A Toast To Dave Sweet: Celebrating Wiskey & Barrel Nights from the Pleasanton Highland Games (S3 Finale)

# AI Transcript: BRC S3 E24 - Finale - please excuse any typos

Host:
It is 5 o'clock somewhere, and you've tuned in to Season 3, Episode 24, the somewhat delayed season finale of BRC. For those of you who'd like to watch this episode, I highly recommend it. You can view Season 3 on our website, YouTube, Spotify, WhiskeyNetwork.net, and Zencastr. I'm Kerry Moynahan, and due to the fires here in Southern California, we ended up taking our between-season hiatus a little early. So unfortunately, the Season 3 finale is coming to you late. The good news is, you won't have to wait long for Season 4 to begin. It will premiere the week after next. In an episode earlier this fall, I let you know we would be finishing up Season 3 with in-person coverage from various events that I attended over the year. For a finale, I ventured north to Pleasanton, California for the Summer Highland Games and Whiskey and Barrel Days. While at the games, I spoke to many whiskey experts as well as the recently confirmed Buchanan Clan Chief and his wife. We also spoke to one of the key organizers of the Whiskey and Barrel Nights events, Dave Sweet. Sadly, while we were in post-production of this episode, we received the sad news of his sudden passing. We here at Barrel Room Chronicles have been deeply saddened by this news and pass along our condolences to his wife and partner, Barb.

SPEAKER_14:
Please join us in a dram and toast to Dave, his life, and his contributions to the whiskey community. On Season 2 of Barrel Room Chronicles, I embarked on an amazing journey through Ireland, from Cork to Belfast, and nearly everything in between. Now, I'm going to do it all over again. But this time, you're invited. That's right. Join me this spring for a trip of a lifetime through the rich tapestries of Irish whiskey culture.

SPEAKER_15:
We'll visit iconic locations, such as the Titanic Experience and the new Titanic Distillery, and tour through the lush Irish landscapes and visit filming locations from the hit TV series, Game of Thrones.

SPEAKER_14:
We'll also visit historic sites, including cathedrals, jails, castles and more. Plus, we'll get to distill our very own batch of Clonacelti gin. To find out more or to book now, visit BarrelRoomChronicles.com and click on the Brock Tours photo.

SPEAKER_15:
Good afternoon, good morning, whatever time you're catching the show today. Today I am here at Barrel Night, well it's not Barrel Night, it's Barrel Days. It's Whiskey and Barrel Days today here at the Highland Games in Pleasanton, California. And I am here with... Zakaya Arnowitz. What a great name is that. And we're here with JBS and Impex. And we have a ton of whiskeys here, some of which have already been featured on the show, but there's two Japanese whiskeys that he's going to tell us about right now that I have not yet tasted.

SPEAKER_05:
So a couple things that we have here. This is a Fukano. This is coming from southern Japan, and it's a Japanese koji whiskey. So koji whiskey is kind of like a sort of a cousin to single malts. Instead of malting the grain, you actually inoculate a portion with a malt spore called koji. You see that in soy sauce, miso, sake production. It generates a lot of enzymes as well as really interesting flavors. So the Fucano here is a family run distillery. It's been around for over 200 years. This is 100% rice based. All that rice is coming locally to the distillery. They're doing everything on site. Long fermentation, single pot distillation, then it goes right into a combination of different casks.

SPEAKER_15:
Great, and how long has it been part of the Impex family here in America?

SPEAKER_05:
Oh, that's a good question. I don't actually know the answer to that one.

SPEAKER_15:
Alright, well, we'll ask Udi or Sam.

SPEAKER_05:
I think Chris would probably have a better answer than I would.

SPEAKER_15:
Alright, great. Well, let me taste this bad boy. Here's my ticket. I guess I'm supposed to give that to you.

SPEAKER_05:
Yes, indeed.

SPEAKER_15:
There you go. And we'll take that out. So this is...

SPEAKER_05:
This is edition 2223, which is a combination of different cask types. You have some sherry casks, some new and used American oak, and then some red wine barrels as well.

SPEAKER_02:
Wow.

SPEAKER_15:
Oh, it's got a very interesting nose. I definitely can smell the rice on there. All right, here we go.

SPEAKER_04:
All right.

SPEAKER_15:
Oh, wow, that's lovely.

SPEAKER_05:
Yeah.

SPEAKER_15:
Different, but yet it still tastes like a whiskey.

SPEAKER_05:
 Absolutely, and it's kind of, you know, an extension of, you know, very traditional kind of fermentation and distillation practice, but a relatively new frontier for whiskey.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, cool. And then what's this other one you were telling me about?

SPEAKER_05:
 So Ohichi is another really wonderful kind of family-owned distillery.

SPEAKER_15:
I'm excited about this because it's a port cask and I've been in a port cask finishes lately.

SPEAKER_05:
Oh yeah, so this is also rice-based, 100% in those port casks as well. So really, really rich, really rich drink.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, I can't wait. Here's my other ticket.

SPEAKER_05:
Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_15:
Oh, I can smell the port on that. It's got a nice deep color. It's got some good legs. That's some seriously good legs.

SPEAKER_02:
All right, here we go.

SPEAKER_15:
Want to take a sip? Yeah. Wow. All right, what's the retail on this bad boy, and where can I get it?

