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Kentucky Senator Bourbon Release #3 John G. Carlisle Review and Allocated Lottery Announcements
May 13, 2026
I'm reviewing the third release of Kentucky Senator Bourbon named after John G. Carlisle and coming in at 7 years old and 107 proof. Is this $130 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey worth seeking out? Plus, I'm sharing updates about allocated lotteries for the 2022 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch open now, as well as the latest news about the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy video game, including the pricing and details of the standard, digital deluxe, and collector's editions.
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Today on the Bourbon Bites podcast, I'm reviewing the latest release of Kentucky Senator Bourbon
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and letting you know how to sign up for two big deal bourbon lotteries
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bites podcast. I'm your host Clifton and today I am
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reviewing a sample sent to me by the folks at Kentucky Senator Bourbon. So this is actually my
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first time trying a whiskey from this label. Living in Southern California, I feel like I
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haven't really heard much about this brand. I knew it existed, but I had no idea, you know
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where it was being sourced, where it was being bottled, and I still don't really know all that
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information now. But I do have some information about this bottle, and it makes me really
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really excited. This is actually the third release of Kentucky Senator Bourbon, and it's named after
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John G. Carlisle, who was a leader of the Bourbon Democrats in Washington, D.C., as well as a major
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advocate for the Bottled and Bond Act of 1897, which happens to be celebrating its 125th anniversary
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this year, which is awesome because I'm a huge fan of the Bottled and Bond Act. It changed the
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bourbon industry forever. Topic for a different podcast if you're not aware, but definitely look
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it up if you are curious. We do know that this is a seven-year-old Kentucky bourbon. It is 107 proof
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and the mash bill is 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Now that mash bill caught my eye
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because it sounds very familiar. It's very similar to an Indiana bourbon recipe. However, based on
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this press release, it says that this has been distilled and aged in Kentucky, bottled at Bluegrass
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Distillers in Lexington, and is being distributed by Kentucky Eagle Distributing. So this is not MGP
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bourbon based on the information I have. I'm surprised to see a seven-year-old product with
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that mash built in Kentucky. If I'm wrong about this, please let me know. I'm just going off of
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the info I have here. But if it's anywhere as good as Indiana bourbon at that age and proof
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then I am very, very excited. The suggested retail price will be $120, which is pretty solid for a
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whiskey of this caliber based on the info I have here. But what matters most is how it tastes. So
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let's go and get this poured. So it looks like this is a Kentucky only release. It's going to
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be available at liquor stores, bars, and restaurants throughout the state, as well as private single
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barrel selections of it at Liquor Barn, Party Mart, and DEP retail outlets. If you're outside
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of the state like myself, you can buy it at bourbonoutfitter.com, and it's also going to be
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featured in the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C. I haven't had the pleasure
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of going there, but I've heard some great things from my friends that visit there often. So with all that info out of the way, let's go ahead and give it a nose
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Oh, I'm liking the nose already. To me, the most prominent thing is a orange zest. This kind of
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smells like a cocktail in first whiff but it has a really nice oaky element that's also right up
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front with this one now when i dive a little bit deeper into the nose i'm getting a more sweet
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element to it there's a note there that i don't really see often in a whiskey and i describe it
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as butterscotch it's got that sweet buttery caramelly goodness that you get on a good
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butter beer there's also a bit of a dried fruit note it's not necessarily the typical dried fruit
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i normally get with a bourbon it's not like those darker stone fruits to me this is almost like
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I don't know if I want to say like apricot or apple or even like cherry, but it's like a brighter
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dried fruit note on the nose. I mean, based on nose alone, this smells like an amazing bourbon
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I really hope it stands up on the palate, but let's find out. Cheers. Oh, wow. It does indeed. Up front, this is really dry oak. You can definitely tell the age is front
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and center on this bourbon but it not like a bitter oak It definitely got the drier more dark wood notes like an older wood but none of the like the tannic notes that I sometimes get with an over bourbon Along with that oak there definitely a nutty characteristic to it as well If I were to
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try and narrow it down, I would actually go pistachio, which is another uncommon note. I feel
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like I'm finding a lot of uncommon notes on this, but they're ones that work really, really well
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And after you get past the nuttiness and you go towards the finish, it's got a really long
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nice oaky finish there's a bit of like a um crust note like a pie crust and if i were to place a
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fruit inside that apple pie i think i would go back to the cherry note i gave earlier not the
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medicinal cherry at all but like an actual like cherry pie filling note but yeah the finish man
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that is so like um yeah a pie crust is the best thing i can say it's got like a butteriness to it
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it has a like dryness that kind of complements the the start of the palette with the oakiness
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honestly this reminds me a lot of some products from Jim Beam it's not necessarily as dark as like
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a Knob Creek you know I always describe it as like a saturated oak like a very like oozing oak that's
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dripping with the bourbon this isn't necessarily that it's more of the drier oak kind of similar
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to like an old granddad or like a baker's definitely in a different realm than like a Knob Creek of
