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Give Em' The 🦃 ft. David Jennings aka. RareBird101
30 Plays25 days ago
As we bring on the new week, I sit down for a speedy session with the great, David Jennings, author and founder of the RareBird 101 website. We talk turkey through the ages, diving into the history and branding of Wild Turkey as we pour a glass of some real bangers.
We also covered his side hustle which is known as RACONTEUR RYE, which is Curated by David Jennings and The WoodWork Collective and bottled by The WoodWork Collective, Louisville, Kentucky.
Its a hot 45 so make sure you listen all the way as its chock full of juicy goss.
You know where to go if you want to check out his socials below!
RareBird 101: rarebird101.com
Raconteur Rye: raconteurrye.com
Instagram: @rarebird101
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/rarebird101
Patreon: Patreon.com/RareBird101
Twitter: @RBird101
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/RareBird101/
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:17
Jez
And welcome back to another episode of Non-Chill Filtered where we interview the movers, the shakers and cocktail makers of the booze world. Today's episode features a published author and all-round turkey enthusiast, the legend David Jennings aka Rebo101. Sir, how are you this fine afternoon?
00:00:38
David Jennings
Doing well, doing well. It's trying to stay cool.
00:00:40
Jez
That's goody. What's the yeah what's a temp like out there?
00:00:44
David Jennings
Uh, we're, we're in the nineties most of the time now today. I think it might be a little bit, I might, might be in the upper eighties, but I haven't been outside much today, but the humidity is what kills us. But I guess in Australia it's wintertime right now, right?
David Jennings' Whiskey Journey
00:00:57
Jez
oh Yeah, that's right. Here's me typing into my phone. I'm like, what is 90 degrees Fahrenheit? Oh, yeah, 32 degrees. Oh, yeah, that's that's a relatively warm day for us in Australia.
00:01:06
David Jennings
Yeah, it's more, it's more sticky.
00:01:08
Jez
that's ah
00:01:09
David Jennings
Like we have real high humidity, like,
00:01:10
Jez
Yeah, ooh.
00:01:11
David Jennings
It's kind of like almost tropical at times. And so you can go outside to do like a very simple task, like I'm going to go get the mail and you go out to get the mail and you talk to your neighbor for about five minutes and you come back in and your shirt stuck to you.
00:01:24
David Jennings
And it's just, it's bad.
00:01:24
Jez
Oh, yeah, I can't ah can't do that.
00:01:25
David Jennings
yeah. so
00:01:27
Jez
I'm not built for the heat. I'm um i'm more win a winter kid, so I'm more than happy to, I guess, stay all rugged up because i I live by the theory of there's only so many layers of clothing you can take off before it becomes illegal.
00:01:41
Jez
So it's probably easier to stay warmer rather than colder.
00:01:42
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:01:45
David Jennings
Yeah, that's that's true.
00:01:46
Jez
Or colder rather than warmer. Yeah, it's cooked. Yeah.
00:01:49
David Jennings
ah have i actually have that that like kind of thing, this battle in my my head sometimes, like, is it better to be cold or better to be hot? and And I finally realized that, like, so in the summertime, as miserable as I am, even if, like, the air conditioner were to break, and I would just be, like, hating it.
00:02:08
David Jennings
I think I would hate being freezing cold more, but you can't really appreciate that until you are freezing cold because, you know, then it's like, wow, I would, I would gladly take being in a desert right now. Cause, cause like humans can kind of function in heat, you know, but we can't really function in the freezing cold unless we've got layers of clothing and stuff like that.
00:02:30
David Jennings
So, you can survive in the heat easier than you could survive in the, in the winter.
00:02:36
Jez
Sorry about that. My cat is now pulling apart a box for whatever reason. You can probably hear that in the background. I think he's found my ah my latest whiskey delivery and he's just tearing it apart.
00:02:49
Jez
Oh, that's correct. You to love pets, right? um But sir, let's let's let's kick off into it because I know you're strapped for time. But can you give us your comic book origin story?
00:03:00
Jez
Like zero one, we pick it up straight out of the news agency comic book store.
00:03:01
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:03:06
Jez
Take us through it, sir.
00:03:06
David Jennings
yeah Okay. So, well, I'm just for like a ah time reference frame of time here. I'm 49. So ah I was in college in the nineties and well, thank you.
00:03:17
Jez
You look great for 49 by the way.
00:03:19
David Jennings
Thank you. um But so, so when I went to college, I discovered that I enjoyed whiskey and Coke or whiskey and ginger ale. It was mostly when whiskey and Coke though.
00:03:32
David Jennings
So it was, it was usually Jack or Jim or, uh, crown Royal or just just whatever it was kind of, yeah, that was available.
00:03:36
Jez
The classics.
00:03:39
David Jennings
And I, I stuck with that for years. Like if we, my wife and I'd go out to eat, whatever, I'd always order a whiskey and Coke, Jack and Coke, whatever. And, uh, so, you know, after many years of just casually having whiskey as just a, like a pairing with food or, you know, out with some friends or whatever, um,
00:03:50
Jez
Be warming up.
00:04:02
David Jennings
My brother-in-law, it was it was Halloween. um remember my daughter, she was not even a year old yet. And it was like freezing cold. Like we we normally in the South here, we don't usually have very cold Halloweens. Usually Halloweens are pretty mild and sometimes can be hot.
00:04:19
David Jennings
But this was a really cold, it was I think it was 2013.
00:04:19
Jez
warming up
00:04:23
David Jennings
And, you know, he was like, hey, you want some some whiskey? And I was sure, like, you know, i thought it would be in a mixed drink or something, but he just gave it to me on the rocks. It was a little, like, limited edition Crown Royal kind of thing.
00:04:35
David Jennings
And I was like, ooh, like, I don't know about this, you know, like, yeah, I've always had it with a mixer, you know. And I tried it and i was like, that's actually pretty cool. i kind of felt like, you know, sophisticated, you know, I was like, this is, this is next level, you know?
00:04:50
David Jennings
And, um, anyway, uh, had, I had a really good night, enjoyed the drink, uh, you know, didn't overdo it. It was just fun, you know, and, uh, decided du I'm going to get me a fancy crown Royal, you know, went to the liquor store and got lost in the sea of whiskeys.
00:05:07
David Jennings
And I'm like, which one of these is the best, you know?
00:05:10
Jez
I'm just thinking about that. Like fancy crown Royal doesn't really, I'm like, what is that? Black label or something? What was,
00:05:16
David Jennings
this would ah This was the blue, it was a blue box.
00:05:19
Jez
oh I think i know.
00:05:20
David Jennings
And this was like, again, it was probably 15 years ago or something, you know, or 12 years ago, whatever.
00:05:24
Jez
Hmm.
00:05:27
David Jennings
And anyway, ah it was it was one of the fancy ones. And ah so I went through the crown catalog at first, but then I i so i started buying whiskey books, whiskey magazines.
00:05:31
Jez
Hmm.
00:05:39
David Jennings
i got online, like got onto some of the message boards, and just really dove in. ah heavy and started exploring scotch, Irish, you know, what makes each, you know, type of whiskey unique and learned a whole lot from it, but eventually discovered bourbon and that bourbon was like pretty much where my, you know, palate was kind of aiming every time I enjoyed that profile. So, uh, got deep into bourbon.
