Episode 162

Discovering Hidden Gems in American Whiskey with Blind Barrels!

Published on: 26th March, 2025

Discovering Hidden Gems in American Whiskey with Blind Barrels!

In this captivating episode of the Whiskey Wisdom Podcast, co-hosts Chris Kellum and Tyler Y. are joined by Bobby DeMars, the founder and CEO of Blind Barrels. Bobby delves into the journey of creating Blind Barrels, a unique subscription service for small American craft whiskeys. Learn the intricate legal hurdles faced, the importance of blind tastings, and the meticulous process behind curating each quarterly release. Bobby also shares insights into his passion for connecting whiskey enthusiasts and the burgeoning craft whiskey scene. Don't miss out on this engaging discussion that amplifies the essence of discovery and education in the world of fine spirits!


00:00 Introduction to the Whiskey Wisdom Podcast

00:04 Meet Bobby from Blind Barrels

02:31 The Origin of Blind Barrels

03:31 Navigating Legal Challenges

05:13 Craft Distilleries and Unique Whiskeys

10:02 Gamifying the Whiskey Experience

11:52 Subscription Details and Expansion Plans

13:04 Challenges and Opportunities in the Industry

18:31 Navigating State Regulations

20:42 Southern California Barrel Picks

20:59 The Special Barrel from Southern Star

22:11 Pricing Philosophy and Member Satisfaction

23:08 Best Practices for Tasting

24:25 Upcoming Lineup and High Proof Whiskeys

25:37 Whiskey Tasting Tips and Preferences

31:47 Curating the Perfect Whiskey Experience

32:14 Challenges and Success in the Whiskey Business

33:47 The Importance of Community and Sharing

39:05 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

Transcript
Chris:

Sweet.

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Cool.

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So welcome back to the

Whiskey Wisdom Podcast.

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I'm your co-host Chris

Kellum, and I'm with Tyler y.

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And we are bringing on a special

guest who I've been seeing around

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the internet for a while now.

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I'm happy to finally have you

on the owner starter found.

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I don't know all the fun

titles you have, uh, but you're

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from Blind Barrels, correct?

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Yeah,

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Bobby: correct.

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Yeah.

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The founder and CEO of line barrels.

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Chris: Yeah,

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Tyler: and this is Bobby by the way.

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Since we didn't

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Chris: actually announce who we

have, I was like, there's so many.

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When you get into the entrepreneur

world, it gets really confusing as

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to what titles people have nowadays.

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Bobby: Yeah, we're, you know, like,

uh, I'm, I'm thinking of me messing

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up the cards for some of my guys.

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So like, instead of like, they like

on it says like, whiskey Wizard.

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Oh yeah.

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But they like, they prefer a

curator 'cause that soft touch card.

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But I'm thinking like

Chief tasting Officer.

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So ct.

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Yeah, I like

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Tyler: it.

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Yeah.

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Bobby: You know, so you can, yeah,

you can get fun and, you know, I've

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seen some of those titles, but yeah,

I just usually go founder and CEO.

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Tyler: Nice.

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I feel like you could, it really

lends itself too for like good.

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Internet personality, I guess you could

say naming yourself Bobby Barrels.

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Bobby: It could be Bobby Blonde Barrels.

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Well, it's funny if you, so if you go look

up Bob DeMars, you'll find documentaries

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I've made, and if you look up Robert

DeMars, you'll find an education.

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I've run a company that

I've run and then Oh wow.

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Uh, Bobby DeMar.

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So it was almost like

I've never been Robbie.

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You know, I always feel like

Robbie's gonna steal you, girl.

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Right.

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I just wanted to make a coffee

table book where it's like, you

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know, like four slides of like,

what Bob, Robert, Bobby, and Robbie.

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You know, like you're golfing

and like, oh yeah, Robert, Robert

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never steps on the line, right?

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Yep.

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Bob buys round of beers.

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Robbie shits in the hole.

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You know that there's something,

you know, that, that Robbie's like,

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Robbie's gonna steal your girl.

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Or Robbie's like, I don't know.

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There's something lewd about Robbie,

about what Robbie's gonna do.

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You know?

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I don't know.

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That's

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Tyler: awesome.

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Sounds

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Bobby: pretty accurate.

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It write, it writes itself.

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It does.

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It does jump right.

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The shit in the hole, but you

know, it writes itself basically.

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Chris: Alright, so in general, I've

been following you and the amazing

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stuff you've been coming out with

and doing for a little while now.

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I don't remember exactly

when Tyler sent me the first.

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Lovely thing on social media is like, oh,

we need to check this dude's stuff out.

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But tell us a little about

yourself and the company.

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Bobby: Yeah, so I mean, this whole

thing, this was a Covid baby.

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My, my buddy at Merrill Lynch

was doing blind tastings

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while we were all quarantined.

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And you know, the films that I was

in the process of developing and the

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education company that I ran, basically,

you know, everything died for like

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a period of three to six months.

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And, you know, you can only bake

so many accent walls in the house.

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And I, you know, put in, put in two

bts and, and, uh, you know, my buddy

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was like, Hey, I'm doing blinds.

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You want to.

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You wanna jump in?

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I'm like, yeah.

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And I had never done it with whiskey.

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I'd done it with wine before.

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Oh yeah.

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And I called him afterwards and he had

like eight samples and, and he was very

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generous 'cause he was literally making

you pay like exactly what he paid.

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So he had like an old fits

dusty or something that was

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really like a $800 bottle.

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Yeah.

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But he got it for like 80 bucks.

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So he was only charging

like, you know, $3.

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A, a poor or whatever it was.

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Yeah.

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And so it was really generous for that.

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And afterwards I call him like,

this feels like a business.

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And he goes, yeah, okay.

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And I said, nobody's

ever done this before.

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Like, why?

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And I quickly figured out why.

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It's because there's a lot of hoops

you have to jump through in order to

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be compliant for the three tier system.

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And so I, I called up an a, b, C attorney

and I'll call beverage control attorney.

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Right.

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And by the way, this is a great life

hack If you ever need legal advice,

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you can pretty much do a free hour

long consultation with any attorney.

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Right.

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That's true.

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Hmm.

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So I did a free hour long

consultation, lasted seven minutes.

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The guy's like, look, there's eight

federal laws you're trying to break.

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And I was like, okay.

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Tyler: Oh, alright.

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Bobby: So then I did 16 more

free hour long consultations

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with different a, b, C attorneys.

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Wow.

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And then I came up with a way to do it

before we raised the money, and then I

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came up with a better way and then even a.

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Better way.

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And we are even thinking about

tweaking it, but there's multiple

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ways to do what we're doing.

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And it's not easy.

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We're not in a basement with a funnel.

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You know, the, the bottling

is a whole separate process.

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There's a lot of stuff that legally

happens with the labels and Right.

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You know, to be compliant with

the, the, the trade tax bureau.

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So there's federal, there's state,

there's county laws, there's all

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these things and there's a lot of

key partnerships that are in play.

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So we spent a whole year creating those

partnerships, creating the branding.

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You know, I did try to get you

guys a kid in times so you could

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really experience it yourself, you

know, you know, you've done blinds

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before and, and blinds are so great.

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'cause they're about discovery

and they're about education and

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ultimately it's, it's really communal.

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Right.

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And it's, it's mindful really, you're

being present with the liquid and

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your friends and, you know, somebody's

getting different flavors and you

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guys are bouncing off each other.

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Or someone's guessing that it's a bourbon

or a rye and, and it's a single mom.

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You were both wrong.

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Yeah.

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There's always a fun thing to that usually

people that are quiet that don't want to

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say what they're getting are usually the

ones that are actually really accurate.

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Oh, makes sense.

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And, and you know, they have

to like gain that confidence.

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Right.

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What we're gonna be doing, so

when you guys do get your kit,

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you'll see that there's a, you

know, it's a high end soft touch.

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You know, we wanted everyone to associate,

'cause we only do small American craft

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distilleries, we only feature craft.

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Oh, that's awesome.

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You know, we're not gonna

have mixers and makers Mark.

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Uh, in the lineup.

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We don't want things that

are really accessible.

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There's 3000 distilleries

that you haven't heard of.

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Wow.

