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Whiskey heists, billion-dollar gaming buyouts, and a rare single malt review? This week’s episode of the Bourbon Bytes Podcast covers it all. Clifton dives into the jaw-dropping $1 million Westland Distillery heist, breaks down the shocking $55B buyout of Electronic Arts, and closes things out with a Byte-Sized Review of Single Cask Nation’s Westland American Single Malt. It’s whiskey news, gaming drama, and one of the fruitiest American single malts I’ve ever tasted. Cheers, and Game On!
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0:00
Today on the Bourbon Bites podcast, we have two breaking news stories from the world of whiskey and video games
0:06
including a $55 billion buyout of one of the largest video game companies in the world
0:11
and an American whiskey heist that's one for the history books. Plus, I'm reviewing a single-cast nation pick of Westland's Single Malt American Whiskey
0:30
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Bourbon Vites podcast. I'm your host, Clifton, and welcome to
0:38
the week of Thursday, October 2nd, 2025. It is now officially spooky season, so we're going to
0:46
have a lot of fun, scary whiskeys in store for this month. But this week, I think there were two
0:52
major news stories that I wanted to address before we get into the silliness and the craziness of
0:58
October. Now I'm sure I'm not going to be the first one to tell you about at least one of these
1:03
If you listen to any other bourbon or whiskey related news, whether it's a podcast or a blog
1:09
that you read, I'm sure you've likely heard the headline of today, which of course is the heist
1:15
at Westland. So I saw this all over my feed, even on places that I didn't expect to see any whiskey
1:21
news. It was showing up there because this is a first of its kind, well not first of its kind
1:27
but one of the largest of its kind, especially here in the United States
1:32
But I do want to talk about some video game news that's just as big, if not bigger, than this story before I get into that
1:39
because I have a bite-sized review that I want to do along with that story of Westland
1:45
But the other biggest story that hit all of my feeds this week was the announcement that EA, or Electronic Arts, was being acquired for $55 billion
1:54
dollars. So they were a publicly traded company but they are now going private and they're being
2:00
acquired by PIF which is the public investment fund in Saudi Arabia along with Silver Lake and
2:07
Affinity Partners. And this is massive news in the world of gaming. If you don't know EA or
2:14
Electronic Arts or EA Sports they own a plethora of some of the best-selling games in in the world
2:21
right now. The one that hits home the most for me is the Sims franchise. I actually have been
2:26
playing a lot of Sims 4 lately. Kind of re-found interest in that last week or so and bought a
2:32
couple new expansion packs to test out over the weekend. And yeah, I've just been really enjoying
2:37
those games. But that franchise is included in this buyout. Now, not only that, EA is also known
2:43
for their other titles like Madden NFL, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, the FIFA
2:50
Games, Need for Speed, Battlefield, Bejeweled, all of these big games are part of their portfolio
2:57
and they are going to be acquired by these firms out of the Middle East. And at first I was kind
3:04
of confused of why they would be interested in it, but it seems that Saudi Arabia specifically
3:09
has been trying to build out their entertainment and gaming industry. They feel like those are
3:14
areas that they've kind of been a bit underdeveloped in with their economy. So they're
3:19
really trying to branch out and invest. And I will say this is probably one of the biggest deals
3:22
I've ever seen. $55 billion is what they're valuing Electronic Arts at, which is crazy
3:28
Now, I won't pretend to be, you know, super in the weeds on the financial aspects of it all
3:33
but I do have concerns as a gamer. Now, of course, their argument for this move is to accelerate
3:39
their strategic vision to advance the future of entertainment. That's what EA says in their
3:45
press release. Now, the good thing is they're going to continue to be headquartered here in the U.S
3:49
Their CEO is going to stay in place. But this company that previously owned just 9.9% stake in
3:56
EA now owns 100% of it. Now, it seems like this was good news for shareholders. It boosted the
4:02
stock a bit. They're now going to give those stockholders $210 per share in cash. Now, this
4:07
is monumental because this is the largest all-cash sponsor-take private investment in history. The
4:15
press release said that the board carefully evaluated this opportunity and concluded it
4:19
delivers compelling value for stockholders and is the best interest of all stakeholders. That's
4:25
coming from their independent board of EA directors. Now there's also a few other quotes here as to why
4:31
they picked PIF out of Saudi Arabia. This quote says, PIF is uniquely positioned in the global
4:37