00:06:09
David Jennings
Of course you learn very quickly that, uh, a lot of the ones that are considered the best and all this kind of stuff are not easy to acquire or they're very expensive or whatever, but that was fine. I was learning to enjoy what I could find and what I could afford.
00:06:25
David Jennings
And I started writing reviews on Reddit and on the rbourbon forum. And at some point in time, I think it was late 2014, I purchased a wild turkey 101 bottle and
00:06:32
Jez
Thank
00:06:40
David Jennings
And I remembered Wild Turkey 101 from being like what you would get trashed on in college. Like it was not a sophisticated pour. OK, this is like shots. And it was like in my head, I'm thinking this is rock gut whiskey.
00:06:55
David Jennings
So I had every intention to just give it this horrible review, you know, for get some laughs out of it or whatever. And I was like, wow, this is actually really good. I like this.
00:07:09
David Jennings
I was kind of surprised. I was like, okay, this is not what I remember wild turkey being. And ended up writing a review and a favorable
Blogging and Book Writing Journey
00:07:17
David Jennings
review. And someone reached out said, hey, have you ever had dusty turkey? And I'm like, what is that?
00:07:22
David Jennings
and they explained the whole vintage thing, and I was like, well, I did have it back in the 90s, but I didn't know what I was having, you know, and and anyway, he sent me some samples, he sent me a 101 eight-year from 81, and he sent me a 92 CGF, and I remember, oh yeah, and
00:07:40
Jez
Some peak dusty turkey.
00:07:44
David Jennings
I remember picking, I finished up work, picked up the kids from daycare, got them home, got them dinner. And then everything like, you know, was kind of settled and quiet. And I had this box that came in the mail and the samples were in there.
00:07:55
Jez
you
00:07:58
David Jennings
And, you know, I'll never forget it. I remember ah nosing that 1981, 101 eight year for the very first time. i was like, what is this? i'm Like, like it was like no other profile I'd had.
00:08:14
David Jennings
you know, from off the shelf. And I dove in hard. I was like, okay, I've got to find this. Of course, ah there isn't really a modern whiskey that's going to taste like dusty whiskey.
00:08:28
David Jennings
I didn't know that at the time.
00:08:28
Jez
Thank
00:08:30
David Jennings
I burned through the entire wild turkey catalog. I'd go to the liquor store and I, and just over a couple of weeks, I bought everything they had, you know, just to try. And then when I couldn't get that profile,
00:08:41
David Jennings
I thought, well, maybe I'm going to have to get some of the limited editions. And I remember buying the first master's keep the 17 year. And then, uh, shortly after that diamond anniversary, ah of course, you know, eventually learned that you have to buy the vintage whiskey to taste like, you know, to get the profile of vintage whiskey, but, um,
00:09:00
Jez
Gonna get yourself a DeLorean, right?
00:09:02
David Jennings
Yeah, right. and ah But more than that, i was fascinated by the the story of Wild Turkey. i felt like there was this genuine quality to it that a lot of the other whiskey brands just did not have.
00:09:17
David Jennings
Um, and I still feel that way to this day. Um, but there was something there. And the the other piece of it was that at the time I got into whiskey and I don't think a lot of folks realize this now because wild Turkey is fairly popular now, uh, among the whiskey circles, but, but,
00:09:35
Jez
It's massive, especially in Australia.
00:09:39
David Jennings
Okay. Yeah. Well, and it's been that way in Australia for a good while. I think you guys have always had ah ah a strong appreciation for wild turkey, probably ah before a lot of Americans, but, uh, and that's something we can, we can come back to.
00:09:48
Jez
Hmm.
00:09:51
David Jennings
But, uh, anyway, it was kind of the underdog, like, you know, everybody's chasing, you know, Buffalo trace products, nothing against Buffalo trace. I love what they do.
00:10:02
Jez
Hmm.
00:10:02
David Jennings
Um, people were chasing, you know, Stitzo Weller.
00:10:05
David Jennings
They're trying to find these old vintages and stuff. People were after, you know, the birthday bourbons and Parker's heritage while Turkey was kind of, you know, it had a loyal fan base, but it wasn't as popular in the whiskey community and the greater whiskey community as it is now. It it had plenty of fans. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it wasn't loved.
00:10:27
David Jennings
It just wasn't loved at the level that it is now. um at least not from what I could see at the time. So I kind of like that underdog status. And then also when you would talk to people that aren't necessarily whiskey enthusiasts, but maybe they drink whiskey every once while and you tell them, you know, you enjoy wild turkey, they're kind oof.
00:10:44
David Jennings
You know, they have that same kind of thought I did when I first got into whiskey, like this is the Roughnecks whiskey, you know.
00:10:50
Jez
Bye.
00:10:50
David Jennings
And so ah just that combination of, you know, the history and that that genuine kind of story that Wild Turkey has with the Russells, ah you know, the flavor profiles and it being kind of an underdog, it was just really attractive to me as a as a product and it remains that way today and and uh i just you know started reviewing a lot of wild turkey products to the point where that was pretty much all i was reviewing was just like it became the joke on reddit like oh he's doing another wild turkey product you know and i just thought you know i probably ought to put these somewhere so i kind of have like an archive so i created the blog to store my reddit reviews that were wild turkey based and i figured i could just have a library there
00:11:37
David Jennings
And it was private. I didn't even have it public. This was in 2016. And then at the end of 2016, I decided to just, what the heck, make it public. Maybe somebody could find it and get some info out of it or whatever.
00:11:50
David Jennings
And
Wild Turkey's History and Branding
00:11:51
David Jennings
it it kind of took off. Like, I wasn't expecting that. I honestly had no idea that... there would be that many people interested in wild turkey, you know, especially an unofficial source, you know, ah blog.
00:12:03
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:12:03
David Jennings
So ah that just fed the fire. And I kept, you know, researching and learning new things. And eventually, my wife was like, hey,
00:12:15
David Jennings
you ought to write a book. And I was like, I'm not an author. Like, I can't write a book. That just sounds like crazy, you know? And she goes, well, you write every day. You're writing blog posts. Why can't you just write a book instead? and just And I got to think about I'm like, oh, she's right.
00:12:30
David Jennings
I mean, it's not really any different. You're just spacing a big work out over ah a long period of time instead of a bunch of short works, you know?
00:12:36
Jez
Yeah,
00:12:38
David Jennings
And so I went, you know, headfirst into it. But my only thing was like, um um very I try to be very careful to be as accurate as possible. So the research portion took a long time. like Because not only do you have to like find a source for something, you usually have to find two or three sources to back that source up. Because...
00:12:58
Jez
yeah you have to vet that source, right?
00:13:00
David Jennings
Correct. Because like with whiskey, I mean, there's a lot of whiskey media out there, be it, you know, books or podcasts or or videos, whatever.
00:13:07
Jez
so much
00:13:09
David Jennings
And it's not all accurate. So, you know, it's and even, you know, Aaron, everyone makes mistakes. I make mistakes. um But I mean, I've even, you know, even distiller sometimes make mistakes. They're being interviewed. They you know, maybe give the wrong age or something like that.
