In this episode of Bourbon Bytes, Clifton dives into the 2025 Old Soul Single Barrel Bourbon—a bold cask strength pick from Mississippi's oldest distillery… or is it? With transparency under the spotlight, Clifton uncovers what’s really inside the bottle, and why it might just be the sleeper hit of the summer. Plus, he breaks down the latest in the bourbon world: the new Michter’s Legacy Series releases, a Pinhook Rye that’s winning big, and some exciting cask strength news from Knob Creek. And for bourbon lovers who love to travel—he spotlights Bardstown’s new luxury hotel, complete with a speakeasy and spa. 0:00 Introduction 0:45 Upcoming Vegas Adventures 1:50 Michter’s Legacy Series Overview 8:55 Pinhook’s Award-Winning Rye 10:15 Knob Creek Cask Strength Updates 12:49 The Trail Luxury Hotel in Bardstown 17:41 Byte-Sized Review: Old Soul Single Barrel Bourbon
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0:00
Today, on the Bourbon Bites Podcast, Mictors is releasing two new Legacy Series bourbons
0:06
Hinhook Rye wins an outstanding award, and Knob Creek announces Cast Strength store pick releases
0:12
Plus, I'm reviewing a Cast Strength pick from Mississippi's oldest distillery, or am I
0:16
hello everyone and welcome to the bourbon bites podcast i'm your host clifton today is thursday
0:35
july 3rd right ahead of the holiday hopefully you guys have some amazing plans with your friends and
0:41
family or if not just spending some time enjoying the time off. I'm actually heading to Las Vegas
0:47
this weekend so by the time you hear this I'm most likely already on a flight to the strip
0:51
It's been a minute since I've gone. Those of you that have been following me for a while know that
0:55
I typically go to Vegas at least once every three or four months. I'm a huge fan of this city. Of
1:01
course I only live about 45 minute flight from there from LAX so it's a very easy trip but I do
1:08
enjoy a little bit of gambling enjoying the city the lights the bars the food we're actually going
1:14
to kelly clarkson's new residency on opening night on july 4th so that should be a lot of fun
1:20
always been a fan of her i think she's an amazing vocalist i can't wait to see what she performs
1:25
never seen her live funny enough i'm actually planning to go to a ton of concerts this year
1:30
wasn't really planned but it seems like a lot of people are just on tour this time of year so
1:34
yeah if I'm ever not online for a stream or for a podcast just know I'm most likely either at a
1:40
concert or on vacation but before I took my trip I wanted to make sure to get this episode out
1:45
because there is some whiskey news and reviews that I want you guys to know the biggest of which
1:51
is the new 2025 legacy series releases from Mictors now these are regular releases they've
1:59
putting out every year. This is the Bombergers Declaration and the Shinx Homestead Sour Mash
2:06
I remember buying these probably three or four years ago when they were more readily available
2:11
Haven't bought the more recent batches. The prices have gone up quite a bit and the availability has
2:15
kind of gone down at least where I am. But they're considering this year's release more experimental
2:20
than ever. Now both the Bombergers and the Shinx Homestead releases are releasing this month this
2:27
July but actually they released a third release earlier in the year called Bomberger's PFG and I
2:34
actually did not know that this ever came out I never heard of it but it was introduced as the
2:38
third member of the series and the PFG stands for Precision Fine Grain and this was announced back
2:44
in February actually so I give myself credit you know I was not doing the podcast then. Now they
2:50
don't release the mash bill of this or any of the releases but this one is aged with French oak. We
2:56
all know I'm a big fan of French oak in whiskey. I think it really amplifies and complements some
3:02
whiskeys and I love seeing brands really try it out and see how it works for them. So the PFG is
3:07
finished in barrels made of fine-grained French oak from several different forests within the
3:14
region of France. These staves were then air dried for at least 40 months by a local river in France
3:20
and put together for the finishing. Now that one comes with a red label. It's bottled at 100.2 proof
3:28
Speaking of precise, that is a very specific proof. And the retail on that one was $140. So
3:34
has anyone tried that? I didn't even know this existed until I was looking at all these new
3:37
releases that just came out this month. Very interesting. A bit higher price for a 100 proof
3:42
whiskey, but I'd definitely be interested in trying it. I do love Michter's releases and I do love
3:47
French oak. I just kind of wish I would see a little bit more about what the age statement
3:51
might be for these bottles. I know that the staves were aged for a minimum of 40 months
