Episode 59: Traverse City Whiskey Co.

Sauced on Beer Bourbon and BBQ

Hosts Kevin and Lucas conduct a tasting of three distinct expressions from Traverse City Whiskey Co., including their straight bourbon, cher

Key takeaways

The Traverse City Straight Bourbon is 86 proof with a mash bill of 71% corn, 25% rye, and 4% malted barley.
The Cherry Infused Bourbon uses 10 pounds of sour cherries per barrel for a two-week infusion process.

Main topics

Traverse City Straight Bourbon Tasting
Cherry Infused Whiskey Process

Notable quotes

It reminds me very much of like vanilla ice cream with cherries on top.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a highly positive recommendation for Traverse Ci

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) There's a fighter jet flying over our house right now. That's what we need in the podcast. Speaker 2 (0:05) And a circular saw. Yay outdoors. Speaker 1 (0:20) to this week's episode. If you're interested in seeing what beer, bourbon, and barbecue was up to, you can see all the exciting adventures on Instagram at beer underscore bourbon underscore bbq. Make sure you subscribe to stay up to date on the show and our adventures outside of podcasting. Be sure to check out our cool shirts and stickers available on our website, shopbeerbourbonbbq.com. Speaker 4 (0:49) Hey, welcome to Sauce on Beer Burn Barbecue. I'm Kevin, joined here by Lucas. Hi. What's Speaker 2 (0:54) up, Lucas? Oh, not much. Speaker 4 (0:55) So we got a fun day planned for you. It's nice. We actually get to sit out in the backyard and record. So you get to hear all kinds of interesting noises like my neighbor cutting wood and airplanes flying over and the hum of the air conditioner. And if Speaker 2 (1:12) it's not loud enough, I will do my own side sound effects. Speaker 4 (1:15) There, see, there's the circular saw. Weren't planning on this. Speaker 4 (1:20) But I am really excited about today. We have an amazing three-pack of whiskey that was sent to us by the Traverse City Whiskey Co. And they're a favorite of this show. And I appreciate them sending it to us. But they gave us some whiskey to try today, and I'm excited about it. Speaker 2 (1:35) I am too. Whenever you sent the text across, it was like I didn't even care what day it was or what time it was. I was going to make it work to try this stuff. Speaker 4 (1:44) Yeah, that's funny because the group chat. Loves some Traverse City Whiskey, but nobody can make it work today except you. So you went out. I'm Speaker 2 (1:53) here. Speaker 4 (1:54) You're the winner winner. Speaker 2 (1:55) Yeah. Speaker 4 (1:55) Traverse City Whiskey. We've we've had them on. Well, we haven't had them on, but we've tried their stuff before. You Speaker 2 (2:02) should have them on. You should try. I would love to. I think we'll we'll try for that. But Speaker 4 (2:05) Traverse City Whiskey obviously is from Traverse City, Michigan. Speaker 1 (2:10) No. Yeah. You didn't know that. Speaker 3 (2:12) No, Speaker 2 (2:13) I didn't actually. I Speaker 4 (2:14) assumed Speaker 2 (2:15) they were, but I couldn't have said it with confidence. Put two and Speaker 4 (2:18) two together there. Speaker 4 (2:21) But first of all, they have an amazing tour. We did it a couple years ago, and it was incredible to go up and sample everything that they had. They had this bar that was just four pallets put together, and they just lined up all their whiskey on top of it, and they said, hey, whatever you want to try, let us know. And I got to try their entire lineup, and it was incredible. Speaker 2 (2:42) That sounds fun. Speaker 4 (2:44) It Speaker 2 (2:45) was Speaker 4 (2:45) so good. So many good barrel proofs and just really interesting whiskeys. We're going to start with the first one here. This is just their regular Traverse City Straight bourbon whiskey. Speaker 4 (2:58) It is aged for four years, bottled at 43 % ABV, so it's about 86 % or 86%. 86 proof? 86 proof, not 86%. That'd be crazy. That Speaker 2 (3:13) would be a proof. Speaker 4 (3:15) That would be proof. That would knock your socks off. They actually have two of these. They have a still house version and they have the regular version. This is the regular version we're trying. The Stillhouse version comes in at 90 proof. Speaker 2 (3:29) Okay. Speaker 4 (3:30) So four proof higher than this. Other than Speaker 2 (3:32) that, is it exactly the same? I believe it's the exact same. They just didn't cut it as much. Speaker 4 (3:36) Yeah. And you can only get that at their Stillhouse, which they have amazing cocktails there. I had an old-fashioned. That was just incredible. So good. But I think, Lucas, you said right off the bat when I poured this for you. Speaker 4 (3:54) It's got good color to it, good legs on the glass. Yeah, I mean, Speaker 2 (3:58) just from the pour going into it, I mean, it held going the entire way down the glass. I mean, it looks nice. Speaker 3 (4:08) The Speaker 4 (4:08) nose on it is just really good. You get a little bit of that vanilla note. You get a little bit of the oakiness of it, but it's not overpowering. Very soft tones. Speaker 4 (4:24) And I'm excited to try the barrel proof in a little bit because that's one we've got coming up too. Speaker 2 (4:28) It's a little sweet too. Speaker 4 (4:30) I'm getting a little citrusy as well. A little like orange note. Which is awesome because I feel like this is a whiskey that you can take to the lake and just enjoy. Speaker 