How To Plan A Kentucky Bourbon Trail Trip That Actually Works

You can tell who’s actually been to bourbon country because they stop saying “we’ll just wing it.” We’re pouring a fresh crack of E.H. Taylor Small Batch and calling up Tim from Kentucky Bourbon Boys to get the real playbook for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail: how far things are, how many stops you can realistically do, and why a great day usually tops out around three experiences, not seven.

https://kentuckybourbonboys.com/

Tim breaks down what’s new right now in Louisville and the surrounding trail hubs like Bardstown and Lexington, from downtown bourbon tasting rooms to Prohibition-style speakeasies that hide in plain sight. We talk tour planning for couples and groups, the ideal group size for value, and the add-ons people are obsessed with lately: sporting clays, horse farm visits, golf days, culinary tours, wineries, and barrel tasting experiences where you can pick a flavor profile and even fill your own bottle.

Then we dig into the question bourbon fans keep arguing about: what’s going on with supply and demand. After years of distilleries cranking out volume and filling rickhouses, things have slowed, and that shift is showing up in surprising ways, including more bottles appearing at or near retail in Kentucky. We also cover why planning ahead matters, how to avoid scams, and why safety is the foundation of a trip you’ll actually remember.

If you’re thinking about a Bourbon Trail weekend, start planning now, then hit play and steal our checklist. Subscribe, share this with your whiskey crew, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Happy Hour Kickoff And Sponsors

SPEAKER_04 0:16

We're gonna drink a fine whiskey and smoke a really fine cigar.

Jamie Flanagan 0:25

It is time for a happy hour. It is the Mad Cave Happy Hour, whiskey, cigars, spirits, the stories that go along with it. This guy, I am Jamie Flanagan.

Matt Fox 0:34

This guy missed the memo, but this guy is August Kitchlag.

August Gitshlag 0:39

We all were in Matt Cave and I haven't been in the same room with Jamie Flanagan and Matt Fox since the month of May. Holy shit. And by that's Matt Fox right next to me right there. Hey. Has it been since May? Yeah, we did a June episode, and I think the only one we did in June was the McGee's World Cup preview. Oh, yeah, it wasn't at that one. Yeah. And you were too good to be there. Too cool for school. And then, you know, life gets in the way. I was coming on that episode. We did a vacation episode that Kat and I said in, but we weren't in the studio. And I were here, and you were away. Yeah, we were away. So we haven't all been in the same place as buddies. So amigos were poking up.

SPEAKER_04 1:15

We're so apart from each other.

Jamie Flanagan 1:16

Here's the thing. I'm not sure if I enjoy the show more or the text messages we send to each other getting ready, really.

Matt Fox 1:25

Oh man, system of shit. Yeah. You got your brass knuckles, fellas?

Jamie Flanagan 1:30

There's so many like little inside jokes. But yeah, but uh before we really get too deep into the woods, into the weeds, really want to thank everybody for joining us. Tell a friend, that's all you gotta do. Tell a friend. And it's uh it's you can phone a friend, you can tell a friend, I just rap on their door and and and say, Hey, you know what? We have friends in common or not, they could be your friends. You should watch them saying silly things on the man cave happy hour. Yeah, like, but yeah, like, subscribe, collect all the podcast things on all the podcast places, depending on where you're finding us. But thank you for the moments and time that you spend with us. Truly greatly, greatly appreciated, and also appreciated by our sponsors, uh wearing funny.com uh with wonderful, wonderful t-shirts and and and hats and and coolers and all kinds of things that you can get at wearing funny.com. And and it's like a it's it's all like all the podcasts that record here on the podcast your voice studio. There's everybody's got their own little you know the uh gear out there, and there's a bunch of funny Detroit stuff and a bunch of retro Detroit stuff. And and of course, there's shirts that you can get from our other sponsor, which is myirishradio.com. Oh, yeah, yeah, there's uh it's it's myirishradio.com. That's why I got my Guinness. You got Guinness.

SPEAKER_04 2:48

That's uh I this is a problem of giving you Irish French writer in the studio. Now we gotta have watch you gotta get all stout drunk in summer time. I know who does that?

Jamie Flanagan 2:58

I'm more Scrooge McDuck right now than I am Andrew Irishman, but it's like four percent. It's like this is like responsible shenanigans anything.

Matt Fox 3:06

That was the the worst uh McGregor impersonation I've ever had.

August Gitshlag 3:12

No, I went straight Scrooge McDuck. I lost my impression. I was just I lost it.

Matt Fox 3:15

But yeah, you you you you actually kept the impersonation, you kept that going longer than the fight was.

Jamie Flanagan 3:20

So it was what did he do? He pulled a hammy or something like that. Yeah, you had Mr.

August Gitshlag 3:24

Miyagi there to go, you know, and fixes like that. The common the thought, this conspiracy theory that he's heard all along when he needed the payday, so he went, took the swings, like can't fight, bye, don't beat my face in.

Jamie Flanagan 3:37

Kind of like the straight cats in their like first uh tour last October, and they're like canceled it like five minutes before the doors were open.

August Gitshlag 3:44

Yeah, the difference is you guys got your money back. Ah, fair play. These guys didn't, and they the TV was there, and everyone just like fucked this guy, you know. So that's the difference. It's like they knew he was hurt, and he went out there, went down without having to get his ass kicked, still got his paycheck. Now he just risks his next one, you know.

Jamie Flanagan 3:58

Yeah. He's training. He's like, but what was it? Was it a knee or was it a knee?

August Gitshlag 4:02

I think he blew out and he said it was his knee. Yeah, I don't he did a crazy kick and this. He was the most I've talked about that asshole in my life, and I don't want to talk about him anymore. I was gonna bring this list.

Jamie Flanagan 4:13

I was gonna bring some proper 12 in to to talk about he used to be the spokesperson for, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He helped uh found the flavor. So and I actually like the proper 12.

August Gitshlag 4:24

Hey, we it won our taste test, and I hate myself for it only because of him. I do.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail Tease

Jamie Flanagan 4:28

All right, so coming up today, uh, besides our uh just uh gloating over our sponsor, my Irish Radio, we're gonna head into the Kentucky Bourbon Trail because I drove past it and couldn't pass without stopping. So we're gonna dive into some E. H. Taylor the small batch bottle, pick that up. We can talk a little bit about what's being available, what's not available, and maybe the guys from the we might possibly talk to the guys from the Kentucky Bourbon Boys. That'd be fun. It could happen, it could happen. You never know.

August Gitshlag 4:57

We you know you you're thanking our listeners for listening to us, and of course, I think we're gonna have opportunities in the next next week, more than that, next week for for our to we can hug you guys in person. Oh my god. Once on Friday at Susie's and Ham Chairman, if you want to come down, uh you guys have fun. I got a I got a Friday night uh reservation.

Jamie Flanagan 5:13

Are you gonna be on vacation? Yeah, next week.

August Gitshlag 5:15

Matthew's gonna be on skiing on Tahoe, right? Skiing in Tahoe?

Jamie Flanagan 5:19

Yeah, he's with those two guys, and it's like, what were you doing? I know I was dreaming, but I was skiing. He's going bison humping in Yellowstone. Oh my god, you see that? Yes, I saw it. Oh my god.

Matt Fox 5:30

Uncle Jesse went flying. Yeah, he did. No, I'm uh going to uh upstate New York.

August Gitshlag 5:35

I'm going skiing. Maybe water skiing, huh?

Matt Fox 5:38

Yeah, tubing.

August Gitshlag 5:39

Sunday is our whiskey taco foxtrot, and our you guys get to smoke your damn cigars.

Jamie Flanagan 5:46

Yeah, yeah, but you're gonna be gone. Yeah, all right, fair play. I'll smoke the cigars, that's right, and we'll be man caving until uh you have to vacate for a graduation party. Wait, wait, yeah, what's this?

August Gitshlag 5:56

It's the right time.

Matt Fox 5:57

Is that next, not this Sunday, the following.

August Gitshlag 6:00

This coming Sunday.

Matt Fox 6:01

This coming Sunday, yeah. This coming Sunday.

August Gitshlag 6:03

If it was the Sunday, we didn't we planned it right. Yeah, you did it.