gaming and esports sectors, building and supporting ecosystems that connect fans, developers and IP creators. So again, they're really trying to build up this infrastructure
4:47
there. And I know with EA, they, you know, they own the FIFA franchise. I know soccer or football
4:54
whatever you want to call it, is huge in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia. So I'm
4:58
sure they see some potential in that property alone. And the sports games, you know, I don't
5:03
I don't really care that much, honestly. Again, I think they're going to continue to make these games
5:08
I don't think they're going to really change too much, other than maybe cutting some costs and hiring a lot of non-American developers to work on them
5:16
But I do worry about some games, like I mentioned, The Sims
5:21
Listen, not to make this political or anything, but I do know that Saudi Arabia does have some pretty strict expectations
5:28
when it comes to gender expression, sexuality, women's rights, things like that
5:33
And I think that The Sims is a world where anyone can be anyone they want to be
5:40
And I've enjoyed that about Sims since I was a kid. I used to play on console with my little brother and make him have to be the wife while I was the husband
5:50
But as I got older and I realized that you could actually, you know, really express yourself
5:55
Not only just the way your Sim looked and the career path they took. But even things like, you know, how they express themselves
6:00
Whether they want to dress a little more feminine. whether they want to be gay, whether they want to be bi, things like that. I think The Sims has
6:07
been such an open-minded game that really lets you explore. It doesn't have to be your identity
6:12
right? It's your Sims. You aren't attached to your Sims, but it allows players to kind of
6:17
see different lifestyles and see different play styles depending on, you know, how you run your
6:23
game. And that's something that I've always praised Sims for. Even in their marketing, they do show a lot of, you know, same-sex couple, interracial relationships, things like that
6:31
But I do have a little bit of fear and this could just be me as an American speaking and not fully understanding the cultural implications of what that means with it being 100 owned by a Saudi Arabian company But I can help to be a bit concerned that they may take some of their religious and political ideologies and use
6:50
it as a form of censorship in the game. And I think if that were to happen, I think the Sims
6:54
community is outspoken enough that they would either, one, not let that happen, or two, do a
7:00
boycott of the game. Because listen, I've played Sims since I was literally a child. It's one of my
7:06
favorite franchises. Yes, it has its quirks. Yes, it has its bugs. I also totally get that they are
7:11
a microtransaction hellscape, especially me. I just bought two expansion packs over the weekend
7:16
so I'm fully aware that I've bought the game multiple times. It is a cost sink for sure
7:23
but I will say if they do start, you know, limiting the freedom of expression that you
7:28
see in these games, I think a lot of people are going to be upset and they're going to look for alternatives. So I could totally be off base and the speculation could mean nothing, but
7:36
I'm not the only one talking about it. I think with the cultural differences between, you know
7:40
the U.S. and somewhere like the Middle East, I just hope that they realize that they have a global
7:46
player base and that censorship shouldn't be tolerated in things like video games, where the
7:52
whole point is to, you know, create your own life and your own journey. That would just be a huge
7:57
step backwards for progress in video games. I guess you could probably have a similar concern
8:02
for some of the military games like Battlefield. I mean, you know, again, I'm not trying to be
8:07
political here. I'm just saying, like, if you have a company in the Middle East that owns
8:11
you know, the stake in electronic arts, who's to say that they are going to make the good guys or
8:16
the bad guys in some of these games? Like, could that influence it? Again, it's all speculation
8:21
I'm sure the sports games will be fine, but it does make me a bit curious and a bit concerned
8:26
But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. EA thinks it's their way to advance the future of
8:30
entertainment and I hope so but yeah I'll keep an eye on that one again I don't expect anything
8:36
immediate to change I think this is going to roll out over time they're treating it kind of like we
8:41
see a lot of companies that get bought out like they're saying you know oh nothing's going to
8:45
change it's going to be the same EA that you love but in my personal experience that isn't always
8:51
the case so I'll keep an eye on it I'll see for sure I'll hopefully see some positive impacts from
8:56
it. Like I said, I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I just, you know
9:01
I have some shared concerns with other people in the Sims communities over this buyout
9:07
