The Art of the Dram: Whiskey, Charity, and the Next Generation

WEBVTT

00:05.397 –> 00:15.914
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back everybody to another fun edition of the Rolex whiskey passion project.

00:15.934 –> 00:25.029
[SPEAKER_01]: I got my dear friend Matt Luren on again because I wanted to talk a few things that we didn’t touch on last time because we went all over the place but Matt welcome back my friend how are you.

00:25.610 –> 00:30.578
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks man I’m doing great just hanging out in Chile, New York but otherwise doing fine.

00:32.228 –> 00:38.899
[SPEAKER_01]: And the dates aren’t yet announced, but you were saying that the next event in June is looking very promising.

00:39.480 –> 00:41.343
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, we’d be here more and another step in here.

00:41.664 –> 00:52.903
[SPEAKER_00]: We can give you the exclusive, but we’re just analyzing all the contracts, but it should be June 24 for our Ultra VIP event in June 25 for the main event of the water of life.

00:52.883 –> 00:54.707
[SPEAKER_00]: So last year’s was a big success.

00:54.787 –> 00:55.770
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone seemed to love it.

00:55.790 –> 00:57.975
[SPEAKER_00]: We’re hoping to keep it in the same venue.

00:57.995 –> 00:59.318
[SPEAKER_00]: We’re just negotiating that now.

00:59.979 –> 01:01.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And that’s to be great.

01:01.082 –> 01:02.385
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m hoping that we can pull this one off.

01:02.425 –> 01:03.788
[SPEAKER_00]: It was wonderful last year.

01:04.409 –> 01:27.902
[SPEAKER_01]: amazing I mean we did the night before was great the little VIP Shindig and in the next day the speed dating was awesome it was just great to like listen it’s like you get to sit down at the table with the brand ambassador sometimes you know even more than the brand ambassador people that are high up in the organizations if not the guys guys and girls making the whiskey and you get to learn and they have a bunch of whiskey on the table and they walk

01:27.882 –> 01:32.889
[SPEAKER_01]: and you just learn a lot and then he has a separate room where like they’re a little bit extra in there.

01:32.909 –> 01:37.296
[SPEAKER_01]: I guess Matt, you know, you want to tell them the format quickly and that was my concern.

01:37.436 –> 01:38.578
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I know.

01:38.598 –> 01:43.525
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we’ve been trying to do something a little bit different, you know, I’ve seen different ideas at different events.

01:43.605 –> 01:51.156
[SPEAKER_00]: I travel all over as we discussed the last time, you know, Paris, Canada, you know, UK itself, both Scotland and

01:51.136 –> 01:57.046
[SPEAKER_00]: England, you know, trying to find out all the great shows and get advice and tips from each of them, as well as in the United States.

01:57.126 –> 02:03.257
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve been to shows down in DC and Philly and Boston and Chicago in Las Vegas.

02:03.758 –> 02:07.644
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s nice to get a feel for what everyone’s doing and see what they want to do.

02:08.326 –> 02:12.132
[SPEAKER_00]: What I find personally is the master classes to me or the best time.

02:12.112 –> 02:15.076
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, when I go, I just book some tickets this morning for Campbell Town.

02:15.497 –> 02:17.180
[SPEAKER_00]: I got a few good master classes there.

02:17.200 –> 02:17.881
[SPEAKER_00]: I was very lucky.

02:18.602 –> 02:24.931
[SPEAKER_00]: And that’s always exciting because you get to pour multiple whiskeys with a brand, or to concept if it’s not a brand.

02:25.332 –> 02:28.616
[SPEAKER_00]: But it’s a theme, and basically you’re learning and discussing that theme.

02:29.137 –> 02:31.401
[SPEAKER_00]: And I find that’s how you really learn about whisky.

02:31.461 –> 02:33.023
[SPEAKER_00]: My first whisky show.

02:33.003 –> 02:39.073
[SPEAKER_00]: I downed a few pours and not barely made it to the second table didn’t know what I was doing, but now I’m making a haunchest effort.

02:39.234 –> 02:41.357
[SPEAKER_00]: It was the shortest show ever, Gavin.

02:41.377 –> 02:42.800
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that’s its own episode.

02:43.281 –> 02:47.428
[SPEAKER_00]: But what happened was, you know, now I go to the tastings and I have the panels.

02:47.889 –> 02:48.470
[SPEAKER_00]: And it’s nice.

02:48.490 –> 02:51.675
[SPEAKER_00]: You start with like a 12 year old and a 15 year old and an 18 year old.

02:52.096 –> 02:56.243
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some casks trying to some finishes that they never do and then something special.

02:56.223 –> 03:09.640
[SPEAKER_00]: And I thought to me that’s the most fun and the best way to really learn about whiskey if you’re new, but even if you’ve been doing it forever, it’s the best way to get more ideas and, you know, learn or refresh your memory on some concepts and I try to incorporate that into a show.

03:09.780 –> 03:18.070
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have something that we call whiskey speed tasting, you know, and basically what that is is it’s almost like you’re sitting at a little tasting at each table.

03:18.571 –> 03:25.099
[SPEAKER_00]: The brand ambassadors there with anywhere from, you know, three to four bottles, and we’ll talk about that because we’re

03:25.079 –> 03:47.745
[SPEAKER_00]: And basically five or six people will sit at the table with that ambassador and have a 12 minute experience where you’re basically sitting there going from one port of the next discussing each one learning about the distillery or learning about the company if it’s had their own more than one distillery or learning about independent bottling if it’s an independent bottler, but just learning about what that company does as well as getting to try.

03:47.725 –> 04:01.958
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, really nice spirits and because of the format, it’s not like the typical whiskey shows where you’re just shoving your glass in somebody’s face saying, you know, give me, give me, give me, give me, let me have the most expensive, what you’re all this give me, give me, give me, you’re sitting there and it’s more of a learning experience.

04:01.978 –> 04:07.663
[SPEAKER_00]: So the brands appreciate it more and as such, they usually bring us, you know, for lack of a better term, better whiskey’s.

04:08.083 –> 04:17.732
[SPEAKER_00]: They don’t just bring the lowest of the low, they bring, you know, the mediums in the high so that people can get an experience about what the brand truly represents.

04:17.712 –> 04:23.120
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the VIP was cool because at night before was that, you know, at Tommy’s place.

04:23.640 –> 04:27.065
[SPEAKER_01]: And they were like, I don’t know, it doesn’t extra pours there.

04:27.105 –> 04:31.511
[SPEAKER_01]: And then after they went for cigars and they was like another half a dozen extra pours there.

04:31.591 –> 04:34.215
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, kind of a no brainer to do the whole package.