00:13:24
David Jennings
It's just because they do so much stuff that like they can't remember every single minutia of detail about every single expression. So it's it's good to kind of verify.
00:13:31
Jez
There's so much history as well.
00:13:32
David Jennings
um
00:13:34
Jez
Like with every distillery, like especially the older ones, they're just like, and the distilleries changed hands so many times.
00:13:34
David Jennings
Right.
00:13:37
David Jennings
Right.
00:13:41
Jez
Like they go, oh, it's my grandpappy, whatever. But the amount of times they go, oh, we sold it off here, bought it back, jumped back in.
00:13:47
David Jennings
Mm hmm.
00:13:48
Jez
You're like, understandable.
00:13:48
David Jennings
It's sad because i feel like the there's a lot of like writing the first wild turkey book was a lot of fun because there was no other wild turkey book out there. So it was it was neat to be able to kind of be the first to do that.
00:14:02
Jez
Hmm.
00:14:02
David Jennings
I fully expect that there will be future wild turkey books, you know, whether for me or from somebody else.
00:14:08
David Jennings
And I'm totally cool with that, but it's nice to have that there. I feel like that'll always be some reference for somebody. um But there are so many other distilleries that have stories to tell that aren't being told.
00:14:20
David Jennings
And as each year goes by, we get further and further from, you know, what actually happened. See someone like Jimmy, you know, was there, you know, in 1954. So we we can get some accurate history about well how things were back then because he's still around, you know.
00:14:39
David Jennings
um But a lot of these other distilleries, they don't have, you know, their patriarchs anymore. You know, it's ah you're down on generation three or four, you know.
00:14:48
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:14:48
David Jennings
So it's it gets every every time that every generation that passes, you lose a little bit of the the story from the generation before. And there are always things that will be passed down. but I feel like there are stories that need be told.
00:15:02
David Jennings
And then there's stories about distilleries that are long forgotten that will probably never be told because nobody really knows, you know, uh, at, in Anderson County, there were wild turkeys at, at one time was the hotbed of, of bourbon in Kentucky.
00:15:18
David Jennings
Um, and now, I mean, With the exception of a small non-distilling producer, all you really have there is Wild Turkey and Four Roses. But, you know, at one point in time, you had distilleries up, you know, well over 10 to 10s potentially ah of ah different distilleries operating at that time. Some very big ones, too. Big names like Cedarbrook and, ah you know, by Judge McBrayer. And then you had Saffel and you had the Bonds. You had the Lillards. You had...
00:15:50
David Jennings
The Dowlings, I mean, it it was just lots of Anderson County names there, all kind of weaving in and out of each other's operations and having different brands. And its yeah and know a lot of and a lot of other big names had been based out of that area at one time, too. JTS Brown being you know a recognizable one.
00:16:12
David Jennings
So I feel like there's a lot of history that's being lost. And I hope that one day somebody kind of grabs a hold of it before it's too late. So.
00:16:22
Jez
I think that's the problem as well. Like, since the information it goes over such a long period of time, the record keeping from then isn't that great. Like, um we're very lucky ininess in Australia at the moment. We have Rob Samuels out visiting.
00:16:39
David Jennings
Oh, cool.
00:16:39
Jez
um So, caught up with him a few days ago and, you know, he was telling the the story of how the family got started and, But it's like he say the original maker's mark is like fourth generation. It's like every generation before that, they were making terrible whiskey.
00:16:56
David Jennings
right right
00:16:56
Jez
So it's like they don't actually have the information before them because they were just like, it's not great whiskey. And now they're up to the eighth generation master distiller. Yeah. It's like, yeah, that everything before four is is gone. it It's going to be hard for distilleries to kind of grab that information and go, all right, well, you know, this is what our product was before then.
00:17:20
David Jennings
yeah it it's makers has has got a fascinating history honestly
00:17:25
Jez
Beautiful sight.
00:17:26
David Jennings
ah you know
00:17:26
Jez
I love it.
00:17:27
David Jennings
Oh, yeah, it's it's it's it is probably the most beautiful distillery in Kentucky. um But, you know, they have the, believe it was called the Berks Distillery that was there before the the Samuels purchased the property.
00:17:40
Jez
Oh.
00:17:40
David Jennings
And then you the Samuels had those rickhouses.
00:17:44
David Jennings
in Dietzville that now belong to Heaven Hill. and And then the whole story of the maker's brand with Margie and Bill and just fascinating. And it's such an iconic design because...
00:18:00
David Jennings
It's very simple and it's very true the original. I have a 70s Maker's Mark over on the shelf there. And if I put that in a liquor store other than the tack strip, if I were to set that on the shelf of a liquor store, it would not look out of place.
00:18:08
Jez
o
00:18:15
David Jennings
It looks, you know, with the with
Exploring Whiskey Brands and Marketing
00:18:17
David Jennings
the exception of very minor manner details, it looks exactly like Maker's Mark now, you know?
00:18:21
Jez
like glass imperfections or something and and a tax strip, I'm sure.
00:18:25
David Jennings
just they change little things on the label and stuff like that.
00:18:25
Jez
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:28
David Jennings
But I mean, for the most, it looks exactly the same, but a very fascinating story. And, uh, you know, a lot of that was all branding. Cause I mean, the Samuels aren't necessarily distillers.
00:18:39
David Jennings
I mean, uh, you know, they, they don't, they're not in there running the stills, but, uh, but, but I would say that Bill, you know, Rob's father, Bill, uh,
00:18:43
Jez
No.
00:18:51
David Jennings
He really took the the marketing to a another level. like he
00:18:55
Jez
Spider-Man.
00:18:55
David Jennings
He put advertisements on billboards and in magazines that you wouldn't necessarily...
00:19:01
Jez
spot him in
00:19:02
David Jennings
Yeah, exactly. you That you would not think of, but he had these great ideas and and they were quirky and they were funny and they were... you know, off the cuff and kind of offensive sometimes to some people like, but it worked. it It really worked and it's still working. You know, they have amazing branding, just amazing branding and it's simple, but it works very, very well.
00:19:25
David Jennings
um I'd say it, you know, it's not quite as iconic as Jack Daniels. I think the Jack Daniels, you know, logo is is kind of probably the peak of like American whiskey, you know, icons, but yeah,
00:19:37
David Jennings
Makers is up there. It's got to be top three at least, you know. Yeah.
00:19:41
Jez
Well, we can take it back to Wild Turkey, but they also have such iconic branding. Like you you look at the Turkey, even like Austin Nichols classic. Turkey and you're like, yeah, I recognize what that is.
00:19:56
Jez
And do you feel like that's also important with like creating a important brands, say longevity?
00:20:04
David Jennings
and Absolutely.
00:20:04
Jez
Yeah.
00:20:05
David Jennings
Yeah, and and that's where, too, a lot of the rebranding and stuff, I feel like, can hurt a brand as well. So ah with Wild Turkey, they had pretty much the same logo and graphic design with the exception of minor changes for, you know...
00:20:26
Jez
I'm trying to find some.
00:20:26
David Jennings
um Okay. For for at about 50 years, you know, they had the same label, you know, and then they changed it, but they didn't just change it and stick with it.