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course this mash bill does not line up with the standard Jim Beam mash bill so there's no telling
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exactly where it's from but if I had to guess it's definitely leaning Jim Beam but I could be
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totally wrong, you know, being a seven-year-old product in the scheme of whiskey outside of
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Kentucky, seven years is pretty dang old. But when you talk about Kentucky distilleries, you know
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a lot of these have, you know, nine, 12, 15-year-old products. This does lean on the younger end
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so it's kind of hard to compare to some of the older products I've had. But yeah, this is definitely
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up my alley. Y'all know I love Jim Beam. Y'all know I love Heaven Hill, which kind of, I'm seeing
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some of those elements there. So wherever this is sourced from, it's sourced from a really good
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distillery. Like I said, it is bottled at Bluegrass Distillers in Lexington, which actually bottles a
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lot of different whiskeys with the same mash bill so if any of you guys know you know more info on
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this please let me know either on our discord server or you can send me an email contact at
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bourbonbites.com if it's a secret of course i'm not going to reveal in the podcast but just out of
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my own curiosity i'd really like to know because i really dig this bourbon now of course it is
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limited like i said to kentucky unless you buy online 120 msrp i mean this is in the running for
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you know one of my highest scores ever given so if you're new to the podcast my rating system here
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is out of eight because I love all things 8-bit. So I think this one actually, like I said, one of
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the highest scores I've ever given. This gets a seven out of eight. It really does drink like a
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limited edition bourbon. Now, if you told me this was a limited edition from any of the major Kentucky
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distilleries that I'm a fan of, like the ones I mentioned earlier, I would think that the $120
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price point is well justified. It's super well-rounded. It's an excellent expression of a
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Kentucky bourbon. I think if I saw this on the shelf right now, I would absolutely buy a bottle
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So being the very first Kentucky Senator bourbon I've ever tried, I gotta look more into this
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because I wasn't expecting much, like I said, not having much information about this, knowing
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it's, you know, kind of a smaller brand, Kentucky only, but wow, am I impressed
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This is honestly in my running for best whiskeys I've tried all year. So I'm holding on to the rest of the sample of this
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I'd love to revisit it later in the year, maybe after I've, you know, tried some other
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things or had some time to kind of sit with it and think with it. definitely check it out if you're local to kentucky or you can find it on bourbonoutfitter.com
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but yeah well done on a fantastic whiskey so i do have two very important pieces of news when it
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comes to whiskey both of these for the first time ever being available to enter online in a lottery
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format the first of which is the 2022 limited edition small batch four roses so we already know
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some info about this release it's going to be 109 proof and it's going to be featuring a 20 year old
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bourbon from OBSV 15 OESK 14 OESF and 14 OESV So some very very old bourbon in these recipes and it is coming next month
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But like I said, these are available via lottery only at the moment
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You used to be able to go to the gift shop on release day, line up for hours and hours
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and hours and get your hands on a bottle. Well now they're doing away with that
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I think they're trying to prevent people from paying other people to wait in line for them
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or bringing their extended family away in line. And they're limiting it to a lottery that's open only for a couple more days
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So you can register to win your chance to buy this bottle from August 22nd through August 28th
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So if you're listening to this podcast on release day, you have two more days after today to get that in
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Make sure you enter if you want it. Now, the caveat is you have to go in person with an ID that matches your name to pick up your bottle
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So if you're local to the Louisville area, then, you know, good for you. But if you live in Southern California, yeah, you got to plan a trip out there
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So I talked on Discord a little bit to my community, just kind of getting some reactions to this
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Most people feel like it's a good thing. You know, it prevents people from paying people that may be like, you know, homeless to actually wait in line for them, which is such a messed up thing to do
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Taking advantage of people for your own gain, I just super against that. but for those of us you know that that wouldn't be able to make it to the gift shop anyways
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the more i think about it the more i feel like you know it doesn't quite affect us i believe these
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are still going to be distributed you know very very limitedly across the country i could be wrong
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but this is just replacing the typical gift shop release of these so the actual drawing will happen
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on september 6th and then you would have between september 17th and october 16th to pick up your
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bottle at the distillery and like i said got to bring your id you can't transfer your chance to
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pick up to someone else like some other distilleries do it's got to be you so yes I entered for a
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chance to win a bottle and when I say win a bottle I mean win the right to purchase a bottle do I
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think I will make it out to Kentucky to pick it up I don't know unless I win this and the next one
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and that's this year's release of Old Forrester Birthday Bourbon they are doing the exact same
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thing that Four Roses is doing opening this up to a lottery that you can enter now through August
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31st so you have a little bit longer to get your name in for this one msrp this one's going to be
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170 it's going to be an 11 year old release and with this one you have a little bit more time to