SPEAKER_05:
So you can get this from the whiskey shop. I'm going to need to check the price on that, because I don't know off the top of my head. I'm going to cheat a little bit off of that form next to us. Oh, right. OK. So partnering with the whiskey shop here, So for, where's my Ohishi at? So the Ohishi Port Cask, normal retail is $69.99. You can get it at a discount for $62.99.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. That's a really good price for that. And I think I will have to, and where is the whiskey shop in here? The whiskey shop is just a couple of booths over from us. Fantastic. Well, it's good to know. My mom is going to be so happy with me when I show up at her house with all this whiskey. I'm staying at my mom's, by the way, because we're up here in the Bay Area. Might as well. All right. Well, thank you so much for this. And I may be back to try some more of these, but I only have 12 tickets. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_05:
Choose wisely. Yes.

SPEAKER_15:
All right. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_05:
Thank you. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_15:
 Cheers.

SPEAKER_05:
Cheers.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, I am here at the Highland Games, and right now I am in front of the Whiskey Shop booth where you can purchase the whiskeys that are available here at Impex, which are all on these beautiful sheets. And as we just learned, I'm going to get this port finished Japanese whiskey, which is fantastic. Stay tuned. They just released everybody into here, so we'll get some good tasting going on.

SPEAKER_09:
 My name is Maurice Chevalier IV.

SPEAKER_15:
Alright, so right now I'm having the Bal Blair 21. Yes. And I've been to Bal Blair, it's a beautiful, beautiful distillery. I did not have the 21 while I was there, maybe because it wasn't 21 yet. But tell me, you are the brand ambassador, what are you?

SPEAKER_09:
I'm the brand ambassador for International Beverage.

SPEAKER_15:
Fantastic. So tell me about this Bal Blair 21.

SPEAKER_09:
So the Ball Blair 21 is brand new on the market, so you're one of the first Americans to try it. And it's a nice bridge between the 18 and the 25.

SPEAKER_15:
It's very smooth for such, yeah.

SPEAKER_09:
So Ball Blair is one of my favorite distilleries. I mean, they're all my favorite kids. But Ball Blair is the distillery that we have in my portfolio that I think translates the best to bourbon drinkers. It just has that sweet richness that we enjoy from a good bourbon. Nothing peated, nothing crazy, no sharp turns or jacks. It's, in my opinion, I'm very biased. I think Ball Blair distillery is flawless distillate.

SPEAKER_15:
It's beautiful, it's beautiful. And then, for those who haven't seen the Angel's Share movie, it was shot there several years back, but it's really fun. You may need subtitles, because the accent for this, I think he's from Glasgow, the actor? It was pretty thick, and I was surprised I needed it.

SPEAKER_09:
 It's an incredible movie, it's a dramedy, I guess you would call it a dramedy, but it really gives you a good look into Scottish life, the young life, but also takes you on a nice, it's a delightful romp.

SPEAKER_15:
It is, it's fun. it shows off the beauty of Scotland as well and you also get to see like the behind the scenes of whisky which nobody really thought about so I loved it. All right, well, what else do you have here at the table? You got Old Pulteney?

SPEAKER_09:
So we have Old Pulteney and we have pretty much the grand lineup. We've got our workhorse, which is a 12-year. 12-year is a good entry level to Old Pulteney. It's aged all in first, second fill bourbon cask. Then we have the 15 and the 18, which spend the last three years of its life in Oloroso Sherry Buds. And that goes from our traditional racked warehouse to a dunnage warehouse. Way in the back in warehouse number six. So we close the doors. Nice ventilation. The barrels are only three high, if that. More humidity. It's just a perfect little incubator for resting Oloroso cherry butts.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. So out of these that have the Oloroso sherry, which is your favorite? Because I need to try it.

SPEAKER_09:
My favorite go-to is the 15, day in and day out. I would say three quarters of old Pulteney drinkers prefer the 15, and the other 18 to 20% really are fanatical about the 18, because it's a little bit chewier, richer, and sweeter. So if you have a sweet tooth and love caramel and salty caramel and chocolates, then the 18's your go-to. But for me, the 15's really dialed in.

SPEAKER_15:
I may have to do both then in that case. Alright, well thank you so much. I appreciate your time and we look forward to sharing this with the world and let everyone know.

SPEAKER_09:
Thank you for your time, appreciate it.

SPEAKER_15:
I am here with Sam, who is the founder CEO.

SPEAKER_03:
Yeah, you're close to it. Yeah, Founding CEO, yes.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, at Impex, which Chris Udy, my good friend, also works at. And we are having, what are we having today?

SPEAKER_03:
We're having Lenalaki 8-year-old, which is in addition to the core range of 12, 15. It's beautifully made by famous Billy Walker. It's unshilled filtered, natural colors, predominantly sherry-influenced. I know Billy put some 10 and 12-year-old whiskeys here, but We need to declare the youngest whiskey in this batch. So people seem to enjoy it. We already went through two-thirds of the bottle, and it's on the beginning of the show. Looks to be a hit of the show.

SPEAKER_15:
All right, let me take a taste. Oh, that's lovely. Yes, tropical fruits and it's got a little teeny bite, but not too much. And it's a little bite at the end, which I love having a little bite at the end. But Sam, I'm more interested about you. Tell me about how you came to be the founder and CEO here of Impex.

SPEAKER_03:
Well I started my company as a distributing company in 1997 and in 2008 we opened the import company and now we're allowed to sell outside California. So the import company called Impax Beverages and we're in 46 states and our portfolio is Not big, but it's not small. It's kind of manageable. We have about 33 brands in the portfolio, and I believe my most kind of enjoyable part of it is to see people like yourself, people who appreciate whiskey, and, you know, having a line of people at the table, that's the music to my ears.

SPEAKER_15:
 So what was the impetus to make you want to do this as a career?

