Big Easy Vrs Milkshake In A Barrel-Proof Booker's Review

We go deep on Booker’s Bourbon and put two 2026 batches head to head, chasing the uncut, unfiltered barrel-strength experience Booker Noe wanted people to taste. Big Easy Batch brings the classic Beam backbone while Milkshake Batch surprises us with dessert-like sweetness that still feels unmistakably Booker’s.

• why Booker’s stands out as uncut, unfiltered, barrel strength bourbon with real batch variation 
• where Booker’s comes from in the Jim Beam lineup and why the flavor profile is a bourbon benchmark 
• pricing and availability differences across states and how we track releases 
• details and story behind Booker's 2026-01 Big Easy Batch plus full tasting notes 
• details and story behind Booker's 2026-02 Milkshake Batch plus why it “drinks below proof” 
• our Barrel Bottle Breakdown scoring for nose, body, taste, finish and how a “butt up up” works 
• the rare tie at 18 out of 18 and the tiebreaker chart that crowns the final winner 
• rapid-fire verdicts on best nose, best finish, most “Booker’s” profile and which bottle to bunker 

www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things scotchy bourbon boys. If you listen on Apple, please 100% leave us a five-star review. 

A barrel-proof showdown that somehow turns into a tie, then a dessert-bourbon debate. We pour Booker’s 2026-01 Big Easy Batch against Booker’s 2026-02 Milkshake Batch and chase the exact thing Booker Noe intended: an uncut, unfiltered, straight-from-the-barrel style bourbon experience that doesn’t hide behind proofing or filtration.

First up, Big Easy Batch (129.1 proof) brings a more classic Jim Beam Booker’s profile, backed by a New Orleans-inspired story and tasting notes that lean roasted peanut on the nose with baking spice and a punch of cherry that reads like cherry cola. On the palate and finish, we get bold structure, oak-driven grip, and that long Kentucky hug that makes Booker’s feel like a “main meal” pour, not a sweet treat.

Then Milkshake Batch (124.4 proof) shifts the whole mood. The batch story ties back to Booker’s chocolate malted milkshake tradition, and the whiskey follows through with creamy vanilla, caramel sweetness, toasted oak, and a malt-like note that makes the name click. It drinks below its proof, feels unusually approachable for barrel strength bourbon, and pushes Booker’s into a sweeter direction without losing the house character.

We score both using our Barrel Bottle Breakdown for nose, body, taste, and finish, land at 18 out of 18 for both, then go to a tiebreaker chart across sweetness, fruit, oak, dessert, complexity, and drinkability to crown a winner. Listen now, then subscribe, share the show with a bourbon friend, and leave us a review with your pick: Big Easy or Milkshake?

If You Have Gohsts

Transcript

Whiskey Thief Tasting Room Spotlight

SPEAKER_00 0:46

I am here to tell you about Whiskey Thief Distilling Company and their newly opened tasting room. Whether you are up for a farm to glass distilling experience on the Three Boys Farm in Frankfurt, Kentucky, or an out-of-this world tasting experience in New Look, you won't be disappointed. At both locations, their barrel picks all day, every day, are like none other. Each location features stations with five barrels, each featuring their pot-distilled bourbons and rye. Once the barrels have been thieved and tasted, you can make a selection and clean your own bottle. A day at Whiskey Thief with their friendly staff and ownership will ensure you many good times with good friends and family. Remember to always drink responsibly, never drink and drive, and live your life unconscious and unfiltered. Tuesday, a Tuesday in July. Welcome everybody. Welcome to the Scotchy Bourbon Boys Podcast. I am Tiny and I'm excited about this podcast tonight. It's one I talked a little bit on the pregame when we were pregaming about this, but we are putting two bookers. I I was thinking of blinding it, but you know what? I I don't think that was necessary for this one. We could maybe blind as we go forward into it. And then lately, what's been happening is what's I just don't, you know, when it comes down to the bookers at the end of the season, it's it's hard to get a hold of them. And especially here in Ohio for me, I don't know what's going on, but it it drops