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And half of them suck, but, uh,

but, but you know, like we've kissed

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a lot of frogs, I will say that.

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I'm sure.

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But man, you know, ever since we

did a partnership with Fred Minnick

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and, and really we just started

opening up to really cool craft.

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There's craft distillers.

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You've chased since we started that

We're now getting in the lineup.

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I see.

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And, and just, and not just getting

them in the lineup, but getting

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like a special release from them.

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Tyler: Oh, nice.

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Bobby: And, and you know,

our rules are, it's gotta be

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craft, it's gotta be American.

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We haven't had a bottle that was less than

$50 retail you know, at the distillery.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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Most bottles are in that 50 to 130 range.

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Okay.

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But when we sell $130 bottle, it's, it's

usually really like a 200 or $240 bottle.

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Right.

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So the blinds are fun.

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People usually come for the blinds,

but they really stay for the access.

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You know, we've done a barrel pick

with Fray and one with Southern

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Star that was the Sister Barrel.

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Barrel.

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Oh, yeah.

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That won the New York Spirits competition.

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So Pete gave us, it was so dark,

it was the darkest whiskey I've

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still ever seen in my entire life.

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If I had, you know, a thousand of

those bottles, we would've sold them.

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That's amazing.

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We, we had a 15 year ride matured in a

Weller barrel that we did with Mammoth.

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We just did a barrels pick

with still Austin, so.

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Mm-hmm.

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We have too many members now where we

can't really do a barrel pick 'cause

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all everything would go into samples

and we couldn't sell the bottles.

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Right.

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So, uh, we trademarked the name,

the Smallest Batch, and we do what's

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called the smallest Batch series.

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The smallest small batch can

be, which is two barrels.

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And so we picked two barrels and

it wasn't just picking two favorite

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barrels, it was picking two that

really blended well together.

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Tyler: Oh, okay.

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Bobby: And so that was the

first in that series that we

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just did that was still Austin.

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We had the lost barrel of

a, of a whiskey outlaw.

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We, have you seen the doc holiday bottle?

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Like there's a big gimmicky

one now with like the actual

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guns and it's like the case.

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Yeah, I

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Tyler: did actually.

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Yeah.

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Bobby: And.

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Uh, world Whiskey Society.

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They do the White Earp.

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They do a bunch of those.

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And the thing is, the Dock Holidays, they

have like a six year and a seven year.

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Mm-hmm.

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That special one is a 10 year, but

it's not the tenure that we had, uh,

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'cause we sold it out of existence.

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So most of the stuff

they're sourcing is MGP.

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But some of it's from, you know, the,

the one, one of 'em from Oklahoma,

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like, I don't know where they're

sourcing all their stuff, but Right.

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They sent us a bottle.

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It was good, you know, it was, but we

don't like just a white label situation

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where somebody just takes a whiskey.

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And just throws their label on it.

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Right?

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'cause there's no story there.

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Yeah.

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And they sent me the tenure and I

was like, what the fuck is this?

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And I was like, is this this 10 year MGP?

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And they're like, no, it's, it's this

this family, Carlos Lavelle, these

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laves out of Georgia, okay, were

moonshiners for 150 years and they were

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making this sour mass, Georgia bourbon.

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And they'd bounced around to

the Appalachians and they evaded

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the feds for four generations.

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Uh, got caught a couple of times.

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Carlos Lavell.

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See, when most people start making

whiskey, unless they've apprenticed

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or they're really a scientist or they

come from a background, they're usually

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not good at it right off the bat.

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It takes 'em a while to get good

at it if they ever get good at it.

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Well, this guy was making whiskey

since he was seven years old, and when

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he was in his seventies, his daughter

convinced him to go legitimate and he

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started Ivy Mountain Distillery and

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Tyler: okay,

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Bobby: three year.

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So he was making really moonshine.

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He wasn't aging it, and then he

was aging it like six months.

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And then what happened was

about three years in he died.

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Oh wow.

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So all these barrels that

he made sat there, he wasn't

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really aging 'em that long.

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All the stuff he's ever

made, ever really was aging.

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And it sat there for

about four or five years.

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Bardstown bought a bunch, put

it in their explorer series.

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In their fusion series.

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Okay.

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The rest, and you know, they

sold that for 130 bucks.

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The rest ended up in Texas and

you know that, that Texas heat?

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Yep.

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Like it's, it does this,

you know, like, oh yeah.

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Four years is eight years.

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So it was in Texas for four years.

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These guys found it, brought it back

to Georgia, aged it to 10 years.

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And we don't pick brands generally.

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We pick whiskey.

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So people send us

whiskey and we do blinds.

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Mm-hmm.

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And we taste everything blind

that the lineups get determined

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through blind tastings.

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Oh wow.

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And I set it up for my guys, and

I like, I like to throw 'em a

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curve ball every now and again.

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Put their favorite whiskey in

there and see if they shit on it.

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You know what I mean?

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Just like ruin everything

that they thought they loved.

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Yeah.

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And, uh.

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They're like, are you fucking with this?

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Bobby?

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Did you put William Le Ru Weller,

like in a blind for us to like,

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it was so rich and so dark.

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And so just on this other plane

of existence, it's maybe one of

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the best whiskeys I've ever had.

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Wow.

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And yes, if I, we, we sold every bottle

that, and I know there's a couple

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barrels of it, less that they're, that

they're taking a 12 year, but that.

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Specific juice that was in

that doc holiday bottle.

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And my issue was that they never

differentiated the six and seven to

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10 years just a doc holiday bottle

with a different age statement.

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But yeah, I said, look, this

guy's legacy's on this bottle.

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Tyler: Yeah.

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Bobby: So if we're gonna do a white

label situation, we gotta make a

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neck tag that tells this guy's story.

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And, and yeah, like that.

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So this is the type of things

that we do in the lineup.

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And we're now gamifying it.

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So starting in March, we're right

at the end of figuring this out.

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So our march release ships in about two

weeks, and you're gonna guess the age,

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the proof, and the type of whiskey.

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Mm-hmm.

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And you're gonna get a score that

tells you how accurate your palate is.

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Tyler: Oh, nice.

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That's pretty neat.

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That'll

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Bobby: be fun.

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So that'll be fun.

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Yeah.

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Tyler: That's awesome.

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I love that.

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Chris: Are you putting it on like an

app or on the website so people can

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like compare themselves to others?

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Bobby: You know, we, we've thought

about creating a leaderboard, but

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the reality is, someone could easily

cheat and just use a different phone.

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Yeah.

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So it's like the, like for instance,

Wordle doesn't have a leaderboard.

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Right?

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True.

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Because it's all like, I could just use

my computer, find out the word, or I'm

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like, I get it in two guesses every time.

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It's crazy.

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I, you know, seven, one word thing.

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Right?

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But so we thought about that we are

gonna have a log so people can do it.

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We're gonna, uh, have a

shareable function to it.

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Tyler: Nice.

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Bobby: But yeah, like the, you, you

technically could cheat, so we didn't

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want to create anything like that.

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But yeah, we're gonna get people

to rate the spirit too, so that

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way we can get these distilleries

some data on what territories are

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really like in their products.

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So when they think about

expanding in other states, we

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can help them out a little bit.

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Tyler: I like, oh, that's fantastic.

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That's a great idea.

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So.

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Bobby: Oh, go ahead.

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No, I was just saying that gamification

to me is kind of the next level

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in marketing where you're, you're,

you're creating engagement with

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the community but you're, you're

challenging the consumer a little bit.

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Like we all have that buddy that thinks

they know everything about everything.

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Well, let's, let's put you to

the test and, and you know what,

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let's put a bottle on the line.

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Right.

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Loses gotta buy the other person a

bottle from the lineup, you know?

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Tyler: I like it.

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Yeah.

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We have a few friends that we

could definitely do that with.

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So that'll be high on the list.

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Chris: Gosh, yes.

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Bring it to the,

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Tyler: the

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Chris: whole.

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A consortium and be like, all

right, let's see what you got.

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Yeah, that's true.

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So for those who, who've heard the name

but don't, haven't done enough research

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about you, how does Blind Barrels work?

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Bobby: So, blind Barrels is,

is, is really a subscription.

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So if you go to Blind Barrels and

you, you can get a one-off kit, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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But then we have a quarterly and

an annual option and essentially,

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uh, we are seasonal curation.

