15
Speaker
So they had a connection to the cigar business.
00:11:20
Speaker
And in line with this wine being able to be found pretty much all over the place, this is the kind of wine that if your supermarket carries wine, you could get a bottle of this for somewhere around $15.
00:11:32
Speaker
I didn't want to go super fancy because I don't know much about Cabernet Savignon.
00:11:38
Speaker
Um, so I just kind of went with this and hopefully it turns out well.
00:11:44
Speaker
I had it in my wine cabinet and figured, yeah, what the hell?
00:11:47
Speaker
Um, Cabernet Sauvignon is a style.
00:11:50
Speaker
I chose it because it's a style that's inspired by Bordeaux style wine, uh, which is a protected region.
00:11:57
Speaker
So it has to be, you know, if it's, if it says Bordeaux on it, it has to be made in Bordeaux.
00:12:01
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:12:03
Speaker
Um,
00:12:04
Speaker
but this is a Bordeaux-inspired wine, I guess.
00:12:08
Speaker
And I just kind of wanted to see how it stacks up against this cigar, since I don't know a whole lot about Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:12:13
Speaker
Like I said with wine, I'm one of those people... You know the guy who, anytime he orders a beer, he's like, what IPA do you have on tap?
00:12:24
Speaker
It doesn't matter where you are.
00:12:25
Speaker
He just always orders an IPA.
00:12:27
Speaker
He doesn't know anything about any other style of beer.
00:12:30
Speaker
You know that guy?
00:12:31
Speaker
I used to be that guy.
00:12:32
Speaker
You son of a bitch.
00:12:35
Speaker
And the only guys, the only guys now, it sounds weird to say, but the only guys are like the single dads that are like, I just bought a Harley shirt.
00:12:45
Speaker
Single dads to go like, I'm going to get an IPA.
00:12:47
Speaker
What do you got for them IPAs?
00:12:50
Speaker
And you can give them wine IPAs.
00:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:12:52
Speaker
That's how I am with wine.
00:12:54
Speaker
Different demographic today.
00:12:56
Speaker
I know I like Petit Syrah, and other than that, I may hate it, I may love it.
00:13:03
Speaker
There's a brightness to it, and there's the tannic quality of Petit Syrah.
00:13:06
Speaker
See, you already know more about wine than I do.
00:13:09
Speaker
Yes and no.
00:13:10
Speaker
But I was going to ask you, actually.
00:13:11
Speaker
So you're talking about Cabernet 7.
00:13:12
Speaker
Now, if you were not pairing, and you were not smoking, and you were in a restaurant, what wine would you order?
00:13:19
Speaker
What grape, if you will?
00:13:21
Speaker
Petit Syrah or Cab Sav.
00:13:23
Speaker
Yeah.
Exploring White Wines
00:13:24
Speaker
Oh, really?
00:13:24
Speaker
Those are the two?
00:13:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:27
Speaker
I also know that I sometimes like a Tempranillo.
00:13:32
Speaker
See, I was going to lean on a Tempranillo.
00:13:34
Speaker
I think that's mostly what I stick with.
00:13:37
Speaker
Pinot Noir once in a while, having lived in Pinot Noir country for 20 years.
00:13:42
Speaker
But yeah, usually like Zinfandel sometimes.
00:13:45
Speaker
But really, Petite Saraz is what I go after.
00:13:49
Speaker
I don't drink any white wine.
00:13:52
Speaker
I've never tasted a white wine where I was like... Wonderful white wines.
00:13:56
Speaker
Actually, no.
00:13:57
Speaker
That Kung Fu Girl one.
00:13:59
Speaker
Kung Fu Girl is the one white wine I've ever tasted where I was like, yeah, I'll take another sip of that.
00:14:05
Speaker
It's from Oregon, if I'm not mistaken.
00:14:09
Speaker
Washington.
00:14:10
Speaker
I think it's Yakima Valley, not Willamette.
00:14:12
Speaker
It is, you're right.
00:14:13
Speaker
I remember because that was one of the first US-based recently I got into that I loved because it was not a classic German style.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah, I was really impressed by that one.
00:14:22
Speaker
But usually, like, if I go to a winery or whatever, I'm like, you know, I'll just have the Syrah or the Petit Syrah.
00:14:32
Speaker
Because I've never, like, I've done wine tastings where, like, they do the flight.
00:14:36
Speaker
And I'm like, I hate this white wine, this white wine, this white wine.
00:14:40
Speaker
Oh, you know what?
00:14:41
Speaker
I thought of another one.
00:14:42
Speaker
Rosé.
00:14:43
Speaker
I like rosé.
00:14:45
Speaker
You know, it's funny that wine number one tastes.
00:14:48
Speaker
This wine, you know what?
00:14:50
Speaker
It tastes like wine.
00:14:51
Speaker
And I've been with cigar people that go, it's like tobacco.
00:14:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:56
Speaker
I don't get like chocolate or foie gras or, you know, beluga caviar.
00:15:03
Speaker
Beluga, not the beluga way.
00:15:05
Speaker
Yes.
00:15:05
Speaker
Right.
00:15:06
Speaker
They name our palates are tuned to lives.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:09
Speaker
The things that we've been exposed to.
00:15:10
Speaker
So our perspective is kind of geared in that way.
00:15:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:15
Speaker
So really, a lot of new smokers, I find a lot of new smokers go, I have to find this flavor.
00:15:20
Speaker
I have to find this.
00:15:22
Speaker
But really, it's more about finding what it reminds memory.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, to me, it's more about finding the mindset that you can go, this tiny, tiny amount of flavor reminds me of that thing.
00:15:35
Speaker
Reminds me of the time I had that steak and it had those like weird mushrooms on it.
00:15:39
Speaker
Or, you know, whatever.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not a mushroom guy.
00:15:44
Speaker
I noticed.
00:15:44
Speaker
That's okay.
00:15:46
Speaker
Anyway, I'm going to keep sipping on this and try to come up with some thoughts while you talk about your first.
00:15:52
Speaker
I like the retro health.
00:15:53
Speaker
Me too.
00:15:54
Speaker
I really, really dig it.
00:15:56
Speaker
It's a very... Absolutely.
00:15:58
Speaker
Something about it.
00:16:00
Speaker
The skin of a hazelnut.
00:16:01
Speaker
That's what it is.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, like that dryness.
00:16:04
Speaker
It's the... The paperiness?
00:16:06
Speaker
The stroke.
00:16:08
Speaker
So my first pairing of the... It is Homebrew, unapologetically odd dog brewing company based in Vineland, New Jersey.
00:16:15
Speaker
Well, we got four taps available with a fifth experimental tap, which is only a gallon.
00:16:21
Speaker
But everything else is five, six gallon, full size kegs.
00:16:25
Speaker
Come on down.
00:16:26
Speaker
We just kicked two kegs this week.
00:16:28
Speaker
Isn't that a corny keg?
00:16:29
Speaker
Isn't a full size keg like 20 gallon?
00:16:32
Speaker
Sorry, yes, these are, my bad.
00:16:33
Speaker
These are, yes, these are corny.
00:16:35
Speaker
I mean, I'm just nitpicking here.
00:16:36
Speaker
These are, they're, what's a corny?
00:16:40
Speaker
Five gallon?
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, corny's a 5.2 gallon.
