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This week on the Bourbon Bytes podcast, we’re covering one of the most ambitious American whiskey projects ever attempted before diving into a smoky, double-barreled Kentucky bourbon. Booker’s is back with the new Milkshake Batch, inspired by Booker Noe’s love of bourbon-spiked chocolate malted milkshakes. Green River has announced its oldest bourbon yet: an 8-year Distillery Select Toasted Double Oak release bottled at 115.1 proof. We also look at two very different celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary. Breckenridge Distillery is releasing its Patriotic Reserve Bourbon, while Lost Lantern has created a bourbon blend featuring whiskey sourced from all 50 states. Then Coors Whiskey Company enters the American malt category with an 8-year limited release made with Colorado and Coors malts. Finally, it’s time for a Byte-Sized Review of Burnt Tavern Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This 7-year-old, 105-proof bourbon is double-barreled in specially toasted and charred oak, creating notes of vanilla, toasted marshmallow, barbecue smoke, chocolate-chip cookies, caramelized crust, oak, and lingering chocolate. Does all that smoke and char enhance the bourbon—or overpower what could be an excellent base whiskey? The review bottle was provided by Burnt Tavern. All opinions are my own. Topics covered: • Booker’s Bourbon Milkshake Batch • Green River Distillery Select Toasted Double Oak • Breckenridge Patriotic Reserve Bourbon • Lost Lantern’s all-50-state bourbon blend • Coors 8 Year Blended American Malt Whiskey • Burnt Tavern Bourbon review • Final score and whether it is worth $70 Would you rather try the bourbon blended from all 50 states or the smoky, double-barreled Burnt Tavern? Chapter Timecodes: 00:00 Intro – Booker’s, Green River, Coors & Burnt Tavern 00:28 Welcome + Episode Update 01:01 Booker’s Milkshake Batch 02:44 Green River’s Oldest Bourbon Yet 04:17 Breckenridge Patriotic Reserve 06:30 A Bourbon Blended From All 50 States 08:38 Coors 8 Year American Malt Whiskey 09:59 Byte-Sized Review – Burnt Tavern Bourbon 17:45 Outro + Byte Club and Pride Merch
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0:00
Today on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, Jim Beam releases the latest in the Booker's Bourbon
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lineup, Green River launches its oldest bourbon yet, and Coors launches their first American
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malt whiskey. Then I have a bite-sized review of Burnt Tavern Bourbon
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hello everyone and welcome to the bourbon bites podcast i'm your host clifton and this is the week
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of thursday june 18th 2026 if you're listening this week just a heads up i will not be live on
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YouTube this week, I decided to take a quick last minute trip to Las Vegas to celebrate the long
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Juneteenth weekend. So hopefully you guys get the time off as well and do something fun. But even
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though I'm off from the live stream, I do have some whiskey news to share with you as well as a
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new bite-sized review. So let's get into it. The first of which is the announcement of the new batch
1:04
of Booker's bourbon. I haven't really been following these, but I enjoyed quite a lot of
1:09
the batches from last year. So I'm starting to see the prices come down to a lower price. Here
1:14
in Southern California, they're around $90. MSRP is still $100, but I'm hoping they're going to
1:20
continue to fall in price because I really want to start buying these again. But this one's fun
1:25
because this is called Booker's Bourbon, the Milkshake Batch. It's inspired by one of Booker
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No's favorite indulgences, a homemade chocolate malted milkshake spiked with a generous pour of
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bourbon, obviously. They say that this story actually came from Fred No when he was on childhood
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fishing trips with his father, Booker, and chocolate malted milkshakes were the well-earned
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reward after a day on the water. They say that dad loved his dessert as much as he loved his bourbon
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and being the inventor that he was, he found a way to bring the two together. Now, whether or not
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this milkshake batch actually tastes like a milkshake is up for interpretation, but this is a
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124.4 proof batch aged seven years six months and 12 days I honestly wish that these batches were a
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little bit more named appropriately like I would have loved for them to have found a bourbon that
2:18
has a strong chocolate note to release this one they do say that this has vanilla and oak and a
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bold full-bodied palette I feel like you know I love these stories associated with the bookers
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batches. But when you're calling something the milkshake batch and you're not necessarily making
2:34
it based off of a milkshake flavor profile, I don't know. I feel like it's a missed opportunity
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But you know what? It's still a fun one and I had to mention it. Now another fun one is coming to us
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from Green River. They're launching their oldest bourbon yet, which is a distillery select toasted
2:50
double oak. So this is an eight-year-old toasted double oak bourbon. Y'all know I love Green River
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bourbon. I think it's just a fantastic flavor profile and I would love the opportunity to try
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it toasted. And they say that this one is coming out this weekend at the distillery and it's going
3:07