3:57
outdoors but that doesn't really tell me anything about the whiskey inside the barrels so it's a
4:02
little not clear so that's why I wouldn't necessarily pull the trigger on that at first
4:06
glance but I would absolutely love to try it. But right now we're going to talk about the two
4:10
main releases which of course is the Bomberger's Declaration and the Schinx Homestead. Now Bomberger's
4:16
declaration comes in at 108 proof. Like more other recent releases of the whiskey, it is aged in
4:23
chinkapin oak barrels instead of the typical American white oak. And they say that this
4:29
emphasizes wood science as the key to character for this line. Now even though I looked at this
4:34
before, I had to remind myself what chinkapin oak is. It is a fast-growing, long-living hardwood
4:40
tree growing 12 to 24 inches a year. Now I know old charter oak from the Buffalo Trace line has
4:46
previously used this chinkapin oak before so some of this info i'm pulling up is from their release
4:52
about that but everything i'm seeing says this oak brings out a sweet toffee and butterscotch nose
4:58
and vibrant fruit flavors on the palate even at a young age i've seen things like cherry and
5:05
spearmint and herbs and honey all these great sounding notes now to be honest it's been a
5:11
minute since i've actually had a uh mictor's bomb burgers release like i said the last one
5:16
I was probably 2018, 2019. Just been harder to find. I mean, I see them pop up, but they're sold
5:21
out instantly. I remember there was a day where they were just on the shelves. Now, as with a lot
5:27
of things in the world of whiskey, that's to be expected. But now that I'm a little bit more
5:31
advanced in my knowledge of different types of barrel, whether it be French oak, misonara casks
5:36
anything fun like that, I would love to do a side-by-side of this with something that's not
5:41
age in those barrels and see what characteristics are coming specifically from that chinkupin oak
5:46
So they just tell you age statement based on the amount of age on the drying of the oak. It says it
5:53
varies from 18 months to three years to four years to five years. Beyond that it really doesn't tell
5:59
you anything about the age of this whiskey. So that's a little bit of the reason that I've always
6:04
kind of been hesitant about these releases. Yes I would absolutely love to try them but we're not
6:08
getting really much transparency on what's going into them. Now the Shinx Homestead Sour Mash
6:13
whiskey this was first bottled back in 2018 This one coming in at 91 proof and it most popular because it features different grain varietals that are rarely seen in other Mictors releases and other American whiskeys in general Last year they used a malted rye in the release
6:30
And this time, they are using caramel malt. Now, you'll notice this one's labeled as a sour mash whiskey
6:36
It doesn't meet the criteria to be considered a bourbon or a rye. So again, we don't know the mash bill
6:41
But this one was at least partially finished in French oak toasted, not charred barrels
6:47
so that makes it a little bit interesting a little bit unique for example in 2024 they released a
6:52
malted rye and for the first time a caramel malt in the recipe I think it's it's a little misleading
6:58
because it makes you think of flavor profiles that aren't necessarily always there and I can go into
7:02
a whole deep dive on that but I do want to say that they don't tell me any of that on this year's
7:07
release this year it just says that it was partially finished in a french toasted but not
7:12
charred barrel. And this was meant to accentuate the character of the rye in the whiskey. So
7:18
similar to the Bombergers, they're working with French oak here. And neither of these have age
7:23
statement. Like I said, the Bombergers is labeled a straight bourbon whiskey. So we know that it's
7:27
at least four years old. But the other expressions we really don't know. Of course, we like to assume
7:32
that they are significantly older, especially at the price point. Speaking of which, the Bombergers
7:36
comes in at $120 and shanks comes in at $110 now that's retail of course they get marked up quite
7:43
a bit like i said in the past i've enjoyed both of these releases i haven't bought them in recent
7:49
years because the price continues to go up and the transparency doesn't get any more transparent
7:54
sometimes i understand things like contracts and things like that preventing you from being honest
7:58
about how long something's aged or where it's aged or where it's distilled um but this one i don't
8:03
know I feel like they're being a little bit intentionally uh vague with their descriptions
8:07
so as someone that really does support transparency in whiskey especially when you're talking about
8:12
something that's over 100 a collectible release I think there should be a little bit more honesty