SPEAKER_03:
Well I needed to find myself somehow and I thought if I find a job that I like that means I never worked a day in my life and that's what I would

SPEAKER_15:
That is 100% true. I'm trying to make this a job that I don't have to work for. But I mean, because it's fun. But so where are you from originally? Because I sense an accent.

SPEAKER_03:
Yeah, I'm from Moldova. The accent comes from by the time I left, it was part of Soviet Union. So it's a Russian accent, which I will never get rid of. My daughters speak with no accent, which is great. Yeah, that's that's where it comes from.

SPEAKER_15:
 And when did you come to America?

SPEAKER_03:
It was 1991.

SPEAKER_15:
All right, well, I'm going to come back, because I know you have a pitted one, a Kiloman, that you want me to try. And I do want to try it. I have been to Kiloman. It's a beautiful little distillery. But I don't want to do any peat until I'm done with everything else, because the peat will mess with my palate.

SPEAKER_03:
Cheers. We're here open till 2 AM, so please stop by.

SPEAKER_15:
2 AM? What? Thank you so much, Sam. It's been a pleasure. I'm so glad to finally get to interview you.

SPEAKER_06:
Cheers. Thank you.

SPEAKER_15:
Cheers.

SPEAKER_06:
 My name is Liam Johnson, and I work for 10th Street Distillery in San Jose.

SPEAKER_15:
Fantastic. So I had the pleasure of meeting this guy at Fog City, which you guys will see later in the season. We had some sound difficulties, so I'm so glad that he is here at Whiskey and Barrel Days at the Highland Games so that I can re-talk to him, because he is actually distilling in my hometown of San Jose. How are you?

SPEAKER_06:
Very good. Very good. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_15:
Happy to be here. Happy to be here, too. I'm so glad I get to see you again. So tell me about this new expression you have.

SPEAKER_06:
 So this new expression we've got here actually just won best in show at Whiskies of the World.

SPEAKER_15:
Nice!

SPEAKER_06:
Small distillery from San Jose beating out all of the bigger scotch companies and then Japanese whiskey and bourbon so it's nice and satisfying to have that little win. So this is a single barrel cask strength. This is our first triple cask matured. expression. So it's a STR barrel, port wine barrel, and a red wine barrel that we're aging this in. Okay, that sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_13:
So I'm gonna need to give you a ticket. Here's your ticket. Take a little taste of that.

SPEAKER_06:
And this is definitely my new favorite of our lineup right now.

SPEAKER_15:
It's got a really nice nose, very fruity, very chocolatey, very pungent. It's got a nice dark color, really nice smooth legs.

SPEAKER_06:
Yeah, the coloring on it is beautiful. It definitely picks up a lot of the pigmentation from the wine and the port wine cask.

SPEAKER_15:
So when was the awards and how long has it been on the market?

SPEAKER_06:
So this has been on the market for, let's see, since late February, so a few months now. The Whiskies of the World Awards was in August, and I believe they just announced the results like a couple weeks ago.

SPEAKER_15:
That's awesome. Congratulations. And I can see why it won. This is a very scotch kind of taste, kind of highlands, but then with like a port finish kind of, it's got a nice little bite.

SPEAKER_06:
Exactly. I love this.

SPEAKER_15:
Are you guys selling over here at the whiskey shop?

SPEAKER_06:
We are selling at the whiskey shop. This specific bottle is a distillery exclusive just because it's coming from a single barrel.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay. So I need to come over tomorrow?

SPEAKER_06:
Yes, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_15:
 Tell me a little bit about the distillery, how it came to be, and what your role is there.

SPEAKER_06:
So I'm one of the brand ambassadors for the distillery. The two owners were engineers before. They had like a big love for whiskey and kind of put their engineering minds to the test and figured out how to make single malt whiskey in San Jose. So it was a very long process of kind of trial and error and a lot of like home distilling and then our distiller actually did an apprenticeship in Scotland to learn.

SPEAKER_15:
 And his name is?

SPEAKER_06:
Virag. Virag Saxena.

SPEAKER_15:
Alright, so what got you interested in being a part of this brand?

SPEAKER_06:
I met them right when they first released the whiskeys and when I tried it, I was actually really blown away by the quality of it. It's a very good quality product. Obviously made with a lot of love and care and so from that point on I was just asked them right away if they needed any help.

SPEAKER_15:
That's awesome. Do you need any brand ambassador in LA? Because I could totally help you out.

SPEAKER_06:
Probably at some point, yes.

SPEAKER_15:
Fantastic. Okay, so I need to talk to him when he's done pouring here. So when did the distillery open and how long have you been a part of it?

SPEAKER_06:
So I've been with the company since 2019, I believe. And then the whiskeys were released onto the market in like 2018, like late 2018. And then the distillery was in production for a couple years before that, so.

SPEAKER_15:
That's great. And when you go for the tasting from 1 to 6, are you able to take a tour or no?

SPEAKER_06:
Yeah. So that would be by reservation. So as long as it's reserved 24 hours in advance, we do tours and flights and like little meetings.

SPEAKER_15:
Sounds like I need to cut my day short tomorrow and head back to this. All right. Well, thank you so much for meeting up with me again. And then we'll get this guy here in a moment. For those of you who haven't heard of the brand, 10th Street, which when I was in college at San Jose State for my first year, my freshman year, there was a cute little, and I don't know if it's there anymore, a cute little breakfast joint called Peanuts. And I could get this giant plate of huge breakfast for three bucks. It was great, it was great. It'd be funny if that's where you guys are right now, like in their spot.

SPEAKER_06:
We actually relocated to 4th Street now.

