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Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, a new whiskey made with actual venison,
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Booker's releases the new Little Book: Infinite Edition, and Xbox and PlayStation are doing
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some massive trade-offs. Plus, I have a byte-sized review of the new Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Bourbon.
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host,
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Clifton, and this is the week of Thursday, September 24th, 2026. And if you thought
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the whiskey world couldn't get any weirder, or if the gaming industry couldn't have another
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major shake-up in 2026, well, you're wrong, because we have a lot to talk about today
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across both industries. From meat-infused whiskeys to 170-year-old decanters, we have a lot to talk
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about. So grab yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and let's jump into this episode of the Bourbon
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Bytes Podcast. Alright, well, first of which we're going to talk about the new Booker's releases,
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one of which I've teased here on the channel before. It is the second ever rye ever released
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from Booker's. This is called Booker's: The Reserves for 2026, and it is a Kentucky straight
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rye whiskey finished in apple brandy casks and then infused with cinnamon. Yes, you heard that
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right. This has been infused with cinnamon and then bottled at cask strength at 125.1 proof.
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I remember when I broke the news about this when the TTB label came out, I was
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very confused and very concerned about what the heck Jim Beam was doing with this release.
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After following up Booker's Rye, which is one of the most beloved rye whiskeys, not just to me,
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but across the industry in general, this feels like a bit of a, like, gotcha moment where they're
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like, hey, let's see what we can do to still get you to buy it because it's a rye from Booker's.
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I'm not saying it's going to be bad, but this is the first rye whiskey release in the Booker's
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lineup since 2016. And this one's coming out at $130 MSRP. So would I buy that as an experiment?
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Maybe, but I think the more interesting one is the new, the Infinite Edition number three,
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and it combines a base of 30% of Infinite Edition number two, which was one of my favorite whiskies
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I've had all year and combines it with 23 year old Knob Creek bourbon, 11 year old Knob Creek
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bourbon and nine year old Baker's bourbon. And this is going to be bottled at 118.3 proof and
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an MSRP of $200. As someone that loved the Infinite number two, I like that they're adding new and
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older bourbon to this release. I think this is definitely going to be one that I pick up just
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because I love that one so much. And I like that they're continuing the tradition of this being
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kind of like an infinity experiment. They're adding a little bit of each batch to each release.
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Now they say that this 23 year old Knob Creek component that was distilled originally under
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Booker Noe is one of the oldest whiskies ever used in a Beam product. Right now their oldest age
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statement is their 21 year old Knob Creek, which came out at the end of 2025. So even though this
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can't have a 23 year age statement on its own, we do know that some of that 23 year old component
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made up this new Infinite Edition number three. So that's definitely one I'm going to be looking
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out for just because I know I love the series and all they can do is make it better until they
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make it worse. Right. Uh, that's one of the fun things about an infinity bottle or an infinity
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barrel is like, you know, it's good until it's not. So we'll see as much as I love The Infinite
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number two. Um, I got to get Infinite number three because why not? All right. Next up,
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we have a celebration from Chicken Cock. They are celebrating their 170th anniversary,
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because they were founded back in 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, apparently with a high end
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limited edition release featuring a custom ceramic rooster decanter alongside of course,
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a legacy Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Now I feel like I haven't reported much on Chicken
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Cock over the past few years while this release is going to be a 115 proof eight year bourbon
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whiskey. And the decanter is really cool. It's very vintage looking. It's a blue rooster. Um,
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and it has a great bottom part of the decanter that shows you the info, you know, eight years
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old, one 15 proof. If you saw this in an antique shop, you would absolutely think this is from
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the 1950s through 1970s. It has that classic vintage look. You know, I feel like I missed
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out on the era of great decanter whiskey. I think it was sold all across the market. Like I said,
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from the fifties through seventies, but I think it's great to see a return of this. I love
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collectible bottles. I mean, we just talked about Jim Beam doing their Ten Pin bowling pin release.
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And, uh, I've just seen some pretty incredible recent bottle designs that can be reused as
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really cool decanters. So I'm happy to see this return. I love that Chicken Cock isn't pricing
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this out of most people's budget. Now, one thing to note that this whiskey itself is coming in at
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$100, but if you want to get it with the limited edition rooster decanter, it'll cost you $200.
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Do I want to pay a hundred dollars more for a fancy decanter? No. Will I probably, because I
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love collecting vintage decanters and I just think this looks iconic. It really does celebrate
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the brand in some of the best ways. I can't say I'm not swayed by how pretty this decanter is. So
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for the novelty, I would probably pay the premium just to get it. Um, but again, it's up to you. If
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you want to get just the bottle it's available for $100, but if you get lucky enough to find
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the decanter, it's another hundred on top of that. So for a modern decanter is something you
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don't see very often in today's market. I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium just to maybe build the
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hype for that type of release in the future. Hopefully no lead paint included. All right.
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Well, before we get into our video game news and byte-sized review, we have a few curve balls to
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talk about. So the first of which is one that I wasn't really sure was an actual headline,
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but apparently a New Hampshire distillery has released a venison flavored whiskey made with
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hand chopped meat available in a buck sized bottle. Yes, that's a lot of deer puns, but
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let's talk about it. So this is coming to us from Tamworth Distilling and they're calling it
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Deerslayer Whiskey. And it is indeed made with red deer meat and other woodsy flavors.
