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Today on the Bourbon Bytes podcast, I'm back from a mini hiatus and telling you all the bourbon and
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whiskey news you missed, including a new Old Fitzgerald release from Heaven Hill,
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a cask strength High West, and the highs and lows of Irish whiskey through 2025.
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Plus, I have a very special byte-sized review of Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot B bourbon whiskey.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to the Bourbon Bytes podcast. I'm your host Clifton and this
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is the week of January 15th, 2026. Happy Thursday. Thank you all so much for allowing me a couple
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weeks off to travel for the holidays, do a little bit of a reset, and now I am very much back in
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action with the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist.
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If you're new here, hi, welcome. This is kind of the return from a mid-season break.
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I didn't consider it a full end of the second season just because I felt like I still had
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quite a bit more content to do before we wrapped up what I like to call a season,
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but I did take a little break, so I appreciate those of you that stuck with me through it.
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I have a very special 'Byte-Sized Review' sent in to me from one of my viewers that we're going to do
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later on on the podcast, but we do have some whiskey news to talk about because it's been
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a few weeks, so there's been a lot happening out there. Not necessarily a lot in terms of new
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releases, but there's just been a lot going on in the world in general, so let's get into it.
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I think one of the first announcements I have is one of the biggest distilleries,
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one of my favorite distilleries, Heaven Hill, has announced their Bottled in Bond Old Fitzgerald
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bourbon for fall 2025. A little bit of a late announcement. It came out towards the
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middle of December. This is going to be an 11-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey,
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and it's going to be released at a MSRP of $160. This is going to be a relatively old one. You know,
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we've been seeing some younger 9-10-year-old releases in the past couple of these Old Fitz,
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so I'm glad to see an at least 11-year-old age statement. Now, as with all these Old Fitzgerald
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decanters, this one comes in at 100 proof, Bottled in Bond, and they say this one is accompanied by
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notes of bourbon sweetness, leather, oak, and baking spices, as well as plums, peaches, and
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figs. Sounds like all my kind of favorite notes. I've always been a fan of this mash bill. I most
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recently had a chance to try it with the Bottled in Bond 7-year Old Fitzgerald that is more of a
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shelf-stable, you know, regular release that actually made my top 10 whiskeys of the year,
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by the way. Newest published video on the channel other than the live streams. I did a countdown on
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my top 10 whiskeys of 2025. If you missed it, go check it out. YouTube.com/bourbonbytes.
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You will see that Old Fitz 7-year on that list, along with quite a few other new American whiskies
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that came out last year, or I tried for the first time last year. So check that out. Make sure to
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subscribe. I go live every Thursday evening. And yeah, if you're looking for something new to
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subscribe to in the new year, check out Bourbon Bytes on YouTube. Well, since we're talking about
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new releases, there's another one from one of my favorite craft rye distilleries, High West.
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They are actually releasing a cask strength release of their bourbon. So they haven't actually done
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this in the past. They've done some individual single barrels, but they are having a new addition
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to the lineup called Cask Strength Bourbon. It started January 12th, so just a few days ago,
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and the retail price on it is about $70. Now they actually give us a little more detail than I
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thought we were going to see about this release. They say that this is a small batch bourbon that
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is a blend of five different straight bourbon whiskeys, aged between six years and 20 years old,
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sourced from distilleries in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. So the only one on there that kind
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of worries me is the Tennessee. You know, I don't know where they're sourcing from in Tennessee.
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There's a chance it might have that George Dickel kind of note that some of those releases do.
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Not that I'm totally opposed to George Dickel. It's just sometimes when those are in a blend,
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it tends to overwhelm it. That's how I felt about certain Bardstown Bourbon Company releases in the
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past. So that makes me a little hesitant, but for a price tag of $70, having up to a 20-year-old
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bourbon in that blend does excite me. So this is going to be one that I'm going to keep an eye out.
