Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure, the podcast for cyclists who understand that writing is not just about getting to the destination, but the experience along the way. Now here are the original Cycling Men of Leisure, Adam and Michael. Before listening to this episode, please make sure that you've listened to Feeling The Burn Part One, which is our first half of our Bourbon Country Burn Show Cycling.
Middle Leisure are in Kentucky.
All right, well, now we are back. This is, uh, Friday evening. Yes. Great day today. I'll tell you what, uh, wow. I, first of all, I just gotta say that the, the horse farms and the, and the, and uh, the paddock, uh, it's just Absolutely. It was, it was amazing. I just couldn't. Oh, I, I mean, it, it's stunning. I mean, rolling hills, beautiful grass, beautiful horses.
I mean, they've got stables out here that are larger than, you know, five of the homes in my neighborhood put together. Uh, just incredible. I am so glad I don't have to take care of that pastures. Ooh, those pastures. Um, But beautiful. I mean, just, uh, just couldn't believe it. I mean, when we came up over the, the one hill where the, we saw a bunch of the cyclists, um, when we got there, we saw why there was, uh, maybe 10, 12, just beautiful horses just mm-hmm.
Um, looked like they, uh, They, they're very well taken care of. Oh, yes. They're, they're treated very well. Of course, you know, they're worth more than you and I put together, but that, that's true. Uh, I thought the SAG stops were well supported. I, I, yes. And um, and let me just tell you that cinnamon crack bread they have, uh, it's probably a good thing though.
I didn't have any, when I got back to camp that that stuff was highly addicting. So Very good. They had a large variety of different things. Yeah. So, Plenty. Plenty of snacks at the rest. And we also got to go to the distillery, which was really cool. We did. Um, and so some of the distilleries that we've seen so far are a little bit smaller than I expected.
I, in my mind, you know, you think about distilleries, you think about this massive marketing, but, um, it was actually really interesting that it was, um, just this little littler little, I don't wanna say little because I'm sure it's a production, um, but a smaller production. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like a Woodford Reserve or something like that where it's, you know, hundreds of employees probably, and you know, that type of thing.
There were three employees. There was three employees. The family Yes. Including the head had mom. Well that was, she wasn't even employee. She was just helping out that day. Mom gets to help out. So my mother knows all about that with my old business. So, um, that was very interesting. We had a, we had a, we had a good time and then when we came back, Lo and behold, they had some bourbon tastings.
They did. They did. Um, and one of the ones I couldn't help, uh, but to kind of chuckle that was there was a typo on the, on the banner. So, uh, it was actually Jefferson's, um, and Jefferson's reserve, Jefferson's ocean. Somebody somewhere in marketing did not do a, uh, double take and a double check off and get an approval because it was Jeff Rons.
So we, uh, copy was not checked. No. We had a little bit of fun with the lady from, from Jeff Rons. We said, Hey, you have a new slogan now, Jeff. Rons leave the ass out or get the s outta here or something. And she, she said they were gonna have a good, good time lapping up. She took. Yeah, she did. She, uh, I'm sure somebody, somewhere, someone's head is gonna be rolling later, but that's all right.
Um, we got to try Jefferson's Ocean, which is one of my family's favorites. Uh, um, a lot of, lot of good stuff, uh, uh, here. Um, and was there another one that you enjoyed? Um, I really just kind of liked them all. There wasn't any that were like, oh my God, this is incredible. I mean, I'd had Jeffersons before, um, but there wasn't any of like the smaller ones that I was like, oh my gosh, this is awful.
Yeah. Which has happened before, but it, it was uh, it was just a great evening. There was music playing. Um, there, it some country and western, both kinds, country and western music. We have both kinds of music here, country and western. And the food was good. So, Yeah, the food, the food was good actually. It was, um, and then we were, we were lucky enough to go to both of those v i p tastings, which were absolutely amazing.
So we started with Maker's Mark and we got to learn all about how makers, uh, the guy was very funny about how he, how they label it. And he said, we're pretty original around here. We call it 46. Why do you call it 46? Well, we use four days of this and six days of that. And, and so we've got to learn a lot about Maker's Mark and.
And we, and we age it in a barrel for nine months. And why? Why are we, oh yeah. Is it nine? Is it nine weeks? It was nine weeks. Nine weeks. Yeah. Why nine weeks? 10 didn't work. So to be fair, if you're listening to this, um, they take regular maker's Mark that is aged and it's normal, you know? Yeah. Four to eight years, depending on where it is.
