Mellencamp Whiskey Company Farmer's Reserve Review and Interview

it's bourbon blog.com we are so happy to have today with us melon Camp whiskey company and hard truth it's HUD melon Camp Levi Collison Brian Smith a great partnership they've been putting together since last year brand new Whiskey's about to come out gentlemen it's good to see all of you good to be here thank you for having us I gotta say Brian I'm I'm so lucky first of all to be um first to try this thanks for dropping me off I got a lab sample Brian just dropped me off of of this new whiskey and it is going to be out uh next week is when you're unveiling it the farmers Reserve this this is just this is this is Splendid this whiskey is just deep has so much flavor let's just start with who is melon Camp whiskey company and then we'll talk about the whiskey so melon Camp whiskey company me and my buddy here Levi and we've uh we've been friends since day one pretty much I was walking through the woods as a little kid one day and we just somehow stumbled upon each other he's been my neighbor since how old were we oh we probably 7 or eight years old when we started hanging out and the rest is history as they say right and that's right now we've kind of partnered up with hard truth and Brian here Brian lived out on 446 just probably quarter mile in between HUD and I for our whole lives and we figured that out when we had approached hard truth and loved uh the whiskey that Brian's laying down over there and um you know it it blossomed into a good partnership here so we're uh we're very happy with how things are going so far it's it's incredible that you selected hard truth and I'm a big fan of what Brian does too um what what's it like for you is when when they came to you when you guys started talking about this um putting this together what what were your thoughts and what's it been like you know it it is really an interesting Evolution because I can tell you that you know we had been approached you know a handful of times um for kind of partnership uh opportunities so you know either combining brands or or co-branding or um doing some like you know uh private label stuff and really with our growth trajectory and what we were investing in really wasn't part of what we had for our business plan so um but you know doing how I always do I you know if someone calls and says hey we'd like to talk about some stuff come out you know I always love having conversation meeting folks so um uh HUD reached out to me and uh I said yeah come on out let's walk around and and talk about it and so you know I I wasn't going into it with a closed mind but I can tell you that I thought there was a less than a 1% chance uh that that something would would Blossom from this um but then throughout the day as the day went on and I was asking them about kind of what their goals were what they had vision for their the business and the and the brand um you know there were so many things that aligned with um with with kind of what we were doing or you know some of the same philosophies with with you know working with Indiana Farmers you know working with Indiana producers being proud of our our our roots in and around the Bloomington Nashville area you know obviously I knew some of the history of of of farm a and the connections there right after we were we were done um talking and meeting that day that um we had some whiskey that we l laid down uh right the first year we were running that was kind of a oneoff two two one-off Mash bills um that I really put together specifically to highlight our relationship with our Farmers so um you know I'm thinking through I'm thinking wow that this could be maybe something that works U but then you know is the hard work of of getting the getting the relationship formalized and set up but you know honestly it was uh it's been super easy uh we've had a great time these guys work hard they they they know what they're doing um they've got a good vision for where they're going where they want to go and you know it just aligns perfectly with with what we're doing and it's just been great so we had a we had our launch launch party for the first release which is the Harvest Rye um last fall and it was a a hugely successful day we had the whole whole property full signed and sold a ton of bottles and uh now you can find the Harvest Rye out in uh multiple States out in our our Market you can you can find the Harvest R may be tough to find some places but we're going to let them know here in just a little while to find all these but I already i' I've already been through maybe at least one or two bottles I have another one this original Harvest Ry this is so beautiful and when I first heard about this I I I thought not only these guys are they're making great whiskey but you know we said all four of us here we're all hooers they're really shedding some light um on the farmers you know on on the on the hooer land was that part of the uh HUD Levi when you were starting this part of what you all really wanted to do whiskey Indiana did you just felt it in your heart to to really make that happen yeah I think that uh part of our whole like core philosophy and beliefs over here at Mel Camp whiskey is we're going to be homegrown Indiana boys from start to finish and like he was saying the our alignment just was great with them and um the team up has been amazing really has and uh and you know you're it's really awesome that you guys are are building a reputation continuing to build on that for premium whiskey and uh you're also really uh opening a whole new chapter for the melon Camp name um it's very exciting and I I should also point out of course we have on the original one uh this painting by your dad HUD uh on the first one and I I don't I have the lab bottle but we can bring it up on the screen here U yet another painting um showcasing uh John Mel Camp's work um what's that like to see your dad's painting on on your whiske um he was gracious enough to let me kind of have free reign of some of his paintings and I love that we can collaborate on uh a bottle design like this um it makes me proud to show off my dad's artwork and I think it makes him proud to show off he've got a successful