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They do say the whiskey is slow smoked and fermented to highlight the venison's gaminess.
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Oh gosh. Okay. So if you're familiar with this distillery, it's probably because you heard about
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some of their other previous strange releases, including their Crab Trapper Whiskey, which is
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a bourbon with a base steeped with crab. Yes, you heard that right again. It feels so much like a
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novelty slash joke whiskey, but apparently it's a thing. So what I'm confused about
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is they're calling this a whiskey and it definitely is a whiskey, but why and when
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and where does the deer come in here? Um, it does say that it has rye whiskey in it. So
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what I'm assuming, and I don't, you know, I I'm probably being pretty dangerous here to assume
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anything about this whiskey, um, is they are taking a rye whiskey and they're steeping it
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in this mixture of the venison and the spices. So this is bottled at 99 proof. And after they
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mentioned the smoking and the venison and the concoction, they say that aged rye whiskey serves
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as a true component to this unique flavoring after its final distillation in our rotary evaporator.
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So it sounds like they're distilling rye whiskey with these flavors and meat that they've put
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together. Listen. Okay. I don't judge, but I judge who is this for? What is this? This is
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borderline, not whiskey. I get it's a flavored whiskey, so you can get away with a lot of things,
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but like, is there really a market for venison flavored whiskey? I don't know who this is for.
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I will not be buying a bottle of it. Like I said, this 500 milliliter bottle is the newest release
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in their distillery. It goes for about $45. And I think that's a hard pass for me, but I want to
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let you guys know about it in case there's anyone out there listening that has just had a hankering
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for a good venison flavored whiskey, not just that, but fermented venison sign me up. Just kidding.
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All right. Another strange, but actually a little more inspiring release. We have a Braille Bourbon
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that's being released. This is put out by the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually
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Impaired. And it's a collaboration with Northside Distilling Company and they're launching a limited
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edition Braille Bourbon actually just launched on September 15th. This is going to be a 115 proof
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bourbon that honors 115 years of their impact, promoting inclusion for individuals who are
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blind or visually impaired. They said the bottle features a signature Braille label and each bottle
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is paired with a commemorative Rockwood pottery decanter. Now, unfortunately there's only been
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115 bottles of this produced, so it's going to be a very, very limited release, but a portion of
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every bottle will go back to CABVI's services that empower individuals adapting to vision loss.
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I love a bourbon with a good cause, and this is absolutely one that I wanted to talk about here
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today. When have you ever seen a Braille label on a liquor bottle? That is insanely cool. I love that
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idea. You know, it's something that I've never really thought about, and maybe it's quite a bit
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ableist of me to not think about people that are whiskey hunting that are visually impaired. You
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know, we have the privilege of being able to go to a liquor store and just seeing what's on the
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shelf and checking prices and comparing them. But if you're disabled, you're kind of just relying on
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either someone else to pick up whiskey for you, or you are going to the store and just relying on the,
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you know, cashier or, you know, if they're at Total Wine, the specialist in the store that's going to
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recommend things for you. So bourbon hunting is a highly visual activity that I've just really
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never thought about. So this whiskey, if nothing else, brings the attention to the fact that, hey,
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people drink whiskey whether they are visually impaired or not, because guess what? I bet they
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have the best nosing and tasting notes. I've always heard, now I don't know if it's true or not,
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but I've always heard if you are missing one of your senses, your other senses are quite a bit
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heightened. So I would love to sit down and have a pour with someone who is blind or visually
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impaired. I would love to hear what they get off of some of my favorite bourbons. But yeah,
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I just thought that was a really cool story. Well done to those folks that put out that release,
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and I hope to see more of it. I hope they do a wider release here soon because I will absolutely
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grab a bottle of that one. All right. Lastly, which is going to lead into our byte-sized review here,
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we have a new announcement from Blue Note. They are expanding their allocation of their
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Honey Bourbon and Honey Rye Whiskey for 2026. So this is B.R. Distilling out of Memphis. They have
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a Honey Bourbon cask at 117.8 proof and a Honey Rye cask at 119.6 proof. And these were praised
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widely. They had a huge demand for these releases. Well, now they say they are expanding to a larger
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market. So these are going to be available across the country. Approximately 2,500 cases of each
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will be available both online and in select U.S. markets. These have sold out locally over the past
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two years in Memphis. So it's really exciting to see them put this out wider. Now, both the bourbon
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and the rye whiskey are seasoned with wildflower barrel aged honey for six to nine months. And then
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they return the whiskey to the honey season barrels for finishing. I've been really enjoying
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some honey cast whiskey lately just across the board. It seems to be finally finding its moment
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and not tasting like you just, you know, dump some honey in your whiskey. It really feels more like
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a refined product. So I haven't had a chance to try these from Blue Note, but I will definitely
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be seeking out bottles. Retail on both of those are going to go for $64.99 for a 750 milliliter bottle.
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And they do plan to release single barrels of both through select retailers. So if you are
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interested in those, keep an eye out because they are becoming more and more available.