00:16:43
Speaker
Is that the same?
00:16:44
Speaker
It's probably the same as a Sixtal, I think, when you go to the- Yeah, I believe so.
00:16:47
Speaker
Okay, all right.
00:16:48
Speaker
Sixtals, whatever.
00:16:49
Speaker
Nonetheless, a lot of beer.
00:16:52
Speaker
So this is an homage.
00:16:53
Speaker
I didn't have a proper glass.
00:16:55
Speaker
This is an homage to a really cool beer that I've loved growing up.
00:16:59
Speaker
It's an IPA, classic IPA from Bell's.
00:17:02
Speaker
Specifically, this is a clone.
00:17:05
Speaker
Classic IPA style.
00:17:07
Speaker
Like, very classic IPA.
00:17:09
Speaker
Classic, like, late, I would say late 2000s, the majority of your average person.
00:17:15
Speaker
Yeah, and it's, to me, Bell's is like the quintessential non-West Coast IPA from the time of West Coast IPAs.
00:17:24
Speaker
Like when every IPA was either a West Coast IPA or garbage, they made a fantastic IPA that was not at all West Coast.
00:17:32
Speaker
They did.
00:17:33
Speaker
And the one that I'm drinking, including the water profile, the silverware.
00:17:37
Speaker
Flint, Michigan water?
00:17:39
Speaker
Well, Kalamazoo.
00:17:40
Speaker
Kalamazoo is different, to be fair.
00:17:42
Speaker
But now that you bring it up, I should say they were found in 1985, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
00:17:48
Speaker
1985, you can still... Of all the breweries, you talk about a brewery just shut down.
00:17:55
Speaker
Who else?
00:17:57
Speaker
Oh, I mean, Modern Times just shut down.
00:17:59
Speaker
The ones with the fish.
00:18:01
Speaker
Dallas Point is pretty much gone.
00:18:05
Speaker
Green Flash went away forever ago.
00:18:07
Speaker
Unfortunately, right?
00:18:08
Speaker
So you're shutting down big ones, little ones.
00:18:11
Speaker
It speaks volumes about that, but whatever it is they're doing, it's not amazing, mind-blowing listening.
Evolution of Beer Markets
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's consistent and it's good.
00:18:20
Speaker
It's reliable.
00:18:21
Speaker
It's old, reliable Jake.
00:18:23
Speaker
Not just bourbons, but whiskeys in general.
00:18:25
Speaker
There's so many options.
00:18:27
Speaker
The average consumer, they have price point options.
00:18:30
Speaker
They have style options.
00:18:31
Speaker
It's not a market that we saw with beer in the early days.
00:18:35
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:36
Speaker
You had Miller High Life, and then you had three or four what they call micro brews.
00:18:42
Speaker
And those are the only IP it looks like.
00:18:45
Speaker
I mean, it looks a lot like Bell's, I'll say.
00:18:49
Speaker
It smells and tastes like bells, but the reason why I brought up the ABV is my goal was not to hit.
00:18:53
Speaker
And the fermentation took off completely and just demolished everything that, dare I say it was a little, which is the reason why I'm thinking of doing it.
00:19:04
Speaker
I want to say it's viscosity.
00:19:05
Speaker
What's the worst?
00:19:06
Speaker
Coat your tongue.
00:19:08
Speaker
It creates a barrier.
00:19:09
Speaker
I usually call that astringency.
00:19:13
Speaker
It could, well, in some regards.
00:19:15
Speaker
Oiliness.
00:19:16
Speaker
Oiliness, that's what it is.
00:19:18
Speaker
Like resiny.
00:19:19
Speaker
Kind of protects your palate.
00:19:21
Speaker
I'm very curious to find out how well it works with the cigar.
00:19:26
Speaker
So for my Chateau Saint-Michel.
00:19:31
Speaker
Look at that glass, man.
00:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, this is my father-in-law was throwing these out.
00:19:35
Speaker
And I, man, this glass looks filthy on camera.
00:19:39
Speaker
I promise it just came out of the dishwasher.
00:19:41
Speaker
But it's a pretty cool glass.
00:19:42
Speaker
He got it at some winery.
00:19:43
Speaker
They're like handmade or something.
00:19:47
Speaker
I don't remember.
00:19:47
Speaker
But he was going to throw them away because he didn't want them anymore.
00:19:50
Speaker
And I was like, I'll take them.
00:19:51
Speaker
I don't have any nice wine glasses.
00:19:54
Speaker
I have plastic wine glasses that I bought so I wouldn't knock them over and smash them.
00:19:59
Speaker
So now I have ones I can smash.
00:20:01
Speaker
Great.
00:20:03
Speaker
Anyway, for this wine, I forgot to mention that Cabernet Sauvignon, kind of the signatures of the style or of this grape are a more intense panic body and lower, much lower sweetness because they do a full fermentation on the grape.
00:20:21
Speaker
So they fully ferment pretty much all the sugars in there, which results in a wine like this.
00:20:28
Speaker
It's very...
00:20:30
Speaker
not juicy, but it reminds me of like stewed, like, you know, if you, if you stewed some plums and made like a really thick plum sauce that was super purple, purple and sweet and delicious.
00:20:44
Speaker
It reminds me of that kind of thing.
00:20:46
Speaker
Um, it's definitely got a little bit of kind of a spicy-ish quality to it.
00:20:53
Speaker
I think that's more of the acidity than anything else.
00:20:55
Speaker
Um, and then it has like a little bit of, uh,
00:20:59
Speaker
bitter chocolate, which is working really well with this cigar.
00:21:04
Speaker
I gotta say, Vlad might know what he's doing.
00:21:07
Speaker
He might be on to something with these wines that he has blended, or these cigars he's blended specifically for wine pairing, kind of.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's working pretty well.
00:21:18
Speaker
I'm curious to go back to it after my other pairings.
00:21:20
Speaker
But how's your two-hearted clone going along with this?
00:21:24
Speaker
I will say this.
00:21:25
Speaker
I made the beer, so I have to preface by saying that while I enjoyed the beer...
00:21:31
Speaker
There's a slight bias, just a slight bias, but I don't know.
00:21:35
Speaker
I think it wasn't as hot.
00:21:38
Speaker
It's because it's pushing that sort of once it warms up and it's been warm, the same reason why I don't think it's sweeter.
00:21:44
Speaker
Unless now a little a, a could work, a white little a, being much sweeter.
00:21:50
Speaker
It's a blend of different stuff for everybody.
00:21:53
Speaker
And the price point certainly is not.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah, I usually use Lillet as an ingredient in cocktails rather than a wine.
00:22:01
Speaker
Oh, you've got to sip on an ice.
00:22:03
Speaker
I've never tried siven on it.
00:22:05
Speaker
I'm curious now.
00:22:07
Speaker
Yeah, my cigar is going out, of course.
00:22:08
Speaker
Smoking it too fast.
00:22:09
Speaker
Well, I'll let you relight.
00:22:13
Speaker
Speaking of Belgian.
00:22:15
Speaker
I have what used to be a very Belgian-fired beer once upon a time ago.
00:22:21
Speaker
From New Belgium Brewery, I picked this up because Dennis told me you had it, I don't know, our last episode, and said I had to try it.
00:22:29
Speaker
So I figured, what the hell, I'll try one of these gigantic cans, 19.2 fluid ounces.