04:34.275 –> 04:39.282
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I don’t know why, I mean, granted time is money, et cetera, et cetera, with respect to all of that.

04:39.262 –> 04:41.525
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it’s like, yeah, you know, do the whole thing.

04:42.126 –> 05:02.215
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I mean, the funny thing is my VIP tickets sell out a lot faster than my standard tickets and the ultra VIP tickets, and that’s the house we have like a core group, I mean, it is in New York City and there’s about, you know, 20 people I can name off the top of my head that will buy my 25 tickets with the exception of, oh, my son is graduating.

05:02.195 –> 05:05.902
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I have a wedding that I’m leaving town for, you know, something in the family.

05:06.342 –> 05:12.834
[SPEAKER_00]: But short of things like that, these, these same 20 people have been to every once in the beginning because they see what a great deal it is.

05:12.874 –> 05:15.278
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there’s always, you know, the occasional straggler.

05:15.298 –> 05:22.030
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, recently we have some people that I met at Whiskey Fests and that we used to talk at each of the shows and I kept inviting them to mine.

05:22.531 –> 05:26.278
[SPEAKER_00]: And now they’ve become what we affectionately call it the water of life lifers.

05:26.258 –> 05:40.880
[SPEAKER_00]: So I have a few guys that are from upstate that come down and I already had one of my high school classmates who flew in from uptown for all of the shows and the people from Oklahoma and the people from Alabama and it’s just nice I mean I’ve seen the Oklahoma Alabama crew there.

05:40.920 –> 05:41.822
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, are you kidding me?

05:41.842 –> 05:42.883
[SPEAKER_01]: These guys like they like hell.

05:42.903 –> 05:43.785
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we’re in New York.

05:43.805 –> 05:44.406
[SPEAKER_01]: We come for this.

05:44.486 –> 05:45.988
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, that’s fucking cool

05:45.968 –> 05:49.614
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I mean, it’s a great experience that comes to I get on here twice a year.

05:49.634 –> 06:03.797
[SPEAKER_00]: They come in the spring for the water of life and they come in the fall for the water of life full of the wolf and they’re very happy both both are different events, but you know the one thing that the water of life spring shares with the wolf is the night before that alter the IP experiences crazy.

06:04.278 –> 06:08.044
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, basically the brands are asked to bring one super poor.

06:08.024 –> 06:30.825
[SPEAKER_00]: and we spend a few minutes with it at a venue and then once we’ve spent our hours and we’ve worn out our welcome we go to the cigar bar where I rent the balcony and we have cigars that we roll for the event not at the event so they’re ready to smoke they’re not too wet and you know we have a special cigar and you have another handful of boys that are amazing and it’s kind of the point where people love it so much they bring stuff from their own collection that they want to share.

06:30.805 –> 06:39.097
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it’s really, it’s crazy how many bottles end up there, but again, it’s welfare charity, so it’s a good cause and it’s a great whiskey, so everyone feels that’ll wonderful time.

06:40.379 –> 06:41.581
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that is the coolest thing.

06:41.621 –> 06:42.843
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s all for charity people.

06:43.103 –> 06:45.647
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that’s, that’s the unique angle here.

06:45.827 –> 06:47.309
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it’s all for charity.

06:48.291 –> 06:49.152
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, no.

06:50.566 –> 06:52.309
[SPEAKER_00]: We don’t keep a penny personally myself.

06:52.349 –> 06:57.997
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I do get a free ticket at least for all the work I do, but sure that is nothing, nothing coming to my pockets.

06:58.017 –> 07:00.100
[SPEAKER_00]: And of course, that’s why I want to be the show if I’m going to go.

07:00.641 –> 07:02.183
[SPEAKER_00]: But I’ll all kidding aside, though.

07:02.203 –> 07:08.693
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the thing is, every penny we get goes back to the charity day, they lay out the initial parts and then all the money goes straight back to them.

07:08.713 –> 07:10.195
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s wonderful that way, and then,

07:10.175 –> 07:19.272
[SPEAKER_00]: And as a bonus to people that come, they consider the entire event, the charitable donations, since they’re doing all the work, and since the brands, they obviously donate the whiskey and don’t charge for the whiskey.

07:19.753 –> 07:23.681
[SPEAKER_00]: So everything that you pay for is considered a charitable contribution.

07:23.701 –> 07:26.346
[SPEAKER_00]: So when you file your taxes, you can get a nice deal on it.

07:26.386 –> 07:31.896
[SPEAKER_00]: So you’re getting basically a third back off on the ticket prices when you do your taxes the following year, which is always nice as well.

07:33.023 –> 07:34.266
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, I love it.

07:34.727 –> 07:40.800
[SPEAKER_01]: Let’s talk whiskey, a lot of action out there, a lot of extra whiskey being made, a lot of products sitting on the shelf.

07:42.083 –> 07:43.005
[SPEAKER_01]: And you had a lot of these.

07:43.566 –> 07:46.973
[SPEAKER_01]: I am just falling more and more in love with independent bottling.

07:47.635 –> 07:48.737
[SPEAKER_01]: Which is where’s your head on that?

07:50.438 –> 07:51.460
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve always been a fan.

07:51.600 –> 08:00.094
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the thing is, the independent bottle is really saved the industry maybe 40 years ago in the 80s when things were closing down all the time.

08:00.715 –> 08:04.761
[SPEAKER_00]: And before that, they were bottling the brands that weren’t even bottling themselves.

08:05.302 –> 08:09.349
[SPEAKER_00]: So the thing is the independent bottles are a big part of whiskey and they always have been.

08:10.010 –> 08:12.855
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that it’s important to appreciate that.

08:12.895 –> 08:14.337
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think that now,

08:14.317 –> 08:18.262
[SPEAKER_00]: There’s so many of them that the market of independent bottling has changed.

08:18.322 –> 08:24.750
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there used to be like the big three, I guess you would argue or the big four, depending on when you really got into this.

08:24.850 –> 08:31.859
[SPEAKER_00]: But no matter how many you argue, are the truly big ones, you know, two of them are Cadenheads and, you know, and Campbelltown.

08:32.380 –> 08:41.151
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you have Gordon and McFail who really was like, if you want to argue that you’re original independent bottler, I mean, they were doing this stuff, you know, for over 100 years now.

08:41.131 –> 08:49.187
[SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, I already silently picking up, I’ve been picking up a lot of their vintage stuff at auction, and it’s spectacular whiskey.

08:49.908 –> 08:50.870
[SPEAKER_01]: They go into my failings.

08:51.251 –> 08:54.718
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I mean, what I’d super really like insane.

08:55.171 –> 08:56.333
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I agree with you.