All right, well, like I said, we had two big news stories. The next one is, of course, the Westland
9:12
Heist. Now, once I give you the news, I'm going to review actually a product from the Westland
9:17
Distillery that I've not reviewed here on the podcast yet. So I'm really excited to get into
9:21
that. But let me tell you what's going on in Washington, because this is, like I said
9:25
major headlines. An estimated $1 million worth of whiskey was stolen from Westland Distillery
9:34
Now, if you know Westland, they're famous for their single malt whiskey out of Washington State
9:39
They partner with a lot of stores for some single barrel expressions, but they also have a flagship
9:42
expression as well. But approximately 12,000 bottles of craft whiskey was stolen from the
9:50
distillery back at the end of July. So they say around 1 p.m. on July 31st, a man in a freight
9:55
truck pulled up to the Westland Distillery warehouse in Burlington and showed warehouse
10:00
workers the appropriate document required to pick up the whiskey. The 12,000 bottles were then loaded
10:05
into the freight truck bound for a warehouse in New Jersey, but they never arrived. So they're
10:11
suspecting that these were fraudulent documents that were used to pick up the whiskey, and it was
10:15
Several days before any of this was reported, it wasn't until August 6th that they filed an incident report in New Jersey for the missing whiskey
10:23
They have not found out who was behind this or where the whiskey went
10:27
Now, this is really unfortunate news, and I don't think I would say that if this were maybe some major distillery where 12,000 bottles really is a drop in the bucket when it comes to their output
10:39
But we're talking about Westland here, right? They're a craft distillery. they do have nationwide distribution but I mean really they they are a small business so
10:47
one million dollars in revenue lost because of this is a huge deal and I think the most
10:54
unfortunate part of this is 3,000 of those bottles were half of that year's special release of their
11:01
Garyana cask whiskey it was supposed to be a 10-year anniversary 10-year-old Garyana oak
11:06
American Single Malt. It was going to be Westland's first 10-year product and you know that's where it
11:12
gets emotional to me because you know this whiskey isn't something they're just spitting out every
11:15
day. It's not like they stole some new make or whatever. They sat on these barrels for 10 years
11:20
to make this special expression and their garyana casks always do really well. If you're not familiar
11:25
garyana oak grows in the Pacific Northwest so that's probably why they do that tribute to it
11:30
I know a few other brands like Doc Swenson's which is also based out of Washington also do a garyana
11:35
oak but that's a bourbon this is an American single malt. These were going to retail for $150
11:40
each which I think is a very fair price for a 10 year old single malt whiskey with a unique oak
11:45
cask finishing and it really you know makes folks wonder what's going to happen to these bottles
11:51
Apparently these kind of heists aren't that uncommon in like Scotland. Apparently when those
11:56
happen a lot of the bottles end up on the secondary market in Russia believe it or not
12:00
so they make it out of the country entirely but when it comes to this I mean where are these
12:05
bottle is going to be sold are they just going to disappear for a few years and then uh independent
12:09
bottler is going to come out with a mysterious 10 year old single malt uh a garyana cask i don't
12:16
know i don't know what happens in these type of situations i do know um the only thing i can relate
12:20
it to is some stores will have like a lost barrel um where it's either a single barrel that another
12:26
store bought but they forfeited or something that's been sitting in the back of a warehouse
12:29
I also know, you know, especially with Scotch, there's a lot of teaspooning done where they, you know, call it a blended malt
12:37
They just put a little bit of one additional whiskey in it. That way they don't have to disclose where the original is from
12:42
I hope that something like that doesn't go down. If it does, I hope it goes through the legal process and Westland gets the, you know, the bulk of that income
12:52
And listen, I know our tiered system in the U.S., our three tiers of distribution is messy
12:59
I don't like it. I like how other countries do it much, much better
13:04
I wish you could buy directly from the distilleries. You don't have to go through a distributor. But unfortunately, that's the way it's set up
13:10
So this makes it really murky of what's going to happen to these bottles. The fact that they were already bottled makes it even more interesting
13:16
They're not just stealing barrels. They're stealing bottles of whiskey. So they going to have to either re them put a new label on them Gosh I don even know what they could do And that not to say you know I looking forward to seeing what happens to it because I do really feel for the distillery and I hope they can find them Honestly it be great if they could just find the truck