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All right. Well, before we get into our Byte-Sized review of another Blue Note bourbon,
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I do have two quick gaming stories that I promise are pretty big deals. So the first of which was
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the fact that Xbox announced a huge amount of layoffs this week. It's part three or four of
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their restructuring, and it's really affecting their gaming studios significantly. So in addition
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to that layoff, they actually announced that they're handing off Halo to Activision. So
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if you don't know, Microsoft owns a bunch of game studios. They went through a massive
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acquisition phase back from 2021 through 2023, and they bought up Activision, which is most
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known for creating Call of Duty and other games of that scale. Well, Xbox had all ownership of
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the Halo franchise, and they've been doing a lot to develop it over the past couple of years
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with some re-releases. Well, part of this restructuring that was just announced,
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they're actually handing off the Halo franchise to Activision. So they're going to continue to
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support some of the existing IP, but all future development for Halo is going to be under the
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Activision brand. There are a few other shakeups, including them moving their Age of Empires
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developer, World's Edge, and Sea of Thieves developer, Rare, under the Activision umbrella
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as well. But overall, it's just, it's a consolidation after a mass consumption of
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these studios. So whether it affects the games or not, we have yet to know this. Again, news just
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broke at the day that I'm recording this podcast, but I just wanted to share it because that's a
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pretty big movement in the world of, you know, massive game studios. Now on the flip side,
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this news actually came out about a week or two ago. They're actually moving Hideo Kojima's game
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from PlayStation to Xbox. So there's a new game coming out. I think it's pronounced Physint. It's
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P-H-Y-S-I-N-T. It's the studio's still unreleased action espionage project. And it was long assumed
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to be a PlayStation title, but as of September 10th, it is now being published by Xbox. So this
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news broke, um, over the past couple of weeks and it was pretty unprecedented. It sounds like they
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all thought it was going to be a PlayStation title up until that final moment where it was switched
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over to Xbox. Now fans and the press are considering this game Physint as the closest thing to
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a true successor to the Metal Gear Solid franchise. So it sounds like it's one of the biggest ambitious
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projects from Hideo Kojima, uh, since Death Stranding. So I don't want to read too much into
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it. I think this game is still going to be exceptional. Again, it's, it's one of the most
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anticipated games, uh, on this generation of consoles, but I'll have to see how this plays
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out. I just want to make sure you guys were aware if you were buying a PlayStation to get that new,
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uh, Hideo Kojima game, maybe, uh, join team Microsoft or get a gaming PC like me and, uh,
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have the best of both worlds. All right. Well, that does it for this week's news. Let's get into
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our Byte-Sized Review. All right. Well, as I mentioned earlier, this is a continuation of our
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Blue Note news because they've just released a limited edition cherry wood cask finished bourbon.
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Um, I want to do a shout out to the folks at B.R. Distilling Company for providing this sample
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for review. Um, I'm super excited because this bourbon whiskey is finished in wild cherry barrels
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that have been harvested from the Jura region of Eastern France. Now that may sound familiar to you
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because we just talked about a Bardstown Bourbon Company release that use barrels from the Jura
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region, but they were not wild cherry barrels. So I'm very curious to see what Blue Note has
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come up with here. Now this release is volume one in the series, which implies they're probably
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going to do this for a future release as well. It's going to be bottled at 119.4 proof and it's
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finished for four months in those wild cherry barrels. Now they say the mash bill of this
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whiskey is 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley. And it was bottled at cast strength unfiltered.
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Now Dan Jurkovic, who is their national sales director said with our new cherry cask, we set
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out to create something that honors the timeless character of great whiskey while introducing a
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fresh layer of complexity. The influence of the cherry cask nicely compliments the whiskey's
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natural richness while finishing the expression at cask strength helps preserve its underlying
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structure to balance the sweetness. And I got to say, I do appreciate that. Oftentimes we see
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finished whiskeys that have been proofed down, whether it's because the intensity of the finish
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is just too much or they're just trying to milk the cask for as much as they can. So seeing this
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at full cask strength at 119.4 makes me quite a bit excited for this particular release.
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Now I've had a chance to review some other Blue Note whiskeys on my YouTube channel,
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including their juke joint, uncut and straight rye whiskeys. If you missed that,
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check it out youtube.com/bourbonbytes, search Blue Note, you'll find that live stream.
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But since then, they've been introducing some limited edition offerings, including their premium
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small batch, a single barrel reserve, a special reserve, a 17 year, and of course the honey rye
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and honey bourbon we just talked about earlier this episode. So there's going to be about 1000
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cases of this new Blue Note cherry wood cask strength bourbon. Suggested retail price on this
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is going to be about $64.99 for a full size 750 milliliter bottle. So very fair price point for
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a cask strength finished bourbon whiskey. Now one thing we don't know about this release based
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on the press notes is the actual age of the bourbon that went into this bottle. But if this finish is
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as good as they say it is, I don't know if that will even matter. So let's go ahead and give this
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Blue Note cherry wood cask a nose. Oh, okay. Yeah, lots of new oak kind of note there. You can
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definitely tell it's been transferred to a second barrel and it makes me wonder how that other
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barrel was prepared because I almost feel like it doesn't have a bit of a char note for that
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finished barrel. It is definitely more of like a new wood oak. Now while the bottle itself has a
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picture of cherries on it. It is important to note that this was just finished in a cherry
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wood casks. Like I said, these were sourced from the Jura region of France and they were finished
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for four months. So these weren't casks that were holding cherries. So even though it does say wild
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cherry wood, that is referring to the wood itself and not a cherry aging. So just want to mention
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that because there are some cherry aged whiskeys out there, but I will agree those cherry wood notes
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do impart a red fruit flavor. I'm getting a bit of like a red apple skin. Yes. I do get a bit of
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cherry, not quite as sweet as what you would think a cherry would be, but it's definitely more in
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that fruit skin element. But honestly it's, it's interesting. It's unlike many other finished
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whiskeys I've ever had with how bright it is. And while the bourbon itself is kind of a bit buried
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by these additional cask notes, it's just an overall pleasant nose. I'm quite digging the nose
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on this one. So let's go for a taste. Let's try the Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Volume #1.