Welcome And Why Booker’s Matters

SPEAKER_00 3:29

in parts of the state, but it hasn't been dropping, and it's always been pretty consistent of dropping by me. Now, a lot of times I go to the Jim Beam distillery and you could purchase it directly there. Costs a little bit more, but I have no problem paying a little bit more for one of my favorite, favorite, favorite brands of bourbon. The one thing about this brand specifically is it's it's basically created by Booker No to let's get up, to actually taste something out of the barrel that he was used to tasting. So he wanted to give everybody the closest experience to what happens when he's tasting and blending. So when you're taking barrels and putting them together, this is what he tastes, and then a lot of times it gets proofed down and whatever. But he wanted that experience of how it all gets dumped together, and he didn't want to, he wanted it uncut and unfiltered as close to what was out of the barrel. When I got into this in 2018, there weren't a lot of them that were like this. This uncut, unfiltered. Rare breed was is barrel-proof, but it's it's set up differently as far as how it's dumped and it's you know, it's not basically uncut and unfiltered. So, but it is it is barrel proof, but at the same time, this you you could get sediment in it. There's a lot of stuff that can happen, so it's really kind of cool. Always loved it. It's what I got into. This is why me and Super Nash, why we met, is because of the bookers that I put into the painting. It was a painting that I did going into the 2019 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. I was in booked in the Jim Beam dinner, which was a state dinner, at, and I called the festival and asked if I could have Fred and Freddie sign my painting because it's a portrait of Fred, Fred know, Freddie know, and Booker. And then it also has well it's it's just no, that's just crazy. Anyways, that's that's it's not there. Okay, so, anyways, so I was able to go to the dinner and Fred and Freddie signed the painting, and I had a I had a gift for them of another painting that it was signed by me, and it was a smaller version of the painting uh because I paint digitally, and then I use acrylics to finish the painting, the the bookers, but the it was they hung it in their house. I got to meet Fred's wife Sandy No, and Sandy is become a special friend. We see her every year whenever we're down in the Bardstown area, and she's Freddie Know's mom. And so it was hanging in the gym beam, you know, right in their kitchen above their in their kitchen. They have a fireplace, and it was really cool that it got hung up in there. But Super Nash saw the painting and said, I got that bottle. So he called me up, and that's how it happened. So Booker's has been a big part of the Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Anybody who's watched this before knows how cool that that that it that is what Booker's has become to us. And every year we highlight the batches. I was just talking to my wife. I have enough uh Booker's boxes and bookers to make a wall. I'm like, I need to, we could just screw all the boxes together, put the bottles in, and it would make a booker's wall. And it's something that I think I'm gonna do going forward. But bookers also to me as what I can say is that Booker's is the whole package. It's taste, it's barrel-proof, it's packaging, bottle design, history, everything that I want in a bourbon because I'm a I'm a fan of I'm a fanboy of bourbon and whiskey, and I'm in it for everything. I, you know, some people are like, well, the packaging and blah. I just want everything. I I like good packaging, and Booker's delivers there. I like good labeling, delivers there. Great whiskey delivers there. It delivers on all the things, plus it batches all four four times a year, and you get the different of the different batches. There's there's other drops that I've got, but they don't quite have different names. They just have different numbers. And every batch is named with a story, and we're gonna go into that a little bit. Now, we are the Scotchy Bourbon Boys, www.scotchybourbonboys.com for all things scotchy bourbon boys. We have t-shirts and glen Karen's for sale. So check out the website or contact me directly. Say, hey Tiny, I want a Glenn Karen, and I'll get that Glen Karen out to you. Venmo me, that's fine, that's not a problem. And then also we are on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X along with Apple iHeart and Spotify, plus anywhere else that you want to listen to podcasts. We're there. But whether you listen to us or you watch us, you gotta leave good feedback. Become a member, please. On Apple, if you listen on Apple, please 100% leave us a five-star review. I've been trying to get the