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pick up so the actual drawing is going to take place on september 2nd so just a few days after
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the end of the sweepstakes and you'll have a chance to pick it up at the louisville gift shop
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from september 8th through december 23rd so several more months than four roses which is great
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like I said you know I've I've entered both if I happen to win more than one bottle like both
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bottles I may consider a trip out to Kentucky because like one that's kind of an expensive
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trip for one bottle but you know if I win with two of these you know it's definitely going to
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be worth it I think uh to make the trip out there so like I said only a few more days to get entered
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for both of these make sure you sign up even if you know there's a slight chance that you can make
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it to pick up the bottle I recommend entering it you don't win unless you enter so might as well
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shoot your shot and i do have one video game update for you this week there is some new information
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about the upcoming hogwarts legacy video game i've talked about on the channel before when it was
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first announced but we got some more details about the different collector's editions and
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deluxe editions that are being released so the game is actually available to pre-order now you
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can pre-order both the standard and the deluxe edition as well as a really awesome looking
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collector's edition of the game but let's talk a little bit about each of those so if you pre-order
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any of these you get access to an onyx hippogriff mount which looks really cool check out the
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pictures online i'm not sure if this is something that maybe you could unlock later in the game if
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you don pre but it would be a wonderful way to start the game and i know it a game that i going to want so i definitely going to pre it Not sure which version yet So the standard edition is available for on PS5 and Xbox Series X on PS4 and Xbox One as well as on Nintendo Switch and PC This doesn
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come with any extras other than the pre-order bonus, which is the Onyx Hippogriff. The next
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step up is the Digital Deluxe Edition. This is available on PlayStation or PC. It's $10 more
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but it gives you access to an exclusive quest, a dark arts pack, which includes a dark arts
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cosmetic set, Thestral Mount, and dark arts battle arena. Now it also comes with a dark arts
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garrison hat, which they showed in the trailer. These look really cool. I love the look of the
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hat with the skulls and I love the robe that comes with it. I think, you know, those along
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with the Thestral Mount, which I believe this is the only way you can actually get a Thestral
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creature in the game is if you get the deluxe edition. They said that this is not going to be
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available later in the game so this is your only way to get it not only that but you get three days
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early access to the game if you get this deluxe edition which to me as you know a streamer i think
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i'll definitely be picking that up because you know the earlier you get a game the earlier you can stream it the hopefully more viewers you can get so i am leaning towards this edition of the
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game lastly is the collector's edition this is the one that comes with some physical merch that look
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really cool first of all you get everything mentioned before including the pre-order bonus
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and the dark arts pack. But you also get a steelbook case for the game, a collector's edition
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box, and a really cool book slash floating wand display piece. So you'll have to see it in action
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Basically, the book plugs into the wall and it makes the wand levitate over the book. Looks
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amazing. The issue with this is it's starting at $290. Now that's the price for the PS4, Xbox One
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PC version. PS5 and Xbox Series X is $300. So really, you're paying for the steelbook case
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which I do love steelbooks, and the floating levitating wand book situation, which looks
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really cool. Not $300 cool, in my opinion. If you are an ultimate Harry Potter fan and collector
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then I could see picking this up. But for me, I think I'm going to go with the digital deluxe
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version. As I mentioned last time I talked about this game, this is one of my most anticipated
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games in years it's giving me the same kind of excitement that grand theft auto 5 had when it
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first came out it's just really shaping up to be an epic looking game now with this update came a
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new trailer that showed a alternate side mission that you can pursue if you're interested in
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of sebastian sallow's dark legacy so sebastian is actually your slytherin classmate um he's
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around the same age as your character in the game and you can learn some really dark magic if you so
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choose this will give you the ability to learn at least one of three unforgivable curses including
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the crucio spell that allows you to inflict the sensation of horrific pain upon the target so
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i'm more of like a goody two shoes kind of guy i think i'm gonna go with the the lighter side of
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the game but if you are interested in exploring that especially if you're doing a second playthrough
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it definitely looks amazing i love that they're not keeping this game only on like the happy
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be Hogwarts kind of, you know, gameplay. It's getting really dark and I like that a lot
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So as we learn more about this game, I'm going to make sure to keep you guys updated. Like I said
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very, very excited for it. I'm definitely going to get this day one, you know, maybe three days
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early because I'm going to get the deluxe edition. But I really want that pre-order bonus of the Onyx Hippogriff. It just looks so majestic. I really want it. But that does it for this week's
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episode. Stay tuned for more whiskey and video game updates. And until next time, this has been
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the Bourbon Bites Podcast. Cheers, and I'll talk to you next episode
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