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Cheers. Oh yeah, that's nice. Hmm. Okay. I was beginning to doubt the bourbon itself based on
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the nose because it was really dominated by that almost overpowering cherry wood note. I didn't
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think cherry wood would have that much impact, but knowing that this is finished in that, I mean,
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that is a pretty dominant flavor impact on this bourbon and it actually works really well.
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Don't get me wrong. It just kind of caught me by surprise because it is really enveloping this
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bourbon, but on the palate again, I do get cherry. You know, I see Applewood finished whiskies all
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the time and I struggle to get anything close to Apple. I get a little bit of the cinnamon spice,
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but that's about it. I will say cherry wood does have a lot of the impact of that fruit.
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Just based on this experience right here, it doesn't taste like there's been cherries added
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or cherry flavor or anything like that. So don't worry. I'm, I'm a big proponent against
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artificial cherry flavor. There's none of that there, but you are getting a little bit of that
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hint of natural cherry. This is quite enjoyable. Like I said, being at cast strength, you're not
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letting anything go here with that finish. If anything, you're really amping it up and you're
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getting a nice element of extra Oak. Like I said, not like a charred Oak, but just a bit of like a
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Oak flavor profile. That's really enhancing this whiskey. It's spicy. It's sweet. And overall it's
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just a really nice pour. You know, I was wondering about missing the age statement when I first was
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reading the facts of this one, but I think that the price, I think this is a fair price, even
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without that info. I don't think it tastes young. I think it actually tastes appropriate
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for this finish. I don't think I would want it finished any longer. I think any longer in that
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cherry wood and it would just be completely overpowered by that flavor, but you're still
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getting some of those traditional vanilla and caramel notes. Yes. It's not a super old bourbon.
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You can just obviously tell that, but that doesn't mean that this isn't a really fun flavor profile.
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And unlike anything else in my collection at the moment, I think this would do really well over ice
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in replacement of a cocktail. I mean, it's not as sweet as a Manhattan, but it kind of brings me
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into that realm maybe because I'm influenced by the cherry, but it does have a little bit of that
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bitter, um, kind of sweet vermouth, a little bit note there. This could be an easy replacement for
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a cocktail for me if I wanted something a bit stronger to end my night. So well done to the
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folks at Blue Note. I did not expect this to be that good. I think it's executed perfectly and
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I'm very glad to have a chance to try it. So here on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, we do a Byte-sized
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review where I give a score out of 10, uh, all things considered price proof availability,
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palate, nose, everything like that. I think this one is actually very, very fun. This is again,
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one of my favorite finished bourbons I've had in a long time. So I'm going to give this a solid
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eight out of 10. I think it's really that good. I mean, being cast strength, being unfiltered,
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giving us the mash bill upfront is great. What I have liked it to have an age statement and maybe
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tell us a little bit more about the bourbon that's in it. Sure. But for the price point of
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about $65, that's really hard to fault them for. Now, if you're not a fan of finished whiskeys,
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you may not like this one. That's kind of why I caveat it a little bit, right?
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That cherry wood note is pretty dominant there. If you don't like those sweeter, fruitier,
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a little bit of a sugary spice note going on, then you may not like this one. But for someone
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that does appreciate a unique finish, this one has a lot going for it. And it really
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reminds me of how innovative these brands can be when it comes to finishing from just really
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specialty wood alone. So I'm a big fan of this release. Let me know if you've had this one or
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any of the other Blue Note special releases. Like I said, they have the honey cask and the
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honey rye. I would love a chance to try those. I think it's so fun to see these new experimental
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releases from brands like this, and I can't wait to see more of them. So thank you again to the
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folks at B.R. Distilling Company and to all of you viewers for making this review possible.
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If you guys want to support the show, you can do so for as little as $2 a month at bourbonbytes.com.
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You also have links to buy merch there, join our Byte Club and be part of our discord community,
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which is always welcoming new members. If you're listening to this this week,
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just know we're doing our monthly movie night for Byte Club members at the $5 tier and above.
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We're going to watch the 1985 classic 'CLUE' in a watch party on discord. I've never seen this movie.
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I've played the game, but of course, I've never watched the movie. So looking forward to watching
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that for the first time with you guys. With that, this has been the Bourbon Bytes Podcast,
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a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers. And I'll talk to you next episode.