SPEAKER_15:
4th Street Garage, that was the other garage that I parked at.

SPEAKER_06:
So we're, yeah, 4th and Hensley.

SPEAKER_15:
Nice. OK, great. Well, thank you again so much for being here.

SPEAKER_06:
Awesome. Thank you. Cheers.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, here we are still at the Whiskey and Barrel Days at the Highland Games here in Pleasanton. And I have Virag. Am I saying that right?

SPEAKER_00:
That's perfect.

SPEAKER_15:
OK. And he is the founder, creator. What are you from 10th Street Distillery?

SPEAKER_00:
I'm one of the founders of 10th Street Distillery. It was about 13 years ago that I decided that we should make some great whiskeys in California and put California on the map for whiskeys. It's been a long road, but I think we have finally gotten there. Now that this twice in a row that we have gotten best in show for our whiskeys. So Dragon just won best in show, and then we had a Winecast finish, which won best in show in 2021, showing that you know what, Silicon Valley is here with whiskey.

SPEAKER_15:
It's so fantastic. So how did you decide that Silicon Valley, were you working in Silicon Valley before? And then you said, this is, I can't take it anymore, I want to do something more fun?

SPEAKER_00:
So I've been here for 32 years. I mean, now I've been here for 32 years. So yes, I've worked in Silicon Valley, and I love the culture. Basically, California has this melting pot culture, very inclusive, very welcoming, very open-armed. And what I wanted to do, but one of the things which happens in Silicon Valley is when you work in the tech, you kind of get dissociated from the day to day life, right? You're working with people across time zones, but not so much with people who are right there. So I decided I want to do something nuts and bolts, which will let me connect with the local community. And, and then whiskey was something which I had a passion for. So I said, Hey, let's go figure out and I had no idea how to make any whiskey.

SPEAKER_15:
So I had been making... Were you a fan of whiskey before?

SPEAKER_00:
So I had lost some single malts, which I loved. You know, the LTOs come out and then they're gone. And so I had lost some LTOs and I was like, how hard can it be to make a great single malt here, which the world would be proud of, right? Which we'll drink anywhere, just like California is known for wines. California is known for, you know, craft beers. You have Anchor Steam, you have Gordon Beers. I'm like, can we put the whiskey on the map too and craft great whiskeys over here? And that's what we got to doing.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. So how did you decide who your partner was going to be? And when did you come up with the idea? And then from the idea, how soon was it a reality?

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, so I started in 2011. So first I went, I apprenticed at a distillery to learn the craft of making whiskey. And then I spent five years working on that process from 2011 to 2016, trying to figure out what we need to do to make uniquely California whiskeys. See, we did not want to make a scotch. We did not want to make a whiskey. So we had to figure out what do we need to do in this microclimate. You know my summers are a lot hotter and drier than what you have in Scotland. My angel share. So in Scotland you have a two to three percent angel share. And over here, my angels are really thirsty and greedy. I lose 10 to 15 percent. Similarly, I have a different microflora, which people typically don't leverage. You know, San Francisco is known for its sourdough. I was like, how can we incorporate that in our whiskey and give it a unique nature and terroir? And so all of those things took a bunch of time. So it took about five years of science experiments. And then I stumbled upon my old friend from undergrad days who was a PhD in chemical engineering. That sounds very appropriate. He was like, hey, the most noble thing a chemical engineer can do is to make whiskey. So he's like, can I join you? And I'm like, sure, come on board. And so then we went ahead and started the distillery in 2017.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. And are you both distilling, or one of you, or either of you, neither of you?

SPEAKER_00:
So right now, I'm the one who's distilling. He helped us put all the processes together, everything together, go through. He's the master blender. So for example, if you look at California Coast Blend, which is the highest ever rated American blend, there is no other American blend which has been rated that high by BTI, the Beverage Testing Institute. Congratulations. Thank you. And he's the one who actually crafted that blend. He has this amazing palate. That's fantastic, and where is he today? He's right now taking time off today. He might be here tomorrow.

SPEAKER_15:
Oh great, well maybe I'll catch him tomorrow. Okay, so I'm so, I don't know if you heard, but I am from San Jose. So when I ran into your friend here at Fog City, I was very excited because at my freshman year of college, I went to San Jose State. So there was the 10th Street Garage and the 4th Street Garage. And then I also used to frequent this breakfast place on 10th Street. So when I found out about this, I thought oh my gosh It's like homage to my old days when I was first getting into to drinking.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. No, absolutely That's the whole point people come and say really San Jose and we say no Really San Jose meaning think about it. There is no whiskey from If you think about the whiskeys which have won best in show at these prestigious global competitions, right, it takes a very high bar to get to that. And for us, what that meant is we couldn't cut any corners. And we only make single malt whiskey, that's all we do. I don't do gin, I don't do vodka, because we felt by compromising, we'll compromise the quality. And that commitment, and San Jose, you know, we love San Jose, so not the San Jose water that much, really hard water, but

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, I definitely had a well my mom still does a water softener at the house because the water is hard Oh, but it tastes good. I mean it tastes okay.

SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, it tastes amazing. It's amazing for making whiskey Yeah, but we and so we use the hard San Jose water who making a whiskey But you just have to deal with the clock pipes all the time.

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, that's true. That's true. So, um, I Where can people buy your stuff and then what are your expansion plans for the next five years?