U great brand building here that's very cool well I know that uh both melon camp and whiskey fans and your all's fans at Partridge fans everybody that loves a great product uh everyone's enjoying it now I've been enjoying it uh let's taste this new one I think that uh everybody's excited to hear how it tastes and hear what it is it's uh it's so it just continues to build on the wonderful first release of the um Harvest Rye this one is a bourbon that's been finished in Amber uh Brian tell us what are we uh what are we sipping here I love it so this is a this is a first from hard truth um in a in a few different ways so uh this is actually a bourbon Rye blend so this is uh uh in this particular blend um we've got us uh majority of it's are are sweet Mash bourbon mashville which is um 73 corn 19 rye and eight mted barley um that's that's really the backbone of this whiskey um and then with that we we opened up those Barrel and we took some um toasted ambera wood which is a really interesting Brazilian hardwood um and and put that those toasted wood into the barrels uh for a very small amount of time because embon can be a little bit overwhelming if you if you uh utilize it too much um and then uh as we were thinking through this and thinking about U you know I've tasted a lot of amiran whiskies there's some that I I I really don't care for too much um there's a lot of chatter in the industry about the use of ambera um it's really really got this fantastic like uh sweet cinnamon kind of notes that that it brings to the whiskey and as I was thinking about that um I thought you know we've got this really cool rye whiskey mash bill um that we've released in the past called chocolate malted Rye um and that's uh 51% Rye 38 corn and 11% chocolate malted barley so that chocolate malted barley brings all these dark Rich Dutch cocoa notes to the party right there's that underneath yeah so then it was a matter of uh you know getting Levi and HUD and me and Chris Moore in the lab and figuring out you know how much do we blend of the of the chocolate malt Rye in to support this beautiful emana finished bourbon but the final product I think is is even better than than than I could have hoped for so um we're we're all really really stoked about it so it's a couple firsts first of all we've never done an Amana whisky um at hard truth we've also never done a bourbon Rye blend so this is uh your first um you know your first glimpse of of hard truth as a company that takes their own whiskies and blends Mash bills together blend of great whiskies it's what this category is a blend of straight whiskies correct yeah blend of straight whiskey when I say that these are you know one of kind collector whiskies I'm not joking you know it's not like we're going to you know it's not like when uh de leopard says that they've taken their final tour and they're not coming back and then like they for sure come back um these these labels and this package and these whiskies are are a oneoff so there's going to be four total in the four total of these collector series with the artwork whiske yep so we've got the the the harvest Rye which there still is some of that out in the market go grab it because it's out of our warehouse but there definitely is still some in the market um and then we're going to have we've got the farmers Reserve coming out next week and then we've got another uh release this fall and another one next spring so there will be four in the series featuring the artwork um that will be this beautiful collector's package so buy one to put in the package to save and then buy about four to drink because you're buy more to drink buy to save yeah I like that some people say buy one to drink buy one to say but my always buy more to drink H Levi tell us as you want into a lab whether it's for this one your first time and you're like this might I was I would assume this was this your first time to blend whiskey what was that like so this was uh this was definitely our first uh professional encounter blending we we we we we've done some back room blending on our own in years but um it it it was super exciting for us it it has been a fantastic learning experience I mean HUD HUD and I are both um you know we were both whiskey lovers before this obviously that's reason why we decided to uh undergo this endeavor um because we're interested in the process and we want to learn and we appreciate a nice highquality whiskey such as what Brian's laying down over here at hard truth but man it's awesome going in there uh to The Distillery from the start of the process mashing in to the finishing process casting barrels as they age with Brian seeing how uh different seasons and uh climate change pulling tanning in and out of the product the most fun part for for myself personally has been the all the proofing at the end of all uh the process once all the Aging is done and figuring out just where that sweet spot lies to really um show showcase the good flavors that we've produced in this product I mean cuz it can vary so much obviously depending on where you where you cut it to and fall on your final proofing but uh like Brian had kind of touched on a little bit earlier with the second release I mean there's the ambera is obviously pretty hot in the market right now and there's there's been a lot of folks that it seems you know just want to get out there and have have something with ambera in the name right but what I think we've done really well and Brian has done well is uh really showcasing the best of what you can get from the Amber on wood you know it's not it's not just straight blow you out Amber on a cinnamon bomb in your face you know it it does blend exceptionally well with the chocolate malt like Brian stated and it's uh it doesn't take anything away from the Amber but it adds everything to it I can only imagine taking that core product that bourbon uh finished in ambera with that sweet mesh Ry really uh figuring out where the the right space was um just just going about the process to me and even HUD HUD how do you like pulling uh uh thiefing it right from the barrel you like it right from the barrel occasionally oh yeah [ __ ] it in there I get pulls up that drill I