Where To Find Us And Support

SPEAKER_00 9:06

reviews up, and reviews mean so much. Sometimes people are haters, and if you get hated on, it's good to bury those those haters or reviews. That's not that's far and few, but you know, that's what brings down. So I need more people to bring us back up. So thanks to that, and uh I want so welcome, man. We are here tonight. We're doing Booker's 2026 01, the big easy batch. Booker's 2026 02 milkshake batch. It is something like I said, I don't know why I can't get it, but I had both these but all these bottles. One bottle was picked up for me in Wisconsin, and when I was in Michigan, brought to me in Michigan. And then the other two bottles were picked up in Chicago, in the Chicago area, for way cheaper. I mean, I the one was $79.99 and the other one was $89.99. Here in Ohio, they're $99.99. So the price has, I was happy on this as far as pricing, and I was able to get them. I believe the next batch hopefully will be out in the September area when we go to Kentucky Bourbon Festival. So I'm looking forward to picking it up at the festival for the third batch, and then the fourth batch, you never know. I mean, I had one year where the where I thought that was it, and then they dropped an extra batch. And you just never know. And but we keep up with it and we make it our bourbon of the year. I think Jerry's batch last year was our bourbon of the year, and then we keep track of them, and then at one point we could match all the batches together, maybe have a decade batch, right? When we get to 10, go back, figure out which ones we thought because once you open them and test them, I don't usually finish them off. I finished off a couple bottles, I would say kitchen table, the tailgate batch that went down really well. And I had to get another one of those. So, yes, there's some batches that do get finished, but most for the most part, I'm not, you know, with how busy we are with the podcast. But I do want to get into before I get into the actual thing, I want to get into what's happening this Saturday. Now, this Saturday we are having, and I gotta get to, I'm gonna go here. Yeah, this one. I wanted to do this one. Let's get on Facebook right here. Oh, this content is all right. Yeah, that's not. Let's go here.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Thomas Anderson is drinking 2601. All right. Let's see. I'm gonna go right here. That should be there. Get rid of that. I know I'm live. Let's get this off. All right, here we are. I got the I wanted to, yep, this is it right here. It's the Mother Stewart. We're doing the Mother Stewart. I wanna see

Bourbon And Cigars Event Details

SPEAKER_00 13:15

how is it up here or down here? Alright, I gotta see. Yep. The Bourbon and Cigars 2026. Um, there's Raffle Prizes, Black Diamond Brewery, High Bank Distillery, the Bella Dayton Distillery, Echo Spirits, Dog Stilling Comp Distilling Company, Dexter Bourbon Company, Emin O Spirits, Indian Creek Distillery, Hainer Distilling Company, Rustic Farm Distillery, Middle West Spirit Old Elk. And that is the Mother Stewart's Bourbon and Cigars that the Scotchy Bourbon Boys and Mother Stewart's are putting on a Bourbon and Cigar event. Tickets are available. You gotta go to my Facebook page and follow the link. Purchase tickets, they're $75, and it's amazing what you get off this. I believe I wanna say, I'm gonna click. Let's see if I click on that. All right, here we go. It says where it is, it gives you a link of where to go. Let's see. I wanna say Columbus guests. All right. Tickets. Yeah, it gives you a ticket. I think it's $81.88 total for an unf here it is. I gotta just go here. This is what it says. Join us Saturday, July 25th from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for an unforgettable bourbon and cigar experience. For just $75, which would be $81.88 with taxes and everything, you'll enjoy pours from 10 of Ohio's finest craft distilleries, plus enters you to the two, and you get two premium cigars to savor throughout so plus two premium cigars to savor throughout the afternoon. Each ticket purchase automatically enters you into an exciting prize drawing featuring bourbon themed giveaways and exclusive items. And an added bonus, the first hundred tickets sold will receive a custom commemorative Glenn Karen tasting glass. They looked awesome. A perfect keepsake for any bourbon enthusiast, whether you're a seasoned whiskey collector, cigar aficionado, or simply looking for a great summer event with friends. This is one bourbon experience you won't want to miss. Secure your tickets early, raise a glass from us on July 26, 5th. Alright, so it's July 25th. There's raffles and prizes. And last time I think I was signing things, we signed stuff, the Skatchy Bourbon Boys. As far as you know, there's giveaways and everything, plus, you get to taste from 10 Ohio distilleries. You saw this is a fantastic event. We did it before, bourbon and cigars, which was was June 15th of I want to say it had to be 2020. Um it's this when I met CT. So it's probably it was June 15th, 2022, because then it was this the festival, and then 23. Oh, it could have been yeah, 2022 or 2023, either or, but we did that and it was very successful. But there was only three dis distilleries there that time, and the local cigar guy. This time we've got it down. This should be fantastic. You don't want to miss it. If you're in the Ohio area, make sure you check out the Mother Stewart and the Scotchy Bourbon Boys Bourbon and Cigars. That's Saturday from three to six. Get your tickets. This is gonna be fun, and you can meet uh myself. I will be there. So there you go. I checked that out now. Let's see. I gotta see. I think I gotta go back because yep, I gotta go back to Bookers. All right, so there I am. All right, let's uh now. All right, so that's it. Alright, so let's get going now on the podcast for Bookers. Hey, cheers, Martin. Uh let's see. That's good to see Martin. Hey, Kirk. And I think Greg is still watching. I don't know. I haven't seen, yeah, he says cheers. Let's see. We've got we're putting up 20 the big easy versus milkshake. We've already gone through this. I mean, Booker's is uncut, unfiltered, barrel strength, small bat selected by Fred. No. It used to be Booker now? No, it's Fred. One of the things that Booker said to Fred, and Fred's told this story many times. It's like he said to Fred, don't fuck up my Bookers.