8:17
in terms of what we're actually getting even if it doesn't you know give away their secrets I
8:22
totally get keeping your secrets but if you're gonna put a whiskey out and you're gonna finish
8:25
it at least tell us you know how old the whiskey was before it was finished or maybe even tell us
8:29
how long it was finished. If I'm going to buy a nice bottle like that, I'm going to want a story
8:34
to go along with it. And if I can't really talk much about what went into the bottle, it's really
8:38
not going to give me what I want from it. Yes, it may taste amazing and no doubt these probably are
8:43
both great. But if I don't have a story to go with it and nothing to really justify the price before
8:49
buying it, it's definitely a try before I buy type situation. Now, before we move on to the next big
8:54
news story, I do want to give a shout out to Pinhook's new nine-year rye. It's part of their
8:58
vertical series this one actually scored a 98 points and the gold outstanding award at the IWSC
9:05
North America Awards this of course is distilled at MGP 95% rye 5% malted barley aged at Castling
9:13
Key and bottled a cast strength 111.2 proof retails around 90 dollars I've had mixed feelings
9:21
about Pinhook over the years I do love Castling Key as a distillery some of the releases have kind
9:26
of been hit or miss for me speaking of you know try before you buy like the last release I think
9:30
pinhook is one of those for me however seeing that this new release got a 98 point and a gold award
9:36
makes me definitely want to seek it out now we all know that these award things are subjective
9:40
sometimes there's you know people saying that they bought their awards again I don't know the details
9:44
I'm not in the industry in that way so I can't really speak to that but I do love reading other
9:50
people's opinions on whiskeys and seeing something score highly makes me really want to try it so
9:54
I'm going to keep an eye out for that Pinhook release. I have seen the previous Vertical
9:58
Rye releases. This is just one that has not quite hit my area yet or if it has I haven't noticed it
10:04
but yeah I'm curious to try it. I think you know the older the whiskey gets the better it's going
10:09
to get. They're 90 bucks for a nine-year cast rent and there's nothing to really complain about
10:13
there. I'm really excited to give that one a try. Now the next story is new to the podcast but it's
10:18
something that I've kind of been hearing rumblings about lately. If you've been following my YouTube
10:22
channel you know that I recently picked up the Knob Creek Cast Strength Travelers exclusive release
10:27
from a duty-free shop at LAX. It's the first time I've ever seen a Cast Strength release of
10:34
Knob Creek Bourbon other than the 25th anniversary that came out several years ago and the Cast
10:40
Strength Rise. But there have been talks of a new option for barrel selects at Knob Creek to come in
10:47
cask strength rather than traditional 120 proof and that is seemingly confirmed here in this recent
10:53
article from Forbes magazine. They say that they are coming out with a single barrel select cask
10:59
strength release. I've seen the TTB label over at Cumming Whiskey. By the way if you guys aren't
11:04
following Cumming Whiskey on Instagram they are an amazing resource for all the latest and greatest
11:09
bottles that are hitting the shelves soon. Plus they're just a really good guy so make sure you
11:13
give them a follow. But yeah, this article says that this uncut, unfiltered bourbon is the latest
11:17
addition to the brand's lineup, offering a higher proof option for drinkers and retailers looking
11:22
for a more intense, straight from the barrel whiskey experience. And I know maybe some people
11:27
may feel like, why? It's already 120 proof. But I think the integrity of having a straight from
11:32
the barrel cast strength release is something that's missing a lot in barrel proof picks. I
11:37
mean, we are seeing it recently with, you know, Elijah Craig. They're now going to barrel proof
11:41
picks but a lot of brands when you do picks you do have to end up unfortunately bringing it down
11:46
to a standard proof point and Knob Creek for the longest time was one of those brands but now seeing
11:51
that they're letting you bottle it at cast strength is really really exciting especially for someone
11:56
that is a huge huge fan of the brand. Now in terms of proof of these new cast strength releases it
12:02
says for the bourbon they're going to be approximately 110 to 130 proof and the rye is going to be 100
12:09
to 120 proof. So theoretically these could be lower proof than what we're currently seeing
12:14
but it's cast strength. They're not watered down at all. Sometimes you get a lower yield and get
12:19
higher proofs or you get like a you know a very high yield and a lower proof but getting to try