to begin available at the tasting room on June 26th. Now fortunately this is the rye bourbon
3:13
mash bill which is my favorite from the distillery. They say it was aged for eight years and then went
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under a six month finish in new American toasted oak barrels. So a lot of times this really adds a
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layer of vanilla sweetness, a bit of marshmallow, and really just enhances an already good bourbon
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Now with this being a limited release, it sounds like it's going to be available at the distillery and tasting room first. Not sure if it's ever going to be a nationwide release, but if it is
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I'm going to keep an eye out for it. Pricing on it is $50, but that is for a 375 milliliter bottle
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but it is coming at 115.1 proof, so they're not diluting it down by any means. Now they say that
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This is the first in their distillery select series and it's designed to showcase different proofs, finishes, and specific Rickhouse selections from the distillery
4:00
So based on that and kind of what Bardstown Bourbon Company is doing, which I think those two are very similar, it probably will be distillery only
4:08
But I love for reasons to go visit a distillery. And as a fan of Green River, I'm very excited for this one
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I hope I get a chance to try it. Now, I wanted to feature two more whiskeys that are celebrating the 250th anniversary of America
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and both of them are in very different ways. One of which comes to us from Breckenridge out of Colorado
4:29
They are releasing the Patriotic Reserve bourbon whiskey. They say it a limited edition blend of straight bourbons created to celebrate America spirit ahead of Independence Day of the 250th anniversary of our country They say made with grain sourced from America heartland and blended with pure Rocky Mountain water at the world highest distillery Patriotic Reserve reflects the spirit of the nation it honors
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This is a 86 proof blend of straight bourbon whiskeys using their high rye mash bill
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I'm not seeing an age statement or anything else specific about this blend. pricing is between $35 and $40 MSRP, 750 milliliter bottle, and available nationwide
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wherever you can get your Breckenridge. Now, I'll be honest, I've not tried Breckenridge
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and I'll also be a little candid here. I don't love a special edition bottle that doesn't really
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tell you anything else about it other than the fact that it's meant to pay a tribute to
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Independence Day and America's 250th anniversary. You know, they do say it's a special blend
5:28
which is nice, but I would love to see maybe some age statement or maybe a certain flavor profile
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they went for because of this being an Independence Day blend. It almost was a little bit like a quick
5:39
cash grab. And I'm not saying that based on experience. Again, I've never had Breckenridge
5:43
but I see that a lot with these special edition bottles. Unless they are either one
5:48
raising money for a cause to support veterans or disabled military members or anything like that
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I love to see those causes or even just a good cause in general for America
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This doesn't say anything about that. It just is a pretty red, white, and blue label and a special blend
6:03
So I could be wrong about that. But let me know what you guys think. How do you feel about all these 250th anniversary bottles coming out
6:11
We're seeing it across the board in the world of whiskey. It seems like everyone's trying to get in on that
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And I know a lot of them are doing tributes to different foundations to support our military
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members and our veterans. I love to see that. But when I see one with just a red, white, and blue logo and they're like, hey, this is the America edition, I get a little suspicious
6:28
But let me know what you think. Now, on the other hand, I also love when brands do something unique for the occasion
6:35
And this one is probably one of the most unique twists on the United States whiskey that I've ever seen
6:41
So Lost Lantern is unveiling their 50-state United States of America bourbon
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This is a blend of bourbon from all 50 U.S. states. I know I found that hard to believe. How can they find a bourbon in all 50 states? But they've somehow done it. And this one's coming in at three different releases. They're going to release a 100 proof version, a cast-length bourbon, and a 1776 special edition of this bottle. They say it's the widest ranging American whiskey ever created, and it took them over five years to create
7:11
Adam Polonsky, who is the co-founder and head of whiskey sourcing at Lost Lantern
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said that he began sourcing these barrels back in 2021, and he continued through 2025 to do this
7:22
He says he's visited and vetted every distillery in this blend in person
7:27
which is a pretty incredible feat. All three expressions are non-chill filtered with no color added
7:32
and are blended in Vermont. Now, the co-founder and head blender at Lost Lantern, Nora Gainley Roper
7:38
says this is certainly the most ambitious whiskey Lost Lantern has ever made. They say this blend
7:45
includes bourbon aged in coastal climates influenced by salty sea air, a state whiskey
7:49
from family-run grain-to-glass distilleries, and bourbon from states with generations of moonshining traditions. This whiskey is inclusive of all of those as well as whiskey from some of
8:00
the country's newest producers. And I think this is a fantastic way to celebrate the American spirit