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So.

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Everybody gets the same

kit at the same time.

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Tyler: Okay.

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Bobby: So like right now we're

really close to the March release.

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So somebody that joins today,

we, we generally say, Hey,

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we're close to the next release.

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Do you want a kit now?

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And then we dial the

renewal back before March.

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Or do we, you just wanna wait another

two weeks before we get this release out.

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But if somebody orders and

let's say April 1st, right?

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We send 'em to March kid immediately.

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Gotcha.

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And then they'll get our, so

the next kit come out mid-June,

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mid-September, mid-December.

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The only one that we kind of

usually get out a little bit early

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is June because of Father's Day.

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Oh, okay.

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And someone's like,

what about Mother's Day?

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And I'm like, look, we backed up from

Christmas, we started at Christmas,

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December, and then went September, June.

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And yeah, we have, we have a ton of.

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Female members in our group, so.

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Sure.

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Yeah.

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We're not trying to overlook, they

have the better palettes by the way.

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Like when we do action, action, we

do a couple lives with everybody.

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But then we, you know, we

we're in about 44 states.

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You know, we've, we're just

shy of like 4,000 members now.

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Wow.

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At some point we, we will probably

cap out the whiskey subscription.

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We are gonna add tequila at some point.

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Tyler: Oh, that's nice.

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Bobby: There might be a way to do

beer and wine, and we're in the

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middle of a capital raise right now

to expand to hotels and restaurants.

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Chris: Oh, wow.

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That'll be fun.

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What would, so do you have an idea

of like, I'm sure you do, but broad

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spectrum, what would that look like?

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At like a hotel just come in and sit

down like, Hey, I want a blind fight.

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:

Bobby: Well, at a hotel

it would be in the room.

399

:

Right?

400

:

So, so you go to Vegas and you got these

mini bottles, they're, they're charging

401

:

60 bucks for Johnny Walker block.

402

:

50 ml, right?

403

:

Yeah.

404

:

Yeah.

405

:

And people buy that shit 'cause they

don't want to go down, Hey, they just

406

:

lost a bunch of money, or they just

want a bunch of money, they want to

407

:

commiserate and I'm gonna take this

$30 vast water and I'm gonna Right.

408

:

Gosh.

409

:

Tyler: Yeah,

410

:

Bobby: just to it out a bag of chips.

411

:

But yeah, hotels will probably, you

know, creating an experience in the room.

412

:

The thing that we want to be able to

make sure is that the hotel's gonna

413

:

carry the product in all their bars, and

that's gonna be the upside for these.

414

:

At the end of the day, we're, we're trying

to create symbiotic relationships with

415

:

these small American craft distillers.

416

:

We're showcasing them.

417

:

We don't do what.

418

:

Other subscriptions do.

419

:

We're the only double blind out there.

420

:

Right.

421

:

But there's other whiskey subscriptions

out there and we know how a lot of them

422

:

operate 'cause we talk to all the brands.

423

:

Yeah.

424

:

And a lot of times they charge

marketing fees or they want the whiskey

425

:

for free or, or at, at below cost.

426

:

And because we're working with

small American businesses, what

427

:

we're trying to do is make sure that

they're winning, that we're not.

428

:

You know, putting a burden on them to be

in the lineup, you know, in the industry.

429

:

It's, it's all, you know,

what's getting the liquor on the

430

:

lips, that's the hardest thing.

431

:

Oh, for sure.

432

:

You know, I mean, you've had that buddy

that says, you gotta get this bottle,

433

:

and you get the bottle, and you're like,

I don't think it was that fucking good.

434

:

You know, like.

435

:

Your, your palate doesn't align with what

their particular flavor preferences are.

436

:

Uh, but then you're making a choice

based upon popularity or how cool

437

:

the bottle looks or price, right?

438

:

So all these components come into

play, but what's not in play is

439

:

whether you like the spirit or not.

440

:

Right?

441

:

And if you do something blind, as you

know, not only are you more likely to,

442

:

become a bigger fan of that brand by

discovering it on your own, you're more

443

:

likely to be loyal to that brand too.

444

:

So we'd want people to go, go visit these

distilleries, you know, go try their food

445

:

pairings, you know, join their email list

for when their special releases come out.

446

:

We've had a bunch of times where

members that are in their own whiskey

447

:

clubs choose a barrel from distilleries

that have been in our lineup.

448

:

Oh,

449

:

Tyler: cool.

450

:

Bobby: And, we've been offered commissions

on that, but we don't accept that.

451

:

So we, we really take heart to the

history of the whiskey community.

452

:

It's, it's an interesting industry that

you don't see in a lot of industries.

453

:

Like the wine industry

is very competitive.

454

:

It's very cutthroat, very you know,

when, when Heaven hills, you know,

455

:

Rick House burns down, you know, people

don't, you know, laugh and cheer that on.

456

:

They say, Hey.

457

:

What can we give you some product

to help you get back on your feet?

458

:

Right?

459

:

So the history of that community is really

important to us, and, and we really you

460

:

know, are, are, are tethered in a strong

way to that that ethos and how we operate.

461

:

So when we're working with the distiller

and getting 'em in the lineup, sometimes

462

:

we love a brand and we wanna get 'em

in lineup, and the timing doesn't

463

:

work out for the amount of product

they have and what they want to do.

464

:

And so we just say, Hey, you tell us when,

and we'll build up a lineup around that.

465

:

You know, it's, it's, we

try to keep it low pressure.

466

:

We try to keep it, every now and again,

you'll get a distillery that doesn't we.

467

:

So we had a brand, uh, that's

was just in our lineup.

468

:

Taconic, have you guys heard of

Taconic from Upstate New York?

469

:

Tyler: Uh.

470

:

Bobby: Like it, their stuff is awesome.

471

:

They were on our list from day one,

and they were supposed to be in our

472

:

very first lineup, and there was a

person that we were dealing with just

473

:

didn't understand the math of, of

how the, the samples work versus the

474

:

bottles, and they, they, they fell out.

475

:

You know, and it didn't happen.

476

:

Right?

477

:

And then years later, earlier this year,

one of my guys made a video about like

478

:

a whiskey wishlist and put to konic on

it, and the owner reached out and he's

479

:

like, well, how do we get in the lineup?

480

:

I'm like, well, we tried

like three years ago, can we?

481

:

I'm like, here's the process, here's

the math, here's what the thing is.

482

:

He goes, oh, that's all very reasonable.

483

:

I'm like, I know.

484

:

And, uh, and I'll tell you, we,

we, we have this, uh, barrel

485

:

proof rye from to Taconic.

486

:

All their products are

really good, by the way.

487

:

They have a maple bourbon.

488

:

I mean, they have some, we had just done

a maple, uh, infusion in our September

489

:

lineup from Vermont Distilling number.

490

:

Vermont number 14.

491

:

The only time we've done a flavored

whiskey and it's 5% Maple fusion.

492

:

So it's, it's really subtle.

493

:

Oh yeah.

494

:

I was worried about putting

the flavored whiskey in lineup.

495

:

But I gotta tell you, man, we've

never sold so much of one bottle

496

:

in our lives like that bottle, like

in a blind with newbies and with

497

:

experienced people, it kills in a lineup.

498

:

So we didn't do the maple from to

Taconic for that reason, but that

499

:

rye, that barrel proof rye, it's a

bottle I will always have at my house.

500

:

It's just that, it's that I mean, it's

so bold, but it's also, it's not weird.

501

:

It's deep, it's rich.

502

:

It, it tastes like it's, it, it,

I think it's only, you know, four

503

:

or five years old, maybe six.

504

:

But it tastes so much

deeper and richer than that.

505

:

And, and it's not, it doesn't

have like all those, you know,

506

:

rise can be so nuanced, right?

507

:

It doesn't have to be spicy.

508

:

Mm-hmm.

509

:

It can be fruity, it can be floral.

510

:

And when someone comes over and they

go, I wanna be, and I go, oh, okay.

511

:

And I'll pull on a.

512

:

You know, I'll pull 'em a middle

west, pumpernickel rye, or I'll

513

:

pour them, uh, I'll, I'll pour them.

514

:

The d Taconic rye.

515

:

Yeah.