12:24
to cast strength I think is the best part of this. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for a
12:28
bottle. It looks like price range is anywhere from $59.99 to $99.99. Again it depends on the pick
12:35
It says retail on this is $69.99 but as with most picks it really does vary on where you're
12:42
getting it what state you in all that fun stuff But again super super promising I can wait to get my hands on a bottle Now lastly I get to share a little bit of my travel enthusiast side of things If you don know that about me I a big whiskey lover food lover and travel lover So
12:57
this article kind of hits all my favorite things. Now, this news is coming out of Barstown, Kentucky
13:03
which many of us know as the bourbon capital of the world. And I'm excited to learn that they just
13:08
got their first luxury hotel with a pool and a speakeasy. Now this just opened in early June
13:16
It's called The Trail. It had a major redesign over the past few years. Looking at the photos
13:22
and videos of this new experience gets me very very excited. Now the reason I say luxury hotel
13:29
is because this is classified as the city's first high-end boutique hotel. Not sure how you guys
13:34
travel. I love to travel on a budget but when I see a chance to try something unique and something
13:38
just very, very special to the town that it's in, I'm willing to splurge a little bit to get that
13:43
full experience. And this seems like the perfect hotel that I would absolutely do that in if I had
13:48
the opportunity. So funny enough, this was first opened back in 1971 as a Holiday Inn, but it's now
13:55
become part of the National Register of Historic Places. It's had a bit of a mixed history from
14:00
going in and out of business over the past few years. But in 2021, it was put up for auction
14:05
and that's when high school friends Will Hardy and Nathan Edmonds put in a bid and won. I'll skip
14:12
all the financial part of it because again that's not something that I'm an expert in or or care that
14:17
much about but I will talk about the experience you'll get if you are staying here. Their executive
14:22
chef Marvin Woods is the host of the Emmy-nominated show Home Plate. They've written three cookbooks
14:29
and they helped former first lady Michelle Obama with her Let's Move campaign. Lots of points on
14:36
their resume to be excited about. But this restaurant is 110 seats and has a lobby bar
14:42
that goes out into the hotel called Embers. The food is described as Southern fare with a healthy
14:48
ish twist where they celebrate local ingredients and recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
14:54
Seeing some of the photos, it looks fantastic. I encourage you guys to look this up if you're in
14:58
the area. Check it out. But that's not all. There's more reasons I'm excited about this hotel
15:03
And the biggest one is the fact that they have a speakeasy in the hotel and it's called the
15:09
Bourbon Vault. It's actually hidden behind a floor-to-ceiling piece of art and it is a dimly
15:15
lit 36-seat lounge with a mid-century modern vibe. I just love the look of it. I'm seeing the photos
15:21
here. I don't know their bourbon selection but with a name like that I have a good feeling
15:25
they're going to have some really good bottles but it does seem like the perfect place to center your
15:31
bourbon trail trip especially if you're going to be hanging out in the Bardstown area now Bardstown
15:36
is home to some of my absolute favorites out there of course Heaven Hill one of my top distilleries
15:41
ever but you also have Bardstown Bourbon Company Luxe Row Willett and lots of other smaller ones
15:47
in the area as well so if you're looking for a good home base for your next bourbon trip
15:51
definitely look into this especially if you're willing to splurge a little bit of course they have a lot of different room types and suites depending on your budget but definitely consider
15:58
this an option when you're going to the area if you're looking for a bit of relaxation in between
16:02
the distillery trips because I know when I go on the bourbon trail I do a lot of drinking of course
16:07
I do a lot of ubering and ride sharing but it's always nice to have a good home base nearby to
16:13
come back to to kind of recover chill out maybe enjoy some drinks at the bar before dinner or even
16:19
have a nice dinner and speakeasy experience on property now of course they have a spa it's
16:23
actually a 660 foot detox wellness area with a sauna, a cryotherapy pod, oxygen bar, and IV therapy
16:31
lounge. And trust me, you're probably going to need that IV therapy. But yeah, for those of you
16:35
looking for accessibility, the hotel does comply with ADA regulations for service animals. It has
16:41
a step-free entrance and the hotel features automatic doors. They also have four fully
16:46