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It's going to be limited quantities, but this is supposed to go nationwide starting this month,
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and I am pretty excited. Like I said, High West is known for their rye whiskey. I think they excel
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at rye whiskey. So their bourbon, I'm a little bit more iffy about, but at cask strength with a pretty
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darn nice range of ages in the bottle, I would definitely give it a try for $70. So again,
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as with the Heaven Hill, I will pick it up if I see it and give it a review for you guys. So stay
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tuned. There's a lot of new whiskeys coming out this year that I want a chance to try. I tried
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tons last year, but 2026, I think at least based on the rumors I've been hearing, there's going to be
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some good releases coming out this year. So I got my eyes peeled and make sure to have your ears
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peeled or perked or whatever you do. Listen, just listen in. Well, since we were branching out
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from a Kentucky bourbon, there is another craft distillery that I know and love, Frey Ranch
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Distillery out of Nevada. They are releasing a 100% barley whiskey. This one's going to come in
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at four years and eight months old and bottled at 110 proof. Relatively young for a barley
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whiskey. I am curious to try it. I do love Frey Ranch. I think I'm more drawn to their rye whiskies
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more so than I guess their bourbon. But I mean, I've not tried 100% barley whiskey from them. So
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I'd be curious to see how it how it does. They say it will definitely appeal to bourbon lovers,
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but anyone interested in trying something new in the world of American whiskey should give this a
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try as well. So it seems like maybe they're going for a bourbon lovers palate, which I too tend to
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enjoy. They say it is made from two row unmalted barley. So that's the key thing. It's made from
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unmalted barley. So it's going to be quite a bit different from some traditional, you know,
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malted barley things like scotch. So I'm excited to check it out a little hesitant, but I think,
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you know, Frey Ranch tends to do things that are aged very well and, you know, high quality.
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They said this is going to be a limited quantity release available at their online shop as part of
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a bundle. So unfortunately, you do have to buy this as a bundle. They're going to do a whiskey
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lovers two pack bundle for $99 that includes this 100% barley whiskey plus their malted four grain
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bourbon. Or you can do a bourbon and barley two pack for the same price where you can get their
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four grain bourbon plus the 100% barley whiskey. So that's one that I would definitely want to
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either try before I buy or wait till I see some reviews on it. But it is interesting to see a new
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release from them. I'll give them that. And again, Frey Ranch continues to be one of my favorite
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craft distilleries. So we'll see. We'll see how their I guess this counts as an American single
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malt, even though it is unmalted. Wait, would it be a single malt? Wait, that's confusing. Okay,
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maybe I'm very ignorant. It would be a single grain from the barley. But since it's not a
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malted barley, is it a single malt? I don't know. You guys let me know. Leave a comment or shoot me
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a message on Discord if this would count as a single malt. All right. Well, one more new release.
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This one actually was announced back in November, but it's been a minute since I've done the
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podcast, so I'm going to call it out as well. Wyoming Whiskey is releasing their fifth National
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Parks expression. They've been doing this for the past few years now, and this year is a tribute to
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the Tetons. So they release a whiskey based on different national parks across the US. In the
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past, they've done Yellowstone and Acadia National Park and actually the Grand Tetons they featured
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in the past. So this is a second partnership with the Grand Teton National Park Foundation,
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and it is supposed to be a bourbon that furthers the foundation's ongoing efforts to preserve the
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park's natural resources. That seems to be a big focus of what Wyoming Whiskey has been doing,
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and they say the cornerstone of our commitment is the support of our national parks.
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Over the last four years, we have made donations to Yellowstone Forever,
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the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, and Friends of Acadia,
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the philanthropic partners of each park. With National Park number five, we feature Grand Teton
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with a historic image by Thomas Moran titled The Three Tetons. The straight bourbon whiskey is five
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years old, bottled at 96 proof, and I must say hitting all the right notes with the flavor
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profile. Now this is coming to us from the co-founder of Wyoming Whiskey, David DeFazio,
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but this is the first time I'm hearing of this national park series. As someone that is a huge
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supporter of our national parks across the nation, my goal is to go to as many of them as possible.
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I love this cause. I love seeing brands giving back to, you know, not just their local communities,
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but these great treasures we have across the U.S., which are our national parks or even more
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local state parks and county parks. All of this is really important to me. So when I see a whiskey
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that's supporting a cause I care about, it makes me just a little more interested in the whiskey.