SPEAKER_00:
So right now we are available across California. You can come to our website and you can see where we are available. Total Wine, BevMo, Whole Foods, as well as a bunch of really unique craft stores, Whiskey Shop in San Francisco, Menlo Park Fine Wines. If you go down to Southern California, you have Craft Wine and Spirits, Mission. All of them actually carry a whiskey. So there are about 200 places across California we can get a thing. Outside California places like Artisan Wine Depot as well as Mission and Whiskey Shop will ship our whiskeys to you and then some of our special releases which right now as we are expanding them you can get them and order them through the distillery.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. Lovely talking to you. Thank you. Up next, I speak with Whiskey and Barrel Light organizer Dave Sweet. Plus, I catch up with Chief and Lady Buchanan to talk about their new documentary, Meet the Buchanans.

SPEAKER_14:
Stay with us.

SPEAKER_08:
Unleashed Coffee is a farm-to-cup adventure like no other. Step into a world where exceptional flavors, tantalizing aromas, and rich mouthfeel take you on a journey from your kitchen to the picturesque coffee plantations at origin. At Unleashed Coffee, we believe in fostering connections between coffee lovers and the hardworking farmers behind each bean. Join the journey through our coffee subscription program and gain access to our exclusive online community, connecting you to fellow enthusiasts and the producers of your morning brew. To help you extract every nuance of flavor from our beans, take part in our on-demand coffee brewing courses. right in the comfort of your own home. If you are seeking B2B coffee solutions that go beyond just beans, our comprehensive wholesale packages cater to the diverse needs of mobile carts, farm stands, restaurants, cafes, retail shelves, and more. Look no further than Unleashed Coffee to quench your thirst for quality coffee. Use coupon code COFFEEBRC at the checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase at unleashedcoffee.com.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, well we are here at the Barrel Night, Whiskey and Barrel Night, actually Days this time, because we're at the Scottish Highland Festival here in Pleasanton, California. And I have the pleasure of speaking with Dave Sweet, who is one of the founders of Whiskey and Barrel Night. And Dave, tell me, how did you guys, you and Barb, start this organization, and what is it all about?

SPEAKER_07:
Well, about 20 years ago, we were involved with Whiskey Magazine. And when they launched their Whiskey Live events in New York 20 years ago, we were a part of it. We eventually took over ownership and ran the events, expanded them across North America. And in 2019, we rebranded to Whiskey and Barrel Night. About 16 years ago, Alan Purvis, who was the chief of the games here at the time, gave us a call and said, we've got this great Scottish festival, how would you like to come and do a whisky tasting? And I said, yeah, sounds like fun. And we have grown it into one of the largest events in the country. with about 1,800 people over the two days coming in to taste whiskeys from around the world, not just Scotch or Irish or bourbon, all types of American whiskeys. There's whiskey here from India, Israel, Japanese whiskeys, some Australian whiskeys, so just about everywhere, even faraway places like Canada.

SPEAKER_15:
This is really great. I was here yesterday. It got really crowded and started to get really loud, which is why I stopped filming, because I didn't think anybody could hear me anymore. But you've got great stuff going on. And I also visited you guys last year in Los Angeles and plan to come again this year in Los Angeles.

SPEAKER_07:
Oh, fantastic. Oh, wonderful. Yeah, we're really lucky. We've got a great venue at the Majestic, this old converted bank. It's a 100-year-old bank building. It's now an event space. And we love it.

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, no, it's great. OK, so what other cities are you in for the Whiskey and Bar Online?

SPEAKER_07:
So in our spring season, we do Tampa, D.C., and New York. And in the fall, we start with Pleasanton here, and then Los Angeles at the end of September. And we finish the year off with a massive show in Chicago that's also partnered with Respiratory Health Association. So it's a great charity, proceeds from all the tickets. And the sales go to the charity, a percentage of proceeds. And we have a fantastic time. That's live entertainment, full dinner buffet, as all of our shows are. Except this one, because while we're at a festival and we can't compete with the fish and chips and bangers and mash.

SPEAKER_15:
Right. I just had myself some scotch eggs. I stood in line yesterday for an hour and I got up and they said all we got left is bangers and mash. And I was like... So I said, I'm coming back tomorrow. You need to hold me some eggs. So just had my eggs.

SPEAKER_07:
There you go. Yeah. No, Scotch eggs are special. So, but, and go well with whiskey, by the way.

SPEAKER_15:
They do. They do. I was, uh, yeah. And it's, it's, it's good for breakfast and for dinner and for lunch. It's a great combination of any kind of food.

SPEAKER_07:
Kind of like pizza, you know?

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_07:
Exactly. But then I'm from Chicago, so.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, you've got a lot better pizza, I'm sure, than we have here in California, but, um, you know, it's just different. So. Okay, so what are your plans in the next few years? Do you plan to expand the cities at all or are you just going to stay with your staples?

SPEAKER_07:
We would love to find another festival or two. Obviously, we have to be in a state that has the right liquor laws and it's the right festival for us.

SPEAKER_15:
We have plenty of festivals in the Los Angeles area. You should look there.

SPEAKER_07:
We've thought about that, but we already have the LA event. We've looked at actually San Diego. We have some interesting partners we can work with. We'll see about Denver and some of the other areas. Ooh, Denver would be nice. Denver is very whiskey friendly. Yeah, they've got great distilleries. Yeah, yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, Dave, thank you for your time. I'm gonna let you go because I know we're about to open up the doors and you've got lots to do. But thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Cheers.

SPEAKER_10:
My name is Ashley Sandhu and I am one of the owners of Copper and Malt.

SPEAKER_01:
I am Harparam Sandhu. I am the co-owner of Copper and Malt.

SPEAKER_15:
All right. So tell me, what was the impetus of making this shop? And how long ago did you come up with the idea into when? How long did it take to actually get it going?