accessible guest rooms and the accessible King Suite. They're all equipped with lower sinks and
16:50
counters, wheelchair accessible doorways and layouts, roll-in showers with grab bars, and visual
16:56
and vibrating fire alarms. Y'all know I'm a big advocate for accessibility on this channel. We
17:02
have some amazing members of this community that are disabled, including myself, so I always like
17:06
to give those shout outs whenever I can. I know that's kind of a pain point when it comes to a lot
17:10
of places in Kentucky, you know, the small bars, the speakeasies, they're really difficult to know
17:15
if they're going to be accessible to everyone, so I'm happy to share that this hotel is. Now, if you
17:20
have questions about the specific parts of it, like the speakeasy, you can actually visit their
17:24
website at thetrailhotel.com or reach them at 502-393-4150. Now, if you are a representative
17:33
from the hotel and you want to reach out and have me give an honest review of the hotel
17:36
like I give honest reviews of my whiskey, reach out, contact at bourbonbites.com
17:41
All right, well, it is the time of the episode where I get into my bite-sized review
17:50
So this week's Bite Size Review is a whiskey in a brand in a state that I've never had anything
18:00
from. So I thought it would be a fun one to do on the podcast to really kind of get a first
18:04
impression of not only the brand, but Mississippi whiskey. It's called Old Soul Straight Bourbon
18:10
Whiskey. And this is a store pick from my local store, K&L Wine and Spirits. It's a 2024 private
18:17
barrel selection of their cast strength straight bourbon whiskey. Mashville is 21% rye, 75% corn
18:25
4% malted barley. Now according to the back of the bottle, it says this old soul was selected
18:29
for our private client program. Throughout the maturation process, we keep a watchful eye on
18:34
single barrel profiles that show unique or distinguished characteristics. These rare finds
18:39
are shared only with clients with the discerning palate. Barrels that undergo this process are some
18:44
of the most judged and carefully reviewed. We hope that you enjoy this bottle and its character as
18:49
much as you enjoy the characters that championed this unique old soul. This is an uncut unfiltered
18:55
bourbon and it's actually from Cat Head Distillery which is Mississippi's oldest distillery apparently
19:01
Now as exciting as that sounds I had to do a little bit of a deep dive on this bottle. There's a
19:06
strategically placed label that covering up the additional info on this bottle I going to peel it off and see what hidden behind it All right Okay It what I expected I don think this was intentional I think it
19:19
just a barcode that was added by my store. But behind it, it does say distilled in Indiana and
19:24
aged and bottled by Cat Head Distillery. So yes, this is, of course, sourced MGP bourbon. Again
19:31
I don't have a problem with that. I do feel like it's a little bit misleading of it to be called
19:35
a Mississippi whiskey and of course we say it's a product of Mississippi's oldest distillery because
19:40
you know even if it's aged there it's really not their distillate so I don't know maybe I'm just a
19:46
stickler for things like that but I I really was excited when I saw this on the shelves and I'll
19:50
be honest I grabbed it because it said it was a Mississippi bourbon but um yeah full disclosure
19:55
this is MGP but I'm still excited to try it is a six-year-old release coming in at 121.36 proof
20:02
60.68% ABV. I paid $43.99. That's the main reason I picked it up seeing a six-year
20:10
single barrel bourbon pick from one of my favorite stores. But I do think, you know
20:15
I think for the price for a six-year MGB product, it's great. But I'm a little misled by the
20:20
labeling. But enough about that. Let's see how good the whiskey actually is. Let's go and give
20:24
this old soul a nose. It's definitely unique. I mean, they say that they do age it in Mississippi
20:31
So that introduces a whole nother climate of aging. We talked a little bit last week's episode about climate aging and how it's different between Texas and Kentucky
20:40
And I think Mississippi is definitely no different than that. I imagine Mississippi gets really hot summers, probably similar to Texas
20:47
So the whiskey probably really saturates that oak in that hot weather. Probably not as much fluctuation as you would get in Kentucky
20:54
Honestly, this has a different expression of oak than I'm used to. it's like it skips past the um you know the green um new oak quality that I give to a lot of
21:04
craft whiskeys um it has the element of that like a little twinge of it but it almost goes straight
21:09
to the bark I mean this smells like a dried um a little bit of like a sappy quality to it
21:13
definitely earthy in a way um it doesn't seem too sweet or anything like that I mean this this