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Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, a new whiskey made with actual venison,
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Booker's releases the new Little Book: Infinite Edition, and Xbox and PlayStation are doing
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some massive trade-offs. Plus, I have a byte-sized review of the new Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Bourbon.
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host,
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Clifton, and this is the week of Thursday, September 24th, 2026. And if you thought
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the whiskey world couldn't get any weirder, or if the gaming industry couldn't have another
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major shake-up in 2026, well, you're wrong, because we have a lot to talk about today
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across both industries. From meat-infused whiskeys to 170-year-old decanters, we have a lot to talk
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about. So grab yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and let's jump into this episode of the Bourbon
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Bytes Podcast. Alright, well, first of which we're going to talk about the new Booker's releases,
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one of which I've teased here on the channel before. It is the second ever rye ever released
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from Booker's. This is called Booker's: The Reserves for 2026, and it is a Kentucky straight
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rye whiskey finished in apple brandy casks and then infused with cinnamon. Yes, you heard that
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right. This has been infused with cinnamon and then bottled at cask strength at 125.1 proof.
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I remember when I broke the news about this when the TTB label came out, I was
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very confused and very concerned about what the heck Jim Beam was doing with this release.
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After following up Booker's Rye, which is one of the most beloved rye whiskeys, not just to me,
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but across the industry in general, this feels like a bit of a, like, gotcha moment where they're
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like, hey, let's see what we can do to still get you to buy it because it's a rye from Booker's.
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I'm not saying it's going to be bad, but this is the first rye whiskey release in the Booker's
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lineup since 2016. And this one's coming out at $130 MSRP. So would I buy that as an experiment?
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Maybe, but I think the more interesting one is the new, the Infinite Edition number three,
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and it combines a base of 30% of Infinite Edition number two, which was one of my favorite whiskies
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I've had all year and combines it with 23 year old Knob Creek bourbon, 11 year old Knob Creek
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bourbon and nine year old Baker's bourbon. And this is going to be bottled at 118.3 proof and
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an MSRP of $200. As someone that loved the Infinite number two, I like that they're adding new and
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older bourbon to this release. I think this is definitely going to be one that I pick up just
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because I love that one so much. And I like that they're continuing the tradition of this being
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kind of like an infinity experiment. They're adding a little bit of each batch to each release.
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Now they say that this 23 year old Knob Creek component that was distilled originally under
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Booker Noe is one of the oldest whiskies ever used in a Beam product. Right now their oldest age
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statement is their 21 year old Knob Creek, which came out at the end of 2025. So even though this
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can't have a 23 year age statement on its own, we do know that some of that 23 year old component
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made up this new Infinite Edition number three. So that's definitely one I'm going to be looking
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out for just because I know I love the series and all they can do is make it better until they
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make it worse. Right. Uh, that's one of the fun things about an infinity bottle or an infinity
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barrel is like, you know, it's good until it's not. So we'll see as much as I love The Infinite
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number two. Um, I got to get Infinite number three because why not? All right. Next up,
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we have a celebration from Chicken Cock. They are celebrating their 170th anniversary,
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because they were founded back in 1856 in Paris, Kentucky, apparently with a high end
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limited edition release featuring a custom ceramic rooster decanter alongside of course,
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a legacy Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Now I feel like I haven't reported much on Chicken
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Cock over the past few years while this release is going to be a 115 proof eight year bourbon
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whiskey. And the decanter is really cool. It's very vintage looking. It's a blue rooster. Um,
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and it has a great bottom part of the decanter that shows you the info, you know, eight years
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old, one 15 proof. If you saw this in an antique shop, you would absolutely think this is from
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the 1950s through 1970s. It has that classic vintage look. You know, I feel like I missed
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out on the era of great decanter whiskey. I think it was sold all across the market. Like I said,
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from the fifties through seventies, but I think it's great to see a return of this. I love
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collectible bottles. I mean, we just talked about Jim Beam doing their Ten Pin bowling pin release.
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And, uh, I've just seen some pretty incredible recent bottle designs that can be reused as
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really cool decanters. So I'm happy to see this return. I love that Chicken Cock isn't pricing
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this out of most people's budget. Now, one thing to note that this whiskey itself is coming in at
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$100, but if you want to get it with the limited edition rooster decanter, it'll cost you $200.
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Do I want to pay a hundred dollars more for a fancy decanter? No. Will I probably, because I
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love collecting vintage decanters and I just think this looks iconic. It really does celebrate
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the brand in some of the best ways. I can't say I'm not swayed by how pretty this decanter is. So
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for the novelty, I would probably pay the premium just to get it. Um, but again, it's up to you. If
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you want to get just the bottle it's available for $100, but if you get lucky enough to find
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the decanter, it's another hundred on top of that. So for a modern decanter is something you
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don't see very often in today's market. I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium just to maybe build the
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hype for that type of release in the future. Hopefully no lead paint included. All right.
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Well, before we get into our video game news and byte-sized review, we have a few curve balls to
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talk about. So the first of which is one that I wasn't really sure was an actual headline,
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but apparently a New Hampshire distillery has released a venison flavored whiskey made with
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hand chopped meat available in a buck sized bottle. Yes, that's a lot of deer puns, but
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let's talk about it. So this is coming to us from Tamworth Distilling and they're calling it
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Deerslayer Whiskey. And it is indeed made with red deer meat and other woodsy flavors.