00:22:35
Speaker
That's a big old can.
00:22:36
Speaker
My mama said that alligators are ordinary.
00:22:39
Speaker
So this is New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force.
00:22:44
Speaker
Man, I learned a lot about this beer.
00:22:47
Speaker
Not a whole lot, but some interesting stuff.
Voodoo Ranger and Craft Beer Success
00:22:50
Speaker
So New Belgium was founded by two friends who were on a, I don't know if it was cross-country really or just a real long bike ride, but they stopped in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1988 and decided, man, this would be a perfect place for a brewery.
00:23:08
Speaker
So these two bicycle friends started a brewery there.
00:23:11
Speaker
It wasn't until about 1991 when they got their brewing equipment installed and released their first beer.
00:23:18
Speaker
They started with two beers.
00:23:21
Speaker
One of them is the Abbey, and the other one was Fat Tire Amber Ale.
00:23:28
Speaker
They tried them out at a Colorado beer festival and then sold them later that month for the first time.
00:23:36
Speaker
For about 30 years, Fat Tire was their flagship beer.
00:23:40
Speaker
This was an amber ale, had a nice hoppiness to it.
00:23:44
Speaker
It was one of the first craft beers that I really fell in love with back in 2007 or so.
00:23:51
Speaker
And things have changed quite a bit since then.
00:23:58
Speaker
So in 2017, they released Voodoo Ranger, which was a hazy IPA.
00:24:03
Speaker
It might have just been an IPA.
00:24:05
Speaker
I think it was a hazy.
00:24:07
Speaker
But either way, Voodoo Ranger...
00:24:10
Speaker
sold like gangbusters um by 2020 it was outpacing the demand for fat tire and it was kind of just kind of becoming their flagship beard by default uh in 2022 was when voodoo ranger launched juice force ipa
00:24:36
Speaker
I had no idea.
00:24:37
Speaker
Did you know this is officially the largest craft beer release ever?
00:24:44
Speaker
No, actually, I didn't.
00:24:46
Speaker
So they sold more of this beer in the first X amount of weeks than any other craft beer in history.
00:24:56
Speaker
Oh, shit.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah, reportedly, within days of launching the beer, they had sold their entire first delivery.
00:25:05
Speaker
And I believe the numbers I read, I should have put them in my notes, I believe the numbers I read was that they originally produced 50,000 barrels
00:25:15
Speaker
and that sold out pretty much immediately and then they ordered another 70,000 barrels they thought the 50,000 was going to last them the whole year like it went it went crazy and that's why now you can find this beer literally anywhere pretty much every gas station has this beer now which is kind of why I had written it off because I was like man these guys used to be the kings of craft beer
00:25:40
Speaker
And now you can buy a giant can of this at a Nickelback concert.
00:25:46
Speaker
Dare I bite my tongue and say.
00:25:48
Speaker
That's true.
00:25:49
Speaker
That's very true.
00:25:51
Speaker
Um, I don't know something about the distribution of beer.
00:25:55
Speaker
Uh, when you're that widely distributed, it's hard for me to take it completely seriously.
00:26:01
Speaker
Um, this is now, uh, Voodoo Ranger is the best selling IPA in the country now.
00:26:06
Speaker
Um, that's crazy, man, the market.
00:26:08
Speaker
I know it's crazy.
00:26:10
Speaker
Um,
00:26:12
Speaker
Kind of for obvious reasons, in 2023, they reimagined Fat Tire.
00:26:18
Speaker
So the last, I think it was last January, they relaunched Fat Tire.
00:26:22
Speaker
Instead of an Amber Ale, they call it a lighter crisper ale.
00:26:26
Speaker
I think it's just kind of their light beer, lightish beer, as far as what New Belgium offers.
00:26:33
Speaker
I'm a little surprised they've never changed the name because like...
00:26:37
Speaker
For the first 20 years, they were very, very Belgian-inspired.
00:26:41
Speaker
Lots of sours, lots of Belgian triples and doubles.
00:26:45
Speaker
That's long gone.
00:26:47
Speaker
Now, they have a couple of offerings that I think are available in some markets that are in Belgian style.
00:26:54
Speaker
Almost everything they make is these IPAs now.
00:26:58
Speaker
And they have...
00:27:00
Speaker
purchased a couple of other breweries where they're now making, like they purchased multiple breweries to purely make Voodoo Rain.
00:27:10
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:27:12
Speaker
They also announced, this was fairly recent, in June they announced that, so they are owned by Kirin, the company, which also actually owns Bells, which is yours as a clone of.
00:27:27
Speaker
Yes, they do.
00:27:27
Speaker
Very exciting.
00:27:29
Speaker
I actually did read, though, that New Belgium kind of bought Bells before they were acquired by Kirin.
00:27:35
Speaker
There were some talks about it, I think, out of their lore.
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah, it seemed like they kind of tried to buy it, and they got acquired so quickly that it would make a difference whether they bought it or not.
00:27:45
Speaker
But the original New Belgium brewery is going to be taking over all Kirin production for the U.S. Oh, shit.
00:27:52
Speaker
In 2025.
00:27:52
Speaker
Isn't that interesting?
00:27:54
Speaker
That's a bold move because it's massively distributory.
00:27:58
Speaker
It is.
00:28:00
Speaker
But the thing that most people don't know is Kieran is made in the U.S. Like if you buy a can of Kieran, it's not coming from Japan.
00:28:09
Speaker
It's just coming from a big old brewery in the U.N.
00:28:11
Speaker
I'm curious if it changes at all.
00:28:14
Speaker
coming from New Belgium.
00:28:16
Speaker
Probably won't, but I could see it actually getting a little better.
00:28:19
Speaker
I mean, as much as it bugs me that they're as huge as they are now, they're still very serious about beer.
00:28:28
Speaker
And they still make good beer.
00:28:31
Speaker
They've just gotten a little big for the bridge.
00:28:33
Speaker
Potentially.
00:28:35
Speaker
Anyway, this is Juice Force.
00:28:38
Speaker
It's their Hazy Imperial, 9.5% in this big ol' hangover in a can-sized can.
00:28:45
Speaker
So I'm going to take a couple sips.
00:28:47
Speaker
I've already been sipping on it a little bit to me.
00:28:48
Speaker
Take a couple sips and see how it pairs.
00:28:51
Speaker
I do want to note, though, there's only 30 IBUs.
00:28:55
Speaker
For a Hazy Imperial, that's like very low.
00:28:59
Speaker
But I think that's also part of why it has such mass appeal.
00:29:03
Speaker
Anyway, what's your second pairing of the night?
00:29:05
Speaker
Oh, boy, I'm almost done with my second pairing of the night.
00:29:08
Speaker
While you were talking, I was getting sauced on my second pairing.
00:29:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:29:13
Speaker
Because it's so... We'll talk.
00:29:15
Speaker
We'll go from there.
00:29:18
Speaker
Boss Cal.
00:29:20
Speaker
Boss Cal with Demi.
00:29:21
Speaker
These guys are really cool.
00:29:22
Speaker
They... Actually, the bottle first.
00:29:24
Speaker
That bottle is so cool, man.
00:29:25
Speaker
Like, it's just... We've had this on the show, I think, once or twice before.
00:29:29
Speaker
It's got a really cool, unique bottle to it.