516

:

And they're like, this is an amazing

B and and I went, it's a rye.

517

:

Well, exactly.

518

:

Pull the rug out.

519

:

Tyler: So here's, here's

the question for you.

520

:

So we're in North Carolina and we're

very strictly regulated by the A, B, C.

521

:

So I know some of the answers

to this, but then it goes to

522

:

someone that I don't can we order?

523

:

Blind barrels as a subscriber from you.

524

:

And two, if there is a bottle that

we love, how can we buy it if we

525

:

can't get in an a, b, C store?

526

:

Bobby: It's, it's all

fulfillment partners, right?

527

:

So, so there's, there's, there's a lot of.

528

:

You know, for, for instance,

Washington DC is a big loophole.

529

:

Mm-hmm.

530

:

Right?

531

:

DC doesn't follow any of the other

rules, so when you look at a lot of

532

:

I mean, I'm not gonna say how other

companies operate, but a lot of

533

:

companies do operate within that realm.

534

:

But yeah, we can get

product to North Carolina.

535

:

Awesome.

536

:

And so it, but it's, it's not easy.

537

:

And there's a bunch of states

that we're not in because

538

:

it's, it's not possible yet.

539

:

You know, like Kentucky, Kentucky

doesn't want anything coming in, right?

540

:

They wanna sell their

own product within it.

541

:

And the irony of that is

Kentucky's really kind of paving

542

:

the way for direct to consumer.

543

:

Mm.

544

:

Yeah.

545

:

So the wine industry did

this in the seventies.

546

:

California really led the

charge for direct to consumer.

547

:

So all the, you know, in 48 states

or something like that, wineries

548

:

can ship direct to consumer.

549

:

So beer and spirits kind of fall

under a different category, right?

550

:

Chris: Yeah,

551

:

Bobby: that's weird.

552

:

So it's, so, it's, and, and

look like Texas is super weird.

553

:

Like there's, you know, they have

like a four tier system there.

554

:

I mean, there's all sorts of Oh wow.

555

:

Every state.

556

:

It kind of has its own thing.

557

:

I mean, we'll see what happens and, you

know, they're really pushing really hard.

558

:

People want direct to

consumer for spirits and beer.

559

:

Right.

560

:

And, and so the demand

is there and it's just.

561

:

Can they remove somebody because there's

federal, there's state, there's county,

562

:

there's all these different laws.

563

:

So, you know, navigating all those

things and having a good attorney

564

:

and trying to figure out how to

navigate it, it's always difficult.

565

:

Tyler: Yeah, I definitely wanted to

ask because we have a lot of people

566

:

that listen and when they hear, like

when we bring other like whiskey

567

:

vendors on, they're like, ah, well I'm

not gonna listen to this one 'cause

568

:

I can't get access to it or whatever.

569

:

Which I think is so crap.

570

:

Bobby: You guys, Southern Star man.

571

:

Southern Star is such a, see

people on the West Coast don't.

572

:

So have you guys heard of Fray Ranch?

573

:

Tyler: I've heard of it.

574

:

I've never had it before

575

:

Bobby: though, so, so it's funny, like

people on the West coast know about

576

:

Fray Ranch and, and people on the East

coast don't, and then on the East Coast

577

:

everybody knows about Southern Star.

578

:

Mm-hmm.

579

:

And the West Coast people

didn't know about them.

580

:

So we have a, a bunch, we're

in Southern California.

581

:

We have a bunch of, you know,

California members and uh, yeah,

582

:

we're gonna do a barrel pick with

Southern Star again like we did.

583

:

We're gonna probably be coming through

in late September, early October.

584

:

Oh.

585

:

We do ski trip every year.

586

:

Tyler: Yeah.

587

:

Bobby: So we'll probably have

to meet up with you guys when

588

:

we're Yeah, that'd be awesome.

589

:

But, but we think Southern Star

is just really special that we

590

:

did bourbon, that cast drank.

591

:

Mm-hmm.

592

:

Especially the barrel picks.

593

:

And Pete, uh, the owner, Pete

Barger, he's just a good dude.

594

:

You know, I called him after

you know, the hurricane and just

595

:

check in on our people and just,

Hey, is there anything we can do?

596

:

Are you guys safe?

597

:

And, you know, luckily Statesville

you know, ended up being okay, but,

598

:

he sent us like five samples that were

different barrels, and he was like,

599

:

don't, don't be swayed by the color.

600

:

Don't let the color, but, because

there was one that was like, they were

601

:

all, and they were all really good,

but there was one that was so dark.

602

:

I've never, I still, I don't know

if I've ever seen whiskey this

603

:

dark and, and you never know why in

the Rick House or the Rack House,

604

:

Tyler: right.

605

:

Bobby: Why one barrel becomes this, like

the, the airflow or whatever it is, but

606

:

when they won the New York Experience

Competition earlier that year, I.

607

:

The sister Barrel, the barrel right next

to it was that sample that he sent us.

608

:

Tyler: Oh, okay.

609

:

Bobby: And uh, you know, he wanted

to put his best foot forward, but

610

:

we said we would blind everything.

611

:

And we did.

612

:

But man, that, that particular

barrel was just on this other level.

613

:

It was the same a BV, the same color

as the Sister Barrel that won the

614

:

New York Experience Competition.

615

:

And, and yeah, I mean, when we sold that.

616

:

At the distillery, a cast strength

bottle is, I think, 70 bucks, right?

617

:

Yeah.

618

:

Yeah.

619

:

And this is a barrel pick, so we could

have, and, and it's a special barrel

620

:

pick, so we could have probably sold

that for 90 or a hundred dollars.

621

:

Mm-hmm.

622

:

And we would've done that,

but we sold it for 70.

623

:

Tyler: Hmm.

624

:

Bobby: You know, the, the goal is to

sell it for the same price and oftentimes

625

:

less than if you were at the distillery.

626

:

So we don't do this big upsell

on the bottles themselves.

627

:

We don't say, Hey, this is a bottle

that you could never get, so we're

628

:

gonna charge another 15, 20% more.

629

:

Right.

630

:

And we talk to venture

capitalists and they hate that.

631

:

We don't do that.

632

:

Tyler: I'm

633

:

Bobby: sure.

634

:

Of course.

635

:

And, uh, I'm like, but you know, we, we

keep our, our members happy and at the end

636

:

of the day, I want them to order bottles.

637

:

We don't make very big margins

because we have fulfillment partners.

638

:

And then they get a piece.

639

:

And so there's, there's and we have

shipping discounts and all this

640

:

other stuff that, and so we don't

lose money when we sell a bottle.

641

:

We really don't make money

when we sell a bottle.

642

:

And we do indirectly because our members

are happy and then they stay members.

643

:

Yeah.

644

:

Tyler: Right.

645

:

Yeah.

646

:

So when we subscribe, we get a box.

647

:

What's the best practices when

we open this box to get the

648

:

best experience out of it?

649

:

Bobby: Uh, you know, I mean,

so I would get four glasses.

650

:

So, you know, if you have four

Glens, obviously it's, you can

651

:

do one and you can rinse it out.

652

:

Everyone does it a little bit differently.

653

:

We don't like to tell people like,

this is the way that you have to do it.

654

:

Okay.

655

:

Yeah.

656

:

But we, we do host a, a blind live

for our members twice every quarter.

657

:

So we suggest, Hey, come on and do

the live with us 'cause you'll meet.

658

:

People in the whiskey community

you know, newbies kind of feel

659

:

like the new kid at school.

660

:

Yeah.

661

:

And then there's the people that

have been in every single one of 'em.

662

:

And yeah, we get a little loose.

663

:

We get a lot of fun.

664

:

My two guys lead the tasting and

really start the educational component

665

:

about the four phases of tasting,

the color, the appearance, the

666

:

aroma, the taste, and the finish.

667

:

What each of those

phases are we go through.

668

:

Yeah, I mean, we always

just say take notes.

669

:

You know, there's a lot of things

that we could do in the kit that we

670

:

didn't do where it's like, oh, do we

put a journal in there or do we put

671

:

like, you know, some limestone rich

672

:

Tyler: water right?

673

:

Bobby: And you could dilute

it and, you know, it could, we

674

:

put coffee grounds in there to.