Booker’s Basics And Batch Philosophy

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And Fred has not. Why every batch the it's the same, it's the same mash bill, but the but the barrels are chosen for the batch, and the batch is a limited batch. I mean, they they make I mean, and Fred keeps it at like a seven, uh it's most of the batches are seven. A couple went to six, and he didn't like it. So pretty much everything since then has been at least seven years, almost eight in some cases. So it's kind of then that's the youngest bourbon that there when you put a stage statement, it's got to be the youngest that's in there. There can be older stuff, but the youngest that's in there. So making these batches is fantastic. And Fred's really, I mean, honestly, he's he's damn good at it. All right, so we've got Booker, Booker No created bourbon, he wanted to drink. The industry wasn't, we know this, the industry wasn't doing the greatest, and he basically was down in the Boston distillery going through and coming up with what eventually would become Booker's, Baker's, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden. Those four premium brands, which did not exist. And when he created Booker's, that was the one where he originally bottled it only for family and friends. He would ask, he would bottle it and then ask people what they thought. It was the first commercial barrel-proof bourbon ever. Why Booker fans chased every batch is because each batch is unique to itself, but the the the general Booker's flavor profile of Jim Beam is known for that flavor profile and and one of the markers for what good bourbon should taste like. So the different batches are very unique. Some are sweeter, some have the classic roasted peanut flavor, some are more vanilla, some are more brown sugar. But they're but they're bold statements of bourbon. The mouthfeel is fantastic, the body on these are unlike anything else. But, you know, initially Booker thought that you'd buy it and you would proof it to where you liked it. And didn't, I don't think for one second that he realized that people would be drinking it at 125 proof to 127, 130, whatever. Each batch comes out a little bit different, and they'd be just drinking it the way it is. But that's that's where the bourbon industry has gone. And it pretty much was where it's you know how it started. So I really think that's a that's been a damn cool thing as far as what Booker did. I mean, he would also when he started the brand and going around, he basically just basically did what successful brand ambassadors do. They go out on the road and get people to drink and taste it. And Fred was no different as he took over, and Freddie isn't either. I mean, when you go down to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival or you go places, they have dinners, they have they go around, they do bottle signings and everything that you need to do. This this is the the the brand, I think, as far as the staple of what best describes a bourbon on a commercial level. This is the big easy batch that we're gonna start off. I can give you each one comes with a card. And I'm sitting on that card. Let's go, that's the milkshake batch, but let's go to the big easy batch. Okay. That's down here, right? There it is. It is 64.55 proof ABV, which would make it 129.1 proof. It's seven years, two months, and 15 days. It's a it's Kentucky striped bourbon. It's the first release of Booker's 2026 collection is Booker's Batch 2601, the Big Easy Batch. It pays homage to a place Booker came back to all his life, where he'd always find something new to love. For a guy who lived in Kentucky, Dadger found himself in the big easy plenty. He made his first trips down there as a young