00:29:33
Speaker
They're interesting because it's called Durango.
00:29:36
Speaker
And the agave, specifically the agave that they use for this, comes from Durango.
00:29:42
Speaker
It's actually called agave duragensis, the bastardized versions, which is all wild grown.
00:29:52
Speaker
It's very important because there are agaves that are far.
00:29:55
Speaker
There are other agaves, very few of them that are true.
00:29:59
Speaker
You have to let it grow natural.
00:30:01
Speaker
And oftentimes that means it was in a jungle and you have to go into the jungle and whatever part of the plant, rather than having it on a nice, like.
00:30:12
Speaker
So this is really cool specifically because it has something called Damiana is a, is to not just Mexico, but also South and Central America.
00:30:19
Speaker
It's kind of an interesting, you notice that the yellow, the Damiana plant has these kind of interesting, it looks like little yellow, yellow.
00:30:29
Speaker
Oh, interesting.
00:30:30
Speaker
Cool.
00:30:30
Speaker
Because it's been used.
00:30:33
Speaker
the ancient healers or the spiritual guides within some for a variety of things.
00:30:37
Speaker
So they did it more recently when you hear of, right, like horny goat weed.
00:30:41
Speaker
It's like that sort of version.
00:30:43
Speaker
But the reason why they put the Damiana into the mezcal is because mezcal, if you don't,
00:30:48
Speaker
It's intensely smoky.
00:30:50
Speaker
If you've never had it before, it's intense.
00:30:52
Speaker
More full-bodied, much thicker than a tequila.
00:30:54
Speaker
When I say tequila, I mean specifically the blue agave.
00:30:58
Speaker
So the tequilas I find, blue agave mezcals, are processed in some way or thinned out or whatever.
00:31:04
Speaker
Street mezcal.
00:31:07
Speaker
Street mezcal, right?
00:31:09
Speaker
And it's really cool because the demi-eye has a lightness to it.
00:31:12
Speaker
And, man, I've been a fan now.
00:31:14
Speaker
I've had it for about six months.
00:31:16
Speaker
And I really dig what's sort of dry finish to it.
00:31:19
Speaker
You go, man, that's really thick.
00:31:20
Speaker
What's the English word?
00:31:22
Speaker
No, well, the thick and the red bottle.
00:31:25
Speaker
The thick babies?
00:31:27
Speaker
What's one of our favorite Scotch?
00:31:29
Speaker
Oh, I know what you're thinking of.
00:31:31
Speaker
Abenad.
00:31:32
Speaker
Abunant, thank you.
00:31:34
Speaker
Abunant.
00:31:34
Speaker
It's got that thickness, that like, I don't want to say greasy.
00:31:39
Speaker
It's got the viscosity.
00:31:40
Speaker
It's the same deal.
00:31:41
Speaker
And I love that for cigars.
00:31:43
Speaker
When we talk about, especially Mexicans, it's got some flavor to it and we have some really nice.
00:31:49
Speaker
It pops out in a very different way.
00:31:51
Speaker
And I love this mezcal for cigars.
00:31:53
Speaker
Man, I got to get my hands on some of this mezcal.
00:31:55
Speaker
I was looking it up while you were talking, and none of my local places carry the Demiana version.
00:32:00
Speaker
They have the Hoven, but I got to track down some of that Demiana, and in some very, very, very, very quick research, literally 10 seconds, it's just on their page, they have a patchouli, which I must try.
00:32:16
Speaker
So the goal is for me to bring it.
00:32:18
Speaker
And if I can get that, you will have some Demiana.
00:32:21
Speaker
But it's fantastic.
00:32:22
Speaker
So if you see it in your stores and you go, man, 40 bucks, whatever it is, if you like Mezcal.
00:32:27
Speaker
All right.
00:32:28
Speaker
I'm very curious about it.
00:32:29
Speaker
I got to try it at some point.
00:32:30
Speaker
All right.
00:32:32
Speaker
On to the Juice Force.
00:32:33
Speaker
Voodoo Ranger Juice Force.
00:32:36
Speaker
I got to say, this is a solid beer, man.
00:32:39
Speaker
It's super drinkable, shockingly 9.5%.
00:32:42
Speaker
This does not have that intense sweetness, that syrupyness, that cloying kind of alcohol bite that allowed 9.5%.
00:32:54
Speaker
What?
00:32:57
Speaker
You should have it at room temperature.
00:32:59
Speaker
I mean, it's close to room temperature.
00:33:00
Speaker
But it's still really good.
00:33:01
Speaker
It's still really...
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's just a really solid beer.
00:33:06
Speaker
It's a little sweet for what I would even call an IPA.
00:33:10
Speaker
Even for something called Juice Force that's a hazy IPA.
00:33:14
Speaker
It's very sweet.
00:33:16
Speaker
Like a little syrupy sweet.
00:33:18
Speaker
But it's just good, man.
00:33:20
Speaker
Like, it's got that light crispness.
00:33:23
Speaker
It's got that slightly too intense sweetness, but I can forgive that.
00:33:28
Speaker
It's just a really solid beer.
00:33:29
Speaker
And it, surprisingly, I think it's that 30 IBUs doing all the work.
00:33:34
Speaker
It works well with a cigar.
00:33:35
Speaker
Like, it's not too intense on your palate with the bitterness.
00:33:39
Speaker
Where you're getting, like we talked about with your bells, that resin coat on your palate, that oil coat.
00:33:47
Speaker
It's just, it works really well with a cigar.
00:33:50
Speaker
I think it doesn't work super well with this particular cigar because the wine, you know, we'll see how the other pairings work and see how it is when I, when I go back through it.
00:33:59
Speaker
How's that Demianna?
00:34:02
Speaker
It's fantastic.
00:34:02
Speaker
I love the way it's cutting through almost always bring out from the tobacco, even kind of the lighter tobaccos that doesn't speak minerality off the bat.
00:34:13
Speaker
But I find it has a very different and I think
00:34:17
Speaker
It's easy to, a lot of us that smoke cigars, it's easy for us to pick these darker spirits.
00:34:23
Speaker
It's significantly harder to then find a, we talk about gins, spirit world.
00:34:27
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
00:34:28
Speaker
It's so hard to find a gin outside of a cocktail with a cigar.
00:34:33
Speaker
And you mentioned whiskeys.
00:34:35
Speaker
You got that segue game on point.
00:34:40
Speaker
So my final pairing of the evening.
00:34:42
Speaker
I've been working on my marketing skills, you know.
00:34:44
Speaker
Man, I didn't tell you what my pairings were, which is pretty impressive.
00:34:49
Speaker
This is Teeling Small Batch, the spirit of Dublin.
Teeling Whiskey and Pairing
00:34:53
Speaker
So Teeling Whiskey was founded by the Cooley Brothers.
00:35:00
Speaker
After working with their father at Cooley Distillery...
00:35:03
Speaker
Sorry, the Teeling Brothers.
00:35:06
Speaker
Not to be confused with Coolio Brothers.
00:35:08
Speaker
Yes, not to be confused.
00:35:10
Speaker
Sorry, Teeling Brothers.
00:35:12
Speaker
I don't even know where that came from.
00:35:13
Speaker
Their father worked at the Cooley Distillery and owned it, rather, for many years.