08:56.413 –> 09:05.945
[SPEAKER_00]: What I laugh about is there’s a lot of us and everyone has their own pet pee and their pet snobberies and, you know, God bless your whiskey, whiskey is full of them whether they tell you not to put water or ice or what to have you.

09:06.426 –> 09:15.017
[SPEAKER_00]: But the funny thing is is the people that will criticize, oh my God, this is 43% why did they do that to this, you know, 1962 artbag or this?

09:15.037 –> 09:16.439
[SPEAKER_00]: And you drink it, it’s amazing.

09:16.679 –> 09:23.929
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don’t know, people just judge it by a number and if they drank the whiskey, they’d be shocked about how amazing it is at that AVV and at that price.

09:23.909 –> 09:34.982
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, never adjusted that obviously, you know, you might be better in some people’s opinion, but there’s some amazing whiskeys even at 40 and 40% that they put out in the 60s and 70s that hopefully people get a chance to try.

09:36.110 –> 09:44.222
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it’s a good point to bring up on the AVVs, because I feel like in the last half dozen years, AVVs have gotten a little out of control.

09:44.262 –> 09:48.468
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that’s a lot of booze, you know, some of these 61, 62s, 65s.

09:48.869 –> 09:55.459
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s like, listen, I will, I’m the first one to say, they taste absolutely amazing.

09:56.160 –> 10:00.987
[SPEAKER_01]: But the what 65% does to your experience, you can’t drink that much.

10:00.967 –> 10:01.368
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

10:01.388 –> 10:10.407
[SPEAKER_01]: And I would rather have 40s to 45s all day long and try a bunch of different whiskey than hit these 60s high 50s and be like, I am done.

10:10.708 –> 10:12.512
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, my body just can’t do it.

10:13.285 –> 10:14.006
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I’m with you.

10:14.226 –> 10:17.792
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don’t mind one or two if you’re having a tasting because it’s fun.

10:17.992 –> 10:19.955
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, everything about it is the experience.

10:20.095 –> 10:22.378
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s like the speed taste at the water of light.

10:22.458 –> 10:28.928
[SPEAKER_00]: If you have three whiskeys and all of a sudden, make sure that when you was a sucker punch or you know, I heavily peated for example, is another thing.

10:29.128 –> 10:34.476
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, some people, you know, the thing is they’re incredibly enjoyable, but they do spoil you for other things.

10:34.496 –> 10:38.221
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s just a matter of when you have it in the tasting and how many you have.

10:38.261 –> 10:38.702
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah,

10:38.682 –> 10:40.384
[SPEAKER_00]: I think some of it got to be a joke.

10:40.404 –> 10:42.566
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone wants to be the highest, this, the biggest that.

10:43.127 –> 10:47.231
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think the AVVs, I mean, I’ve had AVVs in the 70s, which are crazy.

10:47.612 –> 10:53.058
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and then there was so, but you know, the bottom line is that, you know, and I don’t know, I’m not talking just American.

10:53.098 –> 10:59.124
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I’m talking Scotch, but you know, I think that there’s definitely a quest for the casks strength.

10:59.145 –> 11:04.891
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the independent bottle is usually bring those out more, but I definitely think he can’t overdo it.

11:04.911 –> 11:05.972
[SPEAKER_00]: And that’s why

11:05.952 –> 11:07.957
[SPEAKER_00]: If you love cast strength, I think it’s wonderful.

11:08.077 –> 11:17.802
[SPEAKER_00]: I personally do, but I also think that just because you love it, don’t necessarily look the other way if it says 43 or 46 or 40, because it can still be an outstanding whiskey if it was made right.

11:18.642 –> 11:24.410
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I just noticed that, you know, since I’m not 21 anymore now that I’m 26, the cast strength is just getting too much.

11:24.430 –> 11:25.111
[SPEAKER_01]: And I loved them.

11:25.411 –> 11:29.977
[SPEAKER_01]: I absolutely loved them when I first started drinking, I wanted cast strength, everything.

11:30.418 –> 11:33.522
[SPEAKER_01]: But as I’m getting along, I’m just like, you know what, like, I kind of just want to sip.

11:33.542 –> 11:38.288
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don’t want to pour ice in there through to just change the whole experience.

11:38.268 –> 11:43.017
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s just getting a lot, and I noticed that that’s become the banner ad now, cast strength.

11:43.398 –> 11:51.293
[SPEAKER_01]: Cast strength, fine, there’s a market for it, but there’s no younger generation that’s flying out the doors to get into this.

11:51.653 –> 11:53.577
[SPEAKER_01]: I was talking to someone about this the other day.

11:53.557 –> 11:59.045
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, when we grew up as kids, we couldn’t wait to get into a parent’s liquor cabinet or someone around us for liquor.

11:59.085 –> 12:01.468
[SPEAKER_01]: We wanted to try liquor because we saw people drinking liquor.

12:02.170 –> 12:04.533
[SPEAKER_01]: Now you have these kids that grow up, that liquor is not a thing.

12:04.733 –> 12:06.516
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s no liquor cabinet in the parent’s house.

12:06.896 –> 12:10.361
[SPEAKER_01]: They’re on their phones, they’re playing games, they’re, you know, they’re distracted.

12:10.802 –> 12:14.427
[SPEAKER_01]: Alcohol is just not their thing and therefore they’re not going to grow up drinking.

12:14.768 –> 12:17.632
[SPEAKER_01]: But they stopped drinking, they’re just not going to grow up drinking.

12:18.613 –> 12:21.117
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I hear you on that and also that we had.

12:21.333 –> 12:23.455
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s definitely a different generation.

12:23.515 –> 12:25.157
[SPEAKER_00]: I think also you left out marijuana.

12:25.678 –> 12:32.085
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the big thing with alcohol can be, and the gummies, yeah, and the brownies or whatever.

12:32.645 –> 12:40.153
[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, I mean, the thing is that that was around even in the 60s and 70s and 80s when most of my self and my friends were growing up.

12:40.574 –> 12:44.438
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think that alcohol was just obviously one legal and two accessible.

12:44.418 –> 12:52.308
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think that you’re right, it just seems like they’re trying to, I think what happened was that, you know, people like you or myself would taste whiskey, we’d love them.

12:52.749 –> 13:01.280
[SPEAKER_00]: We decide, all right, excuse me, the next step is going to be, let’s go to the distillery, you go to the distillery, you’d have an experience there, and those were cast-drinked whiskey’s.

13:01.901 –> 13:13.817
[SPEAKER_00]: And we fell in love, whether it was the romance, whether it was the cask, and I think that they’re looking back at that and saying, you know, maybe that’s why that has to be pushed because they want to get a new generation and they’re trying to show up their superstar stuff.