Big Easy Batch Story And Tasting

SPEAKER_00 23:10

man. Friends like Billy Billy Roby by his side, the two of them eating and drinking their way around town. Sometime after that, he and mom visited on their honeymoon. In later years, they'd always point out the bar where they shared a drink as newlyweds. The place seemed to love him back. Okay, let me just switch this. Will that work? Alright, love him back during one. Visit, they changed the name of Bourbon Street to Jim Bean Bourbon Street for a day. But it was the flavors of New Orleans that really had a special place in Dad's heart. He couldn't get enough if enough if it's food, a fresh oyster here, a bowl of jambalaya there, but you wouldn't find his favorite dish on the menus of any fancy restaurants. No, it was the lucky dog street cart that caught his eye and stole his heart. Dad found flavors he loved everywhere he went. I hope you'll see as taken with this bourbon as he I hope you'll be as taken with this bourbon as he was with those big easy lucky dogs. Fred No Bean Family Seventh Generation Master Distiller. And that is, let's just see if I can do something about it with my keyboard and just make the type bigger. I'm just like, why am I reading control plus plus plus? There we go. That should take care of it. Alright. So as we keep going with this, it's the first release of Bookers and it's right there. Let's see. Okay, so when Fred was writing these tasting notes, the weather was unreasonably cold, which was earlier than normal. I really enjoyed the beautiful color of the batch that came from over seven years in the new white oak barrel. The nose is appealing and well balanced with vanilla notes that make me keep nosing the glass. I enjoyed the initial warm taste on the cold day. Then the finish was pleasant with sweetness lingering on the back of my throat. Dad would appreciate this batch of Booker's named for one of his favorite cities to visit. Booker's Big Easy batch is made up of five separate production dates and were aged in five different storage warehouses. This batch is aged, will be to seven years and two months and 15 days old. The proof is 129. The breakdown is as follows. 16% was stored on the third floor of warehouse H, a nine-story house. 24% was stored on the sixth floor of warehouse G, a nine-story house. 16% was stored on the fifth floor of Warehouse O, a seven-story house. 22% was stored on the third floor of Warehouse J, a nine-story house, and 22% was stored on the fourth floor of Warehouse M, a seven-story house. So there you go. So they don't mess with my bookers. That's what it said. Don't mess with my bookers. Alright, so this is the big easy batch. And I am going to grab my Glen Karen and put her in there. At one point we might put this together. Let's see what we got going there. Stairway to Heaven says, Where bartender, where's my whiskey? Well, here is the big easy batch going in. Now this has been open a little bit. You could see when I was in Michigan, I got was able to get this and attain it and share it with my son. So that was a lot of fun. Alright, so this one is a more of a classic beam. The peanut is coming through. Now let's see. I think on this one, the nose, what you're getting. I get a lot of baked spice up front. I get the roasted peanuts. Now the official professional notes are brown sugar, cherry, chocolate, roasted peanuts, baking spice, and rich oak. Now my nose is definitely picking up the baking spices. And I could pick up the roasted peanuts. And I will say I could pick out the cherry. I'm not getting I get more baking spice than brown sugar on the nose. I don't get the brown sugar, I get the bathing spices, are coming through over the brown. At the top, I can get the cherry. It's almost like there's a cherry cola thing happening. It's close. Definitely. If there's a chocolate, it's a deep dark cocoa chocolate. There we go. Now I am going to. All right. So we're gonna compare this. All right, so the palette is they're saying chocolate covered cherries, raisins, hazelnut, plum, thick mouthful, sweet oak. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

There's lots of cherry. A chocolate covered cherry. I'll give you that. Not picking up too much raisinuts or hazelnut. But I will say somehow the plum and then the oak comes through. I'm cuz I'm gonna, this is gonna be, these both are gonna be barrel bottle broke down. Now the finish. Leather, dry oak, baking spices, and a long Kentucky hug. Long Kentucky hug is really there. This is a bold expression of bourbon. It's not so much a dessert bourbon. It's a bourbon, more like the main meal bourbon. I mean the the the leather, there's a little bit of leather. Because, and that says dry oak, but a lot of times, in my opinion, what takes the it takes the the leather okay, can I see I can't see more, but it takes the leather is usually what I how the dryness is what causes me to to separate it from oak. So they say leather dry oak, and it's usually one or the other for me, and it's gonna I'm gonna say with leather, the baking spices are still there, and a long Kentucky hug, man, this warmed me up. On a day, I don't I mean, I really don't need to be warmed up, that's for sure. All right. Is there anything else? No, I think those that's okay. So a lot of people on the reviews, I mean, big fruit notes. No, I would say yes, less peanut forward than many previous batches. I think the chocolate-covered cherries is coming through. Not a lot, the peanut is more on the nose. Classic old school bookers, yes, very excellent viscosity. That's always pretty much what it is. And chocolate and cherry dominate on this one. I agree the cherry is dominating. Not so much the chocolate, but that's where we're at right there with that one. I'll put that aside. The other one that people are picking up, Corey asking me a question. The finish gets a little tannic. Nah. The oak becomes slightly drying near the end, and that's why I'm picking up and I would say it's leather. So those are just kind of things. So let's um let's move on. Now we got this in my glass, and I got my other scotchy bourbon boy glank here. Let's move on to milkshake. I opened this so that it's been sitting a little bit. Pour a little bit of that, and now we get to have fun with some milkshake, which I don't have any issues with. Let's go. I think I can go back and go to it's up here. Milkshake. See this batch. Here it is, and it's big. All right. 202602 milkshake batch. The second you release of Booker's 26 collection in the Booker's batch, dad loved his dessert as much as he loved his bourbon. And being the inventor that he was, he found a way to bring the two together. The milkshake batch. Now, I have to say,