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They do say the whiskey is slow smoked and fermented to highlight the venison's gaminess.
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Oh gosh. Okay. So if you're familiar with this distillery, it's probably because you heard about
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some of their other previous strange releases, including their Crab Trapper Whiskey, which is
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a bourbon with a base steeped with crab. Yes, you heard that right again. It feels so much like a
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novelty slash joke whiskey, but apparently it's a thing. So what I'm confused about
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is they're calling this a whiskey and it definitely is a whiskey, but why and when
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and where does the deer come in here? Um, it does say that it has rye whiskey in it. So
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what I'm assuming, and I don't, you know, I I'm probably being pretty dangerous here to assume
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anything about this whiskey, um, is they are taking a rye whiskey and they're steeping it
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in this mixture of the venison and the spices. So this is bottled at 99 proof. And after they
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mentioned the smoking and the venison and the concoction, they say that aged rye whiskey serves
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as a true component to this unique flavoring after its final distillation in our rotary evaporator.
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So it sounds like they're distilling rye whiskey with these flavors and meat that they've put
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together. Listen. Okay. I don't judge, but I judge who is this for? What is this? This is
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borderline, not whiskey. I get it's a flavored whiskey, so you can get away with a lot of things,
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but like, is there really a market for venison flavored whiskey? I don't know who this is for.
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I will not be buying a bottle of it. Like I said, this 500 milliliter bottle is the newest release
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in their distillery. It goes for about $45. And I think that's a hard pass for me, but I want to
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let you guys know about it in case there's anyone out there listening that has just had a hankering
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for a good venison flavored whiskey, not just that, but fermented venison sign me up. Just kidding.
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All right. Another strange, but actually a little more inspiring release. We have a Braille Bourbon
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that's being released. This is put out by the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually
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Impaired. And it's a collaboration with Northside Distilling Company and they're launching a limited
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edition Braille Bourbon actually just launched on September 15th. This is going to be a 115 proof
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bourbon that honors 115 years of their impact, promoting inclusion for individuals who are
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blind or visually impaired. They said the bottle features a signature Braille label and each bottle
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is paired with a commemorative Rockwood pottery decanter. Now, unfortunately there's only been
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115 bottles of this produced, so it's going to be a very, very limited release, but a portion of
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every bottle will go back to CABVI's services that empower individuals adapting to vision loss.
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I love a bourbon with a good cause, and this is absolutely one that I wanted to talk about here
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today. When have you ever seen a Braille label on a liquor bottle? That is insanely cool. I love that
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idea. You know, it's something that I've never really thought about, and maybe it's quite a bit
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ableist of me to not think about people that are whiskey hunting that are visually impaired. You
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know, we have the privilege of being able to go to a liquor store and just seeing what's on the
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shelf and checking prices and comparing them. But if you're disabled, you're kind of just relying on
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either someone else to pick up whiskey for you, or you are going to the store and just relying on the,
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you know, cashier or, you know, if they're at Total Wine, the specialist in the store that's going to
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recommend things for you. So bourbon hunting is a highly visual activity that I've just really
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never thought about. So this whiskey, if nothing else, brings the attention to the fact that, hey,
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people drink whiskey whether they are visually impaired or not, because guess what? I bet they
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have the best nosing and tasting notes. I've always heard, now I don't know if it's true or not,
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but I've always heard if you are missing one of your senses, your other senses are quite a bit
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heightened. So I would love to sit down and have a pour with someone who is blind or visually
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impaired. I would love to hear what they get off of some of my favorite bourbons. But yeah,
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I just thought that was a really cool story. Well done to those folks that put out that release,
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and I hope to see more of it. I hope they do a wider release here soon because I will absolutely
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grab a bottle of that one. All right. Lastly, which is going to lead into our byte-sized review here,
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we have a new announcement from Blue Note. They are expanding their allocation of their
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Honey Bourbon and Honey Rye Whiskey for 2026. So this is B.R. Distilling out of Memphis. They have
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a Honey Bourbon cask at 117.8 proof and a Honey Rye cask at 119.6 proof. And these were praised
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widely. They had a huge demand for these releases. Well, now they say they are expanding to a larger
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market. So these are going to be available across the country. Approximately 2,500 cases of each
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will be available both online and in select U.S. markets. These have sold out locally over the past
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two years in Memphis. So it's really exciting to see them put this out wider. Now, both the bourbon
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and the rye whiskey are seasoned with wildflower barrel aged honey for six to nine months. And then
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they return the whiskey to the honey season barrels for finishing. I've been really enjoying
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some honey cast whiskey lately just across the board. It seems to be finally finding its moment
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and not tasting like you just, you know, dump some honey in your whiskey. It really feels more like
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a refined product. So I haven't had a chance to try these from Blue Note, but I will definitely
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be seeking out bottles. Retail on both of those are going to go for $64.99 for a 750 milliliter bottle.
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And they do plan to release single barrels of both through select retailers. So if you are
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interested in those, keep an eye out because they are becoming more and more available.