13:33
and bring it back. That'd be, you know, great news. Whether or not that's going to happen
13:37
I don't know. As long as the Witsi's not been messed with, that's when it gets a little sus, right? Now, even though, you know, I said like a million dollars is devastating to a small craft
13:44
distillery, it seems like Westland is being, you know, pretty optimistic about it given the
13:48
circumstances. They say this is an extremely rare thing, and while it is a setback, they're confident
13:53
that they're going to get to share this whiskey, and they're proud to make something people can
13:57
enjoy. Right now, they're saying that they continue to focus on serving their customers instead of the
14:01
investigation. Now, I'm sure now this has made, you know, national headlines, there might be more talk
14:05
about it. So it's good to see that they're mostly in high spirits. It's just, you know, like I said
14:10
if this were to happen to a bigger distillery where that's just, you know, chump change for them
14:15
it would be a little more of a fun story and I'd be a little more excited about it but
14:19
this is it just hurt my heart a little bit and I hope they're able to find those involved and
14:23
you know make up some of those funds because while they can't make that 10-year whiskey again
14:29
they're gonna have to start from scratch or you know continue aging bottles for longer than they
14:33
intended I'm sure that they will get back on track and we'll see a 10-year release even if we may not
14:38
be able to get this certain batch of it hopefully we'll see more 10-year in the near future so
14:44
cheers to those folks keep them in your thoughts and hopefully that gets solved soon I will keep
14:50
an eye on that story if we get any updates in the coming weeks but all this drama makes me
14:55
really thirsty for my bite-sized review all right well I was looking to see if I had any
15:09
Westland to accompany the story of the heist. But the only bottle that I have is actually just a
15:15
sample bottle. And this is from a Single Cask Nation 2021 release. This was a single barrel of
15:21
Westland single malt, aged seven years old, in ex-Moscatel barrels, which isn't too crazy for
15:30
Westland. Honestly, they do a lot of red wine cask finishes. So it's not that surprising. But I do
15:36
know that Single Cast Nation does some incredible barrel selects so I am beyond excited to give this
15:44
one a try and hopefully have a good impression of Westland. I've only had a couple single barrel
15:49
picks from stores and I remember them being delightful but I've never had this Single
15:54
Cast Nation pick. At least I don't think I've reviewed it because a little bit of the sample
15:58
bottle is missing so I definitely enjoyed this one evening I just don't think I've done a full
16:02
review of it so we're going to do it today on this bite-sized review. Now I'm having to do some
16:06
digging to get some info on this just because it came out you know four years ago. Like I said seven
16:11
years old this was distilled back in 2013 and bottled in 2021. The ABV is 52.55 percent so that
16:19
comes out to be about 105.1 proof. They only had about 266 bottles of this available and unfortunately
16:27
I'm not able to find what the retail on this release was. All the listings for on their website
16:33
have been you know removed unfortunately. So if you happen to see this review please leave a comment
16:39
either on the YouTube video of it or just on my Discord server what the retail on this should be
16:44
because I'm gonna go based off of other Westland Single Cast Nation releases which they're still
16:49
doing picks. So I found an online release from 2024 of a Westland nine-year-old single malt that
16:56
was matured in ex-Sauternicast and that one's going for about $125. I would probably estimate
17:02
this around that same price point maybe closer to 100 when it came out back in 2021 but again I
17:08
can't find any original listings for this all I can find is you know people leaving their tasty
17:12
notes and things like that and I don't like to read too deeply into those reviews until I've done
17:16
my own just because I don't want to be influenced by their notes so I would guess between 100 and
17:20
125 retail just from what I can find online so let's go and get this sample poured as with my
17:26
sample a couple weeks ago I don't remember who sent me this I've had it for a few years
17:31
I need to get better about making a list of who sends samples and that way I can thank them properly
17:37
but I do know that this was sent to me by one of my discord members because I recognize the
17:42
handwriting as someone that sends me samples frequently like I said the other week I think
17:46
it might be Patrick and Heather Starkey but like I said it's been several years they used to live
17:50
in Washington as well which kind of contributes to that theory but I could be wrong there as well so
17:54
whoever sent me this please let me know I'd love to give you a proper shout out let's go to nose
18:00