Um, they don't actually have an age statement on their, on their bourbon, but, um, But then what they do is they take a, a new barrel with, um, some, some like different pieces of wood, french wood, different staves of the barrel. And the guy said, well, why do you, why do you age it for nine weeks? He said, well, we tried 10 and that didn't work and we tried eight and that didn't work, and nine worked.
So there you go. Now we're gonna do nine. So, um, a lot of good, lot of good stuff. But you know, one I was really surprised about was the Luxe row. Um, Sounds like they are, uh, marketing conglomerate. They, they took over Rebel and, um, now they're making their own. And, and I literally like the banter back and forth between the two presenters that they were there tonight.
So, um, was there a favorite from the Luxe Row that you got to try? Um, I. I wasn't as impressed with Lux Roe. Gotcha. Uh, as I was with like Makers, obviously I'm familiar with Makers. Uh, I really liked, he really got into the history of, uh, the wax Yeah. And why they do wax and how they started doing red wax and went into the whole history, which I found very interesting.
Um, Luxe, you know, I had some good stuff. I mean, you know, the old, uh, you know, rebel Yell, which is now Rebel Right. Um, was pretty good, but I, I. I don't know if it'd be my first choice. I, I was actually, uh, with the Luxo, I must tell you, uh, the blood oath. I was really excited that they were sampling the blood oath.
I had. Um, I have a few of those at home. It's, um, the. Blood oath is a blend of whiskeys. Um, and sometimes they, you know, not, sometimes they, they definitely age it in some kind, like a rum barrel one year or, or a sherry barrel one year. Um, and it comes like in a wooden box and the presentation's pretty cool.
It's like having like a, a manual script if you want, or a like a chapter book on your wall. Um, And so I was excited about that. Um, some of the higher proof stuff, I mean, it's neat to try, but that's not my personal favorite. I, you know, I'd like a lower, I'm not trying to put hair on my chest for, for drinking it.
I'm just trying to enjoy just a, you know, uh, a nice, nice cocktail or a nice sip, you know, a whiskey and enjoy the, enjoy the company. Mostly it's something like if it burns too much. I'm out or I'm cutting it with ice or water. So, um, so no, I, I really enjoyed, uh, enjoyed today. I, I thought, uh, I thought today was, uh, a great day.
Good, beautiful day of riding. Beautiful day of. Just friends and, and entertainment and food and whiskey and, um, I'm not gonna lie, uh, after we put all the equipment away, sir, I'm gonna be, uh, enjoying a cigar here in a second, so. Absolutely. Well, I'll tell you what, what we should do is what if we do like a little closing to this show, uh, tomorrow night?
Yeah. Sounds great. All right.
All right, well, we are back. Um, we've had a great day. Absolutely awesome day. Uh, we drove out to Buffalo Trace and, um, let's actually listen in on that right now.
Good morning. Here we are at Buffalo Trace Distillery. We were able to come across, we actually drove here by Carr. We are at the Bourbon Country Burn. But, um, depending on weather and, and recording the podcast, we decided to drive here to Buffalo Trace. What do you think So, Ah, it's, uh, been a great morning.
The weather's beautiful, and it was fun to kind of stand in line and go through the process. Absolutely. I mean, today, uh, for those of you who are not aware, Buffalo Trace has a release each day. Today's release was Eagle Rare. It's a 10 year bourbon. It's a great bourbon. Uh, we didn't actually get to taste it today, but we were able to, um, uh, purchase a bottle.
Um, I actually have some at home, so the next time we're together, I, I can actually, uh, open some and share with you looking forward to that. So, cycling Men of Leisure, this is part of what we do. We, we come, uh, we do distilleries. We take the tours Normally today we're unable to take the tour. They're actually sold out.
For those of you who don't know, we actually signed up a little bit late for the Bourbon Country Burn. Mm-hmm. But it was not something we had. Uh, but I'm, I'm glad we're here. It was an add-on. It was definitely an add-on. We, we ended up, uh, camping with our friends, uh, here at bu Bourbon Country Burn, which I highly recommend.
I think you and I should sign up earlier next year. Fantastic ride. Definitely sign up. Um, been a great time. So, with your introduction of cycling in bourbon, what was, what was some of your, uh, interesting points or how did you get in, into the bourbon cycling together? Uh, it was you. Okay. You get full credit for that.