SPEAKER_01:
So the main idea was to, you know, nowadays the liquor industry, it's changing so much and people are ready to explore it. So it was, the whole idea was to provide an adventure for those liquor seekers so that they can, every time they come in the store, they can try something new, they can try something adventurous and, you know, just talking about the whiskey itself, we are even amazed that how many different variants there are, what different small batch distilleries are doing with their whiskey. It's amazing. And we wanted, when we learned about it, we wanted our consumers to learn about it too.

SPEAKER_15:
So you decided to do this, like how many years ago did you say, we're going to open up a shop?

SPEAKER_01:
So I'm a collector and I blend too. So, you know, my collection was getting bigger and we got a baby. She's 19 months old now. Stark dropped her by, huh? And my wife said either, you know, the collection stays or, you know, we need to have space for the baby. So the collection was supposed to go. So I thought that instead of getting rid of it, you know, why not let other people enjoy what I have learned, what I have enjoyed in last few years. So that was, you know, frankly speaking, that was the main, I'll say, motivator to open up Copperhead Mall.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, and so after you gave him this kind of semi-ultimatum, how long did it take between that day and when you guys got to open up?

SPEAKER_10:
I would say about two years, because it took about a year to open our shop.

SPEAKER_15:
Yes. Okay. And how, how did you find the location and how long did it take for you to find the perfect spot?

SPEAKER_10:
So it took about six months to find the perfect shop. Um, we honestly looked all around the Bay area and then we found a Bay street and Emeryville and it just seemed like with everything they were doing and it seemed like the perfect spot for us.

SPEAKER_15:
Great, and how far do you guys live from that spot? We live about 35 minutes away. OK, that's not too bad. 35 minutes with traffic?

SPEAKER_10:
Without traffic, so yeah. Depending on the day. Yeah, it takes a while to get home, but to there, not so much.

SPEAKER_15:
Kind of like me getting here today. OK, so when he said, OK, we're going to do a shop, and you said, what? Or how did you react to that idea?

SPEAKER_10:
I said I think that's an amazing idea because you're so talented at picking out spirits because he really is and he makes amazing blends and it's really I feel like one of his callings and the just all the audience and you know the customers we're getting are so in love with you know the difference. like the high quality and you know like I was saying too off the beated path it's very different something they usually want to try when they try it they're like why have I gone my whole life without trying this blend or this bottle or from this region so I you guys gave me what is this I'm drinking something about twins because as most of you already know I have a twin sister and so I chose this one because it's made by twins So this is called Home Base. It's a single mall. It's made by two twin sisters that actually got there. They live in Oakland, and that's where they got the idea from. So all in all, they really prioritize ingredients and make sure their stuff is very, very high-end, good ingredients, sourced well, sustainable. And so that's kind of what you're trying. How do you like it?

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, that's really nice. How old is it?

SPEAKER_10:
Seven years.

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, I was going to say it definitely doesn't taste young.

SPEAKER_10:
Nutty, a little bit of caramelly.

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, a little nutty, a little caramelly. It's got a really nice finish. It's not too hot on the finish. Yeah, it's great. And is this the only place you can get it? I mean, I'm obviously going to buy it from you, but how long have they been in business?

SPEAKER_10:
They've been in business for how long would you say?

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, they started a few years ago, but they are a small batch. They are very serious about whatever they create, and especially the single malt, American single malt. It's not being explored that much because anytime we talk about single malt, we talk scotch. That's the first thing that comes to your mind. So they are trying to explore more of that American single malt category. We feel they are doing an incredible job there.

SPEAKER_15:
That's great. And then how do you procure your products for your store and do you know how many SKUs you have in the shop?

SPEAKER_01:
So right now we have almost 2,100 SKUs.

SPEAKER_15:
 Wow, for a three-month-old shop, 2,100 products.

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah. Our selection process is also, we have kept it in a way that we don't, anybody, any rep comes to us, we don't say, okay, we'll carry it. So we schedule a proper tasting with them. We discuss the product, we taste it, and the biggest thing for us is the bottle should have a story behind it. It should be small batch, it should be family-owned, The recipe should be for generations, something like that. And then we do tastings with our employees, too, to get their feedback, you know, what they think about the product. And if all works, then we put it on the shelf.

SPEAKER_15:
 And you did that 2,100 times.

SPEAKER_01:
We did it 2,100 times.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. Well, I can't wait. If I can get out to your shop before I leave town, which I don't know if I'll be able to, I would love to. If not, I'll come back. My family's in San Jose, so I can make the trip. How close are you guys to Pixar?

SPEAKER_10:
What, five, 10 minutes?

SPEAKER_15:
 From where, sorry?

SPEAKER_10:
Pixar? Pixar. Pixar Studios?

SPEAKER_15:
Two, three minutes, ma'am. OK, perfect. So I know exactly where you're at. Perfect. OK. Well, fantastic, you guys. Thank you so much for sharing your story with me, and good luck with this venture. And I hope that it, actually, one more question. Have you guys made this your full-time job, or you still have other jobs that you have to do to keep the lights on?

SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, so we own a couple of more businesses. So this was supposed to be more like, you know, like a passion hobby kind of thing. But yeah, now it's another of our babies. So now we have, I'd say, four babies, no, three babies and one human baby.

SPEAKER_15:
I love it. All right, guys. Well, thank you so much and have a good time today at the show. Thank you so much. So we're here. at one of my passions. I've never seen them before, but it says California. So y'all know I'm a big Cali girl. So tell me, where did this idea come from? How long has it been in business and where can people find your products?

