Beast Masters Club

Steve and Ben sit down to pop open the latest Beast Masters Club Barrel - A WhistlePig Old World 12 Year Rye.  This 12 year American Rye was finished in a custom blend of Old World wine casks.  We created a blend of finishes that we felt best complimented the smooth spiciness of this gorgeous rye: 80% Madeira, 10% Port, 10% Sauternes. We think you're going to love it.  Pick up a bottle in our web shop and play along at home!   

Steve, Ben and the Beast Masters welcome Chris Riesbeck of Westland Distillery for a very special event at the Norwood Club in NYC. We were very happy to have the club taste through the full line up of Westland’s whiskies.  Westland is one of our very favorite craft distillers and one of the leading producers of American Single Malt whiskies. Tune in to learn what makes Westland unique and delicious as Chris gets into everything from the barley in their malts to the wood in their barrels and everything in between. This particular evening was doubly sweet as it was the first in what we hope to be a series of events at the amazing Norwood Club.  The folks at Norwood are expert hosts and their club is truly a marvel - beautiful and sophisticated but completely fun and unpretentious.  A perfect setting for the Beasts to dig into Westland’s American Oak, Sherry Wood, Peated, Garyanna, and Winter 2016 offerings.    

It begins… These two gladiators have been called to search ceaselessly throughout Caldeonian moors, crags, islands and bogs, accepting no limits and yielding to no obstacle placed in their path, all for the glory of a sacred mission - to find the best smoky malts in the world and bring them back to the Beast Lair in the hopes of becoming CHAMPION of the Smoke Wars.  Few have been chosen, but only one will prevail… In our first battle of the Smoke Wars, Mrs. Smoky Beast faces off against Joshua “Big Wood" Hatton of Single Cask Nation and Whiskey Jewbilee.  In this contest each will present two smoky malts each to the Beast Masters for judgement.  The first round will be a malt under £100, the second round a malt over £100 with no price limit.  Who will be able to claim title as the first Champion of The Smoke Wars?  Listen and all shall be revealed.

Hot or Hype? That's the question... The Beast Masters review five of this year's most sought after limited release whiskeys. Steve and Ben once again welcome Jake, "Whiskey Warrior" Cahill, to sip through five of this year's most heavily hyped whiskeys. The lineup includes Parker's Heritage 24 Year Bourbon, Booker's Rye, Four Roses Small Batch LE, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, and Rebel Yell 10 Year. Were these expensive and highly allocated bottles worth the hype? We get to the bottom of this essential question and let you know where to look for your next acquisition. Treats or tricks? Worth hunting or paying up for? We'll sort you out.  Also covered in the episode are Jake's most pompous sommelier terms, "Karate Kid-&-Play", and Steve's latest exploits rolling whiskey barrels across the streets of Manhattan.

The Smoky Beast (Steve Zeller) and the Whiskey Warrior (Jake Cahill) combine forces to bring your our Top 5 Whiskeys that will no longer be available after 2016. Learn about the bottles you'll want to grab now to stock your bunker before they go away for good. 

Beast Masters Ben & Steve sit down with Josh Hatton from Single Cask Nation.  Josh is about to launch a line of single barrel malts, the first Single Cask Nation bottles available in liquor stores. Josh specializes in finding special casks, often from distilleries that would normally only produce products used in blends. By showcasing some of these hidden gems in his single barrel SCN bottlings, Josh is bringing a fresh perspective to scotch whisky.

In our third live tasting Ben, Steve, and the rest of the Beast Masters sit down with Tricia Chimento and taste through a spectacular lineup of single cask selections from Signatory Vintage.     

Steve and Ben chat with James and Peter Wills of Kilchoman Distillery on the opening night of their 2016 US East Coast Tour. After leading a tasting at the Brandy Library in New York covering the full range of Kilchoman's offerings, James and Peter gave us some candid insight into all things Kilchoman from the unique perspective of two guys who literally grew up inside the workings of one of Scotland's few farm to bottle distilleries. We cover everything from opening the first new distillery on Islay in over 120 years to the craft of making Kilchoman's awesome malts to the best and worst jobs in the distillery.

Beast Masters Club sits down with Joshua Hatton, founder of Whisky Jewbilee and Single Cask Nation, as well as brand expert for Impex Beverages. Impex is the importer of Kilchoman, the first new distillery on Islay in over a hundred years. Josh scored us a small allocation of a very limited release Kilchoman. A cask strength version of their Machir Bay single malt bottled in celebration of Kilchoman's East Coast American Tour.

Ben and Steve welcome Jake Cahill and Dana Zeller to the podcast for the first ever battle between the “Smoky Beast” and the “Whiskey Warrior." This epic showdown between veteran champions of the spirits world was convened by the Beast Masters Club for one purpose - to determine the best Bourbon under $75. 

At the first Beast Masters tasting event, we sit down with Barrell Bourbon founder Joe Beatrice to learn more about Barrell Bourbon and their mission to find and share amazing barrels from some of the country's best distilleries. During this tasting we will take you through our selection process, tasting their batch product as well as several single barrels including our selection for the first Beast Masters Club release.

In the very first episode of Beast Masters Club Podcast, founders Steve Zeller and Ben Paluba introduce the series. Beast Masters Club is a totally new concept combining live whiskey tastings, podcasts, and a bottle-of-the-month club. Ben and Steve explain how members can attend live events and join industry experts in our tasting room as they unveil super limited release bottlings chosen just for our club, or sip along at home by subscribing to the 'cast and purchasing the bottles online.