like it a lot what was that like any any experiments that you were almost on as far as the percentage as you all were doing it were you almost about to go a little more one way or the other I mean it's uh it can take it can take some time so the cool part about what our experience so far with the proofing process is we all kind of do it separately um okay kind of for the last couple and then um we can exchange notes at the end so it's not like we're like kind of getting each other's heads and like kind of planting ideas we all have come to to one or two uh percent from each other we've all come almost to the exact same pretty close so yeah that's been it's been really that part's been great because it's you know one thing I found is when when you start to kind of uh started with like Chris and myself and Tim um you know we we needed to learn each other's language when we were describing whiskey and then kind of find you know that you learn more about like what what does this person like what does this one like but to Hud's Point um being able to really give um you know your own personal notes on something without being uh guided because as you know as a whiskey educator um there is a lot you can do to guide people to something um to a conclusion um and then there's also the magic of a little bit of a suggestion and then letting them find find what they're doing I know you're great at that um but really having this kind of isolate insular process where we you know we all decided on the blend but then really for the proofing to really have everybody also to have multiple times to taste it because you know you you need multiple times during a day and then multiple days because it might taste vastly different to you depending on what you've eaten before your mood or whatever so um it's been great because both both times we've done this like HUD said we ended up you know between Chris and myself and HUD and Levi we were all between like one or two percentage yeah when you can be that close you know that you have you it's spot on go all this like whiskey with a little more proof to it um but I definitely this this drinks under under the proof but I believe it's 106 106 is perfect and it does drink like to me in the 90s I mean this is right it's easy but has warmth and that warmth comes up with that ambera uh that chocolate how it it goes between kind of this wonderful milk chocolate but also goes a little darker uh this is going to be beautiful itself I could see this paired with h Cuisine cigars I mean there's so many ways this could go um put up our website down below where we where we reported on um on this uh wonderful uh new release the farmers Reserve also the Harvest dry and I want to make sure you all also go to hard truth.com because there you can learn about the event that's happening um it's next Saturday uh right before the eclipse right a couple days before the eclipse what's going to be happening yeah so we we are it's funny when you look at the the map of uh the eclipse and the totality path um it passes not only right through Brown County Nashville and Bloomington but literally if you get down to the actual like the center of the path of totality goes right through our front Gates of our Distillery so um there's no doubt of course I I try not to add to the the hype of of people coming in and swarming our town because that's all I've been hearing for the last three weeks but um there are going to be a lot of people in Brown County a lot of people at The Distillery we're going to have events all day long um HUD and Levi will and I will be there signing bottles first thing in the morning on Saturday morning um and then there's going to be live music throughout the day that evening tastings cocktails food if you Haven them been to our Distillery um and you think you know what visit The Distillery is like um we are different so uh we operate with like regular restaurant hours so we'll be you know open from actually I think we're gonna we're going to start the bottle signing a little early but typically we're open from around 11: a.m. till 10 pm seven days a week we're familyfriendly um we've got tours we've got big restaurant we've got an outdoor music venue we've got Distillery tours sidebyside ATV tours we drive you drink um little bit everything it has to be one of your all's favorite places to hang out to right Levine HUD yeah we we go out there and have a great time I'm really looking forward to the weekend coming up um we've got a couple great bands I think we're gonna do like almost six hours of music every day it's almost like a whole uh Festival coming out couple buddies are going to be playing got some other Indiana boys G to be playing as well any any favorites any favorite Indiana artists going to be playing you want to mention we will we will have Hank Ruff in attendance on Sunday and he he's one of our good buddies and then Cody Cody iker's going to be playing on Saturday great both of them fantastic musicians it's gonna be a it's gonna be a riot excellent can't can't wait to see what happens there everybody's gonna love trying the new melon Camp whiskey and we should also mention um John melan Camp is on tour right now right and he's gonna have another one coming up that is right yeah so right now we're uh finishing up the last leg of a tour we started um some time last year um and coming on up is going to be the um Outlaw Outlaw music festival and it's going to be him Bob Dyan and um Willie Nelson so I think it'll be really great going out there um I'm lucky enough to go on tour with them I do security as well as um assistant tour manager and so I'm out there in the crowd it's one of my favorite things I can do um I go up into the highest section and find some people who look like they really really want to be there and who I'm generally looking for Merch and if you've got melon Camp uh whiskey merch on I'm get bumping you up but I'll bring the people in the highest spots right in front of the stage and it's been a great experience getting to upgrade people like that I've seen people a lot of firm handshakes and a lot of Tears so it's been great bet that's amazing that you do that I'm sure you make people's day and just