8:06
by literally bottling the American spirit from all 50 states, but also showing a sense of community and pride in all this different distillate
8:15
I am very excited. This is probably one of the most exciting America's 250th anniversary releases I've ever seen
8:21
So well done to the folks at the Lost Lantern. They're an independent bottler
8:25
They do a lot of different whiskeys, but this is definitely one of the most exciting collaborations I've ever seen from them
8:31
So if you get a chance to try that, please let me know how it is. That just sounds like such a fun bottle
8:37
Well, since we're talking America, let's talk about Coors Whiskey. Now, I'm talking about Coors, C-O-O-R-S
8:44
I've heard people pronounce it Coors. I say Coors. But they've started getting into whiskey
8:49
They've since branded the Coors Whiskey Company. And they're coming out with their first blended American malt whiskey
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It's an eight-year-old limited edition release celebrating Coors' malting heritage of nearly
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150 years. They say most whiskey stories begin in the barrel. Ours begins with the grain
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Malt has been part of the Coors story since the early days of the company rooted in longstanding malting tradition They say that this is proof that what goes into our whiskey all the way down to the grain makes all the difference So this is using Coors and Colorado
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malts. They say this is going to be bottled at 55.25% ABV, limited to just 1,200 bottles and
9:29
retail price of around $79.99. It's going to be available in Colorado and Illinois ahead of the
9:35
Father's Day weekend on June 21st. But I'm hoping that maybe this makes its release outside of those
9:42
states. I love to see these new American whiskeys pop up, especially when they have a good age
9:47
statement on them. They took their time with this one. They waited eight years to release this
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American whiskey. Don't know if I necessarily have high hopes, but you know what? I'll give it a try
9:58
All right. Well, that does it for this week's whiskey news. But we do have a very special
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bite-sized review. All right, well, this week's bite-sized review was actually sent to me for review by the brand
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This is from Burnt Tavern, and this is their Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
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It's a 7-year-old, 105-proof, double-barreled bourbon. They say that this is a pure old-style, handmade Kentucky whiskey, and it's from Bryantsville, Kentucky
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This is a brand that I've actually never had a chance to try or have ever seen
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They say it's sold in Kentucky as well as online. So that explains maybe why I haven't seen it on the shelves here in Southern California
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But they say that this is twice burned and reborn. They say our namesake comes from one room of the tavern surviving two fires and continuing to thrive
10:52
A really beautiful bottle here. I love the imagery and the illustrations of the old still, the tavern itself, and the people who helped make it
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They say that this bourbon is the first release from the William Burkle Distillery, and it was launched in September of last year
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Now, they say this whiskey was uniquely crafted by esteemed pioneer Chip Tate, who says
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I have a long and storied history of making whiskey with fire and smoke. Wood smoke and its ability to impart subtle and complex flavor to spirits has been part of my distilling journey from the early days
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Burnt Tavern Bourbon represents the intersection of classic Kentucky bourbon with rich new layers of smoke and oak added by our special finishing process
11:30
a new medley of classic American flavors. And of course, Chip Tate is their master distiller
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There's another quote from the president of the distillery, Bennett Clark. He says, burnt tavern bourbon doesn't follow trends
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It honors the history of the fire and the journey of those who came before us
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Each sip tells the story of smoke, char, and resilience. For those who appreciate the slow char and bold character of bourbon, burnt tavern delivers
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They've won numerous awards, including the 2026 double gold medal from London World Spirits
12:00
the straight bourbon of the year from USA Spirits, and a gold medal from both the 2025 USA Spirits Rating
12:07
and the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition. And that's just some of the long list of awards they've received for this bourbon
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and I'm very excited to give it a first try and first impression for you guys here on the Bourbon Bites Podcast
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So thank you again to the folks over at Burnt Tavern for sending this for review
12:23
Let's go ahead and give it a nose because this sounds really exciting on paper. oh nice yeah definitely get the smoky element they're talking about here there's a little bit
12:32
more details they gave me in terms of what the secondary finishing is they say after seven years
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of aging in traditional bourbon barrels the bourbon is double barreled in two unique slowly toasted
12:42
and charred barrels in those secondary barrels the whiskey continues to develop to offer rich
12:47
and complex layers of burnt sugar caramel and vanilla as well as luscious notes of oak and
12:52
elegant wood smoke. Well, you're speaking my language there, Burnt Tavern. I cannot wait
12:57
