TWiB: The Brown Hotel holiday cocktail competition, Eastern Light Distilling's new $60M distillery, Willett Pot Still Reserve Cask Strength

Bourbon Pursuit

This episode of Bourbon Pursuit provides a comprehensive update on the bourbon industry for late September 2026. The hosts discuss significa

Key takeaways

• Eastern Light Distilling secured $23.1M to reach its $60M goal for a new Kentucky facility.
• The Brown Hotel will host the 'Top of the List' cocktail competition on December 10, 2026, benefiting Toys for Tots.

Main topics

• Distillery expansions and investments
• New bourbon product releases

Notable quotes

If anybody tries to give you a/a bad bourbon, just give them the cold shoulder.

Conclusion

A valuable roundup for enthusiasts tracking both major industry shifts

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:08) It's this week in bourbon, and if anybody tries to give you a bad bourbon, just give them the cold shoulder. And here's your headlines for September 25th, 2026. The Brown Hotel is hosting a holiday competition titled Top of the List. Eastern Daylight Distilling is moving forward with building a $60 million distillery. And Will It is releasing its Will It Pop Still cash strength reserve. Before we get started, here's a quick word from our partners. Speaker 1 (0:46) Everybody, welcome back to another This Week in Bourbon. And it is also the last week of Bourbon Heritage Month. Can you believe it? It's already over. So Speaker 2 (0:55) sad. And, but, well, I guess it's not Bourbon Beyond, it's AmBeyond now. AmBeyond. There's Speaker 1 (1:00) no bourbon anymore, it's just AmBeyond. So they say. Speaker 2 (1:04) I know, September flew by, as it always does, because you got so many events, so many people in town. It was a hot September, but it was a good one. Well, we say that. Speaker 1 (1:14) And then we're getting ready. We're going through a cold wave right now. All Speaker 2 (1:16) of a sudden, we get to Speaker 1 (1:17) enjoy the middle part. It's coming. I'm Speaker 2 (1:20) so mad. It's coming. Speaker 1 (1:22) I'm so mad about having to go to a music festival this week. And I know we're recording. You'll get this on Friday. We'll be on stage on Thursday. And I think Friday, it's going to be like a high of 68. I'm kind of like. Oh, that's perfect. No, it's not. Yeah. Hoodie weather. Speaker 2 (1:35) Perfect Speaker 1 (1:36) bourbon drinking weather. It is, but not at a music festival. I don't have to worry about like, I got to worry about shade during the day. I got to carry on a sweatshirt all day. And then I got to, I don't like it. I don't like it. It's too much, too much effort. Gosh, you're needy. I am. I am. Well, Ryan, I think somebody the last time told you to give them the cold shoulder. It's probably in a dare class back in middle school, right? Speaker 2 (1:58) Don't talk to strangers. Something like that. Speaker 1 (2:00) Yeah. You know, don't take drugs from strangers or whatever it is. It's always funny. You know, now we're getting to Halloween season and people are always like, don't worry. You got to watch out. Like people were putting drugs in these kids candy. And then people were like, wait, you're giving away drugs to kids? Like give them to me. Right. You got to run them through Speaker 2 (2:19) the x-ray machine. I remember that. That Speaker 1 (2:23) never Speaker 2 (2:23) happened. Speaker 1 (2:23) No, I think it's like if you got money for drugs, the last thing you're doing is giving it to kids. But whatever. So anyway, the history behind it, give them the cold shoulder. So back in the 1800s, when you were no longer welcome at a dinner party, the host might serve you the cold meat from a pork or a beef shoulder. And so by doing this, they would give you the cold shoulder. Speaker 1 (2:47) I like a hot pork shoulder. That's Boston butt, right? Could you imagine if you were getting served something, you're just like, this feels awkward, right? I should probably get out of here. Speaker 2 (2:57) Yeah, they gave me the cold shoulder again. Speaker 1 (3:00) Honey, we're not invited to this dinner party anymore. Let's be on our way. Yeah. Call the chariot, my dear. We should probably get going. Yeah, but anyway, fun little background there as well, too. But you've also got something here in our glass, something that is random. New to us. It is. Scattered Castles. Speaker 2 (3:19) Kind of looks like the White Castle logo. Oh, you mean the Speaker 1 (3:23) font. Speaker 2 (3:24) Yeah, the font and the castles all over. But this is a limited release, straight bourbon whiskey finished in rum barrels. It is barrel-proof, 117.2 is badge number one. It says it's, oh, distilled and aged in Maryland and Indiana. That's cool. And it's bottled by the Baltimore Spirits Company, Baltimore, Maryland. Speaker 1 (3:46) Nice. Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:46) There we go. So Baltimore, I think it doesn't say if it's bourbon or yeah, straight bourbon. I mean, it is Speaker 1 (3:55) giving me the cold shoulder. It sure is. It sure is. You know, when I, when I read that, all I think is, you know, I'm big EDM fan. Remember the, the classic from 2002 castles in the sky. You remember? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That's the only, that's what came to my mind as soon as I heard scattered castles, but it reminds me of the cheese castle. You ever been there? The Cheese Castle? There's a Cheese Castle? Speaker 2 (4:17) Yeah, it's right when you pass from Illinois into Wisconsin on your way to Milwaukee from Chicago. No, I Speaker 1 (4:24) have Speaker 2 (4:24) not done Speaker 1 (4:25) that drive. Oh, a lot of cheese curds. They're pretty good. I mean, you deep fry anything, I'll eat it. Excellent. That's all right. I'm pretty sure that was a Jimmy Gaffigan joke too there too. That's right. All right, well, on with the nose. Speaker 1 (4:40) Well, I'm getting a little pot Speaker 2 (4:43) still twang to it, maybe. I don't know. Speaker 1 (4:46) To be fair, we just came off doing a bunch of whiskey quickies. Maybe Speaker 2 (4:48) it's the Speaker 1 (4:48) rum. We just came off doing whiskey quickies, and I still have a little bit of peach brandy in my glass over here. We Speaker 2 (4:54) did Speaker 1 (4:54) just do 12 whiskey quickies, so. Well, Speaker 2 (4:57) yeah. Speaker 1 (4:59) I don't know. It's not a strong rum influence. No. At least on the nose. All right. No, I don't have to taste them. Speaker 2 (5:11) Oh, that's quite enjoyable. Yeah. Yeah, it's got. Speaker 2 (5:17) I know I say this a lot, but I just get it. Speaker 1 (5:20) It's got a lot of cola, brown sugar. I was going to say dates and raisins. I thought that's Speaker 2 (5:25) where Speaker 1 (5:25) we were going Speaker 2 (5:25) to Speaker 1 (5:25) go. That Speaker 2 (5:26) was my next thing. Dates, raisins. And then it has like a little bit of twang to it. Like, I don't know if it's from the rum or maybe some of this was pot still. I agree. There is something there. But it's not in a bad way. It's like an interesting twang. Speaker 1 (5:42) Oh, because it's, well, I wonder if it was also distilled by the Baltimore Spirits Company. Speaker 2 (5:49)