Matt Fox 6:06

You did right. You did right.

August Gitshlag 6:07

It just happens when it happens. That's why we're lucky to have you here today.

Matt Fox 6:10

It happens when it happens, and we haven't seen you in person since when? Well, I haven't seen you since May. Yeah, right.

Jamie Flanagan 6:17

So I was at the end of the day. We talked to we talked over each other there. We're gonna find a little bit. So coming this Friday.

August Gitshlag 6:24

Let's just let them all every so everyone knows we do all talk every day.

Jamie Flanagan 6:27

Friday, at least once Friday, Friday, Friday, Friday, the 17th. Yes. Is uh 17th of July, depending on when you're listening, of 2026. It is ham tramic time. Go get yourself a little dinner at something Polish and then walk across the house.

August Gitshlag 6:44

Or something pizza at Henrietta House, or something uh, you know, shavapi over at Motor City, or something pizza, one of the fine pizza joints, like a mar pizza, or you know, great Bengali food, great Yemeni food, the Mediterranean food down there. It's trilder, go to all that. Bring in your boost on cafe so I can smell it and you can torture me with that garlic paste. It's delicious. Support the Polish food. Forget the rest of that. Well, that's fine. You can support them too, because polonia's right there. How come there's not an Irish restaurant in Ham Tramic? Oh, because Irish food is shit! It's short. What's in your stomach?

Jamie Flanagan 7:16

It's mainly boiled and based on a dare. It's uh based on a dare. It's uh yeah.

August Gitshlag 7:20

Boiled food.

Jamie Flanagan 7:21

Yeah, it's uh it's a lot of boiling going on. That's uh that's really what's uh it's uh boiling and baking. I'm boiling some lamb chops for you. Great, thanks. Uh nice. That's looking forward to that. But yeah, so Friday, if you're near the ham track area, Suzy's Bar. Any day that it's open, really. Which is the that's that the trick. Any day that it's open. So you head on in, and the weekends are good. The weekends you got a fairness. You got a fair chance. You got a fair chance on the weekend. Susie's bar in Ham Tramic is a great place to go. It is it's something to see. It is a niche, it's a pop culture niche. It is.

August Gitshlag 7:54

It's it's are you guest bartending, uh August? I am a Philippi bartender, yes. Well, not it's not even guest, it's once a month residency, I call it. Yeah, and use DJ chart.

Jamie Flanagan 8:06

All right, so we were talking over each other a lot. We didn't really get to that, didn't focus on that enough. I didn't think it's fine.

August Gitshlag 8:13

It's not a sanctioned man cave happy hour event, but we're gonna be there.

Jamie Flanagan 8:17

I love, I love, I love it. I love Susie. I've I've known Susie since I was like in the fifth grade.

August Gitshlag 8:21

I know you've been glaring out the window at her, knock her since she was 19, right? Yeah, uh-huh. That's been in the bank for quite some time. Yes, I remember if she asked me 10 years ago, she goes, What do you want for your birthday this year? I go to see your tits when you're 21.

Jamie Flanagan 8:34

Been there, done that.

August Gitshlag 8:35

I saw Blair, I saw Blair Hallett spit out a hole the bats. Don't they play know how to knock? Jesus.

Jamie Flanagan 8:42

All right. Susie, we love you. Oh, we do, we do a lot.

Matt Fox 8:48

Um, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 8:50

All right, so I'm using one of my uh retirement glasses, and it's hard to see what it says black on black ink there, but uh it says every sip tastes more and more like it's not my problem. So you don't split the G at that one. What do you split? Yeah, I don't even know. Split they all split the G thing. That's just I don't know. I'll drink it. Don't worry about it. I'll get I'll get there. So has I will be drinking?

August Gitshlag 9:16

I might be an Irish Joe thing. Don't worry about it. That's a copy of it.

Retirement Brain And Seasonal Creep

Jamie Flanagan 9:19

Has retirement sunk in yet, Jamie? Yeah, because earlier this week I had no idea what day of the week it was, and more so than just even a regular summer. I don't know if that's just me dittering or what, but I yeah, I had literally no idea what day of the week it was.

Matt Fox 9:34

Were you dittering? What's the difference between dittering and dawdling?

Jamie Flanagan 9:37

Were you dittering yourself? Uh it's more dittering. And what's dottling? And then and then it's going slowly. Oh, okay. And I'm like bouncing, I'm just kind of walking around the kitchen of the house. She's like, What are you doing? I go, I'm not sure. I think I'm dittering. And uh so it's better than glitching.

Matt Fox 10:01

Yeah. Well, you're not wrong. Not wrong at all.

Jamie Flanagan 10:05

So, but so far, so good. I mean, but I mean, you know, I mean, I've had you know 25 years of endless summer with teacher stuff. So uh, but it seems like the the TV stations were here at uh July 13th, right? And the TVs this morning, they were screaming and about Christmas and not Christmas, but Halloween. Yeah. Decorations of displays up in stores. We're not even back to school.

August Gitshlag 10:28

I saw my first back to school commercial. It was, I believe, a Walmart back to school commercial. Now it's about the time, you know. After 4th of July, they hit you with it.

Jamie Flanagan 10:36

Yeah, and then I I saw I saw one. I was like, ha, sucks for you. You know, but but having the Halloween stuff on July 13 already, that's a little premature. But it was Costco, so it's like well, they they ramp up much earlier. Yeah, yeah.

August Gitshlag 10:52

When a Home Depot switches over, yeah, you get a whole aisle of inflatables, then you know.

Jamie Flanagan 10:56

I love the I I want all of that Home Depot stuff. Colleen won't let me get any of it.

Matt Fox 11:02

I have one, but I know that you want the 50-foot skeleton in the front yard because I got that corner.

Jamie Flanagan 11:07

I live like right on that corner, uh-huh and I got that whole corner of real estate outside of the bushes. I go, I could turn this into like a whole free. Colleen's like, you gotta put the skeleton. People are gonna come and steal it, and I'm like, uh well, that's my problem.

August Gitshlag 11:19

I live in the neighborhood of unsupervised Yemeni shits, and they are going to rip, they took they rip trees out of the ground. They're gonna rip my inflatable Mandalorian and Grogu Christmas guy. They're gonna rip that rail. You would have really cool stuff. Yeah, so I'd have nice cool stuff, and those kids are gonna rip it apart. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Fox 11:34

Yeah, cat just checked cat just checked in for you there, Augie. There we are.

August Gitshlag 11:38

Oh, there's my my wonderful lady listening to us from the airport in Houston, where she just went through the United success with the United interview process. So good for her.

Jamie Flanagan 11:48

Congratulations, congrats. Crushed it. Good luck, congrats, whatever it might be. So yeah. So you're you're finished. I wish she was here when you're like, you're you're you're saying, Oh, hey, tonight, cat. And I was like, Yeah, and then it was like, won't be here. I'm like, oh I was reading that sentence. It's a sad thing.

August Gitshlag 12:07

Everyone likes that voice on the microphones. I know. So she's utterly charming, wonderful. Anyway, but yeah, so she joins her family in Hawking Hills tomorrow. Hawking Hills, because in tight something, yeah. I know nothing about it. Every time I mention it to people who know, they're like, Oh, it's beautiful. Like, it's Ohio. How can it be beautiful? They're like, No, it's actually really beautiful. Yeah, I've heard Hawking is okay.

Matt Fox 12:27

It's right from strangers, it's right from stranger things, right? Hawking?

August Gitshlag 12:30

No, I've never watched that show. I don't know what the upside down is. Wait a second. Wait a second. I mean, I I I've only seen it like once or twice, and people had to tell me what was going on when it was on. I'm like, okay. I don't know how a show can last what seven years and it only lasts like seven weeks in the timeline.

Matt Fox 12:50

No, it lasts a lot longer than that.

August Gitshlag 12:52

Okay, because all those kids suddenly had mustaches and pubes and stuff, and they did not in the first season.

Matt Fox 12:57

Not in the first season.

August Gitshlag 12:58

Millie Bobby Brown. She grew up, she done grew up. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. She did.

Jamie Flanagan 13:03

What are we in, Matthew? What do you mean by the way? Bourbon Trail with Kentucky Bourbon Boys.