00:35:20
Speaker
They worked with him
00:35:21
Speaker
in the distillery until it was sold to Beam Centauri in 2011.
00:35:27
Speaker
When it was sold, Jack Teeling negotiated the purchase of 16,000 casks of well-aged whiskey as part of the sale.
00:35:39
Speaker
So basically, you guys get the company.
00:35:41
Speaker
My dad and I get to walk away.
00:35:43
Speaker
And I get 16,000 casks of whiskey, which seems like a pretty sweet deal.
00:35:53
Speaker
And in 2012, he used those 16,000 barrels to start a new whiskey company called Teeling Whiskey and founded a new distillery a couple years later in 2015.
00:36:05
Speaker
So obviously for those first couple years, they were just using that.
00:36:09
Speaker
Since then, they've started to integrate Teeling distilled whiskey into the
00:36:14
Speaker
Some of their offerings.
00:36:15
Speaker
I think they've had, if I remember correctly, there's been a couple of releases that are like a single malt kind of style that is all dealing.
00:36:24
Speaker
Almost everything they've bottled so far or released so far has been bottled at 46% ABV.
00:36:29
Speaker
They seem to just be big.
00:36:32
Speaker
They have a number of different finishes that they use.
00:36:37
Speaker
The single malt that they sell, the single malt being from Cooley Distillery, is finished in five different types of wine casts.
00:36:48
Speaker
It's also just a wild whiskey.
00:36:50
Speaker
This one is their small batch, which is a blended malt finished in rum cast and bottled, like I said, at 46% ABD.
00:36:59
Speaker
This is an Irish whiskey that to me doesn't have like those typical hallmarks of Irish whiskey.
00:37:04
Speaker
Funny because earlier someone asked me what I was pairing tonight and I said Irish whiskey and they said, oh, what Irish whiskey?
00:37:12
Speaker
I said tealing and they were like, I said, yeah, it's because it's not a normal Irish whiskey.
00:37:18
Speaker
But I kind of hate all those typical Irish whiskeys.
00:37:20
Speaker
I've never been a fan of Bushmell, Jameson.
00:37:24
Speaker
I mean, I don't hate it.
00:37:26
Speaker
But, like, well, Jameson I hate.
00:37:30
Speaker
I just, like, I'll drink it, I guess.
00:37:32
Speaker
But I just don't enjoy the flavor of Jameson, man.
00:37:35
Speaker
It's got, like, it tastes like somebody threw a sour apple jolly rancher in the middle.
00:37:40
Speaker
It just has, like, this sourness that I hate.
00:37:43
Speaker
And it's a little too sweet.
00:37:45
Speaker
But healing turns that on its head and is an Irish-made whiskey that doesn't taste like, you know, those typical Irish whiskeys that I am not a big fan of.
00:37:56
Speaker
So I'm going to take a couple sips, see how this pairs with this cigar.
00:37:59
Speaker
I'm very curious because I've really been enjoying this cigar.
00:38:02
Speaker
I don't know if I've talked about it enough.
00:38:04
Speaker
You were talking about that minerality.
00:38:06
Speaker
There is like a really pleasant minerality to this.
Somme BDX Cigar Flavor Profile
00:38:11
Speaker
In a lot of cigars that have minerality, I talk about how it's like licking and it's not really very good.
00:38:17
Speaker
Classic.
00:38:19
Speaker
Licking a rock is fun.
00:38:21
Speaker
Exactly.
00:38:22
Speaker
This doesn't have that.
00:38:23
Speaker
This has minerality, but in a much more precise, controlled kind of style where it's there and it's very noticeable for me, but it's not overpowering at all.
00:38:35
Speaker
It's really mixing well with that sweetness, that spice, that earthiness of the, that kind of chocolatiness of the rest of the cigar.
00:38:44
Speaker
Anyway, I'm going to drink some Irish whiskey to let you tell us about your final pairing of the evening.
00:38:50
Speaker
Ooh, 57.6%.
00:38:52
Speaker
Why will we woo?
00:38:55
Speaker
Barrel-proof.
00:38:55
Speaker
We're coming in hot with... Ooh, nice....pepper 1776 rye.
00:39:01
Speaker
Have you had this strip?
00:39:02
Speaker
I haven't had the cask strength, but many years ago... All right, so this was a time in...
00:39:11
Speaker
Round about 2010-ish, 2011-ish, when I did not have very much disposable income, I was smoking what cigars I could and drinking what whiskey I could.
00:39:24
Speaker
And I discovered a couple whiskeys that were right in my price range and were incredible.
00:39:29
Speaker
One of them was Weller 107, which things have changed a little bit.
00:39:36
Speaker
And the other one was 1776 J.E.
00:39:39
Speaker
Pepper, James E. Pepper, 1776 rye, which was like both of those were my go to whiskeys for years.
00:39:47
Speaker
The colonel, by the way, he's a colonel.
00:39:51
Speaker
Colonel James Z. Pepper.
00:39:52
Speaker
And now, so quick thing in Kentucky lore, in sort of Kentucky history, we talk about colonels, like Colonel Sanders, right?
00:40:00
Speaker
James Z. Pepper, all these different colonels.
00:40:03
Speaker
Now this colonel title is distinctly...
00:40:05
Speaker
This was an appointed title by the state of... Are you serious?
00:40:11
Speaker
So there's a website... I didn't know this was a thing.
00:40:13
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:40:14
Speaker
The state of Kentucky has an official form that you go to and you can submit a self-petition to be self-nomination to receive the title of the journal.
00:40:25
Speaker
And the state of Kentucky then deliberates on political whatever capacity.
00:40:30
Speaker
And they appoint you the title within the state.
00:40:33
Speaker
And technically, it's recognized federally, but it's really just in the state of Kentucky, you have become a colonel.
00:40:41
Speaker
And so this is a running joke like for the last year.
00:40:44
Speaker
I've been pursuing a colonel title, an official colonel title.
00:40:50
Speaker
And I have a couple of ways to do it.
00:40:51
Speaker
I mean, do you know about the Lord titles?
00:40:54
Speaker
Yes, you can buy them.
00:40:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:56
Speaker
For only $2.99.
00:40:57
Speaker
You too.
00:40:57
Speaker
Don't like that.
00:40:59
Speaker
Whiskey, dude.
00:41:00
Speaker
I have at least enough to build a house on.
00:41:02
Speaker
That's true.
00:41:03
Speaker
Good point.
00:41:04
Speaker
I have enough squares of land on the Laphroaig distillery property that I can buy.
00:41:08
Speaker
You may legally be a lord.
00:41:11
Speaker
But yeah.
00:41:11
Speaker
So the kernel thing is really cool.
00:41:13
Speaker
So James E. Pepper distillery.
00:41:17
Speaker
Really cool, but it's one of those.
00:41:19
Speaker
And they were founded, or established, I should say.
00:41:21
Speaker
Established in 18 years.
00:41:22
Speaker
It's been a while.
00:41:23
Speaker
So when he started the game, he was a writer.
00:41:26
Speaker
And they're basically still like one of those caveats that we say, purportedly.
00:41:31
Speaker
In the whiskey industry in the U.S., a lot of the stories, not exactly the full truth.
00:41:36
Speaker
We've talked pretty, or I've talked really pretty extensively about Elijah Craig and all the lies spouted about that boy.