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Retail on this is going to be about $75 and it's going to be available across Wyoming,
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as well as online for national delivery at wyomingwhiskey.com starting last month. $5
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from every bottle is going to be donated to the Grand Teton National Park Foundation,
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up to $50,000. So I think that's a significant part for a $75 bottle, $5 of it. You know,
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a lot of that goes into the overhead cost of making whiskey, especially craft whiskey. So
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I don't know. I think it is a great cause and I can't wait to give it a try, whether it's on
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a live stream or picking up a bottle locally. So let me know if you tried it. Let me know how it is
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and let me know if I should reach out. All right, well, last topic I kind of just want to mention
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because it's relevant to the world of whiskey internationally. So I saw two articles come out
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and it's funny because they almost, if you glance over them, they're going to look like they
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contradict each other. So there was an article put out in December of 2025, how Irish whiskey
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is booming. People are more excited than ever for Irish whiskey. They're saying their numbers of
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visitors are up nationwide across Ireland. Their exports rose 13% in value last year and their
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exports by volume were up 3.6%. Not just that, but the number of tourists visiting Ireland has
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returned to more than one million visitors per year to explore their whiskey distilleries. Now,
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this data is based on the first six months of 2025. Now, unfortunately, all these numbers are
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coming out ahead of when the U.S. introduced tariffs on whiskey internationally. So that
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probably does have some effect. So these numbers are just based on up to June 2025. But what's
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interesting is another article came out just less than a month later, and it's about Teeling
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specifically. Teeling, by the way, is one of my favorite Irish whiskey brands. I
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buy their standard small batch just for cocktails. And of course, their higher end stuff does
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great on its own. But I saw this article pop up on The Spirits Business in January, January 6,
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actually. And they say Teeling's profits freefall 91% in 2025. So their post-tax profits plummeted
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by 91%. So falling from 3.4 million euros in 2024 to 295,000 euros for 2025. So that's a drastic
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drop in profits. So it kind of counteracts what we were just saying about Irish whiskey being,
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you know, kind of hitting its stride and catching on, especially in the U.S. and the U.K.
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They said that the Irish whiskey sector endured a challenging period during the financial year of
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2025, caused in large part to growing input and labor costs, as well as overstocking issues,
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which was also exacerbated by trade restrictions. Again, these numbers were before the imposed 15%
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tariff on Irish whiskey in the U.S. So that isn't taken into account here. This is just a general
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update from year over year. But they did say that their sales didn't just fall in the U.S.,
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but across their markets. They also saw sales shrinking in Europe, as well as other regions that
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they were exporting to. They do say that they are confident in the future, though. They say that
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their visitor center just welcomed their one millionth visitor to the distillery in May of 2025.
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So they seem to have a hopeful outlook on it. But man, 91% down in their profits. That's concerning.
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I mean, maybe it could mean that they're just investing, you know, they're expanding, they're
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making more whiskey. I don't know. That's a pretty massive number. I hope the best for Teeling. Like
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I said, they're one of my favorite Irish whiskey distilleries. So hopefully they can come back from
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this and continue producing the amazing whiskey that that I know them for. So curious here what
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you guys think about that. I know some of their older stocks is still from Cooley, like the 13
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year that I have is a Cooley distillate, but they are making their own whiskey now. So maybe they're
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investing in their future or hopefully they can build back up from this shortcoming of 2025.
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Trust me, that's what we're all hoping for in 2026, right? Like recover from the mistakes of last year.
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All right. Well, that does it for our new segment of the podcast. I think it's about time we get
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into a very exciting 'Byte-Sized' review. All right, well, since I am making a big return to the
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podcast after a little break, I thought I would pour something special for today's 'Byte-Sized' review.
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If you saw the title of this podcast and the thumbnail, you already know what this is,
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but this is Pappy Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year old Lot B. So this is a bourbon I've
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never tried. And I want to give a huge shout out to Byte Club member Tony Bagadonuts, who provided
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this sample as a part of a Christmas gift. So thank you again for this, Tony. I've already
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texted him and thanked him and made sure I was allowed to review this and not save it for a
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special group pour or something like that. So really, really excited to finally try this. I have
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only tried Pappy 15 and the Van Winkle Rye from the Pappy lineup. So even though this one isn't
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technically labeled as a Pappy, it is a Van Winkle Reserve. So I'm really, really excited. I've been
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prepping my palate with a pour of Weller 12, which I've reviewed previously on the podcast.