this whiskey. Oh yep that's a single malt. So like I said my experience with Westland has been
18:06
limited. I do know that they've done some exclusive store picks across southern California with really
18:12
unique secondary cask finishing. Those usually come in at cast strength and relatively high proof
18:17
This one being 105.1 I assume it's cast strength as well. But on the nose that is such a grain
18:24
forward nose, I guess I'll say. Now muscatel wine is typically a fortified wine, although technically
18:30
it's any wine made from muscat grapes. And on the nose there is a little bit of a fresh berry that I
18:36
think is coming through once you get past the fact that you're smelling something that is very
18:40
malt forward. There's a bit of a sweet kind of dessert shop berry, almost like a fruit tart kind
18:46
of note. The more I nose it, the less of like actual fruit I'm thinking I'm getting on this. So
18:51
you know, I initially said fruit tart, but to me this is more of like a fruit marmalade or like a
18:56
filling, maybe like a jelly-filled donut, because it's not screaming fresh fruit. It definitely has
19:01
a bit of a condensed and, what's it called, macerated quality to it, but very sweet. I'm glad I let this
19:09
open up a bit, because when I first noticed it, like I said, I got all those malt and grain notes
19:13
which were a little off-putting to me. Now, I do love me some American single malt. I've grown
19:17
to enjoy it quite a bit over the years. But sometimes when something reads like that
19:22
I interpret it as crafty, you know, usually a bit young, although this is seven years old
19:27
which is pretty incredible. But I just had to let it open up quite a bit to get some more of those
19:31
sweet fruit deserty notes. In terms of the actual fruit, it kind of reminds me, okay
19:37
this is going to be like a mix between like a fig newton filling, but also a wild berry pop tart
19:43
Like, I don't know what flavor wild berry is supposed to be in a pop tart, but it's kind of like a sweet kind of blueberryish kind of strawberry mixture
19:51
Actually, I don't know. I need to look up what wild berry is. But it kind of is reminding me a little bit of that fruit blend for that
19:57
but with a darker, richer quality to it that I think is coming from like the fig notes that I'm getting on it
20:03
Which is to be more expected from a fortified wine cask All right I really love the nose on this and I going to go in for a taste Cheers Oh wow yeah that a really delightful palette That proof
20:16
is is great. I was questioning whether or not it was castron just based on the low number on it but
20:21
with the amount of flavor that this is packing I can tell for sure that if this isn't castron
20:26
it's it's a great proof for it to be bottled at. Again I'm surrounded by this just overall
20:31
dessert shop fruitiness. Different in the way that I say dessert shop when it comes to American
20:37
whiskey, you know, a lot of times with that, I'm thinking of like pie crust, a little bit of toasted
20:41
bread. This to me isn't that. It's actually more of the, you know, like I said, the fruity filling
20:47
or maybe the cake filling or cake toppings. It is mouth coating. It definitely lingers. It almost
20:52
reminds me, you know, with it being so sweet, it kind of reminds me as if I were to have a
20:57
lollipop or a sucker, whatever you call them. But of this particular flavor, like I said
21:02
it's like a dark fruit, maybe a bit of grape, but not like the sour grape, you know, artificial
21:07
grape that we get in the US. Maybe it was more of a natural grape, maybe mixed with a bit of like a
21:12
you know, I don't know if a raisin flavored, raisin flavored lollipop is a thing, but it kind
21:19
of is those darker, richer flavors, a little bit of blueberry there as well. Wow, wasn't expecting
21:24
such a fruit bomb out of this. I mean, I was with it being, you know, wine cask finish, but
21:29
it's the most dominant flavor here. It's a more refined malt grain note. It is cereal grains
21:37
It's definitely still in that territory, but it's not that kind of sour, tart cereal grain you
21:42
sometimes get with a younger single malt, especially American single malt. This one is a bit more of a
21:47
dry, almost more like a hay note, which doesn't sound that appetizing by itself. But when you
21:52
complement it with all the fruit that I'm getting on the you know mid palate and even the back end
21:56
it really is a well balanced whiskey finish wise I would say medium to long it still lingers with
22:02
the fruit but it goes a bit darker there's a bit of like a bit of a tannic note there a little bit
22:07
on the end it kind of reminds you of some way that some bourbons do it kind of goes a little
22:11
bit like leather a bit in the back end it doesn't stay as bright and fruit forward once you've kind
22:16
of swallowed it it kind of lingers on the back of the tongue but a little more tannic a little bitter
22:20
There's a little bit of sulfur on the back end, but it's nothing that's going to overwhelm your palate
22:24