00:41:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:46
Speaker
It's one of many, but in these guys, the pepper families, they've been distilling since 76, roughly.
00:41:53
Speaker
And so they are credited officially.
00:41:55
Speaker
James E. Pepper famously was credited with really pushing the old.
00:42:02
Speaker
Are you saying was or is because he may or may not still be alive?
00:42:06
Speaker
Is that what's going on?
00:42:06
Speaker
We don't know.
00:42:07
Speaker
We don't know what happened.
00:42:08
Speaker
Like, it's one of those.
00:42:09
Speaker
It's very dark and he popularized.
00:42:13
Speaker
I can't say popularized.
00:42:17
Speaker
the old fashioned cocktail, having spent many, many, many occasions at the Waldorf where he shared this recipe that came from Kentucky, from Louisville, actually.
00:42:27
Speaker
It was a recipe that was well known and that came to New York.
00:42:32
Speaker
Do this thing.
00:42:33
Speaker
And the old fashioned cocktail became an actual staple, which is.
00:42:37
Speaker
Wow.
00:42:39
Speaker
I had a point.
00:42:39
Speaker
What was my point?
00:42:43
Speaker
I don't know.
00:42:44
Speaker
Yes.
00:42:44
Speaker
So Prohibition, as many distilleries, Prohibition really kind of knocked them out.
00:42:48
Speaker
In 2008, roughly 2008, and kind of bought it.
00:42:52
Speaker
He bought the brand.
00:42:53
Speaker
And so it took him about 10 years to kind of restore the whole thing.
00:42:57
Speaker
Finally opened up the... Oh, wow.
00:43:01
Speaker
And they really took a lot of these.
00:43:04
Speaker
Like the old labels, you saw this label.
00:43:06
Speaker
They're very...
00:43:08
Speaker
rustic looking labels like they really look like something that could have been in a cowboy bar
00:43:13
Speaker
But, you know, I understand, like, and I see this part of me says, is this some new age?
00:43:18
Speaker
I can't use the H word seriously.
00:43:21
Speaker
But is some hipster cat with a mustache like mine saying, oh, no, this is like classic original.
00:43:29
Speaker
He brought it back as close as he possibly could.
00:43:32
Speaker
And the legacy of.
00:43:33
Speaker
And so the 1776 that I'm drinking now is 90 percent rye.
00:43:36
Speaker
So we'll call this a high rye.
00:43:38
Speaker
Mm hmm.
00:43:39
Speaker
It is intense, like intense to the point where people talk about spice.
00:43:44
Speaker
Notice the mint quality.
00:43:46
Speaker
This is a weird thing.
00:43:47
Speaker
And people drink high rise.
00:43:48
Speaker
It's a whiskey.
00:43:48
Speaker
I'm not going to get mint.
00:43:50
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:43:51
Speaker
That's such a subtle, totally different flavor.
00:43:53
Speaker
It comes off on the palate because of the viscosity.
00:43:55
Speaker
You can't really tell.
00:43:58
Speaker
Also, to your point.
00:43:59
Speaker
So Sam says he's an Arkansas traveler.
00:44:06
Speaker
Is that... I mean, he says you were talking about Kentucky colonels.
00:44:11
Speaker
I was going to ask if that's the thing where you don't have to have a license plate and you don't have to show your info to the cops when they pull you up.
00:44:18
Speaker
I would say Sam.
00:44:19
Speaker
And if so... The hell does that mean?
00:44:23
Speaker
I have no idea what you just said.
00:44:24
Speaker
He's absolutely nothing.
00:44:27
Speaker
All I can think of is the... What's the name of the band?
00:44:31
Speaker
That song.
00:44:33
Speaker
You know the one I'm talking about.
00:44:34
Speaker
Traveling Man.
00:44:36
Speaker
Alabama?
00:44:37
Speaker
Not Alabama, but it's a similar band.
00:44:41
Speaker
It's something Molly.
00:44:44
Speaker
I don't remember.
00:44:44
Speaker
Definitely not flogging Molly.
00:44:48
Speaker
Anyway, Teeling Whiskey.
00:44:50
Speaker
Yes.
00:44:51
Speaker
This is working really well with this cigar.
00:44:56
Speaker
As much as I think this cigar was kind of designed to go with wine, it's working really well with this whiskey.
00:45:05
Speaker
I think part of that is due to the rum finish on it.
00:45:10
Speaker
It's got that kind of... It has those classic Irish whiskey flavors, but without that sour apple kind of acidity that I get from a lot of Irish whiskeys.
00:45:22
Speaker
And then that rum finish just kind of adds that baking spice and sweet that you get from a nice rum and kind of adds that to the cigar.
00:45:33
Speaker
What about you?
00:45:34
Speaker
How's your whiskey working with it?
00:45:36
Speaker
I, I dare.
00:45:39
Speaker
And again, it's not a cigar issue.
00:45:42
Speaker
It's barrel proof.
00:45:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:43
Speaker
Generally is one of those things.
00:45:44
Speaker
Like if I'm pairing barrel proof with some still.
00:45:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:49
Speaker
I could see this is cigars thing, not a with a cigar thing.
00:45:54
Speaker
This is a very medium bodied cigar.
00:45:57
Speaker
I could see, I almost went with, because of the wine angle, I almost went with the Black and Wes Henderson, but I couldn't do it again because I knew it would work.
00:46:05
Speaker
Because it just works with every cigar I've tried it with.
00:46:07
Speaker
It's wonderful.
00:46:08
Speaker
But it's also barrel-proof, which I think may make it not work with the cigar.
00:46:14
Speaker
Also, the song I was thinking of.
00:46:17
Speaker
I was mashing together two songs, one of which was Ramblin' Man.
00:46:23
Speaker
Oh, you were Ramblin' Man.
00:46:24
Speaker
Ramblin' Man.
00:46:25
Speaker
Good song.
00:46:27
Speaker
I was mashing that together with Molly Hachet and their... That song, Flirting with Disaster.
00:46:37
Speaker
Good songs.
00:46:38
Speaker
Anyway, what do you think of this cigar overall?
00:46:42
Speaker
Have you gone back through your pairings at all?
00:46:44
Speaker
Because I've just kind of started to do...
00:46:46
Speaker
I have not.
00:46:47
Speaker
Actually, I probably should do that now.
00:46:48
Speaker
But I think I can see the wine angle to your beer.
00:46:52
Speaker
I absolutely... I would recommend revisiting it with the wine.
00:46:57
Speaker
I'm a huge fan of Pino.
00:46:59
Speaker
Not with cigars necessarily, but I don't have to think about it.
00:47:02
Speaker
I go, yeah, I really dig that.
00:47:04
Speaker
You have that comfort with wine.
00:47:06
Speaker
I can see why wine was certainly better, I think, than beer.
00:47:09
Speaker
Yeah, my Voodoo Ranger, I think, is a very solid beer, like a really good beer, shockingly good.
00:47:18
Speaker
It doesn't work with this cigar as well as the whiskey or the wine, but the wine is like the clear winner for me.
00:47:24
Speaker
Turns out, against all odds, Vlad knows what he's talking about.
00:47:30
Speaker
He knows about wine and cigars and how to make the two work together.
00:47:34
Speaker
Who could have thunk it?
00:47:36
Speaker
I had it pulled up on Stojinov.
00:47:40
Speaker
Oh, Stojinov.