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It's actually not one of my favorite Weller releases. Check out that podcast to find out
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why. But I've kind of set my palate with this because spec wise, this is pretty darn close. So of course,
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Weller 12 is 12 years old and 90 proof. Well, Van Winkle Special Reserve is also 12 years old
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and also 90.4 proof. So close enough. Now, the one I'm trying right now is the 2023 release.
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I'm not sure how it compares to the other ones, but I think being lucky enough to try this is,
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it doesn't matter what year it is, it's going to be a special pour. Now, retail on Van Winkle
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Special Reserve is $150. If you ever see it for that, buy it for me and send me all of it.
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Of course, this on the secondary market goes for much, much more than that. I did a quick little
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Google search to see what it's going for now. It looks to be around $1,000 on secondary. I saw some
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listings closer to $500, but you know, there's a lot of scammy, scummy people out there. So I'm
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just going to say around $1,000 secondary. But either way, we're going to be reviewing it as
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if it's a $150 whiskey. And considering that Weller 12 retail is around $50, we're going to
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see if this Lot B is worth the premium over Weller 12. Now this isn't going to be a full
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comparison. I'm not going to re-review the Weller 12, but I did want to have it on my palate before
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I went into this review, just to make sure I was familiar with what to expect from a 12-year-old
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wheated bourbon from Buffalo Trace. By the way, a little bit of info about this release, because
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I honestly didn't know too much. I'd heard the name. I'd always seen it referred to as kind of
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the lesser of the Van Winkle lineup. I think that's just inherent from the fact that it's
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called Lot B, assuming there's a Lot A somewhere that's the premium product. I don't know if that's
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the case. I think this is just a younger version of what they would consider to be, you know,
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like a Pappy 15. This might just not be at that age yet, but it's at a point where they are ready
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to release it. Of course, Old Rip Van Winkle comes in at 10 years, so this kind of sits perfectly in
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the middle of that one and the Pappy 15. So I think that's more of the reason. It's just not
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as old as Pappy 15. Not that it's like a lesser stock, but we'll find out. Now, as with other
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Buffalo Trace wheated bourbons, we don't know the mash bill. There's rumors that it's around 20%
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wheat and then 75-76% corn, with the rest being malted barley. But we don't know a mash bill,
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unfortunately, but we do know it is their wheated mash bill. Let's go ahead and give the Van Winkle
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00:17:10,589
Special Reserve a nose. Oh wow, that's much more off the nose than I thought I would get,
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especially compared to the Weller 12. It's a similar nose, but the Weller 12,
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I had to dive in really deep into the glass to be able to get some nosing notes. The Van Winkle
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Reserve is definitely working its way out of the glass much, much easier. The nose is just really,
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really intense and I love it. And there's a lot of oak and it smells like a really nicely
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balanced between the sweetness and the lightness of the weeded bourbon and the oak backbone that
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gives it. It definitely has a little bit of like a brightness, almost like a green tea. I get black
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tea on a lot of bourbons, but this is brighter. It's, it feels more, I guess, earthy. So it's a
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little bit like a matcha or a green tea. I mean, on nose alone, you can tell that this is a special
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bourbon. It smells so good. I just want to give it a taste. So don't mind if I do. Cheers y'all.
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Mmm. Oh wow. Yeah. Very different from that Weller 12. I mean, flavor-wise they're, they're
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not even comparable. I mean, side by side Weller 12 almost feels like a watered down
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00:18:19,750
version of this, even though they're very similar proof. Yeah. I think we're moving
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out of the Weller 12 territory and moving into the Pappy territory because this is a fantastic
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00:18:31,070
first sip. Wow. That impressed me way more than I thought it was. I guess I just thought it would
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00:18:37,250
kind of be just a slightly better Weller 12, but that first sip just tells me that that opinion is
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completely wrong. This has so much going for it that I think that the Weller 12 just doesn't hold
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00:18:49,770
up to in comparison. This is a very, very well aged bourbon. I mean, 12 years old and bourbon
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is relatively old these days and you can taste every single year that went into that. I mean,
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this oak is surrounding this kind of sweet, soft, um, approachable flavor profile, but
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it's giving it a very robust, um, just kind of effervescence of that oak. It really highlights
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what meticulous aging can do for a bourbon. You know, I assume this is probably some of their,
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their best picks they had at the age. There's almost a little bit of like a mulled wine kind
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of flavor going as well. It's kind of in the background of that, uh, that oak, but there's
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a little bit of like a cinnamon, maybe a little bit of like apple. I can't tell if it's like an
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00:19:34,850
apple brandy kind of note or a, uh, just a tart apple, but there's definitely some apple and
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00:19:39,190
cinnamon going on there. Um, almost like apple, cinnamon oatmeal, if you want to compare it to
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something. I mean, the number one thing I can say about this bourbon is it's incredibly balanced.