675

:

To cleanse your palate and your,

your aroma in between samples.

676

:

We could, there's a lot of things that we

could have done to enhance it, but it just

677

:

felt like too many bells and whistles.

678

:

And also, we have a lot of people that

are new to whiskey and, and we don't

679

:

want it to be overwhelming for them.

680

:

Right.

681

:

So the only thing that we do suggest

sometimes, so the upcoming lineup

682

:

that we have in March is called Heat.

683

:

Uh, it's a partnership with, uh,

Randy Sullivan from Bourbon Real Talk.

684

:

Tyler: Oh yeah.

685

:

Yeah.

686

:

Bobby: And Randy's a good dude.

687

:

And yeah, this March lineup

is just all bangers and they

688

:

are all really high proof.

689

:

You know, we've got a

hazmat that's in the lineup.

690

:

Yeah.

691

:

The last time we, we did this

was, it was all barrel picks two

692

:

years ago in March, 2023, and it

was like a hundred and foolproof.

693

:

And then the Southern

Star one, which was 116.

694

:

Mm-hmm.

695

:

The Fray one, which was 116,

and then we had a 26 year.

696

:

Rye.

697

:

That was 151 proof.

698

:

Oh my gosh.

699

:

It was actually 1 59 and

I had 'em proof it down.

700

:

'cause there's some states you

can't ship to if it's above 1 53.

701

:

Oh wow.

702

:

So there was like a interesting

kind of curve ball with that.

703

:

So that was the first time

we did Hazmat the sec.

704

:

So that box was called some, like it hot.

705

:

We always do kind of a, usually

a pop culture reference.

706

:

Tyler: Yeah,

707

:

Bobby: right.

708

:

Uh, to a song or a movie.

709

:

In this case Heat, you know,

where you got Pacino and De Niro.

710

:

You got, yeah.

711

:

Two.

712

:

And so in this case it's Randy and, and

me and my guys is the Pacino De Niro.

713

:

And and then obviously the heat

level that's coming from it, right?

714

:

So we do suggest on, especially with

newbies, we have to like, you know,

715

:

sit there and 'cause they're going to

take a sip and be like, that is like

716

:

a lot of whiskey and it's gonna be,

and yes, I always say try it hot and

717

:

then, you know, the whole point of

cast strength and, and barrel proof,

718

:

whatever you wanna call it, whatever

marketing term you want to use is not.

719

:

Well, let's put some hair on our chest

and be tough and let's know, well,

720

:

let's proof it down to your liking.

721

:

That's what the whole point of it is.

722

:

You know, the only thing I I,

you know, you wanna mix it,

723

:

you want to put ice cube in it.

724

:

You wanna do whatever you want, like do a

big cube and then it evolves in the glass.

725

:

That's really cool.

726

:

I have a brother-in-law that like

throws crushed ice on the end.

727

:

I'm like, dude, don't do

the crushed ice thing.

728

:

I say, yeah, that's

729

:

Tyler: different.

730

:

Bobby: Yeah, bring your, bring

your Jack Daniels Tennessee honey

731

:

thing and go do that with your,

with your crushed ice over there.

732

:

But, uh, you know, so that's the only

thing that I kind of like would suggest.

733

:

I'm like the crushed ice thing.

734

:

I don't recommend that.

735

:

Yeah.

736

:

'cause at the end of the day,

we're not taking shots, right?

737

:

Yeah.

738

:

We're not rushing through this.

739

:

We are we, we are I vibing in a

responsible way, but also in a, in a way

740

:

that connects with the people around you.

741

:

Right?

742

:

Yes.

743

:

This is a healthy way to approach alcohol.

744

:

Tyler: Yeah.

745

:

I like that.

746

:

Yeah, that's one of my favorite ways

of doing it too, is I'll, I always

747

:

try it without any type of water or

ice in it first, just to see what is

748

:

this like straight outta the cask.

749

:

And then I'll usually put a large ice

ball in it, just to have the evolution

750

:

of what the taste is like as the ice

is slowly melting into the whiskey.

751

:

Bobby: Yeah, it's interesting there,

you know, I wish somebody would do

752

:

the, the math and the research on like.

753

:

I mean, you could get into the

physics and just the, the, the

754

:

melting ratio to the proof.

755

:

And like I'm sure you could do a lot of

math to figure out how long is too long to

756

:

be chilling with your whiskey, you know?

757

:

Uh, but I usually will

proof it down a little.

758

:

Like whiskey stones are

just annoying to me.

759

:

Same.

760

:

Yeah.

761

:

You know, I saw this, it was like a

Kickstarter or something where they

762

:

have a, like an electric thing that

keeps the glass cold or something.

763

:

Mm-hmm.

764

:

And I'm like, I like that idea.

765

:

Tyler: Yeah.

766

:

I can see that.

767

:

If

768

:

Bobby: it works, you know?

769

:

Yeah, exactly Like that.

770

:

There's some element that somehow

has a component that keeps, I'm sure

771

:

it's really easy to keep it hot.

772

:

Uh, but is there something that keeps

it cold that like I would dig something

773

:

like that if some invention that actually

works you know, that or that keeps

774

:

the glass chilled somehow, you know?

775

:

Like, that'd be dope.

776

:

That way I kind of get

the best of all worlds.

777

:

Tyler: Yeah.

778

:

Bobby: But I mean, everyone to each

their own, we don't you know, what

779

:

we also like about Randy with Burn

Real Talk is that he's not like, I'm

780

:

the professor and you're the student.

781

:

It's, it's like, no, well

do what you like, you know?

782

:

Mm-hmm.

783

:

What are, you know, you want to, you

wanna put some Coke Zero on that After

784

:

you, at the end of it, I'm like, Hey,

someone's gotta experiment with it.

785

:

Right.

786

:

I have a buddy that always saves a little

of each one, and then he does a, he's

787

:

like, he likes to be an amateur blender.

788

:

We all have that one buddy.

789

:

Yep.

790

:

And he likes to do a blend with,

with, with the samples that are in

791

:

whatever kit it is and say whether

it was a good blend or not, you know.

792

:

Tyler: Oh, that's interesting.

793

:

I wouldn't have thought about doing that.

794

:

Yeah.

795

:

Bobby: I mean,

796

:

Tyler: we

797

:

Chris: have

798

:

Bobby: a

799

:

Tyler: lot of

800

:

Chris: bottles to blend.

801

:

Bobby: Yeah.

802

:

Oh, and then, yeah, the single

multiple mess, anything up.

803

:

So you have to be

careful with that, right?

804

:

Yeah.

805

:

But the, we have a tasting table.

806

:

We converted the wheel into a table.

807

:

And, and the wheel.

808

:

Do I have one around here?

809

:

No, I don't.

810

:

But the, but it, it's meant to

open up your senses on what you're

811

:

getting and the aroma and the

flavors and the finish and all that.

812

:

And then the qr, that code then

tells you everything about.

813

:

The spirit.

814

:

So the age, the proof, the type of

whiskey, the aroma, the taste, the

815

:

finish, the backstory, the distillery.

816

:

And then, yeah, if you wanna

buy a full bottle, you can.

817

:

Tyler: Nice.

818

:

That's neat.

819

:

So, how often are people buying like

the full bottles after they try it?

820

:

Or does it really depend on how the,

the tasting goes for each person?

821

:

Bobby: It really depends.

822

:

You know, we, we have some members that

buy three of every bottle every time.

823

:

Oh wow.

824

:

They buy one to drink, one

to share, and one to save.

825

:

You know, for the special releases.

826

:

So that barrels pick that we did, the

small batch that we did was still Austin.

827

:

Yeah.

828

:

We had to limit that to one per person.

829

:

Makes sense.

830

:

Sense.

831

:

Yeah.

832

:

We sold out.

833

:

You know, I was hoping it was

gonna last to six weeks in, but

834

:

it lasted about three weeks and

everybody wanted a bottle of that.

835

:

You know, you can always tell when

a, a lineup is really well balanced

836

:

because you have an equal amount

of all the bottles being ordered.

837

:

You know, you have somebody that

will get a single malt and a

838

:

bourbon and, and especially when,

you know, not all single malt.

839

:

People are bourbon

drinkers and vice versa.

840

:

Right.