00:20:31
Jez
Yeah.
00:20:38
David Jennings
They changed it again they changed it again they changed it again and they changed it again.
00:20:39
Jez
Yeah.
00:20:42
David Jennings
And look, I get that it looks prettier. It looks fancier. It looks more expensive.
00:20:46
Jez
It's every four years though.
00:20:46
David Jennings
The problem is, Yeah, it's it's like, it just, the label changes are are so, coming so quickly and they're just all over the place and it's hard to keep track of. So, you know, while it it makes for a some often, there you go, often cooler looking,
00:21:04
David Jennings
bottle because you're, you know I guess, in some ways, upgrading to the latest you know design, ah you kind of hurt your iconic imagery.
00:21:15
David Jennings
So brands like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels and Makers Mart pretty much have stayed with the same looking you know logo and label, and it's become this iconic thing.
00:21:26
David Jennings
I don't think Wild Turkey has quite cracked the iconic image branding like those other brands. They're an iconic brand and iconic whiskey, but the branding itself, the marketing has been all over the map.
00:21:40
David Jennings
I mean, they've, they've gone from, you had marketing like advertisements in the two thousands and you can find this on YouTube and stuff, but it's like, they're embracing that biker bar image, you know we're wild Turkey and tough, you know, and like, and then,
00:21:56
Jez
That's probably why it resonated with Aussies.
00:21:58
David Jennings
Yeah, it might have been, might have been. And, uh, you know, have it with your Vegemite or whatever, you know? And, uh, but, uh, But yeah, ah they yeah changed it. And then, the other you know, they kind of turned they turned it into something where it was going to be more of a sophisticated whiskey. And they bring in McConaughey and they're trying to shape it and all this. And then, you know, now I think they've realized and and I think this started around 2011 or so, because this is when I first remember starting to see this type of branding.
00:22:29
David Jennings
But now I think they're putting the focus on the Russells, which I think is a very smart move. um I think trying to make it like they had that whole give them the bird campaign. They had the biker bar commercials. I don't really think that worked well.
00:22:43
David Jennings
um Bringing McConaughey in seemed like a great idea at first. I don't really think it it took off because it just... It just never seemed to go anywhere after that first video, you know, and nothing against anyone involved in that. I just, it just did not land with whiskey people. I don't think.
00:22:59
Jez
Oh, what was your thoughts on long branch thing? Because obviously this is like one of the first times they've changed the way they make wild turkey because like they're filtering it through mesquite charcoal.
00:22:59
David Jennings
Um,
00:23:07
David Jennings
um,
00:23:10
Jez
Okay.
00:23:10
David Jennings
Yeah. Yeah, it's mesquite charcoal from Texas.
00:23:12
Jez
um
00:23:13
David Jennings
ah So I don't know if it's so much filtered as it is enhanced. They say enhanced. It's in infused. I think that it's, yeah, I think it's kind of, you know, from what I understand, it's more soaked into the whiskey and less less going through it.
00:23:28
Jez
okay
00:23:30
David Jennings
um You know, what I didn't think... I long branch when it came out, I but thought it was fine. I didn't think it tasted bad all. Actually it tasted better than I thought it was going to taste. I thought it was a great whiskey, the only thing was with the price was really high for what it was.
00:23:43
David Jennings
It was 86 proof, non-age stated, supposedly eight years, but it was 45 bucks or so. And you could go, yeah well you could get, you know, at that time it came out, you could get Kentucky spirit for the same price, you get 101 proof.
00:23:50
Jez
Yeah, it was like 60 something here.
00:23:57
David Jennings
And you know, so yeah, yeah.
00:23:57
Jez
Shit.
00:24:00
Jez
I know where you'd buy.
00:24:00
David Jennings
went,
00:24:01
Jez
Like it consumers, they're just like, they're looking for value. So like, you know, getting a bottle of Kentucky Spirit from around the same price you like. What are you going to do
00:24:11
David Jennings
Yeah, well, the price has gone up now, but when I first got into it, you could find Kentucky Spirit for $45, sometimes $50.
00:24:13
Jez
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:17
Jez
wild
00:24:18
David Jennings
$55 was expensive for Kentucky Spirit when I first got started. that that was
00:24:21
Jez
You would have had those fan towels as well. i was just like, whoa.
00:24:23
David Jennings
That's right. yeah And then Long Branch came in, and you know that was $45.
00:24:25
Jez
That's where it's at. Yeah,
00:24:28
David Jennings
And then the Kentucky Spirit price was ratcheting up a little bit, but It was just, you were, you were paying for a premium product, but you weren't really getting the bones of a, of a premium product. It was good whiskey.
00:24:38
David Jennings
There was nothing wrong with it. It just lacked that wow factor. And then like you could get Russell's 10, 10 year bourbon, you know, at 90 proof for 35 bucks at the time, still find it 35 some places.
00:24:51
David Jennings
And so it made the long branch of hard buy, you know, because of that, uh,
00:24:52
Jez
Insane.
00:24:57
David Jennings
So, you know, i was I was fine with giving it a go and everything. It's just not, and it's nothing, I don't dislike i don't dislike it. I'm just not going to spend my money on it when I can buy Russell's 10 or, you know, a Russell single barrel or something else that I know I'm going to really enjoy instead of just something. If I want a casual whiskey, I've got tons of those in my house right now. I can grab a zillion different things and and drink casually.
00:25:20
David Jennings
um But I think once they put the focus on the Russell's, I think that that really landed well with whiskey enthusiasts because they felt like it was a genuine product.
00:25:34
David Jennings
and And so anyone that was left as a naysayer started becoming converted at at that point. And, you know, the whiskey, once I think people started trying, oh, I'll forgive That's a good one.
00:25:49
Jez
i was um I was thinking about it I was like, we're on we're on the marketing train. And I'm like, do you want to be interesting to pour?
00:25:49
David Jennings
Once people started,
00:25:56
Jez
Just a cheeky forgiven to really kick the morning off at 4.30 in the morning.
00:25:56
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:26:00
David Jennings
Oh my goodness gracious.
00:26:01
Jez
um
00:26:03
David Jennings
Is that 302 or 303?
00:26:03
Jez
But this is 3.02.
00:26:03
David Jennings
302, my favorite of the of the two.
00:26:07
Jez
um But, oh, I love it. Love it.
00:26:11
David Jennings
yeah
00:26:11
Jez
Okay. ah recently just picked up another two more bottles. So I think I've got three kicking around here.
00:26:15
David Jennings
okay well
00:26:16
Jez
So have to save some next time you
00:26:17
David Jennings
Well, 302 is notably better than 303 in my opinion. Like they're almost different whiskeys completely. So if you have them both, do the side by side. I think you'll be shocked.
00:26:27
Jez
Yeah, okay. I'll um i'll definitely have to give it a crack. I'm trying to look up there see what I got.
00:26:33
David Jennings
Well, you don't have to right now.
00:26:33
Jez
um No, no, no.
00:26:34
David Jennings
I'm just saying at some point in time.
00:26:35
Jez
I'm just like, what ones? I was just looking at my top shelf because i got a couple of turkeys up there. I'm like, I wonder what that one is. um But marketing's always been with wild turkey because ah look say you're forgiven, right?