August Gitshlag 13:07

All right, yeah. So I have a Bourbon Trail conundrum.

Jamie Flanagan 13:10

Yeah. He's like, Aren't we meeting tonight? And I'm like, Yeah.

Matt Fox 13:13

Yeah. Come on in, buddy.

August Gitshlag 13:14

Hang on. I might wait to tell us while they're here.

Matt Fox 13:16

So he might be able to help me with my conundrum on the August, while Jamie's taking care of that. Tell me about your 4th of July. You and Kat were with family.

August Gitshlag 13:26

Okay, well, 4th of July and the lead up to 4th of July. Two different things.

Matt Fox 13:30

Okay, so the so starting with the lead up because you were on the episode with us. You were I was in Douglas.

August Gitshlag 13:34

We were in Douglas, uh Douglas Sagatuck. So we were up there. Sagatuck, that's right. On the west west coast of Michigan.

Matt Fox 13:40

Yeah.

August Gitshlag 13:41

And we did that with my family. Uh-huh. And it was the the last week. I mean, it's the only week of the summer in a uh in an election year that I can get away with it. You know, normally like next year, I have the whole summer. We don't have a the local election. There's no August election. Sure, sure. But uh we're in a we're in an even year, so I have uh an August election, which means my summer's shot to hell. So it's I can squeeze it in. And uh so we went there for a week for my mom's 75th. Nice. Lovely little town with all the bars closed at 10. That's not usually my scene. We did find the one that stayed open late and we made fools of ourselves there.

Matt Fox 14:13

Until like 10 30, yeah.

August Gitshlag 14:14

No, that was open. We were there until about 11. We there in that guess. There's two. There's one called so I'm at this place called Wally's in Sogatuck, which everyone says it's the only one that stays open late. So cool. We went on a sunset cruise with the family. We're in a separate car, so I'm like, cat, let's go to the one bar that stays open late. You know, it's like after darkish. Sure. We're standing there in this bar, and a woman, it's like an outdoor bar as hot as balls. And this woman next to me goes, I know you. Uh-oh. I'm like, uh-oh. I look at her and I go, Oh, immediately recognize her. And she goes, I used to date John Swatowski, one of my friends. I'm like, Kelly fucking Potter. I thought you lived in London. She goes, I do. Well, I live in London in Tucson. I'm just visiting Saga Talk. I'm like, what are the chances?

Matt Fox 14:57

And that's like a Disney ride knowing you sometimes are honest. I gotta tell you.

August Gitshlag 15:01

Yeah, so she was there with her husband, and uh so we chatted with them for a little while. I was like out of nowhere. Yeah, and the first day we were there, we're walking through downtown Saga Talk, and I ran into the athletic director at University Liggett. He used to be the ham chairmaking athletic director, Brian. So I'm like, oh of course, my family was like, of course, you know something with you. Yeah, that's you know, it's the way it works, man. That's what happens when you're, you know, but then you got east side Kevin Bacon to travel sometimes. You run into someone on the west side.

Matt Fox 15:26

Did you say east side Kevin Bacon?

August Gitshlag 15:27

That's exactly what I said.

Matt Fox 15:28

All right, just want to make sure I heard that right. And for everyone listening, they heard that right too.

August Gitshlag 15:32

Yes, east side Kevin Bacon. Eastside Kevin Bacon.

Jamie Flanagan 15:35

Is that anything like the uh fake Tom Cruise or the fake Jack Nicholson? Did you guys see the trailer for his new movie, Digger?

Matt Fox 15:41

I did see the training. It's gonna blow your mind. Yeah, I did see the trailer for it. It looks not Tom Cruise-ish.

August Gitshlag 15:46

Yeah, it is Tom Cruise's new movie. I guess it's been like years in the making. It is not throw you back to his Tropic Thunder character a little bit. He's in a it's it's fat Tom Cruise. Fat Tom Cruise.

Jamie Flanagan 15:58

There was one of the Mission Impossibles where he started out, and then he was like on the top of like some skyscraper or something, and it shirts off, and it was like such an old man bod looking. I was like, that is I don't know. I think he's he's getting away with it.

August Gitshlag 16:12

He's yeah, I was like, I didn't catch the last one. I gotta catch the new the last of the Mission Impossible.

Matt Fox 16:18

Dead Reckoning.

August Gitshlag 16:19

Is that the last is that the last one? Yes, yeah, okay. Dead reckoning.

Matt Fox 16:22

Parts one and two.

Jamie Flanagan 16:24

Yeah, yeah. So Colleen despises those.

Matt Fox 16:28

So I want to share with you about an experience that we had on July 4th. Because we were up in Mackinac, and we stayed in Mackinac City proper, went over to the island during the day, but we got back, and our the hotel that we had, you know, Holly's mother was gracious enough to uh you know support Holly and I and the girl and the kids. And we were on the water just watching. Oh, there's Tim right there. We're sitting there watching for the fireworks to start. We knew where they were gonna be, but what we did know was they were going to be right in front of us, not 200 yards away from here.

August Gitshlag 17:01

Yeah, oh yeah, I had that same experience at everybody's house.

Matt Fox 17:04

Wild and so cool.

August Gitshlag 17:05

Did you get hit with shrapnel? No, I wasn't close we were at dark. So 4th of July proper, we went to my eclectic friend Darko's house. Okay, where he has the Ford Field pyrotechnics team light off with a Morgan Freeman red introduction. It was really he's eclectic. And it was the amount of fireworks was insane in wooden crates and tubes. So much stuff was blown up at one point you couldn't see them because of all the smoke, and they were so close to you. Oops, and they were getting you're just getting nailed with chunks of clay all over, like you like it would hit you in the face and leave a mark. It was everywhere. Wow, yeah, it's it's uh it was heavy duty.

Jamie Flanagan 17:40

That is uh the the mid like Detroit and the Midwesterners, because we fireworks were illegal here, and you had to go like two or three states south to get your hands on anything good back in the day, and like the last like maybe eight, ten years, we've had a little bit more free reign with the fireworks here, but you know, but so we're enamored with it, yeah. So it's like people people jam it up, but you get downplaces like Kentucky, yeah. I was like, Kentucky's one of those states that folks would have to go to and they right, and they're like, Oh, we have fireworks down here all the time, three-fingered gus, you know. Yeah, that's that's the joke down here.

August Gitshlag 18:13

Is I wonder how many people is the last day they're gonna have ten fingers, you know.

Jamie Flanagan 18:18

Given the yeah, too soon. Uh no, not really. It was it was long enough.

August Gitshlag 18:22

I can't get enough of the uh Roman candle baseball though. Right.

Matt Fox 18:26

Let's go to have Tribeck and have a too soon. But Tim.

August Gitshlag 18:30

Go ahead. Nuts, nuts balls.

Fireworks Stories And Travel Run Ins

Jamie Flanagan 18:32

Tim, how you doing, man? How's uh the fireworks down there?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Well, they were uh it was a war zone, but uh okay, they're not legal here, but Indiana is like a skip. Indiana's everybody's supplier, it was our supplier for years.

Jamie Flanagan 18:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

You just go over to Indiana and get the big stuff.

Jamie Flanagan 18:50

There you go. There you go. Fair play. So we were in the summertime. Yeah, people start traveling, right? We go there, they come here, and people are moving around. And I love the middle of the states because we went down to see my mom in Florida, right? And it was uh uncomfortably warm. Uh, did not did not enjoy the Florida experience in the summer. You got some sun, didn't you? Yeah, we we've done it a few times, right? We've gone down to see mom because I was on that teacher schedule, and you know, summertime is when I had free time, so we'd go and it would just it's just uh stupid, yeah, yeah. But you hit the middle of the country, yes, and it's like uh God's God's chosen lands, really.

Matt Fox 19:33

The the grass is blue, the whiskey and the bourbon is tasty. That is it. The drivers there are fantastic, yes, right, Tim.

Jamie Flanagan 19:42

Tim what what landed you in the heart of uh bourbon country? How'd you how'd you get there? Were you born there or did you did you move there? What's what's the give me a little bit of the backstory? I know we've done this before, but look, catch me back up.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

It's been a good while, guys, and thanks for uh inviting me back. Of course. You all again. It's always fun. You know, I was born and raised here, and my family's from here back to the late 1700s. Oh, nice, and uh so it's your fault, yeah, exactly.