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All right. Well, before we get into our Byte-Sized review of another Blue Note bourbon,
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I do have two quick gaming stories that I promise are pretty big deals. So the first of which was
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the fact that Xbox announced a huge amount of layoffs this week. It's part three or four of
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their restructuring, and it's really affecting their gaming studios significantly. So in addition
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to that layoff, they actually announced that they're handing off Halo to Activision. So
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if you don't know, Microsoft owns a bunch of game studios. They went through a massive
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acquisition phase back from 2021 through 2023, and they bought up Activision, which is most
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known for creating Call of Duty and other games of that scale. Well, Xbox had all ownership of
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the Halo franchise, and they've been doing a lot to develop it over the past couple of years
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with some re-releases. Well, part of this restructuring that was just announced,
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they're actually handing off the Halo franchise to Activision. So they're going to continue to
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support some of the existing IP, but all future development for Halo is going to be under the
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Activision brand. There are a few other shakeups, including them moving their Age of Empires
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developer, World's Edge, and Sea of Thieves developer, Rare, under the Activision umbrella
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as well. But overall, it's just, it's a consolidation after a mass consumption of
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these studios. So whether it affects the games or not, we have yet to know this. Again, news just
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broke at the day that I'm recording this podcast, but I just wanted to share it because that's a
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pretty big movement in the world of, you know, massive game studios. Now on the flip side,
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this news actually came out about a week or two ago. They're actually moving Hideo Kojima's game
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from PlayStation to Xbox. So there's a new game coming out. I think it's pronounced Physint. It's
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P-H-Y-S-I-N-T. It's the studio's still unreleased action espionage project. And it was long assumed
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to be a PlayStation title, but as of September 10th, it is now being published by Xbox. So this
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news broke, um, over the past couple of weeks and it was pretty unprecedented. It sounds like they
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all thought it was going to be a PlayStation title up until that final moment where it was switched
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over to Xbox. Now fans and the press are considering this game Physint as the closest thing to
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a true successor to the Metal Gear Solid franchise. So it sounds like it's one of the biggest ambitious
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projects from Hideo Kojima, uh, since Death Stranding. So I don't want to read too much into
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it. I think this game is still going to be exceptional. Again, it's, it's one of the most
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anticipated games, uh, on this generation of consoles, but I'll have to see how this plays
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out. I just want to make sure you guys were aware if you were buying a PlayStation to get that new,
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uh, Hideo Kojima game, maybe, uh, join team Microsoft or get a gaming PC like me and, uh,
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have the best of both worlds. All right. Well, that does it for this week's news. Let's get into
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our Byte-Sized Review. All right. Well, as I mentioned earlier, this is a continuation of our
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Blue Note news because they've just released a limited edition cherry wood cask finished bourbon.
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Um, I want to do a shout out to the folks at B.R. Distilling Company for providing this sample
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for review. Um, I'm super excited because this bourbon whiskey is finished in wild cherry barrels
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that have been harvested from the Jura region of Eastern France. Now that may sound familiar to you
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because we just talked about a Bardstown Bourbon Company release that use barrels from the Jura
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region, but they were not wild cherry barrels. So I'm very curious to see what Blue Note has
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come up with here. Now this release is volume one in the series, which implies they're probably
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going to do this for a future release as well. It's going to be bottled at 119.4 proof and it's
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finished for four months in those wild cherry barrels. Now they say the mash bill of this
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whiskey is 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley. And it was bottled at cast strength unfiltered.
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Now Dan Jurkovic, who is their national sales director said with our new cherry cask, we set
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out to create something that honors the timeless character of great whiskey while introducing a
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fresh layer of complexity. The influence of the cherry cask nicely compliments the whiskey's
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natural richness while finishing the expression at cask strength helps preserve its underlying
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structure to balance the sweetness. And I got to say, I do appreciate that. Oftentimes we see
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finished whiskeys that have been proofed down, whether it's because the intensity of the finish
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is just too much or they're just trying to milk the cask for as much as they can. So seeing this
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at full cask strength at 119.4 makes me quite a bit excited for this particular release.
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Now I've had a chance to review some other Blue Note whiskeys on my YouTube channel,
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including their juke joint, uncut and straight rye whiskeys. If you missed that,
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check it out youtube.com/bourbonbytes, search Blue Note, you'll find that live stream.
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But since then, they've been introducing some limited edition offerings, including their premium
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small batch, a single barrel reserve, a special reserve, a 17 year, and of course the honey rye
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and honey bourbon we just talked about earlier this episode. So there's going to be about 1000
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cases of this new Blue Note cherry wood cask strength bourbon. Suggested retail price on this
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is going to be about $64.99 for a full size 750 milliliter bottle. So very fair price point for
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a cask strength finished bourbon whiskey. Now one thing we don't know about this release based
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on the press notes is the actual age of the bourbon that went into this bottle. But if this finish is
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as good as they say it is, I don't know if that will even matter. So let's go ahead and give this
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Blue Note cherry wood cask a nose. Oh, okay. Yeah, lots of new oak kind of note there. You can
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definitely tell it's been transferred to a second barrel and it makes me wonder how that other
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barrel was prepared because I almost feel like it doesn't have a bit of a char note for that
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finished barrel. It is definitely more of like a new wood oak. Now while the bottle itself has a
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picture of cherries on it. It is important to note that this was just finished in a cherry
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wood casks. Like I said, these were sourced from the Jura region of France and they were finished
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for four months. So these weren't casks that were holding cherries. So even though it does say wild
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cherry wood, that is referring to the wood itself and not a cherry aging. So just want to mention
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that because there are some cherry aged whiskeys out there, but I will agree those cherry wood notes
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do impart a red fruit flavor. I'm getting a bit of like a red apple skin. Yes. I do get a bit of
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cherry, not quite as sweet as what you would think a cherry would be, but it's definitely more in
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that fruit skin element. But honestly it's, it's interesting. It's unlike many other finished
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whiskeys I've ever had with how bright it is. And while the bourbon itself is kind of a bit buried
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by these additional cask notes, it's just an overall pleasant nose. I'm quite digging the nose
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on this one. So let's go for a taste. Let's try the Blue Note Cherry Wood Cask Volume #1.