Honestly, I think it complements the overall sweetness of this whiskey. It actually gives it a little bit more depth, a little bit more lingering feelings, at least when it comes to the finish
22:35
But overall, I mean, Westland is known as being one of the best American single malts that's out there
22:41
That's pretty well known in the whiskey community. You know, they've been doing it longer than a lot of distilleries
22:45
And I love they experiment with these different cask finishes. I know they have a beer cast one available by Total Wine, but I typically go for the darker
22:55
red wines, fortified wine finished whiskeys. Those are right up there in my palate. You know
23:01
I just bought a Starward Australian single malt whiskey that was finished in fortified wine cast
23:09
That actually was a pick from Les Maisons du Whiskey in Paris, one of the few bottles I brought
23:13
back from my Europe trip, and that was fantastic. This is reminding me a lot of the things I loved
23:18
about that one. I think that one might have been a little bit older. I don't remember off hand. I
23:23
don't think I did a full review on it. Maybe I'll do that sometime soon. But this is reminding me of
23:27
everything I love about that bottle. And I know I paid about $160, $170 for that one. So I think this
23:33
is on par with that. So when it comes to bang for your buck with this being what I would guess was
23:38
probably $125. I think this is an amazing pour and a great buy for my buck. Now, I wish I would
23:45
have said that back in 2021 and I would have bought a bottle of it you know that would have been great
23:48
um but yeah just nothing really bad to say about this whiskey at all it's well-rounded that uh
23:55
cask influence from the secondary cask really really expands on what's already great about
24:00
this whiskey it takes you know an exceptional seven-year-old American single malt rounds it out
24:05
gives it a bit more fruitiness and more full-bodiedness uh from those muscatel wine casks so
24:12
well done to the folks at Westland for making this and the folks at Single Cast Nation for
24:18
picking this because as with most Single Cast Nation releases this is an exceptional pick and
24:23
it makes me want to go out and seek out some of their more recent Westland picks that they've
24:28
been doing because like I said a few more have popped up since then it's a partnership they
24:32
regularly do when it comes to American Liskey. In terms of score honestly this one's pretty hard
24:39
default with this being such a limited release I'm sure it's sold out by now don't pay the $500
24:44
on secondary for it obviously I don't think it's worth that but I think for the price which again
24:49
this is based on it being you know $125 or less again it could be more which would cause me to
24:54
revisit this number but for this being $125 I think this is a 9 out of 10 this is really
25:01
exceptional with see I think the price is a bit high for a you know seven year old single malt but
25:07
I think what Westland's doing continues to be innovative in the world of American single malt
25:12
whiskey. I mean, unfortunately, with the Gary on a 10 year, we're probably not going to see as much
25:16
of that as we could have. Would have loved to try that one. I would love to review it. But
25:21
yeah, I think their whiskey continues to stand up and surprise even someone that's a bourbon
25:28
drinker. I think it's an American single malt that can get you interested in American single
25:32
malts. And I've always felt that about Westland. If you see a bottle of this on the shelf for under
25:36
$150, grab a bottle. You're not going to regret it, especially if you're a fan of high-proof
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American single malts with a cask finish or not even American single malts, high-proof single
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malts with a strong wine cask finish because I know I am. All right, well that does it for this
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week's episode of the Bourbon Bites podcast. Thank you all for listening in. Let me know your thoughts
25:59
on the news stories and the review today. You can leave a message on our Discord server, which
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everyone is able to access at bourbonbites.com. You can also send me an email contact at bourbonbites.com
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or tag me on social media at bourbonbites. I look forward to all of your comments and messages after
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each of these podcast reviews. I know a lot of you go on YouTube and comment on the episode there
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I see it. I respond to it as much as I can. So thank you all so much. I love to hear from you
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and let me know what you want me to review next. But until next time, this has been the Bourbon
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Vice podcast, a whiskey podcast with a gaming twist. Cheers. And I'll talk to you guys next episode
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