2 (4:46) For what the mash bill is, it does not smell. Like it. Like it doesn't smell like it has as much corn in it as one would think. Speaker 4 (4:59) No. And it's got 71 % corn, 25 % rye, and 4 % malted barley. And it doesn't, you know, I mean, that's a pretty high corn value. So, you know, normally you go with that ethanol-y kind of smell to it. But I don't get a lot of that. Speaker 2 (5:17) No. Yeah, it's not as much of alcohol as it is. It's not that burn-your-nose alcohol. Speaker 3 (5:34) It's amazing Speaker 4 (5:35) the amount of rye I get on that first sip, too. Like, but it's a very quick rye. Speaker 3 (5:41) Mm-hmm. Speaker 4 (5:42) And then goes very sweet. And I want to almost say, like, tortilla-like. You know, like a corn tortilla that's, like, fresh off the stove, you know. Kind of that buttery corn taste. Speaker 2 (5:58) Buttery is a good way to put it. Yeah. I was trying to think of, like, what the feeling was on my tongue. And, yeah, that's a good way. Speaker 4 (6:06) So reading kind of into Traverse City while we're kind of sipping on this, I didn't know that they're kind of a family. Speaker 4 (6:17) distillery like their roots are very deep 1800s um uh just kind of reading through some of the stuff that they sent me and i kind of found up on them but uh their lead distiller chris uh frederickson his family has been distilling and sourcing whiskey and our grains for their whiskey and all that sounds like the 1800s i Speaker 2 (6:40) i remember seeing those numbers and everything now is it all for Traverse City or was it I don't know if it was just Speaker 4 (6:47) different distilleries and all that kind of stuff I guess just his family kind of you know going up so I don't think it's Traverse City but just his knowledge going Speaker 2 (6:54) into it is Speaker 4 (6:54) crazy like his great great or his great grandfather was approved by the US patent office for inventing a distilling technique during the prohibition era Like, that's crazy to think about. Speaker 2 (7:11) That they were patenting stuff during Prohibition for distilling? For distilling. Yeah, Speaker 4 (7:16) that Speaker 2 (7:16) is a weird thing. That's really weird. Speaker 4 (7:19) But, I mean, I think if you look at any of the distillers that do really well, they have a family. It's a family passion. Speaker 2 (7:29) Mm-hmm. That's one of those things that, like, the younger you start receiving that knowledge, A, the longer, the more it's going to stay with you. But also, I mean, you get through, you know, you get through the rules so you can break the rules type thing. You know, you learn here's how we've gotten this far. Now let's figure out how to get farther. Make your own Speaker 4 (7:49) type. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:49) You know, make your own signature on stuff and learn what you're looking for, stuff like that. You know, if you don't learn that until later in life, you've got a lot of making up to do. Whereas if, you know, I mean, this many families has been. passing this down through the generations. I mean, that's a big thing. Speaker 4 (8:04) So I just did my second sip of this, and I got Fritos. Speaker 2 (8:09) Okay. Speaker 4 (8:10) Like the saltiness of like a Fritos. Are you just Speaker 2 (8:13) naming a bunch of corn things? Speaker 4 (8:14) No, but like I legitimately taste like... Frito chips and I love it because I love Fritos. Do Speaker 2 (8:21) you remember that commercial? It was like back in like late 90s, I think, where the guy was saying he could speak French, but really all he was doing was saying a bunch of like French words. Speaker 4 (8:29) No. I Speaker 2 (8:30) don't remember what it was for or anything. It was a commercial. It was like Eiffel Tower. Speaker 4 (8:35) So you're saying I can just taste, I'm just naming corn things? You're just naming corn Speaker 2 (8:39) things. Speaker 4 (8:40) Are you just naming things that you love in this room? Speaker 2 (8:45) It's... It's one of those things, like, the more that I try it, because I just had my third sip. It's like I'm getting used to it and stuff like that. But also it's like it's becoming more and more something that I could see myself drinking more and more of. Yeah. You know, it's not like a really heavy, thick, flavorful bourbon. It has flavor, but it's not like so dense that you want to just have a little bit of it. Right. This is something like you said, like you could just have this and have it quite a few of them. Yeah. It's an Speaker 4 (9:12) easy sipper. You know, you're not dying because it's, you know, super hot. Yeah. But at the same time, you're not missing out on flavor because it's 86 proof. It's just solid, easy to enjoy. Speaker 2 (9:29) Yeah. And for being as low of a proof as it is, it's got a lot of flavor in it. The flavor that they have in there for it not being so hot, it's a good one. It's not like young or anything like that. It's really good. Speaker 4 (9:44) I think that four years really... Speaker 4 (9:48) Just impacts that flavor. You know, you get some younger whiskeys that it's just, it's like drinking just straight corn, you know, like it's just, that's all you get is that ethanol-y. But I think that four years really mellows out the ethanol. Speaker 2 (10:04) And in comparison to like what we've been drinking or had our hands on lately, this is a younger whiskey. It's not like it's 10 years old or anything. I mean, this is a, Speaker 4 (10:14)