13:14.995 –> 13:22.462
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, if you do it too much, I don’t think it’s going to be the answer and I don’t know what it’s going to take to get people to be more interested in alcohol again.

13:22.522 –> 13:28.787
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s kind of interesting about that or unfortunately, but we got to just come to a rule of acceptance rather than slam it.

13:28.807 –> 13:29.868
[SPEAKER_01]: These kids are not going to drink.

13:30.229 –> 13:32.371
[SPEAKER_01]: You can’t persuade them to drink when I say kids.

13:32.391 –> 13:37.495
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m talking about like that 18 to 25 and I know legal drinking age is 21.

13:37.635 –> 13:42.700
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but that 18 to 25 if they don’t drink in that period, then they’re not going to drink when they’re 30.

13:42.720 –> 13:43.981
[SPEAKER_01]: They’re not going to drink in their 40.

13:44.261 –> 13:45.002
[SPEAKER_01]: This is not going to drink.

13:44.982 –> 13:53.056
[SPEAKER_01]: no, I was kind of like the way this whole industry has survived by, you know, every day and you one turns 21 and they start drinking.

13:53.337 –> 13:54.539
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, how about they’re not now?

13:54.619 –> 13:57.384
[SPEAKER_01]: So now you got no new, you know, you got no fresh meat.

13:57.804 –> 14:01.050
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re just, you’re kind of fishing on the same fish.

14:02.127 –> 14:04.311
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I hear you, and that’s the problem.

14:04.431 –> 14:09.980
[SPEAKER_00]: And as we’re getting older, I don’t know about you, but I moved once because my house had no room for my alcohol.

14:10.320 –> 14:17.312
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, yeah, I have a full room of whiskey and it’s like eventually I’m running out of room and where to put them.

14:17.993 –> 14:20.317
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don’t see young people caring about that.

14:20.337 –> 14:23.562
[SPEAKER_00]: I think if they have one or two bottles in their collection, they can still do that a lot.

14:23.542 –> 14:23.923
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

14:24.124 –> 14:30.885
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you, you, I hear, you know, on this podcast, a lot of people that we asked this question, when did whiskey first come into your life.

14:31.227 –> 14:34.497
[SPEAKER_01]: The question is like, oh, I saw my father on my ground on the drinking it.

14:35.600 –> 14:36.042
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no, no.

14:36.082 –> 14:36.724
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s.

14:37.919 –> 14:39.381
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, the same with the cigars.

14:39.401 –> 14:43.846
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I remember when I was a kid, said in my grandfather’s house, he’d have a drink in a cigar.

14:44.227 –> 14:47.251
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I kind of romanticized it and appreciate it.

14:47.711 –> 14:49.353
[SPEAKER_00]: But I really didn’t start drinking scotchcoil.

14:49.393 –> 14:51.736
[SPEAKER_00]: I was sturdy, but I was drinking alcohol before that.

14:52.077 –> 14:53.619
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it’s just a process.

14:55.141 –> 14:56.583
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it’s funny on the cigar thing.

14:56.603 –> 15:00.868
[SPEAKER_01]: We were recently went away for one of my 12-year-olds like baseball tournaments.

15:01.429 –> 15:04.513
[SPEAKER_01]: So, I always bring my whiskey, I always bring my cigars.

15:04.593 –> 15:06.475
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s just what I do.

15:07.248 –> 15:08.029
[SPEAKER_01]: have a great night.

15:08.590 –> 15:09.752
[SPEAKER_01]: The kids play pretty well.

15:09.832 –> 15:12.777
[SPEAKER_01]: That night, they were all that we’re in Palm Springs, the weather’s beautiful.

15:13.358 –> 15:14.680
[SPEAKER_01]: All the kids are in the jacuzzi.

15:14.721 –> 15:16.303
[SPEAKER_01]: When I say, oh, the kid is plus siblings.

15:16.323 –> 15:18.327
[SPEAKER_01]: So there’s like 25 kids minimum there.

15:19.148 –> 15:21.712
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, I have a poor.

15:21.772 –> 15:24.176
[SPEAKER_01]: I share my whiskey with the other dad that are there.

15:24.237 –> 15:26.220
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I light up his cigar.

15:26.861 –> 15:31.669
[SPEAKER_01]: You would have thought that the world ended when I did that.

15:31.852 –> 15:52.611
[SPEAKER_01]: He’s kids like who’s smoking what smoke you smoke use or like I was literally shamed and I was like, oh my god Like Dave they have just never seen my you know my kids my wife don’t care But I had to like literally walk to the other end of the pool to enjoy my cigar because it got I physically was like well I’m not gonna put it out, but God damn this is uncomfortable

15:52.591 –> 15:54.093
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you get the discount.

15:54.133 –> 16:01.704
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I was like, I was like, whoa, whoa, I got the lecture in the room from the wife after we was like, don’t do that in front of the children.

16:01.964 –> 16:04.268
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that was like, hey, I’ve never felt that before.

16:04.328 –> 16:07.112
[SPEAKER_01]: Normally, we had all these parties, my kids, other dads, the smoking.

16:07.452 –> 16:12.299
[SPEAKER_01]: Here, I was the lone smoker and they were looking at me and saying, who’s smoking?

16:12.319 –> 16:16.405
[SPEAKER_01]: You’re like, nonstop, and I was like, whoa, like, this is different.

16:16.891 –> 16:45.818
[SPEAKER_01]: that net net to be fair though is anyone there having marijuana because that no one seems to mornin what i find extremely funny no no no no no it was just you know obviously there’s a time in a place for me it’s always a time in a place you know make my own time make my own place but yeah the audience was just like absolutely not this is not and i was in trying to make friends in an audience i was just doing what i do but it was the first time ever i was like wow

16:45.798 –> 16:48.284
[SPEAKER_01]: They’re against smoke.

16:48.304 –> 16:49.969
[SPEAKER_01]: They haven’t got to the marijuana point.

16:49.989 –> 16:53.056
[SPEAKER_01]: He had maybe maybe not in life, but they’re against smoke.

16:53.137 –> 16:54.059
[SPEAKER_01]: Smoking is bad.

16:54.079 –> 16:56.626
[SPEAKER_01]: And you’re like, wow, they’ve been beating that drum for 30 years.

16:56.686 –> 16:58.390
[SPEAKER_01]: And I finally got to see it in person.

16:59.230 –> 17:02.434
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I hear you, but I think cigars are another thing that’s a little bit different.

17:02.454 –> 17:05.878
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we can talk about how I got started in that, but it was very funny.

17:05.918 –> 17:07.239
[SPEAKER_00]: I was non-smoker.