to give this a try. But yeah, on the nose, it's very much what you would expect from a
13:02
double oaked bourbon, right? It's very sweet, definitely led by that vanilla. And of course
13:07
like I said, there's that marshmallow note that really is amplified by that toastiness
13:12
This actually is a little bit more of like a barbecue smoke, and I dig it for sure. It doesn't
13:17
feel like they're trying to cover up, you know, a bad whiskey. It definitely feels like this is meant to enhance the whiskey. So on nose, I'm impressed, but let's give it a taste. Cheers
13:26
Oh, interesting. That is an interesting flavor profile. Honestly, it doesn't really taste like
13:31
other Kentucky bourbons I've had. Surprisingly, it has a like chocolate chip cookie note to it
13:37
It definitely tastes like the, you know, like store-bought chocolate morsels that you would
13:41
put down in a cookie, but the cookie itself tastes fresh baked. It has a nice crust element to it
13:46
Maybe I just hungry but the flavor profile does remind me of a slightly overdone chocolate chip cookie that been homemade Really really interesting on the palate There definitely a ton of char there and it different than like an older bourbon You not getting one of those older oaky notes
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I think, you know, this definitely drinks closer to the seven-year age statement it has. It's not
14:06
like that toast gives it extra age, but it does give it an extra layer of char or just like a bit
14:12
of, I don't want to say burnt crust, but it kind of reminds me of like when you kind of overdo a
14:16
baked good just a little bit. It's a little bit bitter, but it doesn't overshadow the delicious
14:21
inside of that pie. You know, the base spirit is a little bit hidden by that double oak
14:28
and it makes me wonder why this is their first and only bourbon they've put out. I would love to try just that seven-year bourbon without that finish. I think that would really let
14:36
me understand their flavor profile quite a bit more than this version with the finish. Don't get
14:41
me wrong, it's good, but I feel like it's kind of overshadowing to what could be a really good
14:46
base bourbon. I would just love to try another expression from them. I know this is their one
14:51
and only whiskey they have available, but I encourage them maybe to try releasing the bourbon
14:55
on its own and then do a comparison and say like, hey, here's our really great seven year bourbon
15:00
but here's what happens once we do that extra toast on it. I think that would open my eyes and
15:04
maybe other people's eyes on what could transform from a double oaked bourbon. But everything's
15:10
really kind of working here. I think the only thing that might be a little bit of a particular
15:15
you know you like it or you don't like it is that extra char a little bit of bitterness
15:19
I tend to like my desserts and my breads a little bit over toasted so I don't mind it
15:26
but there's definitely a little bit of that like kind of like carbon charred kind of thing happening
15:29
here that might be a little bit divisive now for this being 105 proof it drinks very easy
15:36
I mean I think I would have guessed it was lower proof just based on first sip but it has a really nice finish it's very warming about medium to long length in terms of finish but
15:45
But everything that I think is slightly divisive about the mid-palette and the tip of the tongue
15:50
goes away on the finish. It drinks like a really nicely aged bourbon
15:54
You lose a little bit of that char and you end with this nice chocolatiness on the finish
15:59
Overall, it's a really nice experience. And for this to be my first try at something from the brand, I'm pretty impressed with it
16:06
So when it comes to my bite-sized reviews here on the podcast, I like to give things just one review
16:10
I don't break it down by nose, palate, taste, or anything like that. I like to give you a recommendation out of 10. Now, one thing I haven't actually looked up is the
16:19
actual price of this one, which will have a big impact on how I feel about this whiskey. All right
16:24
it looks like it goes for around $70 for a full size bottle. So that's kind of what I was thinking
16:30
Honestly, that doesn't throw me off at all. That kind of sits right in line with what I thought
16:34
something like this would be. So with that being known, you know, I think this is a really cool
16:39
unique bourbon. It has a really fun story about the tavern being burnt down twice
16:43
and you got some really cool folks behind the whiskey itself. I'm going to give this a 7.5 out of 10
16:50
I think it's a fun one. I think it's, you know, really unique. I love a good double-oaked bourbon that's not trying to hide a bad bourbon
16:56
I just wish I could taste the bourbon before it went through that process
17:00
because I think they have something special here, and I think maybe with a little bit more age and not being double-oaked
17:05
this could be a real contender in some of my favorite Kentucky whiskeys
17:09
So let me know if you guys get a chance to try Burnt Tavern Bourbon. I'm a big fan of it and I'm really grateful that they sent me this bottle for review
17:17
I love that they're coming in at 105 proof. They're not just doing an 80 proof whatever bottle
17:21
They also have an age statement and lots of good info about it online. So with that, 7.5 feels pretty solid
17:27
So I'm curious if you guys had a chance to try this. Do you like it? Are you a fan of double oaked bourbon or are you more of a traditionalist
17:33
You want to try it on its own first. I'm a little bit of both, but overall, this is some of the better double oaked bourbon I've ever had
17:40
So let me know what you think. But that does it for this week's episode. Thank you all so much for listening
17:46
Of course, if you want to support the channel and the podcast, you can go to bourbonbites.com and join our Bite Club membership there
17:51
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17:56
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18:02
So get your shirts, get your merch, and yeah, it does mean a lot to me here on the channel
18:07
but until next time this has been the bourbon bites podcast a whiskey podcast
18:11
with a gaming twist cheers and i'll talk to you guys next episode
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