Milkshake Batch Story And Tasting

SPEAKER_00 33:06

I didn't, I was very highly skeptical of this, but I'm not anymore. The color, let's see. Here we go. The second release of Booker's 26 is Booker's Batch 2602 Milkshake Bags. Dad, okay, so we said that about that. When I was young, Dad and I spent many an afternoon out fishing at nearby lake. We had plenty of fun out there, but the best part came later on the way home. We'd pull up to an ice cream dip and order ourselves two chocolate milk malted milkshakes, award for our hard work. One day, Dad tried out mixing some gym beam into his own shake, and a tradition was born. By the time Freddie came along, Dad figured out how to make them from scratch. When we lived next door, Dad would have Freddie go over to his house whenever he got a craving for that chocolate malted milkshake. He'd whip some up for himself, Freddie and me. And today, whenever we get the same hankering, we use we use the family recipe that Booker invented for us all those years ago. If you want to try it out for yourself, the recipe's simp recipe's simple. All you need is chocolate, malt, ice cream, and milk, and of course a good pour of Booker's. The color of this batch is rich golden amber that came from the time spent in the barrel resting in the changing seasons of Kentucky. The color aged bourbon always reminds bourbon always reminds me of the thoroughbreds that will be racing now that spring has finally sprung here in Kentucky. The aroma is rich and thick with vanilla and oak that is inviting you to taste it. Take a taste. The taste of the blend is full of flavors that are a pleasure to assess and invite you to take another sip. I enjoyed the full flavor finish that lingers and makes you want another sip. I am going to make a milkshake tonight and add some of this batch of Booker's. I know it will be a great, it will be great and bring back memories of my dad enjoying his favorite treat, a chocolate milkshake with some bourbon added to it. Booker's milkshake batch is made of up of four production dates that were aged in four different storage warehouses. This batch is aged seven years, six months, and 12 days. The proof of the batch is 124.4. The breakdown is as follows. 26% was stored on the fifth floor of warehouse 3, a seven-story house. 23% was stored on the third floor of warehouse L, a seven-story house. 19% was stored on the third floor of Warehouse M, a seven-story house, and 32% was stored on the fifth floor of warehouse G at Waterfill, a seven-story house. So there we go. All right. Yeah, that's that's almost whatever. So we already did this. This is love. So here we go on the nose. Rich caramel, vanilla, dark chocolate, roasted nuts, heavy mouth. Wait, that's a palate. Nose, vanilla, caramel, sweet cream, baking spices, and toasted oak. The baking spices are so back on this one. There's a ton of vanilla. A little bit of comb. And that toasted oak. That's what it the toasted oak instead of the baking spices. That's like kind of what that is. Alright, let's see what we got going here. We got Kirk. Kirk is making lots of comments. Up of the lungs. Up the fucking is the best team in the comp. Shout out from Melbourne, Australia, by the way. A shout out from Melbourne, Australia. Can you shout out at the top of your lungs? Yes, Melbourne, that's great. All right, so the nose. It's malt. There's a there's an aspect of a malt. Let's take a set. I mean, this is as close. I mean, it's it makes sense that you call this a milkshake. It would be fantastic in a milkshake, but the milkshake flavors are there. Don't get a jar of chocolate. Let's see. Caramel, vanilla. Get a little bit of nuts, not peanut. And it's the oak is sweet. And the finish. No, you don't get quite as big of a hug. But the finish is long, there's no doubt. There's a little bit of spice. It's like it says warm spice. I agree. It's not the baking spice, but it there's a spice aspect to it that comes. But it's sweet, a creamy sweetness. I'll give you that. And there definitely is the oak aspect of it and lingering caramel. But it tastes so similar. That is probably seriously. Since I've been tasting bookers, I this this is the most unique. It's easier than most bookers, there's no doubt. There is no doubt. Alright. Here. So I agree. A lot of the reviewers are saying one of the sweetest bookers releases in years. There's no doubt. It drinks below its proof. That's what I'm saying. It's easier than most than most. And then classic bookers with dessert flavors benefits from sitting in the glass 15 to 20 minutes. Well, that that is even more. I mean, I'm glad I opened this and let it go. That's been fantastic. All right. So we're going to do a side-by-side comparison, and we are going to do a barrel bottle breakdown of these two bookers. And we're going to put them head to head. This is what everybody's been waiting for. It's going to go head to head. So the way that this works is our barrel bottle breakdown scale is based off of four categories. You got your nose, your body, your taste, and your finish. The nose in the body, you can get up to four knocks, and the taste and the finish, you can get up to five knocks for a total of 18 knocks. But if one of the categories is exceptional, you can give it a but up up for an extra knock.