00:26:47
Jez
And they're just like, well, look, we had this mistake, mistake, if you call it that.
00:26:47
David Jennings
Right.
00:26:53
Jez
And they go, right, well, we're going bottle it And then you go, oh, this actually sold well. um So, like, look, it happened again.
00:27:03
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:27:03
Jez
And then they're like, well, the second batch didn't sell well, so they sent it all to Australia. um But hence why we have it now. But it's like, hasn't marketing always been, i guess, the forefront of Wild Turkey as well?
00:27:17
David Jennings
Well, marketing is just the spirits industry. I mean, you know, in the yeah you and matter of fact, I don't think you can find a ah ah better example than vodka because vodka is just...
00:27:22
Jez
Yeah, I guess. Oh, it's good.
00:27:31
David Jennings
ethanol cut with water. I mean, it's like, there's really not a lot to it, you know? So, you know, when you have all these different vodka brands that can all essentially do the same thing, and I'm probably going to have some vodka snobs coming after me for saying this, but folks, there's really not much difference between the different vodka brands.
00:27:51
David Jennings
Um, maybe how they're made.
00:27:52
Jez
But props to Turkey.
00:27:54
David Jennings
What's that?
00:27:55
Jez
Props to Turkey for not having a vodka brand.
00:27:56
David Jennings
That's right. Well, they do bottle Sky Vodka at Wild Turkey, but they just bottle it.
00:28:01
Jez
Oh, yeah, yeah, okay.
00:28:02
David Jennings
ah it
00:28:02
Jez
um I'm like, it's not released under the Wild Turkey brand, not like Wheatley or, um yeah, what's the, there's another one as well from Kentucky.
00:28:06
David Jennings
No, no. Correct.
00:28:12
David Jennings
there' There's...
00:28:13
Jez
Hmm. ah
00:28:13
David Jennings
Yeah, there's there's there's some brands that have ah vodka brands and and obviously Capari has Sky, but but um to me, I feel like marketing is what really sells it, you know? And so I think Grey Goose was one of the first...
00:28:29
David Jennings
premium like vodkas to come out as like, you know, it was in the long, it was in the wine bottle and all that and, and really sold itself as this premium thing. Whereas, you know, years ago, i mean, after the cold war, everybody wanted vodka from Russia and Latvia and places like that, because that was the real vodka, you know?
00:28:47
David Jennings
Um, ah You know, it's all marketing. It's all marketing. When it comes to bourbon, ah there is notable differences in flavor profiles between the distilleries.
00:28:57
Jez
Thank you.
00:28:57
David Jennings
However, you still have to market. it I mean, you can't just put the whiskey in a jug and write, you know, whiskey on the front and expect to make any money. um So there is a ah story to tell. and And really, marketing is is how the Wild Turkey brand began, because You had Austin Nichols and they they had Austin Nichols Kentucky whiskey is what they called it.
00:29:18
David Jennings
And ah it, you know, I guess they felt like they could sell more if they had a ah more relatable brand. Whiskey ah bourbon specifically being popular in the southern United States.
00:29:32
David Jennings
just the same, ah you know, wild turkey hunting is popular in the Southern United States. So these execs went on a turkey hunting trip and, you know, one of the guys enjoyed the bourbon they brought. So the next time they had a trip, he said, you know, bring some of that wild turkey whiskey, you know, referring to the, what they had the the last time. And,
00:29:54
David Jennings
it was just kind of like a light bulb went off and, and ah Mr. McCarthy's head. And he decided, you know, this would be the the best, you know, strategy for selling their whiskey is to make this new brand called wild Turkey. It would
Introducing Raconteur Rye
00:30:07
David Jennings
appeal to a large majority of the population that buys it being, you know, in the Southern United States, it appeals to,
00:30:14
David Jennings
ah You have wildlife associated with bourbon all the time. you know Obviously, you have ah zillion brands that feature some kind of animal you know on them, it seems like.
00:30:26
David Jennings
So there's something iconic about you know bears and bulls and and stags and eagles and all this kind of stuff.
00:30:35
Jez
Buffalo's. Yeah.
00:30:36
David Jennings
Buffalo. Yeah. So, so you, you know, it had that going forward and it, it leaves an impression, you know, especially an odd bird, like a turkey, like a wild turkey is just such an interesting bird. Um, at one time, you know,
00:30:50
David Jennings
ah Benjamin Franklin had proposed that the wild turkey be the nation's official bird. But of course the eagle won over, bald eagle, that is.
00:30:58
Jez
For some reason. Yep.
00:31:00
David Jennings
Yeah. And, but ah it was all marketing. It was just, you know, we're going it's the same whiskey they were putting in whatever they had before. They're just putting it with this new wild turkey label, but it did great. You know, it, it, it won a lot of people over and there were many celebrities in the past that,
00:31:17
Jez
Cheers to that.
00:31:17
David Jennings
enjoyed wild turkey ah president truman being one of the first to be a big wild turkey fan he enjoyed wild turkey and old granddad and would have it every morning with his breakfast um and he he was this one yeah one of those ah og guys and uh a lot of people don't know this but john wayne was a ah big wild turkey fan he would request that cases be delivered if he was uh you know on location uh they would they would send cases of wild turkey for him to have and then uh
00:31:28
Jez
yes that
00:31:47
David Jennings
Evel Knievel is another big one. um Evel Knievel would carry wild turkey in his cane, and it was hollowed out where he could put whiskey in it. And you can actually go and watch an interview with him on Johnny Carson. You can find it on YouTube.
00:32:00
David Jennings
But, you know, he talks about how how important it was for him to take that shot a wild turkey before he did a stunt because he said it was to to calm his nerves. So in order to get the nerve up to make these you know giant leaps, he would do a shot of wild turkey and it was...
00:32:14
Jez
Thank
00:32:17
David Jennings
Legit, every time he had a stunt, he would do Wild Turkey. so I think a lot of these little things add up over time. You know what you know you you build like this brand, and then you have celebrities that that admire it.
00:32:32
David Jennings
and Then that kind of sends a signal to other people that maybe I should try that. and Then you know you build up this little loyal fan base. Unfortunately for Wild Turkey, just like all the other brands, they suffered in the nineteen eighty s and the nineteen ninety s Even before then, they started suffering before then, but the 80s is when it hit its its absolute worst and what everybody knows is the glut era.
00:32:54
David Jennings
So they had to weather that storm, right? and Jimmy did a great job doing that. Of course, they were losing money. Everybody was. um But he he handled that well because he didn't really change anything. he i mean, they introduced the honey liqueur, which is now American honey.
00:33:12
David Jennings
um They yeah had decanters and, you know, he did some lower proof offerings, like 86 proof and 80 proof and all these things to try to
00:33:20
Jez
All the stuff they sent to Australia.
00:33:22
David Jennings
you're in the state yes so And they they did some things to try to keep the brand alive. But, you know, as far as Jimmy was concerned, he was happy just making 101 eight year and that, you know, and he just kept doing it.
00:33:34
David Jennings
And eventually they overcame um due to, you know, a loyal customer base and like the export market in in Australia and Japan and and these kind of places where, you know, it was actually making some money.