841

:

So when you see somebody, a, a large

group of people that are ordering the

842

:

bourbon and the single malt, that's

how you know you did something right?

843

:

'cause we are going for diversity

generally in the lineup.

844

:

We want there to be a

different experience.

845

:

We want it to be a roller coaster.

846

:

And so sometimes, you know, I'd say

the only time we kind of screwed

847

:

it up, that Vermont, uh, number 14,

that has that 5% maple infusion.

848

:

Yeah.

849

:

That was sample A in September.

850

:

And 'cause we didn't really know where

to, 'cause it was the 90 proofer.

851

:

We didn't really kind of

know where to put her.

852

:

92, something like that.

853

:

Right.

854

:

And then we had Kings County.

855

:

Uh, they're straight bourbon after that.

856

:

Now I love Kings County and

Kings County is awesome.

857

:

Have you guys ever had Kings

County or heard of Kings County

858

:

out of, uh, outta Brooklyn?

859

:

Tyler: I don't think so.

860

:

I haven't really heard of many out

of New York in general, to be honest.

861

:

I.

862

:

I mean, the girls have talked about it.

863

:

Uh, I mean,

864

:

Bobby: Penelope at a jersey, right?

865

:

Right.

866

:

Yeah.

867

:

You got black button, black

button outta I think Rochester.

868

:

Yeah.

869

:

You know, they've been in New York, but

yeah, the, so Kings County's kinda one of

870

:

the OG kind of craft distilleries, and I

love their stuff, but I gotta tell you,

871

:

after that, maple and Fusion, I don't

think it shined as well as it would.

872

:

So we kind of told everybody,

I'm like, look, do sample B at

873

:

a later date on its own too.

874

:

Don't just run it through, because

sometimes it's that juxtaposition

875

:

of one versus the other, and we're

trying to make sure that it's, it's

876

:

not really a competition, but we're

trying to make sure that each of.

877

:

You know, the expressions are, are

shining on their own and so sometimes

878

:

we are just ramping up in proof and

sometimes like single marks are, you

879

:

kinda can't put them in the middle.

880

:

You have to either put 'em

in the front or the back.

881

:

Right.

882

:

'cause it messes up the flow.

883

:

Tyler: Yeah.

884

:

Bobby: So, you know, there is a rhyme

and a reason and we sometimes have

885

:

debates about the order and it's

usually like B and C, we know what A

886

:

and D are and just trying to figure

out what those two middle ones are.

887

:

Chris: Mm.

888

:

Bobby: Yeah.

889

:

That makes sense.

890

:

Chris: I love that you guys.

891

:

Put so much into this.

892

:

Like it's not just a, Hey, you

know, we, we found some bottles.

893

:

We think this'll taste okay.

894

:

You guys go.

895

:

You actually, like, the reason why

it's quarterly is because you put

896

:

a lot of thought and process into

like, what makes the most sense?

897

:

How can we curate this, uh,

experience for everybody new

898

:

and old in the, in the business.

899

:

Bobby: It's, it's a lot of

work to create a lineup.

900

:

You know, just the reveal page and the

copy and working with the distilleries

901

:

and, you know, there's all these freights

with all the liquid and there's, there's,

902

:

it's when we, when we were starting

the company, we were gonna do whiskey

903

:

every other month and we were gonna do

tequila and the off months, and then.

904

:

Somebody brilliant was like,

you should just focus on whiskey

905

:

'cause you're going to split the

audience and you'll fail at both.

906

:

Like you're probably right and tequila

and importing it is a whole other

907

:

animal that we're still cracking

and that we, we have it figured out.

908

:

It's just we're trying to find

the right timing for that.

909

:

But then whiskey, you know, the

whole process of what it takes, I

910

:

mean, just with labels and creating

custom labels and, and getting.

911

:

Certificate of label acceptance and

you know, all these legal things

912

:

that actually have to happen.

913

:

There's a lot of steps and it's,

it's a, it's a lengthy process.

914

:

So it's not just the curation,

it's all the things that we have

915

:

to do to make sure that the lineup

happens and that it syncs up.

916

:

So it's, it's almost like we're doing the,

you know, four releases every quarter.

917

:

'cause each one is its own deal and

every distillery operates differently.

918

:

And so getting that timing to sync up.

919

:

You know, every now and again,

we'll have one that falls out

920

:

right as we get close to a release.

921

:

And we always have kind of one

in the wings just ready to go in

922

:

case something like that happens.

923

:

And so we're, we're always kind

of, we, we've always been on

924

:

time with all of our shipments.

925

:

We're, we're you know, our bottling

partners bottling all this week.

926

:

The packaging will be

all the week after that.

927

:

And then we get it to fulfillment

partners and we get everything out.

928

:

So the idea is that if

you have a friend or a.

929

:

You know, sister or mother or

father, you know, a coworker or

930

:

somebody that's in another state.

931

:

Everyone gets that same

lineup at that same time.

932

:

Tyler: Mm-hmm.

933

:

Bobby: So, you know, we always say

great whiskey's meant to be shared.

934

:

Right.

935

:

And that's really, you know, once

again, the, the whiskey community, the

936

:

heart of the whiskey community is, is,

well, let's not sit around and have

937

:

this goal of getting really drunk.

938

:

No, let's sit around and make

connections with other people,

939

:

whether it's our members, whether

it's our members making it.

940

:

When we do our lives we'll have.

941

:

Several people on the live

where there's, you know, 4, 5,

942

:

6 people on just that one zoom.

943

:

So we might have a hundred people

in the Zoom, but there's really

944

:

like 200 'cause there's a lot

of couples that do it together.

945

:

Oh yeah.

946

:

You know, there's a lot of, and it's

great 'cause a lot of times the.

947

:

People think that all whiskey

drinkers are men, and that's not true.

948

:

30% of bourbon drinkers are women.

949

:

Tyler: Oh, wow.

950

:

Bobby: And, but a lot of times women

will buy our product for their husband

951

:

and then they end up doing it with them.

952

:

Yeah.

953

:

And, and it, and it can make, you

know, your relationship stronger,

954

:

you know, to think, oh, I think

my wife would like whiskey.

955

:

And then it turns out Yeah, it's,

it's, we're not a whiskey brand.

956

:

We're a whiskey experience.

957

:

Right.

958

:

Yeah.

959

:

Ah, yeah.

960

:

That's good.

961

:

And, and that whole concept and

yeah, sometimes, we'll, we will have.

962

:

Uh, a brand that I think the

most accessible of a brand that

963

:

we ever had was Three Chord.

964

:

Tyler: Mm.

965

:

Mm-hmm.

966

:

Oh

967

:

Bobby: yeah, I know that one.

968

:

Uh, which is, uh, Neil Alto's

it's Pat Penit guitar's husband.

969

:

He's a guitar player for Pat Pinar.

970

:

That's right.

971

:

Yeah.

972

:

And so three court is, is in a lot

of states it's fairly accessible.

973

:

Yeah.

974

:

But we did their strange collaboration,

which, uh, his daughter was dating

975

:

Johnny Strange, who was this Daredevil.

976

:

And their family had a winery and

they, they used their cabernet

977

:

barrels to finish the whiskey.

978

:

So there was a cool story there.

979

:

Yeah.

980

:

Johnny Strange actually passed away during

one of his crazy things he was doing.

981

:

So it was a way to kind of, uh, the

families to kind of pay respect for each

982

:

other through this thing that kind of

lived you know, in the wake of his death.

983

:

So.

984

:

You know, there's a story behind every

single whiskey that's in the lineup.

985

:

And for me that's, you know, the, the

hard thing is sometimes there's a great

986

:

story and there's not great whiskey.

987

:

Yeah.

988

:

You know, I mean, we get, you

know, tons of bottles sent to us

989

:

and I make blinds for my guys.

990

:

And you know, I, that's the

irony of my role is that I

991

:

never get to do blinds anymore.

992

:

Right.

993

:

That good point.

994

:

So I, I do have a couple members that

now send me blinds, which is really cool.

995

:

Tyler: Oh, that's neat.

996

:

Bobby: You know, or I'll

come onto their YouTube.

997

:

Thing.

998

:

And you know, they got 10 subscribers

and I'll just come and do the live

999

:

with them and just 'cause I like, I'm

like, I never get to do blinds anymore.