Head To Head Scoring Breakdown

SPEAKER_00 41:18

And that allows you to get 19 out of 18 for a perfect bourbon. We'll see what happens in the knocks. And we might have if the knocks come out the same, we'll have. Nose of the Big Easy three out of four. And I give the nose of the milkshake four out of four. Or so mo milkshake pulls ahead right off the bat. Body.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

I think I can do this.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

Because bookers always pull off. So we got. So now we go to five. We go to the tasting. Let's see. All right, so we're going to tasting. We can get it up to five. Kirk says. All right. So I it's just like I don't know how how okay. So I did bring myself some water. So let me get some water on my palate. Clear that off. All right, here we go. This is the big easy. No, this is not the big easy. This is the milkshake. So comparing bookers, sometimes what coats your mouth, it's an oily mouthfeel, and if you drink the two together, the one's still there to manipulate the other. That milkshake has a lot more vanilla. And now the baking spice and the brown sugar comes out on the other ones. All right. So now we're looking at taste.

SPEAKER_02 49:36

Way more caramel.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

They both get five on the taste. All right. Last but not least, this is the finish is gonna determine it. And it's so dumb. But the one thing all right. The finish on let me see what it all right. I want to see if I'm still getting the leather.

SPEAKER_02 50:53

So big and bold.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

It's long and leathery. So I would say I'm gonna give the finish from there a four. We're gonna have to see. I need a little bit more of this.

SPEAKER_02 51:18

I know this is much sweeter. Caramel.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

A little spice, but sweet, lingering caramel. I give the finish a five. So I'm gonna say that the body of the beezy is bigger than the body of Milkshake. But there's not a higher level. I could have given the body. Well, I could do that, which would then make this a tie. But is it a whole point body-wise? Let's I'm gonna make the decision right here, and it's gonna be a tie if I make this decision. Boom. I mean, everywhere. Explosion. No, it's baking spice, and the taste isn't the greatest as far as like what level the I'm not saying a bad taste, but it's not the milkshake has a much bigger taste. See what happens. It's calmly, it drinks under its proof, so it calmly goes to everywhere. So I'm gonna give the the body a butt up up for the big easy. And that takes us to two eighteen out of eighteens. I love bookers, there's no doubt about it, but as far as two quality bourbons, they're 18 out of 18. So we gotta go to a tiebreaker for the first time ever on a booker's book off. So I just made that up. All right, so we're not that far, we're not that far into it, and I'm gonna bring everybody in in a little bit. Let's see, that's where we're at right now. But so they have this side-by-side comparison chart where big easy, and the the the categories are sweetness, peanut, fruit, oak, dessert, complexity, and drinkability. Now you can rate each one one to ten, and then you get one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So it would be 70 points, is a perfect score, and anything underneath. So sweetness on a one to ten scale is a six.