I appreciate that. I was into cycling and quite honestly, I had tried a lot of bourbons and you know, it just had that battery acid taste. Yep. And um, I admit I had been into wine and different things like that and started talking with you and then it was like, why aren't I treating this more like I would treat wine when I'm tasting wine and really try to get those subtle tastes and that type of thing.
And once I started taking the time to like really taste, Um, that's when I started realizing that, oh, okay, this is really, these are really complex, uh, drinks and things, so. Gotcha. And my introduction actually was, um, my wife and I, uh, were married and as a gift. Her aunt gave us a beautiful suite at a, at a very nice hotel.
And at that hotel in the b in the, in the lobby, they actually had a whiskey bar. Now, it wasn't necessarily geared to bourbon, but it was a whiskey bar. And you know, there we were married and we thought, let's go down to the bar and have a drink. And we walked in thinking we were gonna get maybe a, you know, cocktail of rum or something, or a beer or.
And we were out of our element at the time. And, and I remember sitting with the bartender and saying, um, what should I order? And, and he said, well, what kind of flavors do you like? And we were, we had, we were, we were unknown. We didn't know what to ask for. And at that, that day, he actually made us, um, Uh, we got married in February.
Um, he actually made us a winter cocktail, which was a, a Knob Creek rye, uh, with clothes and star anis, uh, muddled up together, uh, with, with an orange, and we just fell in love, uh, with, with the idea of whiskey. It was at that moment before then, I had just thought of whiskey as like, your grandfather's drink or Sure.
You know, you know, drinking something like, Um, and ever since then, it was more for me, the education. And so I wanted to learn about, uh, different whiskeys and different bourbons and, and, uh, needless to say, as as you've been to my house, I, it's kind of, uh, taken a life of its own. So you are a collector. I am a collector.
I, I'm a drinker, but also a collector. And so, um, intertwining that with cycling, that's kind of what, uh, what we're doing here. We love to go on these rides. We love to go cycling, and then in the end, um, there's nothing better to me after you have a long day in the saddle of getting some grub, and then at the end finding some place to hang out with your friends and, and have a, have a glass of bourbon and possibly a cigar, if that's your thing, so, mm-hmm.
Well, it's been easy on this trip because we've found a lot of friends to hang out with and, and have some bourbon with. So this is definitely our, our target market for, for cycling men of leisure. That is, no, no doubt about it. Um, so that is pretty much our experience today. Uh, would you have anything to add?
No, it's just, uh, if you're thinking about it or never heard about it, check out. Bourbon country burn, uh, and definitely consider signing up cuz it's been a great experience so far. We've still got a day and a half out here of cycling and distilleries, so, uh, definitely something you should put on your list if you're a, a cycling enthusiast.
I completely agree. I couldn't have said it better myself. I think that's it for us right now. Uh, we wish you a great day and as always, uh, thank, thank you for coming along with the Road Adventures for with Us and Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure. Yes, thank you.
Well, that was definitely a good time this morning. Oh, fantastic experience. I, you know, it's one of the places that I really wanted to go to. I, I'm just even driving, leaving, you know, Michigan, heading down here. I, I was just thinking I cannot wait to go to Buffalo Trace and it did not disappoint at all.
Oh, not at all. And you know, that is kind of the place that all bourbon lovers you. Love, love to go. And the good news was, well, I don't know, maybe good news, maybe bad news today was eagle rare. Eagle rare. Eagle rare. We got the 10 year, which was great. Um, and so, uh, now we can, uh, add it to your collection.
Uh, I would, if I had a collection, I have a couple bottles for consumption. Hm. Hmm. Not over consumption, just consumption. One of these days I'll get you to admit that you have a collection. So, um, no. On a serious note, I mean, we got to go. We did drive of course, as you heard, uh, to Buffalo Trace, but then when we came back, We were able to ride today.
Um, and so we went out to Bourbon 30, uh, which was a, a nice little distillery. Um, I, I didn't know what to expect, honestly. Um, when we were riding out there, I didn't know if it was gonna be, um, something that was gonna be large or small. Um, But what I, it was, oh, on the smaller It was, yeah, it was small. But what I really like what they do is with the guys from the military, uh, how they make the special bottles mm-hmm.
When, when they come in and, and then they, they get to kind of age their own barrel, if you will. And, and then those bottles are sold in honor of, you know, the distillery makes their part, but then of course gives back and that's really cool. Um, what's even cooler? Well, I wouldn't say cooler, but what's neat about the ride itself is when you go to these distill.