00:33:48
David Jennings
Um, and, uh, you know, look at it today. i mean, it's a juggernaut. i mean, wild turkey is huge. Uh, they've got a big following. Everybody knows the name Russell. If you're in whiskey and you say the word Russell, everybody instantly thinks wild turkey.
00:34:04
David Jennings
Um, so it's, it's come a very long way from its earliest days. Um, I just wish they wouldn't change the label so much. Yeah.
00:34:13
Jez
I'm with you. Yeah. i There's something special about those this classic labels.
00:34:17
David Jennings
Yes. Yeah.
00:34:18
Jez
But, um you know, speaking about connections to the the Russells, you have your own whiskey brand. I don't know how many people know about it, like especially with the Australian audience. I know my whiskey mates know a lot about your whiskey.
00:34:31
Jez
But did you want to take us through that? I know you're ah you strapped for time here.
00:34:33
David Jennings
Oh yeah. Um, yeah, well I've got another 15 minutes or so, but so yeah.
00:34:38
Jez
Perfect. Perfect.
00:34:39
David Jennings
So in, um, now this has been well over a year now. Um, Maybe two. i don't know. Time flies.
00:34:47
Jez
think it's about two.
00:34:48
Jez
Yeah.
00:34:48
David Jennings
And it's about two years, I think.
00:34:50
Jez
yeah
00:34:50
David Jennings
It's crazy.
00:34:51
David Jennings
But my friend James Simons, who has owns the Woodwork Collective in Louisville, Kentucky, ah we were talking about doing some barrel picks and really kind of wanted to find something unique. He had some good barrels, ah but I wanted to find something just like that was different. And he was like, well, if you want to try a blend, you can try blending something. I i don't mind.
00:35:16
David Jennings
And I was like, really? Okay, I've never been given that opportunity by distiller, whether it's non-distilling producer or distilling producer, to kind of make my own personal blend. So I was um was excited and came up with a combination of Mizanara-finished rye a toasted, ah heavily ah cured. It was cured for like 48 months.
00:35:41
David Jennings
ah Bourbon, I'm sorry, rye and a straight rye. So kind of a combination of the of of three different kinds of 95 rye. five right And I had a profile i was really happy about.
00:35:50
Jez
Thank
00:35:51
David Jennings
He thought it was great. um But I needed something to kind of, you know, move it along and appeal to folks. and And I came up with this Rack into a Rye. And that was really just, I had another idea originally.
00:36:05
David Jennings
And I looked it up and some other brand had it. So I couldn't do that. But it just walking the dog one day kind of hit me, you know, and We started that and, you know, it's got a little cult following and we try not to make too much of it because we want it to kind of stay, you know, special.
00:36:28
David Jennings
But we're we're making more now than we did when we first started doing it. And we have ah another two batches about to to be released. ah to the United States. And then we're, work we've got one in that we're actually kind of bottling now for Australia.
00:36:43
Jez
Yeah.
00:36:43
David Jennings
And it's, ah it's eight year.
00:36:47
David Jennings
ah Well, we have the two U S releases are ah of Kentucky rye. And then we have an Indiana rye. And they're eight years. Mizanara finished.
00:36:58
David Jennings
And I think that people are going to be real happy with it. To me, the profile is on the Indiana is somewhere between the first batch and second batch, which ah batch one and and then there's batch two, which we call brazen.
00:37:10
David Jennings
ah brazen is very much like a bourbon-y type of rye the first one's very much a ah very uh rye rye and this is kind of right in the middle uh the third batch was a kentucky one uh and it was real bright and citrusy and this one is kind of like that but a little bit darker because it's it's a little older and we gave it more time in the mesonara and so it's kind of like ah a new play on like a like a remix of the
00:37:19
Jez
Beautiful.
The Art of Finished Whiskeys
00:37:37
David Jennings
of batch three. So we're very excited to get those out. And then um ah last year, well, we kind of started on it in 2023, building the the the company and and purchasing barrels and this type of thing. My father and I came up with a whiskey brand that we formerly launched last year called Caleb's Crossing.
00:37:57
David Jennings
And it's a tribute to my fifth great grandfather, Caleb Jennings. And the first two releases were finished whiskeys. This was the rye that I was just holding up.
00:38:10
David Jennings
I was finished in Pinot de Chiron. And then the bourbon was finished in Pinot de Chiron and Armagnac. And those those came out last year.
00:38:18
Jez
Oh, yum.
00:38:20
David Jennings
And all yeah they're they're they're really tasty. I mean, you have to, you have to appreciate finished whiskey, but I was very careful to not overfinish. And I think that folks that once they try it, they're surprised because I think they go into it expecting it to be one thing. And then they realize it's, it's, it's different.
00:38:40
David Jennings
It has a lot more finesse to it than, than people probably think. I know there was a lot of finished whiskey released, especially during COVID. And there wasn't a lot of,
00:38:48
Jez
so much.
00:38:49
David Jennings
so much and there wasn't a lot of care put into some of those and so you end up with whiskeys that are hot or youthful and they're just covering it up with with finishing cask or it's been over finished like it's just set in the finishing cask way too long and it doesn't taste like whiskey anymore it tastes like whatever the finishing cask was this i was very very careful to make sure that it was monitored and sometimes weekly, sometimes daily to get, make sure that like everything is going as it's supposed to be going.
00:39:20
David Jennings
Because when it got to the end there, I was having to really, really hone in and make sure like, and it was very hard decision. Like when you finally get to the point where you pull the trigger, cause you're like, maybe one more day, maybe it's like, Oh, I don't know.
00:39:32
Jez
Yeah, you don't want over-oak it at that point.
00:39:33
David Jennings
I think it's time to go. you know Yeah. So.
00:39:35
Jez
it's ah You'll cook it. But I was going to ask, what's your stance on finished bourbons and ryes? Because i know people get upset about like finishing bourbon.
00:39:40
David Jennings
Oh, I,
00:39:43
Jez
They're like, no, it needs to be an inch-hard American oak. But I'm like, if you can remix it, essentially.
00:39:49
David Jennings
and I mean, the funny thing is, finished whiskey really only... I mean, to my knowledge, only really exists in the American vernacular. I mean, in scotch, there's no such thing as a finished whiskey.
00:40:00
David Jennings
i mean, you can use Armagnac cask, you can use a port cask, whatever you want to use is just scotch, you know?
00:40:02
Jez
It's all full maturation.
00:40:08
David Jennings
um mean, of course, they'll disclose, you know, how that maturation happened, but is there's not really this, you know, flag that exists.
00:40:08
Jez
Yeah.
00:40:17
David Jennings
Like in America, there's this like red flag. Oh, that's a finished whiskey, you know?
00:40:21
Jez
Hmm.
00:40:22
David Jennings
And it's like, you know, maybe you should just focus on it as, is it good whiskey? You know, um is the producer being transparent? Was quality, you know, finishing casts, quality finishing casts used in the process or was it cheaper solutions like staves and spirals and this kind of thing? Nothing against the people that do those, but, you know, it all should matter to the person who's drinking. They want to kind of know how the whiskey was made.