:

00:36:04,016 --> 00:36:04,256

Right.

:

00:36:04,256 --> 00:36:04,526

Tyler: Yeah.

:

00:36:04,956 --> 00:36:06,786

Bobby: So it's, it's the way

that I get to still kind of

:

00:36:06,786 --> 00:36:07,866

have a little bit of fun too.

:

00:36:08,556 --> 00:36:08,946

Tyler: Sweet.

:

00:36:09,036 --> 00:36:09,486

I like that.

:

00:36:09,666 --> 00:36:12,366

So since you are kind of coming up on

our time now already there is a question

:

00:36:12,366 --> 00:36:15,816

we like to ask all of our guests,

and that is, if you were to tell your

:

00:36:15,816 --> 00:36:17,706

younger self one thing, what would it be?

:

00:36:20,096 --> 00:36:20,546

Bobby: Wow.

:

00:36:20,936 --> 00:36:21,356

Okay.

:

00:36:21,446 --> 00:36:24,236

So like, like I'm Marty

McFly, I'm going back in time.

:

00:36:24,296 --> 00:36:24,536

Yeah.

:

00:36:25,256 --> 00:36:26,906

You know, my mom's baby trying to date me.

:

00:36:26,911 --> 00:36:27,101

Tyler: Yeah.

:

00:36:28,946 --> 00:36:29,516

Bobby: Uh,

:

00:36:31,576 --> 00:36:33,107

to remember to enjoy the hard days.

:

00:36:34,126 --> 00:36:34,336

Tyler: Hmm.

:

00:36:34,396 --> 00:36:37,246

Bobby: This was advice somebody gave

me before I was making a documentary

:

00:36:37,246 --> 00:36:40,876

that was really difficult to make and,

uh, it's something that I still think

:

00:36:40,876 --> 00:36:45,366

about when there's really difficult

days that when you're faced with

:

00:36:45,726 --> 00:36:49,326

something that feels insurmountable and

you eventually get through it and you

:

00:36:49,326 --> 00:36:51,396

look back on those times with pride.

:

00:36:51,846 --> 00:36:55,716

So it's so easy to get swept up

and to be overwhelmed in these

:

00:36:56,106 --> 00:36:59,316

times that are difficult or these

days that are difficult that.

:

00:36:59,976 --> 00:37:03,486

Just part of you has to remember to

enjoy it while you're in the moment

:

00:37:03,486 --> 00:37:08,106

of difficulty because it is gonna

be either a lesson you learn from

:

00:37:08,106 --> 00:37:10,626

failure or it's gonna be a point of

pride where you're gonna grow from

:

00:37:10,626 --> 00:37:11,736

going through something difficult.

:

00:37:11,736 --> 00:37:17,316

So I don't know if I would listen,

but when my buddy told me that,

:

00:37:17,376 --> 00:37:20,856

uh, you know, I was at the right

age to be receptive of it, so.

:

00:37:20,856 --> 00:37:20,946

Right.

:

00:37:20,946 --> 00:37:21,036

Good.

:

00:37:21,786 --> 00:37:22,146

Tyler: That's awesome.

:

00:37:22,146 --> 00:37:22,596

I love that.

:

00:37:22,596 --> 00:37:23,646

Chris: I don't think

we've had that one before.

:

00:37:23,646 --> 00:37:24,276

That's really good.

:

00:37:24,336 --> 00:37:24,606

Yeah.

:

00:37:25,146 --> 00:37:27,516

So I have two final questions.

:

00:37:28,296 --> 00:37:32,916

One super simple kind of, uh, what

does success look like for you?

:

00:37:33,456 --> 00:37:36,336

Uh, whether it be with blind

barrels or just personally,

:

00:37:37,686 --> 00:37:39,726

Bobby: uh, you know, the success

always starts with the home.

:

00:37:39,726 --> 00:37:43,206

So if my, my wife and my kids

are happy, then I'm happy.

:

00:37:43,206 --> 00:37:45,726

So they're, they're my big rocks.

:

00:37:45,756 --> 00:37:46,926

You know, if you've ever heard of, uh.

:

00:37:47,571 --> 00:37:49,041

The expression what the big rocks are.

:

00:37:49,131 --> 00:37:49,221

Yeah.

:

00:37:49,221 --> 00:37:52,191

You know, this guy has this container

and he puts in big rocks and then he

:

00:37:52,191 --> 00:37:55,701

puts in these, these pebbles, and then

he puts in the sand and is it full?

:

00:37:55,821 --> 00:37:58,131

And then he pours in the

water and it's still not full.

:

00:37:58,311 --> 00:38:01,671

And the reality is, is what makes

that possible is that you gotta

:

00:38:01,671 --> 00:38:02,841

put in your big rocks first.

:

00:38:02,841 --> 00:38:04,461

So my family is my big rock.

:

00:38:04,811 --> 00:38:05,891

You know, I put them first.

:

00:38:05,913 --> 00:38:07,653

And those are always on

the forefront of my mind.

:

00:38:08,416 --> 00:38:10,816

But you know, I always feel

success is a choice because

:

00:38:10,816 --> 00:38:12,496

it's about perception, right?

:

00:38:12,501 --> 00:38:12,551

Mm-hmm.

:

00:38:13,726 --> 00:38:13,727

And.

:

00:38:13,727 --> 00:38:17,621

I think, you know, when you, you get

into the concept of where you're not

:

00:38:17,621 --> 00:38:20,321

where you want to be yet, and you

don't have gratitude for where you've

:

00:38:20,561 --> 00:38:24,341

come from, that I try to take a moment

each week and carve out a moment

:

00:38:24,341 --> 00:38:28,361

to have gratitude and be thankful

because I think if I would look, I.

:

00:38:28,516 --> 00:38:31,336

From three, four years ago when this

started to where we are now, I would be

:

00:38:31,336 --> 00:38:32,926

super grateful that we're where we are.

:

00:38:33,286 --> 00:38:35,056

And now I'm thinking about

where we want to take the

:

00:38:35,056 --> 00:38:36,436

company and we're not there yet.

:

00:38:36,496 --> 00:38:36,856

Tyler: Yeah, right.

:

00:38:37,206 --> 00:38:39,756

Bobby: And there's that expression,

comparisons, the thief of joy.

:

00:38:39,756 --> 00:38:43,266

We all get caught up into it

and, and no one else cares.

:

00:38:43,266 --> 00:38:43,326

I.

:

00:38:43,381 --> 00:38:45,841

About your success or your failure

that much except for the people

:

00:38:45,841 --> 00:38:47,641

that really love you and the people

that are really rooting for you.

:

00:38:48,031 --> 00:38:51,661

So for me, success is really

about perception and gratitude.

:

00:38:51,661 --> 00:38:55,171

So right now because we're thriving

and we're growing and we're doing all

:

00:38:55,171 --> 00:38:58,871

these things and we're expanding yeah,

I, you know, rather than thinking

:

00:38:58,871 --> 00:39:01,841

I'm not where we want to be at, I'm

super grateful for where we are.

:

00:39:01,841 --> 00:39:04,271

And that mindset will allow

us to get to the other goals.

:

00:39:04,571 --> 00:39:04,841

Chris: Nice.

:

00:39:05,141 --> 00:39:05,381

Bobby: You're right.

:

00:39:05,381 --> 00:39:05,831

I love it.

:

00:39:06,281 --> 00:39:09,641

Chris: So, last one, for those

who don't already subscribe,

:

00:39:10,061 --> 00:39:11,201

uh, it's a blind barrels or.

:

00:39:11,731 --> 00:39:13,141

Just wanna keep up with you guys.

:

00:39:13,351 --> 00:39:15,181

Uh, where can they find you?

:

00:39:16,261 --> 00:39:18,571

Bobby: Uh, so you can follow us

on Instagram at Blind Barrels.

:

00:39:18,571 --> 00:39:21,391

That's also our TikTok, that's

also our YouTube, right?

:

00:39:21,391 --> 00:39:22,441

So we locked them all up.

:

00:39:22,621 --> 00:39:25,231

In fact, if you looked up blind barrels

before your company, it was just a lot

:

00:39:25,231 --> 00:39:27,931

of blind people surfing Seven barrels.