17:07.259 –> 17:10.283
[SPEAKER_00]: I was against smoking, even if my grandfather had cigars, that was him.

17:10.303 –> 17:11.945
[SPEAKER_00]: I just enjoyed the smell.

17:12.365 –> 17:18.893
[SPEAKER_00]: But the thing was, one day someone just handed me a Cuban cigar on a New Year’s Eve and was like, when are you ever going to get another chance to smoke a Cuban cigar?

17:18.913 –> 17:20.094
[SPEAKER_00]: And I’m like, all right, whatever.

17:20.755 –> 17:22.597
[SPEAKER_00]: And actually, unfortunately, enjoyed it.

17:22.797 –> 17:25.120
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was the start of a bad habit.

17:25.100 –> 17:32.547
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think what a lot, you know, these kids will grow up and one of their teams is going to win a sports championship and they’re going to see them with their cigars.

17:33.007 –> 17:40.654
[SPEAKER_00]: Or they’re going to watch a movie and the richest person in it or the gangster or the one who runs the company or someone important is going to be having their cigar.

17:41.114 –> 17:55.107
[SPEAKER_00]: And they’re going to see all these things and one day they’re going to be walking by a store that says we have special cigars and they’re going to walk in and walk out with a cigar and some of them will be hooked just like I was I think it’s a little bit different than alcohol, but you’re right.

17:55.087 –> 18:02.845
[SPEAKER_00]: But it’s still in the culture, it’s just not in real life culture, it’s more in the sports and entertainment, but it’s still there.

18:03.005 –> 18:12.066
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I definitely think that the cigars are also experiencing a glory day like whiskey kind of, you know, was because you do just see a way more cigars happening.

18:12.046 –> 18:12.587
[SPEAKER_01]: out there.

18:12.747 –> 18:13.609
[SPEAKER_01]: Way, way more.

18:13.789 –> 18:16.314
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s not as, you know, like this everywhere.

18:16.334 –> 18:17.776
[SPEAKER_01]: I see cigars everywhere now.

18:18.257 –> 18:20.962
[SPEAKER_01]: And I’m like, it’s kind of cool because I was also a non-smoker.

18:21.503 –> 18:24.729
[SPEAKER_01]: I smoked my first cigar, because I actually liked the smell of it.

18:25.290 –> 18:28.195
[SPEAKER_01]: And I noticed also that it was pretty anti-social.

18:28.636 –> 18:31.521
[SPEAKER_01]: Meaning like people didn’t like the smell of it, so they didn’t want to be around you.

18:31.541 –> 18:32.603
[SPEAKER_01]: But women,

18:32.583 –> 18:33.825
[SPEAKER_01]: We’re drawn to come over.

18:33.885 –> 18:35.047
[SPEAKER_01]: They were like intrigued.

18:35.067 –> 18:36.829
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, wait, you’re not smoking a cigarette.

18:36.849 –> 18:37.730
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s a cigar.

18:37.750 –> 18:43.298
[SPEAKER_01]: And it’s a, you know, it’s a silly, we’re just talking to the gangster, the boss, like all that stuff, and more, yeah.

18:43.739 –> 18:50.068
[SPEAKER_01]: And recently, when I was in Mexico, I got some actual real Cubans at this hotel or thing at, and I would be asking you.

18:50.690 –> 18:53.053
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, it’s a pretty reputable hotel.

18:53.113 –> 18:56.116
[SPEAKER_01]: And the store goes at the hotel owners is a big smoker.

18:56.476 –> 18:58.659
[SPEAKER_01]: And that’s why they had access to them.

18:58.679 –> 19:01.602
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can buy into the story, at least.

19:01.862 –> 19:05.606
[SPEAKER_01]: And for all intents of purposes, they seemed 100% legit.

19:05.626 –> 19:08.689
[SPEAKER_01]: They were priced slightly at a discount, but not pairably.

19:09.090 –> 19:13.094
[SPEAKER_01]: And it seemed like it was just like a perk for the hotel owners when he had guests.

19:13.134 –> 19:14.976
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s like that, which I paid for.

19:14.956 –> 19:37.926
[SPEAKER_01]: So I said listen that’s it like I’m only smoking humans now and of course you know in 2026 you get a guy who knows a guy and I was like this is awesome Like that’s all I’m gonna do like I got a nice little stash that a brand new viewer door and I’m like that’s all I’m smoking I just I really appreciate their artwork no discredit to anyone else in their cigars For the amount of times I smoke I’m just gonna choose to make it a Cuban

19:38.699 –> 19:40.542
[SPEAKER_00]: The funny thing was that that’s how they get you.

19:40.562 –> 19:41.664
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s what started with me.

19:42.326 –> 19:48.016
[SPEAKER_00]: And every time I would travel, I would go to either the Bahamas or a great Britain or anywhere.

19:48.497 –> 19:49.859
[SPEAKER_00]: And I’d pick up Cuban cigars.

19:50.180 –> 19:52.223
[SPEAKER_00]: And then what ended up happening is the pandemic.

19:52.283 –> 19:54.487
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I was stuck at home and I wasn’t going anywhere.

19:55.088 –> 20:02.682
[SPEAKER_00]: And they were dwindling down because during the pandemic, there wasn’t much to do except for sit outside and have a cigar on your deck and watch civilization collapse.

20:02.662 –> 20:04.183
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, I felt like Neuro.

20:04.664 –> 20:08.207
[SPEAKER_00]: So, anyhow, at the bottom, you’re right, it’s building with a cigar and not a fiddle.

20:08.727 –> 20:16.614
[SPEAKER_00]: But after a couple of months of that, I was like, you know, I need some cigars, and so I would talk to friends that like cigars, and I got into a few other brands.

20:16.654 –> 20:24.301
[SPEAKER_00]: And so now, while I still enjoy the Cubans, I find where I go, they’re way over price, for what they used to be, that I enjoy a bunch of other cigars now.

20:24.361 –> 20:26.423
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m in cigar clubs where I get cigars at the month.

20:26.863 –> 20:29.766
[SPEAKER_00]: And there really, it’s a lot of fun and it exposes you to a whole world.

20:29.846 –> 20:32.668
[SPEAKER_00]: So, we can talk about some of that online,

20:32.648 –> 20:45.479
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it also, it also is like, you know, an art from the old days, making of cigars and the curing and everything like that, which is kind of nice to see that the machines haven’t really taken over yet on that in that department.

20:46.180 –> 20:46.840
[SPEAKER_00]: No, absolutely.

20:46.880 –> 20:58.190
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it’s it’s similar to the whiskey, you know, you go to the fields, you go to the factories, you know, the differences is a lot more people working in a cigar factory than it is stillary, which has like two or three.