00:47:41
Speaker
Stojinov.
00:47:43
Speaker
Potentially.
00:47:44
Speaker
I mean, he may butcher me for a bit.
00:47:46
Speaker
I would say Stojinov.
00:47:48
Speaker
I mean, you've got to be closer than me, right?
00:47:51
Speaker
But it also could be Stojinov.
00:47:53
Speaker
You know, flavors of both where the J is like really, it's not impossible.
00:47:59
Speaker
I am reading this thing from Sam Fennell.
00:48:03
Speaker
It sounds crazy.
00:48:05
Speaker
My wife and I presented and developed Arkansas into an area of worldwide marriage encounter.
00:48:12
Speaker
I don't know what that means.
00:48:14
Speaker
When we stepped down, we received the Traveler Award from the governor.
00:48:18
Speaker
That's really cool.
00:48:19
Speaker
Congrats.
00:48:21
Speaker
Anytime you get an award for a governor, I think, from a governor, I think it's a pretty big deal.
00:48:26
Speaker
Holy shit.
00:48:27
Speaker
So Sam was actually saying the official title of Traveler.
00:48:30
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:48:31
Speaker
Bestowed by the governor.
00:48:33
Speaker
Super cool.
00:48:34
Speaker
That is super cool.
00:48:35
Speaker
Unfortunately, you still need a license plate, I think, with that version of Traveler.
00:48:39
Speaker
But the other one, I mean, you'll get arrested, but at least you'll be on YouTube.
00:48:45
Speaker
Dennis, I feel like it's going over your head.
00:48:46
Speaker
There's a whole thing where sovereign citizens think that they don't need to have a license plate or a driver's license to drive their car.
00:48:56
Speaker
Because in some maniac's interpretation of the law, if you're driving a vehicle, you need a license and a license plate.
00:49:04
Speaker
If you're traveling using a vessel, you don't need either.
00:49:08
Speaker
And so it's like this whole thing, you could fall down this rabbit hole for weeks, man.
00:49:13
Speaker
of watching these dudes get pulled over by the police and like they're like listen look i have a pamphlet i bought it on the internet for 27 and it says i'm traveling so i don't need to show you any paperwork and my my good man let me it's called the dirigible and my ascot says you can go yourself
00:49:36
Speaker
All right.
00:49:37
Speaker
Anyway.
00:49:38
Speaker
Um, all right.
00:49:40
Speaker
I guess that's, uh, most of this show for the evening.
00:49:43
Speaker
Dennis, there's a package in the mail for you.
00:49:45
Speaker
It'd be there maybe tomorrow.
00:49:46
Speaker
I don't know.
00:49:47
Speaker
I don't control the mail.
00:49:49
Speaker
I don't think so.
00:49:51
Speaker
Oh, it's from you.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:52
Speaker
For me.
00:49:53
Speaker
Oh, baby.
00:49:54
Speaker
All right.
00:49:55
Speaker
Uh, back in business.
00:49:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:57
Speaker
Uh, I got, I got a little package full of some goodies, uh, that we can try on the show and some not for the show, but we'll talk about that once they get there.
00:50:05
Speaker
Um,
00:50:07
Speaker
There was a cigar I thought we should smoke next week, but I don't remember it off the top of my head.
00:50:13
Speaker
We will talk about it offline.
00:50:15
Speaker
So I guess that brings us to the final order of business, which is...
00:50:21
Speaker
One for the road.
00:50:22
Speaker
This is where we tell you guys about some kind of media we've been consuming.
00:50:25
Speaker
I had a baby.
00:50:26
Speaker
I've been on paternity leave.
00:50:28
Speaker
I have a lot of media that I've been consuming that I can tell you about.
00:50:34
Speaker
I got to pick something for the road.
00:50:36
Speaker
So Dennis, why don't you go first?
00:50:38
Speaker
Oh, boy.
00:50:39
Speaker
All right.
00:50:39
Speaker
I was ill-prepared.
00:50:41
Speaker
If you want, I can go first.
00:50:45
Speaker
If you have Netflix, I don't know.
00:50:47
Speaker
Chimp Crazy.
00:50:48
Speaker
No.
00:50:48
Speaker
What?
00:50:50
Speaker
It's on HBO.
00:50:50
Speaker
I think so.
00:50:53
Speaker
I see it on HBO Max when I pull it up.
00:50:55
Speaker
Bullshit.
00:50:56
Speaker
Sorry, not HBO Max.
00:50:57
Speaker
Just Max Max.
00:50:58
Speaker
On your favorite streaming platform that starts with a letter.
00:51:03
Speaker
M or N.
00:51:05
Speaker
It's called Chimp Crazy, which is by... He went pseudo-secondary undercover where he hired some of the primary directors.
00:51:13
Speaker
I feel like I haven't watched it yet, but that's the wildest part to me, is that he had to go undercover to direct this thing.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, he gained so much fame through Tiger King that he couldn't just show up because they figured it would be an expose.
00:51:26
Speaker
And so they nailed that.
00:51:28
Speaker
I don't want to ruin the Joe Exotic type story with chimps, who, by the way, they're not monkeys.
00:51:35
Speaker
They keep misreferencing them as monkeys.
00:51:37
Speaker
They are great apes.
00:51:39
Speaker
But anyway, that's one thing.
00:51:41
Speaker
The second thing, if you're into metal, dark tranquility, right?
00:51:45
Speaker
About three weeks ago.
00:51:46
Speaker
It came out two days before our last episode.
00:51:50
Speaker
That's right.
00:51:51
Speaker
Yeah, so it just came out a couple weeks ago.
00:51:52
Speaker
It was called End Time Signals.
00:51:55
Speaker
I've been digging on that because of a listen.
00:51:58
Speaker
I've been really enjoying it as kind of a mix between...
00:52:04
Speaker
like melodic metal and atmospheric metal.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yes, actually, that's really great.
00:52:09
Speaker
It has elements of the melodic, like the groove.
00:52:12
Speaker
Your favorite music streamer.
00:52:13
Speaker
Whatever your favorite.
00:52:14
Speaker
Yeah, yours.
00:52:15
Speaker
All right.
00:52:16
Speaker
So first of all, you reminded me, big shout out to Sam Finnell, who recommended Kitaro.
00:52:24
Speaker
He called it Japanese jazz.
00:52:26
Speaker
I would call it Japanese... Jazz.
00:52:30
Speaker
Not...
00:52:34
Speaker
I had a word for it.
00:52:35
Speaker
I think it's atmospheric jazz.
00:52:40
Speaker
It is background music for your whole life.
00:52:44
Speaker
I started listening to it on our rides to school, and she loves it.
00:52:51
Speaker
It's just very, very chill, very mellow, but really interesting.
00:52:59
Speaker
It's cool, man.
00:52:59
Speaker
I like it.
00:53:01
Speaker
So I've listened to Kitaro and I will say, Kitaro for me, it reminds me of before we would practice, it was a very quiet sort of solemn thing.
00:53:11
Speaker
You are very focused on just the simple task.
00:53:15
Speaker
You do a simple task to cleanse your body of whatever bullshit is on your mind so that when you finally are done and you sit down in your dojo for practice,
00:53:25
Speaker
The lesson of the day.
00:53:26
Speaker
Whatever you have going on.