Jamie Flanagan 20:13

Because like my grandfather got here in about 1906, so it's like you know, all that crap that happened before, don't blame me. We were we were trying to be in on the bourbon island.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

We didn't have anybody get in on the early end of the bourbon thing to make all the money, but uh yeah, but everybody had a still back then. I mean, it was the it was the economy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 20:37

How how legal, right? Because you got all those crazy TV shows, right? Those moonshiners, and it's like, hey, we're out in the country. So many people know how to do it, though.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Right, right, so well. Well, there are plenty of people doing it on their own, but you're supposed to have a license, right?

Jamie Flanagan 20:54

Oh, it's supposed to have a license. Okay, fair play. Yeah, um, how how how strongly regulated is it? I mean, do p does everybody have a still in the in there that has a chunk of property? Does everybody have a or or can we not say does everybody dabble?

SPEAKER_00 21:07

You have to know a guy.

Jamie Flanagan 21:09

Okay.

August Gitshlag 21:10

Yeah, the answer was yes, right? I know I know I know a guy in Rochester with a column still in his garage. Nice, no pictures on the internet. No, it's like it's uh it's illegal, not illegal to have it, it's just illegal to operate it. That's how we talk.

Jamie Flanagan 21:26

All right, fair play.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

There are still dry counties here. I mean, yes, it never went back. So there's still a lot of a lot of the counties, although more and more have legalized it or it's very regulated, but it's restaurants and golf courses and that kind of thing.

August Gitshlag 21:45

But I do know my friend got in trouble for bringing a keg down to Jack Daniels to like trade, or it was like a full keg of beer. Like, you can't have that, buddy. Like, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 21:55

That's a dry county. Yeah, yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 21:59

Wow. All right.

Meet The Kentucky Bourbon Boys

Jamie Flanagan 22:00

So, Tim, the Kentucky Bourbon Boys curated tours of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. And you guys just hook people up. And I'm I'm looking forward to I've I've just retired from teaching, so I'm trying to convince my wife into uh letting me or she and I come down together or or grab these lunatics and go down or grab our spouses and go. But something I'm I'm I'm coming for you, Tim. I'm telling you. We talked about it. We I know we want to do that. So I have a little bit more free time, but people do that. They travel in the summer. There's a lot of sum of travel. Uh it's a nice season, it's the high season. What what's happening on the trail right now? Is this your peak right now? Are we uh tapping into your busy, busy time here?

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Uh, really, the peak is October.

Matt Fox 22:46

Oh, oh, when it's not as warm and not as uh the weather's great, the fall leaves are in.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Yeah, uh football teams travel here to play the SEC games or the ACC games.

Jamie Flanagan 22:57

Oh, that'd be cool. Yeah, if your team's playing somewhere over that aways.

August Gitshlag 23:01

That's the only reason I went to Kentucky. I went to Willet because I was there to see uh Alabama, Tennessee. Yeah, we went down there. Or maybe it's Villanova, not Villanova. Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt.

Jamie Flanagan 23:10

That makes a lot of sense. It is a little warm. I mean, even it's it's it's balls hot here in Detroit. We're hitting a hundred next tomorrow in the next few days, two days, yeah. So you know it's a heat wind that damn global warming.

August Gitshlag 23:21

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Yeah, uh it's been hot, but we've been it's been raining here like every day with some flooding every day.

Jamie Flanagan 23:29

Oh no, that helps keep it moderate. Well, unless it makes it humid, yeah, it makes it gross.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Yeah, but yeah, September, October are prime, even early November. You know, we're seeing more and more folks coming the first two weeks in November, and the weather's not bad at all.

August Gitshlag 23:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

It's uh yeah early November.

Tour Options And Group Sweet Spot

August Gitshlag 23:50

Have you added any new action to the trail? So we talked about what probably a year, year and two months ago, something like that. Yeah, so it's what's the hot new thing that everyone wants to get at?

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Actually, longer than that.

August Gitshlag 24:02

That's a bit longer than that. Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Yeah, I'm trying to remember, but you know, we do uh shooting clays tour that's really popular.

Jamie Flanagan 24:09

Oh, what's that? Wow, shooting clays. I'm a sporting clay, I'm a sporting clay.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

There's no drinking beforehand, of course. We uh we shoot clays in the morning and then have some Kentucky barbecue for lunch and then go to a distillery tour afterwards. So that's a we book a lot of folks for that.

August Gitshlag 24:27

Is it uh trap or is it like sporting clays?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

It's sporting clays.

August Gitshlag 24:31

Oh, I love golf with shotguns. I love me some sporting clays.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Yeah, that's fun.

Jamie Flanagan 24:38

You supply the weaponry?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

No, but this the range does. Oh, you go to a range, okay, fair play. Everything golf carts, safety gear, instructions, all the clays, the shells, everything. Oh it's a it's a good deal, it's a lot of fun. And the people that have never seen a shotgun before they finish, the instructors have them hitting clays, so it's they they do a great job. It's pretty amazing. Rabbit's the one that gets everybody. Nobody, I haven't seen anybody hit the rabbit yet.

August Gitshlag 25:08

Is the rabbit? The rabbit's the one no, the rabbit's the one that rolls, so it bounces on the ground, but it can always hit the ground. The rabbit's fun because also the rabbit is where you see it looks like the movies where you actually see the thing blow up in the ground where you hit it, you know, like in the movies. Every shot that's up here still hits the ground and goes, pew, because the guy's running. Right. And when he was shooting at the rabbit, you actually see the stuff where you where you missed it.

Matt Fox 25:30

I just had I just had uh uh Monty Python holy grail going through my head for a second. Oh, it's only a little rabbit.

SPEAKER_05 25:36

Oh meat streak a mile wide.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Well, we do we do that one in the horseback riding tour and um take people horse farms and see some really some really beautiful.

Jamie Flanagan 25:49

You got anything on the on the wine side?

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Well, we do hit some wineries. We also do some culinary tours now. We're doing uh historic tours, uh, all about the history of Kentucky and bourbon and some really cool.

Jamie Flanagan 26:02

Can you mix that? Can you do like like one wine stop and one bourbon stop? You really want your wife to let you go do this, don't you? I I want to I want to make sure she enjoys the experience as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Yeah, exactly. And then there are places.

Jamie Flanagan 26:15

Sometimes you like the lady who do enjoy the experience as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

Well, if they're gonna be along, you want to make sure they're happy too.

Jamie Flanagan 26:22

I give her a gun and a bottle of wine, she's happy.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

No, we mix and match whatever the guests need and okay, make sure everybody's happy.

Matt Fox 26:33

All right. So, what's the sweet spot, Tim, for number of guests to make the most out of the day with not a lot of chaos? What's the sweet spot for for a group of people?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Well, you can only get in three places in a day. If you're gonna do a couple of tours, even a horse farm tour. Say you did a horse farm tour and then a distillery tour and lunch, and then we work in a third stop, maybe the winery, or we go somewhere for cocktails or cocktail class or a bourbon flight, and do a tasting, got a tasting, your 8:30 pickup in the morning and 5 30 drop off in the evening. That's a full time that is a full of napping on the way back to the I bet.

Matt Fox 27:16

So is it more like like 15-12 people for a sweet spot?

SPEAKER_00 27:20

I I would say eight to ten is a really good number for your pricing. Okay, especially you know, the transportation is the big cost. Anywhere you go, that's you know, you you're gonna be paying for that vehicle and driver. But the more people you put in there, you're spreading that cost out.

Matt Fox 27:40

But the transportation that's what comes along with that transportation that you guys provide, it's the history it duration, the the actual experience, right?

Jamie Flanagan 27:49

So, what if a couple comes down on their own and wants to join a tour?