20:59.051 –> 21:02.554
[SPEAKER_00]: Why have you put it on, you know,

21:03.243 –> 21:05.245
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, yeah, I mean, I’ve enjoyed quite a few.

21:05.646 –> 21:12.173
[SPEAKER_00]: We had the Super Bowl party last week, and I don’t know if we can bring it this up, but I also have my own bottle that I find on the release.

21:12.253 –> 21:14.836
[SPEAKER_00]: I don’t know if, oh, nice, you know, I gotta get you sample of that.

21:15.497 –> 21:23.326
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, one of the companies, Dave Schmier from Proof and Wood, who’s always been a big supporter of the water of life, you know, he gave me a barrel.

21:23.366 –> 21:24.868
[SPEAKER_00]: We did all a process to select it.

21:25.428 –> 21:26.570
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, exactly, leave you some it.

21:26.930 –> 21:28.572
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s Matt Smith, you got it.

21:29.573 –> 21:31.275
[SPEAKER_00]: I saw it, but…

21:31.255 –> 21:36.982
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it blended to two of my biggest passions, you know, whiskey in the baseball.

21:37.602 –> 21:39.084
[SPEAKER_00]: But it’s a lot of fun.

21:39.124 –> 21:42.929
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a project and all the money for that as well goes back to the charity.

21:43.449 –> 21:46.012
[SPEAKER_00]: So we cover the course as a barrel with part of the barrel costs.

21:46.453 –> 21:48.575
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we, you know, we have a distributor that’s selling it.

21:48.736 –> 21:50.638
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I mention a store on liner?

21:50.838 –> 21:51.319
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, of course.

21:51.759 –> 21:54.703
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so Drinky, DRI and QI.com.

21:55.323 –> 22:01.110
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s one of the guys from Dramers founded that.

22:01.090 –> 22:24.313
[SPEAKER_00]: They were our first official partner for Matt Smith, and basically it’s a $60 whiskey, it’s a $12, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.00, it’s a $0.

22:24.293 –> 22:34.144
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I would that’s insane because we’re because we’re gone to Cooper’s town Mason’s playing the week of July 17th to the 23rd Oh, I can have you take a picture of Matt Smith.

22:34.264 –> 22:35.186
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s it’s still in there.

22:35.266 –> 22:48.681
[SPEAKER_00]: So what happened was that they had miss labeled Honest Wagner’s myth and just like whiskey is authentic and tobacco is authentic I’m looking at this going this myth didn’t exist in the 1960s or 1920s it existed in the 50s or 60s

22:48.661 –> 23:07.159
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I told them I didn’t think it was real and that who knows everything here could be fake and I was in am not just 12 year old just like I am now and basically what happened was that the curator came by he reached out to a homeless Wagner’s widow and she told them all that must have been when he coached in the 1960s but 1950s, I’m sorry.

23:07.139 –> 23:10.883
[SPEAKER_00]: So what happened was the Hall of Fame wrote me a letter and said, yeah, you were right.

23:10.943 –> 23:12.905
[SPEAKER_00]: You identified something that we missed somehow.

23:12.965 –> 23:15.648
[SPEAKER_00]: And you were the first one in 20 years to realize this.

23:15.769 –> 23:18.952
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, Hall of Fame honors everything great about baseball.

23:18.992 –> 23:27.321
[SPEAKER_00]: The players, coaches, umpires, managers, and even the fans, the fact that a 12 years of age, you were able to do this shows you love the game as far beyond the average fan.

23:27.962 –> 23:29.303
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to congratulate you.

23:29.363 –> 23:31.746
[SPEAKER_00]: I called the meeting of the board of the directors in the U.

23:31.786 –> 23:37.112
[SPEAKER_00]: Mount Lower, and by far the youngest person ever in first unanimous

23:37.092 –> 23:38.955
[SPEAKER_00]: and this happened back in the 1970s.

23:39.556 –> 23:41.300
[SPEAKER_00]: So, oh, you know, see that.

23:41.340 –> 23:42.722
[SPEAKER_01]: We’re so excited for this trip.

23:42.762 –> 23:43.664
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s going to be so fun.

23:44.125 –> 23:45.187
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you’ll have a great time.

23:45.207 –> 23:52.280
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the mid-actually says, when this wagon is mid, when he coached, you know, 1950s, as opposed to on its wagon is mid, they changed the signage.

23:52.800 –> 23:54.724
[SPEAKER_00]: So, it’s a pretty cool thing.

23:54.744 –> 23:56.046
[SPEAKER_00]: And I’ve always loved this story.

23:56.066 –> 23:56.908
[SPEAKER_00]: And I love going up there.

23:56.928 –> 23:58.611
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s a wonderful time when you go.

23:58.591 –> 24:08.012
[SPEAKER_00]: But so this beer, I mean, this whiskey basically combines the story and the passion for whiskey and the passion for baseball and all the money goes to charity.

24:08.092 –> 24:12.221
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, hopefully some people pick it up and it’s called Matt Smith and it’s a nice little bottle.

24:12.262 –> 24:14.727
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I only $60.

24:14.774 –> 24:15.655
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that angle.

24:15.915 –> 24:16.596
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that angle.

24:16.616 –> 24:26.727
[SPEAKER_01]: I know, you know, we just released with some partners, but I did a cocktail whiskey, but it’s also a blended bourbon, because I just got tired of old fashions and whiskey sows just having garbage whiskey.

24:27.268 –> 24:32.093
[SPEAKER_01]: So I brought my dear friend Tracy in and held, you know, she ended up pulling a bunch of different whiskey.

24:32.113 –> 24:37.879
[SPEAKER_01]: We must have tried like, I don’t know, well, 15 different versions of where she was going for.

24:37.859 –> 24:43.291
[SPEAKER_01]: And we finally got that one up and running as of just a few weeks ago, so I’m going to start promoting that soon.

24:43.311 –> 24:46.278
[SPEAKER_01]: But ours is always a clocktales, not for sipping.

24:46.318 –> 24:51.390
[SPEAKER_01]: I just wanted to say like I just got tired of crap being quit in there because that was not available.

24:51.530 –> 24:55.058
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like a $40 whiskey, but it’s four cocktails.

24:55.038 –> 24:55.359
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

24:55.639 –> 24:57.122
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m just going to be using a cocktail as well.

24:57.162 –> 24:58.184
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, anything can.

24:58.224 –> 25:02.953
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you’ve seen the club whiskey blasphemy, they use 30 year old, the Freud in a blood and sand.