what an incredible um what an incredible experience there's so many opportunities to see um great music taste whiskey uh I want to also mentioned Brian the uh what you all do um with regard to grounded in Truth uh tell us about that on the hard truth name grounded in truth it's a it's a wonderful thing you're doing for a great cause yeah absolutely so you know going back to our first story about our first day um hanging out with one another and me learning about their passion for keeping things local and and obviously the uh the historical precedent of um you know what farm a has done for family Farmers um in the United States of America since the mid 80s um I mean there's no denying um the impact that that's had on our on our world and and and here in the United States and so um we uh as as we were putting this together we had already started this you know grounded in truth campaign where we wanted to give back um to sustainable farming and family farmers and find a way to to do that and educate folks through our whiskey because really when you come to visit us and and see the whiskey making process uh to some people it's a little nebulous I don't know how it works but I mean in its simplest terms you know we have a a very real and significant relationship with our farmer Partners they're proud of the grains that they grow that we we work with with uh Doug Miller who grows all of our corn and most of our wheat and then uh a guy named Dwayne kolin Schmid from down near where you live Tom um who grows portion of our rye as well um and Dwayne has a little uh Distillery called Dusty Barn Distillery go down and visit him down in Mount Vernon he's an awesome awesome people but uh so these relationships you know we knew that we wanted to to do something to highlight these these farmer Partnerships um and then you know when you when you come to see us make whiskey we we have this relationship with these Farmers we they grow the Grain in Indiana we purchase it from them so we're supporting them in that way then we make great whiskey out of it really nothing goes down a drain everything that's that's left and doesn't go in the barrel as whiskey goes out the back of our um Distillery and we have two other farmer Partners uh with Travis Helman being one or I'm sorry Travis being one of them um they come and pick up the spent steelage and feed cattle so uh it's it's a real kind of a total process that that utilizes Farmers all the way around and without those Farmers I mean some people say this you know and don't really mean it but without our farmers and these significance of those relationships we would not have the whiskey that we do so um we really wanted to do something so with grounded in truth um specifically with the melon Camp whiskey company project the Harvest dry and the farmers reserve and the two subsequent releases a portion of proceeds from every bottle goes to our grounded in truth um Campaign which this year we are an official sponsor for Farm a so we will be um doing some promotions with them later in the year and um give them some money that will go towards um promoting you know supporting the family farmers in the United States and promoting uh sustainable farming practices so when we have some future events that that we'll have to do with grounded in truth and any other subsequent releases you can sign up we don't bomb you with a bunch of stuff so it's really just just necessary information um you can learn more about what we're going to do it's so important what all of you all are doing uh for both both grounded and Truth with the melon Camp whiskey to really honor the Indiana Farmers Indiana grain something that's truly Indiana uh right here uh it'll be out it'll be out next week see him on Saturday uh and then there'll be two more releases um I I don't know if you all have even started thinking about those releases anything you can tell us that might be a tease forward on the next two releases we we um we definitely have got them pretty much mapped out I mean we've still got some details to work through but I can tell you that uh here's what I'll here's I know I know you like firsts Tom and so I'll tease you that I will say that release number three will be another um first for hard truth so it will be a product that um that you've that that we've never released before um and an expression that will be another just uh completely new new Avenue for us and and it's uh I it's I'm telling you it is tremendously delicious so um we're super excited about it Whiskey expression yes you never done before complet completely new whiskey expression so so we're really excited about that and um also I wanted to mention one other thing because I know that there are um some melon Camp whiskey fans now um starting to to come from around the country and bombing um Levi and HUD with hey where can we buy this so um on Camp whiskey whiskey.com and on hard truth.com we've got one of those Spirit finder widgets yes um and so you can put your ZIP code in and you can choose which spirit so look for Harvest rye and Farmers reserve and it will show you where around you you can find it now coming very soon will also be a buy now button um and with the buy now button if you are in a state that allows shipment of spirits um which I think can't I think there's about 30 states that allow that um you can actually purchase it right through our website or their website and um it'll be shipped directly to your door so that's not live yet but it's it's like imminent it will be I think in the next two weeks we'll have we'll have um something for that there's going to be more places you can find this and of course melon Camp whiskey.com hard truth.com and we'll continue to bring you all the updates on Bourbon blog.com and and gentlemen all of you let's all raise a toast it's really been a pleasure and quite an honor to have you on HUD Levi Brian uh it's such a great time sipping with you all and um we will see you soon to have for sip in person and congrats on all you've done for the world of whiskey agriculture Farmers Indiana everything I mean you've done so much for for all of us so thank you cheers thank you Tom cheers thank you for having us Tom cheers everybody