00:40:50
David Jennings
So I think that if you, if you do it the right way. And, and this, and to me, I've got a few examples I can give of, of finished whiskeys that I feel like are, you know, these are the ones I look, look to, to achieving one day.
00:41:05
David Jennings
um obviously masters keep revival, uh, is top of the list. I think when it comes to a finished bourbon, there is no better finished bourbon. Like I think that that is a masterpiece.
00:41:16
David Jennings
I think Eddie knocked it out the park and i can find no other finished bourbon that I feel like rises to that level. 12, you go.
00:41:25
Jez
I think actually have some behind me here.
00:41:26
David Jennings
Yeah. 12 to year old
00:41:27
Jez
There we go. Yeah.
00:41:30
David Jennings
bourbon finished in Oloroso Sherry Cass for just the perfect amount of time. And then just so well executed. Um, another one I'm a big fan of is the Bardstown bourbon company Chateau de la Bade, the very first one with the Indiana bourbon in it.
00:41:44
Jez
Yes.
00:41:47
David Jennings
I thought that, uh, A Denny Calloway just killed it. um I mean, it just everything about that expression, just it's robust. It's flavorful.
00:41:58
David Jennings
It's layered. It's complex. It's mature. It's got it's like every checkbox you want to get. And it's like, who cares that it was finished, right? It just tastes amazing. So I think when you can get to that point where you create something that just tastes so good, it doesn't matter that it's finished.
00:42:14
David Jennings
It just doesn't matter. And we took the same approach with Raconteur Rye.
00:42:16
Jez
you
00:42:18
David Jennings
It was like, we didn't want to so much make the focus the Mizanara. We wanted to make the focus the rye. So that's why on the label, we made sure that...
00:42:29
David Jennings
Instead of you see a lot of other and nothing against what anybody else does, but like, let's say somebody comes up with a Mizanara cask finish. They usually place the marketing heavily on the Mizanara.
00:42:41
David Jennings
They want the Mizanara to be the focus because that's the thing. So is that a Mizanara?
00:42:45
Jez
I'll use Larrikin for an example.
00:42:46
David Jennings
Oh, cognac. Okay. There you go.
00:42:47
Jez
Yeah, yeah. So, they're like, they're just going, this is a rye, 10-year-old rye, but, like, they're going heavily on the cognac finish because that's where it kind of pops, right?
00:42:53
David Jennings
Right. Right. And a lot of brands do that. They they focus more on the finish. So what we wanted to do is make a finished whiskey, but the focus was on the base spirit. So, you know, you see very big here, right?
00:43:07
David Jennings
It's really big.
00:43:07
Jez
Hmm.
00:43:07
David Jennings
It's like, and the, and the Mizanara is just down here. It's a little, little mention, you know?
00:43:11
Jez
Yeah, just a ah light note of like, yeah, it's look, it's it's done majority of its time in rye, but we want to focus on the rye.
00:43:14
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:43:18
David Jennings
Right.
00:43:19
Jez
I know you got to dip out of here real quick, but the bottling for Australia.
00:43:22
David Jennings
I got another five minutes or so. Okay.
00:43:24
Jez
Yeah, and that's right. I'm sure this will take a little bit of time, but the bottling for Australia, you touched on it
00:43:29
David Jennings
Yeah. Yeah. we So I was just there last week. ah James was bottling everything.
00:43:33
Jez
Yeah.
00:43:35
David Jennings
It's a very slow process because woodwork is a hand operation. i mean, they everything's by hand.
00:43:40
Jez
Amazing.
00:43:42
David Jennings
um So, you know, all the bottles are filled by hand, labeled by hand, sealed by hand. ah it is It's not one of those things we can just throw it on a line, you know.
00:43:50
Jez
Oh, not running that kind of operation.
00:43:50
David Jennings
So there's... ah We have... it's, it's, it's, it's a lot of work. So, uh, we had over 2000 bottles of the large American batches.
00:43:56
Jez
ah love it.
00:44:00
Jez
Shit.
00:44:01
David Jennings
So to throw in a couple hundred on top of that is like, it's, it's, it's a lot of work. So, you know, ah it's still in that process, but, um, hopefully we can get through all the legalities and all that kind of stuff here to, to, to,
00:44:16
David Jennings
to get all this worked out
Future Plans and Closing Remarks
00:44:17
David Jennings
in a timely manner. I know we'll get it to work out. It's just, it just takes time to get all this stuff figured out because for some reason, alcohol is such a hard thing to deal with and it shouldn't be, you know, we we're still dealing with what I call prohibition 2.0 here.
00:44:29
Jez
No.
00:44:33
David Jennings
I mean, yeah we repealed federal prohibition, but the states, you know, still have essentially forms of prohibition. Counties have forms of prohibition.
00:44:42
Jez
And you can't move bottles across state lines, which is wild.
00:44:43
David Jennings
yeah.
00:44:46
David Jennings
Right. There's a lot of growing up to do in our country when it comes to alcohol that that European countries and Australia and other countries don't have to deal with.
00:44:50
Jez
I agree. Yeah.
00:44:57
David Jennings
um So I get it.
00:44:59
Jez
Ours is just booze tax.
00:45:01
David Jennings
yeah Yeah, yeah. You guys get killed with it too.
00:45:02
Jez
hundred and ah It's like $104 Australian per 100% by the leader.
00:45:04
David Jennings
It's awful.
00:45:08
David Jennings
and Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:09
Jez
It's diabolical.
00:45:10
Jez
It's like $60 in tax a bottle.
00:45:10
David Jennings
there There are a few states, we have a few states here that have horrible taxes.
00:45:14
David Jennings
I i believe Washington State is one of them. But ah for the most, it's we don't we shouldn't be complaining because you guys have to put up with so much more. But, oh okay, yeah, that's right.
00:45:23
Jez
Plus, we don't have bourbon like locally. It's not like I can...
00:45:28
David Jennings
You don't have a, right.
00:45:30
Jez
Yeah, I can't duck down to like a wild turkey down the road. I like they pick it up at the local liquor store in and it's whatever.
00:45:33
David Jennings
Right. yeah You can't make bourbon in Australia, but you can make whiskey in Australia and you do have distilleries, but right.
00:45:40
Jez
Yeah, you can. Well, believe it or not, you can make bourbon in Australia. So, because your bourbon classification, I was having this conversation with one of the beam execs when I was drinking at Old Carter, but he was like, you can't have bourbon in Australia.
00:45:50
David Jennings
Okay.
00:45:54
Jez
I'm like, well, look. They take the Jim Beam from you guys and they exported it, say, 80 proof. Yeah, 80 proof. Bring it to Australia and then they drop it down to 37%. And you go, that's not bourbon. I'm like, well, your classification only matters in the US.
00:46:10
Jez
Once you it can be whatever it wants to be.
00:46:15
David Jennings
Yeah, in in in in essence, in the liquid form, I think you're right. But but it marketing it as bourbon is where you're going to get in trouble because that's when there's international agreements and these kind things.
00:46:24
Jez
Once again...
00:46:28
Jez
But that doesn't actually matter outside of the US. That's where it's wild that they can.
00:46:32
David Jennings
I guess you're right about who's going to come after you, you know, right.