25:03.013 –> 25:10.047
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you can, if you can, I had that broke my heart, but you know, if you take the best ingredients and you enjoy it, you make yourself a good cocktail.

25:10.087 –> 25:10.467
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s great.

25:11.750 –> 25:12.231
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that.

25:12.251 –> 25:13.994
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you have a lot of shows you’re planning on hitting this here?

25:14.014 –> 25:15.477
[SPEAKER_01]: I know you just got back from Canada.

25:15.727 –> 25:19.897
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I know that I always love the Victoria Whiskey Festival, that always starts off the year.

25:20.137 –> 25:21.220
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s one of the best shows.

25:21.520 –> 25:23.345
[SPEAKER_00]: For people on the West Coast, it’s an easy trip.

25:23.806 –> 25:27.294
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I make the trip from New York, but I’ve made it for, I think, like the past 12.

25:27.996 –> 25:32.065
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s a wonderful show that they’re concept of everyone staying in the same hotel.

25:32.045 –> 25:40.738
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a bunch of masterclasses, like I said, I think that’s the best part, and then they have your typical walkthrough with the tables are there and you have your glass and you’re getting your poor.

25:40.798 –> 25:41.759
[SPEAKER_00]: So that that’s done.

25:41.799 –> 25:48.569
[SPEAKER_00]: The next show I’m probably going to is going to be a Campbell town festival and then space are having an end I love for the I love this.

25:49.130 –> 25:52.775
[SPEAKER_00]: So we’ll go to that and I’ve already bought my tickets for whiskey live in Paris.

25:52.795 –> 25:54.117
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to get you to those again.

25:54.137 –> 25:55.099
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m going to.

25:55.119 –> 25:55.700
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to.

25:56.000 –> 25:56.541
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to take it.

25:56.581 –> 25:58.103
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s already a sale in Paris.

25:58.083 –> 26:00.746
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, Paris, Paris went on sale about a month ago.

26:00.886 –> 26:02.127
[SPEAKER_00]: So I clicked, was there?

26:02.148 –> 26:03.189
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m not paying any attention.

26:03.269 –> 26:05.952
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going to Hong Kong in May for the Hong Kong Whiskey Festival.

26:06.152 –> 26:06.492
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, wow.

26:06.512 –> 26:07.814
[SPEAKER_01]: I got to go grab, I got to go.

26:07.974 –> 26:09.676
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s, that shows amazing.

26:09.916 –> 26:10.277
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s it.

26:10.337 –> 26:10.857
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

26:11.238 –> 26:14.842
[SPEAKER_00]: You got to grab Whiskey Live and then the next week, it’s, it’s a great week.

26:14.862 –> 26:26.014
[SPEAKER_00]: You spend, was it Saturday, Sunday, Monday, if you’re press, which we can get in for at Whiskey Live, that’s in Paris, and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday is the Whiskey Show in London.

26:27.310 –> 26:36.072
[SPEAKER_00]: So basically you’ve applied a Paris for Friday, you do that for three days and then you take the train to London and you do that and it’s basically one of the best weeks of the year.

26:37.148 –> 26:47.621
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don’t know if I could double dip and a lot going on because my plan was to fly into London, spend three days there, then take the train to Paris, spend three nights there, then come back to London for two nights and head home.

26:48.021 –> 26:48.782
[SPEAKER_01]: I don’t know if I can do it.

26:48.802 –> 26:58.414
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you should do as if you can, just fly straight and switch your order and just go straight to Paris and then go to London and then it’s the same number of days and you hit both shows.

26:58.968 –> 27:28.941
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean the only reason why it works is because I can fly San Diego London direct to go to Paris I got to go through like somewhere else in the country and I got this point of life You know these long flights I just like direct It’s direct to bring our gang up You can also just floppy look to London on Thursday and take the train to Paris and then you already you know I’m going back and forth that way I see beef right yeah No that could work too because I mean I got a bunch of bottles I ended up scoring that new hebiki 30 and the new hub beautiful 21 But it’s cheaper for me to buy in London than in America

27:29.191 –> 27:31.695
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and the travel retail, I here does the new 30 as well.

27:31.755 –> 27:35.400
[SPEAKER_00]: I just got a eumador from the year of the horse, because this is my birth year.

27:35.961 –> 27:37.664
[SPEAKER_00]: So I’m trying to collect all of those things.

27:37.724 –> 27:45.175
[SPEAKER_00]: So one of the cigar companies made this beautiful setup that it comes with a 12 cigar, a cutter, a lighter, an ash tray, and a beautiful box.

27:45.776 –> 27:50.223
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just got that from fanatics, which is the place that I get most of my cigars from those guys are great.

27:50.964 –> 27:56.532
[SPEAKER_00]: And so what happens is I’m trying to collect all these different things, and we’ll see.

27:56.512 –> 27:57.955
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you got to get to it.

27:57.975 –> 28:01.423
[SPEAKER_00]: But now they have, now they have the new nickel, I think, came in that didn’t it?

28:01.523 –> 28:04.490
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don’t know if it says it’s the year of the horse and the red bottle.

28:04.510 –> 28:06.034
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that’s only travel retail.

28:06.074 –> 28:07.497
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, hopefully you’ll get in there.

28:07.517 –> 28:08.159
[SPEAKER_01]: And there’s a new hebieke.

28:08.179 –> 28:10.624
[SPEAKER_00]: There’s a hebieke harmony as well in a red box.

28:11.266 –> 28:12.108
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that’s the one I said.

28:12.128 –> 28:13.491
[SPEAKER_00]: But one of them’s travel retail only.

28:13.511 –> 28:14.152
[SPEAKER_00]: And they look beautiful.

28:14.172 –> 28:14.333
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

28:14.353 –> 28:15.415
[SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah.

28:15.395 –> 28:15.696
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

28:16.136 –> 28:20.786
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, man, I just wanted to get you on to kind of talk more about your show in June, because I think it’s absolutely amazing.

28:20.986 –> 28:22.690
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, it’s always good catching up with you.

28:23.070 –> 28:25.976
[SPEAKER_01]: But seriously, like how do people find out more about the event?

28:26.016 –> 28:27.379
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I’d love to just see it packed.

28:27.660 –> 28:30.245
[SPEAKER_01]: Not that it isn’t packed already, and I know it sells that really fast.

28:30.726 –> 28:32.830
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, like how do we take it to the next level?

28:32.810 –> 28:41.879
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the funny thing is this what we did last year and I appreciate that is that we had enough tables so that everyone who went went to every table, there was no FOMO.

28:41.919 –> 28:42.099
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

28:42.419 –> 28:48.745
[SPEAKER_00]: In the past, I’ve had 20 or 30 tables and you got to go to your 13 of them and you were happy but then you’d miss something.