SPEAKER_04:
Wow, so we've been brewing beer since 1988. Slow Brew built a little brand called Cali Squeezed, which did a great job of capturing California in a can. Had a lot of success with that. They sold it off to Firestone Walker. That really gave them the ability to focus on what they really wanted to do, and that was whiskey. Rod and Hammer, while they've been dabbling in whiskey for a little while, is fully launched in 2019. And it's been great ever since. In Northern California, you can find us, you know, great partners like Raley's, Save Marge, Safeway.

SPEAKER_15:
Those are big guys.

SPEAKER_04:
Yeah, and then Southern California, Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions, Ralphs. Wow, all the grocery stores.

SPEAKER_15:
Now see, for those of you who don't live in California, you can get liquor in our grocery stores. A lot of states you can't, so sad for all you, but here we are.

SPEAKER_04:
You can find us in Colorado, too.

SPEAKER_15:
Great, and are you in anything like Total Wine or Mission or anything like that?

SPEAKER_04:
Yep, Total Wine, and we're growing, especially in Southern California and Northern California. We just partnered with Southern Glacier, so we're looking forward to expanding in the rest of California. Very heavy presence in the Central Coast, but now we're expanding and we're growing.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, so the distillery is where, and how many different expressions do you have?

SPEAKER_04:
Ah, so we're based in San Luis Obispo right next to the airport. Beautiful restaurant, brewery, distillery, music venue. Come visit us if you ever have a chance. Pet friendly, family friendly. We love hosting people.

SPEAKER_15:
You got tours too?

SPEAKER_04:
We do, we do. Rodney and Hamish are usually always around. That's the namesake Rodhammer. And so today I've got five SKUs with me. I've got our straight bourbon, our straight rye, our cask bourbon, our cask rye, and then our very popular peach whiskey.

SPEAKER_15:
All right, and I'm trying the cask rye right now, right? Cask rye.

SPEAKER_04:
All right. Just won double gold in the San Francisco Wine and Spirits competition.

SPEAKER_15:
Oh, it smells like it did.

SPEAKER_04:
Yeah, it's very good. So 95% rye, 5% malted barley, and this one's featured at 112 proof.

SPEAKER_15:
Woo! Yeah, that's 112 proof, all right. That's good. That's got a nice bite to it. It's very rye flavor. It's very good. That's delicious. And how old is this, are you allowed to say? This is two years. Really? It does not taste like a two-year. That's very good. What is the five-year plan for the company?

SPEAKER_04:
We're growing. We are still sourcing from MGP. We're very transparent about that. They're a great partner of ours. We are distilling and laying down for ourselves. We've started blending in our own distillate. So over the next five years, you'll kind of see that shift to being more and more of our juice. If you see a single barrel expression out there, it was aged exclusively in California at our distillery. But we've got a great production team. And right now, we're just looking to do a great job in California. And then we'll start looking at the rest of the West as we continue to expand throughout the US.

SPEAKER_15:
That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much for taking the time out. I know you've got some customers lined up here to taste, so I'm gonna let you go, but thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04:
No, thank you. Appreciate it. Pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_15:
I am still here at the Games today, and I finally got to catch up with my new friends, Chief and Lady Buchanan, who I met at the world premiere of their documentary film down in Los Angeles. So, Lady Buchanan, you seem to have been, like, the star of the show, no offense, Chief, doing all the background stuff, getting, I mean, a true lady, doing all the lady work of all the stuff that needs to be done for the house and the family, while you were probably, presumably, out working and taking care of the estate.

SPEAKER_12:
Well, exactly. I mean, my husband's really busy with all the estate work and other things. And without him, I wouldn't be able to spend my time organizing the event and looking at all the different nuances of what we could do, what we should do. I couldn't have done that without him taking care of everything else, every day stuff. So yeah, it's a joint effort. It's a joint effort.

SPEAKER_15:
So do you have other things besides taking care of the estate that you need to do? Or is that just keeps you busy enough all the time?

SPEAKER_11:
Yes, there's a family to look after. I also take a sport quite seriously. I do a lot of rifle shooting. I was actually captain of the Scottish team for nine years. So that kept me, that gave me quite a bit to do and the various other things. I help out with a charity as a trustee and I do one or two minor things. But yeah, clan business is a significant one. I've said that since I became the chief I'm prepared to do two to three weeks a year. and this is our second trip to America this year. So, we're running over the three weeks this year.

SPEAKER_15:
Yeah, but it's fun.

SPEAKER_11:
It's fun, yeah. It's been a lot of fun here, yeah.

SPEAKER_15:
And you come, well, it's not too terribly hot. I mean, it's in the 80s right now, so it's all right in California.

SPEAKER_12:
It's great. California is wonderful. We've just really enjoyed it. It's just, everyone's so relaxed and friendly. I mean, one of our sons said, no, there's not much to stay here. I think, well, hang on. Was that Rory? Bruce, actually. I didn't see Bruce this weekend. I didn't actually ask for Rory, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could have had the same thoughts.

SPEAKER_15:
I saw Rory here this weekend. Did Lucy stick around or did she go home?

SPEAKER_11:
We've got three of the four here this weekend.

SPEAKER_12:
Lucy is loving it. She's absolutely loving it. She's just embracing it all because it's showing her tartan that she made and created and she's been very proactive with the clan and it's nice that people are appreciating what she's done. And we're trying to get the young ones more involved and it's thrilling for us when we see them take interest in their clan because they're the future. So that was really good. It's really good for us for this. So thank you for inviting us here.