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Do you do you posse them in with uh uh other people or oh no, we'd only do private, so it'd be just your your crew, and we have so many people that travel together and celebrate birthdays and retirements and okay, uh special anniversaries, and we have gift bags you can purchase to be in the van that have got really specific items for whatever that celebration is, so that uh folks we had people ask us for years do y'all can y'all do anything for the you know, the best man or for the birthday boy or whatever. So we've got that in place now, and charcuterie orders you can have in the van. Charcuteries, yeah. We just added a lot, a lot of fancy. It is, yeah. Um, but it's you know, it's we're gonna pick you up where you're staying and get you dropped off back there or dinner, and we're getting ready to launch a full concierge service. We'll book your hotel rooms and dinner reservations and help you figure out the rest of your time while you're in town. Right.

Jamie Flanagan 28:54

Wow, you're bringing back the travel agent by yourself, yeah, yeah. So if there was just if it was just a couple, could they ask that the driver wear a blindfold? Asking for a friend. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Well, we tell people we're not that kind of company.

Jamie Flanagan 29:08

All right, I made a weird kind of couple. Yeah, you made it weird. I made it, I made it weird.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

I made it weird.

SPEAKER_05 29:14

Um again.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

That is, that is, you know, we had a bachelor party ask me one time if they could bring a waitress along, and I said, uh, we're not that kind of busy. A waitress.

August Gitshlag 29:24

It's a waitress. You could have just brought her on as another guest, fully paid, no one would have known the difference. Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission when it comes to hookers.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

They ask, you know, beforehand and not after the fact.

Jamie Flanagan 29:39

Rookies, that's that is a problem.

Bourbon Supply Shifts And Shelf Finds

Jamie Flanagan 29:42

All right, so well, what's going on in in Kentucky? Holy crap, it's uh it's nuts, right? Because there's like embargoes and and there's like not as much bourbon leaving the the states, things uh supply and demand. There's there seems to be like a lot of supply. What's happening with Jim Beam? What do you what can you give us a skinny on what's happening culturally and and barrel-wise? And Jim Beam, are they they stopped? They stopped distilling.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Well, so let me talk about that first and then about the state of the union, otherwise.

Jamie Flanagan 30:15

Okay, okay, airplanes.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

You know, when they announced everybody flipped out and thought they were closing, and they're they're still open, the gift shops open, their tours are still open, their tastings room is open, their restaurant on site is still open, and you can go do a nice tour. And in fact, they've got a Fred and Booker no tour. There's a premium experience that's really nice, but they they paused production, and what happened is everybody freaked out, cranking out volume, just cranking out volume, yeah, yeah, doubling production just every year, just like everybody was pouring millions into their facilities and adding stills and building new 50,000 barrel rick houses all over the state.

Jamie Flanagan 31:00

And they're like, Oh crap, all the rig houses are full.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, well, and and I've been to several events where people in the know talk about tariffs and other things, and they've really not pointed at tariffs as being the big issue. It's just basically all of a sudden things slowed down.

August Gitshlag 31:20

Yeah, there's a lot of juice out there, and now there's a ton of juice.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

So I'll give you an example. I went to Buffalo Trace a few weeks ago, and they had Weller 12-year-just rows of it. Jeez for retail price. And it was get your yellowstone on. But it was that was the fourth time that it was out. And we've had people text me and say, Hey, Elmer T. Lee is on the shelves today at retail, and uh they just recently did a CYPB, and it was a a mess because people waited in line six hours and passed out, and the EMS had to come. Oh geez, so they're changing how they're doing all that, which is good. They recognize they've got to find a different way to deal with crowds. But product is out that you know, we would never see the Weller uh 107 antique ever, even in a store.

Matt Fox 32:16

That's yeah, is that is that the red label?

SPEAKER_00 32:19

That's the red one. And you and we've walked into the gift shop a lot and it's sitting there. Wow, not even posted as what's on sale today because they do post what's on sale every day in the morning. Take me home, they just surprise everybody and pull out these specials like the Oak Project, the single barrel oak project will be in there, and you don't even know you're walking into it. So they've they've been pulling out some really good special bottles. You just have to be lucky to get there. But they've had bottles up until late in the afternoon that you wouldn't think would last an hour or two. So they've got a lot of product, is what I'm getting at. And so I think they're they're trimming down that volume all over the state and balancing things out, and like Jim Beam will start production again next year. But they're still they moved everybody to the Booker No plant, and there's just cranking out liquid there.

Jamie Flanagan 33:15

It's the uh is it like around here in Michigan, like the weller, we still don't see the weller. We really don't. Oh, they're but it's some of the stores are getting uh a few, and but and they're putting them out, but they're not black. They're not marking them up. I got the 12 year. Yeah, that's the black, right? So yeah, I picked up, but they're not marking them up crazy. But we still don't uh in the tubes, right? We're not getting the the tubes. Don't get a lot of those the the Colonel Taylor.

August Gitshlag 33:41

That's just a matter of our Michigan's crappy system with our uh the allocation system of all.

Jamie Flanagan 33:46

So I was driving down and I was like, Oh, hey, hey, a tailor in a tube. How about that? Taylor in a tube, you're going home with me, buddy.

August Gitshlag 33:56

It's like the inflatable at the gay bar, right?

Jamie Flanagan 33:58

Right? It does, it does. That's pretty much the same line I use. And so I'm like, all right, let's let's bring this, let's bring this home with me. And it was like about five dollars cheaper than the Michigan minimum price because every state has their own taxes and shenanigans. So this was about five dollars under the Michigan minimum.

August Gitshlag 34:17

And I was like, all right, cool, come on home, especially since uh Colleen and I were we don't see those pretty tech stamps in Michigan anymore, unless you're inheriting something off your grandparents' bar, right? You don't have a pretty tech stamp.

Jamie Flanagan 34:28

Yeah, but this is bottled and bond, the bottles and bonds, okay, yeah. Bottles and bonds, I believe, need to have those stuff. I'm not sure tech stamp. And my federal federal proof of stamp. Yeah, the tech that's that's a bottled and bond thing. All right, so this is a fresh crack of the small batch Colonel Taylor that brought home. What are you drinking? What are you drinking on, Tim?

SPEAKER_00 34:49

As we cross through the actually, I'm drinking uh Castle and Key Weeded. Oh they just put that out not too long ago, and it is it's excellent. Castle and key? Castle and key.

August Gitshlag 35:02

I fell into a bottle of redemption weeded that I found at a mire for half off for $27. And man, that was a good bourbon.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

This was this one's really good. I'm enjoying it.

Matt Fox 35:13

Compare it to like a weller weeded type deal.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

This one's a little sweeter than a weller weeded.

SPEAKER_05 35:20

All right.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

But you know, the Weller green label is everywhere now. It was in the Kroger liquor store the other day. Although Blanton's was too, and E. H. Taylor, and yeah, and we haven't seen that in a long time.

August Gitshlag 35:34

I'm seeing more blantons out there. Yeah, yeah. Yep, yep. I finally found a bottle of uh wild turkey uh rare breed rye. Oh, which I hadn't been able to find that in months. Oh Keiko's has filthy with it. Well, not the rare, not the rye. They were had everyone had the bourbon. The rye just came back, it was not even in the book for a while. Oh, okay. Yeah, all right. I'm a wild turkey. That's my that's my juice of uh of choice.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

I well, my son-in-law found a 1792 straight rye this weekend, and I've never even never seen it, and there was only one bottle in the store.

August Gitshlag 36:04

So that I got that. I found one of those at a bot here, and it was a very limited distribution. It's delicious.

SPEAKER_00 36:09

I have not very first tasted it, but it looked I I've got all the rest of them, but not that one, and I didn't even know it was out.

August Gitshlag 36:15

Yeah, that one and they it came out, it was very brief. They only gave so many bottles to Michigan. I started I actually called around Tim looking for it. I stumbled across it at a liquor store in Farmington Hills, yeah, when going to buy literally a Pepsi on the way to the girlfriend's house. Yeah, like what is this? What is this? What is this on your shelf? What is this? Rye. It was up there by the register, and I'm like, give it to me. I don't care how much it is.

Jamie Flanagan 36:37

Yeah, so you like the rise. He likes the right guy.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

So you mentioned earlier what else was new here, and I would say if you you know, downtown Louisville is the gateway to bourbon country, and there are a lot of new tasting rooms in downtown Louisville. I mean, uh slew of them, and they're like beside each other, so that's that's pretty cool. And then a lot of them have added like a speakeasy.