Or distilleries, um, and you purchase a bottle of whatever beverage you're buying. Um, they have Sherpa service. Yeah, for sure. So you don't have to like, you know, try to stick it on your bike somewhere or just not buy it and, and, uh, hope you can find it at your local store or something. Some of those items that we saw this whole weekend, I have never seen in my store.
That's true. A lot of the smaller, a lot of the smaller distilleries that we went to, you would never find. At your local store. And if you did find 'em, I think it would be really rare. Um, but no, that was definitely, that, that part is really cool. As a matter of fact, um, you and I were able to pick all of our bottles up today from the Sherpa service.
Mm-hmm. I say all of 'em, it was just a couple of 'em. But we were able to pick up our bottles at Sher Sherpa service. Um, we also had dinner. Which, uh, you know, tonight was, uh, good again, you had the wooden nickel that you gave with the bourbon burn. You give it away. I, uh, really tried keeping mine as a collection, a collector.
They are cool little collectible, but the, the lady was not having it. She said, uh, you, uh, you can, you can drop that right there, sir. And so, of course, that's what what I did. Um, but tonight we also had something really, really special in my mind. We had the. Yes. Yep, yep, yep. That was in chocolate chip. Those cookies were, that's exactly what I'm talking about.
No, this was the Buffalo Trace Freddy Johnson experience. Oh, yes, yes. And, um, wow. I mean, I don't know how he does it, but here I am, uh, sitting in this, um, Kentucky Horse Park, uh, RV campground, listening to him speak. And I could just think to myself of things that I should do different in my life just to be a better human being, just listening to him.
So, um, he was very, Inspirational as he told the story about, um, a bottle that came off the 6000000th barrel from Buffalo Trace and that he was going to save it, even though he's a proponent of not saving bourbon, he was gonna save it to share with his grandchild. So he said, forget that we are gonna crack it open on his 18th birthday.
I don't think no one's gonna arrest him. Sharing a little bur with his. And so he said he, he, uh, didn't wanna save it and he actually recommended something really cool, which was not to steal thunder. It's definitely his thing. But, um, when you're with people that you're with, if you open a special bottle, both of you sign that or say something special and, um, Cherish that bottle, you know, cherish even that memento later, even if the mm-hmm.
Bourbon is gone and, but those memories will not be. So that, that was really touching. So, yeah, I, I agree. And I, and I love his idea about when you share, um, a bottle or part of a bottle with somebody, have them sign it. Um, because like, You know, I mean, bottles, you know, stick around for a long time and it's always nice to look back several years later when you do empty the bottle and, you know, gives you the memory.
It's like, oh, I shared some of this with that person and with that person. It's really, really a cool idea. Um, what I also found exciting was everybody got a bottle of. Freddy's root beer. They sure did. Uh, and you and I sir, will not be opening up those specific bottles. No. It's up gonna go up on my shelf.
In your collection? Of root beer bottles. Yes. Uh, the reason why we're not gonna be opening those is, uh, Freddy signed those and, uh, with a really cool, uh, silver, uh, paint marker. And, um, definitely gonna go open my collection. Yep. One of us is willing to admit that they have a bourbon collection. Uh, you sir, once you realize part of the 12 step program is admitting it, then you'll be much better off in it.
It's a bottle of root beer, non-alcoholic. Oh my gosh. All right. Well, but let me say a little bit more about the root beer. We won't debate whether or not you think I have a collection. Um, but the root beer is really interesting because it actually got started, if I understand correctly, is Freddy. Is heavily involved with an organization that is redoing one of the local cemeteries, uh, a felon disrepair.
It's in really bad shape and it's like, you know, one of those really old cemeteries. And so we got involved with that and they'd been working on revitalizing it, that type of thing. And I guess it got to the point where they'd kind of run outta money and as he tells it, uh, one day, you know, the big wigs at, uh, at Buffalo Trace.
Called him in and said, Hey, we, we hear you're doing this and you know the funds are getting a little low. Why didn't you come? And, you know, why didn't you come and ask us? And he's, you know, it's like, well, you guys are my employers. I'm not gonna come in and, you know, try to, try to ask you for money. But, uh, they came up with the idea of Freddy's root beer and they've got a little cartoon, uh, character that represents Freddie on there.
And basically $1, uh, of every, I believe six pack that's sold goes towards. The restoration of that cemetery. Yeah, that was amazing. The numbers that he was talking, he was first looking at, you know, um, told the story about his brother and, and how they were looking and, and you know, coup, they weren't sure how many people and then they just massive amounts of numbers.