:

00:39:27,931 --> 00:39:30,631

It was like 20 videos

of blind people surfing.

:

00:39:30,631 --> 00:39:31,171

Barrels.

:

00:39:31,171 --> 00:39:31,172

Barrels.

:

00:39:31,641 --> 00:39:32,421

And so.

:

00:39:32,871 --> 00:39:36,441

You go to blind barrels and look, if

you use the Code Whiskey 10, uh, you

:

00:39:36,441 --> 00:39:39,771

can get 10% off of anything, whether

it's merchandise, whether it's a one

:

00:39:39,771 --> 00:39:43,821

off box, if you just wanna try a box,

uh, before you jump into a subscriber.

:

00:39:43,821 --> 00:39:47,991

But if you wanna get 10% off an annual

or quarterly and any new member.

:

00:39:48,086 --> 00:39:51,596

For quarter of your annual, we always

send you a custom tasting glass Oh, nice.

:

00:39:51,596 --> 00:39:52,376

With your first kit.

:

00:39:52,796 --> 00:39:55,706

And, uh, and our tasting glasses are

really thick, so they're kind of like

:

00:39:55,706 --> 00:39:57,566

got a restaurant quality element to it.

:

00:39:57,566 --> 00:39:59,816

So a lot of tasting glasses

are very, you know, you knock

:

00:39:59,816 --> 00:40:00,746

'em over and you shatter them.

:

00:40:00,746 --> 00:40:01,256

You right.

:

00:40:01,256 --> 00:40:04,256

These ones are a little thicker than

normally threw a lot of glass in there to

:

00:40:04,256 --> 00:40:05,726

just make sure there was some heft to it.

:

00:40:05,726 --> 00:40:05,816

Nice.

:

00:40:06,226 --> 00:40:09,076

But yeah, you can check out blind

barrels and, uh, you know, if you hit

:

00:40:09,076 --> 00:40:12,556

up our support email, you're gonna get

me you know, all our members have my

:

00:40:12,556 --> 00:40:16,366

cell phone so that they can shoot me

suggestions on distilleries in their area.

:

00:40:16,366 --> 00:40:16,396

I.

:

00:40:16,829 --> 00:40:19,589

I think September we're gonna try

to make a members only kit where

:

00:40:19,829 --> 00:40:22,559

it's gonna be all suggestions from

members that end up in the Oh, nice.

:

00:40:22,949 --> 00:40:23,369

That'd be cool.

:

00:40:23,424 --> 00:40:27,119

So, so we're trying to create different

themes like that and, uh, and yeah, we're

:

00:40:27,119 --> 00:40:30,539

working on another partnership with Fred

Minick you know, for later this year.

:

00:40:30,539 --> 00:40:33,039

So, that's gonna be

another fun one for sure.

:

00:40:33,489 --> 00:40:33,879

Chris: Awesome.

:

00:40:34,119 --> 00:40:34,479

Tyler: Sweet.

:

00:40:34,749 --> 00:40:37,629

This episode hasn't come out yet,

but we just interviewed one of the

:

00:40:37,629 --> 00:40:41,409

wholesalers of Liberty in P Plenty,

which is outta Durham, North Carolina.

:

00:40:41,889 --> 00:40:42,009

So.

:

00:40:42,629 --> 00:40:44,489

There's a nice, there's another

one for you if you need it.

:

00:40:45,149 --> 00:40:45,539

Well, no,

:

00:40:45,539 --> 00:40:46,289

Bobby: send, send them.

:

00:40:46,289 --> 00:40:47,189

Send them our way.

:

00:40:47,219 --> 00:40:50,309

'cause that's the thing is if it

holds up in a blind, you know, and

:

00:40:50,309 --> 00:40:53,099

especially, you know, craft's great

because they're doing all the things.

:

00:40:53,849 --> 00:40:57,359

They, they set the trends, you

know, oh, they're taking chances.

:

00:40:57,419 --> 00:40:59,339

You know, you got guys like Alan Bishop.

:

00:40:59,339 --> 00:41:02,064

That was out of French Lick that

now started old homestead and he's

:

00:41:02,064 --> 00:41:05,784

putting Kasha and he's doing like,

he's doing all sorts of weird grains

:

00:41:05,784 --> 00:41:09,264

and he's putting, he's doing a four

grain that has oats in it and or he'll

:

00:41:09,264 --> 00:41:12,384

say buckwheat 'cause buckwheat's,

there's 2% in all the rye has buck.

:

00:41:12,384 --> 00:41:16,014

Wheat is, so, he puts it as part of

Nashville, you know, so, so the craft

:

00:41:16,104 --> 00:41:19,584

movement is, is shaping the future

and they have been for a while.

:

00:41:19,584 --> 00:41:22,594

So, you know, the people that are doing

the weird and interesting and awesome

:

00:41:22,594 --> 00:41:24,364

things are all coming from craft.

:

00:41:24,364 --> 00:41:26,554

So any suggestion that comes through.

:

00:41:27,234 --> 00:41:30,534

You know, we're obviously very

open-minded and I'll put it in a

:

00:41:30,534 --> 00:41:31,944

blind and we'll put it to the test.

:

00:41:32,124 --> 00:41:32,274

Chris: Cool.

:

00:41:32,274 --> 00:41:32,604

Tyler: Sweet.

:

00:41:32,724 --> 00:41:33,084

Chris: Love it.

:

00:41:33,264 --> 00:41:33,684

Love it.

:

00:41:34,194 --> 00:41:37,464

Thank you so much for taking the

time outta your busy day, uh,

:

00:41:37,524 --> 00:41:38,904

'cause Oh, I appreciate you guys.

:

00:41:38,909 --> 00:41:39,819

Thank playing me on.

:

00:41:39,894 --> 00:41:40,524

Thank you.

:

00:41:40,864 --> 00:41:45,244

But yeah, I, and for those who

are watching, uh, check out.

:

00:41:46,204 --> 00:41:50,554

What happens afterwards when me and Tyler

record us trying to, trying our blind

:

00:41:50,864 --> 00:41:55,964

and seeing how horribly wrong we are

when it comes to guessing these things.

:

00:41:55,969 --> 00:41:56,089

Bobby: I know.

:

00:41:56,174 --> 00:41:57,284

I can't wait to listen to that one.

:

00:41:57,374 --> 00:41:57,464

Right.

:

00:41:57,464 --> 00:41:59,744

You guys should, you know, 'cause

the kit that you have isn't

:

00:42:00,044 --> 00:42:02,354

gamified yet, so I would guess.

:

00:42:02,729 --> 00:42:08,579

Uh, age proof, uh, type of

whiskey and uh, bottle price.

:

00:42:08,639 --> 00:42:09,239

Tyler: Okay.

:

00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:09,749

Okay, perfect.

:

00:42:09,839 --> 00:42:10,739

We'll definitely do that.

:

00:42:10,769 --> 00:42:11,429

We'll make it fun, creative,

:

00:42:11,429 --> 00:42:14,849

Bobby: a scoring system, maybe put

something on, put some stakes on the line.

:

00:42:15,029 --> 00:42:15,659

Oh, I can do that.

:

00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:16,469

Tyler: We'll definitely do that.

:

00:42:17,189 --> 00:42:17,309

Awesome.

:

00:42:17,309 --> 00:42:18,419

You might even put stakes on the line.

:

00:42:18,569 --> 00:42:20,554

Yeah, actually stakes on the line.

:

00:42:20,984 --> 00:42:21,474

Bobby: Exactly.

:

00:42:22,829 --> 00:42:23,129

Awesome.

:

00:42:23,129 --> 00:42:23,699

Well thanks guys.

:

00:42:23,699 --> 00:42:24,359

Thanks for having me on.

:

00:42:24,359 --> 00:42:24,929

Appreciate you.

:

00:42:25,019 --> 00:42:25,889

Thank you so much, Bobby.

:

00:42:25,949 --> 00:42:26,369

Cheers.

:

00:42:26,369 --> 00:42:26,819

Cheers.

:

00:42:26,999 --> 00:42:27,359

Cheers.

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Whiskey & Wisdom
Talking about life over a glass of whiskey
Discussing life's most fascinating topics over a good glass of whiskey.
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Tyler Yaw