Jamie Flanagan 37:04

Oh, gotta get into the colour machine.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

Yeah, so you've got that going on.

Jamie Flanagan 37:09

And are these are these uh tasting rooms sponsored by the different distilleries, but just kind of in a hub there? So you don't have you don't necessarily have to go to the distillery, you can you can stumble downtown Louisville and have some fun.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Yeah, you could just go down the street and stop into different places and do a tasting. I mean if I were six distillery uh places, but there are no barrels aging on property of quality. Yeah, but you can go in and do the cocktail bar, they've all got cocktail bars now, and maybe do a tasting and at least buy some product and swag and and then make your way to the next place. So that's that's nice. Um and then some other places that are doing barrel tasting. We're seeing a lot more barrel tasting options.

Jamie Flanagan 37:58

Oh since the last time we just that's still pretty popular down here. The the thief, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:03

That's a drawing straight out, the charging glass.

August Gitshlag 38:07

We still get a lot of people down here going to Louisville and getting their own barrel picks. Yeah, that's they're everywhere now, and it it's also it's kind of ruined base bourbons for some some of them. You know, I I can't drink a regular buffalo trace anymore without going, man, I just had a great one over at you know, such and such party store, and it costs seven dollars more. Yeah, you know, it's just the flavor profiles are are just more unique, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Well, a barrel pick's fun, and and we're seeing a lot more people coming to do that. People say this is our seventh weller barrel pick. Wow. So that's interesting, but you know, each one is totally different flavor profile, right?

August Gitshlag 38:44

There's no consistency there on purpose, yeah. Right.

Jamie Flanagan 38:47

So, Tim, tell me a little bit more about these speakeasies. Uh, is there any like interesting ways to get in any of them? Is it what's what's it if people are like on the tour, it's like, hey, we're gonna we got time after dinner tomorrow. We want to hit a speakeasy. What are you gonna tell people to do?

SPEAKER_00 39:02

Well, people will ask at their hotel or they'll ask their Airbnb host or at a restaurant. Some of the places will know and and some won't. Some of them are very like, hey, do you want to go downstairs to our speakeasy? But then others you have to definitely ask. And there's one called the Heller High Water Bar, and the only way you know where it is is there's a lamppost over the door with a white ball on it that says hello. Ah, that's and there's a little just a little vestibule and a guy sitting there looking at his phone, and that's the this entrance. You go down into the basement and you're back into Prohibition. It's a very fun place. Uh all right. But there are a number of others too here in town. So some are in hotels, some are connected to the distilled tasting rooms when they all have a cocktail bar going to so you just have to ask somebody, you know. And we we provide that list of people that tour with us and say, Hey, well, you're in town, here's some other fun things to go do. Sure.

Jamie Flanagan 40:04

Yeah, I like that. I like I like those. I like I like the fancy cocktails. It doesn't even have to have an umbrella in it. I was gonna say, you're a cosmo guy, I know you are. No, I am, I am, but doesn't have to be. I like the I like a good Manhattan, I like a good old fashioned, I like a smoked old fashioned. Yeah, you know, if if we're out and you can walk out to a patio, give me a nice New York sour or something.

Louisville Speakeasies And Festival Chaos

August Gitshlag 40:27

Something yeah, yeah, you know, I I am in a Louisville conundrum. Is it Louisville or Louisville? Louis Louisville. Okay, gotta mumble it. Okay, okay, okay, Louisville. So my girlfriend and I get a call about six months ago. Actually, it was like right around Christmas time. My cousin's a DJ at Alt 106 or whatever, the station down there. Well, I'm getting to that as part of the story. Oh, he's like, I got a thousand dollars worth of bourbon and beyond tickets for you and VIP everything to come down. I'm like, great, yeah. Yes, so we booked $2,000 worth of hotel rooms right in downtown and get the package and do everything. And then my cousin gets shit can from the radio station and all radio tickets and passes go.

Matt Fox 41:12

Don't you know enough people in radio to know that that happens?

August Gitshlag 41:15

You gotta get that can you gotta get that in hand. I'm just stuck with $2,000 worth of hotel rooms in Louisville for a concert I don't have tickets to.

Jamie Flanagan 41:22

Oh man. You gotta put that in. Yeah, yeah, and VIP DJ access.

August Gitshlag 41:28

We're actively trying to dump this hotel package. If you know anybody, come into town.

Jamie Flanagan 41:33

Uh needs some room for the sold-out the uh bourbon and beyond. Yeah, it's right in one of the good hotels. Is Bourbon and Beyond? Yes, it's the three-day mega festival. That is that looks like a just a lollapalooza of liquid.

August Gitshlag 41:46

Well, it's also that the headliners are Dave Matthews band one night, Dave Grohl the other night, and what's the other Hillbilly band, Hipster Folkster Guys? Blues Traveler? No, they're actually really good. Um they have a hundred people in the band. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh the brothers, what's it what are they called? God damn it. Ammet, Ambet. No, the huge, the huge band of the something Gatlin Brothers? No. No. They come to Detroit. They always were DCFC scarves and they're playing. Yeah, I don't know. Muslim plug in the city. You're not going to see them anyway because you don't have tickets. No, I don't have tickets anymore. Mumford and Sons. Mumford and Sumfords. There you go. Matt Brothers Sons. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, Timmy, you know anybody that needs a anyone calls and says, Hey, we're coming down for that. We want a tour. We need some package. I got a guy who's got a hotel package. We get it maybe cost, maybe cheaper.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

I will get send them your way.

August Gitshlag 42:52

My girlfriend's like, we should just still go. And I'm like, it'd be great, but I don't need to pay $2,000 to go to Louisville for four days in a hotel room. Yeah. Unless we're going to the concert.

Jamie Flanagan 43:02

Unless you have like maximum maximum access.

August Gitshlag 43:04

I'll sell those and I'll go back for $800 and we'll do we'll spend the money with the Bourbon brothers.

Jamie Flanagan 43:09

We're staying at the Super Eight. Right.

August Gitshlag 43:11

And we're let's have their nice custom pickup over at the night's end.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Well, they're about 40,000, 50,000 people here for that. At least people. But you know, they've got all the distilleries are there with a little buildings they set up, and you go in and can do tastings and buy bottles and get drinks, and then lots of food options, and then several stages, and it's it's a lot of fun. It's it's grown so much it's unbelievable.

August Gitshlag 43:40

Yeah. And there's only one hotel walking distance to the venue.

Jamie Flanagan 43:44

And it's two thousand. No, I'm in the next one, the next closest one. Oh, fair play. Yeah.

August Gitshlag 43:48

Well, yeah, it's a that one was three thousand. We're still a shuttle.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

It's right near the airport, and all the you know the hotels you usually would use are downtown, so that's a 15-minute drive. Yeah, but there's a couple. Little small places near near the venue.

August Gitshlag 44:03

I'm sure you get booked solid. There's another festival right after that, like a week later.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

They do louder than life.

August Gitshlag 44:09

Yeah, that's all the the crazy feel your mother, feel your mother.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

And that's a big crowd, too, just as big. A lot of angry.

August Gitshlag 44:18

They're angrier. Angry. Those kids had bad childhoods. That's why they listen to big bands like Cradle of Filth.

Jamie Flanagan 44:25

Cradle of Filth. That is probably actually one of the bands. It is.

August Gitshlag 44:31

I'm the DJ and I don't know. Yeah. That's okay. You shouldn't know. No one's dancing to it. You ain't getting that requested at your next wedding you're doing. No. They're not a prom hit.

Matt Fox 44:40

I got I got to ask you, Tim, how you're all down up and down the bourbon trail itself because the bourbon trail is pretty long, isn't it? Isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Well, there's about 60, I think 64 locations now on the official trail. Okay. Still about 100 in the state. I mean, Horse Soldier just opened up in Somerset, Kentucky, which is pretty close to Knoxville. I mean, it's southern Kentucky on the way from Lexington down. And you covered opened up.

Matt Fox 45:12

You cover the entire trail, do you not?

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Well, we mostly stick with the Lexington area and the Bardstown area and then the local area.

Matt Fox 45:20

Okay. If you had to go further, would you?