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It doesn't get spiky in any direction, which sometimes I look for those spikes, you know,
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I like the really hard hitting or like the nutty ones. This one doesn't really hit that. It's
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very, like I said, it's surrounded by that Oak that kind of mellows everything out with it being
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00:20:02,610
a wheated bourbon. That makes sense as well. It's not spicy like a rye. I mean, this is a very
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00:20:06,670
approachable bourbon, which sounds crazy. Cause we're talking about a hundred $50 bourbon year
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with a much higher secondary rate, but really flavor-wise. I mean, this is what I expect a
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lot of people to find as the perfect bourbon. And I find it hard to fault in terms of flavor,
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of course, not availability finish wise. I would say it's medium to long. It's not overstaying.
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It's welcome. And you wouldn't expect a 90.4 proof bourbon to do that, but it does linger with
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that Oak a bit on the backend. Um, the sweetness dissipates quicker than the Oak. So you're kind
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of just left with like a dry Oak on the finish, which I actually really enjoy. That's something,
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a flavor profile that I seek out on a lot of bourbons and you can't really find it that often
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without going 12 plus years old, because otherwise you're going to get more of a bitter
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tannic, maybe a little bit younger Oak. This one is just really mellow and, uh, very enjoyable.
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I don't want to even say this is like a better version of Weller 12. This is a, to me,
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a very different product. This is a premium bourbon. This drinks like the premium that it is.
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If you could find it for $150, hands down, recommend all time and get it every single
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time you see it. But of course we know that that's not the case here with this, but you know
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what, when it comes to my score, I'm going to rate it based on price that it's at. And you know,
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I do consider availability, which I know a lot of people are going to say like,
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Oh, it's not available. You know, that your score might seem a bit high because of that,
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but I'm just going to base this on the fact that I'll probably not have a chance to try it again.
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Um, without amazing friends like Tony. So I'm going to say all things considered knows price
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flavor. Um, unfortunately I throw availability in there as well, which is going to be the only
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thing that hinders this score because I think it absolutely justifies the $150 price. Um,
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would I pay much more than that? Maybe because you know, it's like a once in a lifetime kind
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of thing, but if this was just a shelf bottle for $150, I would not hesitate to pick it up.
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So all that being said, I'm going to give Van Winkle special reserve 12 year old bourbon
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lot B a score of nine out of 10. Listen, I have to dock at one point for availability.
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I think that's the only thing holding this whiskey about from being a perfect score.
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And again, this isn't in comparison to, you know, Pappy 15, 20, or 23. This is on its own.
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If I was doing a comparison and a ranking that would maybe affect score, but I like reviewing
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whiskeys based on just by themselves. So while I did enjoy comparing this to the Weller 12,
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I think on its own, this sits at a solid nine out of 10. It's delicious. Retail is a great price.
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I just think the only thing holding it back is availability and, and, and scarcity,
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which I'm hoping that Buffalo Trace works on in the near future. We know they are
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expanding their warehouses significantly. Their supply may ultimately, uh, catch up with the
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demand. We'll see what happens. It's a new year, right? We'll, we'll see what happens for Buffalo
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00:23:00,290
Trace. But for this podcast, I want to say thank you again for everyone that was excited for me
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to come back. I enjoyed the couple of weeks off and I'm excited to get back to making great
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content. So if you want to follow me, you can find me on whatever platform you get your podcast.
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You can also go to bourbonbytes.com and listen there. Uh, make sure to share with your friends.
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Hey, you're looking for something new to listen to in the new year? Well, here's a cool bourbon
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podcast that does whiskey reviews and news in under 30 minutes. Usually I try to aim for that.
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All right. Well, thank you guys for listening. Cheers. And I'll talk to you guys next episode.
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Bye.