Yeah. That of, of grave sites that were lost in that cemetery. So obviously he's, he's a great man, good inspiration and, um, you're absolutely right. So, yeah, our root beer at the time didn't get, didn't get, uh, opened obviously, and they, mine was gonna go on my shelf in my collection. So, um, you have a collection as well, I'm sure.
A root beer. Uh, well, I have a collection of bottles, so it'll go in like bottle collection. Fine, fine, fine. Um, we're gonna get you to admit that you've got yourself a collection one of these days. So, um, let me just say, with the Sherpa service, with the camping, um, our friends are here. Our friends, uh, from Georgia that we rode in Bragg.
One of the guys was supposed to go to a wedding, unfortunately, um, there's a hurricane going on, and the wedding was canceled. So he called me up and said, Hey, are you guys going? And I said, yes. And he pulled a hail Mary, if you will, and he and some of his friends are camping with us, and we're lucky to have those guys with us and ladies, of course.
Um, but, um, what, what a, what a great, great event. I'm, I cannot express how happy I am. I'll definitely be, uh, signing up next. Oh, absolutely. And, and the beautiful thing and that, and that really gets down to the essence of cycling Men of leisure, is the people that we're camping with, most of them are from Georgia.
Um, we just met them, what, three months ago? Yep. At the, the, uh, bike ride across Georgia. And we had met 'em before. We ran into 'em a few times. We, you know, hung out at this place or that place after a ride with them. And then we wound up finding out that they were going to this ride. And, uh, we had a big camp spot, so it's like, Hey, everybody, come over here.
So that's the beauty of it. It's, it's, you know, you're finding those past people that you rode with and we met a lot of new people too. And, you know, you go to these different rides, you can hook up with people that, uh, you met maybe a couple years ago at another ride. So it's neat. Yeah, definitely. I mean, like when the first day we were here, I saw that guy from my hometown, which was, I had no idea.
I mean, we know each other, we've, we've seen each other out on rides before. I had no idea he was gonna be here, so he said, Hey. I said, Hey. So definitely cool to run into people and share memories and stories. But he knew that I, uh, was working with you on Cycling Men of Leisure, and so he asked is, you know, is that what you guys are pushing and.
Didn't wanna say yes cuz we had the t-shirts on, but I, I was trying to be polite. It's like a, a very famous comedian. You got a flat tire? Nope. The other three just sped up on me. So, um, but no, we've, I've had a wonderful time. Um, weather's been a little chilly and then now to the last couple days have been a lot warmer.
Um, but I do hear that tomorrow's weather is gonna be a little, little nippy. It's supposed to be chilly. Uh, there's supposed to be some wind. Um, so, and some rain. So, uh, maybe not the best day, but We'll, you know, we'll get a few miles on the road. Yeah, for sure. I mean, we gotta go see another distillery. I mean.
That's right. I mean, we're here. We might as well go out there and listen. I mean, that stretcher road today that we were on that was just absolutely beautiful. I mean, um, those stretches of roads. Really is what some of these moments are all about. I mean, the elevation to hill ratio was just almost perfect on point where you could enjoy a little bit of speed going down.
You had to pedal a little bit to get to the top, but it was, you had just enough inertia to Crest Creek was off to the left, all that beautiful binary was off to the right. That's just an amazing moment there. So, um, really enjoyed them. And tomorrow, We're going to ride, we head up to head home.
Unfortunately, we've got day jobs, but, um, tomorrow we are going to ride, like we said a little bit, and I think the plan is, before we head out, I think we're gonna stop by and, and visit Castin key. Yeah, I'm, I'm definitely, um, I mean, short of some sort of mechanical failure or whatever and timing and. Yeah, those day jobs.
Yeah. This is a lot more fun. But, uh, we'll, uh, I would love to see Castle and Key. I mean, for those of you who don't know, it's, uh, the old Taylor, uh, factory and mm-hmm. The history that that place could tell you, it would be just, uh, amazing. So, um, we can definitely talk about that on a future, future show or something.
Yep. So, um, Well, I am, uh, in closing, I'm, I'm happy to share this of experience with you here at the Bourbon Country Burn. Been awesome. Been awesome. Uh, definitely, uh, gonna add it to my calendar for next year. Um, anything else to add? Well, what was today? A great day for a bike ride. Excellent. Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure.
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