SPEAKER_00 45:23

It's just guests don't enjoy a long van ride.

Matt Fox 45:27

Ah, fair enough.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

They get antsy.

Jamie Flanagan 45:30

All depends on what's in the van with you.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

You need a couple waitresses. It'll be great. We've learned that an hour is about just enough, and then people are ready to do something. Anything else is going to take you close to two hours or more.

Matt Fox 45:45

Okay, that's fair.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

Yeah.

Jamie Flanagan 45:47

I just curious. It's it's wide expansive land. It's uh it is.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

Uh look, we get some Californians that say we want to go to seven in a day, and it's like it's not Napa, it's they're not right beside the Napa, right? Right, right. Um, a part thing. It's things are 10 to 30 minutes apart in each week.

Jamie Flanagan 46:08

Well, because in Michigan, right? We got up in our our finger area here, we got Traverse City, and we got the Lelana Peninsula.

August Gitshlag 46:16

Yeah, we got a little peninsula of really good white wines because we have German climate up there.

Jamie Flanagan 46:20

Yeah, it's like on the same parallel Michigan wine country, and and the the wineries are like boom, boom, boom, boom, next to each other. And you know, it's it's you can hit if you got a driver.

August Gitshlag 46:34

Every bachelorette party tries to.

Matt Fox 46:37

That's a it's the same way in uh Cuka Lake over in in the Finger Lakes area. It's like winery, winery, winery.

August Gitshlag 46:44

It's a this is a state, not a county, right? That they're touring here. Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Yeah. Well, in Bardstown, there are five or six that are within 10 minutes.

August Gitshlag 46:54

Yeah, that's your that's your golf range.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Yeah, that's probably the the best bet for short.

Jamie Flanagan 46:59

Well, if somebody wanted to blitzkrieg a bunch of them, that would be the the thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 47:03

Yeah, but and we and people will tell us that we just want to do tastings, so we can work in four of those in a day.

August Gitshlag 47:09

Okay, yeah, they don't want the tour experience, they just want to consume as many ounces of fluid as they can. I get it, and you're there to do you're there to give grant them their wishes, yeah. Time time permitting.

Jamie Flanagan 47:21

Yeah, I like that.

Matt Fox 47:23

Tim, I'm so happy that you guys are just making sure people get from destination A to Z safe and sound, and that's one of the greatest things about the Kentucky Bourbon Boys is that they provide safety because everyone else can let loose, right?

SPEAKER_00 47:40

Well, you know, if it's not a safe ride, everything else is out the window, right? Yeah, gotta get everybody back the way you pick them up.

August Gitshlag 47:49

Well, more or less, more or less, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

No bleeding or anything. Right, and nobody bleeding, right? Right. But uh we do watch when they get out of the band so they don't do a face plant and ruin the day. But uh yeah, they've got to be safe. So we we really take that seriously, but we also want to make sure everybody has a fun day and do whatever is above and beyond necessary to exceed expectations because we want people to have a great experience and and enjoy, you know, they're paying good money to be here, but you you'd be amazed how many bucket list guests we get in here, and they'll tell us this is something that I've always wanted

Safety, Reviews, And Booking Early

SPEAKER_00 48:32

to do. And we're bringing our our father who's terminally ill, and this was his last wish was to come to this. Oh, it's it's amazing.

August Gitshlag 48:43

No, that's gotta be amazing to see wholeheartedly. They trust you with that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

Having that memory-making experience and and leaving just on cloud nine, and that's we see that a lot. So it's yeah, that is a little downer, except you're making something special for a family. Yeah, that's what we love to do. Oh, yeah. So you yeah, you got to be safe, and then we want to make sure that they have uh just a super experience and that they want to come back. And when they get out of the van, they say we're coming back, and we're telling our friends, and we hear that all the time because we're we're about service and providing a quality experience.

August Gitshlag 49:22

Are you still growing with this? You still buying transportation, or are you uh right where you're gonna be?

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Yeah, we've got a van arriving the early August, another one. So we're we're also in the process of changing over the fleet and getting rid of old stuff and making sure we keep safe newer vehicles for people. But our drivers, you know, if you look at reviews and and other tour companies do a great job too, don't get me wrong. There's plenty of batteries here. Uh but all of our drivers are people we know personally, so we don't hire off the street. So everybody we know we can vouch for as far as their abilities, and you know, and we tell people you don't search, shop around. It's you should, it's your money, and you it's not cheap, but do the research because we've had you know some scammers, and you gotta be careful, sure, and you gotta read a lot of reviews um because we've seen some real heartbreak stories too of people that bought that two thousand dollar hotel room, flights, and they get here and they have no tours because they got cousin gets fired from the radio station. So you gotta be careful, yeah, and do do your due diligence and read a lot of reviews.

August Gitshlag 50:38

Yeah, I'm not booking my bourbon trail tour with a Jamaican company, right? Or a Nigerian Prince. Fair play.

SPEAKER_00 50:45

Exactly. But it's it's fun. We we've got met so many people from all over the world, and it's just pretty cool to have friends here from you name it, and that tell their friends they gotta come do this. And it's it's just a fun experience for the day. But you can work in a Churchill Downs visit and go at least do a tour there. Uh if they're not racing, you know, they're seasonally racing from last week of April until basically Father's Day, and then they're coming back in October and they'll be here through Thanksgiving.

Jamie Flanagan 51:25

Oh, Thanksgiving. You know, I told Colleen that as we were driving down. I was like, I want to do, I want to do the bourbon trail. And I go, I'd like to go and see. I go, I don't necessarily need to see a race, but I'd like to see horses running and training. I'd like to see amongst the majesty horses doing their doing their thing. Horse shit. Yeah, the horse shit. And I want to see horse shit. It I really do. So October's a good time to come back. So spring and and fall are when the the the high times for the run and the license.

SPEAKER_00 51:55

Yeah, March through June, and then it's starting to get hot, you know. Yeah. And then a lot of places will shut down production in July.

August Gitshlag 52:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Do their vacations and they clean and all of that business.

August Gitshlag 52:08

So you're you're offering back up in August. You got horse packages, you have shooting packages, you have these tour packages. Do you have any package where I get to get drunk and shoot a horse?

SPEAKER_00 52:21

Well, we do the horse tours uh after or in the morning so that there's no drinking because we don't all that drive stuff you gotta appreciate it.

August Gitshlag 52:32

Yeah, you gotta appreciate it. Tim, just every once in a while they break a leg and they gotta take them out. It's a premium, but the sea biscuit over here. You need to calm your ass. I floated a sea biscuit a minute ago. Notice that.

SPEAKER_00 52:48

Well, you could do the stallion tours when they but they tell you just stay back or he'll bite you and kick you. So you know, just looking at the horse, but then you do the mare tours and you can put your arm around their neck, and but it's not really weird until you make eye contact. Yeah, but you gotta watch out for the stallions, and the and and you know, the stud season, yeah. That too. Yeah, yeah.

Matt Fox 53:12

Man, I I I'm just sitting back on Jesus, the innuendos flying around over here. I don't know, and we're only that far into the tailor.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

It's like we're barely they will go into they will go into detail about that. Stallion tours, too.

August Gitshlag 53:27

Okay, oh boy, I bet they do. Yeah, they do. I mean, it's fascinating. If you don't know anything about horse racing, the whole idea that these guys, these these horses can't race unless they're in the book, they have to be related to some other horse that they jerked off. That was another horse that was jerked off. Yeah, yeah. And it's it's it's a racket. Yeah, that's how they keep the money in fault. Yeah, yeah. I can't just show up there with my horses. I'm gonna beat y'all like my my own dragster and jump in there and try to race. Can't do it.

Matt Fox 53:52

Jeez.

SPEAKER_00 53:53

Right on.

Matt Fox 53:54

Tim, did we miss anything?

SPEAKER_00 53:56

The website. You asked a lot of a lot of good questions. I mean, the the thing is there has been a little slowdown, but visitors are still coming. Yeah, there are a lot of new options. There's a lot of single barrel tasting options or barrel tasting options with filling your own bottle.