00:53:28
Speaker
But it was one of those things where it disconnects you by connecting you to... That's guitar for me in my mind.
00:53:35
Speaker
It's a groove that I get.
00:53:44
Speaker
The last beat of your last sentence there, it all connected.
00:53:48
Speaker
And I was like, yes, that is guitar.
00:53:50
Speaker
You're exactly right.
00:53:53
Speaker
It's just very like... You can come back.
00:53:55
Speaker
Yeah, I really enjoy it.
00:53:57
Speaker
So thank you for the recommendation, Sam.
00:53:59
Speaker
My recommendation for the week is going to be Sunny.
00:54:03
Speaker
This is a show coincidentally Japanese.
00:54:08
Speaker
Have you ever seen Big Hero 6?
00:54:10
Speaker
Yeah, I haven't seen it.
00:54:12
Speaker
I love it.
00:54:13
Speaker
I haven't seen it.
00:54:13
Speaker
The kids have watched it.
00:54:14
Speaker
My kids love it.
00:54:15
Speaker
My kids love that movie.
00:54:18
Speaker
This movie is like Big Hero 6 for adults.
00:54:23
Speaker
So, Big Hero 6, this is a quick primer for anybody who's not familiar.
00:54:28
Speaker
It's about this kid, his older brother, is an inventor.
00:54:32
Speaker
He created this cool super robot thing that helps you out.
00:54:35
Speaker
And he suddenly dies...
00:54:38
Speaker
The robot shows up at the kid's house and helps him kind of solve the murder of his brother and discover what friendship really means or what the fuck ever.
00:54:48
Speaker
Sunny is about this woman played by Rashida Jones in Japan.
00:54:52
Speaker
She's lived there for... One of the things that I really like about this show is it has all of these very small details that work together to make it a really intriguing show.
00:55:03
Speaker
So she's lived in Japan for like 10 years.
00:55:06
Speaker
She met a dude, got married, had a kid.
00:55:10
Speaker
He works at the refrigerator division of this big electronics company.
00:55:16
Speaker
And her husband and son get on a flight to go somewhere, and the flight goes down.
00:55:24
Speaker
And so we enter about a week after, when she's kind of trying to figure out what's going on with her life, and she suddenly finds out her...
00:55:33
Speaker
Her husband has not been working on refrigerators.
00:55:36
Speaker
He's been working on home assistant robots and built one to be left at her house upon his death.
00:55:46
Speaker
And so it's this robot that she does not trust at all that kind of helps her figure out what has been going on.
00:55:53
Speaker
And it's just a nice, like, super twisty...
00:55:58
Speaker
That's the plot of Bicentennial Man with Robin Williams.
00:56:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:56:03
Speaker
It's... I mean, have you ever heard the thing that there's like six different movie plots that exist and everything else is just a slight variation on one of those six?
00:56:12
Speaker
Yes.
00:56:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:56:14
Speaker
But one of the things I think is cool, I was saying the details.
00:56:17
Speaker
One of the details is they have like these earpieces that it's like an air pod that translates everything you're hearing.
00:56:25
Speaker
And the reason she uses it is, I mean, for the audience, it's so that at least 50% of the show is in English.
00:56:32
Speaker
50% is in Japanese.
00:56:35
Speaker
But she's dyslexic, so she can't understand Japanese.
00:56:38
Speaker
She can't because of her dyslexia, which I just thought was like a really interesting touch.
00:56:43
Speaker
Rather than, you know, just, no, I never learned the language.
00:56:48
Speaker
There's just a lot of interesting little details.
00:56:51
Speaker
We're talking about Chimp Crazy, and it's still ongoing.
00:56:54
Speaker
Sunny finished last week, so it's all out now.
00:56:57
Speaker
You can watch the... Which is always a positive for me.
00:57:00
Speaker
It's on Apple TV, I think.
00:57:02
Speaker
My wife and I have been, like, kind of just digging through everything on Apple TV.
00:57:05
Speaker
Well, yeah, because you're paying for that damn subscription, man.
00:57:08
Speaker
Exactly.
00:57:09
Speaker
I mean, I got that year free, and I barely watched anything.
00:57:13
Speaker
Anyway.
00:57:14
Speaker
Check out Sonny.
00:57:16
Speaker
It's super good.
00:57:18
Speaker
Super, super funny.
00:57:19
Speaker
It's kind of got black comedy kind of vibes, which is right up my alley.
00:57:26
Speaker
I love something where you're laughing at people dying.
00:57:30
Speaker
Laughing at the misfortune in the context of a TV show specifically is great.
00:57:35
Speaker
In real life, not so much.
00:57:37
Speaker
Anyway.
00:57:38
Speaker
Disclaimer there.
00:57:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
00:57:41
Speaker
That's true.
00:57:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:43
Speaker
I root for everybody in real life.
00:57:45
Speaker
He shows, you know, I like being able to pick a side.
00:57:49
Speaker
Anyway.
00:57:51
Speaker
Check out the Somme BDX.
00:57:53
Speaker
This is a very good cigar.
00:57:55
Speaker
I'm really impressed with this.
00:57:58
Speaker
I can kind of see some of the things I've been hearing, some of the chatter I've been hearing around the Indies from people who like this cigar a lot.
00:58:06
Speaker
For me, the best pairing was surprisingly a wine, Cabernet Sauvignon.
00:58:11
Speaker
So check this cigar out.
00:58:13
Speaker
Try it out with a wine.
00:58:14
Speaker
Try it out with a... Dennis, what was your pairing of the night?
00:58:18
Speaker
I jumped right into it and forgot to ask.
00:58:19
Speaker
Yeah, we talked about it.
00:58:21
Speaker
It was a mess.
00:58:21
Speaker
All right.
00:58:24
Speaker
One last note.
00:58:25
Speaker
Sam says he recently rewatched Full Metal Jacket.
00:58:30
Speaker
My man.
00:58:31
Speaker
Love that movie.
00:58:32
Speaker
Haven't watched it in about 20 years.
00:58:33
Speaker
I may have to revisit it.
00:58:35
Speaker
I don't know how much I'll have time for movies because I'm finally going back to work this week.
00:58:40
Speaker
So we'll see how that goes.
00:58:41
Speaker
Well, thank you everybody for hanging out with us.
00:58:43
Speaker
We'll be back next week unless I get the death cold again.
00:58:47
Speaker
And yeah, looking forward to being back and hanging out with you guys.
00:58:52
Speaker
Thanks for watching, liking.
00:58:54
Speaker
Check us out on your favorite podcast catcher.
00:58:57
Speaker
Leave us a review.
00:58:59
Speaker
You know all the things that everybody asks you to do that I'm just not into asking you to do.
00:59:04
Speaker
I just appreciate you hanging out with us.
00:59:06
Speaker
It's cool that you spend an hour or so with us and hang out.
00:59:09
Speaker
So I guess that's us signing off.
00:59:11
Speaker
Not to talk to ourselves.
00:59:13
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:59:14
Speaker
To be able to talk to more than just the two of us on this call is pretty sweet.
00:59:18
Speaker
So thank you for that, everybody.
00:59:21
Speaker
And we will catch you on the next episode.
00:59:23
Speaker
This one was episode 31.
00:59:26
Speaker
Psalm BDX.
00:59:27
Speaker
Dennis, do the catchphrase thing, and then we'll be out of here.