SPEAKER_15:
We love to have you. I'm so excited. Like, I didn't know you guys were going to be here when I signed up to come. And then after I went to the premiere and found out you were coming, I was like, well, then I'll just have to follow. Because I went as a patron just to watch the movie. And then I said, oh, well, now I have to get them on the show. So here we are. So another question for you. Now, I wanted to ask this. I know that you're definitely a Buchanan by blood. You're by marriage. What is your personal heritage?

SPEAKER_12:
Okay. Well, curiously, who would have thought, but I'm a Hickman, but actually Hickman is a derivative of Rickman, which actually is a derivative of Richardson, which is actually a Buchanan family name. Oh, wow. Okay. It kind of goes around in a circle, but it looks like that... But it's far enough away not to be, like, incestuous. Absolutely. But my husband's made a decree so that all the people who are called Hickman are now clan members of Buchanan.

SPEAKER_15:
That's awesome. And then, so you have the estate. Now, was the estate handed down to you from family to family to family?

SPEAKER_11:
Yep. Yes, it certainly was.

SPEAKER_15:
And so by having that, is that what was the impetus saying, you know, I must be the clan chief. I mean, I probably must be if I still have the land.

SPEAKER_11:
It's part of the clan lands. We've got a map dating back to 1757. So that shows we've been around there a little while. And so we've been lucky to manage to keep it going in that length of time.

SPEAKER_15:
That's amazing. Well, the drone shots in the movie show your estate is gorgeous. Now, do you guys do any tours or anything for any of the regular public?

SPEAKER_11:
No, no. And if individuals turn up, I'm afraid the answer is we can't really accommodate them and look after them. There are millions of Buchanan's, and if one came in the morning and one in the afternoon and one in the evening, we'd never get anything else done. So I'm afraid we have to limit it to group activities. So we did have the inauguration in Scotland, and we have come to America three times now, been to Australia once. So when it's groups, terrific, yes. We can't really do little gatherings

SPEAKER_12:
We have our people that we know, our Buchanans that we know, and then they come and they're very welcome. And how big is the estate?

SPEAKER_11:
It's, in your acres you have here, we're 6,000 acres.

SPEAKER_15:
 Wow, that's a hefty... Now, is it only your house with all of your land, or do you have many people that rent lands like they used to back in the day?

SPEAKER_11:
We have three farmers rent ground, and we have about 20 houses, so we have plenty of other people involved in some workshops and a quarry. So very traditional then? It's quite a mixed, yeah. There are very few, well, there are still some estates just do the traditional agriculture and shooting, but we've got fairly diversified.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, that's amazing. Well, guys, thank you so much for taking the time out of this very busy festival to talk to us here. It's been great getting to know you and watching your film. And for those who haven't seen the film, if you can go, are you guys going to be on the festival circuit? How are people going to be able to see it?

SPEAKER_11:
It's not yet available, but hopefully it will be before long.

SPEAKER_12:
There might be a festival circuit that's going to go on, so it's all happening now. So if you keep your eyes peeled for different things, then hopefully you'll be able to see it before too long.

SPEAKER_15:
Okay, well I'm going to keep in touch with these guys, and as different options for viewing come up, I will keep you guys posted, because I know if you're any kind of fan of either documentary, Scottish, Just any of that, you're going to love this film. It was very great. Thank you guys so much.

SPEAKER_11:
I would, while I've got the opportunity, I am slightly plugging an event next year in Scotland. Oh yes, I heard about this this morning. Saltire Gathering. I'll give you a piece of paper on it and we can even give you a flyer for it. Next year in Scotland there will be what's known as the Saltire Gathering. First time. It's going to be in Stirling and quite what it involves I don't yet know but there's going to be lots of tartan, lots of piping, lots of fun and if you've ever thought I've got to go to Scotland one of these years but you've never quite managed to get there well next year could be the reason to go next year in Stirling.

SPEAKER_15:
 Fantastic, I will put this in the show notes, so stay tuned for the show notes and we will catch that on.

SPEAKER_12:
One more thing, if there are any Buchanan's out there, Gibson's or Watson's or anyone with a Buchanan name, you're very welcome to contact the CBSI representative, the Clan Buchanan Society International representative, anywhere in the world and they will kind of get back to you and then we can meet up at future events like this because we do get out and we do have other things, you know, we get out and we love meeting people, we love meeting fellow Buchanans, so you know, contact the CBSI, join up, and then you'll get our newsletters, you'll find out what we're up to, and where we can meet up for the big meetings. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_15:
Well, guys, thanks again, and have a safe trip back to Scotland.

SPEAKER_12:
Thank you. Thank you. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_15:
That's a wrap on Season 3 of BRC. But stay tuned for our Season 4 premiere in two weeks. I'll be on location at the 10th Street Distillery in San Jose, California, with founders Virag Saxena and Vishal Gari. That does it for today's show. To read notes on this episode or learn more about our guests, please visit barrelroomchronicles.com. Want to interact with the show or have questions for our guests? Then ask them on our socials or send us an email. Or better yet, leave us a voicemail on our website. If you like what you heard, please rate and subscribe to the podcast. If you really liked it and you want to show your support, buy us a whiskey through our Ko-fi site at ko-fi.com slash BRC, or become an exclusive member of the Barrel Room Parlor. If you work in the whiskey or spirits industry or just have a deep passion for whiskey and want to share your spirits journey, register to be a guest through our website. Last but not least, please enjoy your spirits responsibly. Thanks for joining me. Until next time, so long.

SPEAKER_08:
Barrel Room Chronicles is a production of First Reel Entertainment and is available on Spotify, Apple, Google, iHeart Radio, Amazon, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.