August Gitshlag 54:14

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 54:16

Which is cool because then you can take something home that's unique. It's and it's gonna be high proof. But you chose from you you might have four barrels to choose from, and you're gonna pick the one you your uh palate likes, and you take that one home. So that's a nice keepsake, too, especially for special occasions. Love that. Um so that's that's really the gist of it. And then, of course, lots of you know, we've had a lot of specialty things. We have a golf package too. I left out, and you can we've got a driver who's a retired golf pro, he sets up the tea times. Great courses, and you get everything included in that, and then lunch with a cocktail, and then a distillery tour afterwards. So that's a good day. All of those things came though from guests saying, Hey, you don't do anything for golfers? We do now fair and uh uh the Australians love coming here and shooting clays because you know they don't have anything like that. So right.

August Gitshlag 55:15

Well, I've I've done it several times with uh my friends actually breweries very knowledgeable. I'm like, how do you know this much about my friend that owns a brewery got me into shooting sporting clays?

Jamie Flanagan 55:25

It's like I had no, I didn't know you had that uh you know, Great Lakes Crossing.

August Gitshlag 55:31

Yeah, it's it's this the one we we don't have golf carts in ours, it's smaller than when we go to the club here, but it's more fun, I think, in the fall because they have the barrels burning, you know, the fire pits going around. You know, you got a hoodie on, you got you know, I have a an old World War II gas mask bag, is what I use as my ammo bag that I swing on my shoulder, and yeah, and I I borrow my buddy's old overunder, and we just yeah, we go have a good time. Then we go drink our pints afterwards. Sure exactly.

Jamie Flanagan 55:58

Excellent. Tim, thank you. It's Kentucky Bourbon Boys.com. Is that simple?

SPEAKER_00 56:03

That's it.

Jamie Flanagan 56:04

And the Kentucky Bourbon Boys on all the socials, just Google it and you will find them.

August Gitshlag 56:09

You will find us. Find the package that's right for you. Find them too many options now. It's like looking at DoorDash at a Coney Island. I don't know what too many options. I want everything.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

I want it all. And then if you're not sure, we can help you. We just ask any questions and figure out what your what your interests are, and then we can suggest great experiences and keep the wives happy too.

August Gitshlag 56:30

If you ever find yourself in Ham Chammock, Michigan, I do the exact same service. I'll take you to any bar you want to. We can take you to uh some art installations in the hood.

Matt Fox 56:39

I think he's taking you up on that just just now.

August Gitshlag 56:41

He's like, Yes, we have uh six different ethnicity foods and uh two and a half square miles. So we'll take care of it. It's a party.

Jamie Flanagan 56:48

Yes, there you go. Sounds funny. All right, Tim. We will we'll check in again sooner. That's we we we let this go too long, so I do a little chip in the fall.

SPEAKER_00 56:58

Yeah, and when the leaves are changing. That's right. So listen, if you do, and for your listeners, if you're gonna come down, you better you need to plan two, three months in advance at least.

August Gitshlag 57:08

Oh, yeah, absolutely. A season early.

SPEAKER_00 57:11

Yes, all right.

August Gitshlag 57:12

It's like booking a cruise. It is, it's it's high season there, like yeah, yeah. Start booking now if you want to be there and ten months out of the leaves, you know. Yeah, exactly. All right, well, thanks for having me, guys. Thank you. Good to talk to you again. It's been too long. We apologize for that. Uh good to see you. You well, thank you. All right, bye now.

Wrap Up, Upcoming Plans, Closing

August Gitshlag 57:35

So should have got again when he was drinking, what castle and drinking a weeded? He's drinking a weeded. Yeah. Are we still rolling? Yeah, we are. Oh, we're yeah, he checked out, man. He's out. He's got you know, bang his old lady. Dude, what he's got making money hand over fist, you know, pimping bourbon tours. He's having a good time. He's sitting there drinking with the boys.

Jamie Flanagan 57:57

I was like, yeah, I'm gonna go, you know, yeah, okay, fair play. Get on you, Tim. Speaking of liking things and liking it a lot. What are you gonna say? Like, subscribe, leave a comment. Do all those podcast things in the podcast. You like are you? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Fox 58:17

That was unsolicited for a bottled and bond. It's that's got that's that's got some warmth on that 100%.

August Gitshlag 58:23

Yeah, but it's I mean, I've now my my old fashions are now being made with uh the Evan Williams Hunterproof bottled and bomb, which is just a you know great $27, $26 bottle. Yeah, yeah. And I got that JP Weiser's for $12 a bottle doing the same trick. Went to a Meyer found at the end cap. It was the half off, it was on the list. There you go. Got a couple of those. You know, it's not the best bourbon, but it ain't bad. It's whiskey. It's just it's just Canadian whiskey. It's Canadian rye. So that's a nice little old fashioned mixer.

Matt Fox 58:47

Next time uh we are together, I'm gonna bring in. I'm I'm going to look to a uh book a guest from Buffalo, New York, and they do cubed cocktails. So like dried out cocktails like the things you'd have in Star Trek?

August Gitshlag 59:01

Yeah. Oh man, mom sure can't hydrate a pizza. Right. Back to the future, too.

Matt Fox 59:05

Yes. But yeah, it's just a cocktail mixer. You just add your alcohol and and a little bit of water, and you gotta self-fill it.

August Gitshlag 59:12

Alcohol right in there? Yeah, yeah. Interesting. It's that's a dry product.

Matt Fox 59:16

It's a dry product, yes.

August Gitshlag 59:17

Yeah, so no refrigeration is. It's a season. I don't know if I want that in my well, maybe. No, I'm just kidding. It's the gym cock, too. You said time. I didn't say time because it you gotta plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief. Speaking of which, oh again?

unknown 59:37

Jeez.

August Gitshlag 59:38

Time's you're going to the bathroom today.

Matt Fox 59:40

I'm gonna be 2,601 cases in the state of Michigan here in a second.

August Gitshlag 59:44

So reference to our severe diarrhea parasite here in Michigan.

Jamie Flanagan 59:50

I'll tell you, man. This is why I don't eat vegetables.

SPEAKER_04 59:56

Suck it vegetables.

August Gitshlag 59:58

My uh buddy texted to bring a World Cup reference back after the U.S. game. He uh sent the group and goes, My kids now hate offsides more than vegetables.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:09

Oh man. Uh anything else? We got it?

Matt Fox 1:00:13

Well, you guys got a lot of fun stuff planned over uh next week.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:16

So yeah, Susie's on Friday, the uh whiskey taco foxtrot cigars shenanigans whiskey experience on Sunday.

August Gitshlag 1:00:24

I'm leaving work early to watch England Argentina on Wednesday. Yeah, probably like Selena's in Madison Heights looking like, somewhere in between me and my buddies. All right, nice. I'll throw that out there if you're you're retired, you got nothing else to do.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:35

Yep, the all-Ireland finals on the 19th and on the the the next Sunday as well. Finals on the 26th, the uh the hurling and the football. The all-Ireland. It's uh Okay, okay, GAA. The the Gay Like League downtown Detroit is now an official GAA certified, uh certified. They can show the GAA games.

Matt Fox 1:00:54

Nice.

Jamie Flanagan 1:00:55

So yeah, they just got that. So yeah, so you can watch and they open up the games are at 3 30 in Ireland and they're uh 1030 here. So and they're open, they'll open up early for the for the games.

August Gitshlag 1:01:06

Okay, excellent. I'm sure everyone cannot wait to get there to watch. People throw a stick. Hurling.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:12

Oh, hurling you're hurling by the by the by the new hold the stick and they hit people with it. That's fun.

August Gitshlag 1:01:20

Okay, so it's like American Gladiator. Yes. With yes, yes, just with sticks. Okay. Fair play. They play baseball with potatoes. Uh now that you mention it.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:34

It's a solid potato. Yeah, it's kind of kind of getting close.

August Gitshlag 1:01:39

That was the that was the first stereotype joke of the day, so we gotta we gotta fight now.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:42

We gotta get my bare knuckle, bare knuckle.

Matt Fox 1:01:44

Hold on, I gotta get my popcorn. Thank you all for listening to the Man Cave Happy Hour. Like, subscribe. I'm Matt Fox.

Jamie Flanagan 1:01:51

Do it again at Jamie Flanagan. August get slag. Cheers, fellas.