21:19
smells like it's taking on a lot of character from that oak which is to be expected when you're
21:23
dealing with high temperature climates yeah that makes it kind of difficult to see how much
21:27
age is showing on the nose just because it's such a distinct characteristic of it, almost like it's
21:32
pulled out that little bit of bitter wood tannins a bit early. Not to say it smells young, but it kind
21:37
of is bringing out those flavors a bit more pronounced than I would have thought. It makes me
21:41
wonder how this is going to taste, so let's give it a try. Cheers! Oh wow, okay. Huh, yeah, I mean it's
21:48
still not sweet. There's like a darker sweetness to it, but the first thing I'm getting on this is
21:55
more of like a dried tobacco note or even like a I sometimes say like a library note like an old
22:00
book a bit of an attic a bit of a cedar that really tastes like an older whiskey on first
22:05
sip wow okay hold on I might have been a little harsh on my first impression of it I mean this
22:11
doesn't discount how I felt about the transparency but that palette was not what I expected I gotta
22:17
go for a second sip the sweetness is showing a little bit more but it's not like a super sweet
22:21
caramel it's more of like a dark chocolate a very bitter chocolate but there's some like vanilla
22:27
creeping in there every now and then it's such a hefty dark note otherwise that I feel like
22:31
the sweetness kind of gets lost mouthfeel wise I think that's pretty hefty body I think it's about
22:38
a medium body finish as well but when it kind of sits on the palate when it first hits your tongue
22:42
it does have a richness to it that kind of makes you think that this is a you know well one you
22:47
know it's a very good proof coming in at like I said 121.36 so the proof shows up but there's a
22:54
bit of an oiliness and a heaviness that kind of lends itself to making you think this is a higher
22:59
end whiskey than I mean at least what I paid for it yeah the finish like I said even though it's
23:03
not super long it's got a bit of a chocolatiness that goes down like a like a dark hot chocolate
23:09
kind of note maybe even like a chocolate sundae with like dark chocolate it's it's nice I mean
23:15
the palate surprised me how much I'm liking this. I mean, I would almost consider this a dessert
23:19
bourbon, but not in a sweet way. I know that doesn't make sense. This is like if you want a classy dessert. Let's say, you know, you have a nice wine. You want some dark chocolate. You know
23:27
you want to treat yourself, right? You don't want the cheap Hershey's Kisses chocolate. You want a
23:32
really nice piece of dark, dark craft chocolate. That's the realm that this is in, but at a
23:40
reasonable price point. I think this is a winner. It beat my expectations, especially once I learned
23:45
that it was Indiana bourbon, and it really brought a unique flavor that I don't have anywhere else in
23:50
my collection. So I'm going to have to go out and try to find another bottle of this, maybe a
23:54
different pick, a different age, but I'm curious to hear what you guys think. Have you guys had
23:58
Old Soul bourbon before? I just think I was kind of misled a little bit by it being labeled as a
24:03
product of Mississippi's oldest distillery. That's why you got to really check your bottles, folks
24:09
I tell you, sometimes they're really sneaky trying to make you think that this is a new product, but really it's just sourced
24:15
And with that pro tip, we're going to wrap up this week's episode. Again, thank you guys so much for listening
24:20
If you are enjoying the show, make sure to follow it on your favorite podcast platform wherever you get your podcasts
24:25
I've been seeing your reviews come in. I gave one shout out on last week's live stream
24:29
If you leave a review on whatever platform, let me know. I'm going to give you a shout out next week
24:33
if you're new here you can also check me out on youtube every thursday night around 7 p.m pacific
24:38
10 p.m eastern i go live with a one hour live stream not this week because i'm going to las
24:44
vegas but usually every thursday and if you want to support the channel you can support for as
24:48
little as two dollars a month at bourbonbites.com or patreon.com slash bourbonbites your support
24:54
means a ton of me and it makes all this possible so thank you to all of my bike club members and
24:59
patreon supporters i love y'all and until next week cheers hope you have a safe holiday don't
25:05
drink and drive either have a designated driver or call an uber yes it's expensive or whatever but
25:10
you know what your life is way more valuable than that expensive uber so be safe out there
25:15
enjoy your holiday weekend or if you listen to this later enjoy your day all right cheers y'all
25:20
and i will talk to you next episode
#Food & Drink
#food