Tiebreaker Chart And Final Winner

SPEAKER_00 55:23

Well, we'll try it. Is a six for me on the big easy and a ten on milkshake. So sweetness it goes right up there. As far as peanut goes, the big easy probably pulls a four and the milkshake pulls a two because there's a nuttiness to it, but now we're at twelve and ten. Twelve to ten. Fruit. All right, a five on cherry and a zero. So now we're on fifteen to twelve. Oak. Go to sweet oak. Three and seven. Eighteen nineteen after the oak. So milkshakes ahead after oak dessert. Four for Big Easy and eight. Twenty-two, twenty-seven, twenty-seven, twenty-two going into it. Complexity. Eight and eight. Thirty-five to thirty drinkability. Ten and ten. Forty five forty. So I would say based off of that side-by-side comparison aspect of the big easy compared to the milkshake, and milkshake is about dessert, and dessert meant something that was like the category that that that that's four points gained on that category. And so 45 to 40 out of 70. So I would say, and it's not like you could get a perfect score in this because peanut and fruit, it's whether or not it was in it and how it was, and those are the comparisons. And so the 45 to 40 on the what you call it. And I definitely say that milkshake is the win. I I definitely when I was drinking the two based off of whatever, it's they're so hard to compare. So that's why I mean they both pulled off the perfect score of 18 out of 18. They didn't get uh the the body saved big easy. That's what it was. It was a bigger body, and I didn't think of a butt-up up until after I was done because I knew it had a bigger body then, but the but they both were quality five bodies, and then did did it qualify for a butt-up up, and in the end it did. So it was kind of cool to watch, or actually kind of cool to go through because of the fact of the body is what pulled it out in the end for the tie. But as far as the comparison that was presented to me by ChatGPT of what I should do in case of a tie, this is what it came up with. And basically, milkshake won it 4540. So there you go. We got two 18 out of 18s on it, and on the the Scotchy Bourbon Boys barrel bottle breakdown. And then we've got the tiebreaker going to milkshake, and I agree with that. I do like it a little bit better than, but they're both spectacular. So fantastically, we've you know we we pulled that off. So uh the last uh so I got a little bit of fun debate questions. Which one smells better? Obviously, the milkshake did. Which drank below proof? The milkshake drank below proof, which had a better finish? I think the milkshake came across as a sweeter finish, which tastes the most like Booker? The big easy would be the most like Booker's. Which bottle would you bunker? I would definitely I'm gonna bunker a big easy, but I think I'm gonna bunker the milkshake based off of what we just came up with. Which would you buy again? Milkshake. And I already bought the big easy again. Which ones wins if they're both sitting on the shelf? Milkshake does win if they're both winning on the shelf. So there you go.

Rapid Debate Questions And Wrap

SPEAKER_00 1:00:55

There was a blind raining. Yeah, that didn't look okay. So highlight the range with the booker profile. So it's saying that it leans into chocolate and traditional bourbon death and old school pour with layered complexity. Milkshake takes bookers into a sweeter direction with creamy vanilla caramel dessert like right next to the. I I think I want to go upstairs and make myself a vanilla shake and pour it in. Or maybe I'll go get a blizzard tomorrow and pour it in there. Who knows? Both are unmistakably booker, but they showcase two very different personalities, which makes for a perfect head-to-head on tonight's show. Cheers. Alright, guys. So we're gonna finish this up. I I think I covered it. Let me know what you think, but I'm gonna throw this out after we finish up, but so I'll just get get into the I'll get into the final chapter of this booker's podcast and throw it out to everybody to come on and let's let's talk and sip through some bookers, John. I'm I'm I hope your dad's surgery went well. I think based off what I was seeing, it did. I understand that you can't be drinking tonight and or on, but thank you for watching so much. Everybody put John's dad's prayers for a quick and speedy recovery. And then also remember www.scotchybourbonboys.com for Glense t-shirts, and then also make sure that you check us out Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X, along with Apple, iHeart, and Spotify. But no matter whether you listen to us or watch us, wherever, make sure that you support us. You can become a member, you can be what Kirk is top shelf. I need another top shelf guy to compete with Kirk because Kirk's gonna win no matter what. And but you got super chats that you can do and all that kind of stuff that all helps us. Our sponsors help us. Shout out to Middle West Spirits, a shout out to Whiskey Thief Distilling Company, a shout out to Royce and Rebecca Neely at the Nealy Family Distillery. Thank you guys so much for your sponsorship, and then also a spot, the shout out to Alan Bishop. You know, you're looking good, man. Good. Keep up the the life change. There's no doubt about it. And remember, good bourbon equals good times and good friends. Make sure you drink responsibly, don't drink and drive, and live your life like the Scotchy bourbon boys, uncut and unfiltered, and AI will take us out.