28:49.146 –> 28:55.312
[SPEAKER_00]: So right now, since the pandemic and we brought it back, we’ve gone with a smaller event and we’ll continue with that this year.

28:55.872 –> 29:00.977
[SPEAKER_00]: If it sells out, right off quickly and people keep inquiring about it, maybe we can expand it back.

29:00.957 –> 29:08.987
[SPEAKER_00]: to a bigger venue with more tables, but for now we just wanna have 13 tables this year, and I’ll tell you why and fill it up that way.

29:09.147 –> 29:13.873
[SPEAKER_00]: So the website you can go to is wateroflifenyc.org.

29:14.514 –> 29:17.678
[SPEAKER_00]: So just spell that as wateroflifenyc.org.

29:18.058 –> 29:19.019
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s where our website is.

29:19.059 –> 29:23.505
[SPEAKER_00]: I do need to update it and I’ll put some stuff up for the new show once we have the dates and everything.

29:23.485 –> 29:33.410
[SPEAKER_00]: But as far as everything else goes, the main thing of the event right now is the one thing that people said at the last one was they were having so much fun at each individual table.

29:33.451 –> 29:37.140
[SPEAKER_00]: They felt that they were moving to the next table too quickly.

29:37.441 –> 29:38.102
[SPEAKER_00]: So, hold on.

29:38.162 –> 29:39.243
[SPEAKER_00]: Try a new format.

29:39.664 –> 29:42.748
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I like the idea of they were 12 minute table dates.

29:43.308 –> 29:46.773
[SPEAKER_00]: Then you had three minutes to get to the next one, so you got to do four an hour.

29:47.233 –> 29:55.263
[SPEAKER_00]: You did 13 over the course of the night with a half hour dinner break in a 15 minute dessert break, but people were saying that they wanted to spend more time at each table.

29:55.343 –> 30:02.352
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I’m going to cut back the tables and probably cut it down to 10 and then add an extra five minutes per table.

30:02.332 –> 30:04.376
[SPEAKER_00]: and then that’ll add an extra pour per table.

30:04.416 –> 30:06.359
[SPEAKER_00]: So your pours will still be out the same.

30:06.700 –> 30:08.984
[SPEAKER_00]: You just have less brands and people seem to like that.

30:09.004 –> 30:15.996
[SPEAKER_00]: And the brands like that too, because you know, as fun as it is when you tell a brand to bring three, they bring four when you tell them to bring four yeah, and five.

30:16.477 –> 30:18.641
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know, they want to show off well that they have.

30:18.701 –> 30:24.171
[SPEAKER_00]: And and there have been brands that have wrote like six and seven bottles to a table and you’re only, you’re only that for 12 minutes.

30:24.151 –> 30:26.093
[SPEAKER_00]: And it’s tough to get through all of them.

30:26.153 –> 30:33.221
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think we’re trying this new format because it really was a popular theme and opinion from people that filled out the evaluation forms.

30:33.842 –> 30:35.303
[SPEAKER_00]: And I’m looking forward to it.

30:35.363 –> 30:38.166
[SPEAKER_00]: So you know, half the people have already signed up as far as the brands.

30:38.627 –> 30:40.969
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve reached out to a few other ones or waiting to hear back.

30:41.610 –> 30:44.954
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, it’s gonna be June 25th as the speed tasting of it.

30:45.474 –> 30:49.159
[SPEAKER_00]: And the 24th is the ultra VIP and that’s gonna be as crazy as ever.

30:49.619 –> 30:51.141
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve already heard some of the bottles coming.

30:51.161 –> 30:53.263
[SPEAKER_00]: I can’t really talk about them because they’re not released.

30:53.243 –> 30:57.728
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, you know, as you’ve seen, we always get some really special stuff.

30:57.788 –> 31:05.076
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, I was really happy with the wolf this year for the first time in the U.S. at a tasting with Sandy McIntyre from TAMDU.

31:05.116 –> 31:06.717
[SPEAKER_00]: And he loved the event.

31:06.737 –> 31:09.080
[SPEAKER_00]: He brought us the lunch of the 21, which was incredible.

31:09.500 –> 31:11.322
[SPEAKER_00]: And he’s already said he’s coming back next year.

31:11.342 –> 31:13.124
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we’ll see if I can get him in the spring.

31:13.144 –> 31:14.025
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m going to reach out to them.

31:14.546 –> 31:15.867
[SPEAKER_00]: But it’s, it’s a lot of fun.

31:15.887 –> 31:16.628
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, people come.

31:16.668 –> 31:17.569
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a great time.

31:18.210 –> 31:20.432
[SPEAKER_00]: And they, they pour some incredible spirits.

31:21.644 –> 31:22.305
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I love it.

31:22.405 –> 31:23.926
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I’ll definitely see you in the June one.

31:24.026 –> 31:27.910
[SPEAKER_01]: I don’t know about the one later, just because we’ll all the action I have with trade shows and stuff.

31:28.271 –> 31:30.272
[SPEAKER_01]: But I can’t thank you enough for coming on again, my man.

31:30.313 –> 31:31.854
[SPEAKER_01]: Look forward to hanging out with you in person.

31:32.375 –> 31:36.619
[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously drinking, smoking, living our best life with big smile on our face.

31:36.679 –> 31:38.120
[SPEAKER_01]: I can’t thank everyone enough for listening.

31:38.180 –> 31:39.341
[SPEAKER_01]: Definitely take a look at that.

31:39.802 –> 31:42.104
[SPEAKER_01]: Loving all the feedback I’ve been getting on the podcast.

31:42.124 –> 31:43.926
[SPEAKER_01]: We’ll keep doing this and keep having a good time.

31:43.946 –> 31:45.888
[SPEAKER_01]: I can’t thank you all enough for listening.

31:45.968 –> 31:47.069
[SPEAKER_01]: Make sure to rate the shows.

31:47.169 –> 31:50.132
[SPEAKER_01]: And, baddie, until next time, my friend, I appreciate you.

31:50.112 –> 31:51.695
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, slung of on my friend B.

31:51.755 –> 31:57.947
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, and the boat are raising a drum both in New York and in the UK or or in Paris or where it happens to be near Paris.

31:58.268 –> 31:59.009
[SPEAKER_00]: Paris, baby.

31:59.631 –> 32:00.432
[SPEAKER_00]: I chat soon.

32:00.452 –> 32:01.154
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks everybody.

32:01.214 –> 32:02.096
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to him.

32:02.136 –> 32:02.476
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

32:02.997 –> 32:03.278
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye bye.

32:04.180 –> 32:04.881
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s a wrap.