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Cheers. Oh yeah, that's nice. Hmm. Okay. I was beginning to doubt the bourbon itself based on
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the nose because it was really dominated by that almost overpowering cherry wood note. I didn't
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think cherry wood would have that much impact, but knowing that this is finished in that, I mean,
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that is a pretty dominant flavor impact on this bourbon and it actually works really well.
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Don't get me wrong. It just kind of caught me by surprise because it is really enveloping this
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bourbon, but on the palate again, I do get cherry. You know, I see Applewood finished whiskies all
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the time and I struggle to get anything close to Apple. I get a little bit of the cinnamon spice,
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but that's about it. I will say cherry wood does have a lot of the impact of that fruit.
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Just based on this experience right here, it doesn't taste like there's been cherries added
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or cherry flavor or anything like that. So don't worry. I'm, I'm a big proponent against
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artificial cherry flavor. There's none of that there, but you are getting a little bit of that
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hint of natural cherry. This is quite enjoyable. Like I said, being at cast strength, you're not
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letting anything go here with that finish. If anything, you're really amping it up and you're
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getting a nice element of extra Oak. Like I said, not like a charred Oak, but just a bit of like a
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Oak flavor profile. That's really enhancing this whiskey. It's spicy. It's sweet. And overall it's
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just a really nice pour. You know, I was wondering about missing the age statement when I first was
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reading the facts of this one, but I think that the price, I think this is a fair price, even
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without that info. I don't think it tastes young. I think it actually tastes appropriate
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for this finish. I don't think I would want it finished any longer. I think any longer in that
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cherry wood and it would just be completely overpowered by that flavor, but you're still
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getting some of those traditional vanilla and caramel notes. Yes. It's not a super old bourbon.
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You can just obviously tell that, but that doesn't mean that this isn't a really fun flavor profile.
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And unlike anything else in my collection at the moment, I think this would do really well over ice
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in replacement of a cocktail. I mean, it's not as sweet as a Manhattan, but it kind of brings me
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into that realm maybe because I'm influenced by the cherry, but it does have a little bit of that
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bitter, um, kind of sweet vermouth, a little bit note there. This could be an easy replacement for
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a cocktail for me if I wanted something a bit stronger to end my night. So well done to the
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folks at Blue Note. I did not expect this to be that good. I think it's executed perfectly and
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I'm very glad to have a chance to try it. So here on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, we do a Byte-sized
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review where I give a score out of 10, uh, all things considered price proof availability,
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palate, nose, everything like that. I think this one is actually very, very fun. This is again,
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one of my favorite finished bourbons I've had in a long time. So I'm going to give this a solid
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eight out of 10. I think it's really that good. I mean, being cast strength, being unfiltered,
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giving us the mash bill upfront is great. What I have liked it to have an age statement and maybe
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tell us a little bit more about the bourbon that's in it. Sure. But for the price point of
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about $65, that's really hard to fault them for. Now, if you're not a fan of finished whiskeys,
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you may not like this one. That's kind of why I caveat it a little bit, right?
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That cherry wood note is pretty dominant there. If you don't like those sweeter, fruitier,
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a little bit of a sugary spice note going on, then you may not like this one. But for someone
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that does appreciate a unique finish, this one has a lot going for it. And it really
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reminds me of how innovative these brands can be when it comes to finishing from just really
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specialty wood alone. So I'm a big fan of this release. Let me know if you've had this one or
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any of the other Blue Note special releases. Like I said, they have the honey cask and the
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honey rye. I would love a chance to try those. I think it's so fun to see these new experimental
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releases from brands like this, and I can't wait to see more of them. So thank you again to the
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folks at B.R. Distilling Company and to all of you viewers for making this review possible.
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If you guys want to support the show, you can do so for as little as $2 a month at bourbonbytes.com.
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You also have links to buy merch there, join our Byte Club and be part of our discord community,
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which is always welcoming new members. If you're listening to this this week,
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just know we're doing our monthly movie night for Byte Club members at the $5 tier and above.
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We're going to watch the 1985 classic 'CLUE' in a watch party on discord. I've never seen this movie.
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I've played the game, but of course, I've never watched the movie. So looking forward to watching
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that for the first time with you guys. With that, this has been the Bourbon Bytes Podcast,
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a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers. And I'll talk to you next episode.