00:46:34
Jez
Yeah, it's it's beam like it's their own juice. They're just like, well, technically it's bourbon when it left the US and for it to be classified as bourbon and it's made in the US and like hit all those laws.
00:46:40
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:46:44
Jez
But once it leaves the US, s it can be whatever it wants to be.
00:46:49
David Jennings
Yeah, it it's ah it's funny how that works. It's kind of tricky. um
00:46:53
Jez
Yeah, I'm like morally you're wrong, but like legality wise, I guess, play ball.
00:46:54
David Jennings
but but
00:47:01
David Jennings
Well, you know, yeah there's the funny thing is is is when they get to these protective you know names like champagne, these kind of things like... you know
00:47:11
Jez
Yeah, we're a para in Australia, I think. Is it a para?
00:47:13
David Jennings
yeah Yeah, there's all these names that are protected because they're a certain style.
00:47:15
Jez
Yeah.
00:47:19
David Jennings
But the reality of it is that anyone can and make something similar. They just can't call it that if they want to do business, you know, in other countries and this kind of thing.
00:47:24
Jez
Yeah.
00:47:28
David Jennings
But um but you can still... make the same thing. It's just, you have to call it something else. It is kind of silly.
00:47:35
Jez
Yeah.
00:47:36
David Jennings
get that it's protected. I get it's a a product of America, but at the same time, I mean, there's so many bastardized like food things that like, and like wait like we have pizza and like pizza in America is like huge, but the pizza we eat in America is not the pizza in Italy.
00:47:54
Jez
It's like Domino's and, ah don't know, Papa John's.
00:47:54
David Jennings
It's like all, all these, like these things, yeah Yeah, these things get all mixed mashed and everything. So I get the idea to keep things protected and all that. But at the end of the day,
00:48:05
Jez
Let me tell you, when I was in Rome, I didn't have garlic cheesy stuffed crust. So that's clearly an American thing. It's not so coming out of Rome.
00:48:13
David Jennings
yeah it yeah i think I think that we pretty much bastardize all of the you know foods from other countries. like I don't think our Chinese food is real Chinese food. i't It's all like you know grease greasy, It's
00:48:24
Jez
orange chicken and shit
00:48:28
David Jennings
it's horrible you know but I mean, like for your body, but it tastes great.
00:48:32
Jez
yeah it tastes great p play ball
00:48:32
David Jennings
um We have flour tortillas in our Mexican food. I don't think the Mexicans use flour tortillas. So, I mean, there's there's all kinds of funny things that where you can you can take a product and change it and still call that.
00:48:44
David Jennings
But ah yeah, so bourbon is a protected name. However, that doesn't mean that someone can't distill the same properties of bourbon and put it in a ah new charred oak barrel.
00:48:53
Jez
and call it like bourbon style or...
00:48:55
David Jennings
and And they would still be making... What's essentially bourbon, it just wasn't made in the United States, so they can't call it that. But who knows, maybe you can age some, you know, bourbon awesome in Australia. I don't know what the climate is like most of the time, but who knows.
00:49:12
Jez
The closest thing we have is um I'd use Whippersnapper as an example, but um they've got Australian corn whiskey and it's I think it's like maybe three years old.
00:49:23
Jez
I know, disgusting, but it's um matured in Char 3 Virgin American Oat Casks, which they get from, I think, Colorado memory.
00:49:32
David Jennings
Oh, okay.
00:49:33
Jez
um But yeah, it's
00:49:34
David Jennings
So it's like American style whiskey, I guess is what you would call it.
00:49:37
Jez
Essentially, yeah.
00:49:38
David Jennings
American style whiskey.
00:49:38
Jez
These guys have called it Australian corn whiskey because Australia still hasn't worked out what we want to make our whiskey style to be.
00:49:45
David Jennings
Hmm.
00:49:45
Jez
It's like we've got like Scotch style, we've got but essentially American style whiskey, but yeah, we're still figuring out.
00:49:46
David Jennings
Yeah.
00:49:53
Jez
But I know and know you have to dip.
00:49:53
David Jennings
Hmm.
00:49:55
Jez
Where are we able to get your bottles from when you you finally launch them?
00:49:58
David Jennings
Okay.
00:49:59
Jez
Do you want to plug some socials in here?
00:49:59
David Jennings
ah go Go to racontourrye.com and you can find out information about the latest batch very soon.
00:50:00
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:50:06
David Jennings
The the website will be updated ah probably in the next two weeks or so. ah You can go to calebscrossingwhiskeyco.com to learn about Caleb's Crossing. ah To visit my blog, Rare Bird 101.
00:50:19
David Jennings
um Got ah some reviews about to come. my Beacon should be arriving this week, so I'm very excited to trimester Skid Beacon.
00:50:25
Jez
I'm so excited.
00:50:27
David Jennings
So you you should...
00:50:27
Jez
We've got Bruce coming out to Australia as well next week.
00:50:29
David Jennings
I saw that.
00:50:30
Jez
Yeah, it's going sick.
00:50:30
David Jennings
That's awesome.
00:50:31
Jez
I'm so pumped.
00:50:31
David Jennings
Yeah. And so I've got that review is going to be in the works. And then I'm still waiting on my Russell's 13 bottle. I've had it. I like it. It's different from the other ones, but I haven't, don't have a bottle.
00:50:42
David Jennings
So I'm not going review it without a bottle, but ribberd101.com is where you'll find my wild Turkey info. And you can always follow me on social media at ribberd101 or at our bird 101.
00:50:52
David Jennings
And thank you for having me on and sorry, it was such a short session.
00:50:55
Jez
No, no, you're fine.
00:50:56
David Jennings
We'll have to do this again.
00:50:57
Jez
Oh, absolutely. Oh, yeah, you're incredible hang. So, yeah, thank you so much for jumping on. I will plug all your socials down in the show description as well.
00:51:05
David Jennings
Okay.
00:51:06
Jez
But, yeah, thank you. Let me...
00:51:09
David Jennings
And look, and I'm looking forward to y'all trying that Rack into a Rye.
00:51:09
Jez
ah
00:51:11
David Jennings
So, um, yeah.
00:51:12
Jez
I cannot wait. I've got a mate called Ben and he is hyping it up.
00:51:16
David Jennings
Uh-huh.
00:51:17
Jez
i think you might know Ben.
00:51:19
David Jennings
I do know Ben.
00:51:20
Jez
Yeah, there we go.
00:51:20
David Jennings
Ben went to Wild Turkey with me. But we've got we've got some special, well, it's like a batch that's been moved to a barrel that's been just sitting for a very long time for for Australia.
00:51:22
Jez
yes
00:51:34
David Jennings
So we're very excited to share it with you guys.
00:51:36
Jez
I love it. When we have that launch, I'm going to have you back on and I'm sure we can do a tasting. I'm going to have Ben jump in as well.
00:51:40
David Jennings
That would be cool. I would love that.
00:51:42
Jez
It's going to be sick. All right.
00:51:43
Jez
Well, yeah. Thank you again for jumping on. Hopefully, you guys have enjoyed it. This is non-field chilted. Cheers, legends. she legend
00:51:43
David Jennings
Okay.
00:51:52
David Jennings
Cheers.